"I would like to have a word with his excellency, Emperor Richard Walter!" Hannah shouted to the gatehouse.
No response, nor sign of life answered her request.
Hannah got an idea.
"I'm carrying twenty boxes of cheese pizza!"
Not two minutes afterwards, the wood and steel gate cracked open, the hinges creaking loudly with age and continuous use. A small female penguin wobbled into the scene. She wagged her tail feathers happily and smiled.
"Hai Han-nah!" she shouted joyfully.
Hannah gave her a quick glance.
"Kitten?" Hannah asked, returning a welcoming smile.
"Uh huh, poppa let me for pizza!" she bounced on her toes.
"Aw, well, it's coming, I just wanted to talk to your daddy for a bit while we wait," Hannah crouched down.
"Okee!" Kitten held Hannah's flipper and took her to a guard.
"Heiress, why'd you let this nice lady in?" the guard asked politely.
"Poppa and me wanna talk!"
"To her? About what?"
"Pizza!"
Kitten giggled softly. The guard couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, but let me take her to your daddy, okay? You can follow if you'd like."
Kitten nodded with furious hyperactivity.
The guard then escorted Hannah through the palace, walking calmly along a polished marble walkway. Along the way, she saw a team of penguins wiping wax onto the branching paths that were being unused. On the immaculate lawn, in twenty foot intervals, stood small "Keep off Grass" signs in at least fifty two languages, half of which are no longer spoken by anyone. Every one hundred foot of square space sat trees swaying ever so gently in a cool breeze. After six rows of trees, the massive complex itself entered Hannah's view.
"Been to the palace before?" asked the guard.
Hannah looked up in wonder.
This building breathed of wealth, The palace was a square rotunda topped with the most magnificent sapphire and glass dome ever known to architecture, the perimeter was an arcaded walkway containing marble Corinthian columns adorned with gold lattice cuts, each one with an inscription of Antarctica's glory, each window was festively embellished with diamond-encrusted concrete tops, this rotunda had two wings on each side and each wing had it's own building, one for balls and another for feasts, the wings themselves being accommodations for Richard's retinue.
"I suppose you haven't been, hehe," the guard chuckled, "Here, lemme give you the roundabout, my master Richard the Great works in the second floor of the rotunda complex, follow the golden arrows on the ground, but don't step on them."
"Why not?" Hannah asked.
"Servants polish those things every 3 hours and they only make two Imperial Marks and fifty quartets an hour,"
"That's almost one hundred American dollars a day."
"Just follow those arrows, alright?"
Hannah nodded, climbing up a set of limestone stairs, then stopped at a wooden door reinforced with steel lattices. She pulled a golden handle, and swept the magnificent entryway open. First arrow was right inside.
She followed each succeeding arrow with haste, bypassing paintings hung on the walls, marble sculptures, and relics of all sorts, varying from religious iconography to secular works. The arrows soon took her up several flights of stairs, she stumbled a few times on account of subtle clumsiness and the fact she was running. Out of the stairwell, Hannah followed more if the golden arrows, finally leading her to a large door at the end of the top floor hallway. This imposing entrance was guarded only by its welded gold hinges, and a tight passcode lock.
"Richard?" Hannah called out.
The door cracked open up, reaching out to Hannah.
"Customarily, one would get their visits through a middle-man, but I can recognize this voice a bit, secret word?" the voice on the other side asked.
Hannah smiled.
"Aida,"
"So you remember the old Antárch, not many still cling to the old ways in my family, heheh," the door opened fully.
Hannah stepped inside and saw Richard once again, he looked as healthy as he always had; a short, plump physique, with glowing milk chocolate eyes.
"It's been such a long time Richard," Hannah remarked.
"And there's no pizza like you said there'd be," Richard smiled.
"Ah yes, about that, I had to get in you see~"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it's just that I got some bad news; my house got seized by, your orders, or, at least that's what the Civil Protection unit told me," Hannah crossed her flippers behind her back.
Richard sighed sadly.
"I see... You're right unfortunately.. It was under my orders, you see, I had to, get my evidence in.."
"Your evidence? Richard, a squadron of Civil Protection units stormed my facility and seized this evidence from-"
"And they were issued and presented a warrant, gave you just compensation, and guaranteed your protection. The retrieval of this proof was in no ways illegal."
Hannah crossed her flippers.
"Then is there a way to return it?"
"Unfortunately, I'm in no position to return your evidence, the sublime state has bidden it and the people have declared it so."
Hannah grew impatient, seeing that Richard was not going to budge.
"Which people...?" she hissed softly.
"....The people, LOVE me... Anyone can tell you that they support my seizure of this evidence because their Augustus has been good and fair to them all their lives. The poor will shake my flipper for all the bridges and roads I ordered and gave them jobs, the wealthy will fall prostrate at my feet for bringing them into the realm of politics and common welfare for all, and the middle grounds will find my lower defense spending and lack of a deficit encouraging!"
"What about the other branches?" Hannah asked challengingly.
Richard froze, she brought up a solid point.
"....The Senate hates me... Supreme Court wants nothing to do with me, they were brought in by my dad... Congress never meets eye-to-eye, my own retinue thinks highly of me because I comply with their bloodsucking ways..."
"Why?"
Richard cringed and stood up fiercely.
"I am the rightful son of Alexius Walter, the sublime state and her people demanded a younger man to breathe fresh air into an ancient state of prestige, and I didn't disappoint them. The lard laden senators and their kin don't understand that my polluted background isn't their concern, but what I do with everything I've learned."
Hannah let his words sink into her skin.
"Rightful son? Polluted background? Richard, are you-"
"DON'T SAY IT!"
Hannah retreated into her seat, whispering in Richard's ear instead.
"Were you born illegitimately?"
Richard didn't reply.
"Richard, are you bastard-born...?"
"....Yes..."
No response, nor sign of life answered her request.
Hannah got an idea.
"I'm carrying twenty boxes of cheese pizza!"
Not two minutes afterwards, the wood and steel gate cracked open, the hinges creaking loudly with age and continuous use. A small female penguin wobbled into the scene. She wagged her tail feathers happily and smiled.
"Hai Han-nah!" she shouted joyfully.
Hannah gave her a quick glance.
"Kitten?" Hannah asked, returning a welcoming smile.
"Uh huh, poppa let me for pizza!" she bounced on her toes.
"Aw, well, it's coming, I just wanted to talk to your daddy for a bit while we wait," Hannah crouched down.
"Okee!" Kitten held Hannah's flipper and took her to a guard.
"Heiress, why'd you let this nice lady in?" the guard asked politely.
"Poppa and me wanna talk!"
"To her? About what?"
"Pizza!"
Kitten giggled softly. The guard couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, but let me take her to your daddy, okay? You can follow if you'd like."
Kitten nodded with furious hyperactivity.
The guard then escorted Hannah through the palace, walking calmly along a polished marble walkway. Along the way, she saw a team of penguins wiping wax onto the branching paths that were being unused. On the immaculate lawn, in twenty foot intervals, stood small "Keep off Grass" signs in at least fifty two languages, half of which are no longer spoken by anyone. Every one hundred foot of square space sat trees swaying ever so gently in a cool breeze. After six rows of trees, the massive complex itself entered Hannah's view.
"Been to the palace before?" asked the guard.
Hannah looked up in wonder.
This building breathed of wealth, The palace was a square rotunda topped with the most magnificent sapphire and glass dome ever known to architecture, the perimeter was an arcaded walkway containing marble Corinthian columns adorned with gold lattice cuts, each one with an inscription of Antarctica's glory, each window was festively embellished with diamond-encrusted concrete tops, this rotunda had two wings on each side and each wing had it's own building, one for balls and another for feasts, the wings themselves being accommodations for Richard's retinue.
"I suppose you haven't been, hehe," the guard chuckled, "Here, lemme give you the roundabout, my master Richard the Great works in the second floor of the rotunda complex, follow the golden arrows on the ground, but don't step on them."
"Why not?" Hannah asked.
"Servants polish those things every 3 hours and they only make two Imperial Marks and fifty quartets an hour,"
"That's almost one hundred American dollars a day."
"Just follow those arrows, alright?"
Hannah nodded, climbing up a set of limestone stairs, then stopped at a wooden door reinforced with steel lattices. She pulled a golden handle, and swept the magnificent entryway open. First arrow was right inside.
She followed each succeeding arrow with haste, bypassing paintings hung on the walls, marble sculptures, and relics of all sorts, varying from religious iconography to secular works. The arrows soon took her up several flights of stairs, she stumbled a few times on account of subtle clumsiness and the fact she was running. Out of the stairwell, Hannah followed more if the golden arrows, finally leading her to a large door at the end of the top floor hallway. This imposing entrance was guarded only by its welded gold hinges, and a tight passcode lock.
"Richard?" Hannah called out.
The door cracked open up, reaching out to Hannah.
"Customarily, one would get their visits through a middle-man, but I can recognize this voice a bit, secret word?" the voice on the other side asked.
Hannah smiled.
"Aida,"
"So you remember the old Antárch, not many still cling to the old ways in my family, heheh," the door opened fully.
Hannah stepped inside and saw Richard once again, he looked as healthy as he always had; a short, plump physique, with glowing milk chocolate eyes.
"It's been such a long time Richard," Hannah remarked.
"And there's no pizza like you said there'd be," Richard smiled.
"Ah yes, about that, I had to get in you see~"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it's just that I got some bad news; my house got seized by, your orders, or, at least that's what the Civil Protection unit told me," Hannah crossed her flippers behind her back.
Richard sighed sadly.
"I see... You're right unfortunately.. It was under my orders, you see, I had to, get my evidence in.."
"Your evidence? Richard, a squadron of Civil Protection units stormed my facility and seized this evidence from-"
"And they were issued and presented a warrant, gave you just compensation, and guaranteed your protection. The retrieval of this proof was in no ways illegal."
Hannah crossed her flippers.
"Then is there a way to return it?"
"Unfortunately, I'm in no position to return your evidence, the sublime state has bidden it and the people have declared it so."
Hannah grew impatient, seeing that Richard was not going to budge.
"Which people...?" she hissed softly.
"....The people, LOVE me... Anyone can tell you that they support my seizure of this evidence because their Augustus has been good and fair to them all their lives. The poor will shake my flipper for all the bridges and roads I ordered and gave them jobs, the wealthy will fall prostrate at my feet for bringing them into the realm of politics and common welfare for all, and the middle grounds will find my lower defense spending and lack of a deficit encouraging!"
"What about the other branches?" Hannah asked challengingly.
Richard froze, she brought up a solid point.
"....The Senate hates me... Supreme Court wants nothing to do with me, they were brought in by my dad... Congress never meets eye-to-eye, my own retinue thinks highly of me because I comply with their bloodsucking ways..."
"Why?"
Richard cringed and stood up fiercely.
"I am the rightful son of Alexius Walter, the sublime state and her people demanded a younger man to breathe fresh air into an ancient state of prestige, and I didn't disappoint them. The lard laden senators and their kin don't understand that my polluted background isn't their concern, but what I do with everything I've learned."
Hannah let his words sink into her skin.
"Rightful son? Polluted background? Richard, are you-"
"DON'T SAY IT!"
Hannah retreated into her seat, whispering in Richard's ear instead.
"Were you born illegitimately?"
Richard didn't reply.
"Richard, are you bastard-born...?"
"....Yes..."
