>A little bit more than a teaser, a little bit less than me throwing up
>my hands in frustration and posting the entirety of the half or so of
>the episode I've gotten done.

So based on what I know of your writing structure and what I've gleaned from the GG3/II and OWaW threads, I guess this means your writing block is sitting in front of the fan, keeping the shit from hitting it.

>If he had been asked beforehand, the Honorable Vincent Auriol would
>have claimed not to have formed any expectation as to what Countess
>Remilia Scarlet and her younger sister would look like, but of course
>he had, without being aware of it. The unconscious image of the
>Countess he had formed, based on no more concrete clues than her
>penmanship, her extremely formal written Gallic, and her lineage, was
>of a tall, thin woman with long black hair and eyes to match, white
>skin, and strongly Slavic features, as befit one whose father came
>from ancient Carpathian stock. In his head, she looked about thirty,
>and wore a fur coat in spite of the summer's heat. Ermine, perhaps, or
>Baltlandic mink. Her manner was cool, formal, and distant—perhaps
>even a bit languid, after the manner of the old aristocracy.

Now I want this hypothetical vampire lady to exist somewhere in the multiverse. She sounds fun.

>Remilia took a moment to consider him while he was seating himself and
>arranging the papers on his desk. The figure she saw there, seated
>behind the elegant writing table that served as the official desk of
>the President of Gallia, was not a prepossessing one. Vincent Auriol
>was a man in his early sixties, wearing a dark grey suit. He had
>thinning grey hair combed over what she was reasonably sure would
>otherwise be a bald crown, large ears, a neatly trimmed mustache, and
>lugubrious eyes—one of them a bit lazy—behind thick black-rimmed
>spectacles. Apart from the custom-tailed costliness of his suit, he
>looked more like an aging schoolteacher, or perhaps a small-town
>doctor or lawyer, than the leader of one of the cornerstones of the
>Grand Alliance against the Neuroi.

Cut from the Charles Kallon mold, I see.

>Until now we have been able to tell ourselves that at
>least these terrible things happened long ago—that they have fallen
>out of living memory. But now we must accept that this is plainly not
>true.

That is a point that brought me up short when it came up. It's true, and profound, and I never would have thought of it.

>If the truth were known, all the guests of honor
>found the affair rather puzzling and more than a little tedious,

Hey, it's free food.

>Meiling spent the whole time
>feeling as out-of-place as a Labrador retriever at a fancy cat show,

I love this simile.

>"I said in my initial letter that I ask for no compensation beyond the
>restoration of my citizenship and my sister's. Upon reflection, I
>should like to amend that slightly, if I may be so bold."

"Pray I do not amend it further."

>"Your timing is impeccable, Countess. When you see the news, a day or
>two hence, of what our friend Kaiser Friedrich of Karlsland has just
>done in his country, you'll understand."

Did I miss the Kaiser legalizing gay marriage in one of the OWaWs? The only unconventional marriage I recall being mentioned is his own.

>"I see," said Remilia, giving no outward sign that she really didn't.
>"Well, I'm pleased we are in agreement. Now, while we have the
>opportunity, let us find the Minister of War and discuss what my
>household can do for the war effort."

"My little sister once disemboweled a Neuroi with her bare hands because it was merely annoying her. Imagine what she can do when she's working to protect people."

You've managed to make these diplomatic negotiations entertaining. At this point, it's not even a surprise anymore, it's just, "Oh, neat." I'm definitely looking forward to the next part.