An Otherworldly Stage (4)

“Care for a cup of tea? No worries, I already filtered out the poison, though it does still singe the tongue a bit.” The queen took another sip as I was forced to sit across. As much as I wanted to scream out, “HELL NO!”, I kept silent, tapping my leg nervously. It’s gonna be fine, I told myself, a couple thousand times more than usual.

“Hmm? Why are you not speaking? Oh, is it because of the body?” she questioned, ignoring my inner turmoil. She turned her head slightly, glancing at the side of her bed. I, stupidly, followed her gaze.

Behind her was the body of a man cloaked in black. His blood stained the carpet underneath red, spilling out from the expertly slashed sword marks. I hadn’t noticed before, but the stinging scent of iron permeated through the room.

“He is still alive, so you can relax.”

Yep, not helping one bit.

Tell me, what was I supposed to do in this situation? It was like if I barged in on the President shooting someone, and instead of calling 911 or doing anything reasonable, I was forced to take a seat and chat. Run? Absolutely not. No way I could outrun a bullet, or a trained swordswoman for that matter. Tell the truth? That was even crazier. I’d rather try the first option.

Well, that only left what streamers did best:

Put on an act and bluff.

“My apologies, Your Majesty,” I spoke in the most eloquent, non-shaky voice I could muster, “I was simply beholden by your visage. I would never expect to receive such a gracious invitation from an accidental stumble. Once again, pardon me for my rudeness.”

“Quite the rude fellow, aren’t you, assassin? If this was the throne room, it would be easy to lop off your head.” The queen looked amused. Well, I was spouting nonsense.

“Haha,” a strained laugh escaped my lips. “Surely you jest, Your Majesty. I cannot imagine you having so many visitors.”

“I have one almost every day. They always bring such a variety of gifts too: poisoned needles, mana bracelets, and who can forget the common dagger.” What kind of monster did I walk in on? And she’s still alive? “At one point, they said I only had three months to live, and yet here I am, eight years later.”

“...but you are dying, are you not?”

“Oh? You are the first to notice.” The queen looked surprised. To be fair, if it wasn’t for her “gift list”, I wouldn’t have noticed either. From what I could sense, most of her organs were necrotic, their functions barely replicated by the mana pulsating through her pathways. It was a complicated process, one that could kill her in an instant, yet she continued to pull it off flawlessly. However, even that had slowly begun to fail as her mana pathways… shriveled? Deteriorated? That was how it seemed anyway. It was a miracle she could move, much less have such an imposing presence.

“No one else has?” I unintentionally asked.

“If they did, I would probably have a more relaxing evening,” the queen let out a soft sigh, miming a fake pout. “Maybe I should have you console me. Your acting skills have a sliver of merit.”

“...I’ll take a rain check on that,” I seriously responded, dropping my terrible eloquent facade. I would never wear a mask when someone else is dying. Never again. “How much longer?”

“You should know better than asking a lady to reveal all her cards, not that it matters. It has been a long time since I have engaged in politics or governance. Duke Engres took over that long ago.” She sighed, “He would be a good king if he could curb his greed a little… no a lot more. Though I suppose there is no harm yet.

“Maybe I should take my leave.”

That smile contained a mix of emotions too complex to unravel. The wistfulness of the past, and the happiness for the future. The loneliness of a ruler, and the loyalty to her country. The ephemeral form waiting to leave, and the permanence of the time she had left.

I recognized it well. It was the same smile my sister gave when we talked. The same smile as she hung from the ceiling.

I hated that smile.

“...I can’t say it’s not your choice, I’m well aware of that. But if it was up to me, I would stick around just a little longer, if only to say I’m still here.” A sentence that meant something and nothing, yet strangely, a weight lifted off my shoulders, if only just a bit. After all, it would never reach her ears, but I had to live with that. Still, one of these days, once I was long gone, I would tell her. She might be surprised at first, but I had no doubt she would laugh with that same sickening smile.

Isn’t that right, sis?

The queen stared at me in silence for a while. Then, wordlessly, she took off one of the rings on her pinky and slid it over to me.

“There is a pawn shop just down the road if you make a right after exiting the castle. The only red building in a sea of gray. Take it and get yourself something useful, otherworlder.”

“...”

“Why do you look so surprised? Today’s the day of the hero summoning rite, and a stranger with no mana pathways, wearing common yet well-made clothes, barges into a queen’s room to hide from a passing knight. Anyone with half a brain could put it together.”

“...oh.” Wow, I really was conspicuous, and the worst part was I couldn’t refute it. I could try to mention that the rite failed, but I knew she wasn’t going to believe that.

It didn’t seem like she was going to rat me out though, so I humbly took the ring with a brief, “Thank you.” I made to stand up and leave, but–

“One more thing before you go. If you ever find yourself forced into this world’s conflict…”

“YOU WILL DIE HERE, QUE–”

WHOOOOSSHHHH!! In a single motion, the queen grabbed her greatsword and swung it in a wide arc, decapitating the assassin that had jumped up from the bedside floor.

“...run away, and never look back.”