A week later, Ivy set off to the border with the army. She was going to meet up with General Joanna at the "widowed valley". Dea also sent Solis with her Just in case for protection.
Meanwhile, Anita was also sent to the border. Even though Oran tried to influence the queen to let Anita stay in Venus, nothing worked as the queen had already decided. Dea sent Caelum to deal with Anita.
A few days after her departure, Caelum assassinated her quietly. So, instead of her, Eliza sent the newly appointed 4th general Fiona. Who was loyal to the crown. She was also cousins with one of Eliza's concubines, Ivan.
Even though many did not know, the queen had a very sad past, especially when it came to love.
Her first love was Dea's mother, Ignis, who she met during her studies in "The Imperium Academy for Gifted". Later Ignis disappeared. A few years later, she met Ivy's father Monet, who had unknown origins, they fell in love, and he died during childbirth. When they met, Monet was already ill, suffering from fatal poison, but as he loved Eliza very much, he had a child for her, hiding his health issues. Later the queen took up the throne, and to stabilize the court, accepted a few concubines, together with Ivan and Oran, who she met during hunting.
One night, due to her grief, the drunk queen consummated a child with Ivan, and Rene was born. Rene was a reserved and kind person who did not participate in politics. Her relationship with both Queen and Ivy was pretty good but a bit distant.
Other than Rene, Ivy, and Dea, she also had three more children, who, unknown to the society, were not her real blood. Anita, as mentioned before, was Fidelia's child, there were also two royal princes Jonna and Johann. After Rene, the queen had no other children as she still loved her late husband, Monet.
When the queen first took over the throne, Libra country was in a very bad state. Corruption and illegal activities were everywhere. Late queen Samara was a tyrant who only indulged herself in drinking and her harem. After becoming the queen, Eliza had to fight lots of wars internally and externally. It took her six to seven years before she managed to bring the country peace and about 11 years before Libra became the 3rd greatest country in the Zodiac continent.
***
Three weeks passed after Scorpio Country invaded Libra. Both armies already met each other on the battlefield, and Ivy brought their first victory to the country, making a name for herself. With the war, no one remembered the deceased Princess Anita.
Aqua, Leonel, and Aries were also called back to their respective countries. As they had a pretty high social status, they could not stay in the Libra while it was in the war. Lucifer and Shiloh also came back a week ago and were now living in the crown princess palace. Dea was always busy, so they did not get much interaction and just continued their recovery.
Two months after the first battle, Venus City received the news that once more shocked the citizens. Scorpio's country's king was overthrown and killed together with his sister and mother, the previous king's concubine. Turns out, Prince Maat and Princess Anippe were alive, they gathered loyal subordinates and overthrew King Amir. New king Maat also called back the army and is now negotiating a peace with Libra country.
As a form of goodwill and sincerity, Maat informed the queen that Oran was a spy from Scorpio's previous king and even sent Oran's and Lale's letters as proof. He also gave up some of the border cities and sent other material gifts.
After confirming the validity of the letters, the queen convicted Oran of treason and sentenced him to death, but when the guard went to take him in custody, Oran was nowhere to be found.
***
In the streets of Venus City,
- "Ahh, have you heard the rumor?"
- "You mean how Scorpio's king was dethroned?"
- "No, that's already old news, I am talking about the concubine?"
- "You mean our queen's concubine?"
- "Yeah. They say he was a spy from Scorpio country together with that traitor Fidelia. They say Princess Anita was, in reality, general Fidelia's child, not the queen's."
- "You must be kidding?"
- "No, I heard it too." - The third person chided - "They say, when the guard went to detain him, he was nowhere to be found. Some say he was practicing some kind of demonic practice."
- "Hmm. I always thought he was weird. That princess too. What do you expect from a person with an unknown origin?"
It was human nature to hit people when they were down, after all, it's easy to judge someone from a comfortable distance. Oran often used public opinion to deal with other people, but now as he lurks the streets of Venus hiding under the cloak, he got to taste his own medicine firsthand.
Standing there, unable to do anything but hear as people talked all kinds of things about him. He just stood there his eyes glowing with coldness and hate, not understanding where it went all wrong. One moment he, with his daughter, was living a lavish life envied and praised by many, the next moment, he was like a rat lurking in the filthy streets.
He could not go back to the organization. Who knew better than him how these people dealt with those who failed? He could not go back to the palace either, now all he could do was run, but he was not reconciled with this outcome. He wanted revenge, he wanted to torture that bitch Dea.
'It's all because of that bitch, it's all her fault.'
As his mind was clouded with hate, he did not notice the shadow behind him, And in a second, he felt pain. It took Oran some time to understand what was going on. First, he felt pain in his chest, then he saw blood on his fingers, and as he looked down, still confused, he saw the tip of the dagger slicing his heart from behind. Blood was flowing like a river staining the streets as well as his clothes. His hate-filled eyes now had fear in them, and in that second as he fell, he understood there was no running from them.