——

Elaria sighed as she approached the collapsed man, who had just surprised her in a duel that was favored against him, and gently picked him up by the shoulder, tossing him onto hers without much effort before slowly carrying him back up the silver road… As she passed the small village, many heads turned… Why was she helping a man of all people? Why didn’t she just finish him off? Those were probably what the villagers were thinking about all of this… Elaria couldn’t give two shits about what they thought at the moment… This male had proven himself useful for her.

Walking up the steps that led back into her castle, she gave a slight wave to one of her guards so that they would open the door for her; without hesitation, they obeyed.

She slowly strutted down the hanging hallway toward Harry’s room… Suddenly one of the ropes around one of the hanging body’s neck snapped, hurling the body right toward the ground, where it splatted against it with a loud SPLAT… It filled the hall with the horrifying sound of bones and rotten flesh crushing against each other as gravity took its toll on it…

Elaria froze for a moment as she heard the sound—with a single glance she knew exactly which body had fallen. The one and only man who had managed to get all of these scars onto her flesh… That damn coward who had decided to sneak up on her and throw acid at her… He could rot on the floor if that is what he wished… She turned her gaze away from the body with a small look of disdain deep into her eyes… Thinking of it, out of all her scars that had been drawn upon her own very flesh… The only one that had been from an actual battle… Was the one that Harry had just given her by slashing her cheek in their duel… All of the others were by men who were cowards… This guy—Harry. He was different.

He clearly was against everything that her queendom stood for and yet… She did not wish to hang him like the rest that did… Why? And that was how she felt even before their duel… She had to have him into her ranks… She let out a small sigh as she laid him down onto his bed before walking to her office and collapsing onto her chair, shedding her armor as she let out another sigh.

For the very first moment of her life… The Leopard of the Blade…felt something that she never did before… Need… Was it what it was? She couldn’t put her blade onto it… The feeling was so strange to her… So unknown… Perhaps it wasn’t need… She would have to meditate on it for a bit. She had other things to worry about right now anyways… She had to prepare that ceremony to welcome Harry into her ranks now that he had proven himself…

——

Harry gently woke up to the sound of the birds chirping through the castle… They let birds in the castle? What a safety hazard… What time was it… How long was he passed out for… He was in his bed? … Did she… Should he feel thankful? Slowly sitting up from his bed, he froze as he noticed that the door to his room had been left unlocked… That was new and strange to him… Why was he suddenly allowed more freedom?

With a small sigh he stumbled out of his room, noting the small scar that was now on his nose from the previous duel… Damn it had healed fast… He took a small glance around to see the birds that he had just heard—they were outside? But they had sounded so much closer… First the feeling of being watched by nothing… Second, the way he was slightly able to focus on the queen’s movement in their duel despite her speed… Now that… What the hell was up with him? Meh… It’s most likely nothing.

A guard quickly stopped him as soon as he walked out of his room… Harry’s head was already turned to look at the guard even before he had realized the person was even stopping him.

The guard was a tall, six-foot-tall muscular woman who wore the silver helmet division armor proudly. The silver helmet division was the one directly under the queen’s command. The second-highest chain of command in the queendom hierarchy.

‘‘The queen has prepared something for you with the Black Helmet and the Silver Helmet division at the grand hall. Report there as soon as possible.’’ The guard uttered before turning on her feet and leaving for the grand hall. The Black Helmet Division…? That was the men-led division of the queen’s army, wasn’t it…? They were one of the lowest rank in the hierarchy… Well, higher than actual men of course…

Harry followed after the silver helmet guard of the royal queen to make sure he wouldn’t get lost in this grand castle… It was the first time that he had been free to simply…wander in those two last days… Or was it just one? Harry was still very unsure of the amount of time that had passed between their duel and his awakening a few minutes ago.

The halls were littered with imagery of women overpowering men… Especially a special kind of painting that was referred to as ‘‘female rage.’’ There was one specific painting in the middle of the wall…alone…that caught Harry’s eyes… It was the one of Elisabetta Sirani… ■■59… “Timoclea killing her rapist.” Out of all those pretty gory paintings, this one seemed the most justified in his eyes.

Sure… Harry knew that all of these artist had a very good point… But this one was more clear than the others… A woman killing her rapist… Harry couldn’t argue that this was more than a justifiable reason for murder… This was almost personal to him… The way he was tied in his own basement while his mom was killed… The way that the kidnappers— A small cough brought him back to reality… A noble woman, it seemed, from her appearance.

“Did you know, young man… That this painting reflects the life of our first queen? This is how she became the queen… Her rapist was the king of the old world.’’ She started bluntly with a smug look on her face… Harry knew this was wrong… He wouldn’t tell her… But this painting had nothing to do with the first queen at all… His mom’s aunt was a descendant of the artist… He would know it best if it had tied to the first queen, “The ruthless Shadow,” as they used to call her… But it felt like she knew in the first place that it had nothing to do with her.

He let out a small sigh as he realized that he had now lost the person he had been following to reach the grand hall. He glanced at the woman, who let out a small chuckle at his look and question before pointing toward the way of the grand hall—if she wasn’t messing with him, of course.

He walked away toward the direction that she had pointed and he realised quickly enough that she had, in fact, been messing with him… She had sent him right into the pool room. Harry sighed as he turned back on his feet and walked toward the totally opposite direction of where he had come from, knowing well that the woman probably pointed to the opposite side of where he needed to go.

Soon enough he passed by the woman once more, who had a huge smirk plastered onto her face… Brat… Harry wanted to slam her head against the wall but he knew better than that… The queen had requested him to join her in the grand hall… He wouldn’t throw away whatever that was just to hurt some smug noble woman.

Entering the grand hall, the two divisions were lined up in straight lines facing each other with a small open corridor in the middle for Harry to walk in. On the floor was a golden carpet that went from one side of the open corridor up to the small steps that led the way up to the stage where the queen stood waiting for him. What the hell was happening?

The front line of the black and silver helmet division pulled out their blades as Harry began to walk by them. They pointed their blades up to the ceiling. Was this some kind of ritual?

He walked up the steps that led up to the queen, still visibly confused by everything that had been happening until now… The queen smiled at him gently—this was unlike her. Well, from what he had seen of her as of now, was she not as cold and ruthless as he thought? The queen wearing her full armor walked up to speak to the divisions as Harry stood to the side.

“Welcome, my humble army and servants, Today we rejoice to have a new acquisition into our ranks. This morning, I and this man standing by my side had a duel. We tied, as the queendom tradition goes. Anyone who is strong enough to tie with the current queen must be given the chance to join one of the division as their new leader.’’ She turned to Harry, signaling with one of her hands toward the divisions. The question was clear just by the wave. She wanted him to choose which division he wanted to lead. The woman-led division is the silver helmet, and the men-led division is the black helmet.

If he chose the silver helmet… He would be definitely more free… But the women under him would probably hate him… and if he chose the black helmet, he could make the men too strong and be punished for trying to rise against the queen… His answer was clear and simple.

‘‘I choose to be your right hand.’’ The secret third option. The queen smiled; this went exactly as she wished.

‘‘Very well.’’ She states before observing the crowd. ‘‘However. I will still entrust the Black Helmet division to you. I will still have charge over them both, in-laws. But in combat, you are their chief. The first in command.’’ Harry nodded to acknowledge his role.

‘‘In two days, we will be going to battle against the nearby kingdom to try and expand our territory. I hope you will be ready for such a party.’’ She said as the crowd slowly disappeared in front of them.

‘‘I will.’’