Work Text:
“Presenting Her Majesty, the Queen!”
“Lloyd Frontera and Javier Asrahan, lift up your gazes.”
When Lloyd, at her bidding, looked up, it was to lock gazes with intense emerald eyes.
“Lloyd Frontera,” she addressed him. He suppressed the chill that ran down his spine.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I am pleased to personally commend your heroic feats in Cremo City.” Frankly, Lloyd wished she would look at Javier for even a moment so they could stop the staring contest.
“I am honored, Your Majesty,” he replied, while internally cursing the whole pomp and circumstance. Time was money, and this wasn’t making him any!
“I have also heard of your extraordinary civil engineering knowledge.” A pause. “What is the most important construction project you could offer me?” The queen asked with a knowing smile.
Straight to the point, he appreciated that very much! He schooled his face and launched into his spiel. “It is my humble opinion that we urgently need to build a new bridge on the Magen River that flows through the whole capital.”
The queen’s expression didn’t show any signs of how she felt about his answer. Rather, she said, “I was hoping you would say air conditioning or water-based plumbing, but do explain as to why you chose the bridge.”
His breath hitched, and Lloyd could have sworn the corners of her lips rose higher.
Ahem. Lloyd finally took a moment to look away and recover. “Yes, Your Majesty. I heard that the bridge built on the Magena River crumbles quite regularly.”
From there on, the interaction proceeded smoothly and as well as he could have hoped. Still. Business aside, that didn’t mean he forgot about hearing Queen Alicia Termina Magentano speak casually of modern conveniences.
Right after bringing Julian back to their rooms to catch up with Javier, a servant came over and discreetly presented him with a royal summons. He didn’t even cast a look backwards. He was planning on eavesdropping on whatever the two would say about him, but having this conversation far away from sharpened ears was more important.
The servant led him to what seemed to be the queen’s office. Once the door shut, the Asrahan Core Technique allowed Lloyd to feel some sort of magic circle snap into place.
“Lloyd Frontera, have a seat,” the queen looked up from her papers to greet him. “It’s interesting to see that you’re not dead in a ditch.”
“I live to serve, Your Majesty.” Truly, what else could Lloyd say to that when both of them were holding their cards so tightly to their chests?
“In a pool of your own blood. From alcoholism, to clarify.” She added, still staring at him. “Oh, and the room is currently soundproofed.”
Lloyd released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “The knight of blood and iron,” he hazarded.
“A mutual… hmm, let’s say, acquaintance.” The queen confirmed, relaxing ever so slightly. Lloyd himself completely slumped down in the chair and ran a hand down his face.
“Oh my god,” he said out loud to nobody in particular.
“Now imagine how I felt when I received that letter from Count Cremo.” Their shared gaze now, was of understanding.
“Can I read it?”
“No.”
“Damn.”
“So… air conditioning?”
The queen glared at him, “You try wearing stuffy formalwear all the time where you’re constantly being judged for what you look like. Try swordfighting in this,” she gestured to her outfit.
“I mean, nobody’s making you wear the heeled boots,” he pointed out. If Lloyd had any lingering doubts, it was dispelled when the queen flipped him off. “Wow. Very mature.”
Ding dong.
RP with Julian? Nice. Very nice. There was only going up from here, RP-wise.
“You got a system message?”
“Julian’s finally starting to change his mind about me,” he cackled.
“…and that deserves a message, why?”
“I mean, I can use the RP to level up my skills,” he muttered. It sounded silly to say it out loud, but it had seriously saved his life multiple times.
Except, the queen’s next question made his eyes boggle. “What’s RP?”
Lloyd gaped, “Are you serious?”
Oh wow, that scowl rivaled Javier’s in iciness. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
“It stands for relationship points… when I improve my approval rating with certain people, I gain RP,” he explained. “You don’t…?”
“I don’t have RP,” she confirmed. “But I have IP instead, which levels up my skills as well.”
“IP? Intellectual property?” He waggled his eyebrows.
The queen rolled her eyes. “Impact points. For every influential achievement that changes history. Or the plot, maybe. I haven’t confirmed the last one yet.”
“Huh.” Lloyd crossed his arms as he laid back. In a way, that made sense for their characters’ roles in the story. Lloyd’s purpose was to be a bastard to everybody, and he didn’t need to explain the tyrannical queen. There was no purpose to measure her successes and plot deviation in terms of personal relationships.
“Anyway,” she interrupted his train of thought, “What do you mean, ‘change his mind’?”
“…that I’m no longer a drunken hooligan?” Lloyd could sense there was something more to the confusion that he wasn’t seeing.
“Which means that you were a drunken hooligan before,” the queen pointed a finger at him.
“Except it wasn’t actually me, you know…?”
The queen snapped in an aha! moment. “How long have you been Lloyd Frontera?”
“Like, a year and a half. How long have you been here?”
“This entire life.”
“Oh my god.” Just when Lloyd thought his brain couldn’t get upended any more. In contrast to anything else he could have said, what came out of his mouth was, “You’re old.”
“And your face is looking very punchable,” she tossed back.
For another long moment, they sat there, not Lloyd Frontera and reigning queen Alicia Termina Magentano, but not fully unmasked, either. Lloyd wondered if, given the recent revelations, he could deal with the Academy earlier than anticipated, but the mood wasn’t right for it. Plus, in any case, it would only be better for him to wait until after constructing the bridge.
“I’ll let you get back to your evening,” she waved a hand in the air. “Good night.”
“Good night,” he returned.
Once he was back in his room, where he could hear the warm voices of Julian, Javier, Ppodong, Bangul, and Hamang, he let that warmth buoy him through designing late into the night.
“I, Alicia Termina Magentano, declare henceforth:
“This historic landmark will be known as the LloJavi Bridge,” what was with that strangely smug look the queen shot him from the podium?? “And I hereby grant Lloyd Frontera the title of master craftsman.”
Her generous speech — both in prose and sweet, precious monetary rewards — continued to the backdrop of golems clomping across the bridge, a cheering crowd, and system notifications.
Once the ceremony ended, Lloyd forced his brain back into gear. The debt may be as good as paid, but Julian’s situation wasn’t dealt with. He motioned for Javier to wait a distance away and approached the stage.
Not quite blocking her path off the stage, he kneeled and spoke carefully, “Your Majesty, if I may speak with you about an important and sensitive matter.”
The queen let out a sigh, ever so slightly. “Stand up and speak plainly already.”
Lloyd cleared his throat, “Yes, Your Majesty. Are you perchance aware of my younger brother, Julian Frontera’s treatment at the Academy?”
The queen raised a brow, as if to ask what’s with the formalities, I told you to drop it. In return, he tried to telepathically communicate back that he couldn’t dare speak too casually to the queen in public.
She raised a gloved hand to partially cover an evil smile. “Ah. You want me to take care of it.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that exactly-”
“Considering what Count Cremo said of you, I thought you would be eager to hightail it out of the capital once the contract has been fulfilled. Especially since I have effectively paid you more than what was promised in the contract, not just monetarily.”
The queen looked at him expectantly.
Now it was Lloyd’s turn to sigh. “I’ve taken some measures myself, but. I would greatly appreciate it if Your Majesty could lend her aid with official and definitive action.”
“You would appreciate it, would you,” the cat tilted its head as it batted at the canary in its paws.
“This master builder is still but a provincial noble, from a humble barony no less. There is little I could offer Your Majesty that Your Highness couldn’t find elsewhere.” In other words, throw him a bone. Please.
“Your summons,” she answered promptly. “I would like to meet them.” Then, as his heartbeat resettled, she added, reluctantly, “If they are amenable.”
“Oh. Yeah, lemme just,” Lloyd checked his inner coat pocket.
“Ppo!”
“Bang!”
“Ha!”
The three of them happily popped their heads up in order. Had they practiced that?
“Alright you three, you heard Her Majesty.” They jumped into his hand. He looked at the queen. Was he supposed to…
Lloyd stretched his hand out. The queen raised hers close to his, waiting patiently. The three didn’t hesitate to jump into her hands, nuzzling them.
She brought them almost to eye level, smiling softly. “What are your names?”
After watching their exchange for a while — the creatures chittering in turns as the queen nodded along — Lloyd thought to ask, “Wait, you can understand them?”
“I have a special skill for foreign languages. Comes with the territory,” she hinted wryly. Ah, the challenges of royalty. Lloyd did not envy her.
“Hamamang?”
“No, I don’t have any summons myself. Frankly, I never knew such a thing was possible until I saw you three.”
The queen stared at Ppodong, Bangul, and Hamang so wistfully that Lloyd said, “You know, if the three of them want to explore the palace some more, they can stick with you until the banquet.” At that, the queen’s eyes snapped to him, then to his summons, then off to the side. Presumably, she didn’t want to pressure them.
As the three quickly agreed, Lloyd watched in real time as the queen floundered on whether she should continue to carry the summons in her hands or not.
“Do you have pockets somewhere?” he asked.
“Do I have pockets,” she snarked back.
“You’re wearing pants!” he threw back quietly.
“Do my pants have pockets,” she moved the summons up to stand on her shoulder decorations. “I’m the queen. Of course my pants have pockets.”
“Great. Good for you.” Why were they talking about this, again? “Um. See you later. Thanks again.”
Amused, the queen nodded and swept away, the motion regal looking even with a hamster, snake, and miniature hippo on her shoulder.
When he joined back with Javier, he ignored the other man’s questioning look and instead planned his strategy for the night.
“All hail Your Majesty, the rightful ruler of all the lands, the indomitable spirit, youngest swordmaster in all of history, the most generous and open-minded-”
“How long did you plan on continuing that?” the queen murmured, disturbed.
“This subject has no idea what Your Majesty could be referring to.”
The queen gave him the stink eye over the wine glass she sipped from. “Is that so.”
“It is.”
“Then, if you’re done-”
“No.”
“No?” A flash of irritation passed over her face.
“That is to say: no I’m not done, and if your benevolence permits, no I will not stay in the capital.”
“Tsk. I didn’t even say anything yet.” Yet, huh.
“But you were going to ask?” Lloyd confirmed. The queen’s downturned lips were the only answer she gave to that.
She let out a breath and placed her empty glass on a passing servant’s tray. “I can’t and won’t force you. Though I envy your position and wish for you to suffer as much as me,” Lloyd kept the smile pasted on his face, “I do wish you well in life. Of course, you are always welcome in the capital.”
“Words fall short of my gratitude to you, Your Majesty.”
A snort. “Would you like a dictionary?”
“Your Majesty’s kindness knows no bounds, truly.”
The corners of the queen’s lips quirked up. She cast a glance over the people gathered in the ballroom, though Lloyd couldn’t get a read on her expression. “I will retire for the night. May our paths cross again, in uneventful circumstances.”
Lloyd bowed, and listened to the queen walk away. Once he straightened, he made a beeline for the buffet table he had been avoiding until now. The reason being, if the queen caught him mid-bite, how else was he to stall?
In a fit of indulgence, Lloyd started with desserts, stacking cookies and small cakes on a plate. Just as he began tasting the selection — this was carrot cake! — he heard something that chilled him to the bone.
“The banquet will continue until the moon sets.”
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Lloyd’s eyes landed on Sir Kyle and the Great Lord Chamberlain. Not only that, but this was two and a half years ahead of schedule!
Lloyd gulped down the remainder of the cake in his mouth, tasting ash. The queen didn’t have an RP system. Did she have any idea that people in her inner circle were conspiring against her?
Honestly, Lloyd wished he could just pretend he didn’t hear anything. The queen had already cleaned up the Academy and delivered his summons to his quarters shortly before the banquet began. Moreover, she may not even become a murderous tyrant, and the most important of them all, he had already been paid!
But the fact that events were occurring differently than the plot meant there had to be a reason. Whether Lloyd or the queen was the reason didn’t matter. What mattered was that there was no guarantee that the queen would even make it through the night alive. What if the method wasn’t even poison? There were too many variables at play, and one way or another, the queen’s wellbeing would have ripple effects on Lloyd’s own life.
Even with Javier at his side, he couldn’t help but be wary of their chances. If Javier were also a swordmaster, the lack of a sword wouldn’t matter. But as it was, he was not, and was also unarmed. Still. Failure was not an option, here.
Once he voiced that concern, Javier armed himself with a candlestick off the wall. Well, alright.
It was a good thing that he did, because Javier jumped into action immediately upon entering the queen’s rest area. Wordlessly, Lloyd gave the two swordsmen space and ushered the queen into a corner behind a table.
“Poison?” he asked quietly.
The queen nodded, sweat dripping from her brows, and spoke through gritted teeth, “I don’t want to lose my arm, damnit.” Then she grabbed her sword, and before Lloyd could even think of reacting, threw it to Javier, who caught it neatly, even with his left hand.
“Guess that’s not an option anymore, even if you wanted to,” Lloyd joked grimly. “Now, let’s see… Safety first.”
Clear the area and reduce the chances of collateral damage. Lloyd’s gaze met Javier’s for a split second, and they both nodded. Lloyd sent a mana blast at Sir Kyle’s unsuspecting back, blasting him out into the hallway.
“Your Majesty, may I?” At her tense nod, Lloyd inspected her mana system. Four mana circles were circling her manaheart, quarantining the poison within its confines. All she had to do was expel the poison now that she wasn’t fighting for her life on two fronts. That she hadn’t yet… “Are you having trouble expelling the poison?”
“It’s stuck to the mana circles.”
Lloyd swore under his breath. He would have suggested mana blasts, which the queen no doubt knew how to do, except her status as a swordmaster meant her mana was nigh inexhaustible. His brain worked in overdrive.
The queen held up a hand in a gesture to wait. “I have poison resistance. But its level is not that high, so it will take time and concentration to burn it all off.”
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked. He didn’t even entertain the idea of going into the hallway to back Javier up. The most helpful thing Lloyd could do for that guy was get out of the way and not be another person to worry about.
“This isn’t what I meant when I said I wanted you to share my suffering,” the queen shook her head.
“You can spare the focus to joke?”
“Shut up.”
“Shutting up.”
“Talk about the worst party of my life.” The queen slumped further against the wall. “How did you know to come here?”
“I thought I was supposed to shut up,” Lloyd began, and stopped at her withering glare. “I overheard Sir Kyle tell Great Lord Chamberlain that the banquet would continue until the moon set.”
The queen’s lip curled into a snarl. “Not just Sir Kyle, but Great Lord Chamberlain too?” Lloyd nodded solemnly. So the queen had no idea at all. The situation sent shivers down his spine. No wonder why the queen in the novel, after this sudden betrayal, became paranoid and cruel.
“You would have had no way of knowing,” he tried to comfort her.
“I wrote this godforsaken world,” she burst out.
He let those words settle between the two of them like heavy rainfall. In a high-pitched voice, he finally said, “Then??”
“I was in middle school,” she admitted. “I alluded to a mysterious main conspirator and their elusive ways because I didn’t have a clue either.”
The Knight of Blood and Iron was written by a teenager.
The queen wrapped her arms around her knees and mumbled, “I miss Cheong-unnie.”
Lloyd turned his head away. That wasn’t meant for him to hear. There was no clock in the room, but he swore he could hear time ticking away regardless.
It could have been a few hours or a few minutes later when the queen said, “It’s over,” and tried to stand up. Lloyd offered her a hand; she took it and sent him a look of thanks.
“Are you alright to move?” he asked her, casting his gaze to the doors. The queen allowed him to sling one of her arms over his shoulder to assist her.
“Worried about him?” she asked. Lloyd didn’t respond with words, only nodded. “If this were still just a novel I wrote, I would tell you that of course he’ll make it out alive and stronger, despite the odds. Seeing him in person, though…”
Lloyd waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. Instead, she said, “I’m slowing us down. Can you carry me on your back?”
“Of course.”