Emperor's Reckoning

"What makes you think that he is worth it?" asked the queen.

"He is strong, both mentally and physically," answered Cherie before she continued, "We might have the power of magic at the tip of our finger, but every kingdom needs a spearhead."

"He is a mortal," said the queen.

Cherie shook her head, "It matters not if his mother's a whore or his father's a thief, he is himself, and we had seen that."

"True," the queen nodded. "However, he is offending the Pala Kingdom, what do you think about that?"

"The Pala Kingdom," Cherie took a breath before she averted her glance toward the nearest window for a moment.

"That kingdom is nothing but trouble," commented Cherie as she looked at the tea inside her cup.

"That's not what I'm asking."

"I know, but what can we do, their advancement has grown exponentially as of late," said the princess.

"He wanted to kill Hezar and he declared it publicly, in the arena no less," said the queen.

"Technically it was Cecile."

The queen nodded, "However, it matters not who said it. Lyon and his group only got a moment before Pala decided to strike."

Cherie nodded, "He wanted to kill his commander."

"If you want to recruit him, then you will be included in the animosity between the two of them, which eventually led to the Pala Kingdom itself."

Cherie nodded, "things might escalate to an undesirable situation."

"Then, will you still be interested in recruiting him after you see the big picture?"

"It will be hard, I have shown my interest in him and Hilde did the same, we softly offended the Pala Kingdom already, however, I don't think the people would like it if we offended the Pala Kingdom over a cultivator from the Mortal World."

The queen nodded as she smiled. "Now you're getting the hang of being a royal."

"Yeah sure," Cherie shrugged her shoulder. "However, there must be a way to salvage their animosity."

The queen shook her head, "You are not as experienced as I am so I will tell you. That young man is vengeful."

"Vengeful..." muttered Cherie. "What makes you think so?"

"Experience," said the queen as she smiled. "When you meet a lot of people, you started to be able to discern one from the other."

"I see..."

"Enough of that, if you want to salvage their animosity, then you must know the cause first. Not just anybody would dare to speak out loud that he wanted to kill a prominent figure like Hezar."

"Hmm... didn't Cecile say that Lyon had broken another record in the preliminary that was specifically made for outsiders? However, she admits that she was lying though... sort of."

The queen let out a heavy breath, "There is a rumor going on about Hezar tampering with the preliminary, I'm sure you have heard of it."

"Indeed, you think it has something to do with Lyon?"

"The chance is not small, furthermore, have you noticed the three people sitting right beside Hezar at the arena?"

Cherie nodded, "They are definitely new and seemed to have contradicting expressions with Hezar himself, as if, they don't want to be there and... well, they have shared the same kind of clothes as Zet, Ivy, and Porealus respectively."

The queen nodded. "Good, if you see that far then you know your situation better than I would have expected."

"Your blood runs in my veins, remember?" jested Cherie before she sipped her tea.

Her mother grinned.

"The Pala Kingdom might have a huge firepower, but you do what you think is right," said the queen as her eyes turned sharp. "Your view of the world is vastly different than mine as we belonged to a different generation and I respect your opinion, not as a mother but as a queen."

"But what about the people?" asked Cherie.

"The Sverine Kingdom is not weaker than the Pala Kingdom, the magic-based cultivators in our army are special, unlike the art-based cultivators. We might lose in quantity, but a single fire is enough to burn a whole colony of ants."

"Quality over quantity," Cherie smirked. 

"Your time is limited," said the queen. "Your time is as long as the tournament goes, the Pala Kingdom will act after the final round."

"Why do they need to wait that long?"

"Face, they are saving face, Cecile effectively bought her husband time."

"That's something I'm curious about too, Hezar is a commander doesn't he have the right to control the soldiers?" asked Cherie as she contemplated.

"He is."

"Then, why?"

"It's because of the situation inside the Pala Kingdom itself, that auburn woman must have understood it beforehand."

"I see," Cherie nodded. "The Pala Kingdom might have grown exponentially strong, but most of the power was due to Raul's and Hezar's active involvement. Raul was not a case since he is a direct heir, but Hezar's presence could birth unnecessary trouble for the throne."

The queen nodded, "Exactly, she is a clever woman, using their own spear to point against its own master."

"That's the problem with unbalanced strength inside one's kingdom," sighed Cherie. "How the hell did she get the sharp minds as well as the lithe body at the same time."

"What I'm interested in more is why did she choose him," said the queen. "A woman that bright and talented won't be having trouble finding a partner in higher levels of heaven, even the Seventh Heaven, Paradise, but she chose a mortal cultivator instead."

"The war god, heh, I think we should call it Wargoddess Physique since it's a female cultivator," said Cherie.

"She must have seen something that our eyes had not yet seen," said the queen. "Something, deep, shrouded in mystery, something grand and powerful, something that's worthy of a goddess."

The queen smiled before she stood up, "I think I'm going for a little stroll."

"Eh?" the king who had no chance of entering their conversation opened his mouth. "Aren't you tired?"

"Go back to sleep without me, I'm going for a stroll," said the queen before she exited out of the room.

"You're kidding..." He helplessly saw the door closed.

"Whelp, tomorrow morning the second round starts, so I'm going to my room," Cherie excused herself out.