"May we meet with your main ruler, or are you the main ruler?" Reyna asks politely while stepping forward, solidifying herself as the leader of our group.
"You already have met her," Aika responds.
"Huh?" Everybody in the room reacts.
Tup Tup Tup Tup
My heels clicked against the smooth marble floor as I walked past the group and ignored Reyna, who looked at me with confusion.
I didn't even bat an eye to Aika or my son as I tore the cloth collar off my neck, causing Reyna to drop her jaw in shock as she thought she had set an order for me never to take it off… which she did.
But, sadly, her orders never did anything.
"[True Queen Overlords Dominating Presence], [Tangible Bloodthirsty Aura], [Great Wings of the Cursed and Blessed Lamassu], [Incinerating Tail of the Cursed and Blessed Lamassu]," I mutter softly without anybody hearing me.
Suddenly, a visible pressure seemed to tear at the air around us, causing the humans to take a knee at the steps below me. At the same time, Aika shielded Hades with [Partial Death Manipulation].
A red curved halo appeared above my head, creating what seemed to be an archway that only allowed light through.
And finally, my black and white wings with my lion tail whipped behind me, creating the image of a monster.
Sitting down on my throne, my eyes only went colder without myself even knowing as if my body knew what was coming next.
"*sigh*... Speak," I say while leaning a bit forward.
"Arpious? Y-you're the queen of this kingdom?" Reyna asks, clearly shocked so bad that I could see her body visibly shaking.
I didn't answer her question but just applied more pressure to the group so I wouldn't say anything unnecessary, making it harder to cut ties.
In fact, I could already feel my blood boil by just looking at the humans in front of me. I felt the need to slaughter them without reason…
"I said speak," I mutter once again with a maid walking up to me and handing me my crown, which I immediately put on.
She seemed to be just on the edge of passing out, so I immediately dismissed her.
Readjusting my eyes to the humans in front of me, I saw them… The eyes that I had been fearful of this entire time… Eyes of disgust and ridicule.
…
(Reyna POV)
Dropping to my knees, memories of what happened over just the past few days began to rush through my mind, causing slight tears to flow from my face.
My body continued to shake endlessly, with my friends around my calling my name, which I could barely hear due to the ringing in my ears.
"Was it fake?" I ask the woman who sat on the throne in front of me.
She wasn't the Arpious that I knew and loved… She wasn't the one I took a liking to and pursued for marriage… She wasn't the one we all drank with and made so many memories within just one single night.
"What do you mean?" The woman asks.
"Was everything about you the past couple of days fake?!" I shout while partly seething in anger.
My eyes were desperate for an answer, but the woman sitting on the throne continued to have cold eyes that clearly didn't care about me.
Her eyes sent shivers down my spine. Before, I thought her eyes were beautiful, but now, her eyes are that of a predator… no, a monster.
"Is that all you came here to ask?" The woman asks.
The last sliver of hope that I desperately hung onto had just slipped out of my grasp, causing me to fall into a pit of despair.
It felt almost as bad as the same time when I saw my parents die in front of me; When I felt their body go cold in my arms as I tried to shake them awake but received no response in the end.
"Escort them away, maids," The woman says after reeling in her intense pressure that brought us to our knees.
"Reyna, you have to do something fast," Elisa says from behind me, but I had no strength in my body… I didn't even have enough to speak.
"*sigh*... fine, I'll do it myself," Elisa says, stepping up and unleashing her own pressure that barely did anything to the woman sitting above us.
The woman barely even flinched as Elisa's determined eyes stared her down before opening her mouth.
"We have come to arrange an alliance with your kingdom," Elisa says while my friends helped me up, but as I had no strength, they had to keep me up by holding my arms.
"And what would we gain from it?" The queen asks.
…
(Elisa POV)
"And what would we gain from it?" The queen asks.
Shit… I didn't think this through… She probably already knows that the Uxtan Kingdom will fall anyway, but with the commanders, king, and Lan at the front of the battle, this kingdom won't survive.
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"We'll allow trade between your kingdom and our underground kingdom so we have a natural benefit that can last for generations," I say.
"Oh, you have my attention… but that's still not enough," The queen says.
"Hold on; you can't go asking for more if we can't even gain anything-"
As soon as I said that, I felt my heart drop as we spoke our mind about our plans and everything to the traitorous woman in front of us.
"I already know what you want… Revenge right? Well, that's your gain, and that's everything you've been working to your entire life… so give us something equal to that," The queen says.
Isn't she trying just a bit too hard to make us hate her? It's so unnatural- wait… her eyes… why are they so sad, and why do they seem so desperate?
Looking back, I saw that everybody but Reyna had noticed it as well, as they looked at Arpious with pity.
…
(Arpious POV)
"Fine, we'll offer the land above our underground kingdom," Moon says, stepping up with eyes full of pity.
Why do you look at me like that? It makes my heart wrench even more… So stop… please…
"More," I say.
"More? Then we'll offer all the information we know about the alliances with the Uxtan Kingdom so you can take over their kingdoms with ease,"
"More,"
"We have nothing else to give, and if you keep asking, then we'll just leave,"
"Then leave," I say, but my cold eyes slightly waver.
"Arpious, don't be rash," Aika says, noticing my uneasy state.
"I told them to leave, so they should just leave,"
"*sigh*... It seems my wife isn't feeling well so I'll accept your proposal. The kingdom and information will come after the war… if we win, of course," Aika says before dismissing them, and immediately after, my maids help escort them out.
"Mom? Are you okay?" Hades asks as I sit up from my throne and walk limply down the stairs.
"Yeah… Just let me sleep," I mutter before making my way to my room.
I didn't even take a bath or change as I just collapsed on the bed, with my maids and wives giving me space as interrupting me now would only cause me to lash out in anger.
"Mommy," I hear Freya's voice say.
"What do you want?" I mutter.
"I-I got better with the scythe," Freya speaks up again, and when I turned to look at her, it seems she was hesitant to ask for praise.
"Just leave," I mutter, shooing her off with my hand.
"O-okay," Freya responds before leaving the room with a weak smile.
A few more minutes passed before I hear Luna's voice speak up.
"Mommy, I-I also got better with the scythe, so can we eat Water Boa for dinner?" Luna asks in a stiff position while she twiddled with her fingers.
"Do what you want," I respond, but it seems Luna didn't give up and walked over to me before hugging me.
"Oi… Arpious, you better get up," I hear a stern tone suddenly come from the doorway of my room.
Shit…
"I said get up!" Homura says before throwing me off the bed, causing my back to hit the wall and slide down it.
Luna was scared, so she immediately ran out of the room and began to call for her other mother, Kumo.
Homura slammed her foot beside my face, causing me to jump slightly before Homura leaned in with an angry expression that sent a shiver down my spine.
"What the hell are you doing moping around when we've been working our ass off to maintain this kingdom!? Can't you at least lead the soldiers into battle!" Homura says.
Ah… that's right… The king and Lan are attacking this afternoon.
"YOUR HIGHNESS! Two powerful figures have appeared in the [Blood Swamp]! The commanders are requesting help immediately!" One of my maids says, charging into my room.
"You here that, now get your ass up and go," Homura says once more before storming out the room.
"*sigh*... I'm tired," I mutter before getting up and activating [Araes Dress].