Following the impromptu council meeting in the Throne Room, my ministers and I went to our offices and began to make ready for the coming future, drawing plans and sketching new schemes, as we rushed to be done with all we must before the Banquet in three months time.

And though three months sounds like more than enough time to calmly, and meticulously arrange everything and then some, for a nation the size of mine, with ambitions the heft and weight of mine, three months was just barely enough for us to narrowly skid by on schedule.

This was especially the case as we needed to ready Hamilcar's forces to once again advance south, so that we can feed the empire more territory, but it was easier said than done, as paranoid thorns kept pricking the back of my thoughts, and with each sting they dug deeper and deeper, injecting me with ever increasing doses of irritation and fear; like a viscous slime that was slowly slithering it's way into the crevices of my fractured mind, making hallucinate visions losing her.

Several times I stopped myself from destroying everything around me in fits of frustration, as I considered the option of simply ordering Isaac to find her for me, before I again schooled my flaring temper, knowing full well that if she didn't want to be found then none ever could, even her own parents might find it impossible to catch her, if she ever chose to vanish.

Besides, it would be unreasonable to order him to find a single, specific woman in this vast world, especially one such as my Eve, so I had to abandon those ideas, and continue to pray that she would still appear in the Banquet of Concordia this year, as I had planned.

Yet prayer coupled with inaction was never to my liking, as I didn't hold much regard for the fickle nature of the Gods, so I still commanded Isaac to scour the Astrapi Kingdom for her, though I didn't hold my breathe for favourable replied.

Meanwhile I did all I could to hold back and wrestling down my rising mania, as I desperately shoved aside all of my poisoned thoughts and anchored myself in the task at hand, pouring over missives and maps, as I charted new courses for the empire.

"Good work, Sarm. You too Anastasia." I said, as I finished hearing the report of my two newest lieutenants. "Seems I was right to place you two as appoint you two in command of the Nine Rings."

The Nine Rings was the organization I built under the insistence of the empire's Archpriest Adam, to better monitor the country's temples, that mimicked the style of the Yue Dynasty's Eight Silent Doors and the Luminous Empire's Solar Inquisition.

And so far they have proven to be an immense success, as they have apprehended hundreds of corrupt members of the clergy, and others of a more unsavoury nature, who tried to exploit the honest and true priests and priestesses of the temples.

All of which was mostly in thanks to these two in front me, since the tireless and diligent Commander, Sarm, was as incorruptible and steadfast in his ideals that none could ever hope to escape him once he picked up their trail.

But if Sarm was a kin to a hunting hound that would relentlessly pursue his prey until he tore them to bloody pieces, then his vice commander, Anastasia, was a nothing short of a bird of prey. One whose eye sight could catch the fleeting shadow of a scurrying rat from far away, no matter how clever the poor little rodent thought himself to be.

And though she despised her time in the red light district of Solis Luxuria, they proved invaluable to her now, as she was intimately aware how the shady and corrupt operated, and adding onto it the nearly decade long experience as a book keeper in the naturally sleazy and often times shady business of prostitution, along with her inherent talent for numbers, she was natural born huntress for those who tainted their greedy fingers in embezzlement and other forms of crimes.

In fact, she was so efficient in it, that I have several times employed her abilities to aid the Shade Corps in some matters, which ultimately led to Isaac personally requesting that she be allowed to permanently join his men's ranks.

A petition I wholeheartedly supported, but considering the fact that the fledgeling Nine Rings simply could not do without her, I allowed Anastasia to join both organizations, which also served to covertly place a Shade Corps member in the highest ranks of the new born organization, just in case something were to awry.

"You honour us, my liege." Sarm replied with a humble bow, while the masked beauty behind him simply followed his lead.

Yet before I could say anything else, my office door opened and in entered Kira, carrying a large stack of papers nearly half the length of her torso, saying "Apologies for the disturbance, sire. But these are the reports you ordered from the General Staff."

Beholding the sheer torturous, agonizing mass of it all, a worn out sigh already escaped my lips, as I said to the two before me "If that is all, you may take your leave. We will continue later on."

"Understood, my liege." Sarm answered, as he turned and left, quickly followed by Anastasia.

Horus then helped Kira place the tremendous amount of parchment on top of my already overflowing desk, creating two menacing towers that nearly loomed over me, as I again sighed and reached for the first paper to begin.

But before I could even finish reading the first sentence, the door opened again, showing the two figures of my now sixteen and fourteen year old brothers, who nonchalantly entered.

Knowing why Nizam was here, I quickly detach a portion of my paper work from the ever growing mass of infinite ink and paper, that was my desk, as I handed it to him and said "You can handle these according to your discretion, but before you decide anything regarding the recent discovery of the new vein in the fourth silver mine in the Murathicus lands, make sure you check with Rhett regarding the availability of skilled hands who can handle forging them into more fashionable commodities, for we can easily double our profits in such a way."

"Understood." Nizam answered, as he took his place behind his desk that sat next to mine, that had been set up after he began helping me for the last couple of years.

Turning then to my blonde brother, who was growing more and more dashingly handsome with each passing day, I ask "And what brings you here, Cyrus?"

"Brother, have you already forgotten?" He asked in exasperation, making me cock my eyebrow in confusion.

"Mother's gathering?!" He loudly announced, slamming his open palms on my desk, nearly toppling the twin paper towers on top of me, as his eyes narrowed threateningly at us. "You promised to help me. Both of you did!" He finished as his travelled to Nizam as well.

His words quickly reminded me of his plight that has plagued not only him, but all of us, for a couple years now, and of the promise I had indeed offered him a few days ago.

"I apologize little brother. I didn't mean to forget, I've just had a lot on my mind lately." I told him, gesturing to the mounds of work still surrounding me.

Cyrus depressingly sighed in return, lowering his head in melancholy, before his eyes caught the words on the parchment and lit up with interest, as he asked "Are those about the new armies?"

"Hmm? Yes, they are." I answered, handing him a few of the reports.

Through the last three years, I decided to slightly reform the entire military structure of the empire. Beginning with the standardization of the armies' numbers, which I set at one hundred thousand, when they were previously dependant on the value of their presence, which was one of the reasons why the southern army was the smallest of the empire's standing forces. I then changed their names as well, since it wouldn't make sense to continue labelling them according to the four cardinal directions, and I instead opted for a numerical identification system.

And with that in mind, my own personal army gained the designation of the First Army, then the western army followed as the Second Army, after which came the eastern army as the Third Army, followed by the northern and southern forces as the Fourth and Fifth respectively.

But with the recent coming of the empire's economic prosperity, which brough an abundance of Darr pouring into the treasury, I decided to expand the nation's martial might, and so earlier this year, we began the formation of four new forces.

The first of which, the now named Sixth Army, was founded in Qayan, under the leadership of Valdour, with a great majority of it's recruits from the Free City or the neighbouring provinces.

The second one, the Seventh Army, was established in Lahtesh, the City of Flame, the home of the descendants of the Fire God and the future army of the young Azarlan, whom I held great expectations for.

But these were the only two that were made public, whom everyone already knew off, the other two were kept secret far in the south, in the now conquered lands of the Murathicus tribes, and were currently under the command of Hamilcar, which brought his forces up to three hundred thousand men.

"Are we going to continue our expansion south this year brother?" Cyrus asked, so excited he forgot all about his earlier troubles.

Smiling, I replied with a question of my own "What do you think we should do?"

"Of course we should continue to expand!" He instantly replied with zeal and zest, before he awkwardly cleared his throat, regaining his bearings, before he began to speak in a calm, calculated voice, understanding that I was testing him right now "We have three hundred thousand men ready and waiting, along with Lord Hamilcar himself, and the biggest obstacle that has held us back for three years has been almost completely dealt with, so if not now then when."

"Even if it violates the accords of the Banquet of Concordia?" I inquired again, a subtle smirk on my lips, already guessing what my rascal of a brother would reply.

But before he could, a woman we all recognized as our mother's handmaiden arrived, and respectfully said "Apologies for the disturbance your imperial majesty, but the empress has asked for his highness, prince Cyrus, to join her."