@Rinaja I haven’t exactly analysed the WIP like you did, so some stuff I remembered might be off. I do like the points you brought up, especially with those
about the queen hinting about a war with Kaltland after the treaty. To me, it felt more like a certainty- that they’re just biding time with the treaty to get info about the layout of the land so that victory will be more certain when they do launch the war, and get a hold on lucetium. It felt to me that war had always been on the queen’s mind from the start, and their treaty with Kaltland is the first official move in their war effort to finally defeat their neighbours- and this idea kinda made sense to me since they had been in a somewhat stalemate situation from north and south sides, and being able to get lucetium while having Ariana who was the most gifted user of Aether in so many generations? It would finally give them the edge in winning the war the d’Arcadie dynasty has been waging for so long, especially since no one else but their family could use it.
like, if lucetium magnifies the impact of Aether, imagine fashioning a canon and canonball out of it, and then channeling Aether into it pre-launch.