Chapter 43: The Efreet Princess
Shortly after the council has ended, Stefanie dismissed herself before she made her way for the castle's terrace, overlooking the beautiful city of Benice, one of the few cities to still be shinning brightly once the sun disappears.
After the short burst of euphoric joy at the end of the council, Stefanie decided to simply relax by enjoying the nighttime spectacle.
Lights made by the braziers spread across the city almost rivalled the lights made by the stars in the sky while the sounds of merchants and traders engaged in business and commerce could be slightly heard in the background.
This sight reminded Stefanie of her kingdom's capital city, Karkow which similarly to Benice also had a lively nightlife.
Perhaps, it reminded her too much of Karkow.
Soon, Stefanie felt some joyful tears form in her eyes while a smile grew on her face as she reminisced in her moments back in Porrand.
"Damn... those... those were good times... everything was just right..."
However, these feeling of nostalgic happiness was quickly replaced by bitter contempt as she moved on from her sweet nostalgic memories to her newer recent memories of pain and anguish.
"Those damned despicable demons..."
Within moments, Stefanie subconsciously grasped the hilt of her sword. The same sword that was gifted to her by her father. In a low voice, Stefani started to strengthen her resolve.
"Don't worry father. I will avenge you."
As Stefanie said this, she turned her gaze away from the city and towards the northern stars.
"I will avenge our people. Even if it means the death of me. That much I can promise."
"So it would seem that the resolve you have shown during the council wasn't purely just for show. You truly believe in what you are doing..."
Although Stefanie was hoping to enjoy this night by herself, it would seem that her wish would not be granted. After sighing to herself, Stefanie turned to glance at the owner of the voice who spoke up behind her before proceeding to answer him.
Judging from the man's outfit and choice of accessories, Stefanie guessed that he should be a noble who hailed from the Fench empire.
"Of course I do. I can't possibly imagine doing anything less. Otherwise how else could I possibly hope to return to my homeland without a heavy burden in my heart? Either I return triumphantly or I don't return at all."
The man only nodded before he went to ask Stefanie a question.
"And what do you plan to do with the Drussian invaders once you successfully returned to Porrand and liberated it from their grasps?"
Stefanie didn't know why, but for some reason this man irritated her. After a short moment passed, she answered the man's question.
"I will do whatever I see fit. The pope has given me the ability command the crusade with complete and utter impunity as the crusade's leader. If you seek to live a long life, then I suggest that you don't bar my way."
"It seems you misunderstood. You have my full support for your crusade. I cannot allow for the Imperium of Drussia to continue to persist."
Stefanie's eyebrows rose in confusion in response to the man's answer.
"Cannot allow the Imperium to continue to persist? What do you mean by that?"
"Allow me to explain."
The man kept his calm composure as he spoke. He didn't seem overbearing nor did he appear timid.
"The Imperium is built on the foundation of xenophobia. This much is common knowledge. However, there is more to their ideology than they are letting on, my spies told me that one of the Imperium's core tenets revolve around how all Drussians need to unite to combat their foreign enemies."
The man sighed solemnly before he continued.
"The existence of such a nation which adheres to such principles would threaten not only katholic interests within the continent but the stability of the continent as a whole. You may not know this, but their incursion of Porrand was only the beginning... who knows what they will do next."
The more the man spoke, the more that Stefanie understood his intentions.
"Thus the Imperium must be promptly eliminated lest we suffer the catastrophic consequences... As a noble it is my duty to preserve the future of my people but my current circumstances limit my ability to do anything meaningful to the Imperium... as such..."
"You need someone else to do it for you. Worry not. I assure you that with this new army, I will crush the Drussians and I will skewer their emperor's head onto a pike!"
The man nodded in response to Stefanie.
"I just wanted to check the depths of your resolve. I cannot afford for the leader of this crusade to succeed in defeating the Drussians only for them to falter at the end. That's if you even succeed in the first place..."
Stefanie felt her jaw drop in awe when she heard the man's answer. She just could not believe that someone, nobleborn they may be may show even the slightest bit of disrespect to her; Stefanie Geinen Naftes, a to-be queen of a great kingdom.
"You... you da-"
"You seem to share the same traits as your father. Brash. Reckless. Foolish. Actually... I would say that you're even worse than your father. And look where he is now?"
If Stefanie's anger was only a small flame of a candle before, then now it would be sufficient to say her anger has become a blazing inferno that consumed everything in its path.
In fact her heart was filled with complete, pure, unadulterated rage which was only barely being kept in check by her years of noble conditioning which taught her how a princess ought to act.
And yet, even then, it was still not enough.
Soon her previously calm demeanour was quickly replaced with unrelenting rage as she shouted at the top of her lungs at the man.
"How impudent!!! How dare you! HOW DARE YOU! You're lucky that I have other, much more important matters to deal with rather than you!"
Although Stefanie's rage has only barely subsided, she quickly quietened down to her regular volume of voice yet she made sure that she kept her commanding and domineering tone and aura.
"The next time you insult me, or my father or my kingdom, I can promise you that I will not be so forgiving."
What followed after was a brief moment of silence as the man continued to blankly stare at Stefanie, his composure completely unfazed by her threats. Unable to tolerate the silence and insolence, Stefanie once again found herself shouting in anger.
"Well aren't you going to say something?! At least apologise for your insolence!"
However, to Stefanie's chagrin, she received no response from the man.
"How insolent can a person be... Don't you dar-"
"Your highness, we have received more news from the north! We need to discuss things with you urgently!"
Before Stefanie could fully reprimand the man for his impudence, she was instead interrupted by a rare female knight who apparently had important news to tell her.
"It appears that you are needed elsewhere. No matter, I no longer have anything else to discuss with you... May God bless you on your endeavours."
After bidding Stefanie farewell, the man turned his back towards Stefanie before he then proceeded to leave.
"Wait!"
Just before he could leave however, he was stopped by Stefanie's shout.
"You can't just leave after the impudence you just displayed! I am princess Stefanie Geinen Naftes! Soon to be monarch of the Kingdom of Porrand! I demand you to tell me your name!"
The man stood in silence for a moment before he turned his head to catch a glimpse of Stefanie out of the corner of his eyes as he answered her.
"Alexandre Girard Erdnaxela."
"Once I am done with the Imperium I promise you I will make you understand the consequences of your insolence."
The man's only response to Stefanie was to continue staring blankly at her out of the corner of his eye before he answered in a seemingly uncaring voice.
"That is noted."
Before he left.
Stefanie couldn't stop herself from gritting her teeth together in anger, this 'Alexandre' has truly left a bad taste in her mouth.
However, this does absolutely nothing to change her goals.
After calming down, Stefanie remembered the knight that appeared before her. If she remembered correctly then this knight's name was 'De.'
"I believe that you said that you had news for me?"
In response, De made a short bow before she answered in a somewhat nervous voice.
"Ah yes. The... the situation in Porrand has... well it has changed..."
"How so?"
When De was questioned by Stefanie, she looked around nervously before she answered with an anxious voice.
"Well... I suggest that we return to our private quarters before we-"
"Answer my damn question!"
Although De was shocked by Stefanie's sudden outburst, she still forced herself to answer Stefanie after nervously gulping.
"The Porrish nobles that we left in Porrand... They reached a consensus with the Durssians without your authority."
"WHAT!? What did they do?!"
Without even knowing it, Stefanie grabbed De by the collar. With a slight look of fear in her eyes, De once again forced herself to answer Stefanie.
"They agreed to cede half of Porrand to Drussia and for what remained of the Kingdom of Porrand to become a protectorate to the Imperium of Drussia..."
In sheer disbelief of what she just heard, Stefanie was left almost completely speechless.
"Those treacherous..."
When De saw Stefanie's expression, a sort of concerned expression on her face replaced the glint of fear in her eyes as she questioned Stefanie.
"Your highness... Are you alri-"
"Traitors! All of them! Traitors!"
However, Stefanie quickly made it obvious that she was not alright. Soon, all the anger kept deep within Stefanie's heart has broken forth, quickly becoming a display of unadulterated rage and fury as she once again screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Damn them all! I'll kill them! After I destroy that damned Imperium I'll kill them! I'LL KILL THEM ALL!"
Astonished by Stefanie's sudden mood change, De attempted to handle the situation.
"Your highness, this is not the moment to lose yourself to your temper. Please remember what yo-"
"I'll kill them all! AaaaaAAAAaaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaAaAhHhHhhhHHHH!"
Although De tried her best, her attempts quickly proved to be futile as she was ignored and interrupted by Stefanie.
Stefanie can truly no longer contain her anger anymore.
After all, this was supposed to be her moment of triumph.
She succeeded in her first mission of uniting an army strong enough to liberate Porrand.
She was supposed to be joyful.
So why did things have to take a turn for the worst?
Now Stefanie's heart was seethed with rage as she had to deal with two headaches in a row.
The former was a minor insolent fench fool that she could deal with later while the latter is a large assortment of treacherous nobles that she couldn't believe that she or her father trusted.
Soon, the tranquil atmosphere of the city of Benice was pierced by the furious shrieks of a screaming banshee.
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