-- POV Alayna --
"Good...now let's get started !"
The Empress had said these words after explaining why she had allowed to keep my mask on. I had been happy to hear this at first, but afterwards, the snake-tailed Commander's words had stuck in my mind. Deep down sothing was wrong. When I looked at the faces of the people in front of , I could see that so of the female Commanders were looking at with visible displeasure.
*I...*
Suddenly, what was bothering popped into my mind. I was not in a small clan of half-humans, I was in an entire Empire facing its Empress. As I ca to my senses, I spoke to myself, disappointed at having been so stupid.
*Has fear robbed you of all common sense ? If you can't even gain the trust of the people of this Empire, what's the point of keeping your mask on if you have to leave or die ? You have finally found the one you were looking for, and despite the promise you made, it is worthless if you cannot earn her trust !*
The words of the sovereign had really pleased and in this way the fear that I had was attenuated. She was not unjust, unreasonable or blinded by anger despite what the humans had done to her citizens. This young woman in front of had the makings of an Empress and was far more trustworthy than my father or his henchn.
*Her Highness has been conciliatory, now it's my turn to prove that I am also capable of putting my feelings aside..*
The events had followed each other so quickly that I had forgotten what was important.
*You won't get a second chance so do it !*
Taking my courage in both hands, as the Empress seed to speak again, I removed my hood and mask to reveal my face hidden for all this ti.
"Y...your Highness. Allow to remove my mask to prove to you that I have nothing to hide from you. I...I apologize if I seed disrespectful to so of you I...I did not an to offend her Highness or her Commanders in any way..."
I didn't know if I was allowed to speak but I had taken the risk. I was determined to reveal who I was no matter what my fears were. The Empress had given the chance to be honest so I was going to be honest and for once have the courage to speak from my heart.
____
-- POV Freya --
The fact that I had allowed Alayna to keep her mask on was not special treatnt. To be honest, I didn't trust these humans at all. They were here to tell what had happened and then we would decide what to do about it and if I had to kill them I would do it without hesitation. However, as I thought about what had just happened, the feeling that I had been too biased with Alayna popped into my mind. In my desire to show that I did not want to replicate the racism of the humans, I had forgotten the respect due to an Empress. If I wanted to be impartial, she had to take off her mask.
*Kira..*
[I know...]
My little sister had also let her emotions run wild and finally realized that there was no sense in wearing a mask in front of . How could I forget that part of that yearned for respect ? As I was about to speak, Gaya, still silent, stopped , beckoning to look at what was happening in front of .
Alayna, in silence, had removed her mask, her hood and the whole room could now see her whole face. The young woman had long, curly, golden hair. Her eyes were as light blue as the sea and on her cheeks a few light freckles dotted her pink skin. As everyone fixed their gaze on her, Alayna awkwardly spoke up.
"Y...your Highness. Allow to remove my mask to prove to you that I have nothing to hide from you. I...I apologize if I seed disrespectful to so of you I...I did not an to offend her Highness or her Commanders in any way..."
The young human woman had raised her head and was looking in the eye this ti, despite her shaking. Her half-mask was on the ground and the sunlight was making her hair glow. Intrigued by her actions, I squinted my eyes to ask her a question.
"Why did you decide to do this after what I told you ?"
Alayna dipped her blue eyes into mine before answering.
"My na is Alayna Zal, I was the Princess of the Kingdom of Zal. Locked up in the palace since birth, I escaped a little over a month ago, unable to live among my own race who kill your kind. I have co to prove to you that I am not your enemy and if I am to gain your trust, then good manners prevail over all else. Forgive for forgetting that...as a fallen Princess I have no excuse. I am not selfish like my father or my brothers and despite my vow to keep my mask on, it is nothing compared to the respect I owe you. You who have cared for us, welcod us and treated us with respect, allow to thank you."
The young blonde woman was no longer talking like the frightened little girl she was a mont ago, this young woman in front of was talking like the Princess she had been.
*Do you hear that Kira ?*
[Yes..she is full of surprise !]
*She realized her mistake and despite her fear, she was able to put all that aside to reveal her secrets, apologize and thank ...mmh interesting*
Alayna was more interesting than I thought and as a great satisfaction ca over , I could see the Commanders nodding with a smile. I nodded to Nixia thanking her for rembering who I was as well. Turning my gaze to the young human, I began to clap before speaking.
"Good, very good ! I must say that I didn't expect this from you and for surprising congratulations ! You are indeed here because no order to kill you has been issued yet but you still have to prove your good will to . So it is ti to really start. Sit down !"
As the elves and the two kneeling humans stood up, they looked around in panic seeing no seats. With a snap of the finger 18 ice stools appeared behind each Commander and those in front of . The elves and the two humans seed shocked that I didn't invoke my elent by talking but without even giving them ti to sit down I began again seriously.
"So, now I'd like to hear from you Vig ! Tell why you were both with the adventurers and what you were doing near the forest"
The adventurer who had hardly spoken stood up again in silence to answer awkwardly.
"We. look for adventurers. missing in ruins. I don't want to participate. only. help. people. danger."
Vig didn't speak very well and did the best he could to explain. Despite his fierce air, he seed rather gentle and shy. Seeing his difficulty in speaking, Alayna who was a little more confident than when she arrived, raised her hand. With a nod I agreed to let her speak to go faster.
"Your Highness, the adventurers near the forest are planning to go to the ruins in the center to investigate the missing. Vig and I only joined the mission to try to help those who live there. The sister of a man nad Kirk happens to be the leader and will stop at nothing to get revenge...she...she's crazy !"
Alayna looked very agitated and fear was slowly rising up inside her. As she finished and caught her breath, my hand had slipped under my chin as I thought aloud.
"Kirk...mmh I think he's the one whose legs I cut off, whose heart I ripped out and whose head I crushed. It's pretty recent so I haven't scratched it from my mory yet. Kufufu~ that was fun."
Despite my excellent mory, I never bothered to rember the humans I had killed. They weren't worth it and invading my precious ntal palate with disgusting insect nas, each more useless than the last, no thank you. They were nothing more than numbers in my system.
[*cough* *cough*...onee-san...you spoke out loud]
*Huh ?*
I looked up to see different reactions in front of . Gaya and my Commanders were looking at with starry eyes while the others had stooped and were trembling except for Vig. Without paying any more attention to that, I turned to Alayna.
"Do you know the levels of the adventurers ? How long do we have before they enter the forest ?"
"I..they go from level 21 to level 35. The adventurers are 9, there's a level 21, 23, 25, three 28, 29, 31 and 35. From what Sarah the leader was saying, they will arrive in 3 days on the way to the ruins so I would say they should be there in 3 days maybe 4 tops your Highness"
As I closed my eyes to think, the female Commanders had started talking amongst themselves, alerted by the bad news. The throne room, which had been rather quiet, had beco noisy and sowhat disorganized.
*I can't think*
Opening my eyes suddenly, my violet eyes began to glow as a wave of cold filled the room.
"Enough"
Without even having to release my demonic aura or scream, simply by uttering a single, almost whispered word, all the female Commanders had fallen silent. Closing my eyes and making the cold naturally disappear, I enjoyed the silence while thinking.
*The arrival of stronger adventurers in the forest is not a surprise, I had foreseen this. It is also possible to prevent the battle from taking place too close to the Empire. For the mont no human except these two know what is going on here, we have to keep it a secret until we are really more powerful. The best solution would be a well-planned offensive*
My brain was working at an amazing speed. Thanks to my intelligence, my train of thought was extrely fast and the ti around slowed down. Dozens of plans, strategies and simulations were running through my mind in only fractions of a second. I was in my own world, locked in my ntal palate which represented my mory, my knowledge and my ideas.
If I had to put an image on my way of thinking, I would say that my mind was a huge library where I knew every corner by heart. Like a giant archive where I stored everything that I thought was worth rembering. Everything I had read, experienced, felt, rembered was inside.
*Well...*
As I slowly opened my eyes, I could see everyone looking at eager to know what I was going to say. I felt like I had been silent for a very long ti, but it turned out that I had only been gone for a few minutes. Straightening up in my seat and before explaining my plan, I addressed the elf family.
"To begin with, I will allow you to leave. You must be tired and the discussion is no longer your concern. If you still wish to join our Empire then we will surely et again along with all the newcors. On your way out, you will be taken care of by the section leaders so don't worry. Needless to say, the presence of Alayna and Vig must not be revealed as well as that of the adventurers..."
Finishing my sentence I stared at them intensely. I wasn't going to lie to the people of the Empire but for the mont we had to discuss what to do before we could warn anyone.
"Of course your Highness !"
Bowing awkwardly, the six elves made their way to the door, happy to be on their way. Snapping my fingers, the two soldiers in front of the door accompanied by Lieutenant Ash, ca to retrieve the family. As the door closed, I sank into my seat and crossed my legs before speaking. My voice was still icy, calm and above all more serious than ever.
"The confrontation that is coming is inevitable and we are ready for it and you have been walking through the forest for days with this knowledge. The humans coming right at us are nothing like the ones we fought in the clearing. What is different though is that today we have an organized army and valuable information."
Even though there was a huge difference in level for all the soldiers in the army and the Commanders, we had the advantage of numbers. The new soldiers would not have to fight for obvious reasons, but we had over a hundred soldiers available, who had been training day and night since they enlisted.
As I finished speaking, I turned to Alayna and Vig to explain why they were still here.
"You two. I still haven't decided if you can stay in this Empire if that's what you want. Did you co here to stay with us ?"
Despite being humans they had made a pretty good impression on and Alayna had risen in my Commanders' estimation. The question now was whether they wanted to stay.
"Y..yes your Highness"
"Yes. Highness."
"Then you're going to have to prove your resolve in your actions. The battle ahead is going to be tougher than the last one, and you both have a role to play. This is not negotiable. If you are too scared you know where the door is."
Pointing in the distance to the large wooden door I waited for their reactions but neither of them moved. At that mont a wild smile appeared on my face, frightening and mischievous as I stood up.
"Good, then I'll explain my plan !"
____
FULL STATUS
Na : Freya
Age : 0 years old / ntally : 25 years old
Sex : Female
Course : Ice Demon Wolf of chaos - Adult
Race : Major Demon
Titles : Blessed by Titania, Goddess of endless Chaos and eternal frozen Hell.
Dragon tar
Ruthless slayer
Level : 33/70
Exp required for next level: 100 / 34 000
HP : 90 000 / 90 000 MP : 45 000 / 45 000
Strength : 425
Defense : 421
Agility : 435
Stamina : 428
Speed : 427
Intelligence : 425
Charisma : 410 (imperial she-wolf)
Attribute points to allocate : 0
Married to: Gaya
Daughter : Shiro
Empire (nu)
Subordinates : 387
Humans killed : 148
Elents: Ice / Chaos
Skills (all):
Attack - Demon Claws (Lvl 5)
- Bite of hell (Lvl 5)
- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)
- Fighting techniques (lvl max)
- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)
- Demonic aura of the empress (lvl 5)
Defense - Ice demon wall (lvl 6)
- Demonic cloak (lvl 5)
Pain Resistance (lvl 3)
Attack/Defense - Domain of the Ice Empress "frozen wrath" (lvl 1) - (under condition)
Others - Humanoid form
- Ice creation (Lvl 5)
- Storage of chaos (Lvl 4)
- Devouring chaos (Lvl 5)
- Analysis
- Second soul (Lvl max) - unique
- Telepathy
Mana detection (lvl 1)
Passives - Commander (lvl max)
- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]
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