Korvola 23' (Closed)

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26 October 2023
8:23 a.m.
Korvola, Republic of Sorovia

Ylitalo slowly walked through the hallways of the presidential palace, checking his phone as he made his way through the hallways.

"Cameras are already outside; they should be here any moment, sir," one of Ylitalo's advisors informed him. His advisors had thoroughly briefed him on the central issues to address.

Ylitalo paid little attention to the advisor; he had done this dozens of times and had grown tired of the preparations for state visits. As he continued walking he decided to give one last look at the hallways and the paintings which adorned them.

"Vanhanen... Kallio... Koivisto..." he whispered under his breath, gazing at the portraits lining the hallways. Flags of the visiting nations decorated the route they would walk through. He finally made his way up to the final portrait, kept in a large golden frame.

"Karvonen.." Ylitalo grinned as he looked up towards the portrait. He felt a quick sense of pride as he looked up at the painting.

Karvonen's uniform could be seen in pristine quality, the frame and surrounding areas were decorated with the coat of arms of every Sorovian province and the national flag of Sorovia. He slowly glanced back down and continued his way through the hallways of the palace while checking his phone.

"What..?-" Ylitalo looked down at the messages he had received from Kanerva.

Something about healthcare reform, the Vaniri, labour, and many other topics were to be covered later in the year by parliament.

"Again..? Seriously?" Ylitalo had heard this many times before, from every government that had ruled Sorovia during his presidency. He finally made his way to the doors of the palace, two guards awaited and saluted him before opening the door. Ylitalo walked out into the cold courtyard of the palace. He walked on a blue-colored carpet towards a designated position, something which he had already done several times before. The press outside the fence began taking photos of the president.

"Any minute now.." Ylitalo said, keeping his composure as snow fell around him.

Opposite from him, members of the guard of honor held the flags of the visiting nations, and farther down, near and outside the gate, a formation of the guard of honor awaited. A military band stood ready to greet the foreign dignitaries who would soon arrive.
 
"Korvola. I often forget how it's colder down here even than home." Osborne began the long march from the drop-off point into the presidential palace, snow falling onto his hair, which had by now nearly entirely lost colour. "Especially when you wake up five minutes before you go to sleep to get here. The Esthursian work culture has surely got me hooked to late mornings."

"They've even laid out the red carpet for you, your Highness." Osborne turned his head round, and sure enough, King Arthur was following shortly behind, giving a cordial nod. A bout of poor health, little to the public's knowledge, had initially put into peril his plans of being here; but a few weeks later, here he was, doing what many ten or twenty years his junior wouldn't do. Walking through the gate, the three of them began to reposition such that the King set the pace in between them.

Walking alongside the rows and rows of military personnel, both could hardly feel the almost bittersweet sentiment of... was it honour, intimidation or superfluity? The pageantry wasn't that something familiar to either, but both had slowly accustomed to the fanfares and parades in their cumulative lifetime of service. Still, Osborne knew Sorovia were a proud nation, and it certainly was in keeping and to be expected.

Osborne's Reeve for the Ellands, Alfred Frome, had won over Osborne to make this trip instead of John Largan. It felt only right - Largan's birthchild was joining the UAS, and Frome's was Compass - and the two seemed more clearly at ease. Plus, this way, Ylitalo wouldn't have to meet Largan again, having met him back before Osborne became Forethane, and pretend they knew each other. "How long until we address the million and two issues facing the region, do you think, Harold?" Frome quipped, and Osborne's raised eyebrow signalled all he needed to predict. Not long at all.

Four flags hung high as they approached. The Forethane mused how much more functional it felt than just the one flag removed from any nation, as he and his King approached their positions, noticing the Sorovian President ahead. "He's been doing this longer than I have. I must say, I am slightly surprised he's not sick of shaking hands with the same Esthursian by this point." Osborne mused to himself silently.

This week was major, he encountered, as he walked down the path towards its completion. The nation was preparing to pivot from one ailing Union to the V4; to the point that in the very next week, it would fully pull out and annul the UAS' ties with itself. Yet, here approaching a summit with V4, he felt a stronger sense of optimism, a more genuine and less methodical sense of belonging. Hope, even.

Cameramen noticed the arrival of the Esthursian delegation, and some turned to snap the arrival of the troupe, as they finally reached their end point, and approached the Sorovian President. "Thank you for your warm welcome, as ever, President." Osborne began, offering his hand. "I think I speak behalf of all of us," He continued, briefly glancing at the elderly Arthur, "in saying we look forward to heading in... and, discussing the issues that face our four nations."
 
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Walking down a red carpet while sharply dressed honor guard soldiers stood to either side of her made Ilona Istvan feel distinctly like a princess. It made her want to smile. The little girl who collected cans along the river to make a few cents and had dreams of being a princess had finally achieved that. Well, minus the handsome Esthursian prince.

Albert Hegedűs, her foreign relations advisor, walked alongside her, “See? It’s not the end of the world to get out of the office.”

“I never said that I didn’t. I’ve just got so much work to do at the moment. Roland has been talking my ears off about the fighter competition and the peacekeepers in the Imperium. It’s nice to get out, even if Ylitalo did schedule this meeting at an ungodly hour.”

Albert suppressed a chuckle, “Yeah. 100 Penz says they’ll bring up the same points that Director Vadas does within 30 minutes.”

“They wouldn’t dare. We’re going to talk about space or something like that. You’re on.” The flags ruffling in the stiff morning chill caught her attention. The Hexastalian tricolor flew alongside Tardine’s own in a display that would’ve surprised a person less than a century ago. Tardine had come a long way since The war.

Which wasn’t to say Hexastalia hadn’t come a long way themselves. Less than a half year ago something like this could never have happened. The repealing of the Neutrality Policy was her most proud moment of her life thus far. Now, she was rubbing shoulders with some of the most important people on the continent.

She was filled with hope and optimism for the country’s future, more than she had been in years. This was her life’s work made manifest.

As she reached her counterpart, Istvan reached her hand out for a shake. “It’s good to finally meet face to face, Mister President.”
 
Two men walked down the pompous path towards the Conference Room. Red carpet stretched as far as they could see, flanked by Sorovian Guards, who remained impassible as they walked side by side. If anyone was surprised by this, it didn't show in their stone-like faces. The Tardineanni Emperor, Jasemir, was a tad younger than his colleague Klaiden, the Acting Prime Minister, and wasn't as outstanding as one could suppose so. Jasemir was dressed rather simply and, some would say, even annoyed at the crowd as he wore a mohair wool coat that covered most of his body, with black pants and a scarf with the Tardineanni flag colors. His counterpart, however, could pretend he was the emperor and fool anyone dumb enough to fall for it. He was dressed in a light colored leather jacket and a floral shirt, better suited for a day on the beach rather than a professional meeting.

"I still can't believe you're wearing this." Jasemir whispered to Klaiden, while covering his mouth so that no one could overhear their conversation. "It is highly unprofessional of you."

"Do you think you're being professional wearing this grumpy face, Your Greatness?" Klaiden's sarcastic tone didn't go unnoticed by the Emperor, but he pretended not to care.

"It's too cold here." The Emperor said while adjusting his scarf. "Almost makes me wanna go home."

"Unfortunately, you can't, as you're the Emperor and the face of our nation." Klaiden raised his tone a bit, but when he remembered where they were, he got silent.

"Okay, just try not to mess this up." Jasemir replied as they got closer to their final destination.

The Prime Minister chuckled while shrugging. "What could I possibly do to mess this up?"

"For starters, you could present yourself as Klaiden Risvie." Klaiden abruptly stopped laughing. "That alone would make everyone go in a bad mood."

"We've grow apart from those ideas decades ago, Jasemir." He replied with a cold tone and a sour face."

"Yet it is still remembered, specially now that we just got rid of Werdoi and his outdated ideas." Jasemir said while reminscing of the lost ones, his entire family, who died to fulfill an old man's megalomania. "We need to make them forget the past and look forward to build a new future together, with us."

"The Prime Minister nodded in agreement them spoke. "Yes, we need to do all that, Emperor.", he then completed his speech saying. "To achieve our goals, the nation need to look its best. So you gotta put on your best smile and pretend you do not have stage fright and severe anxiety."

Jasemir raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How did you k-", he was interrupted by Klaiden.

"Of course I would know something like that." He smiled and said, "We're family, after all."

"So we are." They finally reached their end point and, as the Tardineanni tradition, together they greeted the Sorovian President, half-bowing in reverence. The meeting would soon begin and it seemed like they were the last ones to arrive, so Jasemir blurted without realizing a pun.

"Please forgive us for our tardiness." Everyone laughed in unison, leaving Jasemir dumbfounded, until he understood that what he said in Mercanti could be taken as a joke. At least it seemed that they liked him for that. He only hoped that he could make it out of there without messing everything. So he stood up and put on his best face. "It is an honor to meet you again, Mister President."​
 
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