He helped her to her feet and then released her hand.

"By the way..." he said in a tone that became casual again. "We’ve been talking for a good while now and I still don’t know your name."

The queen laughed as it hit her.

"That’s right," she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye with her other hand. "How rude of me."

And then she looked at him with a smile.

"My name is Emilia."

"Pleased to meet you, Emilia," he responded, returning her smile.

Then his expression changed and while the smile remained, something behind his expression hardened.

"But first let me warn you of something," said Mark, looking directly at her. "I will do whatever is necessary to achieve my objectives."

Emilia listened attentively.

"Whatever it takes... and depending on how things develop, the methods I use may not be pretty or elegant," warned Mark in a tone that left no room for interpretation. "If you’re not willing to accept that, you’d better tell me now, before what’s about to happen."

The queen fell silent, but she never looked away or hesitated.

"The only thing I desire is to preserve this kingdom," she said in a firm voice. "It was the only thing my father left behind... and it’s the last thing that remains of him in this world."

She paused.

"So whatever you do to achieve it, there will be no reproach from me."

"Perfect," responded Mark, letting out a sigh of relief. "In that case we’ll start immediately."

"...What?" she said with an expression of disbelief. "Right now?"

"Yeah," responded Mark calmly. "Is there a problem with that?"

"N-no, it’s not that, but..." Emilia stopped for a moment to organize her thoughts. "Before we do anything, we should first take care of the castle guards, since they’re all in cahoots with the council."

The queen began to elaborate an improvised course of action.

"Then we would have to dissolve or eliminate all the council members somehow," she continued, raising her fingers as she enumerated. "And then we would have to communicate to the inhabitants of the kingdom what’s happening so that—"

"You don’t have to worry about any of that," Mark interrupted, dismissing the matter.

"Huh?" she said with her mouth slightly open.

"I’ll take care of it," he continued with absolute confidence. "You’ll have control of your kingdom before dusk."

Emilia looked at him as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.

"Are you telling me you can reverse a coup d’état that’s been consolidating for centuries in just a few hours?"

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?"

"N-no, not at all, but... how?" asked Emilia, standing up from her chair. "The castle guards are over five hundred. The council members have their own private forces. And the elves of the elite castes are highly trained warriors who in terms of power are at a completely different—"

Emilia didn’t finish speaking when Mark interrupted her.

"How much longer until everything is ready, Yuki?" he asked, looking behind the queen.

"You should hear the signal any moment now, Master," responded a voice that came from nowhere.

Emilia froze upon hearing a third voice behind her.

And then Yuki became visible. Appearing right behind the chair where Emilia had been sitting, less than a meter from the queen, with her usual neutral expression.

The queen turned so fast she almost tripped over her own dress.

"How long has she been there?!" asked Emilia with her eyes completely wide open in surprise, looking incredulously at Yuki.

"Since the beginning," responded the assassin calmly.

Emilia turned her head toward Mark only to see him wink at her.

"It never hurts to be cautious," he said with a playful smile.

Emilia opened her mouth to say something, probably to complain that she had had an invisible assassin within a meter of her back the entire conversation without knowing it, but she didn’t have time.

Because at that same moment an explosion rocked the palace, making the ground tremble beneath their feet and the walls vibrate. Some of the books from the shelves in the room fell to the ground and the crystal pitcher on the table tipped over, spilling the remaining water onto the floor.

Emilia stumbled to one side and had to grab the back of one of the chairs to avoid falling.

"What was that?!" she screamed, looking at the walls as if expecting them to collapse.

For their part, Yuki and Mark remained completely calm despite everything that was happening, showing not a hint of concern despite the palace’s violent tremor.

"I suppose that’s the signal," said Mark calmly. "The truth is it was faster than I expected."

"That’s because most of the targets were gathered in the same place," responded Yuki. "Saving us the trouble of hunting them down one by one."

Emilia looked at them with an expression of total bewilderment.

And then the door to the room burst open. The three elves rushed in, weapons drawn and expressions of alarm on their faces.

"Your Majesty!" screamed the armored elf with his sword in hand. "We must leave immediately! Someone is attacking the palace!"

"There are explosions in the east wing and the lower floors!" added the bow elf with her bow already drawn and an arrow nocked.

"The castle guards are falling one after another!" said the druid from the doorway with his staff raised.

Upon entering, the three saw Yuki standing next to the queen and, noticing that she had visible daggers at her waist, all three elves went on alert instantly.

"What is she doing here?!" screamed the armored elf, raising his sword toward Yuki. "How did she get in?!"

"Get away from the queen!" added the bow elf, pointing her arrow directly at Yuki.

Yuki looked at them without moving.

"Stop immediately," ordered Emilia, raising a hand toward her subordinates. "She is on our side."

The three elves looked at her without lowering their weapons.

"On our side?" repeated the armored elf with disbelief. "Your Majesty, the palace is being attacked and—!"

"They are on our side," repeated Emilia in a firmer tone.

Mark took a step forward.

"It’s true," he said, walking toward the door as Yuki followed him. "And don’t worry about the commotion out there... It’s all part of the plan."

The three elves watched them both pass between them without stopping, heading directly toward the hallway.

"What do you mean by that?" asked the druid with a frown.

Mark stopped in the doorway and turned his head slightly toward the others.

"Follow me and you’ll find out."