The room did not move.
Not when Sonya finished speaking.
Not when the last name—Italy—hung briefly in the air before settling among the others like a stone dropped into deep water.
Elias's smile faded as quietly as it had come.
He leaned forward again, both palms returning to the table, weight shifting just enough that the brass rails beneath the map gave a faint metallic creak. The corridor between Edirne and the sea seemed to stretch further under the lantern light, an open wound no one had yet tried to close.
"Blindness," Elias said, calmly, "is not the same as ignorance."
Several heads turned toward him.
"They will see eventually," he continued. "What matters is when, and what shape the facts take when they do."
Sonya nodded once, already anticipating the direction of the discussion.
She slid another sheet free from her clipboard and placed it atop the map, careful not to obscure the Bosporus.
"This is the exposure curve," she said. "Not military—political."
Thin lines traced outward from Constantinople like ripples.
Each was labeled not with distances, but with time.
A comprehensive indepth analysis on how long it could be expected for new to spread throughout the world using current technology to awaken the Great Powers to the new threat rising under their noses.
"Three Days," she said, tapping near the Sea of Marmara. "If our forces advance enough to threaten the Ottoman capital, three days from that point will be the latest we can keep the other worldly powers from learning of our actions. Our fleets presence will disrupt trade in the region, and that will draw the British attention at the very least, probably Russia as well, with their spies watching over the Ottoman interior to feed information back to the homeland."
A few of the logisticians exchanged looks.
"Five days," Sonya continued, her voice steady, "Thats the longest estimate i can make for how long it would take before word of our military gains reach the ears of those in power, thats when the real problems will start."
She shifted the stick slightly west.
"Within Seven days, news will reach Vienna and realize its not some Russian plot or trap. At that point, they will surely panic—not because they oppose us, but because they miscalculated us."
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was the oldest of the European Empires, proclaiming itself the sucessor to the Holy Roman Empire, whose endless enemy was the Ottoman Empire.
But to learn that that timeless enemy had been swept away by a power thought to be nothing better than a mere single garrisons worth, that would shake the Austrian Emperor to his very core.
Elias's eyes remained on the map.
"And Russia?" he asked.
"They'll be furious," Sonya replied without pause. "Emperor Alexander II has been using this war as a means to proclaim himself Emperor of all Slavs, for us to instead rise up as a rivalling Slavic empire without bowing before him, would be blunting his ego to say the very least, not to mention the great cost this campaign has cost him, only to result in so little gains from the scraps we'll be leaving behind."
Marin cleared his throat. "Sir, if I may."
Elias inclined his head.
"There is another factor," Marin said. "Visibility cuts both ways. Once Constantinople is taken, everyone understands what that means historically. Even we decide in the end to not keep the city, the symbolism alone—"
"—marks the end of an Empire," Elias finished.
Marin nodded.
Silence returned, heavier now.
Not tense, but weighted—like a scale that had finally stopped oscillating.
Sonya broke it.
"There is also the question of sustainability," she said, deliberately shifting the conversation from politics back to logistics. "Our forces can reach the outskirts of Constantinople quickly. That is not in doubt. But maintaining pressure without provoking collapse elsewhere—"
She gestured to the Central Balkans.
"—requires restraint."
Elias finally looked at her.
"Define restraint."
She met his gaze evenly. "No forced requisitions. No mass foraging. Rations must be extended, even if it slows the advance slightly. Engineers must prioritize rail repair over all else. And civilian trade must be redirected, not halted."
"Will the slowdown prevent our plans for conquest?"
"It shouldnt so long as the situation remains as it is," Sonya said. "But it gains us legitamacy, and the support of the locals once the war is over rather than needing to rely solely on the military garrisons to prevent civil unrest."
One of the officers shifted, clearly wanting to speak, then thought better of it.
Elias considered her words, expression unreadable.
"Indeed my system provides much," he said. "But it is designed for granting me a military, not providing enough to support an entire nation on its own."
"Yes," Sonya agreed. "And hunger would turn the country against you, even with your thousands of soldiers the millions of people would overwhelm them, bringing you down before any new empire could be founded."
Elias turned slightly, addressing the room as a whole.
"What is the minimum force required to hold our western gains for six weeks?" he asked.
A quartermaster answered immediately.
"Assuming no coordinated uprising, sir? Thirty percent of current deployment. Slightly more in urban centers."
"And if unrest spikes?"
"It would be more a question of how fast we can move reinforcements out from Montenegro to join up with the local garrison forces to quell them, rather than pulling forces back from the frontlines."
Elias nodded once.
He straightened, drawing the attention of every person in the hall without raising his voice.
"This is the desicion before us," He started his tone measured and calm, "To risk early exposure of our capabilities as a nation, but gaining the initiative in pushing the Ottoman's out of Europe, with the greatest risk being a disruption to our supply lines to the forces fighting on the frontlines by uprisings in the newly conquered territories of the Central and Eastern Balkan states."
No one argued, to the summoned soldiers of the System, the choice seemed almost rhetorical, but for the raised orphans of Montenegro, a hint of worry lingered in their eyes.
Sonya stepped closer, lowering her voice—not out of secrecy, but respect.
"There is one more consideration," she said.
Elias waited.
"We'll need to ensure King Peter I is present in some capacity on the battlefield if Constantinople is taken, the King can use this historical city as a means to Ordain himself personally as the Emperor of the Balkans, while it might irk some nations who view themselves as kingmakers, the legitamacy of a conquering Emperor will be far more successful, than if his elevation is only seen as possibe thanks to the strength of his armies alone."