"I want you to help me retake control of my kingdom."

The queen’s request had taken Mark by surprise, but he didn’t let it show. He simply leaned back slightly against the back of his chair and looked at her for a few seconds without changing his expression.

The queen was looking at him, waiting for a response, with that determination still etched on her face.

Mark let out a short sigh.

"I know I should have asked before, but..." he said, crossing his arms, "what is the current situation of your kingdom?"

The queen listened to him in silence.

"Because from what little your subordinates said, things are at least complicated," continued Mark, not taking his eyes off her. "But I have the impression that ’complicated’ falls quite short."

She let out a bitter laugh in a low voice.

"I wish it was just complicated..." she admitted, lowering her gaze slightly.

The queen leaned toward the table and was about to grab the crystal pitcher to pour water when Mark stopped her.

"Wait," he said, opening his inventory mentally and selecting one of the few items that weren’t blocked by level.

She looked at him confused as he materialized a bottle of wine in his hand. The same bottle he had taken from the slavers’ camp.

Mark uncorked it, leaned over the table, and poured into both glasses.

The queen watched as the wine filled her glass with an expression of surprise that quickly turned into amusement.

"So you also have a ’bag of surprises,’" she said in a tone that had recovered some lightness.

"Something like that," he responded as he finished pouring.

The queen looked at the wine in her glass for a moment, as if deciding where to start. And then she finally spoke.

"My father was the one who built this kingdom."

Mark listened to her in silence.

"Before he arrived, the elves were not united," continued the queen, slowly turning the glass between her fingers. "There were different castes that had been in conflict with each other for centuries over control of the southern territories. Forest elves against dark elves, sea elves against mountain elves... the list was endless."

"And your father unified them?"

"That’s right, and in record time," she said with pride. "It only took him five years to unite all the elven castes under his command."

Mark raised his eyebrows.

’His father was probably also assigned a quest similar to mine...’ Mark thought, taking a sip of wine.

"My father was an extraordinary man," continued the queen in a voice that had softened. "Not only did he unify the elves, but he built this city, established the laws, created trade routes with the other races of the south, and turned the elven kingdom into the most stable power on the entire continent."

She paused.

"But... unfortunately all of that came crashing down after his death."

The queen took a long sip from her glass of wine.

"When my father left to fight the Demon Lord, I was just a child," she said, lowering the glass. "So the throne fell to me."

"Why were you the one who took over?" he asked somewhat confused. "Wasn’t there anyone else in the line of succession?"

"No... I was the only direct heir."

"And your mother? Couldn’t she have assumed in your place?"

The queen fell silent for a moment.

"My mother was the strongest warrior in the kingdom..." she revealed in a voice that had become lower. "And when my father decided to go face the Demon Lord, she insisted on going with him."

She fell silent.

"...I understand."

There was no need for the queen to say more. If her mother accompanied her father and neither of them came back, the conclusion was obvious.

The queen sighed heavily and continued.

"Upon taking office as a child, the different elven castes saw the opportunity they had been waiting for since my father unified them," she continued explaining. "They decided to create a council made up of the leaders of each caste to ’help’ me govern."

The way she said "help" made it clear that that was definitely not the case. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"At first it was subtle," continued the queen. "Suggestions here, recommendations there, ’advice’ that was really disguised orders."

"..."

"Each year they took a little more power from me. First was control of the army. Then commercial decisions. Then foreign policy. And so, little by little, year after year, they emptied the throne until all that was left was the title."

The queen poured herself more wine.

"And at the current point," she said, filling the glass almost to the brim, "I’m nothing more than a pretty ornament they use to legitimize themselves."

She took a long drink from the glass.

"Being honest..." she said, lowering the glass in a voice that had become sad, "that by itself wouldn’t have bothered me so much."

Mark looked at her confused.

"I never wanted to be queen," she admitted with a sincerity Mark didn’t expect. "I never asked for it, never sought it out. It just fell on me because I was my father’s daughter and there was no one else."

She paused.

"And if there’s anything those old, decrepit, resentful bastards are right about..." she continued with a bitter smile, "it’s that I’m useless at governing."

Mark said nothing.

"But there’s something I can’t let slide," said the queen and her tone changed. The bitterness was gone and replaced with something harder. "And that’s that the council is preparing a new war."

Mark frowned.

"A war?"

"To exterminate all the other races in the south of the continent," explained the queen, looking directly at him. "The council wants to eliminate them all and keep their territories."

He looked at her in silence.

"That’s what I want to prevent," she said in a voice that didn’t waver one bit. "And that’s why I need your help."

The queen quickly drank all the remaining wine in her glass in one go and set it on the table with a hard thud.

"...Why didn’t you simply retake control by force?" asked Mark, taking a sip of wine.

The queen raised an eyebrow.

"You’re the daughter of a powerful warrior and a reincarnate," continued Mark, looking her in the eyes. "Didn’t you inherit any of their strength?"

"While I am incredibly adept at magic..." she admitted with a bitter laugh, "unfortunately I’m only adept at healing magic."

She paused.

"I don’t know how to use offensive magic, I don’t know how to wield a weapon, and my physical endurance is inferior to that of a normal person."

"..."

"So when the council made their coup," she continued, "I couldn’t resist. They simply came, told me I would no longer govern, and locked me in my own room."

Mark fell silent for several minutes, thinking about everything he had just heard, until he finally stood up.

"It’s fine, I’ll help you," he said, extending his hand toward the queen.

She looked up at him as her green eyes moistened.

"Thank you..." she said, her voice breaking slightly as she took Mark’s hand. "Really, thank you."

He helped her up and then released her hand.

"By the way..." he said in a tone that became casual again. "We’ve been talking for a good while now and I still don’t know your name."

The queen laughed as it hit her.

"That’s right," she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye with her other hand. "How rude of me."

And then she looked at him with a smile.

"My name is Emilia."