'I could have kept her around if she was willing to acknowledge that the tides have changed. But she doesn't. She wants to kill me. Why not give her a taste of her own medicine?'
'But then again, what if her death affects the system? What if I lose all the PPP?'
With this thought, an idea crossed Elio's mind. 'I can use all the points to buy things and then kill her after I'm...'
Another idea popped into his head before he could even finish the first one. Princess Mareen.
'If King Kard has been telling the truth, Mareen can be a replacement for Liza. If she really refused to be Gezen Kan's concubine because of the love she had for me, she's surely the perfect candidate.'
Queen Liza was still on the ground, lying on her back with her legs spread apart, naked, swords of Elio's knights on her neck.
Just one word from him and boom, she would be dead.
'I have to know the whereabouts of Princess Mareen first.'
Elio's knight was still staring at him with anticipation, waiting for a response for his question.
"No! We're not going to kill her. She's still useful. Lift her up."
Queen Liza got cocky. "I knew you still needed me. After all, without me, my people won't accept your rule. But you're wrong. If you have really killed my daughter, I won't help you. My people will know what an evil being you are. They will revolt and force you out of my city."
Elio couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Oh! God! How can you be so deluded? Do you really think people of this kingdom love you? For what? For the food you never gave them? For abandoning their friends and family outside the city walls to be slaughtered by the Blue Monsters?"
"They know my husband tried to attack the monsters and failed. They know he has died trying to conquer your kingdom for them. They have more than one reason to love me."
Elio didn't expect her to defend herself with such valid points. Nevertheless, he wasn't planning on having a debate with her.
"That remains to be seen. After I rescue my betrothed from your dungeon, I'll give you to your beloved people and tell them to do whatever they want with, on or to you. I'm eagerly waiting to see if they're going to treat you as nice as you claim."
Queen Liza's mouth twitched, but no words came out. Clearly, the mention of Elio's betrothed, Princess Mareen, shook her.
Despite the fact that Mareen's mom was from a poor family, her beauty caught King Kard's eye, but she rejected him because she was already married to another man.
This of course angered the King who couldn't understand why a woman would reject him in favor of a peasant man.
He sent soldiers to bring her to the palace. They caught her trying to escape the city with her husband and family members, killed all of them and took her to King Kard.
He locked her in a room and visited her every night until she got pregnant. From then on, King Kard treated her better than he treated Queen Liza because he believed she would give him a son.
Even when it came out to be a daughter, the man continued to treasure her. She was the only woman who dared to reject him. He found her defiance interesting.
When Mareen was 7 months old, they found her mother in the City Center.
No one believed the lie that she had jumped off a balcony. Because, if she wanted to take her own life, why did she wait until King Kard started treating her better than his own queen?
Even a fool could see that Queen Liza had had a hand in it.
Now Elio was about to replace her with a child she has always hated.
"Why are you quit? Realized you're not that important to me, huh?"
Queen Liza looked him in the eyes and said, "She is dead! I killed her many months ago."
*Slap!
"Don't play with me, bitch!"
"I'm not playing with you, Your…"
*Slap
"Where's she?"
"In the grave!"
*Slap!
"Wait! Wait! She's alive. Let me take you to the dungeon."
Elio looked at the Greek god and said, "Tell your men to clear the way. I don't want the people to see me yet."
"It's not in the public, Your Grace! The way there is in this room."
Elio raised his eyebrows.
"You knew where it was all along? Why didn't you tell me?"
"How else would you have shown her your might, Your Grace?" he replied, with his head bowed.
'Damn! This guy must be a comedian. That's a fine joke.'
"You're right. This bitch needed some crapping."
He turned to her.
"Lead the way… or don't! I'm still itching to slap you."
This wasn't just a threat. Growing up in a twisted society on Earth where only modern women could slap a man and get away with it because they were good at playing the victim card, a chance to slap a likeness of their kind felt like revenge for every man around the world.
Queen Liza put on her dress as Elio pulled his pants back up, then led the way to the dungeon. It was a door hidden behind a large painting on the right side of the huge room.
Not exactly a door. Bars would be more accurate. It was as if it was meant to keep monsters outside.
Elio could see a long corridor with stairs that ran deep underground, illuminated by torches on both its walls. This painted the entire corridor with a crimson hue, the depth of it making the entire scene creepy. Why would a king's bedroom be attached to place like this?
Queen Liza fetched a key that was the size of a dagger and opened the huge bar gate.
Elio followed her down the stairs. When he realized that his knights had followed, he turned around to stop them.
"You there, go back... and the ones behind you! I'll go with just one knight."
All his knights had followed, leaving King Kard's generals behind. How could they be so stupid? The guys could lock them inside and go mobilize their men to kill Elio's soldiers and then come back for him later.
'The life here seems too good. I ain't going to throw it away just like that.'
"I wouldn't advise that, Your Grace. There's a Blue down there."
'What?'
"A Blue as in Blue Monster?"
The Greek god nodded his head. "We captured it 3 years ago when we attacked them. We never saw it ever since the king ordered us to bring it down here."
Elio turned to Queen Liza with a questioning look. "Is it alive?"
She nodded her head.