Honkai Impact 3rd: Don't Die For Me/ Book 3 Paradise

Chapter 35 Tabula

<London Throneroom>

It was empty and desolate. All who served her were ordered to leave as she sat patient and prepared for what was to come. She had already gotten a taste of the power of the Kaslana's. Kallen's budding rage was a flame she'd never stoke again. She tested the limits of royal power against the symbol of the people. The information garnered was not worth being the center of her gaze. The people loved the Kaslanas but the nobles feared them.

'I've come so far,' Elizabeth thought, sitting prim and proper. Even without the company of her people, she'd always remain proper. If she didn't she'd remember Edmund and his family. No fool would readily stab themselves tens of times over for comfort. 'Your daughter. You gave her such a common name.'

Then the atmosphere changed. The throne room had become stale and thick. Suddenly, she wished she had worn less as a presence of command that far usurped Kallen's entered her palace. She could hear the hushed whispers of maids trembling in his presence. She could hear the butlers shuffling people aside as he strode through. Kallen's reaction was a meager squall compared to his presence. The entire palace was consumed in a thundercloud.

"Enter," She called out, mustering all the dignity and courage that befit a queen.

The double doors of the throne room parted gently for this man's entrance. Frederick Kaslana entered, a titan of a man. His expression was stern and respectful but his aura was so hostile that admirers would no longer swoon. He carried a small case and as the diplomatic procedure required, he was not armed.

"You didn't need to follow-"

"It's not needed." Frederick cut in coldly. "Let's discuss your fate."

A chill permeated Elizabeth's bones. She was sitting above him and yet her throne felt like nothing more than a hairdresser's stool. It was the kind of stool that children used to reach cabinets chocked full of sweets. The kind of stool that a man would break if he stubbed his toe on it.

"I'll rise."

"You'll stay."

"I'm still a queen."

"And you have threatened the Church."

A bit of liquid courage trickled into Elizabeth's heart. It was the mention of the church that had told her to stand her ground. The church had been her enemy for as long as she could remember.

"Let's talk at a table." She moved off her throne. "I've got a more private room."

"Fine."

<Private Room>

It wasn't before long that they were settled on opposite couches. While Elizabeth sat stiffly to maintain her noble position, Frederick sat up with natural pressure. No refreshments were prepared or needed. Elizabeth needed to be focused on this opportunity.

"They'll be released."

"You can't pardon criminals."

"But we already have."

His eyes pointed to her, how she had risen to become queen? He knew the full story. No matter how she tried to conceal it she had used the very power she'd despised to obtain her throne.

"I can still fight." Elizabeth comforted herself. She had his team, Sasha, and if she were to make a ruckus the public eye that favored the church would surely sour. A new age that started with the rebellion of the Queen Of England would not be so peaceful.

"No, I can strip you of your title. I can reveal all the hands you've worked with. I hold the secret to your blood."

"I've wiped out the remnants of the Black Rose in my country."