Chapter 242: 242:Reward.
Gladia’s capital did not feel like a capital anymore. It felt like a courtroom waiting for judgment they couldn’t predict the result.
Even before the Dark Elf delegation arrived the day before, the atmosphere inside the royal palace had changed.
Reinstated guards stood in tighter formations. Nobles spoke in whispers instead of voices. Servants moved quickly, avoiding eye contact with one another as if looking too long at anything might become dangerous.
Even the capital itself, carried more tension than it had ever carried at the onset of war.
After the news of the capture spread. The two human kingdoms had already withdrawn their troops from direct involvement. The High Elves had sent observers instead of diplomats.
And Gladia Kingdom itself, or what remained of it, stood at the center of everything, waiting for the inevitable meeting and consequences.
When the portal finally opened inside the throne room, nobody spoke.
Darkness arrived first then she appeared.
The Queen of the Dark Elves.
She did not enter like a guest. She entered as if the place already belonged to her and everyone else was simply occupying it temporarily.
Behind her Atheline elegantly followed from the portal. It closed shortly after.
The hall remained silent as they walked forward.
Everyone rose from their seats, though the movement felt delayed due to the pressure she was excluding.
"Your Majesty," they all greeted carefully.
Lilith did not respond immediately. Instead, she looked at the throne then at the room, then at the guards positioned in the same way as the dark elven palace.
This was a complete insult to the Gladia kingdom’s authority but there was nothing they could do about it but swallow their grievances.
Finally, she stepped forward and sat down on the throne itself.
The silence and tension in the hall deepened.
Atheline stood behind her, expression unreadable, as though this was simply another day in their lives.
Terah Kingdom’s king’s jaw tightened but he said nothing. Both of them were rulers, but at the moment he was almost at the same level as nobles. It felt humiliating.
A few nobles shifted uneasily.
Lilith rested one elbow on the armrest. Her gaze moved slowly across the assembled court.
Then she spoke.
"Bring them in."
A moment later, the heavy doors opened.
The former royal family entered and a few surviving attendants who still clung to the illusion that titles mattered.
They looked smaller inside the throne room than they ever had in portraits or historical records.
They were made to stand at the center of the hall. Chains of light Aether restrained their wrists, not in a painful hold, but absolute. A formal binding used only when transporting high-value political prisoners between nations.
Terah King himself moved and stood near them, expression carefully controlled. He had brought them here personally out of necessity and needed to see things through.
King Neill stood at the center of the room. His posture had the remnants of dignity, that he could master. The princess stood slightly behind him, eyes lowered. The former queen looked ahead without expression, as if refusing to acknowledge the weight of the room. The prince didn’t even react.
A night had passed after their capture and then brought back under heavy escort. Delivered directly into the hands of the one person on the continent they had never wanted to face.
Lilith tilted her head slightly. Her gaze rested on them.
"Finally, this has been a long and useless wait," she softly said.
Terah King stepped forward slightly.
"Your Majesty," he said carefully, "as agreed, the fugitives have been delivered for your judgment."
No one missed the phrasing.
Delivered.
King Neill flinched slightly at the word.
Lilith did not acknowledge Terah King immediately. Instead, she studied the prisoners. Like they were pieces placed on a board exactly where she had expected them to end up.
Atheline took a small almost invisible step forward, also observing the prisoners.
Lilith finally spoke.
"What a disgrace of a king you are to abandon your own kingdom. How disappointing it is to carry that name.."
King Neill’s jaw tightened.
"Yes, I am... I did not have a choice your majesty. "
A simple admission since he knew no excuses would get him out of the situation he was in.
Lilith leaned slightly forward.
"So you admit, you consciously abandoned your own kingdom."
No one spoke immediately after. The princess looked like she wanted to argue but didn’t. The former queen remained lost in her own world. The prince was also the same.
King Neill exhaled slowly.
"I tried to save my family."
Lilith nodded once.
"That is what all weak kings say."
The words were not cruel, just the truth. King Neill closed his eyes briefly.
Terah King shifted slightly, uncomfortable.
The hall remained utterly silent. Then Lilith’s gaze shifted to the king, and then she spoke again.
"Step forward, your majesty, " she quietly said, " a little distance from them would do you good."
Terah King obeyed despite his body screaming against the disrespect but he was the lesser one in this equation. It was better to obey than cause unnecessary strife at the moment.
Lilith gestured slightly. A chest appeared beside the throne already prepared.
This surprised everyone in the room, they had not expected that.
It opened faintly and what was revealed left everyone even more speechless. Gold and crafted artifacts present only in the dark elven kingdom. It was enough wealth to rebuild a nation twice over.
Confusion followed after the shock.
Terah King frowned then hurriedly spoke.
"You do not have to Your Majesty, it was only right that we respond to your call for help in finding the treacherous royal family that would dare abandon their own people."
Lilith blinked slowly then chuckled softly.
"This is compensation for your inconvenience," she evenly said, "I do not like to owe favors."
The king looked up sharply.
"Inconvenience?"
The king almost sighed.
She really did choose words like she was testing how far people could bend before breaking.
