Servants weren't allowed to take even a single step into the passageway that led towards even the usual teleportation circle, not to mention the one linked to the highest platform high within the branches of the Sacred Tree.
"...?"
As Lina passed the first circle, she was confused as to why its keeper, a mahogany-skinned elven man, sent her a particularly hateful glare.
The holly-skinned woman could not, for her life, figure out what she could have done to earn such treatment.
Well, she did have a couple of ideas, but all were just baseless assumptions, and she didn't want to believe that there was even a single member of the royal family was actually on the cedar-red-skinned monarch's side.
Just because they both had red-adjacent skin meant nothing.
"...!"
But as Lina continued to move and made her way to the special teleportation circle, an answer presented itself to her.
"Took your time, didn't you?"
The cedar-red-skinned monarch in person emerged from the behind the Sacred Tree's root and called out to the holly-skinned woman whose blood run cold at the sight of him.
The monarch wasn't alone…
"No, no. Don't dread. You committed no sin. I found myself a little something to occupy the time till your arrival."
As he assured Lina with his benevolent smile, his left arm was laid across the shoulders of a cherry-wood-skinned elvenkin woman with eyes of a dead fish.
"...!"
Lina couldn't even muster a proper response.
The cherry-wood-skinned woman's robe was disheveled and torn in some places, her expression vacant as tears streamed down her face freely. The cedar-red-skinned monarch was basically dragging her along as she could barely limp her way. And once the two of them stopped in front of Lina, the monarch pulled the woman he held closer and unceremoniously grabbed her breast, causing her to flinch and squirm in silent despair as he started to fondle and play with it without any restraint.
*plop*
"!!!"
In the horrified silence, Lina could hear a drop of liquid drip down right between the cherry-wood-skinned woman's feet.
Too viscous and cloudy to be her tears…
…because a tear it was not…
"..."
The wave of nausea and fear hit Lina so hard that she swayed like a drunk who had one too many shots, feeling that she was about to faint.
But she couldn't say a thing - she wasn't given permission to.
But she couldn't back off and run or hide - no member of the royal family could walk away from the monarch once they were called out to.
"After today's breakfast, I was thinking that Jun's runt was rather cute. Those frail features and ears longer than his shoulders just stir up something within me. That's why I decided to go ahead and make another one. This one will not have to worry about the shade of their skin… Hope it will be a girl~"
"!!!"
The cedar-red-skinned monarch followed Lina's line of sight and chuckled, holding the cherry-skinned woman even closer and then placing his other hand on her stomach, sliding his fingers down in an obnoxious manner as his captive's eyes and chin trembled powerlessly.
*plop* *plop* *plop*
"Uh-oh~ Silly girl, spilling so much… If you want to receive more of my attention, you just have to ask~"
Because of the monarch's action, more of the liquid dripped between the cherry-wood-skinned woman's feet, spreading around the smell of chestnut flowers…
"...hfghhgfh…!"
...one whiff of which caused Lina to vomit - she tried to hold it back with both hands, but that only resulted in bile spilling out through her nose and fingers as she leaned forward.
"Tsk. Don't act like a child. You're free to go. Just make yourself presentable beforehand. I don't even know how you expect me to want to recreate the skin shade of your father with you... presenting yourself in such a disgraceful manner..."
It seems that the sight put off the cedar-red-skinned monarch as he clicked his tongue and shook his head at the holly-skinned woman, turning away and dragging the silently sobbing cherry-wood-skinned woman with him.
"No one is to follow or walk in on us."
He added offhandedly with a look of annoyance in his cold eyes.
"..."
*thump*
Staring at the monarch's back, Lina's legs gave out, and she plopped down to the ground, barely keeping her conscious.
What she prayed for to be the worst nightmarish scenario that the cedar-red-skinned monarch had in store for her ended up being confirmed in such a casual way as if the monarch really couldn't see the error of his ways.
"...it's your fault…"
"...!"
While Lina was trembling, succumbing into despair, she ended up being approached by the mahogany-skinned elvenkin man, and his words brought her back.
"...!?"
She stared at him in disbelief, her chin trembling as tears mixed with the specks of bile, unable to comprehend how such an accusation could have been thrown her way.
"...the only time His Majesty would show up here is to use the teleportation circle… It was the safest place for a woman to stay… but you… you just had to get His Majesty's attention…!"
"!!!"
The man gritted his teeth and sobbed while helping the horrified woman to stand back up to her feet.
"I… I… It wasn't on purpose… Do you think I would…!?"
"..."
The holly-skinned woman muttered in pure terror, trying to make eye contact with the mahogany-skinned man, but he looked away, taking out a handkerchief and handing it to her so she could clean her face.
"You…! You're talking as if neither of you two were there during breakfast! Why wasn't she sent away?! Are both of you that stupid!? Why didn't she hide before His Majesty arrived?! What, did your ears grow into your termites-filled brains and couldn't figure out something that simple?!"
"...that's rich coming from someone sharing a mother with a deformed retard…"
Met with such an unjust accusation, Lina desperately countered it, causing the mahogany-skinned elvenkin man to grit his teeth and clench his fists, scoffing back while glaring at her with disgust.
…by far, the most torturous thing that the cedar-red-skinned monarch ever did was not restrict access to information from the outside world to the members of the royal family…
Sooner or later, all of them learned how abhorrent and unnatural the monarch's practices were, how evil and repugnant he was, and in what kind of hell they were trapped.
"S… op…! Pl…se…"
The exchange of hateful words might have ended up turning into an act of violence… if not for the heartbreaking cry coming from behind the root where the cedar-red-skinned monarch dragged the cherry-wood-skinned woman.
"!!!"
"...hh-hggghnf…!"
The mahogany-skinned man lowered his head and almost bit through his lips, with the monarch's ability stopping him from even turning in the direction of the sound, while Lina dry-heaved slouching so much her head ended up lower than her waist.
Why… just why couldn't any of the representatives of the noble families from across Opaliteia be there at the time…
What sort of rotten luck allowed for such abhorrent events to occur, with elvenkin outside the royal family being none the wiser…?
It was almost as if the Opalitte family had been cursed...
No matter where the truth lay, Lina had the festival to attend.
As much as she wished to present herself as an absolute mess in hopes of sparking even the most minuscule inkling of suspicion, she was forced to fix her appearance before she stepped into the teleportation circle.
"..."
"..."
The two elvenkin stared at each other with disdain before the mahogany-skinned guardian poured mana into the teleportation circle and sent the holly-skinned woman through.