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Emilia's hand petting Penny's head paused as she stared at Crystal in surprise. "You want me to talk to Bella? But… haven't you already—"
The blonde girl gave her a pleading look. "I-It's not the same thing. Please, can't you give it a try for me, at least?"
Crystal obviously knew that Emilia wouldn't be able to reject her request when she put it like that, and as she expected, the crimson-haired girl soon gave her a helpless smile. "I really don't think she'll change her mind on such an important matter based on who she's talking to, but since you insist, alright. Let's call her."
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Twenty minutes later, Emilia was left staring blankly at the now disconnected phone, while Crystal and Penny gave each other a knowing look.
The mutual protection treaty that Crystal had failed to get the prime minister of Phoenix to agree to no matter what had been easily passed within minutes of Emilia's proposal, as if the other side had only been waiting for her to ask.
Of course, since the blonde girl had long since suspected Bella's 'attitude', she wasn't nearly as exasperated as she should have been. If anything, she was slightly relieved.
After all, compared to the price they would be paying, this bit of 'selfishness' from Bella's side was really not worth mentioning.
Knowing that Blue Dawn would soon be at war, Crystal had no doubt that no one else would be willing to lend them aid like this. Not unless they already had their boats tied together, that is.
What really amused Crystal, however, was that the usually stoic prime minister of Phoenix had actually spent nearly ten minutes 'explaining' her thought process and giving excuses for her earlier rejection, as if worried that Emilia would 'misunderstand' her somehow.
Fortunately, Emilia was sensible enough to not embarrass the woman needlessly, and just went along with her excuses despite her inner skepticism.
The crimson-haired girl couldn't help but smile. "With this, we should have a much easier time… right?"
Crystal nodded. "Although the treaty doesn't include sending troops to our aid if we're attacked, just being able to receive tactical, diplomatic, and logistic support from Phoenix openly will help us a lot. Plus… while what we have right now is good enough, it won't hurt to get some good weapons and artillery from Phoenix."
Emilia hummed thoughtfully before turning her gaze to Penny. "The treaty will be announced later today, so I won't have the time, but make sure that the 'effects' of the news are in our favor, will you?"
Of course, Penny understood her assignment right away. "This is but a small matter for us royal knights, princess. Don't worry."
The crimson-haired girl hummed in satisfaction. "Then… the next thing… Crystal. How do you think I should deal with returnees?"
Seeing her tense up, Emilia sighed. "I know that you're soft-hearted, and honestly… I really don't want to punish any of them either. But… I'm worried. I don't want them to think I'm okay with them throwing their lives away and disobeying my orders." Her brows furrowed. "Just this time, how many lives were lost needlessly? Had she been a little more unlucky… even Cindy wouldn't have survived."
Crystal had no way to refute any of Emilia's statements, nor did she want to do so, but as the feeling of sorrow intensified, she couldn't help but step forward to embrace her. "This matter… just leave it to me, okay? I promise no one will be hurt, and it will all work out perfectly."
The warmth of her blonde girlfriend's embrace around her head seemed to calm Emilia down, and she smiled. "I believe in you."
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With all the different duties weighing on their shoulders, Crystal and Penny naturally couldn't stay much longer, and Emilia was soon left with just the unconscious Cindy to accompany her in the silent bedroom.
The 'comatose' ash-blonde naturally wouldn't wake up so soon, and aside from the girl's soft breathing and the faint presence of her partner in the depths of her soul, Emilia knew that she would be left well and truly 'alone' until the time came for the declaration of their treaty with Phoenix.
After a few minutes of 'solitude', Emilia's faint smile completely faded away. "Cynthia…"
As expected, there was no response.
Emilia knew that the raven-haired girl must still be pouting over being teased by her earlier, and the only way to get her attention now was to invade her 'territory'. Even though it was her own soul, the crimson-haired girl usually preferred giving her partner the time she needed to calm down and come back herself, but this time, she decided not to wait.
Putting her head down on the side of the bed, the crimson-haired girl forced herself to relax and delve into the depths of her consciousness, and it didn't take her long to succeed.
The big ball of chaos energy immediately burst into excitement the moment it 'spotted' her presence, and thousands of tendrils shot out to 'play' with her in an instant.
Of course, while Emilia was exasperated at its overexcitement, she knew that it barely had the mentality of a toddler, and scolding or brushing it off would only be hurtful. Even if it 'learned' not to bother her next time, it would only be because their relationship was strained, and not because it learned how to treat her better.
Even if she was in a thousand times worse mood than now, Emilia would never be stupid enough to shoot herself in the foot like that.
She helplessly let the 'child' wrap itself around her soul form, and pet the tendrils of pure energy with a smile. "I see you've missed me, huh? Unfortunately, I really can't play around with you today."
The tendrils seemed to tighten a little in reluctance, and soon broke apart into a bunch of energy balls to jump around her, as if attempting to convince her that playing with it would be fun.
Emilia couldn't help but giggle as she grabbed one carelessly and rubbed it against her cheek. "Alright, I get it. I'll go talk to Cynthia now, but I'll come back to play with you in a few days."
She understood that chaos energy's consciousness was simple and pure, and as expected, her coaxing easily convinced it to happily part with her this time, and the tendrils even helped push her to Cynthia's hideout, as if urging her to quickly finish all her 'work' and come back.
In contrast, a certain raven-haired girl who had been happily napping wasn't quite as happy to be receiving guests as she faced her with a pout. "E-Emilia! If you're here to tease me to amuse yourself, y-you better not think it will work out well for you!"
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