“Well, that could have gone better.” Reya sighed as she surveyed the damage of Joshua’s latest stunt.

Several charred corpses were strewn about the room, all of whom had been pointing their weapons at the paladin only a moment before.

It had been over in an instant. As soon as Laina had ordered Joshua’s execution, a palpable heat had entered the room, melting the weapons of the guards while simultaneously lighting them on fire.

Laina had tried to help out, but the moment she took a step, her leg caught on fire. It was probably only by the grace of the starlord that it was put out when she scrambled back. And indeed, her thoughts were confirmed when Judgment’s message named Starlord Alexstasia Bloodcrown as the judge, jury, and executioner for that support ticker.

‘When the hell did Joshua have time to meet a Starlord, much less the Starlord of Flames, famous for her hatred of incompetence and humans…’

‘Well, I guess he doesn’t have to worry about the first one.’ Reya sighed, walking past Joshua as she did so.

Reya didn’t bother to ask him about how he’d met the Starlord, or what exactly had transpired between them. Not now, at least. She’d get some answers from him one way or another. That, she could be sure of.

Queen Laina might as well have killed herself, seeing as how her aggression towards the winner of the war game would be viewed.

Her detractors would use this as even more ammunition against her, and her supporters would be stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to justify her actions.

There was so much political bullshit that a government system could handle before it couldn’t handle any more.

Finally reaching the Queen, Reya looked down at Laina Secela. She had tears coming from her eyes, and she was clutching at her burned limb. Looking back at the shivering figure of Viina, Reya reaffirmed that she felt no pity for the Secela matriarch.

“Joshua, why don’t you go take care of Viina. You two have some unfinished business, right?”

Reya didn’t wait for his reply before picking Laina up by the bicep. “As for you, you still have a few documents to sign while you’re still in office.”

They began walking out, but Laina started screaming and crying in an attempt to claw her way back to Joshua. “Annoying bitch.” Reya muttered as she pulled out her discombobulator, knocking the queen out with one tap of the trigger.

She picked the woman up with the aid of her power armor, and began walking out of the throne room.

Reya looked left down the hallway, and then to the right. A good five seconds went by before the crown princess sighed. “Which way was her office, again?”

---

Leading a woman around her own house was always an awkward experience, and doubly so when she was fully naked, crying, and had several bleeding lashes on her.

I had X steer us clear of any workers, and they wouldn’t be privy to the information about the Queen, and would definitely place the blame on me for Viina’s current state of affairs.

When we finally arrived at her room, the first thing that struck me was the pitch-black door, standing out horribly against the crimson walls of the palace.

“How did you know where my room was?” She asked. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but she had normalized her breathing.

“...Judgment.” I muttered after X confirmed that we were alone. I opened the door and allowed her to walk in, while I waited outside.

“Color me surprised, Master.” X said playfully, coming into existence behind me. “I half expected you to throw yourself at her defenseless body.”

I ignored her, too absorbed in my own thoughts. She sighed, and her tone instantly became more serious and hardened. “Still thinking about what the Starlord said?”

I nodded. I still can’t wrap my head around what the Starlords are in relation to the system. Did they arrive with Judgment, or were they the ones who put it in place?

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X shook her head. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, I think we’ll be one step closer to figuring it out after we integrate the next Judgment.”

I took a deep breath. There was a lot of shit to do after we got back to the Metron Kingdom, but installing the Prime definitely took priority.

There was a loud crash from inside Viina’s room, and X poked her head through the front of the massive door, sinking right in to the slab of metal.

She pulled it back out, and turned to me, asking, “So, are you gonna go in and check on her?”

“No.” I said, taking a seat on the floor. “She needs time. She’s just been verbally and physically abused by her mother, who never really liked her. Unfortunately, Viina always held out hope that she did.”

X looked back at me with a raised brow. “It always hurts more when you expect something of an abusive parent.” I muttered, running my hair through my hands.

She looked at me, but said nothing. Sure enough, a few moments later, the sound of crying came from behind Viina’s door.

I let out a long breath, and decided to wait out the crying. Three, check on Reya for me. Let me know if they’re talking about anything I should know about.

The short haired woman, clad in her baggy clothing and facemask, appeared beside me. “As you wish, Master.”

She disappeared, eliciting a small spark from my Judgment Panel. “Hey, why don’t you ever give me any tasks to do on my own?”

Un appeared in Three’s place, arms folded and a frown on his face. I opened my mouth to respond, but X answered in my place.

“It’s because you have all the poise and grace of a gorilla, Un. You wouldn’t know how to handle something of importance because you’d be too busy trying to find a ‘fun’ way for you to do it.”

The program opened his mouth, then closed it instantly. His eyes narrowed as he muttered, “Fine, you have a point. Well, bodyguarding our Master it is then.”

A hollow mechanical sound reverberated in my ears, and Un looked angrily at me. “Shut up Cin. I do not owe you anything for winning that bet.”

Another sound followed by Un rolling his eyes. He disappeared in the next moment, leaving X and I alone for a brief moment.

“X, I-” I started, but that was when the door to Viina’s room opened, making me fall backwards through it.

I looked up to see Viina, who had changed into a black, ankle length dress. She wore a scarlet choker, and tied her hair up into a bun with a red ribbon. However, I noticed that she didn’t bother to replace the makeup that she had on the first time we had met.

Probaby for the best that she didn’t put any makeup on. She’s probably gonna cry some more before the day is done.

X rolled her eyes. “How awfully realistic of you. So, Princess Viina, feeling like leaving then, I presume?” X addressed the princess, who’s eyes darted from me to the Judgment program.

“I want to see my father.” She said, matter of factly. “You have his program with you, right? I want to talk to him.”

“That’s…” X started, clearly unsure of how to tell Viina that we hadn’t touched her father’s program, let alone repaired it.

Fortunately, that’s what I was for. “You can’t see him.” I said, causing both women to turn to me.

“What do you mean, I can’t see him!?” Viina growled, straddling my body and putting both hands on my neck. Of course, with Un’s reinforcement, it didn’t hurt one bit. That being said…

“Listen, Viina. I know I’m into some shit, but this isn’t one of them.” When she saw that her strength wasn’t having any effect on me, she crumpled onto my chest, and began to cry again.

God damn it. Is this shit even worth it? On top of dealing with the fallout of the war game, I have to deal with the emotional baggage of a woman I’ve only known about for a month as well?

‘Of course it is worth it. The fact that she was chosen to participate in the Trials at all means that she has the qualifications of a King. You should foster that talent as one of your subordinates, instead of casting her aside and letting her wallow in her own despair. Besides…’

X trailed off, looking down at Viina crying onto my armor. Besides… what? I asked, prompting X to shoot me a devilish smile.

‘Besides, if you leave her and she does come out of depression on her own, who do you think will be the target of her anger?’

Fuck.

‘Precisely. She’ll be driven to get revenge on the one who promised her everything, then didn’t pay up when the time came. Plus, she knows of some of your powers, so she’d make an enemy that even you couldn’t take lightly.’

Y’know, I feel like you’re thinking about this as a worst case scenario.

X looked down on me, and raised an eyebrow. I physically sighed, and put a tentative hand on Viina’s head, gingerly patting her.

You’re right. Worst case scenarios are what I should come to expect from this godforesaken world.

Suddenly, an idea came to me. I sat up, shifting the lithe form of Viina into my lap. “So, I know this may be a bad time,” I started, wiping the tears from her cheeks with a gloved finger, “but how much do you know about Starlords?”

Viina shook her head. “Just the things that the religious fanatics want us to believe.” She took a deep breath.

“To be honest, I’ve never had a keen interest in them myselves, but you may be able to get some information from the royal library. Why?”

“Why indeed.” I responded, rubbing my temples. “Y’know, that’s a long story, Viina. One I can tell you on the way back to our base.”