Victoria tapped her fingers rhythmically on the wooden surface of her desk, her head propped up lazily on one arm. Before her lay a seemingly endless pile of paperwork, the sheer volume of it making her sigh in exasperation. Leaning back in her cushioned chair, she stretched her arms above her head, feeling the tension in her muscles. "There's still so much to doooo," she moaned, letting her arms fall limply to her sides as she slumped further into her seat.
Since yesterday, Victoria had been buried in responsibilities—sorting through documents, visiting families, and going over the damages left by the battles from two days ago. It was a relentless cycle, and it was wearing her down. "I hate to admit it, but that cow was actually a competent mayor," she muttered, her heterochromatic eyes flashing with irritation. "Not a single complaint from when she was in charge."
The comparison made her feel a sharp pang of inadequacy. "Ugh! It makes me feel incompetent in comparison!" she burst out, flailing her arms and legs in frustration, her movements childlike as she squirmed in her chair.
After Eirisse's death, the mind control she had over the town obviously broke, with the people remarking that it felt as if they had all been awoken from a dream, their memories foggy and blurred. Yet, despite this, not a single one of them—other than feeling violated by the mind control and having been treated like cattle—had any complaints about the town itself!
"Why did you have to be a good mayor, you damn cow!? Why couldn't you have been awful and not set the bar so high for me!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the empty office. In her frustration, she let her head fall onto the desk with a soft thud, her red-tipped pink hair spilling messily across the surface. Her fluffy hat slid off and landed unceremoniously on the floor, but she was too drained to care.
"I'm so exhausted from all this work that I haven't even had a chance to appreciate my new coin smithing machine," she mumbled into the desk, her tired eyes drifting to the window. Outside, the colossal shadow tree at the heart of Triston loomed large, its dark branches swaying gently in the wind. The sight usually brought her a sense of comfort, but today, it only made her long for a moment of rest. "Ahh, I just want to rest for a bit."
Suddenly, the doors to Victoria's office burst open, shattering the small semblance of tranquility she had managed to find. "Mayor Victoria! Mayor Victoria!" Kaden's voice rang out, filled with urgency, though he himself looked as impeccably fashionable as ever.
"Stop yelling as if you can't see me! I'm the first thing you see when you walk through that door!" Victoria snapped back, her irritation clear as she sat up straight, the annoyance in her voice palpable.
Kaden froze mid-step, immediately bowing his head and rubbing the back of it apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mayor Victoria. It's just that a major urgency has come up," he explained, his tone more measured now, though the urgency still lingered beneath the surface.
Victoria shot up from her chair, dramatically placing her hands on her desk as if preparing to dive into action. "Is the shadow tree having problems?" she asked, her heterochromatic eyes narrowing in concern.
Kaden quickly shook his head. "No, it's—"
"Do people not like the shadow tree?" she interrupted, her voice rising with each question.
Again, Kaden shook his head. "No, it's not that, it's—"
"Are tourists not coming to see the shadow tree?" she guessed, her frustration mounting with each incorrect assumption.
"No, the exact opposite, actually, but if you'd just let me—"
"Are people leaving Triston because of the shadow—" Victoria started again, only to be cut off this time by Kaden, who closed the distance between them in a single stride and smacked his hand against the desk with a sharp thud.
"Mayor Victoria, a Noble of Veridiania has arrived in Triston," he stated firmly, the urgency in his voice finally breaking through her string of wild guesses.
Victoria's eyes widened, her red and blue irises reflecting both surprise and concern as the weight of the situation settled over her.
In the center of town, in front of the towering shadow tree, stood a man clad in a suit of armor that seemed to meld both elegance and menace. The armor encased his entire body, leaving no inch of flesh exposed, not even his face. Instead of eyes, the helmet bore two glowing yellow orbs that pulsed faintly, giving him an eerie, otherworldly presence. The armor's design was noble and intricate, with delicate engravings that shimmered like circuitry, glowing with a soft blue light that pulsed rhythmically along the patterns etched into the metal.
The armor, despite its full coverage, had a lightweight appearance, with smooth, overlapping plates that moved seamlessly as he shifted his stance. The joints and limbs were reinforced with sleek, segmented structures that hinted at an advanced mechanism beneath, granting the suit both strength and agility without compromising its streamlined form. Every curve and edge of the armor spoke of masterful craftsmanship, balancing both practicality and aesthetic with a precision that bordered on art.
As the armored figure scanned the colossal shadow tree before him, his gaze was cold and clinical, the glowing yellow orbs flickering as they took in every detail. His voice emanated from the helmet with a mechanical distortion. "How intricate," he spat, his tone devoid of any warmth, reflecting a mixture of disdain and cold appraisal.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," a voice cut through the armored Noble's disdain. He turned his head sharply to the side, his glowing yellow orbs narrowing as he spotted Victoria standing a few paces away. Standing a few paces away was Victoria, her signature fluffy pink hat perched jauntily atop her head, a rubied ring glinting on her right ring finger. By her side, Kaden stood with his usual composed demeanor, though there was an edge of tension in his posture.
The Noble's gaze fixed on Victoria, his voice dripping with venom as he addressed her. "Mayor Victoria," he spat the title as if it were a curse, his contempt palpable. He turned fully to face her, the intricate blue circuits on his armor glowing brighter with the movement.
"I'll be quick," he continued, his tone cold and unforgiving. "Take down this tree, or die."