Ely was the last to reach the door, but before leaving she stopped and looked once more at Emilia, who remained kneeling on the ground.

"Master, what do you plan to do with her?" she asked, looking at Emilia with curiosity.

Mark fell silent for a moment, not taking his eyes off the queen kneeling in front of him.

"Don’t worry about that... I’ll take care of her."

"Alright..." responded Ely before leaving the room. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Mark and Emilia were left alone in the chamber, wrapped in a heavy and uncomfortable silence.

She still remained on her knees in front of him, with her face full of tears and her gaze lowered. He observed her for a few seconds before letting out a long, tired sigh.

"Get up," said Mark as he began walking toward the door.

Emilia didn’t move.

Mark stopped and let out a sigh before looking at her over his shoulder.

"I said get up."

Emilia slowly lifted her head, revealing her eyes red and swollen from so much crying.

Then she got to her feet with a trembling motion, trying to wipe a cheek with the back of her hand with little success.

"Aren’t you going to scold me?" asked Emilia, her voice hoarse. "Or punish me for what I did?"

"No..." responded Mark, leaning against the door frame. "After the journey here, the fight against the Demon Lord’s subordinate, and all the scandal you caused at the speech, I’m too exhausted to even think about doing something like that."

"But I—"

"Emilia," Mark cut her off, raising his voice. "If you really want a scolding for what you did, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow... tonight all I want is to sleep."

"..."

Mark turned around and opened the door to the chamber.

"Where are you going?"

"To find a room where I can sleep," he responded, stepping into the hallway. "Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day."

"I-if you want, I can take you," said Emilia, approaching him. "There’s one set apart from the rest of the palace that’s never used."

"...Alright," responded Mark dryly.

After that, both began walking through the palace hallways in silence.

Neither spoke for a good while. Mark simply had nothing to say, while Emilia seemed not to know how to even begin to express everything going through her head.

Every now and then they would cross paths with some servant walking through the hallways with sheets or trays in their hands. And each of them looked at them without any attempt to hide it.

Their eyes went from Mark to Emilia and from Emilia to Mark, pausing especially on the queen’s face where the marks of having been crying were perfectly visible.

One of the servants even covered her mouth with her hand upon seeing them pass and quickly turned toward another servant coming behind to whisper something in her ear.

’Fuck...’ Mark thought, looking out of the corner of his eye at how both women whispered behind his back. ’This is only going to create more rumors.’

He could perfectly imagine the type of rumors that would start to spread.

That the human had made the queen cry, that he had hit her, that he was keeping her threatened, or that the marriage had been forced from the beginning. Some would even say that Emilia was being abused.

And with how fast rumors traveled, by tomorrow everyone in the palace would know about it and, by the day after tomorrow, it would probably already be a rumor spreading throughout the entire capital.

’As if we didn’t already have enough problems...’ Mark thought, letting out an internal sigh.

Both continued walking until, turning down one of the hallways, Mark saw someone ahead.

It was a figure with black rabbit ears, walking down the corridor while looking in all directions with an expression of complete disorientation.

It was Zilu, and Emilia saw her almost at the same time Mark did.

"Huh?" she said, stopping abruptly and taking a step back. "What is a beast-woman doing inside the castle?"

Zilu was about to turn down another corner when she heard Emilia’s voice and turned her head toward them.

Her golden eyes immediately fixed on Mark, and her face lit up upon recognizing him.

"Master!" screamed Zilu, running directly toward Mark, completely ignoring the woman at his side.

She threw herself against Mark and hugged him with her arms around his waist, pressing her face against his chest while her ears moved back and forth.

"I finally found you!" she said without letting go. "This place is a maze! I’ve been wandering around for ages not knowing where I am!"

"Didn’t the others tell you where I was?"

"Miss Yuki pointed me to the room you were in," responded Zilu, lifting her face from his chest to look at him, "but... I got lost on the way."

"So how did you get lost?"

"Because all the hallways look the same, Master!"

Mark let out a short laugh.

"That makes sense."

Emilia, who stood a meter away, watched the scene with her eyes slightly open.

"Do you know her?" she asked, looking at Zilu who remained hugged to Mark’s waist.

"Yeah," responded Mark with a small smile. "She’s one of my subordinates."

"...I see."

Emilia observed them for several seconds without saying anything.

Zilu remained hugged to Mark’s waist, with her face resting against his chest, while he stroked her head so naturally that it was evident this wasn’t the first time he had done it.

Zilu’s ears moved gently under his hand, and she kept her eyes closed with an expression of complete contentment.

"Let’s go," said Mark, giving Zilu one last caress and gently separating from her.

Emilia blinked a couple of times, as if she had just come back to herself.

"O-of course!" she said, quickly turning toward the hallway. "This way."

The three continued walking through the palace hallways, with Zilu clinging to Mark’s arm while the queen guided them a few steps ahead.

Finally, Emilia stopped in front of a dark wooden door adorned with leaf carvings along the edges.

"We’re here," she said, turning toward Mark. "Please use this room."

"Thank you for guiding us..." responded Mark before looking at her with more seriousness. "Now go back to your chamber and help the others with everything you can. After all, it’s your mess they’re trying to fix."

Emilia lowered her gaze slightly.

"I’ll help them with everything possible... I promise."

"I hope so."

Mark opened the door and entered the room, and Zilu followed him almost immediately.

"W-wait!" said Emilia, raising a hand. "A-are you going to sleep together?!"

Both turned toward her, clearly surprised by the question.

"Huh? Yes..." responded Mark with obvious confusion. "Is there a problem with that?"

"W-well..." said Emilia, nervously joining the tips of her index fingers. "That probably wouldn’t be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"If anyone in the palace sees you together in the same room," explained Emilia, her cheeks slightly flushed, "even more rumors could arise than there already are..."

"..."

Mark fell silent for a moment.

And although he didn’t want to admit it, Emilia was right. The situation was already bad enough on its own, and if by the next day rumors started spreading that the new ruler had cheated on the queen with a beast-woman on his first night in the castle, everything would become even more problematic.

"...You’re right," conceded Mark, letting out a sigh. "Emilia, take Zilu to a room where she can rest."

"Of course!" she responded with a speed that Mark didn’t miss. "There are several free rooms in this same hallway."

Mark looked at Zilu, who clearly looked disappointed.

"Goodnight, Zilu."

"Goodnight, Master..." she responded in a low and somewhat sad voice.

Mark gave her one last caress on the head before closing the door.

Emilia and Zilu were left alone in front of the room, and for a few seconds, an uncomfortable silence settled between them.

"...Follow me" said the queen, turning around and beginning to walk down the hallway.