Mandat de l'impératrice des Cieux - Imperial Princess Troubleshooter Space Opera Quest

The winning options:

[X] Princess Yui: Imperial Court (Politics)
[X] Daniel O'Farrell (Intel +)


So it has come to this, you think to yourself, as you stand before the doors to the Empress' audience chamber, in the Imperial capital world of Jinko-sei.

You had been torn on what to wear - court dress, perhaps? There had been that new hanbok Mother had commissioned for you, or that new set of formal robes, but no, the summons was for Vice Admiral HIH Princess Yui of Akasha IN, not just Princess Yui of Akasha, so that implicitly stipulated you were here in your naval persona. That meant Full Dress. Well, like all naval officers, you do look dashing in Full Dress Blues.

You give yourself a final once-over. Your long dark hair is pulled back and braided in the naval style, your Full Dress uniform is crisp and tailored to flatter your womanly curves. Your medals and decorations are placed with millimetric precision. Your belt is tight against your waist, your stockings are regulation black, your boots are shined to perfection, your sword scabbard gleams and the blade has been oiled and polished, your royal aiguilette is proudly worn on your right side, your appearance is perfect. Your nine tails have been groomed to fluffy perfection. 1st Warrant Xavier from the Academy would surely gaze on you with approval and hold you up as the perfect example of a naval officer.

The doors open and a voice announces you: "Enter, Her Imperial Highness Vice Admiral Princess Yui of Akasha."

You marched a couple of steps forward and wait for the door to close behind you. With the sword straightened at your side, you salute smartly toward the young empress, and continue marching forward until you reach the prepared spot, standing before the microphone. You take the folder from the palace steward, your eyes flicking over the words printed inside. All is indeed as you had expected. You are gratified that protocol is being followed, that things are done properly.

You stand at attention, raise your right hand, and read your oath of obedience to the Empress, swearing your loyalty to her, that you will support and defend the Imperial throne, that you will justly, honestly, faithfully execute the will of the Empress, swearing on your Goddess, Hagoromo-no-Kaneo-no-Mikoto.

You give Empress Meigyoku your oath as the Empress's Imperial Vicereine and she accepts it; you step back from the microphone and bow low to her, then turn and march back to stand amongst the Regency Council, the only witnesses to this audience. Your eyes glance amongst the expressions of the Regency Council; no information to be gleaned there, they're all wearing poker faces just as solid as yours. The Empress, by contrast, is an open book. A riot of emotions flits across her face: defiance, petulance, satisfaction, vindictive triumph. Her expression softens as she makes eye contact with you, and she blushes and ducks her head low, bashfully averting her gaze from your face.

It's the behaviour of a cute, adorable girl, but she can't afford to be that right now, she has to be an Empress, not a maiden. Even if she's only 16, even if she's still grieving over the deaths of her parents.

You discretely motion to one of the palace stewards, who moves to your side. "I need a private audience with Her Majesty," you say directly. "Now."

The steward nods and whispers to his superior, who whispers in the Empress's ear. The Empress nods her assent, and the stewards announce that the Empress urgently requests her Imperial Vicereine to attend to her privately, and that the Regency Council remain in the audience chamber for time being. You break from the assembled Regency Council as soon as protocol allows, swiftly stalking towards the empress like your flagship bearing down on a pirate frigate. The stewards usher the two of you into her private waiting room, closing the door behind them.

"Your Majesty," you say seriously, bowing formally, and the Empress shakes her head, as she gazes at you with unadulterated adoration and seizes your hands.

"Oneesama," she says gushingly. "You don't need to bow to me. You'll always be my oneesama and you can always call me Ahri. Aren't you happy? Now we can be together and you can take care of me and help me run my empire and we can brush our tails before bed and it'll be just like befo-"

"Ahri, stop," you say sternly, and she stops in shock at your tone. You drop your mask, the blank face of a courtier giving way to a naval officer about to give an ass-chewing.

"Oneesama?"

"You made me your vicereine which means that I execute your will and I call you out on your mistakes," you say. She's shocked into silence by your stern tone and expression, and you press on. "This is me calling you out. You've made a mistake and you need to walk it back, right now before it gets worse. Do the words "political shitstorm" mean anything to you?"

"But why?"

If you were a blushing virginal maiden you would have howled to the stars and ripped her throat out with your teeth while pinning her down and asserting dominance like Hagoromo-no-Kaneo-no-Mikoto smacking down the Great Houses. But you're an Admiral of the Imperial Navy, an Imperial Princess of the Blood and you've spent your life training to be a political operator, so you restrain yourself and wield your words like the sword at your side.

"Listen to me carefully. This act is ultra vires, you exceed your authority - don't interrupt me yes I know technically it isn't, you're fully within your rights to do this, in practical terms it is, I'll give you the full lecture later- if you really love me if you really think I'm your oneesama you're going to keep quiet and listen to your oneesama. You cannot bypass the Regency Council in this way, you cannot act unilaterally. You are a minor, the Regency Council rules in your name until you reach your majority, and if you act improperly and unilaterally like this the Regency Council loses confidence in you, and if that happens, at best, they won't confirm you as Empress upon your majority. Worst case, you're giving ammunition for our political enemies to use against us, potentially even costing us the throne."

"Sumeragi's scion is on the Regency Council, and you know they've been eyeing our throne forever," Ahri protests. "I was just trying to keep what belongs to our family out of their hands-"

"You gave them a reason to doubt your competence and political ammunition to use against you. By the Goddess, Ahri, what were you thinking?"

"...it seemed like a good idea at the time," she says, in a small voice, nine tails dropping defeatedly, her face pale and her eyes glassy, and your heart twists at her sadness. There's a part of you that wants to hug her and comfort her and kiss away her tears and pat her head and stroke her tails and promise her that oneesama will fix everything.

You give in. You pull your hands out of her grasp, and then you seize her shoulders - Goddess she's thin, has she been eating properly? - and pull her into a hug. Her tails jerk up in surprise, before settling down and swishing side to side, and you rub her back placatingly and hold her close to your bosom, and pretend you don't hear her soft, hiccuping crying.

"There, there," you say comfortingly. "So you made a mistake, but we can still walk it back, okay? I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at what you did, but I'm always gonna be your oneesama, I'm always going to love you, okay?"

You feel Ahri nod, and you lean down and kiss her forehead, pat her head and stroke her ears. Thank goodness the Coronation hasn't happened yet, there's no way you could headpat her while she's wearing the Imperial Crown. You release her from the hug and lift her chin to meet her eyes, and you give her a comforting smile.

"I'm sorry I scolded you, but I had to do it. So, here's what we're gonna do, okay? We're gonna wipe your tears away and fix your makeup, and then we're going to call the Imperial Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice to meet us, and then we're going to walk this back and fix this, okay? As long as it hasn't been published in the Gazzette, as long as news doesn't leak out, we can still do things. Do you trust me, Ahri?"

"I do, oneesama," she affirms, nodding rapidly.

"Good girl." You reward her with another encouraging hug, and kiss her tears away, and check her makeup - ok, it's still holding, no fixing needed. "Right, you compose yourself now, and I'll get the Imperial Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice in here. We can do this."

"And then, later…?" she trails off hopefully, and you nod.

"Yes, we can brush our tails later."

She gives you a smile of pure happiness and adoration, one you return. As soon as your back is turned your smile goes away and you proceed to the door, purpose and determination in your steps. You exit the room, signal a steward and explain what you want; within moments the steward is ushering in the Imperial Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice. You greet both men, who have knowing looks in their eyes, and you explain to them that yes, that was a tremendous breach in protocol, yes, the Empress made a faux pas with bypassing the Regency Council and appointing you as Imperial Vicereine, but the Imperial Gazette hasn't been published yet, so let's be practical adults here and make this work.

It's Ahri who throws a wrench into the plans. "No matter what, I want my royal cousin here, by my side."

Goddess damn it Ahri. You're not too old for me to give you a spanking, you think. You can taste salt in your mouth at the thought of the morning's events. But instead you respectfully turn to the Imperial Chancellor. "My Lord Chancellor, how would you counsel Her Majesty?"

"As I see it, Your Majesty, Your Highness," says the man who runs the Empire on a day-to-day basis, with a diplomatic and conciliatory tone, "the simplest option is that that I step down from my position as Regent, whereupon you appoint Her Royal Highness Princess Yui as your Regent. I would, of course, remain a member of the Regency Council and would assist Her Highness's regency." You can see in his eyes that he's quite sincere in suggesting this option. Probably because he gets to reduce another source of work and stress in his life.

Ahri's lips part, but she stills at a minute shake of your head. Wait, you mouth at her.

"My Lord, might I suggest an alternative option?" you ask. At his nod, you continue. "My royal father, Prince Masatada, is currently serving as a naval officer on deployment in the Outer Rim. By convention, the Regency Council must include one member of the Royal Family, to serve as a personal voice for the Empress's interests, and he is the most prominent choice. Would it not be possible for me, with Her Majesty's permission, to relinquish my office as Imperial Vicereine and instead take his place on the Regency Council?"

"I have no objections. My Lord Chief Justice?"

"There are no legal issues with either option," affirms the Lord Chief Justice.

"I would suggest a compromise," says Ahri, swallowing and straightening her back. "I would rather my royal cousin retain her office as Imperial Vicereine, and my royal uncle to sit on the Regency Council. But he is, as she has said, on deployment to the Outer Rim. Surely there would be no issue if she remains my Imperial Vicereine, and temporarily sits on the Regency Council, until such a time as my royal uncle returns from the front to take up his duties here?"

The Lord Chief Justice has a wry expression on his face. "Legally speaking, Your Majesty, there is no issue with the option you propose, or indeed with any of the options proposed. What you should consider is the political aspect. There are many things legally allowable that politics makes untenable, and politics sees many things done that are less than fully legal."

"My Lords, I believe we should depart to give Her Majesty some time to consider these options we have presented her," you say, and you turn to leave-

"Wait. Princess Yui, please attend to me."

Well, you did want her to listen to what you had to say.

You lead Ahri to the farthest corner of the room, and you put your heads together, pitching your voices low. "Yui-oneesama, what do I do?" she asks. "I'll listen to what you tell me to do."

You purse your lips and think, a habit you learned from your first CO. "It depends on you and the pros and cons of each choice.

"Making me Regent simplifies matters for you: I'm here, I'm in charge of the Regency Council, the Chancellor can focus on his day job, running the Empire, I can go and get shit done. But there will be more scrutiny on you and me, and there's a risk this might spark conflict with our rivals in the Great Houses. Too much overt favoritism. On the other hand, we can act quite overtly, and that simplifies matters.

"If I give up being Vicereine and sit on the Regency Council, then things go to the status quo. I won't have the same sort of pull, but it's significantly less likely to tilt any of the Great Houses. It would require us to act a lot less overtly and a lot more discreetly, but I think that's fine, because it gives me more time to train you.

"The compromise… well, I'm not fully happy with it. You proclaiming me as Vicereine ruffled more than a few tails out there. Having me as Vicereine sitting and participating in the Regency Council shows that you're not going to be acting unilterally and improperly, but at the same time it's sending a reinforced message to the world that suggests that you don't fully trust the Regency Council, and there are going to be questions about how my role as your Vicereine and my role as an advisor balancing your interests and the best interests of the Empire will conflict."

"I think your most important role is being my oneesama," Ahri asks, smiling bashfully at you and ducking her head. You reach out and ruffle her hair.

"I'll always be your oneesama. But you do need to make a decision."

"You told me to listen to you, oneesama. I'm listening."

Well. Ball's in your court, Yui. Which option are you going to advise the Empress to take?

[ ] Become Regent. You would give up being Vicereine, become the Regent and the head of the Regency Council, and you'd be ruling in Empress Meigyoku's name. But this choice might spark conflict with the Great Houses.

[ ] Member of the Regency Council. You would give up being Vicereine and represent the Royal Family on the Regency Council; if the Empress need you for a personal mission, you would need to quite discrete, but this would be the option of least drama.

[ ] Compromise. Remain Vicereine, but sit on the Regency Council, until your royal father returns from the Outer Rim. Hopefully sitting on the Council would dilute their concerns about the Empress' unilateral action, and you could still act overtly if she needed you to troubleshoot. It does imply the Empress doesn't trust the Council.

Edit: All roads lead to the council because...

Yeah so as the treadmark label says...

I forgot to make this clearer in the text of the update itself, but there's a reason all the options in the update involve you joining the Regency Council.

The Regency Council is a body consisting of 11 members; the council has odd-numbered membership in order to prevent deadlock. It is said that the Regency Council rules in the Empress's name, but as a practical matter it serves as an advisory body to the Empress, and is the Privy Council with 6 additional members representing the Imperial House and the five Great houses. The mandate of the Regency Council is to maintain the political and economic status quo of the Empire, until the Empress reaches her majority and is judged fit to rule. As per the worldbuilding document that the Council put together elsewhere, the membership of the Regency Council is:

1. Imperial Chancellor. By default, he's the Regent and the head of the Regency Council (more or less first among sort of kinda equals). His day job is the day to day administration and running of the Empire.
2. Lord Protector of the Realm. Aka the Minister of Defense, in our terms. He oversees the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Army.
3. Commanding General of the Imperial Royal Guard. He commands the Imperial Royal Guard, which is essentially what happens if the Secret Service, USMC, USN, and JSOC had a baby that was then staffed by foxes. (In Battletech terms, the IRG as a whole is rated Fanatical/Elite. More on them later.)
4. Lord Chief Justice. He's the head of the judiciary, and is supposed to focus more on the law and less on politics. His job on the Regency Council is to try and give legal advice to keep everyone on the legal side of things.
5. Speaker of the Imperial Senate. Represents the Imperial Senate on the Council.
6. Positions 6-10 are filled in by representatives of the Five Great Houses: Sumeragi, Fenghuang, Hoou, Peyrac-Beausoli and Eisenwald. I'll elaborate on them in another post, but generally: Sumeragi remain salty tilted that Hagoromo bitchslapped their ancestor down and they're always on the lookout for ways they can politically strike at the Royal Family. Fenghuang and Hoou generally are politically neutral. Peyrac-Beausoli and Eisenwald historically have been staunch allies of the Royal Family but after 500 years their ardor has cooled somewhat.
7. The final, and 11th position on the council, is, as the narration said, held by a member of the Royal Family. The prime candidate in this case was Prince Masatada, but he's got a day job as an Imperial Navy Admiral who's doing shit, so the backup option was Yui.

So that's why all the options had you being a part of the Regency Council, because right from the start, Yui was supposed to be the 11th member of the Regency Council; in the Alastor and Yonatan routes, Yui would be confirmed as a member of the Regency Council while they'd be the Imperial Viceroy. This is why the Regency Council is so tilted by Empress Meigyoko* proclaiming Yui as Imperial Vicerine, because not only did she overstep her boundaries, but now you're a member of the Regency Council and Viceroy and you're juggling multiple hats and responsibilities and this leads to an imbalance of power, so to speak, especially given how obviously the Empress favors you.


*Her reign name is Meigyoko, but her personal name is Ahri and she still thinks of herself as Ahri. Kind of like how King George VI's personal name was Albert Windsor.