Rudel was on his new aircraft, Schwerts, flying straight to Aster.
He had a bunch of letters from the kingdom to the officials and ambassadors working in Aster.
One of those letters sent was for him.
He wondered how that was possible until he read who it was from—the sender was Rafiel.
The letter said the following:
"Good morning, afternoon, or evening when you read this. I am writing to inform you that your help is slowly assisting the former Commonwealth."
After the war, the Talis Commonwealth lost and was absorbed by the kingdom.
Because the Kingsfort betrayed the kingdom, they were eliminated. This left a vacancy in the title of the Three Lords.
The current Duchy of Talis became the new Third Lord.
But it was only so other kingdoms wouldn't think Altfode was weakening.
In the end, there are only two lords and a replacement from whom no one expected anything.
While reading the letter, Rudel remembered how he met Rafiel.
It was after the war. For Rudel, a group of adults was bothering a child.
He was given his own room, which was guarded by maids.
Rudel had asked permission and entered with a board game.
Rafiel saw him but didn't move from his bed.
Time passed, and Rudel kept entering and playing different board games by himself.
Among them, chess was what caught the young king's attention.
Rudel played poorly. Rafiel remembered his father played a lot and taught him.
He couldn't take it anymore and decided to teach him how to play. Rudel smiled, and so, they spent time together until he returned to the former Commonwealth.
Rudel finished reading the letter and murmured.
"I hope he's doing okay."
◇◇◇
The former Commonwealth, now called the Duchy of Talis.
It was a poor land; its structures were made of stone, not concrete like the kingdom's.
Poverty was evident on the streets and even in the palace.
People lived day to day.
Rafiel took a break and went to the cemetery.
He visited not only his parents' graves but also those who died in the war.
A group of servants accompanied him.
There was another group of people at different graves.
Rafiel prayed to the Priestess for the deceased.
(Mother, father, I hope you are well.)
(I will strive to try to improve our country thanks to the Count's help.)
At a nearby grave, he could hear a woman crying. She had small children beside her.
The children screamed their father's name while the mother clung to his grave.
At the grave to the left side where Rafiel was, a young woman wept.
Her belly was growing.
She was crying at the grave of her brother and her fiancé while tearing at the grass.
Rafiel understood her pain. Everyone's pain. The kingdom had made them suffer greatly, and now they were bound to it.
The girl said something that made Rafiel tremble.
"I curse you. Demon of the Kingdom!"
Rafiel knew who they called the demon. His face was on posters pasted in different places across the country.
He understood and had known Rudel for a few weeks but could tell that Rudel wasn't a bad person, and just like the former Commonwealth, he was only being used.
There were armed forces, officials, and ambassadors from the kingdom sent there.
Among them, a man sent by the kingdom as the new Prime Minister looked at his pocket watch and spoke.
"Grand Duke, it is time to return to work."
The man informed him it was time to return to his duties, but the others protested.
"Be a little more flexible at least at times like this."
"It's obvious you have no idea how long Rafiel-sama has been waiting for this moment."
"This is how people from the kingdom behave."
The servants... the people of the duchy defended Rafiel, but the kingdom's ambassador put on a cold expression.
"Paperwork in the kingdom will be delayed if matters here drag on longer. Besides, I wish you would be more grateful for the fact that we allow you this kind of activity."
From the perspective of the kingdom's inhabitants, they didn't care about the former Commonwealth's circumstances at all.
"Many people died in the territories you invaded. If this is happening to you, it's solely and exclusively your fault."
The man held no positive feelings towards this duchy. In the first place, right now it would also be a bother for the kingdom to invest resources in crushing what remains of Talis Household; they simply let them be. That was the kingdom's stance.
The ambassador sneered upon seeing them.
"Very well. I expect you to be more obedient from now on. Well, even if you tried to oppose, I highly doubt Talis Household is in any position to do anything."
The servants became annoyed hearing how they mocked their king and looked down on them after losing the war. Rafiel noticed the man smiling in a perverse and mocking way.
"If something happened to me, my good friend Count Bradford would not stand idly by. Are you really prepared to face him? And even more so if he saw me hurt, since after all, we are great friends."
The guards of the Grand Duke's house averted their gaze as soon as Rudel's name appeared.
They trembled just remembering how a teenager could destroy an entire army and kill hundreds without being a soldier.
They all lowered their heads and apologized while the ambassador snickered.
Rafiel watched him.
(You're nothing but a fraud hiding behind the Count's name.)
(If he were truly here, you would run away.)
"It is time to go; this was my break."
The servants saw their young king speak words very adult for a child.
"Fine. Let's return to work. Prime Minister Ritzburg is eagerly awaiting the report."
With those words, everyone boarded the carriages.
The ambassador boarded a very decorated and much larger one than the others.
Rafiel boarded his, and as the carriage moved, he watched kingdom ships entering and leaving the sky.
Meanwhile, on the other side, there were strange machines digging into the earth and planting seeds.
Rafiel smiled because Rudel had kept his promise to help them.
He closed his eyes and remembered his father once telling him everything would get better.
When he opened them again, he understood what he meant.
"...Things could have been different for us if we had met before all this. I would have liked to see your island back then."
Rafiel fell asleep reminiscing about the good old days as the carriage wound its way around the hill towards the palace.
The Duchy of Talis will have dark and hard times, but its king's will be not weak. Unlike in the game, they will see the light of a new day because no one knows more than Rudel and Ixion about the wonders of fruits and harvests they will be able to sell in the future.
In a selfless way, Rudel saved the Commonwealth after the war.