"Please tell me, why the hell our treaty was broken?" Her growl became a snarl, and her eyes blazed with the anger that exploded outwards.

I flinched away, taken aback by how she was acting. "Listen, I only know as much as you do. Whatever Velcrest did was their own doing."

Her jaw clenched slightly, and a sigh escaped from her lips. One that was more akin to a snarl than anything. She reached out and grabbed a chair, drugged it over, and sat down. She crossed her fingers and leered into the depths of my soul, weighing the truth of my words. "The first legion is fractured, and my captain is in a coma. My daughter was threatened, and my Chosen was wounded." Her words were a whisper that writhed with quiet anger. "However, I am also aware of the nature of our relationship, so I was prepared for most of that. What I am the angriest about is my daughter and Chosen."

As she spoke, the presence that preceded her seemed to twist as anger faded into a more morose feeling. It was a sadness that prowled into my mind and attempted to drag me down to its depths. "I apologize profusely. I didn't know that Velcrest had any plans to attack you. As far as I knew, they were not mobilizing yet. If I did, I would have told you as soon as I knew." I wasn't lying when I told her that. Velcrest was a mighty nation. There wasn't much that I, nor Corinthia, could do at the moment to stop them, but at least I could have avoided this.

Her eyes flared slightly as another slow breath left her nostrils. "I believe you. I've always known that Velcrest would be a threat one day." She sat back in her chair, and the anger that fueled her seemed to melt away, revealing a tired woman.

Her words lingered in my mind as I weighed them. How did she know about Velcrest? She implied she knew of their existence before this day. Now I struggled to remember if I mentioned them or if she had spies outside of the domain. This sadly only leads to more questions than answers. "Velcrest is neither under my jurisdiction nor do we have the power to confront them now. But I will happily assist you in any way that I can to help with the damages." Now was the critical moment to make sure that I could keep our relationship together. Already the trade that we have with this domain is paying dividends. While in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't much. In the future, I could easily see this domain being an economic superpower in its own right, and that was something that I didn't want to lose.

"No. It's fine. We can recover. I'm just angry." She sat forward again, and the visage that she wore fell further away. Revealing more than just a tired woman. No, this was a woman who was utterly depressed. Just staring at her made my heart ache in a way that I hadn't expected. But just as I opened my mouth to speak, she cut me off. "However, do not take that as weakness." The depression vanished as quickly as it came, as anger rose from her once more. "I will have my vengeance on them. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But I will come from them, and there will be nothing that stops me. I don't care if I have to cross the deepest pits of hell or the highest peaks of heaven. They have incurred my wrath, and for that, they will pay."

She growled as her eyes lit up, and I struggled to not reach up and wipe away the sweat that had been gathering on my face. I couldn't tell if she was foolishly dumb or naively so. To declare war on Velcrest would also incur the wrath of the surrounding theocratic conferences. It would be akin to a world war, and no one wanted to deal with that. "For now, let's take it easy. A war like would tear apart the world's order and might even destroy it."

"I refuse. Not after what they did!" She slammed her hands down on the table, filling the room with a heavy thud.

"I'm not saying that you can't. But some things need to be handled with care until we have the strength to take care of the problem." I was trying to reel her back in. If she got too far ahead of herself, it could spell doom for us all. Yet I was also trying to walk a fine line of not insulting her any further.

She stood there, her leering gaze roaring like an inferno until she finally relented. Hopefully, what I said struck a nerve. "No matter how long it takes, then. It will be done."

Ah, so my words have some sort of effect. It just felt so weird seeing her like this. This wasn't the woman that I felt like I knew, though I also had to admit that my knowledge of her was lacking. The pent-up breath I was holding escaped from my lungs, and I sat back in my chair, trying to figure out where I wanted to go from here. At least I salvaged the situation somewhat.

Once again, the anger vanished from her face as she leaned forward and pinched her nose. "Redrick, you should leave for now. I'm not really in a good spot, and I'm struggling to contain my emotions."'

"Of course, Empress. Just send an envoy for me when you are ready to talk again, and I'll be here." Relief coursed through my veins as I stood up. I was eager to create some space between her and me I. Velcrest's attack seemed to have really damaged her mentally, and I didn't want to be on the receiving end of her anger.

"I'll see you around, Redrick." Her eyes followed me as I gave her a nod and scurried through the room, desperate to create some space between us. I felt like I was under the watchful gaze of an apex predator, and I really didn't want to be in this domain any longer.

I quickly crossed through the threshold and closed the door behind me. Now that there was a door between us, the noxious miasma that relentlessly assaulted me had tapered down a bit.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I tried to get a hold of myself. This place seemed to have some sort of effect on me, and I wanted to make as much space as possible. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of Kharon drifting down the hall.

"Lord Kharon, hello." I gave the skeleton a nod, which he curtly returned.

"Redrick. How are you doing?" His monotonous voice easily carried across the distance between us.

"I'm alright." My voice came out sounding a little more shaken than usual. My heart was going wild in my chest, and my palms were sweaty. Dealing with her while she was in that mood was probably one of the hardest things I had to do.

"Forgive the Empress. She's going through a lot right now." Kharon glided down the hall, keeping pace with me as I moved.

"Her presence is stifling. I thought I was about to drown a few times." I shuddered a bit as I thought back to it. I've never felt something like that, even in all my days of delving into dungeons and fighting monsters. It was like I was standing before a god.

"That it is. We all feel it, and we are all suffering with her." His scarlet eyes pierced the darkness as we wandered further through the building.

"Kharon, I'm curious. What role does the Chosen play?" As I asked, I worked through what he said. So it wasn't just me that felt that. So her mood affected everything in the domain. That would do well to explain a lot of things here.

"That is a complicated question to answer, as there isn't just one answer. They perform many functions, including being able to act in place of the leader. But the relationship between the Empress and Lady Alessia is unique." The sound of bone hitting stone filled the quiet humid air, leaving me to think about what he just said.

"How is it unique?" I found myself thinking back to each interaction between the two, figuring out what he meant. But I was coming up dry. As far as I was concerned, Alessia was a warrior, and the Empress was her charge.

"Are you familiar with a cornerstone?" Kharon broke through my thoughts as easily as a blade cutting through the air.

"Yes, it's a stone that connects two walls. Considered one of the most important parts of the building next to the foundation. But what does that have to do with Alessia?"

"Perhaps that wasn't the right phrase to use. Alessia is like a chain that keeps the Empress together. When she died, the entire realm felt the wrath of the Empress. That is a fate I doubt your world would want to suffer, and there would be very little I or you could do to stop if it came to that." His words lingered in my mind, conveying a sense of dread mingled with what she had told me earlier.

I needed to get back to Cato and discuss what had happened. Thankfully, it still seemed like she was on our side, but the Velcrest issue would have to be addressed soon because otherwise, we would have to deal with a cataclysm. Damn them all for this.