"What are you saying? Creating your own faction would only bring you more troubles. The other factions would almost certainly try to destroy you with all their might," Theresia warns.

  "I was already assuming that they might behave that way... Please tell me, what's the highest level one can expect to find among the people of this country?"

  "At absolutely highest, you would find people around level 40, but those are exceedingly rare. Level 30 is already considered to be very impressive," Franz answers.

  When I had my guards scout the surrounding of my mansion, they reported that the monsters here are way weaker than back on Daemonia, that lead me to conclude that the people here might be weaker as well. It seems I was correct... and Stark being located on what was considered the "Starter Continent" in Vera Phantasia further corroborates that.

  "I don't know if the rumors have spread far enough for you to have heard about it, but," Stats, "my level is 100." She shows her Stats screen to both Franz and Theresia, before putting it away again with Stats.

  "That's certainly extraordinary, but you are still only one person..." Theresia cautions.

  "I'm not alone in this, every single one of my servants is level 100."

  "All of them?!" Franz screams, while Theresia just stares in shock. "All that people you listed before, if they are truly all level 100, that would likely be enough to conquer the whole of the kingdom of Stark..."

  Kristina smiles gently. "There's no need to be scared, if I wanted to conquer you by force I would've already done so. All I want is to become a duchess again and then stay a duchess forever."

  "I see... In a way, the fate of Stark, the person who will become our next ruler, the decision is up to you, since you have the power to destroy any opposition..."

  "Please, don't assume I'm of the type to use brute force to solve all one's issues. I much prefer peaceful solutions, politicking and diplomacy is way more fun than mindless conquering..."

  The sovereign duke of Hellia sits at one side of the table, accompanied by his delegation, while the Daemonian delegation sits on the other, being lead by Duchess Kristina. She clears her throat before starting her speech.

  "Your country borders not only Daemonia, but the Republic of Light, which has shown itself to be quite willing to invade neighboring countries to expand its territory. They have been specially eager to attack demonic countries. If they invaded you, you would certainly lose. However, if we two stand together, we would surely be able to stop any potential invasions from the republic."

  Hellia by itself would surely be crushed if invaded by the republic, while Daemonia by itself would most likely be able to beat back any invasion from the republic. The duke is certainly aware of this.

  "As has been discussed in our previous meetings. While Hellia will become a duchy within Daemonia, you will still retain much autonomy and receive many privileges, such as reduced taxes and subsidies for your local army. If you don't sign this deal, history will see you as great fools who refused a golden opportunity, just to end up trampled instead."

  Honestly, we might have given them way too many benefits.

  Shortly after, the Daemonia-Hellia treaty was finally signed, formally turning Hellia into a duchy of Daemonia.

  That memory felt all new... We did peacefully vassalize Hellia back in Vera Phantasia, but they weren't roleplayers, so our discussions were mostly meta, lacking any roleplay.

  Franz bows from behind his desk. "Kristina, I pledge my support to you and your mission to place the princess on the throne." That's very sudden!

  "If you would prefer to stay neutral, there's no need to enter my faction, I won't punish anyone who chose neutrality after I win."

  "The danger that comes from aligning with a faction, is mostly the risk of it losing. A faction with you as the head though? I don't think there's a possibility of you ever losing." He sounds way too sure about it...

  "'And the earliest supporters tend to get the best share of the spoils after a victory', that's what you are thinking, aren't you Franz?" Theresia's words make Franz shiver for a moment. "I know patience and thus I'll be taking my time coming to my decision, I hope that doesn't trouble you Kristina."

  "That's completely fine, Baroness. Now, Franz, if you are really sure about this, then I accept your support wholeheartedly."

  "It's my honor," He answers. I feel like he's being too courteous to someone who's his vassal...

  "Mistress Kristina, leader of the Blut party, your deeds in the war are widely known. I give you my utmost thanks for what you have done for my country, the kingdom of Daemonia is in your debt," the king of the aforementioned demonic nation, kneels before Kristina as he speaks.

  "Please stand up, I'm not worthy enough for a king to kneel before me." Seriously, what is he thinking?

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  He stands back up. "I have heard about your past, if you wish to return to nobility, I shall grant you a barony to rule. This is the least I can do for a hero of Daemonia."

  "I'm most grateful for this, I accept your gift with no objections." I'm honestly not surprised, I have heard of him replacing his old nobility with newcomers... Still, I'm finally a noble again, huh...

  I didn't have a party back then, I did most of my adventuring solo... But some NPCs I made had, according to their descriptions, started working with Kristina while she was still an adventurer. It only makes sense they would've formed a party.

  The conversation itself is completely different, it had been mostly a meta discussion over the roleplaying rules in the kingdom Daemonia, such as "try to stay in character the best you can" and "avoid roleplaying sensitive topics", before I would be allowed to become a noble there. However, Kristina memories have already been show to have an "anti-meta" effect, where stuff that wouldn't make sense in-world is either altered or removed.

  Anyways, back to the topic at hand. "Before I concretize my faction creation plans, I would like to talk to the princess... If she doesn't wish to rule, then I shall not force her."

  "That's reasonable, trying to place someone who doesn't want to rule on the throne could only lead to frustration," Theresia observes. "Still, a woman as king is unheard of..."

  "Eh, king?" I shouldn't be surprised, since I have read that king and other terms for ruler that are nowadays considered inherently masculine would often be used to refer to women rulers in Earth's history. "Back in my world, a woman ruling a kingdom would just be called queen. Maybe 'ruling queen' to differentiate her from queen-consorts."

  "I see... Continuing where I was going, while Stark hasn't had any 'ruling queens'. I believe the empire has had a female emperors in the far past, or ruling empresses if that's what you would prefer to call them. We might want to point out our neighbors past to help justify the princess's right to the throne."

  Kristina checks the continental map on the table, noticing a huge country labeled as "The Holy Empire" bordering Stark to the east. That must be the Empire she's talking about...

  "Indeed, what more, the princess could be crowned not a queen, but an empress."

  "But Stark is a kingdom, not an empire, how could she ever be crowned empress?" Franz asks, befuddled.

  "I know of a country that once went from a kingdom to a republic to an empire. We would just be skipping the republic part, shouldn't be that difficult." Kristina, or maybe Emilia in this case, is talking about a country from Earth, France, which became a republic thanks to the French revolution, but then became an Empire under Napoleon.

  Kristina lays on her bed, but, before she's able to drift asleep, she receives a Message. If it were from someone less important she might have left it to be listened tomorrow, but she couldn't possibly ignore this person.

  "I'm sending this to all nobles of my kingdom," the voice of Daemonia's king resounds, "Monarchy has been restored to the Republic of Light. Although it wasn't a return of the Fernes Kingdom, they are now calling themselves the 'Empire of Light'. We don't know yet what this will mean to us, but beware it is a possibility that they might once again attempt to invade us."

  What... I don't remember that... Well, Emilia didn't... Wait, was that from right after I logged out for the last time? Did Light pass the monarchy law the instant I had left?

  I had heard rumors days before that they were planning to go the Napoleon route, guess they were true then... In Vera Phantasia, matters such as what laws are being passed were quite opaque for people that weren't members of the country in question. So the only way to find out about such things was through either hearsay or by the countries themselves announcing it.

  "Kristina...?" Franz asks. Oops, seems I got too distracted...

  Kristina clears her throat, before speaking: "Anyways, what is the princess's name? I feel like I should know at least that if I'm going to create a faction supporting her."

  "I believe her name is Amelia and, like the rest of the royal family, she's a von Stolz."

  "Got it... Now, regarding her birthday, will we be making the trip together?"

  "The birthday will be on the 10th day of the 10th month, but I was planning to depart in the 5th day of the 10th month, would that date be good for you?"

  "I can't really answer that, since I'm honestly not even aware of what's the current date."

  "When the sun rises, it will be the 6th day of the 9th month." I see, so they count the start of a new day when the sun rises instead of midnight. As I vampire I think it might be appropriate for me to consider the sunset as the start of a new day, so I will consider now as already being the 6th. Still, there's one thing I need to know...

  "How long is the 9th month?"

  He seems a bit perplexed for a moment, but then remembers she is from a different world. "All months are exactly 30 days, there are 12 of them in a year."

  "I see, thank you."The devs had made all months in Vera Phantasia 30 days to simplify things, but why are they also 30 days in this world...? "I believe the 5th day of the 10th would be indeed a fine date for us to depart... Until then, I believe it might be best for me to focus on building up my estate rather than politicking. After all, it would do me good to have an impressive estate if I want to convince people to join my faction, would it not?"

  "It would indeed. Speaking of your estate, I haven't had any opportunity to visit it yet..."

  "Hmm... Tomorrow I shall send you a Message with the nearest available date for you to visit Nacht Manor."

  "I would like to visit as well if possible," Theresia interjects.

  "Of course, would you prefer to visit by yourself another time, or would you prefer to visit together with the Count?"

  "Either should be fine."

  "Alright, I shall message you tomorrow as well... Is there any other matters we must discuss?"

  "None that I can think of," Franz says and Theresia nods in agreement.

  "Then, I shall be heading back home for tonight, if you don't mind."

  "May we meet again," Franz gives his farewell.

  "It was a pleasure to meet you, Kristina, I look forward to our paths crossing again," Theresia gives her.

  "Goodbye," Kristina says with clear tiredness in her voice. Warp

  Kristina appears in her bedroom and immediately throws herself onto her bed. That was fun, but so stressful. I felt my social battery be drained way more than it used to drain during roleplay... I guess it's harder when it's actually real... Will I be able to keep up if I have to do that for longer? Way longer?

  Another matter worries me as well. More and more recollections that don't belong to me, that don't belong to Emilia, are appearing in my head... Still, I don't think I feel Emilia going away, my old memories aren't being replaced, just new memories from Kristina are being added to the whole. I'll always be Emilia, I just might be Kristina at the same time...

  As Kristina ponders, Ernst gently opens the door. "My lady, I'm afraid an incident happened while you were away..."