So…the Queen didn't want to ruin her image?

Yes! For the satisfaction level to be high, her image must be something that she valued highly, as an impressive one would mean that more people might be willing to follow her.

The next second, Daneel's suspicion got confirmed.

Starting to walk toward the door, the Queen spoke.

"Oh? Then I'll help you to teleport myself. Fellow Arafellians, please leave the room. I have something important to tell the King before he departs."

Seeing nothing amiss, the giants and the humans started to make their way outward, while Daneel took the opportunity to inch closer to his soldiers.

He had already formed a plan in his mind, so all that was left was to wait for an opportunity.

By the time all of the servants and guards left, Daneel had reached the head of the unit of soldiers.

With a broad smile that looked like it was filled with evil intentions, the Queen said, "I'll see where you go to, now. I guess I was too light-handed in my convincing. Allow me to be more firm."

Saying this in a way that only Daneel could hear it, the Queen turned around to close the door.

Whoos.h.!.+

"Maybe next time. Like I already said, I'm much more capable than you might think. Contact me if you wish to kneel, I'll drop by at any time. But, for now, goodbye!"

A bold voice reverberated in the room, and although the Queen instantly turned around, there was nothing but empty s.p.a.ce left.

The King of Lanthanor had disappeared, along with his soldiers.

First, wrath mixed with frustration appeared on her face, but it was followed by a small smile.

She had kept her s.p.a.ce-locking formation at the relatively low, Peak Champion level so that she wouldn't arouse suspicion in the Big 4. Clearly, that had worked againt her.

Still, she had obtained valuable information herself. She knew that the inheritance the King of Lanthanor had obtained was either atleast at the Peak Champion level, or that he had, indeed, formed a bond with Drakos and accepted a few simple spells from him.

Either way, he was right: she had definitely been underestimating him.

Even if he left now, where could he go? There was no method to leave the continent, so there was practically nowhere he could hide.

So, although the Queen was thoroughly angered, she didn't resort to any drastic measures such as an open chase which would draw the kind of attention she had been avoiding for the past few millenia.

Still, the valorous back of the King appeared in her mind, along with the memory of that moment when he had firmly answered.

Fixing that image, the Queen smiled to herself, and if Daneel were here, his skin would definitely have crawled on seeing this smile.

Yet, after a few moments, her anger subsided, following which the smile disappeared and was replaced by one of utter seriousness.

And along with that seriousness…came worry- the same worry that had shone on her face when she spoke about saving Angaria.

Turning around, she left the room, following which the sound of something turning into dust echoed in the emptiness.

…

Back in his retinue that was quickly heading back to his Kingdom, Daneel was viewing a small display trinket in his hand.

Yes, in fact, he had been watching.

Recently, he had figured out one thing: if he was discreet enough, he had realized that he could hide trinkets effectively, especially in cases where the one he was hiding them from was merely a Warrior.

Daneel had taken a gamble before leaving. He had suspected that even if the Queen was lying about a lot of things, it was possible that she wasn't lying about the temporary possession.

According to the system, there was data in the journals he had collected in the Sect of Hedon about consciousnesses which were too big for a body causing that body to burst.

So, if that was the case, a voluntary possession wouldn't give the possessor the senses which belonged to someone at their level.

All a voluntary possessor could do was cast spells of their level with the limited Energy available, while controlling the body. Yet, because it wasn't a full possession, they wouldn't be able to access all of their powers. Their senses, for instance, might be dulled.

So, the gamble was to hide a tiny communication eye there which through which he would be able to a.s.sess the reaction of the Queen and decide whether she was truly crazy or not.

However, with frustration, Daneel realized that the results were once again inconclusive.

Although it had looked as if she was angry, but then genuinely worried about the continent, he wasn't sure whether she had detected the communication eye and was acting.

So…all he knew was that she had two pairs, and that her plan was to break the last seal somehow so that she could have access to spells that would allow her to win the Race.

Oh, and there was one last thing: there was no way in h.e.l.l that he would kneel to her.

As for repercussions that might occur because of the fact that the two of them fallen apart, Daneel wasn't too worried about them.

If the Queen of Arafell was capable of moving ruthlessly and doing whatever she wanted, she would have done so long ago.

Something was stopping her from doing that. And that something would also stop her from taking revenge on Lanthanor, if she had that idea at all.

Still, he would definitely have to keep an eye on her. If there was even the tiniest clue that Arafell might move, then he had to be alert in order to counter it.

But first, he needed to have a talk with Drakos.

After carefully watching his back multiple times during the trip, Daneel relaxed on seeing that the Queen wasn't going to pursue.

Something about her had just given him the feeling that she might be someone who holds grudges, so, he had decided to be safe, rather than sorry.

It was only after reaching the safe border of Lanthanor did Daneel feel completely safe. Heading to the Palace, Daneel immediately made his way to the room above the library.

"Drakos, get in here."

Saying this as soon as he touched the pedestal, Daneel waited as the Ancient Dragon separated his consciousness and entered his mind again.

Even before he had a chance to say anything, Daneel spoke.

"All right, what's the deal with the Empire Spirit over there?"

Beginning with this, he went over the details of their discussion, following which there was silence from Drakos.

What was wrong with this guy?

It was only after a minute or so that the Dragon finally replied.

"Young King…this is troubling news. The Emperor warned us all against this. He said that if we try to rise to the top instead of following the path he set for us, it might result in another catastrophe like the one that brought down the Empire. He never said that it would definitely happen, but it is definitely possible. I believe…that you made the right decision, Young King. I think she should be stopped."

Hearing this made Daneel sigh with relief. Well, he had at least been right about something. The Emperor did want those of this Age to be the ones who saved the continent.

"Don't worry, she isn't going anywhere in order to be stopped. For whatever reason, she's acting very cautiously. Is it true that she was the commander? And that she loved your father?"

"Err…I don't know. They did spend a considerable amount of time alone, but I never heard Father mention her in a special manner. But she was the commander. She was an expert in troop deployment, and, in fact, she was the one who taught my Father military tactics in the first place. Before that, my Father was only focused on building his own power."

Well…if it was a one-sided love story, this answer from Drakos would make sense.

Sighing, Daneel prepared to momentarily put this matter to the side after ensuring that the number of people tracking Arafell's movements was increased.

Without understanding her weakness clearly, Daneel had no intention of making any moves against her. Besides, this was a very important time for him.

Shaking his head, he was just about to throw himself into the preparations for the launch of the next phase of the Network of Angaria, but he paused when he saw something flas.h.i.+ng in the corner of the room.

The flas.h.i.+ng was from the table which held the communication trinkets of all the Kingdoms in Angaria he was in contact with. Of course, among them, there was also one which would allow him to directly contact the Queen of Arafell.

Right now, that was the one which was flas.h.i.+ng.

After hesitating for a bit, Daneel picked it up and read the message anyway, telling himself that she couldn't harm him through a communication trinket.

Yet, after he was done going through it, he gritted his teeth with even more frustration.

"King Daneel, this is Priscilla. Queen Arafell wanted to apologize. She says that her feelings got away from her. Even if you stayed, she says that she would have done nothing except ask again. She promised when you came that she wouldn't force you to do anything, so she sticks by her word. If you change your mind, you can contact us at any time, too. At the end of the day, she says that all she cares about is the good of Angaria. So, she will keep trying to work toward her goal. In the meanwhile, she says that the relations.h.i.+p between our Kingdoms shouldn't change. I hope you reconsider."

As the message cut away, Daneel asked Drakos, "Was Arafell known for her anger?"

Hearing Drakos's answer, Daneel felt like throwing the communication trinket at the wall.

He had never expected that he would miss straightforward enemies like Ashah.e.l.l whose motives were clear, but right now, he felt just that.

"Yes, Young King. In fact, she was even famous for it. Once, she was said to have entered a battle against a Hero because he said 'No' when she asked him something very trivial. I do not recall…Oh! Yes, I remember. He said 'No' when she asked him to dance with her at a ball, and she was going to destroy the entire venue. In fact, that was when the Emperor met her: he stood up to stop her, and defeated her in combat, which was when she knelt and swore to follow him till eternity."