She pinched the woman's chin with her long nails, forcing a grimace. "Do you know what I hate most?" She left the question lingering, making everyone in the room focus on her, watching for the smallest flicker of emotion on her face.
"I hate when I try to grow a heart, to offer someone a chance to change, but they refuse to come clean. it feels like a waste of my time." She patted the stunned woman's face, her expression unreadable.
The room was filled with confusion; no one understood what she meant.
"How many children have you sired?" The woman was caught off guard and could only answer dumbly.
"I have seven." Elora nodded to herself, muttering, "It seems you've bared enough." Her words only deepened the confusion in the room.
"Stretch her head forward," Elora commanded the guard with her normal soothing tone; nothing could be gleaned from her request.
"I want all of you to witness what happens to those who lie and waste my precious time." After saying those words, she summoned her scythe. A green hue formed in her hands before a red scythe solidified in her hands.
Before the woman could comprehend her actions, Elora swung the weapon in a swift precise motion, severing the woman's head cleanly.
Blood gushed from the neck, and the room filled with gasps of shock. Some of them felt their heart grow cold under her sudden, brutal action. No one was prepared for her unpredictable actions.
"Clean up the body. And bring me her dimension bag." She left those words in the same tone of voice and climbed up the stairs.
Her back was to them, they couldn't see her pale face or beads of sweat forming on her brows. Wielding her scythe had drained more power than she let on.
She sat calmly, as if nothing was amiss, and rested on the handle of the throne chair to catch her breath.
She glanced at everyone, and they bowed their head immediately after meeting her gaze. It seems they all got the message.
The butler, who had not left noticed this but didn't show any reaction; instead, he felt gratified at the queen's growth.
He cast a heating spell on her food; a deep orange glow covered the food, heating it instantly.
Elora glanced at him, liking his tactfulness. She picked up her spoon and continued eating. She motioned her fingers for the next person to come forward.
The throne room was tense, all of them put on a serious expression, discarding their careless ones.
The second person called out, shivering, and her hand trembled as she walked forward; her former wait-and-see emotions were now filled with dread, not wanting to be the next dead person.
She did well to say everything truthfully without addition or subtractions. Elora listened as she ate. The process went this way as all of them gave an account of the revenue and population growth of their city.
Elora glanced at three women; if Rose was here, she would recognize them.
"Lord Worthsword, Lord Silverado, and Lord Armsfield. Wait behind. The rest you're dismissed."
They bowed and left quickly like there was a hunting beast after them.
The throne room was quiet as everybody left. Only the guard and butler remained.
Elora came down from the throne; she paced around them, assessing each woman. They were responsible for managing the kingdom's resources- gold, mana stones, and iron.
Two women broke out in cold sweat only one of them stood calmly without a trace of fear on her face.
Elora focused her mind on that quiet woman's thoughts and was disappointed at what she found. (Who does the queen think she's intimidating with her little display of power? Does she think the House of Armsfield is as weak as the other dead lords? With Her Highness Rose's backing, I have nothing to fear.) Elora finished listening to her thoughts, firm in her mind to replace her with someone else.
(I hope she doesn't find out that I'm both working for Her Highness Rose and Her Highness Sharon. My son, why did you drag our house into this mess? Was marrying you to that princess a mistake? If I had known the queen would change so drastically, I would have married you to her.) So there's another princess in play here. She wrote the Lord of Silverado in her black book of death.
She stopped in front of the last one. Her thoughts were filled with fear: (Your Majesty, have mercy! I was forced into this; I can't put my family in harm's way. So I had to do this. I regret ever having a territory with a vein of mana stones. It never brought any good to me.)
The woman felt in her heart that the queen had discovered her betrayal and was planning how to keep her family unpunished.
"Lord Worthsword, do you have anything to say? Speak." Elora finally broke the silence. She gave the woman her last chance to come clean.
Her betrayal of the queen merits all her family having their magic chamber destroyed and exiled from the kingdom- a fate that would leave them powerless and destitute in a foreign land.
The woman immediately knelt on the ground, bowing deeply before the queen, "Please, punish only me! My family is innocent. I was forced to commit treason against your queen. I gave out funds and mana stones to Her Highness Rose. Please, you Majesty, have mercy." She pleaded and banged her head on the ground, hoping her earnest pleas would touch the queen's heart.
"Do either of you plead guilty?" The other woman hesitated before answering, "No your Majesty. I'm loyal to the court."
The other woman shook her head, too proud to say anything else.
"Good. Good. marvelous." She broke into laughter, repeating the words before her laughter abruptly ceased.
"take them away. Display their severed heads on their respective city walls. From today, there is no House of Silverado and Armsfield in the kingdom of Palaverda." The queen made her decree.
The women's eyes changed, and they wanted to escape by casting a spell, but their adept stage was useless in front of the Master stage guards, and they were captured quickly.
Then, the queen faced the remaining woman. "You are to step down from your rule and put a worthy successor in your place." She gave her verdict but continued with her punishment.
After all, the woman committed treason and couldn't go free and has to be made an example of.
"You will be whipped twenty times with barded whips and confined to the icy cave beneath the mountain cliff for a month before being released." The woman shivered, but she bowed her head in thanks, grateful to escape with her life.