Upon waking up the next day, Valindra was still in the infirmary, and there were dead bodies all around her.
The doctors were cleaning up the corpses because they couldn't put them into the casket while they were covered in blood.
And as everybody was focused on their work, Valindra sneaked out of the infirmary and headed to her room.
There were some maids in the hallway, so she would always have to hide herself, and after sneaking around for a while, she finally managed to make it to her room.
Inside was the maid that Valindra had previously ordered to tell the three princes that she was dead, and the maid was cleaning the room with redness around her eyes.
She kept crying throughout the night because even though Valindra sacrificed herself, nothing changed, and the only thing that had happened was that almost all of the emperor's children died.
The maid loved serving Valindra as her personal maid because, unlike the other royal elves, Valindra never mistreated the servants, and she would always secretly give her deserts that the maid loved.
Their relationship wasn't that of master and servant but more like that of an older sister and a younger sister or two best friends.
So, the maid was grief-stricken when she heard that Valindra wasn't acting but was actually dead.
The maid was kneeling on the ground while packing up Valindra's clothes.
The room would either remain empty or be given to a child once the emperor had another one.
Suddenly, the maid felt someone tap her shoulder, and she thought that it was one of her maid friends that were coming to help her, so she slowly turned around.
"Hey Bella."
"…"
Looking behind her, Bella saw a girl with silver hair who was supposed to be dead. This made her speechless and she had her mouth open in shock.
"...V- V- Valindra?"
"Yes, it's me, Valindra."
Valindra nodded with a smile because there were only a handful of people that she enjoyed spending time with in the palace, and Bella was one of them.
"Valindra! I missed you so much!"
Jumping at her and hugging her, Bella began sobbing, but Valindra pushed her away because she was in a rush.
"That can wait, Bella, but I need my spear. Where is it?"
"Ah yes. There, in that black box."
Bella wiped her tears and pointed at a long black box in the corner of the room.
Valindra walked to it and opened it.
There was her spear, which she had received as a birthday gift from her teacher, Raeran.
It had the perfect length and a sharp blade.
Grabbing it with her hand, Valindra smiled and turned to look at the maid.
"Let's go, Bella."
"Go where, Valindra?"
"The throne room. Let's go meet my father."
---
Inside the throne room was Morrsath, who, after almost all of his children were killed, had to do some work.
This was very rare because he hadn't done any work since the day he became king.
He told the servants to shut everyone up and stop spreading information while he tried to calm the situation inside the palace.
After his children died, he had to pacify his wives, who started to hate him after they found out that he let their children kill each other.
He was now sitting on the throne while holding his head because he had a headache from all the thinking he had to do.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the reason for the massacre because the only survivor, Arun, decided to kill himself before he even said anything.
"Father."
Hearing someone call him, he raised his head.
There weren't many that would call him "father" because most of his children were dead and the only ones alive were incompetent losers.
All those that were smart or could fight were killed, so the only ones that survived were complete idiots that refused to leave their rooms now, in fear of being killed.
Looking ahead of him, he saw a beautiful female elf with silver hair who was holding a spear.
"What?"
An annoyed voice sounded from his mouth because he just wanted to go to bed with his wives and drink alcohol, not sit there and order people around, telling them what to do.
All of the servants and guards around the emperor also looked at the elf.
Raeran was among them, and he was surprised to see that Valindra was alive.
Everyone thought that she was dead, but all of the servants were now smiling with joy because she was the only person they didn't want to die.
She would always treat them very kindly and with respect, so they all came to like her because she was the only kind person in the royal family.
"I challenge you to a duel."
Assassinating Morrsath was not an option because if Valindra just killed him and took his throne by force, there might be some elves that would oppose her rule, and she would be forced to kill these innocent people.
She didn't have a problem with killing others, but she didn't want to just start murdering every innocent person who didn't agree with her because that would make her a tyrant just like Morrsath was.
So, she created a plan where he would be forced to accept her duel and everyone would agree with her becoming queen.
But there was also the problem that Morrsath's children would never agree to this because they just blindly followed their father, which is why she had made a plan to make them kill each other.
"Huh? A duel?"
Morrsath raised an eyebrow and then began laughing like he had just heard the funniest joke.
"Pffftt! HAHAHA! Who do you think you are? I am the emperor! Fuck your duel!"
"There is a rule in our Royal Rule Book that says that a ruler's child can challenge the ruler for his throne if the ruler is deemed incompetent by everyone around him."
Hearing Valindra's unamused tone, the emperor stopped laughing and frowned.
The Royal Rule Book was made by the first Elvish king, and the rules inside were sacred, even for the king or queen on the throne, so they had to abide by them at all costs.
"I make the rules, so if I say this rule doesn't exist, then it doesn't exist. So, no."
Still thinking that he could do anything he wanted as long as he was the king, Morrsath refused to give up.
"That is not how it works, father. The Royal Rule Book cannot be changed even by the ruling king."
But Valindra just shook her head.
"…"
Morrsath's face then turned ugly, and he started grinding his teeth.
"Fine! If you want to die and join your siblings, then have it your way! But it says that everyone has to agree to this duel, so let's hear what the others think!"
Hearing Morrsath agree, Valindra looked around the throne room at the servants, who were all sweating buckets because they were being thrown between two lions.
"Agree to the duel, and I promise you that I will repair this country and make it even better than it was in the past!"
Giving them a reason to step forward, Valindra shouted at everyone.
"Don't listen to her! Reject this duel immediately or I will kill all of your families!"
The servants wanted to believe Valindra, but they were also scared of Morrsath's threat because they didn't want to risk their families dying.
Valindra knew that she would never be able to win everyone over before, but now that the children who blindly supported their father were dead and his wives were angry at him, she stood a chance.
"I support the duel!"
Raeran was the first to step up because he was Valindra's teacher, and he knew just how strong she was. She even managed to defeat him, so there was no way she would lose to Morrsath.
Seeing their captain step up, all of the guards clenched their teeth and remembered how Valindra would always train with them with a smile that would brighten their day, so they took a step forward.
"I support the duel!"
"I support the duel!"
"I support the duel!"
Morrsath frowned when he saw all of his guards stepping up and agreeing with his daughter.
"You bastards! You will be the first to die after I kill her!"
He shouted at them, but they didn't budge because they chose to believe in Valindra.
"I support the duel..."
Bella, who was hiding behind Valindra, also stepped up and raised her small fist, trying her best not to tremble in fear before Morrsath.
When the other servants saw her, they also stepped up and started shouting.
Morrsath was becoming more and more furious, so he told a servant to bring his wives, hoping to hear their support.
When they arrived and were informed about the situation, they didn't hesitate for even a second.
Didn't hesitate to support Valindra, that is.
"I support the princess, and I hope you die, you fucking scum!"
"My Arun died because of you! So, I support the duel!"
"You think that you can fail to protect our children and get away with it? Fuck no! I support the duel!"
His wives knew that after Valindra became queen, they would lose their status, but because most of them were forced to be Morrsath's wives, they were happy to become commoners again and return to their families.
Morrsath looked around, and after not seeing a single person reject the duel, he maniacally grinned and stood up from his throne.
"Okay… I will remember your faces, and I swear that I will make you pay for rebelling against me! I will kill everyone here! Everyone!"
He shouted, but nobody reacted to his threats.
If he did kill everyone, though, the palace would fall apart because there would be no one to serve him or protect him, but he didn't think of that in his fit of rage.
Seeing them still supporting Valindra, Morrsath grabbed his sword that was tied to his waist and pulled it out of its scabbard.
SHING
It wasn't a sword that was meant for fighting because it was made out of gold and gems, so it only served as a decoration.
Morrsath never learned to fight because he found it worthless. Why learn to fight when he had guards with him everywhere he went?
Now that he was standing in front of Valindra, he couldn't stop the fear that was slowly taking over his body.
"You can still give up, and I promise to let you live!"
He shouted at her, but Valindra just expressionlessly looked at him.
"Do you know my name?"
She asked.
"Your name? Why would I know your name?"
Morrsath was stunned to hear her strange question.
"Do you know my mother's name then?"
Valindra didn't let his answer influence her expression and continued asking.
"No…?"
"Do you know my real father's name or my little brother's name?"
"…"
Not knowing what to say, Morrsath looked at her in confusion.
How could he know her name when he had never even helped name one of his children before?
And how could he know her mother's name when he forgot what even his wives' faces looked like if he didn't see them for a week?
Not to mention Valindra's dad and brother, whom he had never met.
"If you don't, then I will engrave their names into your body so that you will remember them forever."
"Wh-"
WHOOSH
Before he could open his mouth, Morrsath saw how Valindra disappeared and reappeared right next to him.
He then looked to his right and realized that his right hand, which was holding his sword, had been cut off.
"This is for my real father, Rodias, a kind man who would always help everyone in need without asking for anything in return and who was cut down when he tried to save my brother."
"ARRRRGHH!!! MY HAND!!! GUARDS, STOP HER IMMEDIATELY!!!"
Morrsath looked at his guards, but they kept standing like statues, and soon his other hand also flew off.
"This is for my little brother Perennar, who always talked about protecting me in the future with joy filling his eyes and who had his throat cut open as he screamed for his mom."
Morrsath wasn't used to feeling pain, and when he felt his arms get cut off, he immediately fainted.
SLASH
But Valindra's next strike woke him up again, and when he looked down, he saw his legs were cut off.
"This is for my mother, Tasha, who always placed her children's safety before hers and who had her head cut off as she cried while looking at me."
"Please… Just kill me already…"
Morrsath was feeling so much pain that he kept crying while begging Valindra to end his suffering.
So she bent down and whispered in his ear.
"I would love to torture you more, but you don't deserve to live for even a second longer, so let me send you to hell, and let's meet each other there when I die."
Valindra didn't know if hell existed, but after she had played with her brothers' feelings and orchestrated a mass murder, she knew that if it did, she would be heading straight to the deepest level, and Morrsath would be there, waiting for her.
She then got back up and raised her spear for the last time.
"This is for me, your daughter that you didn't even know you had, and the new queen of the Elvish continent, Valindra."
SLASH
The last clean strike cut Morrsath's head off, and all of his bloody body parts were lying in front of the throne.
CLING Cling cling...
When Valindra cut his head off, his golden crown also fell to the ground, and it rolled to her feet as if it were choosing her as its new owner.
So she picked it up and went towards the throne.
Sitting down and placing the bloodstained crown on her head, Valindra felt the warm blood of the previous king drip down on her face and color her silver hair red.
Everyone in the hall would forever remember her visage that she was showing them right now.
After slaughtering the tyrannical Morrsath, she sat down on the throne while still stained in his blood.
"LONG LIVE THE NEW QUEEN!"
"LONG LIVE HER MAJESTY, VALINDRA!"
All of the servants got on their knees and, while shouting, they bowed down to Valindra, who had a smile on her face because her plan to avenge her family by killing Morrsath and to obtain the crown was finally over.
Now she had to fix the country that Morrsath had brought to ruin, and gripping her bloodstained spear in her hand, she was not afraid to shed the blood of other wicked people like Morrsath to see her country prosper.