The sun was slowly starting to rise up in the sky as its ray illuminated small walls made of black stones which seemed to be absorbing the light as their color didn’t change. The wall surrounded a city composed of more or less a thousand houses.

The houses were ordered by districts which surrounded a small castle which was located at the center of the city. The closest ones were the largest as reciprocally, the distant ones were the smallest.

From what she could see, most of the houses possess their own design, some looked very humble while some others looked almost demonic and threatening like the entrance to hell which greatly surprised Shina.

“Those buildings are strange…”

Mystel looked proud for a moment as Shina admired the various buildings until her eyes sharpened as they fell on a certain residence which couldn’t be called a house anymore, but a mansion. A glint of anger swiftly passed through her eyes which remained imperceptible to Shina but made Irio shudder as he distanced himself from her.

“Whose house is this?”

Irio shivered as a cold whisper found its way toward his ears. He quickly understood what Mystel was talking about after following her eyes. The mansion was dirty and covered with mud; it looked a lot like a swamp which deteriorated the aesthetic of the area. Moreover, the mansion was excessively larger than the other houses, as if it was trying to compete with the castle in term of size.

Each and every residence in the city represented one’s status within the darkened realm. The castle obviously belonged to Mystel as the lord of this realm and as expected, not a single residence could compare with it.

However, the mansion despite being smaller still possessed the size of a small castle, being at least five times bigger than any other houses. Trying to compete in size with her castle was the same as challenging Mystel’s authority.

Understanding that this anger wasn’t directed at him, Irio calmed down as he remembered a certain conversation he had a few years ago with a certain woman.

“I think it belongs to a newly elected elder, I remember Listae saying that he is giving her a large headache as he has the backing of an ancient elder.”

Mystel smiled while licking her lips, a dark and cold aura emanated from her body as her stare seemed to pierce through the mansion.

“Good… It seems that some people think that I’ve gotten softer after not showing up for a while.”

“Mom, did you say something?”

Like the sun after the rain, Mystel’s expression instantly transformed from a murderous one into a motherly smile.

“It’s nothing, let’s go inside.”

The only person who remained frozen was Irio who still couldn’t understand how it was even possible for someone to be this double-faced.

I just can’t get used to it… He thought as he followed them.

A large gate made of silver surrounded by soldiers dressed in a demonic-like red and black armor guarded the only entrance to the city. Every soldier could be considered as a giant compared to normal humans as the smallest one reached six and a half feet, making them look even more imposing than the black wall behind them.

As the three approached, the guards drew their weapons as a sign for them to stop as one of the guards walked up to them.

“Your identity papers?”

While asking the question with a rough and merciless voice, his eyes roamed, giving Shina a single glance before ignoring and glared at Mystel who harbored a very dark expression which greatly surprised the guard as he was temporarily unable to move. His body seemed to be frozen in place as an overflowing amount of killing intent was crushing him.

“Identity papers?...”

Every guards unconsciously unsheathed their weapons as their instinct were screamed at them to be on guard, but even so, their body seemed to have become a block of ice.

Mystel slowly toward the first guard and despite gently touched his shoulder, the guard felt like his body was carrying a whole planet as he couldn’t help but bow his head which reached Mystel’s level.

Leaning toward his helmet, Mystel whispered to the guard.

“What kind of bullshit are you talking about?...”

“T-T-Thats…”

The more annoyed Mystel became, the harder her grasp on his shoulder became as her finger started to pierce through his armor.

“That’s enough, everyone please calm down. Nobody wants any bloodshed happening here, right?”

Despite seeming to talk to everyone, his words were mainly aimed to Mystel as he made her remember Shina’s presence with an eye contact.

Mystel snorted as she withdrew her killing intent and tried to contain her anger.

“Then hurry and take care of it.”

Somewhat calming down and regaining his wits after a few seconds, the guard still looked terrified as he avoided to look at Mystel. Noticing somewhat had stepped in, his eyes widened as he finally noticed it was Irio.

“L-Lord Irio.”

An annoyed expression re-surfaced on Mystel’s face as she glared at Irio’s back who couldn’t help but want to kill the guard deep inside.

You fucker, you aren’t even able to recognize your own sovereign yet you politely greet me… Are you fucking trying to get me killed?!

Walking toward the guard, Irio hurriedly approached the guard and whispered a few words to him, making the guards widen his eyes as Irio spoke a few more words before giving him a few taps on his shoulder and walking back.

“Hurry and open the gate!” The guard shouted in a tense tone and shaky tone.

Shina tilted her head as she looked at Irio, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“What did you tell him?”

Irio chuckled while remembering the past and showed a painful smile.

“I just told him a few story of the past.”

“What kind of story?” She excitedly asked as she wondered how interesting they must be to leave the guard in that state.

Stealing a glance at Mystel, Irio started laughing and caressed Shina’s head as he replied in a mysterious voice.

“Just a little story of your mother in the past. Don’t worry, I am sure she will share them with you in the future.”

“Come on, say it already…”

Feeling the girl’s interest made Irio unable to turn her demand down.

“If you insist, the-...”

“I am curious as well, what kind of story are you going to tell?”

A shiver went past Irio’s spine as he retreated a dozen of meters away from Mystel with a stiff expression.

“Now that I think about it, it might not be really interesting for a child… Why don’t you wait a few years for it? Moreover, I am a very busy man, hahaha… Well then, goodbye!”

Trying to run away as fast as possible, Irio felt a hand pulling down his sleeve. As he turned, his eyes widened after realizing that it wasn’t Mystel but Shina. Not only him, but Mystel’s eyes also sharpened as she stood there motionlessly, looking at Shina with deep astonishment.

“Don’t run away!”

“When did you mo-”

A second pair of hands suddenly grabbed on his other sleeve, Mystel was standing beside him with a radiant smile.

“That’s right, don’t run away. Why don’t you accompany me to the castle since I need to see Fortiem.”

At the same moment, a warning echoed in Irio’s mind as a deadly voice whispered ‘Don’t tell her’. Unlike any previous warning, this echo in his mind was filled with pure bloodlust as if she was really ready to kill him this time should be approach this taboo subject.

“Yes, mam…”

Shina was forced to give up and she started to pouting as Mystel picked her in her arms with a caring expression.

“Hum~ You petty effeminate man….”

A few tears rolled down Irio’s face as he felt his lifespan being decreased each time she spoke, whether it was her instigating Mystel against him or breaking his self-esteem into countless pieces and throwing it into a dumpster.

Mystel, on the other hand, harbored a very serious expression as she looked at the clueless Shina who hadn’t even realized how shocked she made them.

Looking at her daughter’s innocent expression made Mystel sigh as Shina hadn’t even realized how incredible her action was.

For a split second, Shina had unknowingly crossed the boundaries of space before grabbing Irio's sleeve...