The Butterfly Girl

Chapter 5: Dark Scheming

At some point there was silence again in the seemingly endless corridors of the imperial palace. The large main gate at the north end of the compound was closed with an audible clatter and the guards changed their shifts. Individual small lanterns flickered and stood out clearly from the stars in the night sky, which always remained in the same places. Only in a few rooms did candles shine and lightly illuminate the dark rooms. Like every night, a light burned long after midnight in Kouen's room. But there was no trace of himself.
- "Well, how do you intend to take this matter, Koumei?"
- "Balbadd currently suffers very much from the distribution of the money of the individual estates. The rich get richer and the poor poorer. I would not be surprised if the inhabitants of the slums eventually start a rebellion against their king's regime. "
- "With the trade, then? And how is that supposed to happen? "
- "Of course we do not trade without certain demands. Sindria has been trading with Balbadd for years. To a certain extent, we will let Balbadd benefit from us more than with any trade agreement with Sindria . I can imagine that this so called king will not refuse this offer. He is just a nobleman deluded from his position as a king. "
 - "Since the old king bit into the grass, poverty has become a particularly heavy burden in this country. But what can one expect from such bad sons? The one completely conceited, the other does not open his mouth and then becomes a royal adviser. It's really laughable. "
- "Without Balbadd we have no solid ground to get after Magnostadt. A land of magicians and magical weapons. It does not do any good in the wrong hands. "
- "Koumei, Magnostadt exists only because the magicians slaughtered all the non-magicians when the Musta'sim Kingdom was still alive, and persecuted and eliminated the ruling king and his entire family. Their story is made of blood, their future will be the same if we do not do anything. "
 - "That may be true, but we are not the only ones who are aiming for Magnostadt. Apart from the magical benefits, we would come closer and closer to our goal. So, when do we want to submit the offer to Balbadd? "
-"As quickly as possible. I have heard that Father wants to send Hakuryuu to Sindria so that he can continue his studies there. Their king will be tempted to thread anything. After all, he would lose a major envelope for his business. Koumei, see that somebody goes to Balbadd in the next few weeks. And if you have to, please ask for Banker to go. "
-"Banker? But Kouen-! "
-"I know. But that does not matter. "

---------------------------------------------

The lights in our neighborhood had long been extinguished, only in our apartment burned a few candles in the living room. Completely exhausted, I left my shoes somewhere on the floor and walked straight into the bath. Out there, in full sleep clothes, I slip into my room. I carefully store my work clothes in the closet. A long yawn escapes me. It is hard to imagine getting up tomorrow and then walking around. From the corridor I heard a door close and something plopped on the floor. Obviously my sister also came back from work. I did not hear anything for a while. Then at some point steps come closer and closer to my door.

- "Have you just come back, too?"Leaning against the doorframe my sister looked at me with tired eyes and stifled a yawn.- "Are you surprised? Maybe I would not have come home at all. "- "You can whine as much as you want, but you can not tell me that would really annoy you."- "Go to bed you're weird again."- "Fine. Oh, and before I forget, I'm not here next week. "She was about to turn and push the door when I called after her still questioning.-"Where are you, then?"She just waved and left. Typical. But she has been like this since I can remember. Says almost nothing and if, then only the most important. I wonder how her boyfriend can live with it. Oh yes she has one. Soon it will be 5 years. She went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. I flipped back the blanket and lay down on my futon.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey there. This time it's just a small chapter since i have quite som eother things to do but the next will a bit longer or at least i will try ☺
Have fun!