GL Time for the villainess

Chapter 5

Leora Shadowend finally won the war that had been ongoing for the last seven years. At the doors of the capital she found an empty Palace. At least what was left of it because it seemed that most of it burned down. The state of the Palace was a huge secret for the outside world and seeing a Palace stripped of all decoration and even furniture was surprising. Leora thought that maybe the royal family ran away but she quickly found an immobile King Vorkalth. His eyes were wide open and he looked alive but for some reason he couldn't move. All of this was way too confusing and Leora called for a doctor:

"He is still alive but cannot move his arms or legs.

-Is it poison?

-We can't tell yet what caused this state but it is most likely poisoning."

Leora frowned. What happened here? She couldn't shake off a strange feeling. Was it her? Leora had been looking for Angeline for years but could never find her trace anywhere. She felt that she must have changed her name but why couldn't she stop feeling that she played a role in this? Leora had to be clear in her mind:

"Where are the other family members?

-It seems they are all... Dead.

-What did you say?

-We found two graves in the central garden. Those graves survived the fire and seem to be erected for Crown Prince Ross Thornton and Second Prince Isaac Thornton. It seems they have died in battle.

-In battle? If one of our troops killed them we would have known.

-I do not know, your Highness. That is what was written on their graves.

-I see, thank you."

The knight bowed before walking away and left Queen Leora with her right hand man, Mazus Addington.

"What do you think happened here, Your Highness?

-I don't know... The two Princes secretly killed in battle, the King poisoned, the Queen missing... None of this makes sense.

-Maybe others took advantage of our war to launch their own attack."

Leora thought about it for a bit. There were too many questions at the tip of her tongue and she didn't know which one to focus on first. And soon a new question arrived to her:

"We found the Queen's body!"

Leora frowned:

"Body?

-Queen Wish is dead. She seems to have died of asphyxiation.

-Could she have been poisoned too?"

The doctor shook his head:

"She seems to have died of external causes."

Mazus smiled:

"Great!"

But seeing that Leora wasn't smiling, Mazus taped her in the back:

"Why the long face? We won the war! The Thornton's are no more! We have so many things to celebrate. Our people are going to be overjoyed. And seeing the state of the capital, these people will be relieved too. It won't be hard to get them on our side.

-Don't count chicken before they hatch.

-Come on, Your Highness. You could relax from time to time. Let's go home and tell everyone the good news. We can worry tomorrow."

Leora wasn't convinced. She felt that something big was hiding behind this story but seeing how tired her troops were, she couldn't disagree.

"Let's go home.