While the Iron Turtle fleet fought to hold its line on the Ionan Sea, the Blue Whale Navy of Horris arrived to lend their strength, joining the fight against the advancing SAT forces. Cannon fire kept rolling back and forth between the two sides, neither willing to give ground.
Far from that chaos, the Emperor and the Crown Princess had finally reached Eralsa, where King Logan waited to receive them personally, his son Prince Edward and a small retinue of top diplomats standing at his side.
The Emperor cut an imposing figure — draped in a red royal cloak, a golden crown resting atop a head of black hair, his beard long and neatly kept. His daughter, Crown Princess Akira, stood beside him, carrying her late mother's beauty so plainly that Prince Edward found himself staring a beat longer than manners allowed, quietly caught off guard by her.
"So good to see you again, Emperor Ryuta." King Logan's booming voice carried easily across the courtyard, warm and familiar. "I'm sure the South's stirring up trouble again, trying their luck at invasion. But they'll never actually make it here, will they? Haha!"
The Emperor laughed along with him, easy and genuine. "I'm hopeful we accomplish a great deal today, old friend."
"As am I." King Logan gestured toward his son with an open hand. "This is my heir, Prince Edward Scott. One day he'll carry this nation forward, and I'd like to think our two kingdoms will keep this friendship alive long after either of us has stepped aside."
"Naturally," the Emperor said, nodding. "We won't forget that Horris stood beside us against the Southern Alliance's threat. Our nations will keep building on that, I promise you."
The two men shared another easy laugh. Prince Edward stepped forward then, extending a hand toward the Crown Princess and dropping into a smooth, practiced bow to press a kiss against her knuckles.
"Ha! My son does love playing the charmer." King Logan's grin widened. "I'd wager he's rather taken with the Crown Princess of Sunhonghin. Wouldn't surprise me one bit! Haha!"
"Your son certainly carries himself well," Emperor Ryuta said. "Takes after his father, clearly."
"You're too kind." King Logan beamed. "And your daughter's inherited quite a bit from you too, if I'm honest — composed, steady, confident. The very picture of what real power should look like."
The Emperor's smile deepened, genuine warmth behind it.
Eventually the diplomats guided them all inside to begin the first day of talks — the Imperial delegation, the Shogun, and a full retinue of guards filing in together behind the Emperor.
But the Crown Princess lingered outside a moment longer. "I'd like to wait for Yejin first," she told the Shogun.
He paused, glancing back at her. "Did my daughter do something to upset you, Your Highness?"
"No, no — nothing like that." Akira shook her head quickly. "I'm just waiting on someone I want to see. That's all it is."
"The guards will stay posted with you, then." The Shogun offered a warm smile before heading inside after the Emperor. "Send word if you need anything. I'll be just inside, with your father."
It wasn't long before Yejin's team arrived at Eralsa as well, folding into the security detail already blanketing the island — and by that point, it was likely the single most heavily guarded stretch of ground anywhere on Zeon.
The Crown Princess spotted Yul almost the instant he stepped into view, relief breaking across her face before she'd even fully registered it herself. She crossed the distance at a near-run and threw her arms around him, holding on tight.
"I missed you so much. You should've been more careful, Yul." Her voice cracked, thick with emotion she wasn't bothering to hide. "I was terrified. I really thought you'd died." A sob broke through before she could stop it.
"Thank you for worrying, Your Highness." Yul held her back gently, his own cheeks warming with color he clearly hoped no one would notice.
Off to the side, Yejin, Kei, and Vincent watched the whole thing unfold. Vincent, never one to keep an observation to himself, leaned toward Kei. "Yeah, Tsuyu did mention the Crown Princess has feelings for Yul. Guy's just too shy to actually say anything back."
Yul shot him a mortified look.
Unfortunately, the words carried farther than Vincent meant them to.
"What?" Akira pulled back slightly, staring between the two of them.
"Oh — did I say that out loud?" Vincent laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Whoops."
"You two are...?" Akira's gaze bounced between Yul and Vincent, curiosity plain on her face now.
Yejin stepped in smoothly before things could spiral further. "They're my new retainers, Your Highness. This is Kei," she said, gesturing, "and this is Vincent."
"I see." Akira's attention settled back on Vincent, sharp and expectant. "So — was what you just said true?"
"No, it's not — that's not—" Yul stumbled over the denial before switching tactics entirely. "Your Highness, you should really head inside. It's not proper for you to be standing out here like this."
"Why not?" Akira tilted her head, entirely unbothered by propriety.
Prince Edward appeared then, his expression pleasant and unhurried. "Crown Princess Akira, your father's asking for you inside."
Something about the way the prince's eyes moved across the group set Yul on edge — subtle, but unmistakably cold, there and gone in an instant.
"All right, I'll go in for a moment." Akira sighed, then turned back to Yul before following the prince. "Let's talk again later. I have something for you."
She disappeared through the doorway, and Yul caught one last glimpse of the animosity flickering behind Prince Edward's polite smile as the man glanced their way before following her in.
Yejin turned to one of the elite imperial guards stationed nearby. "Any idea where my brother is? The Dae-Ryeong?"
"He's attending to some matters at the moment," the guard answered. "I couldn't say exactly where, my Lady. My apologies."
"Thank you anyway." Yejin nodded and turned back toward her group. "Let's stay close for now. Since I don't know where my brother's gotten to, we'll hold position here and keep watch."
Vincent and the others nodded, falling into position without further question.
A while later, a messenger came running hard toward the building where the two rulers sat in council, boots pounding against the stone path, chest heaving with every ragged breath he pulled in. He did not slow down to catch it. He just started shouting the moment anyone was close enough to hear.
"The SAT's broken through! Both the Iron Turtle and Blue Whale lines — they're through! We need to be ready to defend this place, right now!"
"What? That can't be right!" one of the imperial guards said, stepping back like the words themselves had shoved him.
"How the hell did they get past both fleets?" another demanded, knuckles going white around his spear.
Yejin's expression hardened the second the words reached her. She turned fast, snapping orders at the nearest guard. "Find the Shogun. Now. And I need someone tracking down my brother, immediately." She exhaled hard, jaw tight. "If this is true, the royal family's in real danger standing out here."
Kei's eyes drifted south, scanning the open water. From where he stood, he could not see a single hostile ship past the two fleets already stationed offshore — nothing visible, nothing obvious. So he closed his eyes instead and let his other senses take over — something called Wind Sense — reaching for the wind the way he'd learned to back in Freor, years ago. It wasn't magic, not exactly — just years of practice reading the air itself, feeling for the subtle wrongness that came with danger, the same way you could hear a lie in someone's voice before you ever caught the words that gave it away.
He stood there a moment, still as stone, letting the breeze move across his skin.
Then his eyes snapped open.
He had it now. Something dark, and getting closer by the second.
Vincent caught the shift in him instantly. "What is it? You feel something?"
Yejin and the others turned toward Kei at once. He didn't answer right away — just kept staring out at the horizon, silent, and one by one the rest of them followed his gaze out over the water. Slowly, a shape resolved out of the haze at the edge of the sea. A warship.
"Here they come," Kei said, barely above a whisper.
Two ships were cutting a straight line toward the island now, closing fast. A loud, booming laugh rolled across the water ahead of them, carrying easily over the waves.
"WAHAHAHA! Time to have some real fun!" Garoda's voice thundered out, hunger for violence plain in every word.
The second ship stayed harder to place — nothing he could pin down. But as it drew closer, he felt something else entirely, something heavier and far more unsettling than Garoda's presence alone. A weight in the air that made his instincts scream.
Something far more dangerous was aboard that second ship.