44. Glory to the empire.
"Come on, you lazy bastards! Keep marching!"
An angry voice from a young woman, accompanied by the crack of a whip, echoed. In the air, above an army of thousands of soldiers, mostly women, who all looked exhausted, as if they hadn't slept in days, A figure of a young woman dressed in a revealing outfit with short horns on top of her head and a heart-shaped tail on her lower back confirmed that she was a succubus. Carried by a pair of black wings, she flew above the marching army.
"March! Avenge her majesty!"
Another succubus joined her, cracking her own whip at the army below her. She could clearly see a couple of soldiers collapse. But she didn’t care; why would she care about slaves anyway?
Just like other succubi the sisters Regae and Naaru took their slaves and marched them south as the new queen commanded. But it took them longer than they anticipated to get ready. And now they had to rush before someone beat them. They were not going to pass up the chance to have more beast men at their disposal.
With anxious expressions, they set their eyes on the small fort in the distance. A fort that served as a garrison of vampires on the borders.
…
"Our forces managed to catch vampires off guard, thanks to which we currently control a significant portion of the Sivhal region."
A kneeling succubus reported to the young succubus seated on the throne.
"Aneria should have been the one to take Sivhal’s capital, right? Tell her that the area is hers. Ah, of course, if it is okay with you, your majesty."
A woman standing by the throne gave her instructions to the succubus that was facing the ground as she kneeled. She turned to her quickly, as if she had just remembered that the young succubus on the throne was present, and asked for confirmation.
The girl, however, said nothing. She only squeezed a doll in her hand, her eyes downcast. The woman didn’t let this bother her and turned back to the one still kneeling.
"I believe you were given instructions. Go."
The succubus stood up and, with a bow, slowly left the room. Once the door closed, the woman, a middle-aged succubus with black hair and light red horns. sighed and turned towards the little succubus sitting on the throne.
"Perhaps it was too soon."
she said, patting the little girl's head. Even though her eyes were downcast, the woman could see tears on her little face. which made the woman grin.
"Maybe you should go to your room to rest a little? It will make you feel better. I promise."
Composing herself, she addressed the girl. And without waiting for her answer, she snapped her fingers, at which a succubus in a rather erotic maid outfit approached.
"…yes auntie."
The girl silently responded to her aunt and, accompanied by the maid, went out of the room.
Walking silently through the hall, looking to the ground. The little girl; the princess- actually now the queen of the succubus. didn’t feel like doing anything since her mother died three days ago.
"Your majesty?"
The maid asked quietly as the little queen stopped abruptly and stared at the window across the garden.
Without a single word, she spread her black wings and flew out in the direction of the window. The maid, though confused, spread her own wings and followed after her.
By the time she reached the window, the little queen had already disappeared in it. The maid wasn’t sure why the queen was in such a hurry to get to this window, but she could guess. Behind it lay the room that belonged to the previous queen, her mother.
As she got to the window herself, she could hear the faint sobbing of the little girl, which made her heart hurt.
"…your majesty."
She wanted to go inside, to reassure her that it would be okay. But when she peered inside, she saw something she did not expect.
The queen was sobbing... into a human man's chest. As she was sobbing, the man was hugging her gently while rubbing her head. If the maid’s memory served right, that man should be a slave of the previous queen.
"It's okay. You were brave, Alia."
The maid froze, and she almost forgot that she was still in the air. Did I hear that right? She doubted her ears momentarily. Did he really call the queen by her given name?
She couldn’t understand such audacity, nor did she want to understand it. She felt the urge to execute this man immediately, or after having some fun with him.
"Daddy… I miss mommy."
"I know, I miss her too."
The cries of the little girl sounded once more. The man continued soothing her, neither of them aware that the maid was eavesdropping on them.
"Daddy… a father, was it?"
The maid muttered the word, whose meaning she was not sure of.
If she remembered correctly father was what other races called a male parent. If that is right, then why is the queen addressing him as such? Succubi had no such concept after all. Did he perhaps teach her this word, and the queen just doesn’t know what she is saying? It is definitely a possibility.
"You there."
The man’s voice brought the maid back to her senses. Apparently, at some point, the queen fell asleep in the man’s arm, and he was now looking directly at the maid.
"Take her to her room; she should rest."
With that, he handed over the sleeping girl to the maid. She wanted to say something, to scold him for talking to her like that, but she didn’t.
Nodding her head, she turned around and carefully flew to the ground. After landing, she made her way to the queen’s room.
There she laid her on the bed, and after tucking her in, she slowly left the room. She closed the door quietly behind her.
She sighed as she walked away from the room. She began to wonder why this situation was even happening. Vampire queen Loriam and the previous queen Ensie had allied their nations for over a century; why would the vampires assassinate her so suddenly?
She couldn’t think of a reason. Yet there was a captured vampiric assassin in the prison. The assassin, after being tortured for two days consecutively, he did admit to being under the direct order of Queen Loriam. Supposedly, the plan was to kill Queen Ensie, let the realm fall into chaos, and then take over under the excuse of reestablishing order.
Thanks to the confession of this assassin, the regent queen Aire ordered a preventive attack against the vampires.
"It's not my place to comment on politics; I should know better."
She shook her head. There was no point in wondering about it. In what world does even the opinion of a maid matter? The only opinion that matters is that of the queen herself.
…
"As I said, Marshall, you can’t be here."
A lonely pair of women dressed in black with masks covering their faces blocked a young vampiric woman from entering the room behind them in a corridor.
"And I keep telling you I have to see her highness."
The marshal was getting impatient. The two in front of her just kept saying she couldn’t enter. Just as she expected, there is no way to talk with these pawns.
"Unless her highness wishes to see you, we can’t let you in."
Yes, under the assumption that Bitch is still alive! She barely held herself from screaming at them. Another woman holding a rifle glanced at her. clearly wanting her gone.
"Fine, let me know when that happens. Glory to the empire."
"Ave imperatrix."
Not wanting to get shot, she turned on her heel and walked away, cursing under her breath.
"Is it okay that we let that traitor go? Should we not execute her?"
Once the marshal was out of sight, one of the soul guards asked. not hiding her desire to see the vampire that just left die.
"There is nothing we can do, or do you think you will be able to sentence her better than her highness?"
"Well, no but…"
She knew that her highness would want this traitor to suffer, but she didn’t dare to guess more. But she still thought that letting someone like this walk free was as good as treason in itself.
"Everything looks good; her highness can be woken safely."
A voice from the room caught her attention, and she looked back. There a group of people from oprichnina surrounded a massive block of crystal-clear ice. In it lay a young girl with a doll-like face and a peaceful expression. Her imperial highness, the princess.
She gulped nervously as she watched oprichnina’s people prepare magic circles all over under the lead of a scar-covered black wolf woman.
She couldn’t help but glance at her superior. Just what was going on in her head? Why did she trust these people? She wanted to know, but she knew better than to doubt her commander.
As she was lost in her thoughts, the sound of the ice cracking took her back. Not even within a single minute the solid block of ice shattered to dust. Leaving the princess to lie on a cold stone.
"Your highness."
The girl slowly opened her eyes, prompting all present to kneel. No one dared to look at her as she sat up.
"…Sister. Where is… eldest sister?"
The silence was the answer to her question.
"Where is she."
The air in the room turned oppressive. The princess’s crimson eyes reflected pure anger. So, this is the power of pure blood... one of the guards thought as she was overwhelmed by fear. All of her instincts were screaming for her to flee.
"Her majesty... is in the capital. Your Highness."
The wolf woman gulped nervously as she spoke. After a moment the oppressive atmosphere disappeared as did the intense anger in the eyes of the princess.
"However, there is currently a plot led by traitors who wish to remove her majesty. while marking her a pretender."
The wolf woman reported to the princess. The princess’s face darkened when she heard that.
"Anyone who dares oppose my sister has no right to live… I will deal with them myself!"
As the princess shouted, dark red bat-like wings appeared on her back. The sudden decrease in the room’s temperature caused by the outburst of ice magic from the princess. made everyone shiver.
"At your command, your highness."
Everyone lowered their heads once more. Delighted that, finally, the rule of order and law will return. That finally the righteous ruler will sit on her throne once more. The wolf woman smiled. At long last, the empire will rise again, putting an end to these slaver Silenens calling themselves nobles.