Emilia remained seated in her chair for a long time without saying a single word. Her hands rested on her knees, gripping tightly at the fabric of her white dress.

"Then... did my parents die for nothing?" she finally murmured in a barely audible voice.

Mark didn’t know what to answer because there was nothing he could say to make those words hurt less.

But he tried anyway.

"I wouldn’t say that," he said in a calm tone.

Emilia lifted her gaze slightly.

"Thanks to the sacrifice of your parents and the other heroes, the Demon Lord had to take refuge in her dungeon."

"..."

"Three hundred years, Emilia," continued Mark, holding her gaze. "For three hundred years, no one has had to live under her threat. And although they didn’t manage to kill her, they did manage to stop her... what they did was not in vain."

She didn’t respond. She simply bit her lower lip, trying to contain herself, but tears eventually slid down her cheeks.

Emilia wept silently for a while with her eyes fixed on her own hands that continued to grip the fabric of her dress on her knees.

And after spending a few minutes in complete silence, Mark finally stood up from his chair. He walked the few steps that separated him from Emilia and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She trembled slightly upon feeling Mark’s hand on her skin but didn’t lift her head.

"I’m sorry, Emilia... I wish I could say something that would make this less painful," said Mark in a low voice. "I wish I could, but it wouldn’t be honest if I invented pretty words just to console you."

The queen remained silent for a few more seconds. And then she spoke.

"You have nothing to apologize for..." she said in a trembling voice that broke on the final syllables.

She lifted her head slightly, just enough for Mark to see her red-rimmed green eyes and the tears still falling.

"You’ve already helped me more than you should have," she continued, wiping a cheek with the back of her hand with little success because the tears kept coming. "Much more than you had any obligation to do."

"..."

"I just need a little time," she said, lowering her gaze again. "To think about everything you just told me."

Mark squeezed her shoulder once gently.

"I understand," he said in a sympathetic tone. "Try to use this time before the conference to clear your head a bit."

The queen nodded weakly.

"In the meantime, we’ll finish preparing what you and your subordinates need to say during the announcement," he continued.

"Okay..."

Mark withdrew his hand from her shoulder and turned toward the others, signaling them with his head toward the door.

Everyone obeyed immediately and began to leave the room. With Mark being the last to leave.

Mark stopped at the threshold and turned back to Emilia.

"See you in a bit," he said goodbye with a small smile.

The queen, still sitting in her chair with her hands on her knees and her head bowed, nodded once without looking up.

"Alright..."

After those words, Mark left the chamber and closed the door behind him. Leaving Emilia completely alone.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Only the distant murmur of the ocean remained, seeping in from outside, and Emilia’s trembling breathing, becoming increasingly difficult to contain.

Then, finally, she broke down.

Emilia covered her face with both hands and leaned forward in the chair as everything she was trying to hold back escaped all at once.

"No... no, no, no, no..." she murmured with her voice muffled between her fingers.

The tears that had fallen silently before were now accompanied by sobs that shook her shoulders.

"Why is this happening...?" she said, squeezing her eyes shut behind her hands. "Why...?"

Her mind went over Mark’s words again and again.

The Demon Lord is still alive. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Still alive.

Alive.

"If all of that is true..." murmured Emilia, her voice trembling, "then what happened when I was a child could happen again."

Then the images appeared in her mind before she could stop them.

The sky was covered in smoke while flames devoured the houses beyond the walls. Screams could be heard everywhere and soldiers were seen running back and forth; even the castle’s hallways were filled with bodies covered with sheets. The entire kingdom had sunk into fear and despair.

And, in the middle of all that chaos, were her parents.

Her father, crossing the castle’s doors with armor on and sword in hand. Her mother, walking at his side with a firm expression, hiding the fear she must have felt inside.

And her, being just a child, standing at the castle’s entrance, watching them move away without knowing that would be the last time she would see them.

The last thing her parents told her was that they would return soon.

But that never happened.

"Only this time..." continued Emilia, separating her hands from her face and looking at the tears covering her palms, "they’re no longer here."

Now there was no group of powerful heroes willing to sacrifice themselves, nor an army capable of facing the Demon Lord’s forces.

Much less was there an alliance between the races to fight a common enemy.

On the contrary.

Relations between them had never been as tense as they are today.

"If the Demon Lord decides to attack the capital again, just as she did today..." said Emilia, her eyes fixed on her wet hands.

Her voice faded.

"...My kingdom will be completely annihilated."

The weight of those words fell upon her with a force that made her feel the ground sinking beneath her chair.

The queen slowly lowered her hands and let them fall on her knees.

Although tears still ran down her cheeks, her breathing began to stabilize little by little.

Once more, silence enveloped the chamber.

Emilia raised her gaze toward the ocean that stretched beyond the window. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying. When suddenly an idea began to take shape in her mind.

And then she understood.

If there was anyone capable of confronting the Demon Lord, or at least someone with more chances of defeating her than anyone else, it was him.

A reincarnate.

Just like her father.

However, hope barely managed to ignite in her chest before a thought crushed it.

He would leave.

He would abandon the kingdom and follow his own path, just as he had told her.

"I can’t allow that..." murmured Emilia in a low voice as she clenched her fists. "I can’t let him go..."

If he left, she would be alone again.

Alone facing a kingdom she had barely recovered and still didn’t know how to govern; facing the threat of the Demon Lord, which was looming over the entire continent again; and, worst of all, with no one strong enough to protect her and her people if things went wrong.

He had to stay. There was no other option.

But it wasn’t enough to keep him there for a while. She needed to make him someone who couldn’t abandon the kingdom so easily; someone with ties deep enough to defend it when the Demon Lord returned.

Emilia remained looking at the ocean in silence.

Until finally she wiped the tears from her face with both hands. She straightened in her chair and took a deep breath.

"I’ll do whatever it takes..." she said in a low voice, looking toward the door.