A knock was heard on Alm's personal office door before two familiar noblewomen entering the room. It was Rinea with Josephine following her close behind with a carrier bag. "Hello Lord Alm. Countess Josephine came here to meet with you about finalizing the wedding plans for Lord Berkut and I. Oh and also to get ahead of her own wedding with Lord Hunter!" Rinea said as she did know Alm's schedule and there was a slot open for him to have a meeting. Rinea looked over to her friend whom she was worried about since Josephine was in a dark red mourning dress. "Thank you so much for helping Lord Berkut and I with the wedding plans but are you sure you will be alright Countess?" Rinea was worried about Josephine since she knew this was not an easy time for Josephine.Ā "I will be alright Rinea. This will be a good distraction for me.Ā Besides I feel like Alm would understand..." She said before looking at Alm as she sadly knows if there was anyone who understood what she went through it was Alm. "...If you say so. I will leave you two be." Rinea said but before she left the room, she quickly took one pile of paperwork away from Alm. "Lord Berkut said that he would deal with the minor issues and he will not take no for an answer.Ā Please don't overwork yourself or I'll... I'll let Lord Berkut scold you again! " Rinea said as Berkut did tell to be a little bit stricter with Alm about overworking. "I'll be sorting paperwork with Lord Berkut nearby if you need us!" She said before shutting the door behind her.Ā
"...Rinea's still using the titles huh." Josephine said with a small smile before giving a sigh. "I had hoped she told you about the true reason she has that habit...but that will have to be another time. There are more important matters to discuss." The Countess said before taking her seat on sofa used for private meetings and breaks for tea. She started taking out the wedding plans but she took out a card that looked normal playing card at first but she flipped it around for him to read first. 'I found evidence of assassination plot and a coup. Is this room safe to talk about it out loud?'Ā Josephine knew she had to be very careful when it came to these kinds of things. One wrong move could cause the deaths of Berkut and Rinea earlier than anticipated.
~*~
Alm's visitors find him with a large compendium on his desk, cross-referencing material on it compared to a missive in his hand with a growing scowl. The door opening would have startled him, but his guard had already informed him of his incoming visitors. As such, Rigel's Emperor simply sets down the missive atop the book and looks up with a wan smile. "Hey, Rinea. Josephine. Have a seat." It hadn't been a particularly pleasant day, considering his own fiance's recent departure back to Zofia (among other events of late, that was but a nail on the mood's coffin), but at least he does his best to look the most pleasantly neutral he can manage.
The smile, however, goes from struggling to sympathetic to the woman before him. All things considered, it was in fact a pain he was regretfully familiar with. Keenly so. "If there is anything within my power to help ease that pain... well, you have me here at your disposal, you know? Maybe some time off for your husband...?"
Of course, it is then Rinea snatches a paperwork pile. To which he can barely protest aside from an indignant squawk. The small woman's threat, however, stops him from making pursuit (playfully, if anything, he wouldn't dare spook the woman), and the Emperor instead raises his hands in mock defeat. "Alright, alright. Tell that grumpy fox he's got his way today." At the very least, it took some of the work off his shoulders, none of which he considered particularly pleasant.
And then, Rinea was gone, and it was just them. He sighs into his chair, eyes darting back to his guest. "It's a hassle to constantly correct her, but one day, mark my words, she'll feel comfortable enough to drop those pretenses around family someday." At least, he hopes so, reasons she may have notwithstanding (and perhaps, someday, she'd tell him?). Shutting the compendium with the missive inside, he sets it on a side-table to make room for the Countess, only to... frown at the presence of the playing card. A fire lit within, and yet the Emperor's next move is to press his index fingers to his lips and stand.
The fireplace crackled pleasantly, and it is to where he went first, grasping a kindling stick and lighting it, then... proceeding to light the candles around the desk without a word, then those around the room. Putting the fire on the stick out, he then moved to the window, that overlooking the gardens and training grounds below, and closed thick, heavy drapes. Alm's next movement was to a bookcase, which he firmly secures, and finally walking to the door to the study. Opening it, he quietly asks his guard to keep vigilant guard, and confirms his room is also guarded. Door closed, another thick drape is dropped from the side to cover it. Aside from the light the candles and fireplace provide, it is now.. incredibly dark. The Emperor returns to his seat.
"It is now." Soundproofed by thick drapes and ensuring the safety passage to his room was firmly locked, the study had become a small fortress for secrets. "So, tell me... what is this about?"