300 views on each video this week and I’ll release an extra chapter at the end of the week.
What’s Done Cannot Be Undone
Hearing Queen Sisi coming, I contemplated, "Why is Queen Sisi coming here? Did she catch wind of something?"
Normally, Achilles wasn't in the North, which would mean that I should've been an umbra. She didn't have spies in the North; everyone in the North was a heretic. They were free from her ruling style ages ago. Under normal circumstances, the townsfolk wouldn't rat on us. Furthermore, few people should've known about the Elven Queen's appearance in the North. From their perspective, we lived orderly lives without any issues.
My questions were: What exactly did Queen Sisi want? Was she coming here to investigate something? Did she already know about the Elven Queen and plan take the Elven Queen away, or did she think the Elven Queen fled on her own accord and wanted to send her back as a show of kindness?
Queen Sisi could be using her visit as an excuse to prepare an attack on the elves. She might claim that, because the Elven Queen pleaded her, she had to help the Elven Queen take her throne back. As such, the Elven Queen would have to provide Queen Sisi with a map of the elves' interior and all sorts of other secret information. The Elven Queen wanted to go home, which meant she had to return to a forest that accepted her. Subsequently, she had to rely on Queen Sisi. In doing so, though, she essentially placed the fate of elves in humanity's hands. In that scenario, the Elven Queen would be able to go home, but she'd have to step on countless of her fellow elves’ corpses to return home to regain her freedom and home she was born with the right to.
Betraying her entire race to achieve her own selfish desire would make the Elven Queen a true traitorous elf. At this point, she was only a Queen who was exiled due to political changes. Down the road, people would conjure their own evaluations of her. If she led humanity's army into the forest, however, she'd be labelled a traitor to the race.
A monarch shouldn't turn against their people. A monarch shoulders an entire race's rise and fall. They can't drag their entire race into the abyss just to fulfil their own personal desires. Queen Sisi's risky plan to attack the elves only endangered herself, not humanity as a whole. Worse comes to worse, they'd just enthrone a new monarch, and humanity would still be humanity. On the other hand, if Queen Sisi succeeded thanks to the Elven Queen, Queen Sisi would be the most decorated monarch in all of human history. She'd be humanity’s most worshipped individual. She'd become the god of this world. Humans who could conquer the elves were without equal. By then, the dwarves wouldn't be a match for humanity. Soon enough, humanity's conquest would go from a march to a bulldozer mowing down autumn wheat.
I didn't care what humanity wanted, but I did care about my money. The elves were the only route I had to import goods at a low price, where I could then sell for a high price. If Lucilia was ousted from power, what was I going to do? If humanity ruled elves, my area, which was considered the border, would become the epicentre. Queen Sisi was bound to send her people to the town. When they arrived, they'd catch me if I ever tampered with the ball. There was no way I wanted that to happen. Hence, I needed to help the elves. I wasn't planning to betray Queen Sisi or hold a military remonstration, as that would make me humanity's traitor. Do that and nobody would buy from me; plus, Veirya would turn on me. All I could do was try my best to ruin Queen Sisi's plan. I needed to prevent Queen Sisi from initiating an attack on the elves so that she dropped the plan in the end.
The Elven Queen still hadn't recovered; she still couldn't move. The Elven Queen would likely meet Queen Sisi. Additionally, since Queen Sisi decided to make an appearance, she must've received confirmation. As such, hiding the Elven Queen was unnecessary. As a matter of fact, it would only serve to pique Queen Sisi's interest even more. Hence, it'd be better to leave the Elven Queen there.
I needed to have a good think as to what exactly Queen Sisi was after. Should I go upstairs to tell the Elven Queen to never put elves in that terrible predicament, I considered. I didn't know if it really was a wise idea to be directing the elves, though. I wasn't an elf. Even if I did tell the Elven Queen, if she steeled her heart and asked Queen Sisi for help, I'd have revealed my weakness to Queen Sisi. Queen Sisi was a very dangerous character in the game. I couldn't allow her to seize anything that she could leverage against me. I never thought about it before. I needed to do everything in my power to redirect the topic as a means of preventing Queen Sisi from bringing up the matter. My stance on the matter didn't hold weight. The decisive factor was whether or not the Elven Queen maintained her rationality.
I didn't eat lunch. I just sat in my chair in silence. Nonetheless, ideas popped into my head similarly to fireworks going off with one after another. Suddenly, Veirya, who sat opposite to me, grabbed my hand and asked, "What. Is wrong? I am very happy. That Her Majesty is coming."
Before I could reply, Angelina interjected, "Queen Sisi's visit isn't good news for us… Didn't we tell you already? She is eager to attack the elves; I think she might be here to ask you to join the battle."
"Is that it? Then, I won't go." Veirya lost interest. She lowered her head and continued cutting the sausage: "He. Told me not to go. So, I won't go. You don't need to worry. I won't. Go."
"That's not the only problem," I said.
While Veirya's answer warmed my heart, it didn't resolve the most worrisome part. I didn't care about things with Veirya for the meantime; I was more concerned about the Elven Queen. Angelina, however, thought I was worried about Veirya. Hence, she pondered to herself then said, "Yes, but you are Queen Sisi's soldier at the end of the day, aren't you? If she, personally, comes to call you to join the battle, would you have the right to refuse? You're not an adventurer, veirya."
"Mm…" Veirya apparently didn't know what to do.
Angelina nodded. In a more confident tone, she said, "See? He doesn't know what to do, either? After all, Queen Sisi wields too much power; plus, she can't be offended. That's why I came up with a great plan. When she arrives, take two of these pills, Veirya."
Angelina took out two small white pills from her pocket. Just as Veirya reached out to grab them, I covered them with my hands. I warily asked Angelina, "What is this? What does it do? Why are you carrying it on you at all times?"
"Don't be so tense. I'm Veirya's mom. I wouldn’t mindlessly drug my daughter, would I? This can give one a temporary upset stomach; the effects will wear off after two or three days. It was my weapon when I proposed. I used this drug to trick your father into thinking I was pregnant to force him to quickly marry me. That's why I've always had it prepared for Veirya. It's finally going to fulfil its duty today."
"What in the world are you preparing for your daughter?!"
Angelina smiled mischievously: "This is the only method, though, isn't it? Think about it. Aside from this method, do you have any other idea to convince Queen Sisi to give up? What, are you going to tell her that Veirya is sick or that Veirya doesn't want to go? You need a method without flaws that Queen Sisi can’t leverage against you. Needless to say, that would be none other than that Veirya is pregnant. Regardless of how capable Veirya is as a fighter, she's still a woman; she has nothing to offer in battle as a pregnant woman. Queen Sisi, therefore, will have to give up. That's why this pill is useful."
I sighed: "It really is a good idea. Actually, no, it's a genius idea!"
After my shock settled down, I realised that Angelina's idea was actually a magnificent one. As she said, I needed to choose a method Queen Sisi couldn't refute and force Veirya to go to battle. Surely Queen Sisi had come up with counters for other methods. Feigning illness definitely wouldn't work. Queen Sisi would just force her to go; Queen Sisi never thought I'd use pregnancy as an excuse, I presumed. Moreover, who would be able to even expect Veirya to be pregnant? The last time Veirya met Queen Sisi, she had yet to show any signs of pregnancy. This time, though, she'd show signs. Veirya couldn't fight when she was pregnant; it'd make things worse, for she'd become a burden on the battlefield. Unable to determine if Veirya is genuinely pregnant or not, Queen Sisi would have to let Veirya stay put.
"Right? Right? It's a clever idea, isn't it? I originally planned to use the tactic on you after that night to seal the deal, but unfortunately, I was useless that night. As a result, I can only let Veirya use it now. A woman must almost have this sort of stuff on her. Love may come out of the blue, after all."
Angelina mentioned something very, extremely frightening without any qualms. My body shuddered on instinct. She was seriously frightening. Luckily, I managed to resist that night. Otherwise, I'd be a happy dad in two months' time…
Veirya took the pill and then froze. She questioned. "So, when the Queen arrives. I. Take this pill. And done?"
"Mm, have it one day beforehand. Queen Sisi should arrive in approximately three days. Hence, you should have one on day two. Then, you need to say you're pregnant, understood? If Queen Sisi asks for details… mm… come see me at night. Then, you just need to say what I teach you, got it?"
Angelina seemed to still be somewhat worried Veirya would reveal her ignorance when she was questioned and, thus, planned to give her daughter a science class.
Will they be all right, I worried. I genuinely wondered if I should… be happy or terrified… after Angelina teaches her daughter to become another Angelina…