Queen Of Adis

"I would like to offer my assistance by becoming His Majesty's concubine. I can assure you that a lamia gets pregnant easily and I can give the royal family an heir."

A total silence enveloped the entire grand hall. No one dared to breathe loudly, afraid that the Dark King would hear it and be killed instantly. Everyone backed away from the couple, and if they could, they would run away and hide from the King's wrath that will explode at any moment.

The wise noblemen scowled and whispered at the presumptuous lamia as if she didn't deserve to be there despite her noble status.

"Shameless creature! How could she say that to the King and Queen of Umbra?

"Someone call Count Mifsud! Better yet, someone haul her rotten a.s.s from this place before she implicate us."

"Ah, it's too late! The Dark King will flip out!"

"Everyone in the three realms knew how crazy His Majesty about his Queen. What kind of hellhole she came from that she's not aware of such a thing?"

The place suddenly became silent again as the candle lights flickered ominously. The guests saw Adis' eyes narrowed and they trembled in fear. The churchmen whispered their prayers.

Then, out of nowhere, a panicked voice came. "Your Majesty, King Adis, please calm your anger." Count Mifsud hurriedly slithered together with his wife. They immediately begged on the floor. "Please forgive this lowly subordinate's daughter. As her father, I failed to discipline her properly. I will make sure this will not happen again."

The Count's wife was crying and trembling at the same time, totally worried about the life of her only daughter.

Adis finally spoke while clenching his teeth. "So you know that you're just a lowly subordinate, yet your daughter dared to insult my Queen? If I don't send your impudent daughter to Gehenna, then this King's anger won't be satiated."

Loud gasps of horror from the onlookers echoed throughout the hall upon hearing the King's words.

Zen and Aquarius walked towards the couple and nodded, showing their support to Adis' decision.

Countess Mifsud cried hysterically and hugged her daughter while pleading for mercy. "Nooo!" She shrieked when the royal knights approached them to dragged Anais away. The Countess looked at Haru and crawled towards her. "Your Majesty, I implore you to have mercy on my child. She's still young. Please help us!"

Count Mifsud followed his wife and also begged to the Queen when he realized that King Adis was unrelenting to their pleas. "Queen Haru, I will do anything. Please forgive my child!"

"Take them all back to Umbra and throw that foolish girl to Gehenna," Adis gnashed his orders to the royal knight.

"Wait!"

Haru finally reacted for being silent in a while. No one knew whether her silence was due to the shock of the confession or just simply observing the situation.

Haru touched Adis' arm softly and whispered something to his ears. After a while, Adis sighed helplessly. He took her hand and gave her palm a lingering kiss. Afterward, he stepped back and gave the floor to his wife.

"Count Mifsud, do you understand the severity of your daughter's action?" Haru asked calmly.

The Count nodded vigorously. "Yes, Your Majesty. I am truly sorry--"

"If you do, then you also understand why His Majesty has to decree such extreme punishment, am I correct?

Count Mifsud's body trembled, " Y-yes, Your Majesty."

In Trium Regum, offending the Royal Family was punishable by death, even more so in Umbra. Citizens of the darkness only follow the most powerful leader, and King Adis was known as the most powerful and ruthless ruler in the entire realms. Because of this, he was able to reign over the vicious demons and monsters of Umbra for centuries. If the King would show compassion in front of everyone, news of it would definitely reach the world below and the citizens of darkness might assume that the 'Powerful and Ruthless King' was all just a facade, resulting in the balance of Umbra to be unsteady. A war for power between demons and monsters might happen afterward.

All noble leaders of Umbra knew that, including Count Mifsud.

Count Mifsud knew it too well, yet he was asking for mercy. He couldn't help it as Anais was his only child. She may be spoiled and look cunning due to her strong aura and sharp eyes, but he knew in his heart that she was just a good and innocent child. In reality, he was a loyal subject of the King Adis, but at the end of the day, he was also just a father wanting to protect his daughter.

"You knew the consequences, yet you're still asking for forgiveness? I never knew that you are this cruel." Haru whispered her last statement then continued, "Very well then. I shall help the King to pass on the judgment."

The Count was lost for words. He closed his eyes helplessly and await the punishment. If his daughter will be sent to Gehenna, as her father, he shall accompany her in hell.

Meanwhile, Anais seemed not repentant at all. If anything, she looked confused as though what she said and did was right.

"Father, what's going on? Did Anais say something wrong? The Queen's duty is to give birth to an heir, is it not? I also heard that giving birth to the heir of Umbra is very dangerous to a human. However, Anais is one of the strongest sorceresses in Umbra. I will face that danger on behalf of the Queen." Anais declared with eyes filled with reverence for the Queen.

Everyone's attention shifted to her and their eyes grew wide in astonishment. So that's what she meant when she offered herself to the King. It's for the sole purpose of being close to Her Majesty

The Countess cried even more. No one knew of Anais' strong admiration for the Queen but her parents. They watched their own child pushed herself beyond her limit just to be an exceptional sorceress, hoping that one day she could be of use to Queen Haru.

Anais was always bullied and misunderstood by others since she was a child. Only the Queen showed great compassion towards her aside from her family.

Haru may no longer remember it, but a year ago, when Anais got lost in Lumine alone, humans cursed and threw stones at her. Some men even dragged her at the dark alley and attempted to r**e her, but Haru stepped in and helped her. From then on, Anais trained hard to become strong. Her goal had always been to be close again to the only friend she ever had.

Count Mifsud finally answered him in a tired voice. "Anais, my child, your heart may be in the right... but that doesn't make you right. However, I promise you that you will not be alone in hell." The old lamia's voice broke as he smiled sadly.

Upon hearing it, Anais bawled her eyes out. All the things she did to be recognized by her Queen was all for naught. She won't have a chance to serve her even once. She won't have the chance to share her burden. And most importantly, all of this mess meant that she hurt her friend. Anais' heart broke, and it could be heard by the way she cried.

Haru cleared her throat and pretended to be unaffected by the scene in front of her. Then, she finally decreed, "Count Mifsud, your house has offended the Royal Family, therefore, I hereby sentence your entire family... for a lifetime of servitude."

The Count and Countess snapped their heads up to look at her in disbelief. Their eyes gaped open as they held their emotions. They finally understood what's going on.

"Count Mifsud shall report all his business transactions to the Dark Palace and must give 25% of your household income every month as dividend to show your sincerity to the Royal Family. In addition, you shall surrender the ownership of your gold mine as well as your oil field. Lastly, your daughter, Anais Mifsud, will be sold to the Dark Palace and shall serve as the Queen's personal maid forevermore."

All the guests gasped at the sentence. For nobles like them, money is everything. Just the 25% loss of profit every month was already too much, so surrendering the ownership of their lucrative business was as cruel as the capital punishment.

But not for the House of Mifsud, after all, the Count and his family were a righteous and loyal servant of King Adis. To them, there's nothing more honorable than a lifetime of servitude to the King and Queen of Umbra. And the Mifsud couple understood that the punishment was meant to protect them. If the Royal Family would demand all their businesses to be surrendered, they would gladly do so. But instead of celebrating, they continued their sullen act to be less conspicuous.

"This lowly servant accepts the punishment. T-thank you for your benevolence." The Count wept while kowtowing repeatedly in front of Haru and the three Kings. His wife did the same.

Anais, just like her parents, kept crying uncontrollably. She couldn't believe it. She could finally be with Haru again.

To everyone's eyes, it was tears of despair, but to the Mifsud family, it was tears of happiness.