"It has definitely been a pleasure," said Ælirn, before the pair left. Beatrice would be directed back to the everyone else, whilst Ælirn quickly made her way elsewhere so she could get ready. Again. It thankfully wasn't too long of a diversion, one which the guests likely wouldn't notice but which she'd probably have to explain to Aunt Llyri later. Or would I? she thought to herself, She wouldn't want to make a scene, so I'd be Empress by the time she asked... It was a strange thought to Ælirn, being in charge of her Aunt and all the other proper adults. She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it, if she was honest with herself.

But she did return, and she made her way over to East Moreland's Prime Minister, "Ms. Quinn, I want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to attend my enthronement. For a woman in your position, I am sure time is a most precious commodity."

"I'm just worried about the Conservatives' stranglehold on the National Assembly; the Assembly ratify treaties and the Conservatives are uniformly opposed to foreigners trying to... Well, foreigners in general really," Ælirn says with thinly disguised distaste, "I could force it through with an Imperial Edict, but I'd rather not do that yet honestly."

The young Empress-to-be shakes her head and then smiles, "But I have enjoyed our conservation, and I look forward to speaking again. However, I do have others I need to talk to and..." She gestures to her face which, despite the cessation of her crying, still very much shows the marks of her emotional outpour, "I need to change my makeup and fix my face before I head back out there."

Ælirn was busy watching everything going on the ballroom whilst chatting with her uncle and silently hoping that perhaps nobody at the ball would want to dance with her. She was sipping on a glass of water while her uncle had... something alcoholic, the Empress wasn't sure exactly what it was. She didn't know what the differences between alcohols were, and she didn't particularly care. Then she noticed Allan smirking, and she cocked his head at him, "What?"

"Good luuuck," he said simply, in a sing-songy voice and then walked away. As Ælirn's followed him with her eyes, she noticed Genadi walking over and a lump formed in her throat. Maybe he just wants to talk? she thought to herself, Yeah, he could just want to talk. Definitely. Just. Talk.

Then he opened his mouth, and Ælirn had to accept what she'd already really known. "Um, please stop that," she said as her face turned red, then she realised that could be misconstrued and words starting spilling out of her mouth, "The bowing! We mean the bowing. We're not your Empress and it's weird talking to someone who's just staring at your feet."

"But yes, of course," she said, managing a smile and extending her hand, "We would love to."

------

Prince Allan, meanwhile, was making his way across the ballroom, content that his niece wouldn't have too much trouble with the man. It was, after all, nothing more than a dance. But he was looking for someone to share a dance with himself, and as he scanned the crowds of Lodjains he set his eyes on Princess Anfisa. "Princess Anfisa," he said with a smile as he made his way over to the older woman, giving her a polite bow and gesturing to himself, "Prince Allan of Xæth. I would be more than honoured if you might, perhaps, give me the honour of sharing in this dance with you?"

"You can pick up your phone and call but, at least in Xæth, it is unlikely to go anywhere since the encrypted phone line is used for intranational affairs. So we don't give that number out to anyone. International issues go through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs," Ælirn says, having been silently in thought prior, "This is a step in the right direction, but I do agree that it isn't necessarily much. But, WAIT doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other. A phone-line and a forum both have their merits, can we not just do both? And allow countries to opt in to either, or both, of them?"

Ælirn quickly moved Beatrice's hand from her shoulder. She appreciated the elder monarch's gesture, but hated close contact with people whom she wasn't close and Ælirn had just met Beatrice today. She would've been more calm and collected about it, but the young Empress had other things on her mind. All of Beatrice's words hit close, and simultaneously filled Ælirn to the brim with confidence and crippled her with worry. Beatrice was right, Ælirn knew, after all it wasn't the first time she had heard such words. As Beatrice spoke and more words came from her mouth, Ælirn was reminded more and more of the conversations she'd had with her mother in private and away from prying. And as she remembered those talks, more memories of her mother came unbidden and flooded her mind. Ælirn gritted her teeth and did her damnedest to keep the turmoil in her mind from reaching the surface, and she was successful enough. At least, until the time came to respond to Beatrice.

"I..." was all that left her mouth before she choked on a sob, after which it all came pouring out. Ælirn wanted to say something, anything, but she could only get out a few short words before the sobs stole her breath and she hated it. Hated herself. Her she was, a soon to be Empress having a conversation with a respected world leader and now she was bawling like a child. She even felt tears began to fall and she hated it even more; not only was it embarassing but she she hated how they felt against her face. She wanted to stop, to shove it all into the back of her mind where she could have a nice cry later, but memories of her mother kept coming and it hit her all over again that she'd never see her again. All she could do was close herself tight and rock back and forth, praying she could calm down and fearing that Beatrice would just see her as a weak and frail little girl.

If Ælirn wasn't nervous before, she most certainly was now. She appreciated Beatrice's compliments greatly, but truth be told that was a lot of pressure. Ælirn wasn't even sure if she was truly ready to take on the mantle of Empress; she knew how she wished to rule and she had been raised as heir to the throne, but only a single day away from well and truly becoming the ruler of her nation she worried about how she'd actually get anything done. But she didn't have much of a choice in the matter, so there was no point in dwelling on such thing.

"Well I... I truly appreicate your kind words, and I hope I don't disappoint in the future," she said with a somewhat nervous chuckle, "But anyway, as to what Xæth wants I think establishing embassies would be the first step; I plan on setting up any new embassies in Ælilly to the south. But everything else sounds like a natural progression; I do hope to reduce Xæth's reliance on... less renewable forms of energy and Xæth does have several resort towns on the coast that I'm sure many in Rokkenjima would like to visit."

After a short pause Ælirn speaks again, "But, I suppose I should ask you the same thing. What does Rokkenjima see in a relationship with Xæth?"

"Well, I hope that my enthronement is far, far calmer than that," Ælirn said, not entirely certain how to respond to talk of terrorists, nuclear threats, and assassination, "But yes, I suppose a personal touch is nice. Although I have to admit I haven't had much personal experience dealing with republics."

Then the Empress smiles, "But anyway, if you would follow me to a private sitting I've set aside for my personal conversations tonight?"

After the very short walk to the private room Ælirn takes a seat at the table and offers Beatrice a seat as well as any refreshments she might desire. "Empress Beatrice, again I have to thank you for your kind words earlier. I am... very appreciative of them," she says, then takes a deep breath before smiling, "But, I have to agree that it would be lovely to form bonds between our nations. And I would very much like to visit Rokkenjima in the future."

"I was... Making a joke... You know, with crowned monarchs being exempt from the bowing and me not having a crown... So I'd technically be 'uncrowned'," she says awkwardly, then sighs, "But yes, thank you. And I'll look forward to your announcement."

Then she compose herself, "But it was a pleasure talking to you two." She stands and leads the pair back to the throne room with a polite smile before scanning the crowd for her next target, which she honed in on quite easily.

"Empress Beatrice," she said with a smile, "I hope your short time her in Xæth has been satisfactory; we are all very appreciative that you took the time to attend my enthronement yourself."

"Well Prince Albrecht did say WAIT is meant to be quick, and face-to-face communications are slower. Representatives need to be briefed by their home nation, assemble together, inform their home nation of whatever decisions were made, and whatnot," Ælirn said, sitting down with nothing but a simple glass of water, "Though, I don't see any reason why WAIT should be permanently limited solely to the phone network, if it works out."

"I mean, school is still a very busy time," Ælirn said in response to Orion and Albrecht's comments about how he had yet to take on the responsibilities of Emperor.

The walk to the private room wasn't very long; it would've taken a few minutes at the absolute longest. While one could describe the room as small, cozy was an equally apt description. There was a hexagonal table in the center of the room around which six chairs were arranged, and several windows allowed in the afternoon light. The pair would also notice a pair of guards stationed right outside the door, who both eyed the foreign Emperor and Regent as they made their way in after Ælirn. The Crown Princess gestured to the pair to have a seat where they wished before she herself chose a seat.


She gestured at a servant standing quietly and demurely in the corner before speaking, "If you want any refreshments, you need only ask me."

"But first I would like to talk about the, um, I suppose one could say 'incident' during introductions earlier," Ælirn says slowly, "And you have my sincerest apologies. There are certain thins which should have been communicated beforehand which, uh, obviously weren't. But my Aunt is looking into it to find out who exactly is to blame so that they will be reprimanded for it. It was... Inexcusable."

Ælirn graciously took the glass of water and started to slowly sip it. "Crown Princess? That's a rather strange title to use," Ælirn said, thinking allowed, "Er, We just mean it's usually reserved for heirs. To, like, differentiate them from all the other Princes and Princesses there are, we mean. It's not usually used for royal consorts really, I don't think." She stopped her babbling and practically buried her face in her glass, avoiding eye contact with Lord Pajari and hoping she hadn't offended him in any way. Prince Allan chuckled and patted the Empress' shoulder, though he paid close attention to every word coming from Lord Pajari's mouth.

"Royal marriage fares pretty well, we have to say," Allan said, answering for his still embarrassed niece, "Though it's been a fair bit since the last Prince or Princess was married since my nieces and nephews, as well as myself, still remain unmarried. Hopefully a situation we over in Xæth hope to remedy soon."

Ælirn had no addition to that except to perhaps sink into her seat a bit more in embarassment.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

By the time the car arrived and the imperial pair stepped out of the car Ælirn had managed to brush her embarrassment aside, or at least bury it for the moment. She stood proud and regal as she made her way to the High Priestess, not letting any of her worries or anxieties breach the surface of her demeanor. The pair of them naturally stayed to undergo the purification ritual, seeing as how neither had undergone it previously. The two quietly stood as the ritual was done, though after the pair made it to the barge Allan groaned and ran his hand over his hair. "Lovely," he said, unamused as he picked a grain of salt out of his hair, "Salt. Why salt? No, seriously. Why salt?"

"She explained why it was salt, weren't you paying attention?" Ælirn asked, obviously confused, "And it's not that much, anyway."

"I... I didn't mean that literally, Ælirn," Allan sighed, "And why aren't you bothered? You hate things getting in her hair."

"We are ignoring it for the sake of decorum," the Empress replied, her face stoic and imperious before she cracked a grin and laughed, "No, it's just fine if we're prepared. And like we said, it's not much."

The two mostly continued chatting to themselves in Xæthoon as the group made their way to the Palace, though they certainly took in the scenery as well. Ælirn was quite enamored; she'd been outside Xæth so few times that it was still wondrous all by itself and the preparations she saw reminded her of certain festivals in Xæth. And by the time they reached the railway Ælirn had numerous sets of daisy chains in her hands. She couldn't refuse the local children, as that would be rude, but she couldn't really slip them onto her arms like she'd noticed one of the others in the group do. It wasn't that she already had numerous pieces of jewelry on her arms, though she did, but because the sleeves of her fur coat didn't exactly give her as much access to her arms as she needed to slip them on easily. Allan gave a quiet chuckle when he noticed his niece carrying all the daisy chains, and Ælirn shot him a dirty look.

She was still carrying them in her hands when she entered the palace, the thought of just leaving them somewhere never having even crossed her mind. And her chest tightened as King David commenced his handshakes. Her eyes darted back and forth between her two hands as her mind raced, trying to figure out what to do with the two fistfuls of daisy chains. Thankfully she was saved before King David arrived when her Uncle held out both of his hands. She quickly transferred them over with a quick "thank you" as King David arrived.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, King David. We hope you've been well," Ælirn said with a smile, as she shook the fellow monarch's hand.

"Oh, and please allow us to introduce my uncle Prince Allan," she said, gesturing at the man who looked more like her brother than anything else.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, you Majesty," Allan said, giving a respectfully low nod of his head.

"Undecided," Yxa answers with a grin, "What's the point in choosing before I get a chance to try everything? I'd hate to be stuck in a major I hate, you know?"

"Biology," was Aaxa's simple reply.

"So, what are you guys studying?" Yxa asked, quickly beginning the process of unpacking her belongings when she was interrupted by the breakfast announcement, "Hmmm, you know what? I'm actually pretty hungry; you guys want to grab something to eat?" She grins at the twins and their brother while Aaxa continues unpacking, seemingly paying little attention to her sister or her conversation.

Ælirn had decided to attend this meeting personally, although she had to admit to herself that perhaps she was taking a bit too much personal initiative. She'd been to how many events in the past few months? The past few weeks? She needed to start delegating these sorts of things to other people, but that was so much more work than just going herself. But she decided to push those thoughts out of her mind for the moment; she needed to focus on the event she was in the middle of attending. Upon arriving in the reception room she shook Albrecht's hand with a smile, though it was perhaps a tad awkward as while she understood the simple gesture it was still one that was foreign to her.

"It is nice to see you again," Ælirn said, a polite smile on her face, "And I am excited at the prospect of greater cooperation in the region, I must say."

The Most Serene and Celestial Empire of Xæth approves the targets set out and is willing to abide by them.