Chapter 181: Dealing With The Officials

[Zafira’s POV]

Zafira walked down the stairs leading to the prison, and when she finally arrived, she was greeted by Linlin and Evelyn.

They seemed to be chatting, but when they finally noticed her, they performed curt bows and greeted her.

“All three of them are in there,” Linlin said plainly. “Though I’m surprised you told us to keep these officials alive. They don’t really serve much of a purpose anymore.”

Clearly. Zafira rolled her eyes. “Their purpose is to die by my hand. So if you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it if both of you left.”

“A-About my duties…” Evelyn muttered. “I won’t have to play as the queen again, right?”

Zafira stared at her for a moment before shrugging.

“I can’t promise you anything,” Zafira said. “But I do want you to know that next week, you’ll be acting as the queen again while Rael and I are at the summit. Is that understood?”

“Of course.” Evelyn sighed and fell silent for a few moments. “But don’t you think I should have some lessons? You know… to better prepare myself?”

“Very well…” Zafira slowly nodded. “I’ll be assigning some lessons to Rael as well. You can join him if you’d like.”

A smile tugged at Evelyn’s lips. “Thank you very much. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Then, with a bow, Evelyn left.

However, Linlin remained as she leaned against the wall, whistling in amusement.

Zafira’s brows furrowed. “Was my order not clear enough, Linlin?”

“I wonder…?” Linlin trailed off, looking Zafira up and down. “You’re glowing. I hope you know that.”

Zafira flinched as her palms immediately got sweaty. “What do you mean?”

Linlin’s smirk widened. “Did you two… do it—”

“AAH! Be quiet!” Zafira interjected with widened eyes.

This idiot… no… am I the idiot? He’s my husband, after all… Zafira’s cheeks reddened. We didn’t do it… yet. But why am I so flustered?

She liked him—no, she loved him. And yet, the most they did was hold hands and kiss.

Then she just had to go and tell him she’d be waiting for him tonight.

He must think I’m some sort of horny pervert… B-But if I don’t make a move tonight, then—

“Hey.” Linlin clapped her hands twice. “You should snap out of it, Queen Zafira.”

“And you should get out now, Linlin.” Zafira urged with a cough. “Just because you’re my friend doesn’t mean I’ll excuse your actions. Any further disobedience, and I’ll have you escorted out of the palace.”

“Scary…” Linlin muttered as she dusted herself off and slowly began walking away.

Just as Zafira thought Linlin had left, her voice rang out one last time.

“Should I ask my mom to give you some tips?”

“Get out!” Zafira exclaimed, picking up a nearby bucket and tossing it toward Linlin.

Yet instead of letting the bucket hit her, Linlin summoned hundreds of multicolored threads and turned the bucket into dust in an instant.

Then, with a wide grin, Linlin bowed.

“See you later, my queen.”

And with that, she finally left.

Zafira took a deep breath, calming her nerves.

I knew I shouldn’t have told her Rael and I actually became a thing… now I won’t hear the end of it. She sighed.

After a moment of reflection, Zafira approached the prison cell where the three prisoners were being kept.

She knew all of them, and yet, none of them invoked even an ounce of remorse from her. Even if they were to be skinned alive, she wouldn’t bat an eye.

With a calm expression, Zafira kicked open the prison cell doors and stepped inside.

“Hello, Garret, Xiyung, and Alster. You seem to be doing fairly well given the circumstances,” Zafira said as she extended her hand into the air and then summoned her sword.

“W-Wait, my queen!” Xiyung pleaded. “I promise… no! We promise! We had no part in this, you have to believe us!”

“Oh? A part in what exactly?” Zafira asked with a tilt of her head. “The part where you sabotaged Celestara? Or maybe the part where you were the three people behind the coup?”

She was furious about their actions, but she wanted to at least hear them admit their wrongdoings before she killed them.

Zafira took out one of the bean bag chairs Rael had given her and placed it on the floor in front of the prisoners before comfortably sitting down and crossing her legs.

“So tell me, dear servants of the Celestara. Which of your actions warrants my mercy?”

Alster, the oldest one there, stood up, trying to approach Zafira with a guilty look. However, the chains around his neck stopped him, causing him to fall flat on his ass.

“Pathetic…” Zafira muttered, twirling her sword around in her grasp. “You failed me and Celestara. But that’s not exactly why I’m so angry right now…”

She cleared her throat, her gaze sharpening. “It’s the fact that you idiots were planning on assassinating Rael. Did you think I wouldn’t have found that out?”

The letters didn’t say much at first, but after she gave them to her shadows, several hidden messages were decrypted.

One such message was a declaration of divorce.

They wanted to frame Rael for being a believer in one of the Holy Kingdom’s evil religions. By doing so, the Holy Kingdom would have all the right to perform a baptism on Rael.

And…

Their baptisms always come in the form of a complete memory wipe… being reborn as a new, ‘pure’ person, she thought with disgust.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back her anger any longer as she stood up from her bean bag chair and, without hesitation, thrust her sword straight into Alster’s skull.

“P-Please, my queen! Have mercy on us!” Xiyung pleaded, but he wasn’t spared either as Zafira cut the chains surrounding Xiyung’s neck, causing him to fall to the ground face first.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, she stomped his head, crushing it to bits.

Finally, there was only one person left, arguably the one who had come up with the plan in the first place.

“Garret. Do you have any last words before I end your life?” Zafira asked as she used Xiyung’s clothes to wipe the blood off her shoes.

“Queen.” Garret finally looked at her. “I understand no words will ever excuse my actions. But please… please reconsider marrying that freak. He doesn’t have even a drop of royal blood. You deserve someone who can ensure the future of Celestara, so—”

Before he could finish his words, Zafira picked up one of the chains, held it above her head, and then, like a morning star, delivered a full-powered swing at Garret, causing him to explode on impact.

Blood was everywhere, but she didn’t mind.

After all…

“I’m not a puppet,” Zafira said flatly, wiping a smudge of blood from her cheek. “And I hope you know not to mess with those I care about in your next life.”

She turned and walked out of the bloodied cell before letting out a frustrated sigh.

I need a bath…

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