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Chapter Volume 5.2 18
Chapter Volume 5.2 18
Queen's Favourite Vassal
I placed down the letter in my hand. A lady-in-waiting knocked on the door from outside and, in a soft voice, reported, "Your Majesty, Sir Achilles seeks an audience with you."
I didn't hear any movement from the bed behind me. I stood in place and silently waited, but Queen Sisi didn't respond. I didn't know if she was asleep or something. My guess was Achilles wanted to see her about the chapel. The chapel was focused on the North and weren't active in the imperial capital anymore. In saying that, there were reports pointing out that they had a secret trade with the dwarves and transported a batch to the imperial capital already.
I wasn't sure why Queen Sisi was so concerned about the dwarves' trade. Strictly speaking, the letter couldn't be considered a letter for there were only a few words scribbled down hastily. Judging from the creases, however, Queen Sisi had read it over and over. She paid a lot of mind to the matter. My question, therefore, was what could be making Queen Sisi so tense?
I surmised Queen Sisi was most nervous about military authority. On second thought, judging from what happened last time, the military was unquestionably loyal to Queen Sisi. By that logic, she wasn't worried about the military since it was unlikely that the military and chapel associated. If they had allied, Queen Sisi might as well surrender.
The only advantage Queen Sisi had was military might. If she decided to outright wage war on the chapel without worrying about what others thought of her, she could. She had a sure win using that method. It was just that it would lead to others fearing and suspecting her. Further, she would never be able to clear the air with the believers unless she had a legitimate reason for doing so. Subsequently, she would put society in a state of unrest. With that said, the empire could suppress them using force and appease society again during its prime because the majority of people believed Queen Sisi, who had battle merits and more to her name.
Putting it all together, I concluded that Queen Sisi's only concern was that her final resort - having the military attack the chapel - might end up in failure. Hence, the question was who could stop her attack. I had an answer for that: military might.
The chapel had their own military, their knights. Though their numbers were small, they had enough to spare if their goal was to protect their chapel. If the pope declared independence, it would no longer be so easy to surprise a peasant rebellion that consisted of the chapel's believers. In that scenario, a political affair would become a national war. Fighting another war at this time was not wise for sure. Humanity's empire would suffer a heavy blow even if Queen Sisi won the war.
Humanity was currently at their peak; however, the population numbers had yet to recover itself after dwindling down due to the last war. Losing more of their people before recovering would mean that their position as the leader of the alliance would be invalidated for humanity would just be an empty shell of its former self. Without enough power, they couldn't ask the elves and dwarves to do anything. To the contrary, the elves and dwarves were associated, so it might turn into a large-scale war with everyone against humanity.
Queen Sisi, in turn, would turn into a demon king. She knew well and truly how the previous Demon King died. If the chapel's knights were strong, then Queen Sisi really would lose her advantage if she couldn't guarantee herself a victory. Thus, the dwarves would definitely provide the chapel's knights with things to reinforce their combat prowess. The question was what would aforementioned things be? Weapons? Most probably so.
What also needed to be factored in was that the chapel's knights didn't need weapons. After all, they were bound to have prepared weapons for themselves. Why, then, would the chapel need more weapons? A possible explanation would be that they were expanding. In an era of peace, why would you need to purchase weapons? Purchasing weapons means that you had an enemy to attack. So, the chapel's enemy was Queen Sisi?
If the chapel's enemy was Queen Sisi, the situation was different again. You're viewing Queen Sisi as an imaginary enemy. Does that mean that you plan to revolt? If you revolt, you're a rebel. Therefore, it would be perfectly reasonable for me to kill you. Whoever else supports you would also be a rebel. Hence, I can kill anyone.
"All right, let's go with that as a motive. As long as we can confirm that they have weapons, we can solve the problem," I decided in my mind.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Achilles seeks an audience with you."
Queen Sisi still hadn't woken up. She pulled on her bed curtain. I didn't know what happened…
"Please don't let anything bad happen to Queen Sisi… If something happens to her, I'll be the prime suspect. Actually, I'll be hacked without the suspicion step. This is no locked-room murder scene… Should I go and take a look at her? But… but… I can't approach Queen Sisi's bed, right…?" I contemplated.
Entering Queen Sisi's room was one thing but approaching her bed… that was an entirely different matter. I still remembered what she said to me before she went to sleep. It could've been her test of my loyalty for all I knew. If I approached her bed while she was asleep, Veirya might come out from under her blanket and cut me right down the centre.
I cautiously called, "Your Majesty?"
Queen Sisi murmured to herself. It sounded as though she rolled over. In an irritated and bleary voice, she responded, "You go. You go, I'm leaving it in your hands. Go and talk to Achilles. Don't bother me."
"… Yes, Your Majesty."
I was no longer sure if Queen Sisi was actually asleep or testing me to see if I could resolve the matter at that point. Either way, it seemed that I had to go and discuss the issue of chapel with Achilles. Moreover, I had to do well. When I came back, I needed to have something to report back to Queen Sisi; otherwise, she might have me executed. Veirya was with Queen Sisi. Put another way, she had another executioner on hand.
I exited the room and gently shut the door.
"Why can't I hear. Her Majesty? What. Did you do to her?" Veirya questioned.
"I didn't do anything. Go check if you don't believe me. She's just asleep."
If I couldn't clear my name, Veirya would've ended me. Suspicious, she went inside. I figured the young man in black interrogating me with his eyes was Achilles.