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"Queen Phoenix asked for you to be fetched, and since you were last seen in my sector of the palace, the duty fell on me. But before I bring you there, I wanted to talk to you in private."

"Well, I\'m here now. I\'m listening."

"Good of you to be so casual. In that case, I will be as well. I wanted to know your intentions with the kingdom. I know you are the legitimate king, and I owe fealty to you. But I was old enough to recognize a battle-maniac when you came into power, and I swore my loyalty to Sir Leon, not you."

Astaroth looked at her, squinting. She spoke like she had been present when he was appointed king, but he failed to remember her.

After a bit of digging into his memories, he finally realized who this was. She had been an archer under Elwin when they defended the Bastion from the sieging guilds.

He remembered one of them having an adolescent boy, and now it all fell into place.

"I remember you. You were here during the siege. You were in charge of defending the southern front from up in the canopy. That\'s why you felt familiar earlier. Then that means you saw me fighting with front-row seats. So I struck you as a battle maniac, huh?"

Alena nodded her head. She was half glad he recognized her, but she was also worried that he seemed to think her calling him a battle maniac was a compliment.

"Please answer my question, King Astaroth."

"I don\'t have an answer for you. I do not intend to lead this kingdom very much, as will probably be a king in title only. My first duty lies in getting stronger, and I can\'t do that from here. Phoenix will be taking most of the decisions, as well as Leon, who has been doing a great job, from what I was told."

Alena looked confused.

"Then why even come back? If you intended to be a roaming fighter, why come back here and assert your position as ruler?"

Astaroth took a moment to think, before smiling widely and answering.

"Because this is my home now. I wanted to at least see it a bit before I become busy again, and have to leave. If you were worried that I would become a war-mongering fool of a king, then you can rest easy. I don\'t intend to start any wars, aside from the one against the looming threat above the whole world\'s head, the demons."

An inaudible sigh of relief escaped her lips before she relaxed in her chair.

"I will be fighting a lot, and most likely in many wars, but I will not be dragging the name of our kingdom into it, unless necessary. Now reassure me, you haven\'t been thinking about this for the past decade, have you?"

The woman shook her head.

"Only the last week, since your kind has come back. For the last decade, I thought your kind wouldn\'t come back at all, and Leon would remain king."

"Well, I\'m sorry to disappoint. But our job in this world isn\'t done, yet."

Alena leaned back into her chair, massaging her knotted shoulders. She felt a weight lift from them, now that she knew their king wouldn\'t suddenly start waging war on the continent, in a craze for dominance.

"In that case, I should escort you down to the throne room. I believe the meeting is soon to begin. I will take care of disciplining Castien for striking you later."

Astaroth waved his hand dismissively.

"Don\'t bother. I understand his feelings and reaction all too well. I deserved that hit, and I also told him to take the shot. The only thing he needs disciplining about is to not startle people who are standing on the edge of a three hundred meter fall."

Coral coughed lightly at the comment, making Alena and Astaroth laugh it off.

"Very well. Let us proceed back down, then."

Astaroth nodded, getting up from his seat, followed by Coral and Alena, and they followed the latter to the throne room. Astaroth was glad this was out of the air.

He much-rathered face issues directly than let them stew in the dark. The woman\'s straightforwardness was a welcome thing, in his opinion.

They entertained idle chit-chat on their way there, acting like they hadn\'t argued and been close to fighting merely minutes ago. Their trip wasn\'t very long, as Commander Alena\'s office was on the third floor, and they only had two flights of stairs to walk down.

As they approached the throne room\'s entrance, they noticed the traffic entering it was quite dense, and Alena motioned for Astaroth and Coral to stop.

"Let\'s go through the back room. I believe it is what you would prefer, anyway. Follow me."

Astaroth smiled at her.

"You sound like you know me so much already. It was indeed my intention."

"Hah! Your kind isn\'t hard to grasp, intention-wise, my king. Queen Phoenix had the throne room rearranged to accommodate the two thrones, and the amount of cover they offer over the hidden door is enough to hide much bigger men than you."

"Good. I wanted to make a sly entrance, anyway. Lead the way."

Alena pivoted a hundred and eighty degrees, backtracking her steps for a while, before stopping before a large painting that rose from the floor to twenty meters up the wall.

She slid her hand on the side of the painting\'s frame, and Astaroth heard a faint *Click*, before the painting separated from the wall slightly, revealing a small room behind it. As they entered the room, they found Leon waiting, with his back to a nearby wall, smiling snidely at Astaroth.

"I knew you would want to come in this way. How have you been, King Astaroth?"

"Leon! It\'s good to see you again. I was told many good things about how you helmed the kingdom while we were gone. I\'m glad you didn\'t drive it into the ground like I thought you would! Hah!"

The two men walked toward each other, clasping their hands in a firm grip, as Alena felt the level of testosterone in the room rise five levels.

"Alright, you cocks. Settle down."

Astaroth and Leon laughed at the comment before letting go of each other\'s hands.

Astaroth could see a small tunnel next to Leon, and he assumed this was his way inside the throne room. He resisted the urge to peek into the room, and simply sat himself on one of the chairs in the room.

"So! Tell me, Leon. How many people are going to be present?"

"More than I would have wished, my king. Every official in the city wished to meet their true king and put aside important matters just to attend this meeting. It might be a bit rowdy."

Astaroth grinned like a shark, a plan forming in his head.

"Good. Then let\'s make a lasting impression, shall we?"