Pride knew that Cedric's assessment was wrong. The king of Cersis went mad in the game as well, and it had nothing to do with Cedric fleeing the country. The invading kingdom also never began the invasion this early. Something was off.
A year before the game begins, Chenensis was forced by Copelandi to either become a province or face invasion. Yohan was considering surrender, and Lance and Cedric kept persuading him to fight alongside them. Cedric fled the country for the first time in his life and went to seek help from the powerful and distinguished nation of Frieia.
Pride agreed to the alliance on the spot, organized troops, and arrived in Hanazu with Cedric. And as soon as she got there, she double-crossed them and began attacking Chenensis.
It was all part of her plan, because she had signed a contract with Copelandi and the Raja Empire in secret. The country was ultimately taken over and its original culture wiped away. Lance went insane. And with that, Cedric lost two of the people who cared for him at once.
He then took the throne and ruled the country alone. He developed a mistrust of other people, and kept working for the sake of his country all the same, because that had been Lance's wish. A year later, Pride would use Cedric's guilt and his love for his brother to manipulate him.
Cedric refused to listen to any of Pride's suggestions, so she shoved him to the floor and told him she would not allow him to give up. She demanded they go and see her mother and tell her everything.
The queen had no problem with finalizing their alliance tomorrow, once she had confirmed all the details through her informants.
But there was another issue that had come up: the invading kingdom. The Raja Empire had sent her a letter proposing to discuss furthering relations with Frieia, and had specifically requested to stay in their castle exactly six days from today. The same day they intended to invade Chenensis.
The queen felt that their plans were being leaked somehow.
Pride then suggested that she herself lead the reinforcement troops as a representative of the queen and support the United Hanazu Kingdom, while at the same time her mother conducted peace negotiations with the Raja Empire.
The queen did not want her daughter facing dangers like this. She had also expected exactly this response from her, and declared that this was precisely what they would do.
Rodrik had been waiting for the day Pride would call on the knights for assistance. He showed her the entire force that had been ordered to accompany her on this defense effort. She gave a little heartfelt speech to encourage the men for the battle ahead, and every one of them cheered.
That night, Arthur and Stale discussed everything over drinks. Even after saying she hated Cedric, she was still willing to become his ally. It was what they had come to expect of her.
Arthur got so distracted by Stale telling him that Pride needed him that he overpoured the drink all over the table. Stale had only been trying to say that Pride needed both of them.
He teleported to bed and thought about how his job was to be wary and unforgiving of anyone who hurt Pride. Remembering how Cedric had called Pride beautiful during her speech to the troops, he only got more irritated.
But when she had seen Cedric off, she had whispered to Stale that she needed a favor from him. And now he was bright red and rolling all over the bed like a flustered schoolgirl. She had spoken to him, relied on him — immediately and openly this time. He was so happy. If it was for Pride, he would do anything.
Cedric slammed his fists against the wall. He could not understand it. Had his actions been noticed by the enemy? And he could not understand why everything he did seemed to sabotage Yohan and his brother.
He grew cautious when he heard a knock at the door. It was Pride.
She told him to keep the door closed. She would talk to him from out here. It would cause them both trouble if strange rumors started. He had done things to her that no apology would make up for.
Hearing that from her only frustrated him more, but she told him not to worry, because her mother was still in favor of the alliance. She assured him that his elder brother would no doubt be all right, and that none of this was his fault.
He asked how she could be so sure, and she gave him the power of premonition answer, just as she always did. She had seen the kingdom of Chenensis attacked. Everyone was working hard to help, and defeat was not guaranteed.
He had a hard time believing any of it. Still she kept reassuring him: these six days were not a doomsday countdown.
He shouted at her in anger, asking why she cared about him so much. He wanted her to stop getting his hopes up. But she was not really doing this for him. She was simply making amends.
Then she mentioned that the night was too long to spend crying alone, and he finally noticed the tears on his palms. She told him it was all right to cry. He did not want anyone to see him in such a sorry state.
Why his country? What had Yohan and Lance ever done to deserve this?
In a different life, Pride coolly told him she had decided to make Cersis a province of her country, to make it clear that she was invading it.
Cedric did not understand. It had been a year, and he had done everything she demanded. His country had provided all the gold they asked for. The Frieian knights pointed their spears at him. Pride argued that he could go on doing all of that as her province. He could even fight back if he wanted — but what could a small, weak nation do against hers?
He reminded her that she had promised their safety.
So she said, fine. She would let Cersis off the hook if he agreed to a few more conditions. Her useless little sister, Princess Tiara, was turning sixteen this year. She wanted Cedric to become Tiara's fiancé by winning her heart, and then kill her with his own hands.
Cedric was flabbergasted. Pride only thought: who wouldn't get a kick out of seeing Tiara's dying face, steeped in despair and hatred, after being betrayed by the man she loved?
She broke out in laughter, and told him he was free to say no. That is, if he wanted his country erased from the map.
Cedric accepted with reluctance, begging her to guarantee the safety of his nation. She offered him not only that, but the neighboring country taken back as well. She needed some kind of gesture that proved his willingness, though. In this case, having him lick her shoes. Right here, right now.
He shuddered. She licked her lips, and he stepped slowly toward her with anguish filling his every being. He took hold of her shoe and pulled his face closer, and closer —
Pride woke up gasping.
The maid said she had been groaning in her sleep and asked whether she was all right. She was fine. Just a bad dream, one she had already forgotten.
Cedric met with the queen once more. She established that Frieia wished to form an alliance. The Kingdom of Anemone had offered the necessary supplies for the upcoming battle as well; Leon had reached out to them two days ago, so the supplies would arrive tomorrow morning.
Gilbert reported that as of yesterday they had apprehended seven people suspected of being spies for the enemy nation. None of them would disclose who their client was, but it had become clear they had to be from the kingdom of Copelandi.
The queen gave Pride full rights to do as she saw fit as a representative of the crown.
Pride called for an advanced guard of knights to be formed, and to make for the battlefield with them. They should be able to reach Hanazu in three days.
Then Tiara suddenly asked whether she could join the expedition.
They were all surprised that she wanted to be on a battlefield. She said she did not feel she could keep avoiding fights, and that she wanted to see it for herself. The queen sighed, and said that since she had given command to Pride, she would leave it up to Pride.
Pride was not expecting that. She was scared to face Tiara, because there was no way in the world she could deny her. Not the heroine's sparkling eyes.
Tiara promised not to get in the way. She really wanted to go.
Pride accepted, with conditions. During defensive maneuvers, Tiara was to stand by in the kingdom of Cersis.
The whole squad was teleported in. Cedric could not believe they were in Cersis already. As long as they knew the coordinates, Stale could transport himself and whatever he was touching instantaneously. This was, of course, a Frieian state secret.