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Queen Versus Queen
"I am your good friend. We fought together before; we've both been bathed in the blood of our enemies. I will never watch my friend fall and do nothing. Tell me, Dear, tell me, who exactly did this? I will definitely avenge you! I will avenge you at all costs!"
I watched Queen Sisi put on her irate act and screaming. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know that Queens had to take acting classes in this era. Queen Sisi was getting full marks for the class. Queen Sisi's act made me wonder if it was because I was too much of a utilitarian that I saw her as shameless.
"Queen Sisi's true love for the Elven Queen…" I cut of my own thinking. My rationality told me Queen Sisi's supposed feelings couldn't remotely be genuine. She wasn't that sort of character.
The Elven Queen's lips budged. Tears didn't course down from underneath her bandage. The following was the script I expected: Queen Sisi would wait, and then the Elven Queen's calmness and tolerance would surprise Queen Sisi.
However, Queen Sisi then did something that stunned me. She pressed her hand on the Elven Queen's mouth. Everyone around froze in place. Queen Sisi kept up her heart-wrenching act but didn't let the Elven Queen speak. Queen Sisi sobbed, "You don't need to tell me. I can't bear to hear it. I can feel your pain with my very own heart. This is too cruel, too cruel. I cannot bear to hear it. You don't need to tell me, Dear, I understand. I understand your pain. Leave it all to me. I will definitely help you go home. I promise!"
Queen Sisi then stood up similarly to a gust of wind. She wiped the tears on her face then turned to leave. The Elven Queen struggled to sit up, apparently to chase after her. Sadly, due to being blind, she accidentally tripped. Queen Sisi turned around and softly laughed: "There's no need to be so emotional, Dear. You don't need to be so grateful. I'm your friend; I should do this. Don't worry, I will ensure they answer to their crimes for you. Rest easy; I won't mistreat my friends."
Ciara and I quickly ran over to help up the Elven Queen. The Elven Queen fell quite badly; she hit her head straight on the floor. Her forehead bled, but she ignored the bleeding on her forehead and thundered, "Sisi!! I won't allow your unruly plans to bear fruit! Our elven internal affairs are our business; it has nothing to do with you!! Don't you humans stick your noses in our business!"
I couldn't imagine the startled look on my face. I thought, "Honestly, those words should've sounded dominating and imposing, but you're not supposed to yell them at me…"
Queen Sisi didn't reply to the Elven Queen or pretend that she didn't hear. Instead, she assertively walked over and gently helped up the Elven Queen. Ciara warily monitored Queen Sisi as though she was afraid Queen Sisi would thrust a knife into her Queen or try to kill the Elven Queen's dignity using her words.
Queen Sisi gently went up on her toes. The two Queens were quite close in height. She leaned in to the Elven Queen and hugged her. Then, she licked the Elven Queen's wound on her forehead. The Elven Queen shivered violently then aggressively shoved Queen Sisi away.
Queen Sisi nonchalantly laughed then took a step back before swiftly leaning in again. She leaned on the Elven Queen's shoulder and whispered in her ear, although I could still hear her. She whispered, "Did he tell you to say that?"
The Elven Queen fumed, "No!! Sisi!! Don't go thinking that I'm open book! You want to attack us elves and rob us of our land, don't you?! The elves may have exiled me, but I'm still an elf. I won't allow you to harm my elven homeland! I will never allow it!!"
Okay, okay, while I admit that I admire the Elven Queen for keeping the bigger picture in mind, I still had to ask, are elves dull? Would you actually say that to someone's face? Queen Sisi never said that; we were just predicting her thoughts. Before Queen Sisi actually attacked the elves, it was all a conjecture. The hints may obviously point to that conclusion, but if Queen Sisi didn't attack, it'd mean we slandered her.
You can't outright say such things. Mindlessly speaking would empower Queen Sisi to seize the initiative. Once she had the initiative, she'd have thousands of ways of proving that she wouldn't attack the elves. To the contrary, it would give you a bad name for suspecting your friends. Not to mention that Queen Sisi would be able to go back to the imperial capital and claim that she tried to sincerely take care of the Elven Queen, only for her to be trampled on and slandered. The other races would, consequently, see it as the elves' mistake.
"Oh?"
And Queen Sisi reacted just as I expected. She revealed a smug smirk. It didn't matter, since the Elven Queen couldn't see, anyway. Queen Sisi's previous act was splendid, but the Elven Queen couldn't see the performance regardless of how superb it was. If you think about it that way, it was a pitiful waste.
Queen Sisi took a step forward with a smile: "I never said I would attack elves. I merely promised to help you take back your throne. I never said I would wage a war for you? Do you see me as such a violent woman? No, no, no, Dear, I may love you very much, but I do have a brain. It is a mistake to sacrifice our brilliant citizens for our private affairs. On top of that, it is absurd for us to harm each other for friendship. As such, I don't understand why you think that I would attack elves? I think you misunderstood my kind intentions. He must have fed you misleading ideas."
"He didn't!!"
The Elven Queen's desire to protect me was touching. Unfortunately, it was useless. She just wasn't on the same level as Queen Sisi. Queen Sisi had absolutely no need to concern herself with the Elven Queen. Queen Sisi would lead the Elven Queen by the nose, and the latter wouldn't have any means of retaliation. Queen Sisi didn't care what the Elven Queen said. She just needed to continue with her own topic. It was no different to negotiations breaking down at the table. In the end, she'd be left with no option other than to obediently sign the papers.
"Really? He didn't? I don't blame him, however, for I know that. As he is my favoured vassal, others will inevitably slander him. Moreover, as my favoured vassal, he won't choose to say things opposing my will to my face. That's why I can understand him using you as his medium."
Queen Sisi turned to give me a smile. I had to give it to Queen Sisi for being vile. She turned me into a scoundrel who used the Elven Queen as a medium to express my viewpoint. She also turned me into a coward who might've claimed such things because I was bribed.
I chuckled: "Your Majesty, you jest. I am no favoured vassal. I am Veirya's spoil of war and have always remained in the North. My last trip to the imperial capital was my very first visit. Furthermore, I cannot put names to the faces of those around you."
"Indeed. I developed a great fondness for you when we first met, which goes to show that others perceive you to be trustworthy."
"You are trying to apotheosise me, Your Majesty. I am just being myself. That said, you just mentioned that I avoid saying things which oppose your thoughts. So, if this madam spoke my mind, I want to know, what is this oppositional perspective that you speak of?"
That was an Achilles heel right there. Queen Sisi said something very interesting in her last turn. The Elven Queen didn't allow Queen Sisi to attack the elves. Subsequently, if my perspective opposed Queen Sisi's, that was the equivalent of admitting that her intent was to attack the elves. You could consider it Queen Sisi's slip of the tongue. It was a perfect weapon to counter Queen Sisi.
My thoughts were simple: I didn't intend to help the Elven Queen; however, Queen Sisi, I won't allow you to spread the fire to me!
Queen Sisi didn't panic whatsoever. She kept her composure as she answered, "Why, that would be to refuse to help the elves, of course. Not everyone will agree to me helping the elves. Little Doggy, you should be aware of what exactly those people around me are thinking. You should be very aware."
Queen Sisi was no pushover, for sure. She dodged my question without giving the impression it was contrived. The two of us would need to think for a long time before we said anything if we wanted to discuss such topics.
I took a moment before responding, "I definitely concur with helping elves. While you were discussing the matter, I had already helped these three innocent elves, but we are worried about you and your peoples' means in achieving that."
"You and your people?" Queen Sisi pursed her lips into a smile: "You and your people? Little Doggy, you are clearly a human, so why are you siding with the elves? Your wife is pregnant, and you want to flirt with an elf? Little Doggy, you are a splendid gentleman in every capacity, but you need to keep your philandering activities under control."
"That is not important at the moment!!!"
I knew Queen Sisi diverted the topic to something completely irrelevant on purpose, because she wanted to avoid the topic. Under normal circumstances, nobody would remember the totally irrelevant topic, as it was a horrible failure of switching the subject. Alas, the Elven Queen surprisingly turned to me. Her lips gently trembled. In a shaky voice, she asked, "Y-You're… already married… and… have a child?!"
"No, no!! That's not what's important right now!! That's not!!"
"Answer me! Why did you kiss me when you're already married and have children?! Why?!!"
"That's not what's important at the moment!!"
All right, all right, I admit it. Queen Sisi's topic switch wasn't a failure but an overwhelming success.