December 1, 2018, Imperial Calendar.
More than a month had passed since the "Imperial Family War" that had shaken the world.
The ninety-eighth emperor of Britannia, Charles DI Britannia, had been defeated and taken prisoner. In his place, the sixteenth prince, Ask VI Britannia, had ascended the throne as the ninety-ninth emperor of Britannia.
The situation within the Britannia Empire changed with the force of a storm.
On the third day after taking the throne, Emperor Ask immediately began purging the former emperor's remaining supporters.
The rules of the purge were simple: submit and prosper; resist and die.
Members of the Imperial Family and nobles who had once been loyal to Charles could surrender their authority and titles, then live out their remaining years in wealth and comfort.
Those who refused were executed on the spot.
Jeremiah and Sphynx, captain of the imperial guard, carried out the purge.
Within a single bloody week, the only voices left in the Britannia Empire were those supporting its new ruler, Ask.
The ranks of the Knights of the Round also changed.
The former Tenth Knights of the Round had died in the war. The Fifth Knights of the Round, Dorothea Ernst, and the Ninth Knights of the Round, Nonette Enneagram, had defected, while the First Knights of the Round, Bismarck, had been captured.
The remaining Fourth Knight of the Round was also a member of the emperor's faction.
The situation in the Middle East had prevented that knight from joining the war in time, so on the second day after the war ended, Ask dispatched Suzaku Kururugi to eliminate them.
Ultimately, only a record of their death remained.
The former Third Knights of the Round, Gino Buinberg, had been imprisoned by Schneizel and unable to participate in the war. Afterward, out of consideration