Chapter 340: The Apologies That Wouldn’t End And Absurd Punishments
Chapter 340: The Apologies That Wouldn’t End And Absurd Punishments
Elyn’s POV
I looked at Zorathys with narrowed eyes.
"Don’t even think about using that trick to avoid work."
"What trick?" he asked innocently.
"The one where you disguise yourself as a sword."
"I wasn’t thinking about it."
"You were."
"I wasn’t."
"You literally said, ’Perhaps I should try it.’"
"That was merely an observation."
"It was a plan."
"It was an academic discussion."
I gave him a flat look.
"What exactly is academic about pretending to be a sword so you don’t have to work?"
"It broadens one’s perspective."
"It broadens your opportunities to avoid work."
He shrugged lazily.
"I fail to see the problem."
I sighed and simply shook my head before turning toward the warriors.
"I’m sorry about what happened."
The effect was immediate.
Every Stone Demon within earshot froze.
Then, to my complete surprise, they hurried toward me so quickly that I instinctively took half a step back.
Before I could even wonder what was happening, they abruptly stopped several feet away, as though they had all remembered at the exact same moment that surrounding the Queen probably wasn’t the best idea.
They immediately stepped backward again, creating a respectful distance.
One particularly broad-shouldered warrior looked horrified.
"Your Majesty..."
He bowed so deeply I wondered if he intended to remain that way forever.
"Please don’t apologize."
Several others nodded so vigorously that I was mildly concerned for their necks.
"It was entirely our fault."
"We allowed ourselves to be affected by such a simple spell."
"We should have noticed immediately."
"We have shamed the Golemhold Territory."
Another warrior lowered his head.
"We sincerely apologize for our lack of discipline."
"...I was apologizing to all of you," I said to them, shock clouding my voice.
"And we respectfully reject it."
"...You reject my apology?" I asked them.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Respectfully."
"And with the greatest gratitude."
Another warrior nodded emphatically.
"It is we who should apologize."
One after another, they began apologizing.
Then apologizing for apologizing.
Then apologizing because they believed they hadn’t apologized properly the first time.
I looked helplessly toward Zorathys, which was probably a bad idea. I doubted he would even see anything wrong in what was going on. And did I mention he had absolutely no intention of helping me?
Instead, he looked mildly entertained and perhaps even filled with pride that these demons were apologizing to me like they feared for their lives.
Eventually, I raised both hands.
"Everyone..."
The warriors immediately fell silent at my voice.
"I’ve heard you. You don’t need to keep apologizing or apologizing for apologizing..." I paused. "Well, the point is I’ve heard your apology."
Several shoulders visibly relaxed.
"So... we’re all alright?" one asked.
"Yes."
"We are not going to lose our heads because we disrupted your outing?" one asked me.
I frowned, wondering where exactly that had come from because I did not remember saying I was going to make anyone lose their heads, neither had I insinuated it.
"No one is losing their heads," I told them.
They turned to each other, then back to me, then to Zorathys, and then back to me.
"So... we are not going to have our eyes taken and then sent to the deepest part of the most dangerous territory where the eyes will be crushed and then turned to venom, which will then be used against our enemies in the case a war starts, and then we’ll have to suffer the repercussions because once our eyes are used in war, it’ll affect us and we’ll shrivel up and die, losing all our senses one by one because we failed to take better care of the children and should have seen it coming that things would escalate?" another asked me.
What even was this? Why did that sound so specific?
"Um..." I began but was cut short by another speaking up.
"Or lose our limbs and be cursed to walk the earth with our bellies and only eat from the scraps of other demons’ plates, which, mind you, may be nothing but just the juice of food that they have eaten, and it isn’t even delicious to say the least, but we will have to cope with it because there’s nothing else we can do, and we’ll continue like that until our punishment is over, which could take centuries to be completed, and by then we would have lost all sense of taste and even hearing and become literal beggars who..."
"Enough," I said firmly, a suffocated smile on my face.
What even was this, and how were these punishments so specific? Had it been done to someone already?
"No one is getting punished for something that was beyond their control," I told them. "No one is losing an eye and then having said eye used in war, nor will anyone be punished to lick juices off plates. I already told you I accept your apology."
They paused, then they turned to each other again before turning back to me.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Have I made myself extremely clear?" I asked them.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Excellent," I said with a smile. "Then let’s leave it there."
Every warrior bowed once more.
"As you command."
That... had gone considerably better than I expected. At least, that is what I’m choosing to say, even though some of the things uttered by them were absolutely ridiculous, bordering on insanity.
But then again, this was the demon realm.
What wasn’t insane?
I shook my head once more and turned toward the children instead.
"Now gather up," I told them.
They quietly gathered around me. No one argued, nor did anyone utter a word of complaint.
I folded my arms and gave them all a stern look.
"Have you all forgotten what you promised me before we left the palace?"
I was met with silence, and they all looked down at the floor, their fingers intertwined.
Brixton’s ears reddened while Zayrion’s ears flopped down.