The Queen nodded, intrigued.
"Serious?... Did I spell something wrong?"
She looked at him with confusion, but a confusion that gradually terrified Dora.
She meant what she said, she wasn't making a joke or a proposition, she truly intended to make Dora and Candace a couple, for her own curiosity.
"You want me... to be with the dean?"
"... Um? So you heard? Why are you repeating it then? Yes, you're both about the same age, and I don't have children from two Avatars in my world, so that would be really great to have you make one, why did you think I wasn't serious?"
She seemed genuinely intrigued, which added weight to Dora's anxiety.
The Queen was an absolute entity in this world, she had lived longer than anything and was the only remnant of the ancient era.
She was the queen, a goddess in her own world, and Dora had just discovered a terrible consequence: she was no longer human in mind.
As Eryl had said in parallel, a human could not possess the powers of a God and Gloria showed it, she could no longer reason like a normal person.
"Imagine this, two Avatars, and even a Player! Imagine having all those species reunited in one single kingdom. Like this, even Candace will be useful, I also would like to add a Disaster in this, but these things are too unpredictable... not dangerous for me, but I would like to not have to kill them later... Oh but thinking about it, since you're precious and around this age, I could also give you my daughter, like this you will be even part of my bloodline! What a perfect son-in-law! I was bothered by this matter, no one fit her in this kingdom, but you will do just fine. It's decided, you will also marry my daughter, leave me the matter of the grandchildren, I expect the children from Candace to be weaker, but Solaria's genes are good... Maybe this Player too, since she's female. And with this, my world will be so much more interesting than this idiot Rhea will be jealous... Should I make Candace train everyone? It would be amusing if all my people were the strongest, but it would be a problem if the Player could brainwash her descendant... Maybe I should threaten her... No, I don't want to keep an eye on her every time, I won't train them then, only your descendant with my daughter, and for my son, if you could have a daughter with Candace or the Player it will be settled. This is perfect! The next century is already covered! I can't wait to live together under one roof"
She clapped with jubilation.
"Do you see me… as a breeding bull?"
"What a disgusting term! I was thinking of progenitor."
Dora didn't take his eyes off her, his gaze filled with distress.
About an hour later, the castle gates opened again.
The nobles, outside the vehicle, noticed Dora and rushed towards him.
"D-Dora? Are you okay? What happened?" Mercy asked hesitantly, noticing the young man's blank look.
"Did she threaten you? Did she blame you? Listen to this, she... I'll talk to her, I promise she will never hurt you, let me handle this." Solaria puffed out her chest.
Dora, looking depressed, sighed, alarming the nobles.
"Don't worry... She won't do anything to me anyway..."
"... Dammit, did she tell you about the Code?"
"Could you be less obvious, Princess? This is getting ridiculous." Freya shook her head.
They looked at each other angrily, until they noticed how depressed Dora was and ended up nodding towards Zuri, the last hope of getting him to react.
She twirled her fingers for a moment and tried to come up with a word.
"Ehm... Don't be so greedy for your knowledge?"
"... Wow." He placed his hands on his hips, while the others facepalmed.
Eryl walked towards them, leaving Moonra alone near the car.
"Yes, it's the face of someone who is devastated by the truth."
"... It was you."
"Hm? You mean I was the one who reported you? Well, my apologies, but it was inevitable."
He looked at her angrily, the others trembled, fearing the coming cataclysm, but the blow never came.
Dora sighed and walked towards the car.
"Hm? You're not going to get revenge on me? I'm the cause of your problems you know."
"Without this Code, I would have ripped those ears off, damn elf... But I will get revenge in another way."
He stopped and turned towards Solaria who began to follow him.
"Your crazy mother wants to talk to you and your brother hiding over there."
"Huh? EEEEEH??? She what?!"
Solaria jumped in horror. She looked at Moonra and then at everyone, hoping to find an escape.
"... You... Did you say something about my knight?"
"Yes."
"... And what did she say?"
"Yesn't."
She looked at him with trembling lips and gritted her teeth before walking furiously towards the castle, followed by Moonra.
Dora got into the vehicle, Freya, Mercy, and Zuri sitting next to him and Eryl driving.
"Hm, should we go to Zuri's mansion? Or maybe you'll finally return being a..."
"Quiet." Dora interrupted the maid. "Keep driving until I've had enough."
Eryl looked at the rearview mirror, a smile on her face.
"Is that true? But what about Lady Mercy and Freya's opinion?"
"I'm the Queen's equal so you will do what I want, I don't want to hear you anymore. Drive."
Eryl laughed and started the vehicle. The three girls around him seemed uneasy, Eryl had warned them about Dora's future from that day on but they didn't expect to see that happen so soon.
He looked at the rearview mirror, from where he saw the maid's glances from time to time, so he snapped his finger and made a barrier appear behind her seat.
"There… at least she won't hear anything."
"... What did you need to do so she wouldn't hear anything?" Mercy slowly pulled away.
"I need to talk to you... There are so many things I don't understand..."
Freya and Mercy looked at each other for a moment, then the former asked.
"The Queen, did she say anything about... About you? Your true nature?"
"Yeah, she did... And it looks like we won't have to talk about it too much."
"Well... Yeah... I still can't understand... You're a Sin, and you'll become so strong... it's amazing." murmured Mercy.
"My senses did not deceive me, you are truly a rare element." Freya crossed her arms. "I won't say it again but you impressed me today... Now everything is different."
"No, it's not good."
They looked at him in confusion.
"Hm? What do you mean? Being strong is good, right? And you're... You're immortal... you should be happy..."
"Zuri, do you really believe all this? Look around you! Look at this elf in front of us!...it's a tragedy... This world is in the palm of seven... Five fools, how come GOOD?"
As they looked down, they were fully aware of the gravity of the situation. However, they also realized the significance of giving up when they were at a disadvantage. The reality of this world was a tragedy, a game played by powerful beings who could easily wipe out everything if they so desired. But what could mere mortals do to change it?
Zuri leaned towards him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"It's okay, I was scared until I found out you were one of them. You're not that scary, so I know you'll protect us if anything happens... And let's be honest, the worst you can do is ask to be paid without working. I know you, Dora."
She closed her eyes, Dora placed his hand on the girl's head and arranged her hair.
"Maybe I wouldn't hurt you, but what's inside me might. I'm a walking bomb to everyone, and until I find a way to remove it, I'll be as dangerous as the Queen."
"I don't care, I know you're going to beat him, you're mister solution, aren't you?"
Seeing this charming scene, Freya and Mercy seemed annoyed.
"Y-Yeah, I mean you beat Thomas, if anyone can overcome any situation it's you."
Mercy coughed.
"Indeed, you have shown impressive results, I do not doubt your abilities. But you still lack good manners and temperance, I will help you with this." Freya added.
"Stop licking my knight's boots, you dirty gold diggers! He's MINE."
Freya and Mercy laughed and continued to tease Zuri.
"I don't 'lick boots', I 'make my way'."
"He's not even a knight anymore, don't be so selfish."
They laughed happily, gradually forgetting their anxiety as they noticed Dora's expression.
"Hm? Are you mocking us?"
At Freya's insinuation, Dora realized the smile on his lips.
"Oh, sorry... I wasn't laughing."
He tried to suppress his smile but only succeeded in making the girls laugh.
The good atmosphere was back, the rest of the evening was filled with jokes between everyone, and for the first time, everyone laughed as one person.
Meanwhile, in the castle, Moonra and Solaria sat in front of the queen on chairs.
The Queen, with a glass of wine in her hand, sighed deeply.
"So, you're telling me there's a Sin in this academy and he's not your knight? Is that what you're telling me, Solaria?"
The walls were starting to shake. Moonra tried to make himself as small as possible while his sister bit her lip.
(Keep apologizing sister, at least she can't be more mad...)
"That's stupid..." Solaria replied, surprising her brother.
"Hmm? What did you say?"
The ground began to tremble in turn, and the garden, as if the victim of an earthquake, shook everywhere.
"Did you just call me stupid?"
"N-no, mother! She didn't! She was talking to herself! Tell her, Solaria!"
He looked at her with anguish, but his sister focused on the ground, seemed to be in her own world.
"Mother... I made a mistake... but you are the Queen! Why didn't you force him to become my knight? He was afraid of you! You could have done it there! Why let me take care of this? Do you know how tough he is?"
The tremors redoubled, causing Moonra to fall.
He looked desperately at his sister and realized that Gloria was right in front of her.
"Solaria, please apologize!"
The Queen leaned towards her daughter. She put a finger under her chin and slowly lifted it to look into her daughter's eyes.
"Are you criticizing my methods?
Moonra tried to scream, but his voice was stuck in his throat.
Solaria looked at her mother and, much to her surprise, her eyes were filled with anger.
"Mother... You knew he was an Avatar too, why did you let him know now?! He's your equal! How am I supposed to control him now that he knows? My veto doesn't mean anything now! You should have never told him... Or at least forced him to become mine!... Do you know how little he looked at me? How am I supposed to have him now?"
"That's another matter. If you had found it sooner it would have been yours, it's your fault for being careless."
"Aaah but you could have fixed that, Mother!!! You didn't need to make him your equal! He has more authority than me, how can I control him? HOW???"
She stood up abruptly, facing her mother. Moonra was shaking on the ground, in memory, it was the first time Solaria spoke up to her mother.
The latter, surprisingly, didn't seem bothered by this.
"Things are different now, there is an urge to fully awaken Greed, so I had to tell him the truth."
"But you could have forced him to..."
"Greed is still a human being, do you understand that? If you force a human to do what you want, it will only last until they have the power to fight back. I can't force him to love you, you must win him."
"... But what if he doesn't love me? I don't know anything about him!"
"Is that enough to discourage you?"
Solaria frowned, trembling with rage.
She clenched her fists and looked her mother straight in the eyes.
Gloria smiled and caressed her daughter's cheek.
"Good, no need to answer. As long as you have such hunger in your eyes, be sure that you will always get what you want. I'm proud of you, so don't disappoint me."