It took a few minutes, and the Queen looked extremely nervous as she kept glancing behind her every second or so, trying to see if someone was coming down.
“Are you scared of your Royal Adviser?” I suddenly asked when I observed her behavior.
She shook her head. “I’m not scared of him, but of his connections. He has more than me, and I’m the Queen. He’s a dangerous man, and you should be very careful around him without a doubt.”
I nodded plainly.
I didn’t think that I would have much trouble getting rid of the traitors inside the Ice Castle.
“Are you fine with me killing the traitors?”
That would be the quickest way to resolve everything, and I did not want to waste time here. I said a lot, but the more time I spent in this castle, the more time it gave Zero to escape my grasp.
The Ice Elf Queen pondered before answering, “No, please capture them if possible. If you can’t, then kill them.”
Then, after a few more seconds of struggle, she managed to open the doors to mine and Phoebe’s prison cell.
“Can I ask a question before I go and solve this situation for you?”
She nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”
“Do you know who I am? And do you know of a man named Zero?”
The beautiful Elf Queen frowned at that moment; she hadn’t been expecting such a question. She couldn’t figure out why I would ask such a thing now of all times.
“I heard of you once you entered our territory. As for that man, Zero, it’s more complicated. However, I do not have the time to get into the details. Just know that I wish for him to be gone from this world just as much as you do.”
“Alright, I’ll be back then.”
Phoebe saw that I was once again trying to go and fight by myself, and she shook her head at the sight.
“I can help!”
“Your father will be very mad at me if something were to happen to you. Sorry.”
With those words, I turned around, activated [Bloodlust], and ran up the stairs as fast as I could. I had no idea what the situation upstairs was, but I hoped that things had calmed down, as this would make my job of infiltrating the ranks much easier.
After all, I didn’t think that rushing in blindly was the right decision this time. I wanted to observe the situation for a short moment before going in.
As I finally reached the top of the spiral staircase that led to the underground of the Ice Castle, I noticed that there was an uproar of angry nobles shouting at the Royal Adviser.
“Why did you let strangers into the Ice Castle? They even killed one of us! We demand to see the Queen right now!” one of the nobles shouted loudly.
“That’s right, we want to see the Queen!” another one chimed in, clearly speaking up with hidden intentions.
I couldn’t figure out if this was all a part of the Royal Adviser’s plan yet, and if those people were part of his scheme and were his allies. However, the performance they were putting on was definitely interesting and quite convincing, all things considered.
‘Is he trying to overthrow the Queen? Is that why she came to get us?’ I pondered as I looked at the scene, hidden behind a wall not too far away from them.
If that was their plan, then I had to admit that it wasn’t a bad one whatsoever. It was actually kind of genius. After all, when I first arrived at the castle, she was the only one supporting us, and since people had died because of us, it was easy to put all the blame onto us and turn against the Queen.
“The Queen does not want to meet with any of you right now. She wants things to calm down before making an appearance,” the Royal Adviser muttered with a hidden smirk.
“Who cares what she wants?! One of us just got murdered by those she welcomed into our territory!”
“Tell her that if she doesn’t appear before us, we will form an alliance against her.”
Many people wouldn’t have been able to catch the subtle change of expression on the Royal Adviser’s face. But I had definitely seen him smirk like a little snake. This was definitely part of his plan, and once he went to the Queen’s chambers and noticed that she was gone, things were bound to go badly. After all, the Queen was the most important piece to his plan, and the fact that she had escaped to help us had been the last thing he expected to happen.
“Alright. I will go and bring the Queen here,” the Royal Adviser finally said with an innocent smile as he turned around.
Right as he did so, I knew that I had to move as fast as possible and get to the Queen’s chambers before he did. I moved as fast as I could, believing that I would make it before him.
I used the fairy’s powers on myself and changed my appearance, making it easier to navigate inside the castle. And sure enough, I found the Queen’s chambers, and I had to admit that they were much nicer than mine.
However, that wasn’t the reason I was here.
I had a choice to make. Either I attacked the Royal Adviser and forced him to do what I said, or I could trick him just like he had tricked the Queen. After all, if everything went according to his plans, then the chances of Zero leaving were bound to reduce significantly.
That’s why, with those thoughts, I used the fairies’ powers once more and changed my appearance to that of the Ice Elf Queen. I sat on the chair made of ice in the corner of her room and acted like I was her.
Then, a few moments passed by, and the Royal Adviser entered the room.
