I pushed the heavy wooden door open and stepped into her office. The mont it creaked shut behind , my eyes landed on her.
Solaris.
She looked exhausted. Even so, her beauty was untouched, radiant as ever, though dulled by the shadows under her eyes and the stiffness in her posture. She was drowning in a sea of parchnt—papers stacked so high they looked like walls ready to collapse at the slightest push. Maps, letters, and official decrees scattered across her desk told she had been at this for hours, maybe days. It was written all over her face.
I couldn’t help but smirk to myself. Even the queen of the elves wasn’t spared from endless paperwork, huh?
"I’m sorry for barging in without knocking," I said, closing the door behind . "But I couldn’t stand the thought of you suffering alone, so I welcod myself in."
Her head lifted at the sound of my voice. "Leon?" Solaris blinked, and then a soft smile spread across her tired face. "Wow... I never expected you to arrive this quickly. I only sent that letter two days ago."
I walked closer, eting her gaze without hesitation. "Well, if I get a ssage filled with things like I miss you and I love you, naturally, I’d co running as fast as I could, right? I couldn’t waste even a mont."
Her smile ward, softer than anything she usually showed. "You really are so sweet."
I leaned against her desk, letting my eyes wander over the scattered ss of papers. "So... how’s everything holding up here?"
Her shoulders sagged a little. "Not good. Honestly, it feels like we’ve been stuck at a standstill for too long. Problems keep piling up, and I can’t solve them on my own. Artemis has been away, traveling all over the world to free our people from slavery, so I can’t lean on her either." She hesitated for a mont, her voice dropping lower. "Leon... if you’re willing, will you help ? I promise I’ll reward you."
The way she looked at when she said that—the faint curl of her lips, the way her tongue brushed against them—made her intentions obvious. There was no mistaking what kind of reward she ant.
"Count in," I told her, grinning.
Her face lit up, that weary tension lting away for a mont. Honestly, even if she hadn’t promised anything, I would’ve agreed. She was one of my won. It was only natural for to take on the weight she couldn’t carry.
"Well," she said, pushing back strands of golden hair that had slipped loose from her crown, "we need to act quickly... especially since our next target is..." Her words trailed off, as if the very thought weighed heavily on her.
"The slave market in the Empire," I finished for her. "And the slave owners themselves."
She gave a small nod.
That was it. Our next target was the Empire of Rodonia. Thousands of slaves were waiting for us to free them, nearly five hundred elves among them. That was why we had to get the housing built quickly, or there’d be nowhere for them to return to.
But going after the Empire... that was another story. It wasn’t just the unforgiving terrain surrounding it. The emperor himself was a monster as well as a tyrant who lived and breathed bloodshed. A man who found joy in killing. If he decided to unleash his wrath, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to crush everything within reach. And with the largest army at his disposal, his hunger for world domination wasn’t sothing to take lightly.
The only thing holding him back—thankfully or maybe unfortunately—was the Republic. A nation founded or a position usurped by soone from another world. Unlike the Empire, they relied on technology, having developed artificial intelligence to serve as soldiers. If they managed to build the world’s largest AI army, victory and conquest would be within their grasp.
Think about it. Soldiers who felt no pain, who never hesitated, who knew nothing but war—it was obvious they’d have the upper hand against flesh-and-blood armies.
For now, though, both sides were locked in a tense stalemate.
"The housing has to be ready before we move on the Empire," Solaris said, her voice firm despite the fatigue. "Which ans we don’t have ti to waste. Can you really handle it, Leon?"
"As long as you give the freedom to do it my way, then yeah, I can," I said.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. "And what exactly do you an by that?"
"You don’t allow humans into the kingdom, right? If that’s the case, building the housing quickly will be impossible. You don’t have the resources, and you don’t have the manpower. So I need you to give the freedom to bring in humans to help."
Her eyes widened slightly, but her voice was calm. "So essentially, you’re asking to open the gates of the Elven Kingdom to humans?" She paused for only a second before nodding. "That’s fine."
"...What?"
I blinked at her, genuinely taken aback.
"Why are you so surprised?" she asked.
"Well, I figured you’d at least think it over. I didn’t expect you to agree so quickly," I admitted.
"It’s your words," she said simply. "And I trust you. If you believe this is the fastest way to finish the housing, then naturally, I’ll give you what you want."
"...I see. Then I’ll hold you to that," I said.
Still, the ease of her acceptance stunned . For a queen who still carried the heavy scars of hatred against humans, for her to yield so easily... it only showed how desperate and how hopeless things had beco.
***
That night, I decided to stay in the Elven Kingdom.
At first, I wanted to share a bed with Solaris, to hold her close, but I stopped myself. She was worn down, exhausted to the core, and she needed real rest more than she needed .
By morning, people from Leonamon would arrive to begin preparations for the housing. Once that was underway, we could shift focus to the next stage—planning our infiltration of the Empire and the liberation of the slaves.
It was going to be a long, grueling plan. The Empire wasn’t just well-defended—it was suffocatingly fortified.
And deep down, I had a gut feeling that Moriarty was there.
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