The entire room went dead silent as the princess’ message finished. Venus Metron was no more, now nothing but a sacrificial lamb in a tomb of ice and wires.
“That’s harsh.” X whispered into my ear. “She was going to be your partner in crime for this upcoming war game. Perhaps you would find her kink and bed her regardless… all to maintain your image, of course. You definitely don’t enjoy it.”
I ignored the jabs coming from X, and looked over to view Lucina and Reya’s reaction to this news. Reya was stone-faced, an expected reaction given the verbal abuse she had received from most of her siblings during her time at the bottom of the rung in the competition for the throne.
On the other hand, Lucina looked defeated. Her mouth slightly open in shock, I saw her move her hand in a pattern every ten seconds, no doubt replaying the clip over and over again, slowly driving herself mad in doing so.
As the two eldest in the Metronian royal family, they had to have gotten along on some level, although to what degree was entirely unknown to me.
“The crown has decided to respect the last wishes of Venus, and thus, we will not be looking for her resting place-”
“That’s bullshit!” Lucina broke her silence in the loudest way possible. “After all she’s done for the country, and all she’s done for our international growth, you’ll just…”
Lucina trailed off, tears spilling down her cheeks with each word. Finally, she just fell silent, and dropped to her knees.
“Lucina, honey.” King Metron began to speak, and hearing his affection for Lucina as a father rather than as a king really rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. It was a different side of the man I knew as the logical and intelligent ruler.
It felt like a betrayal. Of all the things he and his wife had done, to me, and even to his own family, I didn’t like the thought of him humanizing himself in my eyes.
“Cool it.” X interrupted, cutting into my thoughts. “Before you go directing that anger anywhere. Everyone has the right to be a human. Being shitty doesn’t exempt you from that right.”
… What a shitty species we are. X laughed in my ears, the sound immediately dousing any of the anger I had earlier. “I agree, but yet what an entertaining species you are!”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
I breathed out, letting the last vestiges of my frustration slip away as I turned my attention back to the conversation.
“...saying that it isn’t fatal? How?” Lucina looked up at her father from the ground. God damn designer babies. Even Lucina’s scene of despair looked like a portrait to me.
X teased me again, but this time I kept my focus on the two. “Precisely. Our veterans who have been exposed to the brain jackers in the past have confirmed that more than one cannot enter a host at a time. By taking them all into her Judgment Panel, she is actually causing a pseudo-state of chronic stasis.”
“How long can she stay like that though? If all the programs are trying to control her at once, she won’t be able to do anything at all? How long until she dies of starvation or thirst?”
The king placed his head in one hand and sighed. “The meds give her a week, tops. Which is why I was hoping the Paladin could make his return swiftly, take care of what he needs to, and quickly go rescue Princess Venus from-”
“Do I get any say in this?” I interrupted, causing the both of them to turn my way. Part of me realized that they forgot that I was even in the room with all the tension in the air.
“What are you talking about?” The King instantly frowned. “In what conceivable way is it not worth it to make the trip to save the Princess ?”
I shrugged. “My father always told me that if you do something well, don’t do it for free.”
King Metron grew red in the face, and opened his mouth to say something, but Lucina stepped in front of him and put a hand up. “Joshua, Venus is family. You might not have a relationship with her properly, but she is my sister.”
I looked at her with pity. I wanted to help her, but there was something I needed to secure for the sake of the floating city X and I had been building, and this was the perfect time to acquire it.
I steeled my resolve and shook my head. “As much as I love you, I need a guarantee. I will be able to attain any one thing within the city as my own, provided that it isn’t illegal to own.”
“You…!” King Metron was at an apparent loss for words, but once again, Lucina was quick to step up for him.
“You have my word, and by proxy, the word of the crown.” Lucina’s symbol of authority pulsed over her head, with the Judgment system taking her words as a pact.
“What are you doing!?” King Metron stood up, but he was seated quickly by Raiden’s hand on his shoulder.
“Dad, now’s not the time. We can talk about all of this after we get Venus back safely. For now, just let the Paladin go.”
I wasn’t exactly sure why Raiden was taking my side here, but I didn’t bother to question it. Like he himself had said, there was plenty of time to reflect on things after this meeting.
I made to leave the room, and noticed Lucina’s gaze on me as I strode out. I quickly sent her a message asking her to meet me in my room in the palace. We had some stuff to iron out, and I had to inform her about my plans. She was right about one thing back in the Primal Kingdom: I needed to tell her about what I was up to, and come clean about all the Judgments. It was time to finally set up my fifth Judgment, and get some answers from the Starlords.