N: BE shrugged, "No one really goes into Grandfather's business, and the only thing he told me was that his plan to free Wald had already started. As for any updates, only he knows and he hasn't said anything else for, as he put it, the 'security of the people involved'."

He looked away, thinking about the fact that an insurgent will end up in his land, "but, there is a problem. Wald is the insurgent responsible in the Kingdom of Prussia, so he can only seek temporary refuge here. He has responsibilities that my Grandfather has given to him, and although I do not support insurgency, as long as he remains outside of his designated land, who knows what will happen when he is gone."

M: "I know, knowing Wald he wouldn't want to leave longer than he has to," Mandoria agreed, "we're just worried for him, we all experience firsthand what it is like under King Prussia's hand, it's scary to imagine what kind of shape he's in right now."

As he finished, Prudoria came stumbling in, looking like he had been through a lot, he took a seat and collapsed onto the table with a groan.

"Esha's been working you hard, huh," his father stated.

"Yeah, she let me take a break," Prudoria muttered, "I should have pressed for details before I volunteered to be a guinea pig, my head hurts so much and I've probably thrown up about a dozen times, but as long as it keeps Prussia away, I'll just hang on."

N: "Don't over-exert yourself, Prudoria," BE advised, "even if it is something to target Prussia, don't make it so that it incapacitates you as well in the process. Let's try keeping you all for a couple of days, shall we?"

M: "Yeah, I know, but Esha also can't figure out how to get her spell to not affect me if I don't help her," he pointed out, "it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation."

"But you can still take lots of breaks," Mandoria told him, patting his hand, "we've got over a week to prepare, we've got time."

Prudoria nodded, "Yeah, Esha actually had to force me to take a break, I kept insisting we continue despite her telling me to take a breather, I'll probably listen to her better now."

N: "I see, like father like son," BE quietly commented before standing up, "I should get going now, the paperwork won't sign itself. If you need anything from me, you can find me in my office." With that, he walked towards the door; however, before he opened it, Ireland and Royal stumbled in with Anglo close behind.

"Hey, BE," Royal cheered, ignoring the fact that the empire was looking at the pair with confusion, "oh yeah, before I forget, Askad may be sleeping in the cellar to hibernate and," she handed the letter to him, "may be important to know before FE arrives."

"Ok," the other replied cautiously as he walked around them before disappearing.

The older country proceeded to lead the pair to the table so that they were sat and stable before he himself was seated. "Found these two at the Unicron," he chuckled, "and proceeded to run through the corridors so that they weren't caught by Cetica."

M: Mandoria laughed, "Oh dear, it's my boys all over again, you would not believe how many times Rowen and I caught them trying to sneak back home after a night out at the local tavern, though I will admit that Rowen was the one to discipline them more than I."

"Why does alcohol make people act so weird," Prudoria asked, "Prussia drank a bit, it actually made him a little nicer for some reason, not by a lot but it was noticeable."

"Oh, that explains a lot actually," Mandoria said, "I always thought he was just in a very good mood those days, maybe we should tell Esha to protect us with a drunk spell instead of the deterrent."

N: "If Esha is using Prudoria to test out the effects of the spells, then wouldn't he feel the same effect and just be drunk the entire time," Anglo asked, "personally, I wouldn't risk seeing a happy Prussia and rather not see him at all."

"But it would be interesting to see," Ireland pointed out, "a drunk, happy Prussia."

"Those words shouldn't be put together," Royal mumbled, "it just sounds wrong."

M: "It really does, not to mention there is a difference between a happy King Prussia and a nice King Prussia," Mandoria pointed out, "the man is happy with himself and what he does, he takes pleasure in causing the suffering of others."

"Can we stop talking about Prussia please," Prudoria grumbled, "all we've been talking about is him and I'm sick of it.  Can we talk about my brothers instead, I'm so excited to meet them.  Anglo, Father told me that you helped my oldest brother get Saxon to eat a bug, how did you two do that?"

N: Anglo laughed a bit from the memory before recounting the story, explaining in detail Saxon's reaction when he realized what happened. "The trick is to confuse him," the country explained, "sure, he was on high alert, but I guess I didn't pose as a threat so he just was there in shock."

"Do you think you could recreate it," Royal asked, "so we could see it?"

"Doubt it," the Englishman shrugged, "he does learn so it would be pretty hard to do it again."

"Yet somehow we're able to scare him with a snake multiple times," Ireland stated.

M: "Poor Saxon, he's got such a rough time being here," Mandoria chuckled, "if I were pranked on this much I would stay away from home too."

Quinn finally decided to remind everyone of his existence by squeaking as he jumped out of Mandoria's lap, running back to his siblings to wrestle again.  Prudoria then noticed that England was still sleeping with Edel and was slightly confused. "Does Mr. England know that he's sleeping with Edel," he asked.

"Yep, he's Edel's first child, as we like to joke," Mandoria explained, "it's a long story, but honestly I think he's becoming more of a nanny now that the cubs are in the mix."

N: "The old man is only good with kids," Ireland grumbled.

"Aww, is jealous Ireland coming though," Royal teased, poking the Irishman while he just frowned, "it's ok, at least your father isn't annoying you."

"True," he shrugged, "and seeing him as a son is confusing too." The Irishman paused for a moment before slowly turning to Anglo, who just looked at his grandson in confusion.

"You do realize I am his father," the Englishman stated.

"Yeah, just remembered."

M: Mandoria and Prudoria were also confused by the statement but decided not to comment on it, instead, they decided that they were going to see what they could get for lunch.  After a few minutes, everyone in the dining room had gathered at the table to eat, Edel even woke up England to get some nutrients.

Later on, Uskaine came in, but he frowned when he saw who was there, more like who wasn't there, "has anyone seen Heinrich, he and Callum had left the infirmary about two hours ago and now I can't find them anywhere."

N: Everybody shook their head, "they should be somewhere inside the compound," Anglo spoke, "after all, Heinrich does have a cold."

"Who knows," Erna questioned the country, "but as long as Callum is with him, he should be fine. Who was the last person to see Callum?"

She glanced over to Maisie, who was trying to sneak some chicken off her plate to feed Alcis, and failed miserably, and when she realized she was watched, she instantly stuffed the piece of chicken she was about to feed the Great Dane into her mouth without a second thought.

"The last time I saw my brother was when he was with Heinrich, and he said that they were just going to explore around and that he would come back," she recounted, "but he didn't, but luckily Alcis here came and kept me company, isn't that right boy," to which the dog happily barked

M: Uskaine was worried about the lack of knowledge of where his son was, he and Askad still had PTSD from almost losing Sofia, they didn't want anything like that to happen to their children again.

"Well, if anyone does spot them, please tell them that Askad and I are worried about Heinz," he said, "we don't want to lose another child, Sofia was very lucky that we found her, if Heinz disappears I don't think we could handle that again."  With that the centaur left to keep looking, Sofia got down from the table to join her father.

"Poor Uskaine and Askad, I know what it's like being so terrified of losing a child," Mandoria declared, "the Prussians were always targeting Mandara, Derogan, and Johann when they were little, Rowen and I were so afraid of them playing in the woods alone, that at any moment they could have been captured, or worse."

N: "No parent deserves that kind of stress," Scotland commented, "I could only imagine what you went through."

"I guess that's the benefit of living on an island," England noted.

"So that means that you spend the rest of your time fighting amongst yourselves," Royal mumbled, getting a little chuckle from Ireland, "so now your sons have to worry about internal conflicts.

M: "And this is why I swore off having kids after Neflen," Esha commented, "I have nothing against it, having children certainly has its upsides, but for someone like me, who thrives in the solitude of the wilderness, kids are just unnecessarily stressful."

"Hah, try having three sons who lived off making their parents stressed," Rowen laughed, pulling Johann into a headlock, "this little stinker and his brothers would go out of their way to make us miserable and enjoyed it, isn't that right, Finzykins." He then proceeded to give Johann quite the noogie.

N: "Hezyka, seriously," Johann yelped as he tried to pull away but Rowen had an iron grip so he eventually gave up and just tried to swat his father away instead. Everyone started to laugh, with Gwyneth trying their best to not laugh but failing, but Wolfgang laughed loudly at the Mandorian's predicament.

"If it's so funny," Gwyn smirked at Wolfe, "let your father do it to you."

"Nein," Wolfgang and Alaric said in unison, and the way that the former quickly changed his expression to annoyance and their synchronization made everyone laugh even more.

M: Rowen eventually let go, gently ruffling Johann's hair as a sign of "no harm done", Mandoria and Prudoria both tried to contain their laughter but failed, laughing even harder at Wolfgang and Alaric's denial to participate.

A little bit later, Esha's fox familiar had materialized out of nowhere with a letter in her mouth, her owner took it and quickly scanned it, frowning a little.

"BE, it's from the Russian Empire, he says that they might be delayed," she explained, she had been helping BE keep tabs on the guests that were coming, to make sure a certain someone doesn't sneak in, "There are some terrible snowstorms that have destabilized the mountain range he travels through, he has to take a longer route or risk being buried in an avalanche."

N: BE winced at the news, resting his chin in his hand as he tried to figure out how to make do with the new information. "Hopefully he gets here on time for the ball," the empire spoke.

"If he's late," PE asked, "does that mean that he'll miss the meeting?"

"No, we cannot go ahead without RE present, so ... the meeting has to be held after the ball," the Brit sighed as he placed his fork down on his plate, suddenly losing his appetite, "hopefully there aren't any major issues that have to be discussed." He glanced up at the Portuguese, and when the other gave him an uneasy look, it only confirmed his suspicions.

"I'll have the plans changed discreetly so that RE isn't blamed for the delay," BE decided, getting up from his seat as he no longer felt hungry, "and hopefully the other empires don't say a word until after the ball." With that, he excused himself and left the dining hall.

M: "Is this how politics always is," Esha grumbled, "it seems like nothing is ever right."

"Pretty much, someone's always either late or just doesn't show up," Mandoria shrugged, "you try to get used to it, but it's certainly frustrating when there is something important happening that can not be delayed."

"I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore," Neflen declared, "being the captain of the police is kind of similar, except rather than deal with politics we had to deal with eternals who got their hands on what the humans called 'drugs', I knew that opening trade with them was a bad idea."

N: "The Portuguese and British know a couple of things about trading with drugs," Castile spoke, "isn't that right, brother?"

PE gave him the side eye, "I'm a businessman doing business, and I just so happened to find out that a particular substance sells well. It's the British who are doing some next-level shit," he glanced over to Royal, "isn't that right?"

"What can we say," she grumbled, "we're the best at getting what we want, but like what you said, it's just business." She faced Neflen and added, "Don't open this can of worms."

M: Neflen growled, "Can of worms, you know NOTHING of what opioids can do to someone.  I've seen eternals rip each other to shreds over a single rock of meth, I've witnessed a draconic man set several blocks on fire from a week-long smoke binge of weed.  Drugs are nothing to mess with, you may think it's just business, but I can tell you firsthand that you are selling prepackaged death to your citizens.  You're basically doing your enemies a favor and destroying your own countries for them."

Now angered, Neflen gruffly stood from the table and marched out of the dining hall, no one knew how to respond to that, so they just sat in awkward silence

N: Both Royal and PE watched as Neflen left, to which the former said, "he didn't realize that it's the other way round right? That we're giving it to other countries?"

"Nope," the Portuguese shook his head.

"You've been to China recently?"

"Yep," the empire nodded solemnly, "seems like Wilfred's plan is doing the trick."

The Brit hummed in acknowledgment before announcing, "Well, since that can of worms has been spilled, does someone have something to say that could make it less depressing?"

M: No one spoke up, no one really knew how to respond to this situation, the Mandorians never had those kinds of problems, sure some of the medicine they used had questionable ingredients, but everyone used them responsibly.  With the atmosphere becoming more and more uncomfortable, people started leaving one by one until it was just Mandoria, Prudoria, Saxon, and Royal.

Prudoria was falling asleep on his father's shoulder, which both amused and concerned Mandoria, but he decided to pay it little mind for now.  Instead, he took the opportunity to ask Saxon when Wald and Chrysalis would be arriving, and if he knew how bad of shape they were in.

N: "I would give it a couple of days," Saxon estimated, "I don't exactly have the privilege to ask the person helping the two updates because of their proximity to Prussia."

"Can you trust this mystery person?" Royal asked.

"There are two types of people in my business," the entity spoke, "ones who work out of duty, and others who do it for the thrill. The one I chose is from the second group, and it just so happened that they are the best person for the job. Trust is a strong word, but I definitely have faith that they will be successful in this task."

He turned back to Mandoria, "And as for your second question, I have no idea. No updates."

M: Mandoria nodded, it was better than nothing even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, at least Wald was alive, that's what was most important.

Prudoria suddenly flinched in his sleep, groaning as he opened his eyes, only they didn't look like before, now they had black sclera like Saxon's.  He looked around like he didn't know where he was, but paused when he caught Saxon's gaze.

"Hallo alter Freund, vielleicht hast du dieses Mal gewonnen, aber ich werde am Ball zuletzt lachen. Sagen Sie dem lieben Anglo, ich habe hallo gesagt, ich habe seine Flügel bald hier, wie ich es in Sachsen haben sollte," (Hello old friend, you may have won this time, but I'll have the last laugh at the ball.  Tell dear Anglo I said hello, I'll have his wings here soon, as I should have in Saxony.) he said, a malicious smile gracing his lips.

And just like that, the Prussian stood up and walked away, Mandoria watching him in confusion, not understanding what he said.

N: Saxon was in utter shock, unable to move as he processed what happened. As confused as Mandoria, Royal got up from her seat and waved in front of the entity's face, "Earth to Saxon, are you here? Saxon, what happened?"

It took him a minute to snap back into reality, and the hybrid was further confused when she could see fear in his eyes. "What happened," she reiterated.

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I-I need to find Anglo. Now."

"Ok, ok," the other replied, and as she watched the entity get up from his seat, she added, "Oh yes, that reminds me. Ire and I met Alastair at the Unicorn, and he said that he was working for you, but in the end he spoke German before he left.

Saxon stopped in his tracks when he heard the news. He knew he couldn't trust the ex-cadet, he was human after all, but this only added to his suspicions. "I give you permission to kill him on sight," he ordered before rushing out of the hall.

Royal stood there in confusion, wondering why the entity said that, but also keeping a mental note to discuss this with BE. "Anyway," she sighed as she faced Mandoria, "do you want to follow your son before he walks off the face of the Earth?"

M: Mandoria looked between Royal and where Prudoria left, a little hint of fear tugging at him, "that's probably a good idea, though maybe you could come with me, just in case."

The two hopped up and tried to catch up with Prudoria, yet despite only a few seconds passing, he was nowhere in sight, Mandoria couldn't even feel his wing vibrations.  Despite this setback, the country headed to the one place he was sure that Pruds would be; the infirmary.  When they got there, sure enough, Prudoria was in his bed fast asleep, adding to their confusion.

Mandoria tried to wake his son but he was out cold, like he's been asleep for hours, it didn't make any sense.

N: Royal was equally as confused, calling Prudoria's name to see if he would respond.

"Well, umm, that happened," she muttered before turning to Mandoria, "he doesn't look distressed and he seems like he's ok at the moment so I wouldn't worry too much, but maybe we should learn a bit more when he wakes up."

M: "I guess so, I'm just concerned about what he said to warrant a reaction like that from Saxon," Mandoria said, "I've never seen him that scared before, the only times I've heard of such a response from him was twice when he first came to my kingdom, one time was when Anglo was wounded, another was a reminder of his father."

"What's going on with Pruds," Sabeth asked, looking up from his book, and when Mandoria explained what happened he hummed with interest, "That sounds like a case of possession from Pruds's creator.  Realistically speaking, he is a type of golem, a creature given life to serve its master, so even if he isn't made of stone and has sentience, he's still bound to his master by law, and must serve him as his master see's fit."

"But Prudoria escaped King Prussia, he has no hold over him anymore," Mandoria rebuked.

Sabeth shook his head, "golems cannot escape their creators, it's magically impossible, Prussia has the power to kill him as soon as he left his confines, he's still alive, so that means that he's doing exactly what his master wants, which I would assume is spying on you, he is Prussia's eyes and ears, anything Pruds sees or hears, he can as well."

N: Royal hummed in interest, "that explains a lot," she commented, glancing at the sleeping Prussian. She let out a large sigh, "Mandoria, if what Sabeth is saying is true, Prudoria is not to leave the compound for any reason whatsoever, and if he were to leave the infirmary, he is to be accompanied."

Before Mandoria could protest, she continued, "This is nothing personal, but I cannot have Prussia knowing more about this place, and honestly, it was smart of him, for both of them, to not reveal it for the last couple of months, giving him time to gave any information he wants. Anything that we said in front of him, any plans to stop Prussia, is all in the bin, and now we need new ways to prevent him from coming."

The Brit paused for a moment, then suddenly she facepalmed, "Esha was using Prudoria for the spell to deter Prussia. Now that's useless too."

M: Mandoria gave no response, he was too shocked to do so, and had too many questions burning in his mind.

"Does he know that Prussia is using him, Sabeth," the country asked.

"I'm not sure, his mission would be pointless if he didn't, but then again, would be the perfect alibi as well," the rougarou shrugged, "what I fear is the fact that Prussia revealed himself, in front of Mr. Saxon of all people.  That says to me that he has all the information he needs, so he doesn't need Prudoria anymore ... which means ..."

Mandoria's eyes widened in horror, he put his fingers to the young Prussian's neck to feel for a pulse, he didn't move for a minute,  then sighed in utter relief, he was still alive, so he shook Prudoria a little more to wake him up.

Prudoria groaned in pain, he opened his eyes and looked at his father, they were still black but he seemed to not be possessed anymore, as he reached up to Mandoria and pulled him closer.

"P-Prussia ... n-no longer holds me," he whimpered, "n-need someone ... to c-connect to ... slipping away ... p-please help."

Mandoria was again shocked but understood what he was talking about, he stood up and ordered Royal, "Go get an eternal, however Prussia was connected to Prudoria is gone now, he won't make it without someone to connect to, Odrus connected to Chrysalis, so someone else must know how to do that too."

N: "On it," Royal nodded as she rushed out of the infirmary while the medics were trying to find a way to keep Prudoria awake as long as possible. It didn't take long, and soon the hybrid returned with Esha, explaining to her what was happening.

"She's the first person I found," the Brit spoke to the Mandorian before turning to the Eternal, "you do know how to make the connection, right?"

M: "Uh, kind of, I read about it once but I never actually attempted it before," Esha admitted, still in slight shock at what she was told, "though making a connection to a created creature rather than a born one is much different than the one Odrus did."

"Whatever you need to do just do it," Mandoria stated, "I don't want to lose another son, and not be able to get him back, please just help him."

Esha nodded, she dug into her memories for what she needed to do, it was so long ago that she read that book.  Luckily, Sabeth stepped in to help, even if he was a little miffed at being forgotten he didn't hold it against Mandoria, they barely ever interacted after all.

The canine eternal took Esha's dagger and made a cut on her hand, enough for a little bit of blood to leak out.  Doing the same to Prudoria, he joined their hands so their blood would mix, then whispered to Esha the incantation.

Esha took a deep breath, preparing herself to be Prudoria's new master, and spoke as calmly as she could, "I, Esha Nerith Flamewrath, declare myself as the new master of this creature of wood and stone, to obey my command till the day I shall give my last breath, and in turn grant it life."

Blue and silver mist flew from her and Prudoria's hands, intertwining until they both became one solid blue cord connecting their energies.  When it disappeared, Prudoria let out a relieved sigh, his body becoming reenergized and his color already coming back.

Mandoria gently pulled his son close and hugged him tightly, the other hugging back and mouthing "thank you" to Esha, who nodded in reply.

N: "So, I guess that one crisis averted," Royal commented, "however, what I said before still stands. Even if Prussia no longer controls him, I have ... a hunch that he knew what he was doing so he needs to be questioned when he wakes up. I know it's harsh, but every precaution now has to be taken, something we didn't do before when he first came, until we are sure of his intentions."

The hybrid turned to Mandoria, "Do you, Mandoria, want to raise any objections to what I have said? You are his father after all, and if not, I'll go and report to BE about our breech in security."

M: Mandoria turned to Royal, contemplating what she said before sighing in defeat, "No... I have no qualms with taking precautions, my only request is that any punishment BE want's to give Prudoria be directed to me.  This is all my fault, I was too soft to see the dangers, just like I always have been, I never want to see the threat in a person, and that ultimately led to my downfall.  Just please, don't let BE hurt my son, let him punish me if he must, just not Pruds."

N: Royal sighed, "I will forward your request to him but it's not a guarantee. Rulers cannot have favorites and have to treat everyone equally under the law, and if evidence is found that Prudoria has broken a law, BE would have to punish him."

The Brit soon stood up straight and composed, her eyes flickering between everyone before landing on Prudoria, "As I, Royal, am responsible for the security of this nation, I announce that Prudoria is now under investigation, and anyone who attempts to intervene without the permission of either I or BE will be charged for obstruction of justice, and will be punished accordingly." She faced one of the servants in the infirmary, "repeat this to all of our guest and residents so that they all may be aware," to which the servant nodded and swiftly left.

Shaking her head, the hybrid was about to leave when she remembered something, "Esha, I understand that you now are Prudoria's master, so I don't you to even try to help him either, even subconsciously. I don't know how this magical connection works, but I'm not taking my chances." Not waiting for a reply, the Brit turned away and left the infirmary.

M: Esha merely gave Royal the side eye, she didn't want to be known as a master, and definitely didn't want Prudoria to be treated like this when he was so close to death.

"I am no one's master, I'm simply a host to keep Prud alive," she grumbled, then said to Mandoria, "I assure you, you're son has free will, he wouldn't have been traumatized by Prussia if he wasn't.  With that being said, I don't care what Royal says, I won't let her and BE bully Prud again, if they so much as raise their voice to him they will regret it, mark my words."

Mandoria chuckled ruefully at Esha's determination, "Thank you, Esha, I'll need all the help I can get."

The eternal nodded, then sat down so she could have her hand treated, while Mandoria lay his son down to rest and have his hand treated too.

About two hours later, Prudoria was just barely awake, the sudden drainage and replenishing of life energy took a toll on him and made him feel quite fatigued and nauseous. Esha had gotten Rowen and Johann and told them what happened before anyone else could, so the two had come to comfort Prudoria as best as they could, the Prussian mostly just holding his brother's hand while he tried to keep his lunch down.

N: "Not too quickly," Johann spoke softly as he helped Prudoria eat, "take your time, ok?" He gently squeezed the Prussian's hand as if to say that everything was ok before glancing over to his fathers to see how they were holding up too.

After a while, Anglo walked into the room, looking pretty shaken up, but he put on the best smile he could and walked over to the Mandorians. "I got the notice on what's happening," he said, "and I just wanted to see if Pruds was alright."

M: "He's feeling a bit nauseous, but at the same time hungry," Rowen informed him, "Johann wanted to be the one to help him out, he didn't take the news very well."

"We've tried to tell Prudoria what happened, apparently he didn't remember, and he hasn't said a word since then," Mandoria explained, "he won't look at anyone, he barely acknowledges anything that is said to him, only Johann has been able to get through to him."

As he said that, Prudoria put down the bowl of soup he was eating and put his hand over his mouth like he was about to throw up, a nearby nurse reacted quickly and handed him a trash can before he could make a mess.  After a few minutes and nothing else came up, Prudoria began to quietly cry, his emotions were so jumbled up and he didn't know what else to do.

N: Johann quickly got up and sat beside Prudoria, gently pulling him into a hug as he rubbed the other's back. "It's ok," the Mandorian whispered, closing his eyes as he slowly swayed his brother, "It's ok, Pruds. Let it all out."

M: Prudoria gripped his brother and cried into his shoulder, his feathers shaking from the pain and frustration he was feeling.  Mandoria and Rowen also sat with the two and hugged them tightly, the former protectively covering his family with his wings, trying to shield them from the terrible world outside the feathers.

Prudoria eventually cried out all the tears his body had and could only sniffle defeatedly, still not letting go of Johann.  Mandoria did let go but only to ask Anglo how Saxon was doing, and perhaps if he knew what Prudoria said to him.

N: Anglo tensed up when he heard the question, already the nervousness he had been fighting to suppress for the last couple of hours had returned, his wings puffing up slightly before he subconsciously smoothed them down.

"I've been trying to calm Saxon down the moment he saw me earlier," the Englishman answered, "he's scared out of his mind for me so he's not in a good state of mind right now. As for what Prudoria said, he-he said-"

At this point, the country slowly hugged his wing, trying to stop shaking from the image of his scared husband and how he equally shared his feelings. "Remember all those years ago, when Saxon and I were in your kingdom, that's when we discovered that Prussia presented an ultimatum to Saxon, and we both know which one of the two choices he chose." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Now I believe that Saxon has been successful at freeing Wald and Chrysalis from Prussia's grasp, so he threatens that, if he were to be at the ball, he will do the other choice of the ultimatum. He ... he will challenge me to an aerial duel and take my wings."

M: Mandoria blinked at that, he couldn't believe Prussia would say that, out of his son's mouth at that, he was silently grateful that Prudoria didn't remember saying that, he wouldn't have taken it well.

"That's not going to happen," Mandoria said, "if that's what Prussia meant then I wouldn't have my wing right now, would I?  Knowing him, he wants you the same way he wants me, but probably also as a bargaining chip, to get Saxon to do what he wants him to do.  Either way, no one will let him do that, I know over a dozen people under this roof alone who will fight the bastard if he dared to even look at you."

The former king put a hand to his heart and bowed his head, "I sware on my wings that no harm will come to you or anyone else, you all are my family, and I will do whatever it takes to protect you."

N: Anglo stepped back a bit, caught completely by surprise by what Mandoria did. "I-I -," he stuttered, letting himself process what happened before he lowered his wings in respect and he too bowed his head, "I have never doubted your ability to protect us like family, your heart proves it, and I thank you."

The Englishman seemed a bit more relaxed, although the new information did startle him and it was lingering in the back of his mind. He dismissed it for now as he excused himself from the room to see to Saxon while wishing Prudoria a speedy recovery, and with that, he was gone.

M: Mandoria watched as Anglo left, he hoped he gave the country some peace of mind about the matter, he fully intended to keep his promise, swearing on one's wings was a very serious oath after all.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sabeth said from the corner, "you've been through this before, you know what the outcome will be, and you're willing to give up your wings for a lost cause."

"Sabeth, you are willing to give your life to rescue people who are most likely dead," Mandoria grumbled, "don't be hypocritical about this."

"I'm not hypocritical, I know my mission will be successful," the eternal said, "I'm not wasting my time pursuing an impossible outcome, Royal told me that at least one other eternal is out there, a satyr by the sounds of it.  You on the other hand, how can you possibly expect to defeat someone who is even more powerful than when they last defeated you, an idiotic thing to risk your wings over."

N: "Hey, don't speak to my father like that," Johann frowned. He wanted to go and confront the Eternal but Prudoria was clinging onto him tightly, so he spoke from where he sat.

"I get that you're all about logic, but you heard what my father said," he defended, "we are all family, and whether you like it or not, we protect the people we hold dear. So ja, Prussia may be stronger than Father, but it is his love for the people who he cares about is what makes him the person he is. He's willing to lose his wings to take care of someone when the odds are against him, so instead of criticizing him, why don't you take him as an example."

M: "How about you don't speak to me like I'm a five-year-old, child," Sabeth barked, literally, "I've been around a very long time, I've lived, I've loved, I've lost, so don't lecture me like you know better than me.  I'm doing the same thing you're father is, except I know that my rewards outweigh the risks, I have nothing to lose, and Mandoria has everything to lose, take your pick on who's is better."

"Don't you talk to my son like that," Mandoria growled, he stepped forward to teach the rougarou a lesson but was immobilized by an invisible force.

"Maybe you should teach your son some manners," Sabeth said calmly, "here we are, having a normal discussion and he butts into it, not knowing anything about what is being discussed.  This is why eternals never bothered to associate with Short-Lives, they're arrogant and think everything is about them, millions of years and nothing has changed, I don't know why I expected better."

With that, Sabeth took his own leave out of the infirmary, Mandoria being allowed to move soon after.