The next day. The Queen left the Throne Room with hasty steps. The guards who were part of an elite force in the Royal Army followed her as she walked in the giant hallways. These guards excelled at agility and wore armour crafted with Essence. The Essence was shaped like regular, iron armour, but it was barely visible due to the spells in place to ensure it sustains its shape. This armour was powered by the Essence in the user's body. The Essence was to protect the user from spells. At the same time, however, there was liquid mercury trapped inside the pieces of armour. This way, it would provide protection against Cryptid-made weapons that do not use magic. It allowed maximum flexibility with as much protection as possible, like an invisible barrier. Because of the semi-transparent state of Essence, it was possible to spot the liquid mercury trapped inside. From the eyes of Cryptids who could not use magic, it was practically a miracle; liquid particles hanging in the air.  The Queen walked in the hallway. She was physically there, and she had not stopped walking once since she left the Throne Room, yet she was lost in thought. As she walked, the castle responded to her presence. The old-fashioned torches hung on the walls became bigger when the Queen neared closer as if they were being fanned. The countless statues of soldiers representing the Royal Army's strength had all become humble in her presence. Soldiers who wield single-handed swords hold onto their swords that are part of the statue and get on one knee, stabbing their swords at the bottom in front of them. Those who wielded two-handed greatswords had already kept their greatswords in their shoulders by design and had simply gotten on one knee. The statues wielding a staff let go of their staff and bowed courteously. Their staff had strangely stood completely still without being held by the statue itself, up until they returned to how they normally were when the Queen got far away. The statues that wielded daggers like the guards following the Queen put their daggers in their belts and then got on their knees. Like the staff of the mage statues, the daggers hadn't been holstered as it was not part of their design, but rather just stood in the air until the statue went back to its original state. These statues were crafted with such expertise that unless one were to witness this phenomenon themselves, it was not possible to tell if these statues had the ability to move, or if they had done it before because it was well-maintained. The guards could not understand what the Queen was thinking, which made them feel uneasy. This short walk from the Throne Room to the Rosa Council felt immensely long for them. When the Queen stopped in front of the doors of the council, they exhaled silently in relief. The Queen turned her head to them and said “You may leave.” in an authoritative manner. The guards looked at each other for a quarter of a second which they used to coordinate. Then, at the same time, they stood in attention. In harmony, they made their hands into fists, then hit their chest with their thumbs making contact with the armour. This landed a little bit to the left of the soldier's heart (from their perspective). Afterwards, they raised their hands to chest level and put their thumbs to face their armour, then repeated the previous motion and hit their chest. Without any rest, they extended their arms forward. Their hands were at eye level and their palms faced the ground. Once the Queen accepted their salute, they swiftly turned back and went the way they came. The Queen glanced at the doors of the council once the guards were out of sight. The door pushed inward of the council room by itself. In the council room which commonly only the selected few were allowed in was a crowd of the highest ranked of each commission and their men. Namely, the new Headeconomist from the Finance Regulation Commission, the Chief Investigator of the Ownership and Property Commission, the Watchdog from the Trade Regulation Committee, the Headarchivist of the Records and Archives Commission, the Chief Ambassador from the Embassy, the Chief of Civil Duties from the Civil Duties Management Commission, Chief of Staff from the Military, Chief of Order from the Law and Order Commission, the Vizier from the Will and Command Commission, an envoy from the Communication Commission and the Chief Inspector from the Workforce Management and Inspection Commission. The Queen was the representative of the Royal Army. There was no need for them to send a representative. Meanwhile, there was also another representative of a Commission that the existence of is unknown to the masses. This person was, however, undercover. Additionally, the two Princes and some men of some of the high-ranked officials were summoned to the meeting because of the state of emergency it was declared. It was so crowded inside that the Chief of Staff had to summon Elementals from the military for them to keep the air clean inside the council room and regulate airflow. Once the Queen sat at the seat that was a miniature replica of her throne, a man with short, dark black hair, with likewise black eyebrows, brown eyes and a thin, stick-like figure that made it abundantly clear he was not an athletic person. He was wearing loose clothing akin to a bathrobe, yet it was quite extravagant to be classified as one. The man's face was generally clean, devoid of facial hair. However, starting from underneath his lower lip was a goatee that was roughly the size of an index finger. The traces of where he combs his hair were so obvious it looked like it was done intentionally. The man coughed loudly to garner the attention of all that was present. After making sure everyone was paying attention, he read his opening speech and started the meeting with the authority of the Vizier. The first speech was from the man with square glasses that made him look older than he was. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes to match it. He quickly organised the papers in front of him. He stood up and introduced himself as Håkon Söderström, the new Headeconomist after the previous one vanished. He briefly introduced himself and his experience in working for the Finance Regulation Commission. He then, extremely politically, expressed his praise for Her Majesty and her plan. He ensured the Queen the Finance Regulation Commission would provide the requested funds and sat back down. After the Headeconomist, the Chief Ambassador spoke next. He summarised several political summits with agent plenipotentiaries of other races. He had mentioned the peace talks with the President of the Cryptids and told the Queen about their demands in return for the rights of free archaeological research across the Federation. Afterwards, the demands of the Chairman of the Shenfú Islands were discussed. Unlike the Cryptids which requested proof that they were not being deceived, the Jingshen requested a huge batch of supplies from the mainland which they did not have access to. The Chieftain of the Ghosts had made a similar request, although their demands were a bit more strict. After the Chief Ambassador, the Chief Inspector from the Workforce Management and Inspection Commission reported the allocated workforce to start digging in the specified archaeological sites. The Chief of Civil Duties from the Civil Duties Management Commission affirmed the previous statements in his speech and briefly reported his work of creating permits, dealing with the legal side of things and requesting the necessary supplies from the Ownership and Property Commission. The meeting had gone on until the afternoon. Eventually, the Rosa Council was dismissed. The Queen ordered everyone to leave but the Elementals and the ones she had personally invited. Everyone but the princes and the Headeconomist had left the council room. Once everyone had left, the Queen spoke: “I hope you have prepared additional things I have requested from you?” “Of course, Your Majesty. They all are undergoing training as per your orders.” “What about the plan? Have you fletched out the details yet?” “It is mostly as you have envisioned, Your Majesty. With minor inconveniences, but… We are getting there. I am sure in no time…” “I think you have the capability to deduce how important details are in a plan like this.” The Queen censured. “I would like to be informed of these ‘minor’ inconveniences.” “From some of the meeting logs of the Embassy, we noticed that there are communities both amongst the Jingshen and the Ghosts that refuse to learn Commonspeak. It is not a problem for the Embassy as the officials know Commonspeak, but for us, it seems to pose an obstacle.” “How big an obstacle?” the Queen asked. She did not hide in her voice that she was dubious. “Not threatening, but we believe it is best if we teach our…” Söderström gazed at the princes listening to them with a bored expression. “...I mean, teach them the local languages spoken in the region they will be sent off to.” “And I take it you are asking for more time?” Söderström nodded. “Please understand that, although not threatening, this is an important detail we cannot overlook.” Right as the Queen was about to reply, a loud thud was heard from the other side of the council. When facing the direction the obnoxious noise came from, there was a chair which had tumbled to the ground with Jimothan, or the High Prince by title, grunting on the floor next to the chair. Jimothan rolled on the floor as he winced in pain. He had hit his head and felt dizzy from the result. He grabbed the table and pulled himself up. Because of the fall, Jimothan's formal clothing meticulously put on by the castle's servants was now covered in germs. The steinkirk cravat that both the princes were made to wear for the formal occasion had fallen off because of Jimothan's squirming on the floor for a few seconds. His hair which was combed to look tidy had lost its shape and reverted to its usual, spiky appearance. This exposed Jimothan's earrings that were intentionally hidden in his hair. His hair, not long enough to cover his eyes on the front, was the opposite of the hair on top of his head that protruded from his head like telephone poles (although those aren't common in the Demon Kingdom, most Cryptid cities have them). The Queen had gotten furious from such inelegance. She clenched her fist and roared with a blank face, yet her voice was full of emotion: “Had I not told you to behave on formal occasions?” She clicked her tongue. “And you still haven't learned your lesson, it seems.” Johnathan, or the Little Prince by title, had been doing similar actions with his chair, which was swinging back and forth out of boredom. When her mother had gotten mad, however, he straightened his posture instinctually. As if cowering in fear, he fixed his chair still and faced a random point in the walls to avoid eye contact.  “You cannot be a prince if you are obtuse, you see.” The Queen continued. “But it doesn't matter. As long as you continue being obstreperous, I will continue to teach you a lesson.” With a silent incantation, a straight, black line appeared on top of the High Prince. It looked like a cartoon's first draft with how silly it seemed. But then, it expanded. A giant eye dwelled over the Prince. The Eyes of the Empress. In this case, a single eye. As soon as it opened, it locked its Gaze at the High Prince. He felt himself lose control. And he remembered. How much it hurt. It still hurt just as much as he remembered.

It was horrifying. How much pain a Demon's body can endure without risk of death.