The Martial Unity

Chapter 3386: Strange Man

”Remain alert and on guard,” A firm, yet authoritative female voice commanded. ”Do not enter my chambers, no matter what, is that clear?”

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

A diminutive lady closed the large, extravagant doors to her personal quarters as two powerful guards took their place at either side outside. One was a tekvore with a crystalline outer skin, while the other was a tiger woman with striped orange fur and lethal claws at her hands and feet.

The moment the doors closed, however, the short woman heaved a deep breath of exhaustion, as she slouched, her hands still holding the handles of the doors to her chambers.

Her personal quarters were armed with powerful anti-espionage Faraday cages running through the walls, disrupting even powerful attempts to spy on her while she was within. It was perhaps the only place where she could put down the projected imperial mask of an Empress and simply be herself.

She arrived before a mirror, gazing at herself with weary eyes as she studied her form with a hint of self-loathing and hatred as she disrobed herself, running her hands across her lean body.

Her skin was light pale, revealing the dark veins that ran beneath it, and was flushed with a reddish hue, with all the blood in her skin. The mild translucence in her skin was a reflection of some evosapien blood that ran in her veins as a result of some ancestor of hers.

She shifted her light, silver hair behind her pointed ears as her eyes swept from top to bottom, heaving a deep breath.

The combination of a dwarven and elven blood made for an unfortunate combination when it came to her aging. The longevity of the elves, combined with the childish forms of the elves, made her resemble a young teenager who had barely gone through puberty.

She was functionally infertile, for any foetus that wasn’t fathered by a dwarf would kill her due to anatomical differences, making her unable to continue her royal bloodline.

And yet, she couldn’t afford to marry a dwarf and skew her bloodline even more dwarven. Bloodlines in the true world were complicated, but they were especially complicated for the royalty of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire.

It had always been a racially diverse bloodline in order to gain recognition of the pluralistic racial diversity of the trade empire. The Hlakaschken Royalty could never make their genes lean too much in the favor of any one race, lest they lose trust from other races. She couldn’t make the blood of her progeny lean more towards dwarves if she wanted to maintain the recognition and trust of the masses of her empire and the various groups it ruled over.

And yet, each day she went without bearing children, the louder the whispers grew about the end of the Hlakaschken Monarchy that had ruled the Trade Empire for eons. If there were no heirs to take over the throne, then her bloodline and the royalty would end with her.

She gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists.

”Hey.”

She shook where she stood as a nonchalant greeting sent chills up her spine, turning around with a shocked expression as her arms flew to cover her body.

STEP

An unknown man wearing strange clothes arrived in her room with a graceful land.

His hair was pitch black.

As were his eyes.

The endless ocean of darkness within them bore deep into her light red eyes.

”Who are you?!” she gritted her teeth as her expression steeled itself, regaining its royal bearing while she quickly covered herself with the clothes she had taken off. ”How dare you enter the personal chambers of the Empress of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire?!”

”Er, my bad. This was bad timing, young miss.” The strange man turned around, scratching his head. ”The anti-espionage systems didn’t allow me to see inside very clearly. I wouldn’t have teleported if I knew you were exposed. Ah...”

He murmured to himself in a strangely worried tone. ”Amare is going to get even more mad when I tell her about this. I’ll have to get her a cute souvenir...”

He muttered to himself, engrossed in his thoughts, leaving Empress Schlieffen bewildered at what was happening.

’He... isn’t an assassin?’ She stared at him with confusion. ’Is he just a pervert trying to spy on me?’

There were no shortages of those, unfortunately. Lustful idiots who were willing to risk execution to catch a glimpse of her bare body.

Her red eyes shifted back and forth between the door and the strange man who had somehow infiltrated her personal chambers, trying to take slow, soft steps towards it. She wasn’t able to contact her guards from the inside due to the same anti-espionage measures that prevented information from leaving her personal chambers.

”Don’t even think about it, Your Majesty.” His tone was serious as his pitch-black eyes bore deep into hers. ”I’m not here to kill you. I just want to talk. I can promise that you won’t die today, young miss. I don’t delight in killing young girls, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Of course, that promise didn’t extend to her safety the next day, or the day after that.

Empress Schlieffen gritted her teeth as she glared at him.

”I’m thirty-two years old, you imbecile.”

Perhaps correcting him wasn’t in her best interest, given that it increased the probability of her survival. But his words had struck a raw nerve that bothered her every single day of her life deep down inside.

”...My bad, Your Majesty. Admittedly, I haven’t been as prepared for this as I should have been,” the strange man admitted. ”In reality, all of this is in preparation for something else that is much more important. I’m hoping you can humor me and help me out. You’ll get to live in return and nobody will be wiser, deal?”

She quickly donned her clothes in haste, glaring at him. ”Why not approach me in an official capacity if you truly are not hostile to me?”

Rui smiled wryly as he turned around.

”I’d rather not reveal my identity yet in an official capacity.”