Inside a city full of lamia, the Queen opened her eyes slowly.

"Where..."

Her eyes settled on a familiar ceiling, one she's seen all her life, until recently.

Recognizing her room, she sat in bed.

"Kh!"

While dragging her body to the edge of the bed, she felt intense pain all over her body.

"I shouldn't have moved..."

Seeing the bandages wrapped around her tail and her arms, she recalled the burns she obtained while protecting Lahro.

Still, she had to witness the result of her recklessness.

"I'm either going to get laughed at... or scolded."

Deveralna bit her lower lips.

"I sincerely hope Orion won't hate me..."

Apprehension filled her heart as she slithered closer to her bedroom's window, which was hidden behind long white curtains, letting only a faint ray of sunlight through them.

With trembling hands, she grabbed the curtains, and pulled them apart.

"..."

Watching the surrounding land, scorched into a black charcoal color, Deveralna smiled in shock.

She sat back on her bed, and hid her face inside her hands.

"What a mess."

The throbbing pain in her arms kept reminding her of the mistake she's made.

"I was warned to be careful, and yet, I managed to let anger fill my mind. If not for Orion's words, I would've caused the death of every lamia on this land."

"..."

A brief memory of her subjects sharing their power with her flashed in her head.

"What kind of Queen am I?"

Bitterness was all she could feel. Not knowing what to do with herself, she looked at herself in the mirror sitting next to the door.

"!"

Deveralna suddenly stood up, and hurried toward it. She placed her hands on both sides of the mirror, and looked intently at her face.

"My eyes!"

Elation filled her being, as she noticed her original orange iris color came back, taking over the white taint her recent transformation brought.

She touched her cheek, poking around her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"It's back... It's truly back! I'm so relieved."

This was one change she couldn't accept. From the beginning, there was one part of her that she wanted back to its original coloration, and that was her eyes.

The part Orion fell in love with.

But while she was happily watching herself, a light emerged from under her bed. As fast as lightning, it escaped from there, and flew toward Deveralna.

"!"

She turned around, releasing a controlled amount of lightning energy to stop the intruder.

The two clashed, before the entity revealed itself.

"Ssssss!"

A small snake composed of electricity bit her finger gently, before ingesting the lightning Deveralna was releasing.

"Eh? What are you?"

A little snake gladly absorbed the magic, before growing into a larger beast. After growing to the size of her arm, it released her finger from its mouth, and slithered around her arm.

After tightly wrapping itself, it closed its eyes, and fell asleep, under Deveralna's bewildered gaze.

"You're..."

A gigantic snake made of plasma came to mind, as she poked the snake's head. It shook its head lightly at her touch, yet hung on deep in its slumber.

"Incredible. I can't feel a thing. It's like it is not even there."

In other circumstances, an object or being wrapped around a limb would cause great discomfort, yet, this little snake wasn't causing her any.

Even wrapped tightly, it wasn't hurting her.

"I remember... This little thing, I had no idea it would have a mind of its own."

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Having no idea that the snake was a creature she had summoned from another plane of existence due to the sheer amount of energy released, Deveralna assumed it was only a special case.

"Well, if you're not planning on hurting me, I suppose I should let you be."

Even better, the snake made her feel way lighter. The energy swirling inside her body calmed ever so slightly, easing her control over it.

While placing a hand on her chest, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad. It seems I won't be losing control over this monstrous power anytime soon."

As she settled down at last, she heard voices coming from outside her room.

"I heard the Queen's voice!"

"Yes! There was also some sort of ruckus inside!"

Two guards hurriedly explained the situation to a third person.

"Is it true?"

"Yes, Lady Palarvina!"

"Then let me through."

The two guards slowly opened the double doors, creating a path for the wind coming inside the room to escape to.

A gust of wind ruffled Deveralna's hair, as her mother entered the room.

"..."

"..."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, before the doors closed behind her mother.

"Thank the world you are alright!"

Palarvina rushed toward her daughter, and carefully cradled her in her arms.

"I am... or at least if you ignore all those burn marks."

Peering at her mother's face from her cleavage, Deveralna felt tears fall on her cheek.

"I heard everything from our people. You've stood strong to defend our honor and future, and made sure to erase the ghost of our past."

Hearing her Palarvina's comforting words, Deveralna wrapped her arms around her back.

"I... My actions weren't as grand as you make them sound..."

Sinking her face into her mother's bosom, she let out her frustration.

"When I saw that man, anger filled me."

"..."

She hesitated.

"It was even worse than anger. I was enraged. That man, who sullied so many of us, and even laid his dirty hands on my mother, appeared in front of me."

"How was I supposed to think? I lost sight of everything, and caused tremendous grief to the people I was supposed to protect."

Palarvina held her daughter's face against her while listening quietly.

"I wasn't reigning over my emotions. I knew there were countless lamias behind me, fearing for their lives, yet, I ignored them, and threatened to erase the entire city."

"It's only after hearing his voice, that I've noticed the mess I had created."

It wasn't too difficult for the former Queen of the lamia to understand that the person her daughter was referring to was Orion.

"But it was far too late. I attacked with my entire fury, creating a dangerous situation for everyone. All I could do was acknowledge my lapse of judgment, and defend everyone with my life at stake."

Deveralna pushed her mother away gently, and looked outside.

"The result is this destroyed landscape, and this broken city."

The shock created by the explosion did damage the walls and the residences to some extent, but no life was lost. This was a detail Deveralna was unaware off.

"Listen to what I'm going to say carefully."

With a stern expression, Palarvina stared at her daughter. Not as a former ruler, but as her mother.

"You've made a mistake, and no one will ever ignore that. But it was to be expected."

"I told you before. Taking the power of a Remnant was too early for you."

Slithering toward the bed, Palarvina sat, before tapping next to her for Deveralna to sit down.

With a pained expression, she sat next to her mother. Palarvina nodded, before continuing.

"You had barely a month to adjust to this new power. If it were anyone else with less conviction, they wouldn't have been able to improve as much as you did."

"Let's not forget that we are talking about the power of our creator. It is a power that can, and will, destroy the world without carefully maintaining a tight command over it."

Deveralna couldn't do anything apart from nodding. This was the reality of her life now.

"But..."

Her face relaxed.

"As your mother, I couldn't be more proud of what you've done."

Placing her left hand over Deveralna's right hand, she smiled.

"It wasn't only me, but everyone in Lahro."

-

After Deveralna fell unconscious, the lamias standing behind her hurriedly rushed to their fallen Queen.

"The Queen has lost consciousness! Everyone, hurry!"

A lamia that was knowledgeable in health-care practices picked up Deveralna, and rushed inside the city walls, followed by the entirety of the city's inhabitants.

They all followed behind the woman, who constantly monitored her health all the way to the castle.

While they were all exhausted after using magic for the first time, the wellbeing of their Queen took precedence over their own.

Just seeing her burnt tail and arms was a deep concern for them. As they approached the palace, they handed over the Queen to the guards, who took her inside.

Deveralna was brought inside her room, where she was administered medicine and had her burns treated.

-

"They are all waiting at the entrance, worried about you."

Glistening pearls appeared at the corner of Deveralna's eyes.

"I... I had no idea. But why?"

Palarvina wiped the tears from her daughter's eyes, and answered.

"Why are they looking at you in such profound esteem? Because even though your mistake could've erased their life, they've seen you for what you truly are."

"A ruler that will put her life on the line to protect them. Someone who works to protect the pride of our faction, better than I could ever do."

A tinge of shame appeared on the former Queen's face, knowing that her choices not to rebel only made it harder for the lamia.

Only her daughter broke the chains of this unending horror.

"After all of that, do you think you are not worthy of the title?"

"..."

Hesitating, Deveralna thought for a moment, before giving her answer.

"I still think I am an immature ruler. There are many matters I need to learn before being worthy of it."

The answer satisfied her mother, which nodded in agreement.

"Yet, if everyone else thinks that I can sit on the throne, I will not shy away from their hopes."

Deveralna stood up, and hurriedly slithered out of her room after blasting the two doors open, scaring the poor guards standing still outside.

"Ah... Sorry."

Apologizing to the ladies who had let go of their spears in terror, she continued past them with an apologetic smile.

'Children grow up so fast...'

Palarvina thought back on the birth of her daughter. The cute and tiny lamia that she swore to protect with everything she had.

'Now, she's walking her own path.'

...

Deveralna traveled through the entire palace, and arrived at the entrance.

"Queen Deveralna?! Are you alright?"

The guards standing inside the palace stared at her with concern.

"As you can see, I am fine. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"No! It is fine!"

While one of them panicked, the other teared up.

"Could you open the doors? I would like to thank everyone."

The two straightened, and abruptly returned to their duty.

"Yes!"

They pulled on two chains with ease, opening the large doors leading outside. The two guards standing outside noticed the sound of the chains, and straightened.

As the doors opened, the citizens held their breath, until the shape of their Queens appeared at the top of the stairs.

Many began to shed tears of happiness, while some shouted at the top of their lungs the name of their Queen.

Seeing her subjects jump in joy at her mere sight, she opened her mouth slightly. The sight of her people cheering for her, crying for her, and calling for her, was a breathtaking sight.

This image became engraved in her brain, as she opened her mouth.

"I-"

Deveralna became the true ruler of the lamias at that moment, imprinting in her the pride of her lineage, and what it meant to shoulder the responsibility of countless lives.

As she made her speech to her people, the links between her and everyone strengthened.