The World needs to start over again.
While she said those words with a smile, her words were so cold that one could feel a chill run down their spine.
"But I lacked the heart to destroy it. So I sealed myself. And the soul you know as the Queen took over. Then, about ten years ago, she was working in a cake shop when the King saw her"...
"Mesmerised by her beauty, he became obsessed. He forced her into a marriage. She never wanted him, not as king, not as man. But how does one refuse the ruler of one of the Seven Great Kingdoms who commands a legion of knights absolutely loyal to him?"
As she said those parts, her eyes shifted towards him. There was a dark, sinister glint within them.
Just like she said, all the knight orders are loyal to the crown from the moment they are formed. It was not just in Solaris but everywhere, a creed written in the rules of blade.
If the king wanted, he could simply order a knight to kill her or, worse, drag her to his bedchamber. The knight wouldn’t even be able to reject his orders, as he is bound by duty.
Reinhardt didn’t say anything; his silence was his acknowledgement. This was the hard, cold truth.
Minerva continued, "Desperate, she started using my power. She might have relented to marrying him, but she had no intention of sleeping with him. And so, she started showing him dreams, illusions of nights that never happened. As far as the King knew, he had ’claimed’ her. But dreams are pale imitations. And my power, borrowed in scraps, had limits".
"You should already be aware of the natural disposition of my body and how irresistible it is to any man. Not too long ago, the King decided to take what he believed was already his. He devised a plan to drug her. Forced into a corner, she woke me up from my slumber. And so..."
At this moment, her eyes glowed with a demonic brilliance.
"And so, I answered her call. As payment for her suffering... I put the entire kingdom to sleep."
Silence crashed down, heavy and suffocating. Reinhardt finally understood what caused the Queen to change so much.
"Now then, I told you everything. It’s time for you to decide whose side you are on. To whom does your loyalty lie?"
Rule No. 2 of the Knights’ Code of Conduct: Loyalty to crown and country, even in silence, even in exile. The oath that binds every knight of this world. It was the same for Reinhardt.
That said, the latter didn’t need time. The answer was already inside him, solid as steel.The Queen, too, was the Crown. A sovereign whom everyone, even the peasants and common folk, revered.
He had seen her work tirelessly for the nation, make numerous reforms for the poor, the commoner, and the slaves. Go against the council to entertain his selfish demands and protect the innocents.
Reinhardt was convinced that she was an existence the kingdom could not do without.
"My loyalty," he said, meeting her gaze without wavering, "lies with you."
If he still wanted Solaris to be a nation that he could be proud of, her existence was absolutely necessary.
BADUMP~ The moment she heard those words, the Queen’s lips parted. Warmth that she had never felt in her life before spread through her body, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. W
hat was this? He chose her despite his moral code and everything she revealed? It was just for a moment, but her composure, which had never faltered since the start, wavered a little.
Reinhardt, who wore a mask of seriousness all this time, changed his expression once again. A divine light flickered deep within his eyes.
The oath was never the problem, but the duty he was bestowed with. The current Reinhardt was not just a knight but a being who had become the embodiment of light and divinity. Even if he wanted to, he could not tolerate evil. Not in any form, not in any soul. Even hers.
Reinhardt raised his palm, and a light so pure that even the shadows reeled back in fear appeared. The light quickly took the form of a scale.
"Unique Skill [Judgement Scale]."
The moment the scale appeared, golden stigmata appeared on the Queen’s body, freezing and locking her in place.
"A skill that judges the evil, huh?" The Queen did not resist and let herself be captured by the golden stigmata. Her soft gaze continued to stare at the Divine Paladin with the same tenderness.
Reinhardt nodded, hiding his feelings behind a mask of indifference. "It is my duty."
Four simple words. If it were any other time, he would not even bat an eye to say it. However, right now, he had to use an abnormal amount of willpower and energy just to say them.
"Then be it. If the Judgement demands my death, then I am willing to accept it. If it is your hand that ends me." She smiled, painfully beautiful.
While feeling as if a lead was stuck in his throat, Reinhardt activated the skill without flinching.
A radiant circle of gold and obsidian unfolded behind him, spinning slowly like a cosmic scale. It was not merely a skill; it was a verdict, the divine instrument to weigh a soul.
The divine stigmata on Minerva glowed. Everything that she was, entered the scale: memories, sins, kindnesses, cruelties, sacrifices, destruction she could bring, destruction she refused to bring. Everything. Her entire existence lay bare.
Then, the scale started moving. It rocked forward and then back. Tipped right and then left, and so on and so forth until finally, it steadied.
The scale froze perfectly in the middle. Not leaning toward light, nor sinking towards darkness.
The verdict was... balanced.
Reinhardt felt like a huge burden was removed from his shoulders. Even though it was his duty, it was still difficult for him.
Thankfully, she was not evil, corrupt or tainted. Just... both. Both calamity and salvation. Both demon and human. Both doom and hope.