[b]Athens – Greece[/b]

The Greek nation stood in morning over the passing of Nikolaos Michaloliakos, the First Leader of Byzantium and the Unifier of Greece died in his sleep as the army made preparations for the forthcoming funeral as they placed the wake at the Church of the Holy Apostles nearby where national and international news groups lived streamed the footage from Athens. The wake was heavily guarded to prevent whatever anarchist and anti-government insurgents would attempt to steal or desecrate the body. Greeks and Serbians, along with a few Bulgarians paid their respects, Veterans and soldiers saluted to the corpse as they made their way around him, while a few citizens that were mostly women and children kissed the glass of the casket before they were asked to move away to prevent them from being forcibly removed. The leadership stood by and watched over the citizen passerby and let their heads low in respect of their former leader while members of the Order watched over and gave comfort to the grieving family of the former leader.

However for the new leader, General Officer Feodor Anastasios, his successor was working in his office at the Capital as he was watching the live-stream of the event on the computer while he prepared a speech for the upcoming burial. He preferred to work on strengthening the international influence of the Confederacy and making the region prosperous, believing that he would rather honor his legacy than morning over his fellow leader as he seen much pain and sorrow over the slaughter of his men from insurgents and rebels from the Serbian Unification conflicts. His attention was briefly interrupted by a knock on the door of his office, taking a look of the security feed to see a young woman dressed in black with flies in her hands. 

“General Anastasios,” the woman spoke at the door as her voice spoke though the security feed. “I have the files that you requested from the Council. They also said that they would like to arrange a meeting with them regarding the rebuilding of Sarajevo.”A short buzz from the door caused the double doors of the chambers to unlock as she made her way though as the General stood up dressed in his military uniform and medals, and gave a light smirk across the handsome general’s face. “Thank you for doing this errand for me. I was watching the wake on the national live-stream and needed time to reflect from the ongoing funeral.”“Oh no problem at all. It’s my pleasure. Is there anything else you need?” She asked in an innocent manner, curious on what he might want next walking towards him as she placed the files on his desk.

“No, I still got a lot of problems. Roads and towns to repair, cities to rebuild, perhaps later I can build monuments to him and myself. Plus, dealing with the Oculi and anarchists for their chance at insurrection always looms even after much bloodshed.” He said in a disinterested tone as he sat back down and began to read though the files, even if he was under a lot of stress. She looked down at the carpet just before she headed out the doors and thought for a bit before rising her head back up turning to him again, and gave an innocent glance at him. “Perhaps after the meeting, you should tour the world and make a few alliances to help the Confederacy prosper. The NAF and Russia are potential allies.” Listening in, he stopped reading and looked at her directly with the same smirk on his face. “Perhaps… Russia is a valuable trade partner that helped us during the war, but there is a bit of bad blood from the former regime and the U.S. as it is now. Personally, I don’t consider the NAF to be an ally at this time, but trade relations can close and heal some bad wounds for the moment. I am visiting Serbia soon so I can attend the meeting in Belgrade after the burial. You are dismissed…” 

He then turned to the files and reports on his desk, before for a moment he was curious about the secretary’s name.

“Wait…” he spoke as she headed outside his office as the doors were still open. “…What is your name?”

She turned around and gave a smile as she froze in the doorway before the doors closed on her. “Anya…”

As the doors shut and she went back to her desk down the corridor, the general thought for a bit as a small feeling of joy came to him that grew a smile from his face.

“Anya…” he whispered to himself before he went back to work.