Then came a voice she was much too familiar with.
"Oh? You are finally conscious".
It was the Queen. She stood by the bedside, looking over at her in concern.
"I..." Diana tried to speak, but then immediately recalled the scene she had just seen. Her voice faltered. Her mind still tangled.
That scene, that moment, was still burned vividly in her memory.
Seeing Diana’s lost face, the Queen spoke. "I suppose you saw everything."
Diana wanted to say something, but found herself with no words again.
"Reinhardt found you unconscious nearby and brought you here."
So that was why she was in bed. She recalled passing out after getting too emotional. So that means... they know she saw them.
There was no escaping it now.
After a long silence, Diana slowly nodded.
"What you saw... was real."
The Queen did not deny it. Her voice was calm, as if what she was speaking about was nothing out of the ordinary.
"But do not misunderstand. Reinhardt and I are not bound merely as ruler and knight. I love him. He is the first man who understood my feelings."
The Queen spoke the truth without any hesitation. She, the ruler of Solaris, was laying everything bare, without any pretense.
Diana looked at her. "What about the King?" The question slipped out before she could even think.
The Queen’s expression shifted, from a lovestruck woman, it turned into something cold and distant.
"I have never accepted that man as my husband. At that time, when he wanted to marry me, I did not have the power to refuse."
Silence descended into the room. One must understand that every word spoken here was treason, betrayal of the crown.
Yet the Queen was telling her everything.
"I know what you’re thinking." The Queen looked at Diana. "That this is plicated. That it is wrong. But it isn’t."
She shook her head.
"It’s very simple. If two people acknowledge each other’s hearts... then that is all that matters."
Diana lowered her eyes, mulling over those words. She placed a hand on her heart and wondered how she herself felt.
.
.
Royal Palace... Audience Chamber.
Reinhardt stood before the throne.
Seated above was the King. A man who had once held absolute authority over Solaris. Though he had stepped back in the recent days, his presence still lingered. And so did his loyalists.
Reinhardt looked at the King, who looked worn. There were dark bags under his eyes, and his body was slightly shrivelled. He looked like a man whose essence was sucked out.
Was the king having too much fun with the maids and concubines?
Of course, Reinhardt didn’t know that the real reason was none other than him. The king had been making himself miserable after realizing his fetish and getting struck with ED.
Seeing Reinhardt, the king’s expression immediately lit up.
"Ah! Viscount Reinhardt!"
Reinhardt stepped forward and gave a bow. Of course, there was a subtle stiffness to it. As if the respect was given out of obligation, not willingness.
"Your Majesty..." Reinhardt opened his mouth. However, before he could speak, the king spoke first.
"Viscount Reinhardt, I’ve been wanting to speak with you." Saying that, he got up from his throne and started pacing slightly.
"The world... is changing. The fall of Lunaris, the attacks on Solaris’s capital, and even Aetherion. The times have bee extremely turbulent. Demonic activity is increasing everywhere. It’s... unsettling. Even within the palace... I cannot feel safe."
Reinhardt listened to everything calmly and wondered what the king was getting at.
Suddenly, the king stopped pacing, turned towards him, and smiled. It was a very strange smile.
"That’s why I’ve e to a conclusion. To better protect ourselves, the royal family must also gain power."
"Viscount Reinhardt Arcknight, will you help the Queen increase her level?"
The king’s voice carried expectation, authority and something else.
.
By the time Reinhardt returned to Snowpoint City, the sun had already dipped below the horizon.
He walked straight to his room without stopping. Then he dropped onto the bed and finally sighed.
"So troublesome". The events at the Royal Palace of Solaris replayed in his mind.
The King’s request; No, mand.
Reinhardt frowned slightly. The king had given him no room to refuse, throwing one reason after another at him. What’s more, his teleport skill now a mon knowledge to a fair share of people, was used against him.
The king reasoned that with his teleport ability, making a trip to the capital every now and then to help the Queen increase her level shouldn’t be problematic for him.
His ability to move instantly across vast distances had always been a strategic advantage. Now, it was something the King intended to use.
"In the end... It wasn’t a request, it was an order".
And as a noble of the kingdom, a Viscount, and the mander of one of the Seven Great Knight orders directly under the crown, he could not openly refuse it.
But that wasn’t the only reason Reinhardt accepted that proposal. There was another reason, Something he didn’t say out loud.
"I’m not letting anyone else do it."
The thought of another man, training the Queen, getting close to her, and standing where she stood. That was unacceptable to him.
If someone had to do it, it ought to be him.
While having such thoughts, he stared at the ceiling.
Governing the Snowpoint city, making plans for the Allied Knight Order, looking after the World Tree, the Heavenly Kings, the looming war, and now this.
The weight of everything slowly settled in. It needs to be mentioned that his schedule was packed tight. He was being so busy by the day that there was barely any room to breathe anymore.
Ironically, the thought that brought him a strange sense of relief was the uping expedition to the Tainted Lands.
"Maybe I should just start the expedition sooner."
That way, he won’t have to deal with the political side of things.
For Reinhardt, marching into demon infested territory was somehow less exhausting than dealing with politics.
User Comments
0 comments from readers