The Baron nodded, “See, young maiden, things are like this,” he raised a hand, palm up, “This is royal influence,” he explained, before raising his other hand, balled into a fist, “This is the aristocracy. Now, let’s see what’d happen if the influence of her Ever-Incandescent Royal Majesty rose even closer to the sun.”

  Then he raised his palm up slightly, before hammering it with his fist back down.

  “Incandescent?” The Queen murmured, narrowing her eyes.

  Vissegerd shook his head at the Baron’s antics, before adding his voice to the discussion, “The only way the nobles would agree to such an agency would be if they had a large hand in its operation, making the effort near pointless.”

  I nodded in understanding. There was a clear divide between the nobility in the Capital and the rest of the country when it came to the Royals, so this didn’t come as a surprise.

  I had planned a solution to this before even requesting the audience. It had required a lot of trawling through dusty accounting books, but it’d likely work.

  “I have taken this into consideration and I believe the Crown is capable of funding the project on its own, even in secret. Though the subterfuge would naturally lower the amount of funds the Crown could dedicate to this, it should still be doable, as long as proper measures are undertaken.”

  “What measures?” The Queen asked, her voice coloured by curiosity.

  I matched her gaze, “Keeping the scope of the agency limited and the workers specialised, for one. Secondly, granting the agents limited authority to conscript local forces would help greatly. The number of employees could be kept low and their training streamlined, as they’d mostly serve in an investigative role, with combat outsourced to local experts,” I paused for breath, “Thirdly, with a limited number of operatives, couriers could be replaced with magical constructs, both speeding up communications as well as making them much cheaper and safer."

  Couriers, though the predominant method of communication on the Continent, were very much suboptimal. Their training and equipment was expensive, their speed was terrible and there was a very real chance they’d never arrive, whether because of poor luck or interception.

  Granted, magical constructs were not perfect, but they could be camouflaged well enough and flight would always be superior to horse. The reason they weren’t used widely was that they needed periodic maintenance, could be detected by hostile mages, and were much slower than proper communication spells. However, all of these could be handled. Maintenance could be done by me, or another mage in the Crown's employ, and the agents could be taught precautions to hide the constructs from any mages. The relative slowness compared to spells played no role, considering how unrealistic attaching a mage to each squad was.

  As far as I knew, no one had yet tried to utilize constructs in such a way, but I saw no reason why it wouldn’t work with some contingencies.

  "Finally," I continued, "I have also compiled a report of possible spending cuts in the royal budget whose role could be easily replaced by slight increases in bureaucratic efficacy. When combined, I believe the Crown would be capable of financing this matter both without issue and notice."

  Increases in bureaucratic efficacy was a fancy way of describing methods meant to make tax evasion harder for the nobility. Of course, if the nobles honestly paid their taxes, the increase in revenue would be minimal, but that was a bet I was willing to take. The proposed changes were not drastic and rather subtle, so hopefully most will not even notice their real aim.

  “And who would be overseeing these… constructs?” Calanthé asked.

  “Any competent sorceress could do so, Your Majesty. It would not be terribly strenuous for myself, should there be no one else,” I responded.

  The Queen stared at me in silence for at least ten seconds before speaking, “There are no other mages in the Crown’s employ.”

  She stared at me for a moment more, smiling while her eye twitched for some reason. Perhaps she slept badly? Though I had little experience with marriage, I imagined that the absence of one’s long-term partner could prove stressful.

  “I think I am starting to understand,” Calanthé continued, “When you spoke of the Redanian consultant, you meant to coordinate with Philippa Eilhart?”

  “Quite right, Your Majesty. As another disciple of Tissaia de Vries, I believe she would prove amenable,” I explained. Though the Queen’s expression did not change, I was sure she was reevaluating my value internally. While she may be able to obtain the service of another mage to keep watch on Pavetta, the value of my carefully cultivated connections should keep my position secure. Of course, there were many sorceresses much more influential than me, but the vast majority were already situated. I doubted any would be keen on uprooting their lives to come to Cintra, which left just new or recent graduates and I was confident in being the superior option there. While many surpassed me in various magical disciplines, none could boast of a strong personal connection to Tissaia de Vries.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Mhm, like Yennefer of Vengerberg, if memory serves. Foltest also has a few of your sort on his council now, doesn’t he? They wouldn’t happen to be sponsored by Aretuza like you?” Calanthé said, one hand supporting her cheek as she sprawled on her throne more, her posture relaxing.

  I smiled and nodded, “Yes, Triss Merigold’s tuition was sponsored by Aretuza, like mine. Aretuza regretfully cannot afford to sponsor children often, though I am hopeful that the success of myself and Merigold might inspire some change,” I paused, before continuing to espouse the virtues of my alma mater, “Sabrina Glevissig, another graduate, sits on the council of King Henselt in Kaedwen, while Bianca d’Este sometimes helps Queen Meve informally, much like Yennefer of Vengerberg.”

  Sure, I couldn’t actually call upon any of these people, hell, the only ones I had met were Philippa and Triss, but it would not be overly difficult for me to contact any of them and the shared experience of Aretuza made cooperation likely, especially if one factored in my discipleship under Tissaia de Vries and my new position in Cintra.

  One might consider it to be a slight twisting of the truth, but I had not lied. While showing my value had only half worked in my second life, the situation was different here.

  All I needed to do was keep my post here in Cintra and I’d be set for life. The more value Calanthé thought I had, the more inconceivable firing me would become.

  The Queen exchanged a look with Eylembert, before turning back to me, “Most impressive,” she paused, “I will have to think about this, though my initial impression is favourable. We shall talk more on the morrow, you are dismissed.”

  I nodded with a smile, before bowing, “I will go check on the Princess, I believe she is starting to like me.”

  Yes, not only am I competent and well-connected, but your daughter likes me. Or at least the little magic tricks I used to keep her attention. While ingratiating yourself to your employer's family was slimy, there was no real escaping it when spending time with the child was part of your job description. I didn’t even do it on purpose, but I was definitely going to make use of it. In a few year's time, I would hopefully be considered a ‘family friend’ and then my position would be utterly safe.

  After checking on Pavetta and finding nothing out of the ordinary, I left for my tower, already thinking about rat number eleven. The first few had exploded when I had attempted to cast the Double Cross, but the last couple merely mutated beyond recognition before quickly expiring.

  Progress.

  The Queen was rubbing the bridge of her nose, “Did the two of you hear what I just did?”

  Vissegerd grunted.

  “It is no secret that the Brotherhood seeks secular influence, despite their claims,” Eylembert spoke with a conciliatory tone, “Surely you expected something like this?”

  “I didn’t expect her to admit it while grinning like a loon! She is sixteen! What did they do to her in that place?” Calanthé lamented.

  “Magic?” Eylembert asked in an innocent tone.

  The Queen rolled her eyes, before getting back to business, “What do you think of her proposal?”

  “It is… sound,” Vissegerd began carefully, “If her conjectures of Nilfgaard’s intelligence capabilities and plans are correct, then a counter is necessary.”

  “It did not escape you, I hope, that she placed herself squarely at this hypothetical organization's centre?” Calanthé added, “That she desires another Brotherhood sorceress to hand-pick someone to help us build it?”

  “We could, ah, find someone else? She did say that any competent mage could fulfil that role,” Vissegerd responded, voice uncertain.

  “And where should we find such a mage?” Calanthé spoke, “Ah, I know! We could ask the Brotherhood of Sorcerers to send someone,” she sarcastically finished.

  “It occurs to me,” Baron Eylembert began, “That when our little sorceress spoke of someone competent, she almost certainly meant Brotherhood-trained anyway.”

  “Then, what if we just don’t?” Vissegerd said, “Either ignore the matter entirely or do it ourselves? Nilfgaard expanding this far does not strike me as likely.”

  Calanthé clenched her teeth. That had occurred to her, obviously. Then Tanya had blatantly threatened her daughter’s secret, if not her life, while also reminding Calanthé that she needed her help. The Queen could imagine those cold blue eyes staring at her daughter right now.

  The message was clear. Accept, or else.

  The young sorceress arrived, found leverage as quickly as possible, and then utilised it as soon as she could.

  She had to grudgingly admit it was a smart play.

  The longer she’d stay in Cintra, the higher the chance Calanthé would find a way to counteract her schemes. After all, she was the Queen.

  But that did not matter in the now.

  Tanya von Degurechaff certainly wasn’t wasting the opportunity.

  Like a spider, she was weaving an intricate web with herself in the centre, completely unsatisfied with the power and influence she had as a Court Sorceress.

  Calanthé tapped the armrest with her fingers, “It is a good proposal.”

  Eylembert shot her a strange look at that.

  The Queen fell silent, deep in thought, before finally speaking after almost half a minute, “A third power block in the Kingdom might not be such a bad thing.”

  Calanthé smiled. The girl could savour her victory for now. Let her consolidate her stolen power and bask in the influence she managed to bargain for the Brotherhood.

  Her emerald eyes shined.

  It wouldn’t even be hard. Though the sorceress’ plan for the agency required secrecy, her ascendant star would be obvious to anyone who paid attention, even if they didn’t necessarily understand the reason behind the phenomenon.

  Calanthé would just have to make sure the nobility understood well that Tanya’s influence came at their expense while representing the Brotherhood instead of the Crown.

  Let them fight each other while she laughed.

  “Not a bad idea at all.”