Birds Of A Feather...

A thick cloud of pressurized gas suddenly filled Narivan's room, turning the room into an uncomfortable sauna. That, along with the unexpected explosion, caused Aetna much grief, primarily in the form of dull, throbbing pain in his right foot.

He had tripped over on something and awkwardly landed on his right ankle. Aetna shouted at Narivan and said, "W-What the hell is going on?! Are we being attacked?! Fuck me, my foot...!"

The first thought that popped into his mind was to get out of the room immediately. If the gas flooding the room resulted from an atmospheric breach or malfunction, he would be dead in less than half a minute or so. Perhaps even less, depending on the severity of the damage...

Aetna tried to crawl out of the room, but something had caught him... and pulled him back.

"We're not being attacked, nor are we in danger," said a soft, smooth voice, "At least, not right now, but I can't speak for tomorrow, though. Ah, that was probably a little too dark. Apologies..."

Aetna turned around saw a hazy figure looming above him — a ghostly apparition — and he recoiled in horror. As a man of science and logic at his core, Aetna refused to believe in the paranormal, but now...

"I'm not a ghost, you bufoon," said the veiled specter as it approached Aetna and offered him a hand. "For what it's worth, I wouldn't have haunted you even if I had somehow died. Probably."

Past the thick fog, there was a young lady who appeared to be roughly Aetna's age.

She still seemed a bit on the younger side — maybe a year younger than himself. Her clear, honey-gold eyes shimmered akin to a cat's eyes in the dark as she observed Aetna. That peculiar eyeshine was unmistakably inhuman. Oddly enough, though, only added to the elegant, doll-like beauty she possessed...

Her long black hair and glowing eyes gave him the impression that he was staring at an enchanting starry sky. Needless to say, Aetna was totally thunderstruck.

The girl pulled Aetna up to his feet and said, "I'm sorry about all of this, but this is the only way I able to take off my suit. You see, I have an extremely rare respiratory condition and require a particular antibiotic cocktail to breathe properly. Don't worry about breathing it; you'll be fine."

And then, they sat down together and drank their tea in the foggy room. It was, without a doubt, among the most bizarre turn of events that Aetna had ever experienced in his life.

Aetna wondered if he was stuck in a fever dream of some sort, a deluded half-nightmare that he was unable to escape from. So, in a bid to test whether it was a dream or not, he reached out and softly pinched the girl's cheeks.

"Soft and supple, not unlike a baby's bottom. Fascinating..." said Aetna as he enjoyed himself.

The girl paused for a moment, but eventually, a little smile formed on her lips, and she said, "Well, well... Do you like my face that much? Consider me flattered, Count Kolinto, but could I have my face back?"

"What a damn shame," said Aetna, as he let out a small sigh, "Keeping a face like yours hidden in that ugly clunky combat suit should be an Imperial felony."

Aetna had never been that interested in the opposite sex, even during his budding adolescent years. Not because he played for the other team or was apathetic about romance in general, but rather because he had gone through a string of terrible romances in the past.

One of the biggest curses of being part of the Aristocracy was that everyone wanted to earn the favor of a Noble family. Better still, one could manage to marry into a Noble family — it would be comparable to winning the lottery. A life of unprecedented luxury, authority, and comfort awaited those who could worm themselves into such a family.

And this, unfortunately, was the reason why Aetna had suffered so much during his teenage years. Every single girl he had fallen in love with had turned out to be nothing more than a gold-digging snake out for his family's fortune.

Mind you; this was after Aetna had learned his lesson.

After he had learned to conceal his family name and identity when dating, but even that had not been enough to protect him from the woe of heartbreak...

He had met and fallen in love with plenty of beautiful girls, only to suffer the sting of betrayal time and time again. So, after a certain period of time, his heart had turned into a chunk of ice.

But now, a tiny flame had been lit up. Not enough to thaw his heart, but enough to make Aetna rightfully concerned. He knew how to dodge the fire of laserguns, hack military warships, and remain relatively calm under pressure, but women were another topic altogether.

Everyone had a fatal weakness... and much to Aetna's frustration, a lovely girl's smile was his biggest Achilles heel.

Aetna softly laughed at himself in self-derision and said, "...May I have your name, my lady? Well, your true name? Or is that something I am also not permitted to know?"

She was certainly someone from a prestigious Noble family, presumably of a far higher rank than his own family. This was a true Noble lady who probably belonged to the Inner Systems, not unlike the backwoods Outer Nobility that Aetna's family was a part of.

Generally, the closer one's family territory was to the Royal Capital, Proxima Eterna, the greater the rank one's family possessed.

For example, the Lord Admiral of the 3rd Fleet, Archduke Tallum, had a Domain that was four times larger and nine-thousand parsecs closer to Proxima Eterna than the Domain that Aetna's family was responsible for.

The Domain that Aetna's family was responsible for only held 15 million people across 3 star systems to further the point.

In comparison, Archduke Tallum's Domain held 1.7 billion people across 12 star systems.

'Which family does this one belong to? No doubt it's probably a Noble family far larger and more powerful than my own. Either way, she's definitely a true Inner System blueblood...'

"My true name is Yurai Isanfel Narivan Savugh, Daughter of Leifon Savugh," said the girl without so much as missing a beat.

Aetna spat out his tea and almost dropped his teacup when he heard her nonchalant declaration.

"S-So you're a... p-p-princess?" said Aetna as he slowly realized who he had been offending this entire time — a member of the royal family and, more importantly, a red-blooded Savugh.

"Yes, I am a princess, but not an important one, though — after all, I am seventh in line for the throne. Anyone past third in line for the throne is practically irrelevant, anyway..."

Aetna was completely lost for words. Never in his life had he expected that one day he'd be having tea with a real Savugh princess. Men across the galaxy would have killed Aetna for this unexpected opportunity.

But Aetna didn't really feel the same way about the situation. He didn't have a high opinion of the royal family, nor did he care about gaining favor from her. At best, he thought of her as a beautiful girl that coincidentally belonged to the most powerful and feared family on this side of the galaxy.

"Narivan was my great-grandfather's name, so in a way, I technically wasn't lying about my name. It is a part of my full name. ...But, yes, Narivan isn't my first name," said Yurai as she gracefully refilled Aetna's teacup.

"So when you said that you wanted to unite the galaxy..." said Aetna in abject dread.

"I wasn't lying to you. It's the only reason why I joined the Imperial Forces. As a fringe member of the royal family, a princess that isn't even being considered for the throne, the only way I'll be able to secure a chance to vie for the throne is to completely outshine all of my opponents."

She wasn't exaggerating at all; not a single person in the royal capital even knew about Yurai's grand ambition to take the throne. Not that they would have cared even if they knew about it.

There were various problems — some major issues and others relatively minor — impeding Yurai's ascent to the throne.

For one, she was far too young. At 17 years old, she was an infant compared to her main rivals, the Crown Prince, Wodean, and the Second Princess, Viktoria, who were more than two decades older.

Seniority was significant when it came to the order of succession. Because of that, Yurai was burdened with a disadvantage that already left her dead in the water from the start.

After that, a candidate's achievements — military, civilian, and political merits — also weighed heavily on selecting who would be granted the rank of Crown Prince or Princess.

Discovering new habitable planets and starsectors, performing valorous acts during wartime, and performing charitable deeds that improved the quality of life and brought honor to the Empire were all examples of merits that would immensely prove a candidate's position for the throne.

Naturally, Yurai didn't have any merits on her record. After all, she was 17 years old — the poor girl had barely begun her military career. She was a completely blank slate in this area, putting her in a terrible position against her rivals who had spent their adult lives working on their records.

And finally, there was the matter concerning her... physical condition. Though her illness would not legally prevent her from sitting on the throne, it would be a troublesome political hurdle for her to overcome.

The royal court would not so easily support a candidate that was crippled and vulnerable like her. They would all but assuredly try to put her down by positing the idea that her health would be a major liability for the future stability of the Empire...

Aetna let out a deep sigh and said, "Goddamn, that sounds like a huge pain in the ass... And even with all of that shit, you still want to try and become the future Empress? I can't decide whether you're totally insane, plain stupid, or the most interesting girl I've ever met in my life."

Yurai smiled and said, "...Why can't I be all three? That'd be the highest compliment I've ever received in my entire life. I would be honored to be the 'Mad Princess' to your 'Mad Count.'"

As they laughed together, a budding friendship was born between them that would later be noted as one of the most important events in human history, for it would be the principal catalyst of...

The Grand Unified Era.