The King's Beloved

The three women shot glares at each other. Nefastus, who was standing, looked down at Azalea and Selena who sat at the bench near the fountain. After hearing what she said, Selena's face quickly shifted into a scowl while Azalea remained calm, except her eyes didn't leave Nefastus'.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know," Selena told Nefastus sarcastically. 

Nefastus raised her right hand, gesturing Selena to shut up, and turned to Azalea. Selena felt offended and was about to yell at her when Azalea held her hand, asking her to stop.

"Hmf! Don't think for a moment that you've won since you're crowned as a queen," Nefastus scoffed and taunted Azalea. "In the future, there will be no you and the king because 'I' will replace you," she said as she pointed at herself. "You are nothing but a mere human whose only use is to be a tool for childbirth! So don't go dreaming about the king falling in love with you! That is simply impossible! As for me, we have shared our childhood together. I know everything there is to know about him. We're a LOT closer than you are".

At this remark, Selena stood up, crossed her arms and shot death glares towards Nefastus. She couldn't just stand by and watch her mock Azalea and the whole humanity.

"Oh yeah?" Selena barked back. "And where did your closeness get you? Did it give you a crown? Did it give you the title of a queen?" she mocked her. "If you're really that close, he could have made you queen instead and just make us, 'mere' humans, as what you said - a tool for childbirth. But no, your king didn't do that! I wonder why? And shame on you, you've been with him since childhood and you still didn't manage to win him over. Another mystery! I hope I don't need to spell that out for you".

Nefastus felt her blood boil as she listened to all the things Selena just said.

Azalea was shocked to hear Selena fight back. She sprang up to her feet and tried to stop Selena from saying anymore. She remembered Nefastus as a Magi filled with bloodlust. When she first met Rania, she told her that Nefastus was the one who killed her fiancé.

"Selena, don't anger her. It's dangerous," Azalea whispered to her ears.

But Nefastus' anger was filled to the brim. Just as Azalea predicted, her eyes were now filled with bloodlust. Her dark green eyes fixed itself on Selena, completely ignoring Azalea's presence.

"How … dare … you!" Nefastus roared in her anger and a strong gust of wind blew hard in the air. She released a high amount of her spiritual aura and the impact produced the wind. "A mere human, talking back to ME?! You piece of trash! DIE!!!" She shouted with all her might.

Alas, Nefastus lifted her hands high above the air and conjured hundreds of ice spears, all pointing towards Selena.

"You think just because you're the wife of a Judge, I won't harm you?" Nefastus yelled, "Well, today is the day you'll die because of your arrogance!"

Azalea quickly grabbed Selena's hands and pulled her to run away.

But … she was too late. Nefastus already released the hundred ice spears!

Pshooook! Pshoooook! Phooooosk!

In a blink of an eye, the ice spears attacked them. 

Frozen mist and smoke covered the whole place.

An evil and triumphant smile could be seen from Nefastus' face.

"Ha ha ha ha! This is what you get when you fight me! Stupid humans!" she laughed devilishly and her voice echoed throughout the gardens.

When the smoke cleared out, it revealed the destroyed stone pavements, fountain, bench, flowerfield, and … a thick wall of ice!

"W-what?" Nefastus was bewildered. "I didn't create an ice wall, how -"

Then,the ice wall crumbled and spiritual energies were released in the air like snow glitters. Behind it, stood Selena and Azalea unharmed.

"Hmf!" Selena scoffed and raised her eyebrows. "Is that it?" she mocked her yet again, "The powers you brag so much about? The powers that were the only difference between a human and a Magi? Doesn't seem so scary to me". Her face spelled 'smug' all over.

Nefastus' lips trembled. "I-Impossible! How in the world?" she pondered over and over but it was simply impossible for a human to conjure magic. In her mind she asked herself, "Did she use a magical tool?" but surveying her whole body, she didn't find any. "Or … or … Did Clavis give her an enchantment or a charm in her body?" putting spiritual energy in her eyes, she didn't find any charms.

But there was one thing she saw instead …

Spiritual energies, flowing in Selena's body!

"T-this cannot be!" Nefastus shouted again and conjured magic to attack Selena once more. She couldn't believe what she was seeing and in her desperation to prove it wrong, she cast different elemental magic and threw them all to Selena's direction.

However, this time, Selena didn't just stand by and let herself be attacked again.

"Stop," Selena commanded and the whole garden halted.

No leaves, or water, or Nefastus' magic, and Nefastus herself, moved at all. Only Selena and Azalea could move in that space.

Azalea gaped as she watched Selena fight off Nefastus so easily. She herself wanted to know how she acquired magic and how she was able to use it. It hasn't been that long since they last met, and there was already so much change she was seeing with her.

With her arms still crossed, Selena, too, released her spiritual aura. Compared to Nefastus', hers was way wilder and powerful to the point that it blew Nefastus' body far away from them, along with the many elemental magic she cast towards them. Now, it backfired and landed on her immobile body instead, giving her severe injuries in the process.

"ARRRGGHH!!!" Nefastus screamed loud as her body experienced excruciating pain from the injuries she received. 

Wind blades, earth spikes, ice spears, and many other elements, landed unto her without being able to defend herself. Blood gushed out of her wounds. She breathed heavily afterwards, and tried to rationalize what just happened.

"How can she use magic? And not just any magic! TIME! She can control time!" Nefastus trembled at the thought. "T-that's … only Clavis and Illuminaire can do that! Those blessed by the spiritual essence of the Guardian of Time and Space! But how can she do it? A puny mortal?!"

While she was busy organizing her thoughts, Selena moved closer to Azalea and patted her back.

"Are you alright?" Selena asked, her face frowned in worry. "The human body can't endure concentrated amounts of spiritual energies. Do you feel pain anywhere?"

Azalea shook her head. "I … I'm fine," she exhaled, "The king … he ahm, cast a charm on my body since I'm always exposed to high ranking Magi while doing my duty. Maybe … that's why - but wait," she tried answering Selena but her curiosity got a hold of her tongue, "How can you use magic? You're a human, too, right?" 

Selena grinned at her, "Of course I am!"

"Then, how?"

"Shhhh …," Selena placed her forefinger on her lips, "It's a secret for now. What's important is that I've decided to protect you!" she declared, "So just let me know if anyone is troubling you and I will come immediately!'

Hearing her confident words, Azalea breathed deeply and smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you. But not because you have magic, you'll be careless and start a fight, okay? Use it to protect people instead".

"Yeah, yeah, I will," Selena nodded. "While I do that, just continue being an amazing queen. You're our hope after all".

"Huh? Hope?" Azalea was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Selena's expression turned serious.

"Hope … in freeing our planet from them … You're the queen. You can gain the favor of the king and convince him".

Azalea's eyes widened. "Is this … what you all expect from me?"

Selena sighed deeply. "For me, I'm good with staying with my husband. I love him and his family treats me well. But for the rest of the candidates, and the rest of humanity, that is not the case. Not everyone is lucky enough to end up in a warm household".

At these words, Azalea lowered her eyes. She remembered her last night in her old house - in Tetartos. She was reminded of how most of the girls there would cry themselves at night from missing their families … especially Daisy, the youngest of them.

She was reminded of their first day in Floating Kingdom, too - how everyone was devastated and traumatized by the sudden events.

Also the time when they got trained to various customs and laws of the Magi …

The time when they were tested at the banquet …

And the time when she heard news of Rania dying …

One by one, memories came flooding in Azalea's mind.

Raising her head, Azalea looked back at Selena.

"You're right. I am the queen. Not only of Magi but also of humans," Azalea mumbled to herself. "It's time that I start acting like one".

At last, the fire of burning passion lit up in her eyes once more.

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