RLQ - Chapter 3
Chapter 3: She is Like a Demon
In that instant, the Queen quickly disappeared behind the protection of shields and armor.
Heinrich's expression shifted in the firelight, regret and a faint sense of relief alternating. Finally, he lowered his gun with a complicated look.
People from the other families finally arrived: "What happened?"
"Dalton betrayed us, and the Queen escaped."
Heinrich answered concisely.
Curses and insults erupted from the crowd, and a cloud of displeasure and tension hung over everyone's faces. Things were slipping out of control.
"It's a pity I couldn't see it with my own eyes," Dalton said cheerfully as he escorted her into the Day Palace. "Their expressions must have been priceless."
"They will try their best to salvage the situation, Sir," Adele reminded him.
"Therefore, I need you to work hard one more time." Dalton gentlemanly opened the door for the Queen. "You don't mind writing a document immediately, do you, Your Majesty?"
The document Dalton requested the Queen draft was the appointment letter for the Marshal of the Empire.
In the appointment letter, Dalton was granted the power "to independently form and hire troops in times of necessary crisis to defend the safety of the Queen and the Roland Empire." This power would give Dalton's mercenaries a legitimate reason to participate in the war, preventing him from being branded a "traitor."
"My Head Maid is safe, isn't she?" Adele looked up at Dalton as she wrote fluently.
Dalton leaned over the table, resting one hand on it, watching the Queen write. Her skin was so fair it seemed to reflect the candlelight, and a pearl-inlaid chain made her wrist bone appear even more slender. But the words written by the quill she held were not as delicate as those of a typical lady—the strokes of the elegant italics were sharp.
"Yes, you will see her soon," Dalton promised.
Only then did Adele sign her name and affix the seal symbolizing her and the Empire.
"Then, I need to rest," Adele issued the order for him to leave.
"Sweet dreams."
Dalton withdrew gracefully, even closing the door for the Queen.
—As expected, she heard the sound of the door being locked from the outside.
In small matters, Dalton did not break his word.
A few days later, the Queen saw her Head Maid. Upon seeing her mistress again, Madam Kelly knelt before the Queen, repeatedly kissing her hand, almost unable to speak.
Adele reached out and pulled her up: "My dear, why are you more haggard than me, the unfortunate one who is imprisoned?"
Madam Kelly's eyes turned red, filled with grief and indignation. Adele was the most tolerant and just monarch she had ever seen in her life—in this era of tyrannical and debauched kings, she worked day and night to gradually put a precarious empire back on track. But what reward did she receive?
Slanderous rumors, malicious murder attempts, despicable betrayal...
—All because she was a woman!
Seeing her Head Maid, who always wore a stern face reminding her of etiquette, with red-rimmed eyes, Adele kissed her cheek.
"Good things and bad things always come hand in hand, Kelly," Adele said. "Don't be sad, how are things outside?"
"They are at a stalemate." Madam Kelly's loyalty was comparable to any knight's. During the time she couldn't see the Queen, she still found ways to gather information for her. "The mercenaries can only land at one port—the rebels have blockaded most ports, and they are also gathering troops. But you don't need to worry, Mr. Dalton's military command ability is outstanding, and we can hold out until the mercenaries arrive."
"That's not what I'm worried about," Adele shook her head.
She pulled open the dressing table and took out a simple map, spreading it out.
Who would have thought that a Queen would carry a map instead of jewels?
"Our neighboring countries are all wolves," Adele said. "With the Empire fighting itself in its heart, they must be jumping with joy. Once Dalton's mercenaries and the nobles' knights are both severely weakened, they will bare their fangs and tear Roland into pieces."
Her pale fingertips slid across the map, pointing out several restless countries for Madam Kelly to see.
In her memory, after her death, these countries took advantage of Roland's succession dispute to invade on a large scale. At that time, the nobles schemed against each other, and the Old God Sect and New God Sect engaged in bloody massacres... Thirty years of chaos began, the Empire was precarious, and the world became like hell.
"This turmoil cannot trigger further war," Adele straightened up. "We must shake hands and make peace with the rebels."
"You want to forgive a group of thugs who tried to murder you?!" Madam Kelly jumped up from the ground in shock.
"They couldn't kill me before, and they won't be able to afterward," Adele's tone became stern. "However, if I lose my people, I will have absolutely nothing."
In June 1557, a sudden drought caused unrest, and Adele was busy dealing with it. Other countries took the opportunity to spread propaganda that "a woman ruling goes against God's will and brings disaster," which gave the nobles and the Church the chance to launch a coup. In this coup, she was originally supposed to lose everything.
"But, but..." Madam Kelly couldn't find a reason to oppose the Queen, and finally could only say, "If Mr. Dalton finds out, he will kill you!"
—Everyone knew that man's cold cruelty.
"Natural disasters, man-made calamities, how much longer can our people endure the ravages of war?" Adele's voice softened. "It is Dalton who is irreconcilably opposed to the nobles, not the Empire."
The light from the branched chandelier fell on her resolute face. Madam Kelly slowly knelt down and placed her hands on her knees. Those kings, those enemies, they all compared her to Salome who killed the prophet, saying her beauty was sin and desire. But in Madam Kelly's eyes, if the Virgin Mary truly existed on earth, there would be no other choice but her mistress.
"Who do you want to contact?" she said. "Give me a letter, and even if my head is cut off, I will deliver it to that person."
"Heinrich." The Queen mentioned the name, her tone chillingly calm. "Someone will deliver the letter for me, but it will never be you."
Before Madam Kelly could speak again, the Queen placed a finger on her lips.
"Don't let me lose the last person I can trust, Kelly," she said.
The Day Palace was built high into the clouds, its lush gardens and orchards making it seem like a fairy tale. Aside from the towers with gilded weather vanes, the Day Palace also had an exquisite royal chapel, half-hidden among the abundant roses. Dalton had no intention of openly breaking ties with the Queen, so Adele, under house arrest, still had some "freedom."
The Queen knelt in the confessional.
She had changed into a black dress, her praying figure as thin as if cut from paper.
The Archbishop sitting behind the small window was expressionless.
He could be said to be the youngest Archbishop in the entire Roland Empire. Even before graduating from the seminary, professors predicted that he would go further on the spiritual path than anyone else. Despite this, people found it difficult to get close to him—handsome, yet too serious. Beneath his eagle-wing-like brow bones were steel-blue eyes, his lips always drawn into a straight line, his gaze sharp enough to cut into people's hearts and see through all hidden things.
He was more like a judge than a savior.
This was why Dalton didn't mind the Queen performing her religious duties—
The Archbishop of the Day Palace Royal Chapel was a devout follower of the Old God Sect.
"I confess my sins to God... I am the daughter of two kings, the Queen of Roland, and I should be responsible for the fate of this country. All the misfortunes, all the suffering it has endured, are my fault..."
The woman's voice echoed in the quiet confessional, becoming faintly ethereal due to the room's special acoustic structure.
The Archbishop sat indifferently, saying nothing.
People confess to priests to receive forgiveness from them and thus gain salvation. However, Adele Roland would never receive forgiveness from him. She was a woman who deserved to go to hell, she was a New God Sect follower—and she had openly declared that "all faiths are the same, merely asking for God's forgiveness in different ways."
These were heretical words, an unforgivable sin.
"...Every exiled Rolandian, every Rolandian who died from hunger or war... I shall bear their suffering..."
Adele's voice gradually faded.
Just as the Archbishop was about to silently recite scripture to ignore her, the Queen's voice suddenly disappeared completely, followed by a low thud.
He instinctively looked up through the window.
—The Queen had fainted on the cold stone floor, her chest barely rising and falling.
With just one glance, he immediately stood up.
To be an Archbishop in the Empire, one must have a certain political acumen in addition to piety. The Archbishop instantly thought of the disaster that would befall him, the Old God Sect, and the current situation if the Queen were to die here. This heretic who deserved to go to hell!
His face turned ashen as he quickly walked out of the secret room and approached the Queen.
The black dress made the Queen's face appear even paler. Her forehead was cold, her breathing so shallow that the Archbishop could barely feel it... Was Dalton so foolish as to mistreat his trump card? Although, if given the chance, the Archbishop would be happy to personally send the heretic Queen to the stake, but definitely not now.
The Queen had no maid with her, and the castle physician couldn't be summoned immediately. The Archbishop had no choice but to personally unbutton the Queen's upper garment to allow her to breathe as easily as possible. Just as he lowered his head to search for smelling salts inside his robe, Adele, who should have been unconscious, suddenly opened her eyes.
She raised her hands, wrapped her arms around the Archbishop's neck, and pulled with sudden force.
Before the Archbishop could understand what was happening, he was pulled down to the ground, and the person who had been unconscious flipped over and lay on top of him.
A soft, fragrant net enveloped him, and silken hair fell onto his face.
"What are you doing, heretic!" His voice was like stone, cold and hard.
Yet his pupils reflected the Virgin Mary, reflected the demoness Lilith.
Adele propped up half of her body, letting her dress slide down. Her upper body was almost bare, and the light falling from the single small hole in the dome enveloped her, gilding her from the tips of her hair over her face, her shoulders, her chest... Her curves were cast in shadow and golden light. All who witnessed this scene should prostrate themselves—for this sacred, licentious, glorious, eternal beauty.
At this moment, even a stone-hearted ascetic should bow down at her feet.
Adele's palm pressed against the chest of the devout Archbishop. The accelerated heartbeat beneath his monastic robe told her that she had won the initial stage of this war.
Dalton allowed her to move freely within the castle because he thought she had no soldiers.
But she had forged herself into the sharpest, most deadly blade. Her beauty would cut open her enemies' chests and sever their throats for her.
"I want you to save me," Adele said. "Not for me, but for Roland, for all the brothers and sisters who should not be killing each other."
Her voice echoed within the quiet room, like a divine decree, like a devil's whisper.
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