VBNWDW - Chapter 63
Chapter 63
As the morning mist faded and the red sun once again hung high in the sky, the city of Anthelia gradually awoke. People gathered in the shadows, discussing the events of the past few days.
“Did you hear? Her Majesty the Queen summoned the Black Dragon in Nia City! She had Lord Black Dragon help us defeat the Atl army!”
“You know too little! It was the Queen and Lord Black Dragon who repelled the enemy together. The Queen has awakened and become a powerful Gifted!”
The surrounding crowd gasped in amazement, but after much talk, they couldn’t come to any real conclusion and could only circle back to the matter of the Queen’s return two days prior, when the Council families and the Head of the Temple of Light had waited for her at the city gates.
“The family heads and the Temple Head looked so happy, all congratulating the Queen on her awakening.”
“They stood at the city gates talking for a long time, but a magic barrier blocked the sound, so we couldn’t hear anything. All we could see was the black dragon perched on the Queen’s shoulder. Aside from the first Queen, this is the first dragon to be so close to a human.”
“Have you all forgotten about yesterday? Her Majesty the Queen finally passed the Council families’ trials and was permitted to participate in political affairs. Today is her first day attending a Council meeting!”
As they spoke, Her Majesty the Queen was already stepping into a hall decorated in a solemn, oppressive style.
In the center of the hall stood a long table built of stone. Compared to the ornate and exquisite decorative styles popular today, this table was so plain it was almost crude. Its corners were even worn smooth from touch. The fourteen matching chairs were the same; the few at the very end didn’t even have backrests, but were mere stone stools.
If these items were thrown outside, it’s likely that not even the most common citizen would want them. You could only find identical pieces under a large tree in some remote village.
And yet, here they were, placed in the center of power of the Roy Kingdom.
It was said that the first Queen and the Council families had established the Roy Kingdom step by step at this very set of simple table and chairs. To ensure that future generations would remember their history, this set had been used ever since.
Metis took the head seat, and the members of the other Council families sat down one by one. The seat to Metis’s left, closest to her, was occupied by the head of the Naist family, one of the men who had presided over her coronation.
He looked to be about fifty years old, with a solemn and cold expression. Most striking was the claw mark on his face that tore from the corner of his mouth to his neck, a truly horrifying sight.
Across from him was the Head of the Temple of Light, who was younger than the Naist family head but had a full head of white hair and a constant smile on his lips.
Standing behind Metis was a woman in armor. Her ancestor had been the first Queen’s attendant knight, and after the kingdom’s founding, her family had refused a title, choosing instead to guard the royal family for generations.
When Metis’s succession was being delayed by the other families, they had quietly helped her a great deal. But with the decline of royal power, they refused to join the Council families and were thus ostracized and weakened. They were usually only permitted to stand guard outside the palace, with pitifully few opportunities to even see Metis.
Fortunately, Her Majesty the Queen could finally attend the Council meetings, which meant they would have more chances to meet in the future.
At this thought, Julieta couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. Her gaze fell upon the Queen’s back, her eyes softening.
Further down were the Duke of the Maple family, the Duke of the Iliana family, and others. Though they wore wary expressions, it wasn’t enough to draw Metis’s attention.
She looked toward the end of the long table. There was one person who had been cold and dismissive towards her since yesterday. Even as the other families feigned delight, he maintained a stern face.
If Metis remembered correctly, the mage who had been executed was a member of his family.
Metis drew back her gaze and turned her head to listen to the Council’s discussion.
The political structure of the Roy Kingdom was simple. The Queen was at the apex, and the twelve families and the Temple of Light followed her orders and paid taxes to her.
The twelve families, in turn, took in local families from outside the capital, ordering them to manage other city-states and collect taxes from them. The Temple of Light established branches in various places to supervise and assist the local families in their administration. In the event of matters like droughts, floods, or enemy invasions, the issue would be reported to the central government, which would then arrange for a response.
Therefore, unless there was a major issue, the Council only met once every seven days.
Right now, the family heads and the Temple Head were discussing how to handle a flood that had struck a city-state.
The matter was not difficult to resolve; there were similar cases every year. They just needed to proceed as they always had. Metis listened quietly, not saying a word.
Instead, the Duke of Naist and the Temple Head exchanged a look, the emotions in their eyes obscure and unreadable.
A few days ago, when they heard the news that the Queen had awakened and could command a dragon, they had been thrown into a panic. They hastily summoned the Queen back to the capital and then forced themselves to appear calm as they waited at the gate to probe her.
But Her Majesty the Queen seemed completely unaware. She explained that perhaps due to her contract with the dragon, she, who should have been unable to awaken, could suddenly feel the presence of the elements. Worried it was just a fluke, she hadn’t taken the initiative to tell them. It was only because the situation had become urgent that she had been forced to act.
The Council members couldn’t refute this. After all, none of them had ever made a contract with a dragon. They had only heard tales of low-level mages who, by a stroke of great luck, contracted with an extremely powerful magical beast and, upon completion of the contract, jumped three ranks to become a Great Mage.
Could it be the same for Metis?
With this speculation, they smiled and congratulated her again. Finally, they repeatedly tested Metis’s attitude toward the recent battle. It was clear that Metis showed no dissatisfaction; she even thanked the Council families for letting her go out and gain experience, saying she had grown a lot. She only briefly mentioned the mage who had delayed the battle.
Their anxious hearts settled somewhat, only to hear Metis bring up the matter of attending the Council meeting herself.
At that moment, the black dragon that so threatened them was still perched on Metis’s shoulder. Though its eyes were closed as if in a deep sleep, no one dared to gamble that their refusal wouldn’t cause the dragon to open its eyes. And so, the current scene came to be.
The head of the Naist family felt he should be relieved. Although she was no longer a puppet they could manipulate at will, she wasn’t clamoring to reclaim her power. In fact, she seemed to trust them a great deal, not even offering any suggestions on the case they had deliberately prepared.
It was as if she were as easy to handle as before.
Yet, he couldn’t shake a feeling of unease. This intuition had saved him countless times in the past, including the scar on his face. If the warning bells in his mind hadn’t gone off, causing him to suddenly take a step back, that claw would have torn open his skull instead of leaving a mere flesh wound.
But he couldn’t find any evidence to support his feeling, so he could only suppress it for the time being.
Meanwhile, the Queen who worried him was actually thinking about something else entirely.
The black dragon had been unconscious for several days.
It was hard to imagine that a sip of wine, smaller than one of the dragon’s scales, could knock it out for so long. This gave Metis a very profound understanding of the phrase “extremely low tolerance for alcohol” from the first Queen’s notes.
Ever since passing out that day, the dragon had reverted to its small black dragon form and had been lying in her arms.
Metis had her suspicions. Perhaps the dragon remembered its outrageous behavior while drunk and, unable to accept it, had chosen to bury its head and pretend to be asleep.
So she had tested it, dangling gold coins and gems before the little black dragon’s eyes. The allure of these things to a dragon was immense; even if Yueqing were half-asleep, she would subconsciously gather them into her arms.
But the black dragon remained motionless. Even when Metis brought wine before it, it only twitched its nose before falling back into a deep slumber.
Thus, Metis was forced to accept the fact: a dragon’s alcohol tolerance was indeed ridiculously poor.
Fortunately, the little black dragon was very well-behaved even while drunk. Yesterday, when Metis placed it on her shoulder to intimidate the Council families, it lay there without moving a muscle.
Listening to them go on and on, always stuck on the amount of relief funds.
Metis felt a little bored. She hadn’t wanted to be too hasty and put the Council families on alert anyway. For now, it was best not to speak.
So, she began to zone out without any attempt to hide it, pondering what would be best for sobering up a dragon.
Milk or sobering soup? And how much?
Metis’s fingers tapped on the tabletop.
Might as well use everything. Later, she would ask the kitchen for two buckets of milk and have them brew a cauldron of sobering soup. Given the dragon’s original size, that amount wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
Metis made her decision just like that.
When she looked up again, the discussion at the stone table had concluded. Seeing the Queen zone out during her very first Council meeting, the others couldn’t help but show a hint of disdain, their previous vigilance lessening.
It was then that Metis spoke. “Lord Duke of Naist.”
The man’s heart tightened. He turned to look at her and nodded slightly. “Your Majesty, please speak.”
Metis’s tone was unchanged as she continued, “Now that I have become a Gifted, I should be qualified to form my own personal guard, correct?”
As her words fell, the expressions on everyone’s faces varied.
This was a tradition in the Roy Kingdom, a rule established by the first Queen. After the royal heir awakened, each of the Council families, the Temple of Light, and the guard family that had always protected the crown would select their most talented and outstanding heirs, of a similar age to the royal heir, to enter the palace. There, they would receive magical training and education alongside the heir.
Though it was called a personal guard, it was more like cultivating a group of future confidants for the monarch.
Initially, this had been a coveted opportunity for all the families. Not only could their children receive the best education, but they could also build a good relationship with the future ruler. It was even considered a necessary prerequisite for becoming a family head.
But as the royal family’s power waned, this duty became a chore. Especially after it was clear Metis would not awaken, the tradition was tacitly canceled by everyone.
“This…” The Duke of Naist fell silent for a moment, his tone extremely troubled.
But he couldn’t refuse. After all, this tradition had existed since the time of the first Queen, so it was perfectly reasonable for Metis to bring it up. However, everyone present knew what kind of teachers they had arranged for Her Majesty. If they sent their own children in, they would be ruined, nine times out of ten.
Although these families were large, their direct bloodlines were few, and those who could become Gifted were even rarer. They were basically protected like precious treasures by their families…
Metis simply maintained her smile, as if she couldn’t see their predicament.
The Duke of Naist’s expression shifted several times before he finally gritted his teeth and said, “Indeed, preparations should be made…”
“Then I shall await the arrangements from all you lords,” Metis replied quickly, then added, “My awakening was two years later than a normal Gifted’s, and I delayed for a long time because I was worried the situation was just a fluke. I am now eager to begin my studies as soon as possible.”
She seemed to smile sheepishly. “I hope everyone can prepare quickly, preferably within three days.”
Everyone’s heart skipped another beat, their expressions growing even uglier.
The Duke of Naist forced a twitch of his lips and could only say, “It is a good thing that Your Majesty is eager to learn. We will certainly make arrangements as quickly as possible.”
“Then I shall have to trouble you all.”
A strong wind blew, and another day passed.
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