Volume 8, Chapter 19 – Dramatic Misunderstandings

The meeting location was ultimately chosen approximately twenty-five kilometers from Yarua City, within the territory of the Netherworld.

The reason for the distance of twenty-five kilometers was, according to the undead, that the Queen of Death was a Ninth-Rank powerhouse. If she got too close to a city of the living, they couldn’t guarantee her death energy wouldn’t leak out, which would turn any creature of insufficient strength within twenty-five kilometers into undead. As a compromise, the meeting point was set where it could just be seen from the top of Yarua City’s walls.

Within the massive Yarua City, a carriage procession was slowly moving toward the city gates.

It was worth noting that the composition of this procession was unprecedented in history. Among those clearing the path ahead, besides elven imperial guards in silver full-body armor, the left and right sides of the carriage were flanked by a team of maids in black and white dresses, riding skeletal horses with solemn expressions.

Whether it was their sickly pale complexions or the cyan light flickering in their eyes, everything about them proclaimed their inhuman status. Their nearly uniform tall figures and alluring appearances made the pedestrians on the street, even knowing they were undead, unable to resist stealing glances. Dangerous yet extremely tempting.

These maids were each and every one of them are undead archmages, and the weakest among them was Fifth Rank. Deploying over a dozen at once—if not for the magical items they wore that isolated negative life energy, the mere gathering of them would generate enough negative life force to turn the surrounding small animals into undead.

They were the guards sent by the Queen of Death to protect the elf princess.

Though the war between elves and undead had lasted many years, and the elf populace harbored long-standing resentment, everyone understood that the current front line was already Silvar’s limit. They could push no further south. The prolonged war, while not crippling Silvar, had brought too much suffering. Ending it was naturally good. Now that an opportunity had presented itself, there was no reason not to cease hostilities. These undead entering the city were the precursor to the war’s end.

Baron Yarua had long since spread this news, so the populace wasn’t panicked. They simply stood on both sides of the road, watching from a distance. Even if occasionally someone with immense grudges against the undead shouted in anger, they were quickly taken away by soldiers maintaining order.

Interestingly, someone had leaked information. The rumor that “the First Princess is going as a hostage to become the Queen of Death’s consort in exchange for peace between the two races” had spread among the people. As a result, the onlookers lining the streets mostly cast looks of endurance and shame toward the luxurious carriage—worry for their princess’s future on one hand, and guilt over their own powerlessness, relying on her sacrifice for survival, on the other. Some women among the crowd even let out faint sobs.

“Damn undead!”

“Her Highness the First Princess is doing this for everyone’s good…”

“We could have defeated them with that magic that summoned the sky city before! Why accept their terms now! We should fight to the end!”

“The other side is the legendary Queen of Death. Even Her Highness is no match for someone who can decide life and death with a single thought. Besides, don’t be too pessimistic. Maybe the Queen of Death is a good person. Her Highness might still have a chance to return.”

“How can an undead be a good person? The first thing they’ll do is turn her into an undead! We don’t even know if she’ll retain her own will. Who knows how much suffering she’ll endure for us!”

These indignant voices carried across the street and into the carriage. Fia, sitting inside, couldn’t help but hold her forehead, at a loss for words.

I demonstrated my strength by single-handedly repelling the undead army with non-incantation forbidden spells. Why won’t these people believe I’m going for negotiations? Is the power of legend really that terrifying?

“Sister is so loved by everyone. She’s become the princess who has to marry out.”

“If you keep teasing me, I’ll marry you off to that Queen.”

“I’m way too cute. Sister would never part with me, she’ll just keep it for herself, keep it internal.”

Unfazed by Fia’s threat, Liti, sitting in the carriage, supported herself with her hands, her delicate, white-stockinged legs dangling and swaying in graceful arcs.

“At the root of it, Sister said things that were easily misunderstood. If it were up to me, you could have just marched straight to that place called the Kingdom of Death and crushed them, putting everyone’s concerns to rest. To meet the Queen of Death smoothly, you tell everyone at home it’s ‘negotiations,’ and tell that savage maid you need to meet the Queen first before discussing anything else—of course outsiders will speculate that Sister is offering herself up for Silvar’s peace.”

“That maid should be put on a dog leash and taken for walks in the garden every day. Completely crush her pride, tame her into Sister’s dog, totally obedient. If Sister finds it troublesome, you could hand her over to Sister Anna. Sister Anna is surely skilled at that.”

“…Where do you learn all this messy knowledge?”

“I’ve lived nearly a hundred years combined, you know! Even if I haven’t tried it, I’ve heard about this kind of adult knowledge.”

Liti pouted, her pointed ears twitching triumphantly.

Liti’s last sentence bothered Fia immensely. Her delicate, doll-like features filled with suspicion.

“What do you mean, ‘Sister Anna is skilled at that’?”

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“Hmm… Sister Anna is the captain of the Imperial Guard. To make prisoners obediently hand over information, using violence to make them compliant is a necessary skill, right? Besides, Sister Anna is usually strict with the maids in Twilight Palace. Don’t you think she has a talent for this, Sister? Like Colita with Helian. If Sister handed that arrogant maid over to Sister Anna, she’d definitely have her broken in and obedient within three days.”

“Don’t say such horrible things!”

Though Anastasia usually had a strict image, and being skilled in such areas wouldn’t be unreasonable, logic and knowing about it were two different things. She had never detected any sadistic aura in Anastasia. Claire, on the other hand, sometimes had a little…

Anastasia was a gentle, caring big sister. She wouldn’t become that terrifying.

Mhm…

That said, though Fia outwardly reassured herself, inwardly she silently resolved never to use [Peerless Beauty] on Anastasia.

What I don’t see doesn’t exist.

She waved her hand, steering the conversation back on track.

“So you only dare speak ill of Anastasia behind her back because she’s not here.”

Currently, only Claire, Liti, and Fia were in the carriage. Negotiations weren’t a game; bringing too many people was inadvisable. In fact, Fia hadn’t even planned to bring Liti. Liti had sneaked in by hiding under the carriage seat. Also, her mother, Yulisha was in the procession but outside the carriage, overseeing the group as the delegation commander.

“I have my reasons for not attacking directly. I’m going to discuss cooperation with the Queen of Death to jointly deal with the Chaos. Since she’s a potential future partner, it’s only right to treat her with courtesy.”

“Besides, Anastasia also said the Queen of Death was a pillar of support in that other world. Chaos wins through numbers; the undead likewise have the advantage of immortal numbers. With their help, casualties can be greatly reduced. Moreover, I’ve consistently said I’m going for negotiations. That maid misunderstood on her own. In short, once I meet the Queen of Death hiding behind the Wall of Sighs, everything will be settled.”

“It seems that the Queen also has important matters to tell little Fia. Too bad she chose such an inconsiderate messenger.”

“Ugh, it’s all that maid’s fault.”

Agreeing with Claire’s sentiment, Fia sighed, then shifted her gaze to the staff beside her. Calling it a staff was improper; it bore the designation “Moon Key.” The silver-metallic shaft was straight, without any carving. The head featured prongs extending skyward in a triangular shape, the three prongs guarding a central purple crystal—a structure with considerable mechanical aesthetic.

In the Human Alliance, the “Moon Key” was an iron rule like the Three Laws of Robotics, a tool used to limit the ultimate AI and prevent a robotic uprising. Furthermore, without the Moon Key, that ultimate AI couldn’t use its full power. But when all civilizations in the Human Alliance failed to survive the heat death, the Moon Key fell into the AI’s own hands.

Thinking that an AI whose consciousness could spread across the entire universe was constrained by such a small key… Fia couldn’t help but feel complex.

Knowing that “civilization was destroyed in the heat death, only that AI survived to the end” meant she herself was probably that survivor.

Though she realized she wasn’t a natural lifeform, the lack of reality left her indifferent. She saw no trace of an AI in herself.

“What’s this? Sister has been holding onto this staff for days. Its design is certainly unusual, but I can’t sense any magic at all. It’s like an ordinary iron rod.”

Placing the half-man-high Moon Key flat on her lap, Fia smiled.

“This is the Moon Key. Like Claire’s innate weapon, it can’t be stored in storage items or storage magic, which is why I have to carry it like this. Also, not sensing magic doesn’t mean it has no function. It just needs special means to activate.”

“And those special means are?”

“I don’t know either.”

Fia shrugged helplessly.

The Antler Chaos only knew the Moon Key could be used to activate teleportation magic; they had no idea how the magic actually worked. After obtaining the Moon Key, Fia had taken it to the desert to experiment, trying to infuse it with mana, faith, and even her blood. The Moon Key showed no reaction. Currently, its only notable feature is its hardness. No magic or metal in this world, not even Lævateinn, could leave the slightest mark on it.

Fia vaguely remembered the Moon Key being a product of strong interaction force materials. Yet the fact it had surface friction contradicted its material properties. But since civilization had advanced to the stage of universal heat death, she wouldn’t be surprised by anything they cooked up. She could only blame her incomplete memory. In short, the Moon Key had potential.

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For now, it was quite handy for hitting things.

Suddenly, the carriage began to jolt, the wheels creaking noticeably. Yulisha, in her red imperial military uniform, tapped the carriage side and lifted a corner of the curtain from outside.

“Dofi, we’ve entered the Netherworld.”

“Haven’t any skeletons crawled out from underground?”

“How should I put it… See for yourself.”

As she spoke, Yulisha, with a subtle expression, tightened the reins, allowing Fia to see the scenery outside. Immediately, a spectacle unfolded before her eyes: tens of thousands of skeleton soldiers lay prostrate tightly on both sides of the procession, lining the path to welcome them in submission.

At the same time, a maid wearing glasses, older than the “woof woof” maid, came into Fia’s view. Since the “woof woof” maid couldn’t control her emotions around Fia, the undead side had replaced her with a more mature one. Now riding a skeletal horse, her expression was filled with pride.

“No need to be surprised. Though the Nether territory outside the Wall of Sighs belongs to Her Majesty, these are all stray ghosts and wild spirits that haven’t gained recognition. They’d do anything to get through the Wall of Sighs, so naturally they strive to perform well—though the skeletons on the periphery are too low-ranked to possess thought. They simply sense Her Majesty’s aura emanating from us and submit from the bottom of their hearts.”

At this point, the bespectacled older maid glanced at Fia, her expression impossible to read as respect or jealousy.

“Once Miss Dofilia becomes Her Majesty’s exclusive plaything, you will possess supreme authority beyond even this. Even our princess would have to respect you. In ten thousand years, Her Majesty has never taken an interest in the living. Now she favors you. I hope you will not disappoint Her Majesty’s feelings.”

“Tch, ‘Queen.’ Sister could blow her away with a single breath.”

Facing Liti’s mutter, the maid, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, merely glanced at her without arguing.

In her eyes, Liti and Claire in the carriage were Fia’s attendants. If Fia became the future queen consort, these attendants brought from the elf kingdom would also rise to a status higher than hers. The undead’s hierarchy concepts far surpassed human nations—a consequence of their immortal nature.

Fia, meanwhile, pressed down on Liti’s head while curiously inquiring.

“A princess? The Queen of Death hasn’t had anyone she favored in ten thousand years, so why would she have a daughter?”

“When you meet Her Majesty, she will tell you herself.”

This maid has no sense of social cues. Shouldn’t she be making small talk with the guest?

Fia asked again.

“Do you know Davis and Ruth, then?”

“Lady… Lady Ruth?” Without warning, the maid’s facial muscles twitched. Then she resumed her previously proud tone. “Since you know Lady Ruth’s name, you must have met her. Lady Ruth is the princess of the Kingdom of Death, Her Majesty’s daughter. However, Lady Ruth shares the same origin as Her Majesty—a part separated from Her Majesty’s own soul many years ago. Fundamentally, she’s more like a younger sister than a daughter.”

“Huh?”

The question mark over Fia’s head grew so large it nearly lifted the carriage ceiling.

When Ruth introduced herself back then, why didn’t she mention this?

But come to think of it, an Eighth-Rank, nearly Ninth-Rank undead, living alone in the Weeping Mountains without being subject to the Queen of Death’s restraint—that fact alone was quite peculiar. As for not telling her she was the princess of the Kingdom of Death, she was probably afraid of being kidnapped by the elf princess as a hostage and losing all face.

However, wasn’t tying Ruth to an iron slab and spanking her butt with a whip even more…

At this moment, a thought crossed Fia’s mind that becoming queen might not be so bad. Not only had she ruthlessly spanked Ruth’s bottom, but when Ruth came to her senses, she’d find herself her daughter. The expression on her face then would be spectacular. Ordering Ruth, this daughter, to serve her tea and rub her legs—the sight of Ruth’s humiliated, flushed face was exciting just to imagine.

Ahem. Just imagining, just imagining. Daydreaming doesn’t violate any principles.

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It must be that disciplining that doggy maid a couple of days ago awakened some terrible fetish in me.

Seeing Fia’s sinister smile, the older maid suddenly felt a chill. As an undead, she hadn’t experienced goosebumps in a long time, so when they appeared, the sensation was exceptionally intense. She recalled that junior maid who had returned to the palace wailing miserably, describing Dofilia as a devil with an angelic appearance and a demonic heart, who had made her do many shameful things in public, things that disqualified her from being an undead. For a moment, her voice trembled.

“D-do you have business with Lady Ruth?”

“Nothing much. Just recalling some pleasant memories. I’m ashamed to say Ruth and I had some unpleasantness. She tried to kill me, but I subdued her and taught her a lesson.”

“Taught her a lesson… meaning…”

“Simply put, I spanked her bottom with a whip.”

“Urk—”

The pride on the older maid’s face rapidly vanished, replaced by fear and pallor. As a long-lived maid, she had witnessed many unsightly scenes and knowledge, especially among elves with Mana Surge and long lifespans, where such filthy things were produced in high quantities. Even as an undead, she couldn’t help but feel her legs go weak and fear arise whenever she thought of them.

Lady Ruth has already fallen victim to these clutches…

Her mind conjured images of Ruth under mental control, wearing inappropriate clothes, being led by Fia with an iron chain into the garden like a dog. Ruth, meowing like a kitten, calling Fia “master,” and despite being publicly spanked, letting out shameful moans of delight—this could no longer be described as shame.

This wasn’t just a devil… this was, this was someone even the Absolute Evil would want tattooed on them!

It’s fine. When she meets Her Majesty, she’ll get what’s coming to her.

Suppressing her nerves, the older maid consoled herself. Terrified of being targeted by this demon Fia, unwilling to linger near her for a moment, she muttered a few polite words, then urged her skeletal horse forward, quickly advancing to the front of the procession.

Lady Ruth didn’t mention this incident, probably because it was too unbearable to recall. I must keep it a secret for her.

Hopefully, Her Majesty can suppress this devil who only appears pitiful on the outside.

Praying inwardly, the older maid’s face no longer held any trace of its former pride.

◇

Some time later.

Outside the imposing gray hall, countless undead archmages, along with bone dragons and nightmare knights, waited on the gray plain below the several steps.

Set against the desolate, weathered plains surrounding it, the gray hall appeared particularly out of place. There were no rows of buildings to accompany it, no squares or statues to adorn it—it stood there alone. But for most people, this was enough. Its seventy-to-eighty-meter height made the structure exceptionally imposing. The intricate carvings on the outer walls and the giant gems adorning the spires demonstrated exquisite craftsmanship.

This was a scaled replica of the gray hall from within the Kingdom of Death, the Queen of Death’s residence and command center. Due to time constraints, even tireless undead couldn’t erect a building of this scale in just a few days. It was a product of magic, destined to collapse naturally after a while, useful only for appearances.

Inside the hall at this moment were only the Queen of Death and the traumatized maid. The former still sat high on her throne. Though Lucitine’s heart was racing with nervousness, bound by her queenly dignity, she couldn’t show it on her face. She maintained her languid posture—when she was undead, it was fine, but now that she had a living body that could tire, she deeply felt that maintaining the same position for long periods was sheer torture.

The problem was, she couldn’t reveal that she possessed a living body. In the eyes of the undead, the living were lowly, inferior insects, constantly plagued by hunger and the urge to reproduce. If she exposed herself as living, it would damage her majestic image in her subjects’ hearts.

“Your Majesty, that dev ¹ devil —that princess is almost here. The nightmare knights have relayed that her procession is now visible. She should arrive before the hall shortly.”

Hurry up and greet them!

Lucitine, draped in a long black dress, screamed internally while maintaining a silent exterior.

She cleared her throat, feigning indifference as she asked lightly.

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“I heard from Ness earlier that when that princess came, her people lined the roads weeping. I told you she was my guest, to bring fine gifts and invite her here. Since it was an invitation, why were her subjects weeping?”

“Those ungrateful wretches fail to recognize your greatness. To receive your recognition is their honor.”

More of this incomprehensible flattery.

Lucitine frowned.

“Get to the point.”

“Yes!”

Interpreting Lucitine’s frown as displeasure, and also admiring her power as queen—the stronger the undead, the closer their appearance and actions to the living. No other undead in the entire Netherworld could match Lucitine’s frown, so delicate it was indistinguishable from a living being’s. She was even more powerful than any historical Queen of Death.

The maid bowed her head lower.

“I conveyed your will to them, stating your intention to make the elf princess your queen. Initially, there was surprise and argument, but fortunately, they weren’t too stupid. In the end, they recognized your supreme power and willingly offered their princess to become your queen. Unfortunately, not all insects are as wise as their royalty. The common insects think their princess is sacrificing herself for peace between the two nations, unaware that the princess herself is delighted to serve you, already captivated by your charm.”

“Huh?”

“Did you say something, Your Majesty?”

“Nothing.”

Lucitine withdrew her momentarily cracked expression and waved her hand, letting the maid think she had misheard.

In reality, Lucitine’s mind was churning like an ant on a hot pan.

When did I ever say I wanted to make Dofilia my queen? And what’s with the elf kingdom, agreeing so easily?

What do I do now…

Lucitine’s heart raced. She could end the long-standing strife between the Netherworld and Silvar like this, but going against her benefactor’s will, making her humiliatingly become queen in such a manner—wouldn’t that make her the villain? And not just any villain, but the most disgusting type from the storybooks, the one who covets the heroine’s beauty.

Becoming queen implies a marital relationship, right? I wanted to experience the various pleasures of being alive, but isn’t this progressing too fast?

No, no, no, things shouldn’t be like this. I do have feelings toward Dofilia. Experiencing sweet love like this wouldn’t be so bad. I’d even be the one gaining. If I could follow the trend and have one or two little Ruths, even better. But this goes against her will. How can I just go along with it…

“Your Majesty?”

A timid voice came from below the throne. The maid, seeing Lucitine silent, thought she had once again misunderstood the queen’s intentions.

The corner of Lucitine’s mouth twitched imperceptibly. She racked her brains for a way to express herself tactfully, but then a long, resonant horn blast sounded outside the hall.

WUUUUUUUUU—

Lucitine’s expression froze instantly. Though this was the Netherworld, located in a frigid zone, she felt as if she were bathed in the scorching heat of midsummer. Hot sweat poured from every pore, and her entire body trembled with tension.

She knew—the elf princess had arrived.