"...I wish I hadn't tried to stay neutral as long as I did. If I had stepped in, then maybe Celia wouldn't have felt the need to... Do what she did..."

"Reina's bonds with her Pokemon are genuine. I trust that much. I understand the idea that she's spreading herself too thin with so many Pokemon, but I do believe that the bonds are genuine. Underdeveloped, but genuine." She's not sure what they could learn from a battle at this point. It would-

"...How many chances has she already thrown away?" Second chances are nice. Veruschka is willing to give at least that much. ...But she recognizes that this is more like a tenth chance. Maybe the hundredth. It's past the time where judgement should have already been delivered. "Let's just hope-

"It wouldn't be my first time making a whole region angry." Oh so it just runs in the family. "...Granted, that was from me unknowingly bedding a Queen while having a dumb tourist moment and getting caught by the King..." ...She at least has the decency to feel bad about that, even if she wasn't-

"...Mmrrrrmmmmmm... I want to say that it might be in everybody's best interest to close the portal altogether, but I also don't want to close off that option if we need it... I might see about resetting some traps and putting up a barrier to lock the underground until we have a firm decision."-

"...I can only give your example so much credit. Even if killing somebody was an accident, it's still the driver's responsibility to think about what exactly caused the accident. What behavior they can take to prevent similar accidents. Some things are out of their hands, yes. But some things can-

"Hmm... Truth be told, it doesn't sound like any sort of conversation has gotten any results with that trio. Even when Lavinia or Celia were still able to approach things calmly, it sounds like they were just brushed off anyway. Now they're all treated like villains for being sick of being ignored.-

"The worst I did to thieves was cut off fingers, and even that was only for several repeat offenses." On the first offense, she at least allowed for trying to figure out WHY somebody stole if it was food or other essentials so the root problem could be tackled. But repeat offenses spoke more to-

"It's good to still have softies like you. They balance the harsher people like Celia and the me from when I was in charge. I've softened up over the ages, obviously. If we were talking about this back during my time as Chief, I'd probably exile the purple one from the island and sentence the-

"If Little Al tries going after the orange one again, it sounds like Celia won't interfere again. ...Or with anything else he tries, unfortunately. So his next plan may very well succeed." ...She's patting Darkrai's head? "I'm not talking about the killing. We've both done that when we needed to.-

"...You always were nicer than me despite our appearances." Veruschka had to know when to be the cutthroat chief, after all. But what does that have to do with this...? "I can't find any strengths in their relationship. ...Aside from the purple one's body, anyway." ...youcantsaythatanymore-

"...It may be best if they all just accept that they're causing more harm than good and split up. I don't think any amount of tests and games will help. They have to decide on it for themselves or they'll likely never accept any proof they see. ...They already don't seem swayed by what they've done-

"My last homunculus started a bloody revolution over a bakery franchise going bankrupt and had to be assassinated. So maybe we shouldn't try that." She doesn't approve of Reina's relationships, but she doesn't want anybody to die over it.

"...They do care about each other. Though the way they've handled Celia shows how little their 'care' means outside of what they perceive as romantic or sexual relationships. They all believe that their 'love' is genuine, but the way they treat everybody else makes me question what the truth is. I-

"...Mrmmmm..." Ope, she's thinking hard about something... "I don't think they'd hate you for doing it. I think they'd just keep hating her for making it necessary. They'd never forgive her because it would be somebody else fixing her mistakes. ...Plus, it could just be undone and she'd go right-

"...The thing is, that guilt doesn't really mean anything if Reina keeps digging her heels in deeper and doesn't budge on that same mistake." Veruschka doesn't have any personal experience with Wendy, obviously. But everything she's heard still tends to be red flag after red flag. She'll-

"So basically, you're saying we need testimony of what happened from somebody who never even saw any of it. The only people with no bias are the people who have never even heard of any member of the Kingchester family." So in other words, there's nobody at all who could be reliable for this. "But-

...Did Veruschka just shiver? "I feel sorry for whatever brought Reina back. When Celia gets her hands on them, it's probably going to be terrifying..." Just thinking about it triggers her fight or flight response... "...Has Reina tried to do anything the others want, though? Or has she just-

"Well, Lavinia seems to be thriving now that she's away from the others. Big movie deal she wasn't allowed to tell me about. Freya has been working at a trainer's school. I still haven't had a chance to catch the twins, though. ...Everybody seems happier after cutting Reina out, sad as it sounds."

"...I was thinking more like she'd get into a battle and get Hyper Beam'd."

...Then maybe she's dehydrated and delirious? Or something?

"Mmm... It might be better to keep her distracted like that. She'll be worse off if she gets involved in everything."

...Are we SURE Amelia didn't hit her head? Because that would be a long time for Freya to be unconscious without proper medical support.

"...Why is Amelia trying to feed a mannequin? Did she hit her head?" ...Why's the old lady chewing ice chips from a fast food soda cup? "Anyway! I took Lavinia and Freya out to dinner." ...Fast food counts as 'out to dinner'? "...I felt very small between them..."

"I still remember when Valentine's Day became so focused on chocolate. ...I gained quite a bit of weight from various people getting kind of carried away."

...SSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPP! "...I didn't get to tell Celia any stories, but at least she seems to be doing better." Sssssiiiiiiipp. "She didn't even show any hostility." Sip. "...But we are maybe very fucked because she seems to have turned neutral."

Siiiiiiiip. ...Veruschka, there's nothing but ice left in that soda cup. Let it melt more before sipping. "...Probably should have thought things through more before I invited Celia out for fast food. She... Doesn't eat anymore on account of... Y'know. Not being a living thing. ...I'm embarrassed."

"...What's up with Celia's legs? That's kind of cool..."

"Watts going on folks?~ Feeling sparky?~ Welcome, welcome~" Oh dear, there's another Electric type streamer in town... This one's made by BadJokesLucia, so you know this will be a mess. He/him adult muse. Adult writer. MDNI.

"I would not be opposed to somebody getting Isekai'd into Celia's lap if that's what it takes to save everybody. But more realistically, we might just have to go searching for somebody and lure them together. ...Though looking at the facts, we're probably just screwed and I'll die first."

"Cupid is supposed to work year round. Valentine's Day is just overtime. Otherwise births would be stacked too heavily toward November. ...And at this rate, I don't know if we'll last until Valentine's Day."

"...Where is that lazy ass Cupid when they are needed? My Great^n granddaughter is going to obliterate us all if the dumb baby doesn't show up for work-"

"... Despite having so many wives and husbands throughout my life, I have no talent for seduction."

"...If Celia does somehow create a death game, I want in." ...H-huh? Veruschka?! "It's honestly been a really long time since I was in any meaningful danger and I kind of need that adrenaline rush again. That's the old 'I was supposed to be a warrior King' part of my brain talking."

"Ah, so these are the berries that are sold as-is only to cut costs and make the customers do more work themselves. Too bad they sell these juice berries in the same place as food berries." ...Oddly enough, Veruschka doesn't seem unfamiliar with blenders. Maybe she's kept up with technology?

"I mean, clothes aren't natural either. So that's not what I'm talking about. It's just weird that they can make berries so wet instead of more... Uh... Meaty is not right word, I think, but hopefully gets point across. More fruit with less juice would be perfect. Less messy, too."

...There's red liquid dripping down her mouth and chin... Did she- "I never understood how people get berries this juicy." Oh. Just berries. Good...

"...Wait, what do you mean modern people need to be reminded not to take medicine they're allergic to?"

"...I wonder which of my descendants was the most successful. It was easy to follow rumors of vampirism for a while, but now at least half of all vampires are just random schmucks who were infected instead of being born into it. And many of my descendants never exhibited any signs of vampirism."-

"Nahhh, the culture is shifting back to the old ways as far as relationships go. It's the legal system that's countering harems. People got on a kick of monogamy for a while, but now they're going back to getting in bed with anything that breathes and getting in countless relationships at once."

"Come on, look at me. It shouldn't be surprising that I had so many lovers. I only became more popular after I started looking like this~"

"Why would I be mad about that? Even if the law now says I could only have one legal spouse, it looks like modern people don't really have any respect for commitment and exclusivity anymore anyway. They're kind of going back to the old ways, even if the laws don't reflect it."

//I am finding the dumbest ways to slip in lore drops...

"Come on, don't act so surprised. Eight out of my nine wives over the years had been totally stacked. Even a couple of the husbands had impressive pecs. And that's not even mentioning the concubines." Ah, yes, more ancient traditions... This girl is kind of shameless...

"Not every girl. Just the soft ones." ...Veruschka has a type. "Freya's brain was tweaked after she went through the... Uh... What were we calling it? The gate. Not sure if magic was directly involved or if she received too much exposure to something that sexy professor did." ...Sexy? Really?

"People thinking you and Cresselia were enemies was largely a matter of misunderstandings tracing back to ages when correcting widespread incorrect information was not so easy. It evolved into a false legend which has never been corrected. ...That's different from Elena's babies." ...Veruschka-

"...Why is Freya's definitely-not-girlfriend-but-obviously-not-just-friends kind of hot, though?" Veruschka, down.

"I was quite handsome long long ago. Now I am adorable. I do not blame anybody for falling for me~" Smug little shit... No, actually, this playfulness is nicer to see than the tired old leader side of her...

"...It's also sickening to waste somebody's life to force enemies to reunite. Sometimes things need to be left alone. Working with the people who still treasure each other is more important than making up with enemies. ...Mending a bridge is nice in theory. But you and I are more than old enough to-

"...Enemies working together against a worse enemy is something I have only seen happen in stories. Not once have I seen it happen for real. Two nations go to war, and a third joins to capitalize on the chaos... But they are still hostile even to the one they are not directly targeting. I don't-