Chapter 146 – Chapter 27: Queen #3

The demon king had five queens, but it was rare for him to be accompanied by the queens at official events.

There were many reasons, but in the case of 3rd Queen Sylvia and 4th Queen Elaine, it was because they were queens of their respective species. The queens spent more time in their homes than in the Demon King’s Palace. When their children were still young, they had spent half the year at the Demon King’s Palace, but that had changed after the children got older.

However, this time, two queens had visited the castle at the same time and were even accompanying the demon king to the court gathering. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it definitely wasn’t ordinary.

“It truly is ‘Disturbance’ Shutra.”

Silvan muttered, and In-gong didn’t bother asking him what he was talking about. Every time In-gong participated in a court gathering, something unusual had happened. So, he was given the nickname ‘Disturbance.’

Still, the atmosphere of the court gathering was good. Everyone had been in shock and panic when the sword duke had suddenly taken part in the court gathering, but this time was different. It seemed like they were just slightly surprised.

‘Maybe they have adapted.’

This was In-gong’s fourth court gathering. Something unusual had happened four times in a row, so it was time to adapt. Felicia had already adapted and didn’t bother to gaze at him with stunned eyes. In fact, she seemed relieved that the situation was better than she expected.

‘Felicia and Silvan didn’t know about it.’

There was no reason for 3rd Queen Sylvia to hide her visit. Since both of them were surprised, it must truly be a sudden visit.

“The 5th Prince, Silvan Doomblade.”

Isabella, the person in charge of the Merits Department, called out Silvan’s name from where she stood at the lowest point of the dais. Although the atmosphere was somewhat different from usual due to the participation of the two queens, there was no reason why the court gathering would be different.

Silvan raised his chin and stepped forward proudly. Felicia and Caitlin’s names were called in turn, then it was In-gong’s name.

It was the start of the court gathering.

&

“Hah, it ended well.”

As always, Felicia returned to the waiting room after the court gathering was over and sat down on a sofa while sighing.

Like Felicia said, the court gathering had ended well without any commotions. Isabella had read their merits, and the nobles, who had gathered at the court gathering, had praised them. The court gathering had been the same as always, except for the participation of the two queens.

“I’m a little sorry that I didn’t get to hear Abamama’s voice.” (Check the glossary if you forgot what this means)

Felicia muttered while closing her eyes. The demon king hadn’t spoken during this court gathering. In fact, normally, the demon king wouldn’t say anything. However, he had always opened his mouth when In-gong was present at the court gathering. So, this was unexpected.

‘There will be all types of speculation.’

It would start with rumours about the 9th Prince losing the demon king’s favour.

‘But I wonder why. Is it because he had no reason to speak?’

In-gong had been anxious every time the demon king opened his mouth, but now, he was curious about why the demon king didn’t say anything.

‘In the first place, I hadn’t received his favour.’

The demon king’s gaze toward In-gong was no different from usual. The demon king wasn’t particularly disappointed or interested.

‘Well, this is normal.’

In Knight Saga, the demon king never spoke much at the court gatherings. So, there was no need to worry too much.

‘Death Knight and War Knight… and the report about the Famine Knight. As Felicia said, they weren’t mentioned in this court gathering.’

Although during the last court gathering, there had been a bit of political work done in order to determine where the children of the demon king should be dispatched, the court gatherings had originally just been ceremonies to announce the royal children’s merits. Even if the Demon King’s Palace felt a serious threat from the Knights of the Apocalypse, there was no reason to tell the story at the court gathering.

In-gong looked at Felicia, and they exchanged glances. Felicia had similar thoughts and nodded. Perhaps they could hear more from the Merits Department. There was also a chance that someone from the military would come to them separately.

As In-gong and Felicia were exchanging glances, Silvan laughed and put an arm around Felicia’s shoulder.

“Felicia, you can hear my voice on behalf of Abamama.”

Then he cleared his voice like he was going to give a loud speech. Felicia, as usual, covered Silvan’s mouth with her hand and looked at In-gong and Felicia.

“Anyway, I was surprised. I didn’t think that Omamama would come.”

In-gong and Caitlin participated in the natural change in topic. Silvan didn’t mind and just laughed pleasantly.

Caitlin seemed to recall something and said,

“It is the first time I’ve seen the 3rd Queen in a long time. By the way, she looks exactly the same as Unni. A very strong resemblance.”

Her words were correct. The 3rd Queen Sylvia really resembled Felicia. The difference was that Sylvia was a little bit taller, and the tear point under her left eye made her feel more mature. In fact, they had different eye colours, but the resemblance was really strong. If they stood side by side, anyone would know they were family.

‘She looks like Felicia’s sister, rather than her mother.’

The dark elves were a species with a long lifespan. Despite Sylvia’s actual age, she looked like she was only in her mid-20s, making it seem like she was Felicia’s sister.

Caitlin placed both hands on her cheek as though it was funny, while Felicia laughed and said,

“Caitlin, I was just about to say that.”

The 4th Queen Elaine resembled Caitlin so closely that it was like looking at Caitlin’s future self. However, there was a clear age difference. Caitlin looked like she was in her mid-teens, while Elaine seemed to be in her mid-20s. They looked more like mother and daughter when standing side by side than Sylvia and Felicia did.

However, it was a good story. In-gong loosened his tie to relax and laughed.

“Well, I’m glad it is over. I will go to the Merits Department after returning to my mansion for a bit. I’m going to rest today.”

In order to stay with the ‘Demon King’s Palace Tour’ he had planned the other day, it was necessary to update his merit level at the Merits Department. The higher his merit level, the more places there were which he could explore.

“Very well then.”

Felicia and Silvan nodded in agreement. However, they seemed to be worried about something.

“Felicia unni?”

The moment Caitlin started talking. There was knocking on the door of the waiting room, and a voice was heard. Someone was asking if they could come in.

“Indeed, it came.”

Silvan muttered like he had been anticipating it and gave permission to Sepira. Sepira opened the door to reveal a well dressed male dark elf. He bowed respectfully to In-gong’s group and handed a piece of paper to Carack, Seira, Delia and Sepira before leaving the room.

Once the door of the waiting room was closed, Seira spoke with wide eyes.

“Your Highness, it is an invitation from the 3rd Queen.”

The fancy white piece of paper was an invitation to a tea party.

As always, Carack looked over the invitation meticulously.

“Huh? Isn’t this today’s date? The time is two hours later?”

The invitation to the tea party was sent two hours before it was meant to start. It was different from Baikal’s invitation which had been sent a few days ahead.

“Really? There isn’t a mistake?”

“Really.”

“It is true. It is today’s date.”

Carack and Seira responded to In-gong’s question.

Felicia and Silvan sighed at the same time.

“I thought she would do this. Omamama is always like this.”

Silvan smiled and got up from his seat. Felicia held Silvan’s hand and said to everyone in the room,

“Let’s go to our mansions together. We still have to change clothes. If we hurry, we’ll be able to make it in time.”

There were only two hours left until the start of the tea party. They had to hurry because they wouldn’t be wearing the court gathering clothes to the tea party.

At Felicia’s urging, In-gong’s group moved quickly. It was a little bit like they were enchanted.

&

The queen all had their own palaces near the Black Castle which was called the true Demon King’s Palace. After changing clothes at Felicia’s mansion, the group hurried into a carriage pulled by dracos and headed to the 3rd Queen’s Palace.

The 3rd Queen’s palace was like a rugged fortress rather than an actual palace. Once inside, it contained the old-fashioned splendor which was unique to the dark elves. A young dark elf in the butler’s outfit guided the party. They walked deeper into the palace and a great black door appeared.

“Go in.”

A message had been sent in advance, so the servant opened the door instantly. In the well-furnished room, an expected person was sitting down, along with an unexpected person.

‘4th Queen Elaine?’

It wasn’t surprising that 3rd Queen Sylvia was present, since she was the organizer of the tea party, but he hadn’t expected to see Elaine.

In-gong’s head became filled with complicated thoughts. Were the two people close to each other? Or maybe it was because they were now in an alliance? If it was the latter case, this tea party might be more important than he had first thought.

“It isn’t difficult. This is a private place. If you look around, all of us only brought one aide.”

Elaine spoke in a relaxed voice. As she said, there was no visible use for the reception room other than the tea party. The two women were just sitting down, drinking tea and having refreshments.

Apart from the aides, who were like one with their master, it was a private place. The proof was that Elaine spoke without using honorifics with no hesitation. Caitlin, who knew when Elaine used honorifics and when she didn’t, relaxed her shoulders.

It was at that moment that Sylvia gazed at Elaine and spoke in a sharp voice,

”Elaine, I am the organizer of the tea party, so shouldn’t I be speaking?”

“That’s right.”

Elaine shrugged casually, and Sylvia frowned. Their attitudes made it obvious that they were familiar with each other, to a certain extent.

‘Indeed, it is understandable. Both of them have no interest in their children becoming the demon king.’

It was almost impossible for the 1st and 2nd Queens to be friendly with each other since their children were competing. However, the 3rd and 4th Queens were different from them, since they weren’t aiming for the demon king’s throne.

Moreover, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they had both boarded the same boat.

As Elaine laughed, Sylvia turned toward In-gong’s party. She had a gentle smile on her beautiful face.

“There is no need to be nervous since this is a private meeting. We are the only ones here, so we don’t need to be afraid of rumours.”

“Omamama.”

Felicia said, while Silvan’s eyes narrowed.

“Felicia, shouldn’t you say hello?”

It was impossible to refute the words since this was an introduction. Felicia and Silvan led the party in greeting the two queens.

Then Sylvia’s aide, a female dark elf with red hair, assigned each party member a seat. Felicia and Silvan were on both sides of Sylvia, while Caitlin was on Elaine’s left. In-gong was somewhat distant from all of them, since he was assigned the opposite seat where he had to face the two queens.

Once everyone was seated, Sylvia said elegantly,

“Thank you for accepting my sudden invitation. The reason I prepared this today was because I wanted to talk to you.”

Her gaze was directed at In-gong. It was natural. Unlike Elaine who had met him before, today was the first time Sylvia had seen In-gong. Of course, it was possible she had met Shutra a few times before. However, the current In-gong was very different from the past Shutra.

In order for the dark elves to support In-gong fully as a candidate for the demon king, Sylvia needed to meet him at least once. This was a separate matter from trusting Felicia’s eyes.

Sylvia smiled happily as In-gong faced her without avoiding her gaze. She was exactly like Felicia yet also different. There was a much more mature atmosphere around her.

Sylvia drank her tea first, then she looked at In-gong.

“I know enough from the court gathering, so let’s talk plainly.”

In-gong also drank his cup of tea and calmed his breathing. What did Sylvia really want to say?

He had no information about her because he’d had no contact with Sylvia in Knight Saga.

The 3rd Queen, Sylvia Doomblade, stared straight into In-gong’s eyes.