"Ugghh…"
The King groaned in pain as he opened his eyes.
His head felt heavy, he tried to grab his hand, however, he soon realized that he couldn't move his hand, he looked and finally noticed that his hands were bound.
His eyes widened, he then looked around and noticed that he was kneeling in front of Astaria, who was standing in front of him with a mocking smile on her face.
Beside her stood Keeve and Reeve, who was looking at him with expressionless looks on their faces.
"You Bastards! How da-Uggh!"
Ricardus shouted in anger, however, Astaria kicked his head.
"How dare you raise your voice in front of me, criminal?"
She questioned.
"C-Criminal?"
Ricardus stuttered.
"Ricardus Skyfall, for the crime of killing your own Brothers and Sisters for the Throne, you will be executed on the full moon night, right after the next Ruler of the Kingdom is Crowned."
Astaria sentenced.
Hearing these words, Ricardus's eyes widened in surprise,
"W-What are yo-"
"Take him away."
Astaria ordered.
2 servants walked out and grabbed the King.
"Ugghhh!! Let go of me, you bastards!"
The King tried to break free by using his strength, however, he soon realized that he couldn't activate his Mana.
His eyes then fell on the Chains that bound him and his face paled in fear.
"MineralStar Iron…"
These chains were used to bind Cultivators, even the strongest of Cultivators are helpless against these chains since they break their connection with the Mana in the air, without Mana, even the body strength is reduced to a mere 1% of the original.
Once bound under these chains, even the King Stage Cultivators would be at a Beginner Stage Cultivator's mercy.
"Y-You can't do this!
You can't do this to me!!"
Ricardus shouted in fear, however, no one cared about the previous King and he was dragged away by the very servants who he used to order around.
Once the previous King was dragged away, Astaria sat on the throne and ordered,
"Call Evane, and tell her to bring that subordinate of hers with her."
A servant bowed her head and walked out.
"It is not like Queen Evane goes anywhere without that man following around her."
Reeve chuckled.
Yes, they were already referring to Evane as their Queen, to be honest, they were even excited to serve her.
They wanted to feel how good it would feel to actually work under someone competent.
However, at the same time, they were nervous. Not from Evane herself, but this subordinate of hers.
"I wonder if she would trust us as much as she trusts that man."
Keeve spoke.
"That would be quite difficult."
Astaria, who actually knew the truth chuckled.
"But isn't it concerning? We have no information about that man, where he came from, what he did before he met Queen Evane, how is he so strong, or why was he supporting Queen Evane, we practically have zero knowledge about him.
We could let this go before since Lady Evane was just a Princess, however, now that she would become the Queen, having a man from an unknown origin as her right-hand man…"
Although Reeve didn't complete his sentence, Astaria understood what he wanted to say and even agreed with him to some extent.
However,
"So what do you think Evane should do? Kick her subordinate away now that she will become the Queen?"
"Of course not, I know Lady Evane well, she would never do something like this, however, I would at least like to have some information about that man.
I will not lie, I tried to do a background check on him, however, other than his name, I couldn't find anything."
"Have you sought Thousand Information Chamber for help?" Astaria questioned.
"Thousand Information Chamber is… currently facing problems…" Reeves answered.
"Ah, that girl was assassinated." Astaria realized.
"Indeed." Reeve nodded.
"Anyways, you don't have to worry about it, I am still here. Even if that boy has bad intentions, I will make sure that he won't succeed. For now, don't target him.
Evane is a Prodigy, and that boy is even more of a prodigy than her, there is no point in going against them for something even we are unsure about."
Astaria spoke and Reeve and Keeve nodded in understanding.
"Lady Astaria."
While the three of them were talking, 2 more people walked into the Hall and bowed.
A smile appeared on Astaria's face as she glanced at Nux and Evane,
"You are here."
Evane raised her head and smiled back, soon, however, a frown appeared on her face when her eyes fell on the Crown that was placed on a lavish Red colored velvet cloth.
Seeing her expression, Astaria smiled and didn't hide anything.
"You will be Crowned in 5 days, I hope you are ready for the responsibility."
"WHAT!?"
Not only Evane, even Nux was shocked by this news.
Astaria then talked about everything that happened and the more they heard about it, the more Nux's and Evane's expressions changed,
"Father like son."
Nux couldn't help but comment.
"Indeed."
Astaria nodded.
"So you want me to execute father once I become the Queen?"
Evane questioned.
"Is it still too much for you? Killing your own family member, I mean." Astaria questioned back.
Hearing her question, a dry chuckle escaped Evane's mouth,
"The more I involve myself with all this, the more I feel that killing my family members would actually do good to this world."
"…"
Hearing this sentence, Keeve, Reeve, Astaria, and Nux turned silent.
Nux already knew how much Evane was going through, however, in this situation, where she refused to share anything with him and wanted to deal with this strange feeling in her heart on her own, he couldn't do anything and only stay by her side to show his support.
Astaria smiled weakly as well,
"Right, you are the normal one here."
"Hmm?"
Evane frowned.
"Don't burden yourself too much, the Royal Family has always been a mess, no one is innocent here. A pure heart like you being born into the Royal Family is an exception here, however, when it comes to being a human, you are better than us all.
Don't treat it as your weakness and let it weaken you. Stay strong, stick to your beliefs, observe, learn, adapt and grow.
As for difficult matters, leave them to us."
Strange but heartfelt words.
Evane smiled a little as she glanced at Nux, Nux smiled back and nodded.
Leave everything to me, I will be there for you.
Even without him saying these words, Evane heard them.
'I love you.'
She spoke.
'Love you too.'
Nux replied.
The two of them would have kissed if it weren't for so many people here.
Nux was already making plans for the future session in the Royal Bedroom.
"Evane,"
Suddenly, Astaria called out. Evane glanced at the woman.
"Come to my room after this.
We need to talk."
As Astaria spoke, her eyes looked at both, Evane and Nux.
Meaning that she wasn't calling her alone.
Evane and Nux nodded.
"As you command, Lady Astaria."
Evane bowed.
