In the hours that followed Emilia’s conference, the elven capital went from the tense calm of a people who had just witnessed a coup d’état to absolute chaos that expanded with each passing minute.

The population was in total uncertainty.

The elves who had heard the speech didn’t know what to think.

The dissolution of the council was already difficult to digest on its own, but the presentation of a human as the queen’s husband and new ruler of the kingdom was what finally broke any appearance of stability.

After the conference, rumors spread throughout the capital before the sun finished setting.

Some screamed that the queen had lost her mind, while others insisted that a human had her under a mind control spell.

There were also those who accused Emilia of being the one who orchestrated the coup d’état and, in the chaos, it wasn’t long before the rumor spread that the kingdom was being invaded from within.

Even voices could be heard saying that Emilia had sold the entire kingdom in exchange for power.

Each rumor was more absurd than the previous one, but in a situation where no one had clear information and fear filled the gaps, people always tended to believe what sounded most terrifying.

For their part, the noble houses of the different elven castes didn’t take long to react.

Messengers began arriving at the palace one after another, each with a sealed letter bearing their house’s emblem. All came demanding answers, not only about what happened with the council, but also about the identity of that human and what his presence meant for the kingdom’s future.

The queen and her loyal subjects, for now, had managed to buy time by excusing themselves saying that all doubts would be resolved the next day.

But that only generated more frustration.

Some messengers refused to leave without answers and had to be escorted out of the palace by the few guards who remained loyal to Emilia.

And if things outside the palace were chaos, inside they were the same or worse.

"Please forgive me..."

Emilia was kneeling in front of Mark, clinging to his legs with both hands while looking directly at him.

Her green eyes were wet and full of a plea, as if she truly feared he might abandon her. She remained at his feet, holding him tightly, unwilling to let go.

"I know I have no excuse for what I did..." she continued, her voice trembling slightly.

"..."

"I know I put you in a horrible situation," she said, gripping the fabric of Mark’s pants more tightly. "I know that perfectly. And if you’re angry with me, you have every right to be, but please... don’t leave me."

Mark stood in front of the window, his back to the queen, while around the room his subordinates observed the scene with expressions that made their opinion on all of this quite clear.

None of them were happy.

He rubbed his eyes while his mind went over how they had ended up there.

’Everything was going so well just a few hours ago...’ he thought without stopping rubbing his eyelids. ’And now I’m right in the eye of the hurricane.’

Because what Emilia had done didn’t just put him in the crosshairs, but his entire group as well.

Now every elf in the capital knew there was a group of humans running the kingdom. Disturbances were beginning to spread throughout the city, and distrust toward Mark grew with each passing moment.

Moreover, any faction that wanted to destabilize the new government now had the perfect pretext to do so, and not to mention it was only a matter of time before the news spread beyond the capital.

Mark lowered his hand from his face and let out a long sigh.

"Master, it’s not too late to choose the other option," said Rose, breaking the silence.

"Rose is right, Master," continued Aria, crossing her arms. "If we’re going to have everyone against us in the end anyway, wouldn’t it be simpler to just kill them all?"

Mark remained silent for a moment.

"No" he finally said. "The situation got out of control, but if we handle it well, we can still turn this to our advantage."

"Turn this to our advantage?" repeated Rose, raising an eyebrow. "How?"

"I don’t know yet," admitted Mark. "But killing them all isn’t the answer... at least not for now."

"So what should we do first, my lord?" asked Alice.

Mark sat in the chair next to him and, for the first time in a while, his tone sounded firm again.

"The first thing is to stabilize the kingdom as soon as possible," he answered, leaning back in the chair. "What happened today left people scared, and if we don’t act fast, this place is going to end up falling apart."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" asked Rose with a frown. "We don’t know this kingdom or its people. We also don’t know how its politics work, its economy, or the relationship between its castes."

"That’s true..." admitted Mark as his gaze lowered toward Emilia, who remained kneeling on the ground. "But fortunately we know people who do understand how this kingdom works."

Everyone looked at the queen in confusion.

"Are you referring to her?" asked Aria incredulously. "But she’s been out of kingdom affairs for who knows how long."

Mark shook his head.

"I’m referring to her subordinates," said Mark.

Then he stood up from the chair and swept his gaze across his subordinates.

"That’s why I want you to work with them. Use everything they know and prepare a course of action before dawn," explained Mark, looking at his subordinates one by one. "We need to decide as soon as possible how we’re going to handle this situation moving forward. Understood?"

"Yes, Master!" they all said in unison.

Mark’s subordinates began to leave the chamber one after another.

Ely was the last to reach the door, but before leaving she stopped and looked once more at Emilia, who remained kneeling on the ground.

"Master, what do you plan to do with her?" she asked, looking at Emilia with curiosity.

Mark fell silent for a moment, not taking his eyes off the queen kneeling in front of him.

"Don’t worry about that... I’ll take care of her."