At the same time.
Far away from Havenwright laid a country called Icor.
A country that shared its border with the Harley Kingdom. Regina was its capital.
At the center of the capital laid a palace that appeared deserted even though it was brightly lit during night time.
"Say, How many assassins have you sent this year?"
Sitting obliquely on the throne at the palace’s main hall was a woman with golden hair. She caressed her cheek with one hand while the other was softly beating the throne’s grip that was fully decorated with gems. She seemed to be around thirty years old and had a gorgeous dress with two pure black velvet gloves that were filled with diamond rings on her.
She had a noble and cold temperament on her and her gaze was similar to of an old man waiting to die: cold and empty.
So she had an eyepatch to cover one of her eyes. As it did not really complement well with her attire’s theme, it made her looked like a pirate with one eye instead.
"Her Majesty the Queen, this is the fifth one."
Besides the one eyed lady sitting on the throne, there was another man with a crutch around her age at the main hall. The man, who was standing near the throne, respectfully said so with his head down.
There were
only two of them in this palace’s huge main hall. The main hall looked dim under the fully lit exquisite chandelier. It was as if echoes would be produced by just simply saying a word.
"This is the fifth one already…" The one eyed lady who was called the Queen touched her chin and lazily said, "Five of the best assassins and none of them were able to meet the Pope. You disappoint me Ethan."
Even though this man, Ethan, was questioned so, he replied back without any change in his tone:
"This is the Pope we are discussing about. He is the man who stands at the pinnacle of this land. This is not someone who can be spied on even though he’s old."
The Queen humphed and replied: "I am not interested in his personal life. I just want to know whether he’s dead or alive as he had not appeared in the public for eight whole years."
The woman said so with an anxious face, as if she was thinking of something important.
"Her Majesty the Queen, please be patient as the fifth assassin has yet to fail." Ethan then continued: "We received information from the Harley Kingdom. The church has been secretly mobilizing the holy knights since that day. They said that it was to ambush the mages but the holy knights are still being gathered at the capital after the ambush."
The Queen finally sat
sat straight on the throne after she heard the news.
She looked at Ethan seriously as her only visible eye glew like a green emerald.
"You mean to say that this assassin had seen something he should not be?"
Ethan nodded and said: "Be patient my Queen. We will know the answer soon."
"How can I be patient." The queen sneered as she stood up from the throne and looked at the night sky through the window. "I have become the queen since the empire split eight years ago. I did not have a good night sleep since then. You may have forgotten how your leg had rotten, but I will never forget how my right eye became blind."
She took off her eye patch as she said so.
On the properly cared white face, there was no right eye. The eye socket was pure black, as if it was caused by a natural disaster.
The elegant Queen suddenly looked horrible.
"Of course I have not forgotten." Ethan replied with a gentle and soothing voice, "I would not have abandoned two of your brothers and served under you when the empire split
empire split up if it was not to fight against the church."
The queen looked annoyed as she heard the phrase "two of your brothers". It looked like she was not fond of her siblings.
Her expression looked particularly dark with her black eye socket.
The queen’s annoyed expression quickly faded as Ethan finished his sentence. She walked towards Ethan with her charming smile as she raised her eyebrow.
She reached out her hand and raised Ethan’s chin.
"You will always choose me." Her voice became gentle and the empty eye made it sounded stranger. "You have been deeply in love with me since young, right?"
"Your Majesty the Queen...." Ethan sounded panicked as he almost could not hold his crutch.
The queen coldly said with a smile on her face: "I’ll kill you if you don’t say it."
Ethan closed his eyes, took a deep breathe and said in a trembling voice:
"Yes, I love you."
The queen’s smile disappeared after she heard him. She withdrew her hand and put back her eye patch on without any expression. She turned around and walked back to the throne lazily like a cat.
She waved her hand and said: "That’s enough. If there is any new information regarding the assassin, please let me know. You can go home in the meantime."
Ethan bowed to her and could not help himself but to mop off beads of cold sweat on his forehead.
"Okay."
He turned around and limped away.
The queen stared away.
The queen stared at him with her left eye as he left the place. She sighed as she boringly tapped the handrail with her finger while while looking around the empty palace.
"It’s been eight years…"
Her voice echoed faintly in this big hall.
After a while.
Her expression changed all of the sudden and she took out a handkerchief from her cuff.
The handkerchief looked very old. However the queen was holding it tightly as if she was holding her lover’s hand and crushing her most hated person’s throat at the same time.
She was agitated as both her hands were trembling from the strong force.
It’s been a long time.
She relaxed both her hands suddenly and softly collapsed on the back of the throne. She released a big breathe while staring blankly at the ceiling like a soulless doll.
The handkerchief dropped on the floor from her hand.
There were a few lines of small print on the handkerchief:
"My dearest daughter, if I were to die unexpectedly, you must help your second elder brother to become the next leader of this country. You have to becareful of your eldest brother. Please don’t let my country split up because of his greed."
This note was particularly clear under the light of the candlelight.
The queen, who was staring at the chandelier on the ceiling, suddenly sneered. It felt like she was laughing and mocking at herself at the same time.