Chapter 34

Third Person’s POV

“Now then,” Lena said evenly as she laid several documents across the long council table, sliding two neatly stacked sets toward the men before her. “Here are the assignments I have prepared.”

The room was quiet save for the faint rustle of parchment and the distant echo of guards shifting outside the doors.

Duke Christian stood tall at the head of the table, posture immaculate as always, while Major General Jayden remained at attention beside him.

“Jayden,” Lena continued, turning slightly toward the general, “take Piolo, Paolo, and a selected unit of your men to reinforce the northern border. The surveillance towers will require more time before completion. Until then, patrol frequency must increase. I want no blind spots.”

Jayden accepted the documents with a firm nod. “Understood, Your Highness.”

“Duke Christian,” Lena went on, handing him the remaining stack, “continue the palace knights’ advanced training alongside Commander Alric. We cannot afford complacency within the capital—”

“Your Highness.” Christian’s interruption was smooth but deliberate.

Lena paused, faint surprise crossing her features. “Hmm?”

The duke’s expression had hardened, though his tone remained measured. “Forgive my boldness, but is it truly your intention to entrust the entirety of Tungsten’s rehabilitation to that young lady?”

The temperature in the room seemed to dip.

Lena did not answer immediately.

Christian remained perfectly upright, hands resting at his sides, but the crease between his brows betrayed his disapproval. “The task before Tungsten is not a minor administrative endeavor. It involves resource allocation, structural reconstruction, economic stabilization, and military oversight. It is not an undertaking suited for someone with… limited background.”

He inhaled slowly, choosing his next words with visible care.

“She is, by her own account, a noblewoman raised in a provincial town. That alone would make such responsibility ambitious.”

His gaze sharpened slightly.

“And furthermore,” he added, “I have received information from Commander Alric that the lady in question spent nearly a decade as the Ducaines’ captive… serving them in a less than honorable capacity.”

Lena’s jaw tightened faintly, though she remained silent.

Christian continued, his voice still respectful but undeniably firm. “Your Highness, I do not question your judgment lightly. However, the others will not overlook such details. Her history and her sudden rise in authority will invite scrutiny.”

His eyes lifted fully to meet Lena’s.

“Are you certain this is a risk you wish to take?”

Lena’s expression hardened the moment her father revealed how deeply he had already investigated Miu.

Of course he had.

Duke Christian had never been a man who tolerated uncertainty. If there was information to be uncovered, he would have unearthed it within an instant.

Lena had expected scrutiny. She had not expected it to surface this quickly.

“Those… are her past,” Lena said at last, her voice cooling noticeably.

She leaned forward, both hands braced against her study table. The polished wood reflected the tension in her posture, rigid but controlled.

Christian did not hesitate. “Do you possess proof that she is no longer affiliated with the Ducaines?”

The question struck with surgical precision.

“Proof?” Lena exhaled quietly. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, gathering her thoughts, before lifting her gaze back to him. “No concrete evidence.”

A pause lingered.

“It is… a hunch.”

The air in the room stilled.

Jayden, standing slightly beside the duke, stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Christian, however, did not mask his reaction. Lena could see it—the slow, rising anger beneath his composed exterior.

“A hunch?” His voice sharpened, disbelief bleeding through his restraint. “You stake matters of state security on a hunch?”

“Father—”

“You do not take such matters lightly, Lena.”

The formal distance between them fractured in an instant. The man standing before her was no longer merely the Duke addressing his Queen. He was a father confronting his daughter.

“The kingdom is still fragile,” Christian continued, his voice rising despite himself. “We have enemies beyond our borders and instability within them. What will you do if this woman harbors ulterior motives? If her presence here is deliberate?”

His hands tightened at his sides.

“And if her history becomes public knowledge?” he pressed. “A decade in Ducaine custody. Serving them as an escort. Do you understand what that revelation would do? The trust of the people—your knights—your court—will fracture.”

Lena did not interrupt him.

She stood upright now, no longer leaning against the desk, meeting his anger with steady composure.

“Moreover,” Christian added, his voice lowering but no less intense, “I will not have you entangle yourself further with her. You are no longer just a noblewoman free to indulge personal attachments. You are now a royalty. You are the sovereign of Elysia.”

The words hung heavy in the chamber.

“Do not forget your position.”

When he finished, Christian drew a slow breath, visibly forcing himself back into control. The outburst faded from his expression, replaced by the familiar discipline of a duke addressing his monarch.

But the concern in his eyes remained.

Lena did not look away.

The study fell into a heavy, almost tangible silence. Lena stared at her father, her expression unreadable, the weight of her next words pressing against her chest.

“Ha…” She finally exhaled, letting the sound carry the sharp edge of defiance. She reached for her chair and sank into it, crossing her hands over her lap.

“Father… Aren’t you a bit mistaken about something?” Her voice was calm, deliberate, almost teasing, but carried the kind of authority that made Christian pause.

“Pardon?” His brow furrowed, eyes narrowing as he tried to catch her meaning.

“As it stands,” Lena continued, tilting her head slightly and lowering her gaze to her clasped hands, “I am merely a noblewoman who happened to be bestowed with the title of Queen. I am no royalty, father. At least… not by blood.”

The words hit the room like a cool wind, brushing over Christian’s carefully maintained composure. His jaw clenched, the rigid lines of control wavering for the briefest moment.

“The person with the royal blood you speak of,” Lena’s voice hardened just enough to make him shiver inwardly, “has been dead for quite some time now.”

She lifted her eyes to meet his, unflinching, almost daring him to challenge her. “That’s something you’re fully aware of, Father.”

Christian’s hand curled into a fist at his side. He knew the weight of her words, the history behind them, and the memories she had kept locked away.

Since the rebellion, Lena had carried that memory like a quiet flame, a constant reminder of the one she had lost. It was a thread that had tethered her through every struggle, every impossible choice.

And Christian knew exactly who she meant.

He inhaled sharply, the lines around his eyes deepening, realizing that no argument, no decree, could sever the bond between his daughter and that memory.

Lena was as much shaped by that loss as she was by the crown he had handed her. And for the first time in years, he felt the true weight of her conviction staring him down across the room.

Lena’s words hung in the room, sharp and unyielding. The air itself seemed to stiffen as she leaned back slightly in her chair, eyes narrowing with a quiet ferocity.

“…And I trust my instincts,” she finally said, her voice low but firm. “Miu is not someone who would plot against me.”

A deep sigh escaped her as she turned the chair toward the window, letting the light spill across the floorboards and briefly soften the lines of tension on her face.

“However,” she continued, voice calm but edged with warning, “you’re probably not going to be the last to suspect her once Miu’s past begins to circulate the palace.”

Christian’s eyes flicked toward her, sharp with concern, but Lena was already rising from her seat, her movements measured, deliberate. She faced him fully, her gaze hard and unshakable.

“So I want both of you to tell our men,” she said, every word deliberate, “that if false rumors harm the truth of Miu’s past before my own investigation with the Ducaines even ends…”

Her voice dropped, chilling in its precision. “I will take it as an insult to my royal guest,” she said, her tone now cutting, “and personally have their tongues cut clean from their mouths.”

The room went still. Christian and Jayden froze, the weight of her presence pressing down on them like iron.

In that moment, they weren’t facing a daughter or a subordinate—they were facing the Queen of Elysia, resolute and untouchable.

“See to it that all of the palace’s men are made aware of that. Is that clear?” Lena’s voice carried across the study like a sword, absolute and unwavering.

In perfect unison, Christian and Jayden bent at the waist, deep, precise, and unhesitant.

“Yes! Your Highness!” Their voices rang with the authority she demanded, and for the first time in the conversation, the air felt utterly hers.