(1) Living As the Villainess Queen

Chapter 73

“Your Majesty, the general wishes to speak with you,” she said, and Eugene straightened up.

“Invite them in.”

Marianne then stood up from her seat and walked to the exit, “I shall give you your privacy,” she told Eugene, who in turn, nodded.

When Marianne left, Sarah soon came in and stood in front of Eugene. It’s been routine, since the past few days, that Sarah would come several times to give the Queen the report on the progress of the events.

Most of the time, these reports were just that, reports, and Eugene wouldn’t need to make a decision, because Sarah has got it handled. But that was not the case this time.

After making her report, Eugene frowned in concern.

“A patient?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” she said, “It’s not a serious disease, but it is contagious. There are two other women as well who have shown the same symptoms; fever, headache, and cough since yesterday morning. For now, they’ve been quarantined.”

As Eugene listened, she couldn’t help but feel like it was just a simple cold.

“They also complain that the headaches are too severe, and request painkillers.”

In emergency situations such as these, it was imperative they use the medicine sparingly, which was why they needed approval from the highest authority to be able to use them. Painkillers, if accessible to everyone, could be used in the wrong ways. Hence, before, the sick would just have to make due with home remedies and hope they’d get better soon, but now, they seek permission from the highest authority.”

After thinking about it a few more, Eugene gave her permission.

“Give them some,” she said to Sarah, “I’m sure this will be over quickly, and His Highness will sort everything when he returns.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” she stated, “We believe that as well.” and with that Sarah swiftly left to head towards the patients and gave them the painkillers.

When she was alone once more, Eugene slumped in her seat and rubbed her eyes.

This was harder than she thought. She knew being a leader was no picnic, but the sheer responsibilities resting on her was becoming unbearable, overwhelming her. Her word in the palace was law, and it scared her the more.

She also gave herself a dry smile as she thought about Jin.

“How wonderful of you to sit here, and just do nothing,” she remarked to Jin, quite aware the character was all but dead in spirit.

Jin had sacrificed the kingdom, even its people, just to summon the dark magic, Mara. And when the lark army attacked the kingdom of Hashi, powered by Mara, there were severe casualties.

Eugene doesn’t know exactly how many, but she was certain it couldn’t be compared to the losses over the past four days.

It was certainly more tragic when the Four Kings were forced to wander around the world, hunting down Jin, and leave the kingdom defenseless. The kingdoms they so desperately wanted to protect.

She stood up and went to look out the window. Her gaze trailed up the sky, and saw nothing but the clear blues, until a flare suddenly erupted.

BOOM!

Blue smoke spread throughout the skies, and Eugene’s eyes widened in relief.

“Ah…” she sighed out.

Suddenly the throne room’s doors burst open, “Your Majesty!”

Eugene turned around and saw Marianne come up towards her, her eyes full of tears, as she gave her a wide smile. Eugene felt her own eyes water, as her sobs choked, her throat tightening.

It was finally over.

♚

Everyone who has seen the smoke all held their breath as they watched the blue smoke spread out farther and farther.

After a brief moment of silence, a resounding cheer erupted echoing until everyone joined in, causing a deafening roar. Everyone, even those who couldn’t keep their feet standing, let out a mighty yell of victory, pouring every last energy towards that one shout.

Kasser heaved his breath, sweat rolling down his body as he basked in the sun’s glory, head held up high as he listened to his kingdom’s cheers. With one last strike, he stabbed his sword on the sand beside him as the last of the larks turned to dust.

For four days, he swung without rest, only stopping at sunset, and beginning once more at sunrise.

With the battle over, and the adrenaline gone, he could feel his body seize up in exhaustion. The fatigue was overwhelming, but he couldn’t stop yet.

He still had an aftermath to clean up.

“Your Highness!” Lester ran over, a wide smile on her face, proud and victorious, “Only the kingdom of Hashi could fight against a group as large as those and win!”

At the sight of her, Kasser frowned in concern. Lester was laughing in joy, but the bandage around her head was disconcerting, especially since he hadn’t seen it yesterday, which meant it was fairly new.

“What happened?” he asked, “Can you not handle a simple yellow-class lark?”

“Ah,” Lester appeared sheepish, “I have no excuses, Your Highness. My forehead was injured.”

“And has someone treated it properly?”

“It’s nothing but a flesh wound, Your Highness,” she reassured and escorted him back to the palace, “Please, rest up, you’ve barely slept these four days,” she said, the concern for his king’s well-being was apparent.

“No, not yet,” he refused, keeping his posture tall and limbs moving, “We need to know how many have died.”

Lester’s smile fell, before a serious look crossed over her face and nodded in assent to comply with her king’s wishes, following him all the way.

She could’ve pressed harder, but he knew how stubborn their king was. He wouldn’t rest until everything was resolved, and he won’t be the one to break that habit.

When Kasser finally reached the castle, the dawn had begun to break. He thought of stopping by for a moment, to ask about how things have been before heading out once more.

After all, there was still plenty more to clean up outside the palace, but inside was a different story. It would only open for the king’s return—everyone else should be stuck inside until then.