With the help of the newly liberated Arachne, convincing the dark elves was fairly easy. With both the dark and light elves convinced it wasn't hard to also convince the wood and twilight elves as well. After all of that was done the party left with Arachne staying to restore her temple and keep an eye on the dark elves. Taking a ferry, the party was finally heading back to Bramble after months away. During the trip home, Racknar insisted on being left alone the entire time. Once in Bramble he didn't speak as they made their way from the port town to Camelot Castle and even remained silent the way into the castle.

  They didn't go to Londinium first to report in as originally planned and once at the Castle Racknar went straight to his room. Davy scratched his head as the group watched Racknar power walk to his room. “What's gotten into him?” Marionette shrugged. “He's been acting weird ever since the temple. I don't think it had anything to do with Rek bringing the goblins and other citizens of Camelot to deal with servants heading for the temple to keep them off us because it started as soon as Lolith was gone. Something during the fight must have set him off.”

  Krys'tal hummed. “Do you think it had something to do with ripping his arms off and letting another entity pilot his body?” Ariagoria shook her head. “Remember during the fight when he got so angry his flames and chitin changed color? I think that was when it started. Lolith threatened to chop off his limbs, tie him up, and use him like a living sex doll. For some reason that set him off the deep end.” Marionette sighed sadly. “Maybe Elizabeth knows something. Let's call her on our messenger orbs.” The group nodded in agreement as they made their way into the castle lobby.

  Leonardo was there looking extremely befuddled. “Did the mission not go well?” Ariagoria sighed. “The mission went better than expected, Leo. We got everyone onboard, killed Lolith, and restored Arachne. Something during the fight with Lolith set him off. Honestly I'm happy he's more in touch with his emotions because not feeling them was unhealthy but man is it a bummer to see him all out of sorts like that.” Leonardo brushed his hand through his humble beard. “Well things here at the castle have been relatively smooth minus a chunk of our defense force running off. I'm assuming they'll be back sometime later since they couldn't take the ferry.”

  Ariagoria nodded. “Yeah, I told them to meet us here. I thought we were going to report to Londinium first but I guess Racknar needs time to… sort through his emotions.” Ariagoria sat down on a couch and called up Elizabeth on her orb. Elizabeth's face showed up on it after a while. “Hey Charity. Something up? Normally Racknar is the one that calls. Did the last mission go well?” Ariagoria nodded. “Lolith is dead, Arachne is back, dark elves are onboard. Everything went well but Racknar is an emotional mess.”

  Elizabeth sighed. “Okay, walk me through it.” Ariagoria gave a nod. “He went super berserk after Lolith threatened to literally disarm him into being a paraplegic bean before tying him up to use for her own sexual gratification and the creation of offspring.” Elizabeth went pale. “Ah, I see. Well just let Racknar have his space and I'll be right there. It seems he had something of a PTSD episode. I won't explain further. I'll be there in fifteen minutes or so.” Elizabeth then hung up. Ariagoria simply blinked in confusion. “Okay then.”

  The party sipped tea and ate snacks for a while when Elizabeth came rolling in wearing extremely regal looking robes. “I got here as soon as I could. I'm going to need some black tea with a touch of milk, some cinnamon rolls, and to change into something less valuable while that's made.” Leonardo sighed. “I'll get right on that and hand everything to Mari who'll join you in what I assume is an attempt to comfort Racknar.” Leonardo got to work ordering the drinks and snacks and came out as Rek entered to report the support squad was back before heading back out to lead the local goblins.

  Leonardo blinked. “It feels like we have too much going on right now.” Elizabeth returned in white sundress made of sky-silk. “The cinnamon rolls and tea ready? I would have asked for coffee but remembered that Racknar can't have highly caffeinated beverages anymore. I'm only getting him buzzed, not sloshed.” Davy looked confused for a moment before it hit him. “Oh! Because caffeine affects spiders differently. I forgot about that.” Elizabeth nodded as she took one plate and Marionette took the other. Together they made their way to Racknar's room.

  Elizabeth knocked on the door to no response at first. Then Elizabeth called out into the room from outside. “I've got black tea and cinnamon rolls.” After a moment of silence Racknar's voice weakly gives them permission to enter. The two enter to see Racknar sitting in a corner facing the wall. He slowly slid himself to the bed before grabbing and nibbling at a cinnamon roll. “I'm sorry I've been… off lately. I know what happened to me inside the crown wasn't real, but it felt real.” Marionette tilted her head. “I don't get it. I thought the crown created a prison by giving the wearer what they wanted and what made them happy.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “But Racknar doesn't really want anything for himself. His main desire is to see other people happy, even if he's miserable. He spent so much of his past life thinking he'd never feel happy that he gave up on trying. Instead he worked for the sake of others because he thought maybe making others happy would in turn give him some semblance of happiness. Only it kinda backfired. No one was ever really grateful for his efforts and it only made him more miserable. The only person who ever seemed to appreciate him was myself.”

  Marionette offered a single nod of understanding as Racknar grabbed and sipped tea. “I offered myself to the head demon lord under an agreement that for as long as I lived no demon from hell could invade the mortal world. They could torture me all they wanted but not kill me or allow me to die from inaction. Since my body no longer ages normally, I'm effectively immortal. I was tortured for a thousand years, given to Asmodeus who kept me as a limbless sex toy. The children produced were used to take over the other outer realms like Celesta with survivors being used as breeding stock. Eventually they couldn't be considered demons as I knew them and weren't born of hell.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “That allowed them to use a loophole to invade Mortalus. Thanks to the time difference between realms, only three years and three months would have passed here. He was forced to watch as we and the happiness we got were destroyed in front of him.” Marionette rubbed on her face in shock. “Oh god, that's horrible. Though it is a bit strange that after not being able to both give him what he wanted and make him happy that the crown would resort to creating a nightmare reality.” Racknar nodded slowly as he nibbled on cinnamon rolls and sipped tea. “Y-yeah.”

  Racknar started eating faster before downing the entire pot of tea in short order. “You should have brought me coffee. A light buzz just isn't enough right now.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I'm not going to sit here and let you destroy yourself as I watch.” Tears started streaming down Racknar's face as he flopped into the bed. “But why? What did I ever do to deserve your friendship? I was broken, even before we met. Since then I've only been broken more. Why in the hell would you ever want or be interested in someone like me? You deserve better.”

  Elizabeth started rubbing Racknar's back. “Racknar… no, Jon. I've loved you for a long time. You were always so strong, at least in character. You always stood for what you believed and got up no matter how bad you got beaten. I never saw you as broken. I saw you as a knight, one whose armor was his conviction, forged in the fires of hardship. Sure, I may not have understood my feelings or what kind of love I had for you, but I've had a very long time to think about it.” Elizabeth grabbed and lifted his head before giving him a kiss on the mandibles. “I know you're not ready, and that's okay. I've already waited for a lifetime.”

  Marionette also went in, pressing her non-existent lips to his. “I'm also here and care for you Racknar. Though… maybe not as much or for as long. How about we take a break? I mean there's no rush to get to work on the next thing. The Empire is still taking its sweet time deciding if it'll declare war to keep us in the Empire or not.” Racknar mumbled. “No, they're probably building up and gathering their militaries. Making sure everything and everyone is organized before making it official.” Elizabeth nodded. “Luckily we are doing the same. Now if you excuse us we'll give you the time and space you need.”

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  The two turned to leave but Racknar grabbed their hands stopping them. He then pulled them both into a hug. “I've sorted through my feelings, and although I'll need some time before I can truly act on them right now, I know how I feel. Marionette, I'm sorry but… I'm not sure if I could ever see you romantically. I love you… more like a little sister. I figured I'd let you know now.” Marionette was slightly saddened, but nodded. “I understand. I suppose I am still young and will likely find someone else to crush on. Besides, I was starting to feel less drawn to you in those ways. My feelings were just the crush of a child who didn't understand what she wanted yet.”

  Racknar rubbed both of their hands with his before letting them go. “I’ll take a week to recover, we can talk later.” They both nodded and made their leave for real this time. Marionette offered a wave to Elizabeth. “I think I'll go to my room to think for a bit. Congratulations I guess.” Elizabeth sighed. “For what? It's not like he said he loved me back in a romantic way yet. Just because he didn't choose to date you doesn't mean he'll pick me.” Marionette paused for a moment. “Yeah, I suppose. But he didn't say he wasn't going to at least try. You know how he is, he always chooses his words carefully.”

  Elizabeth nodded as they went their separate ways. She then checked in with Leonardo who updated her on the status of the castle and everything they are doing. His sister returned from the Dwarven Kingdom after giving them communion artifacts and got back to work after spending a month away and with some help from the other citizens they had created something of an assembly line even if they couldn't build a full on factory in time. However, the Dwarves were now going to handle some of that so the people here could focus more on defense then creating things for offense.

  Elizabeth poured over all the reports from the castle as well as their new allies while rubbing her eyes. “There's a lot here, but everything looks good. We even managed to build a prototype for a submarine and that's insane. Set up some water mines and we'll have sea and air covered. Our only problem might be land. I mean the tanks and living armies are great and all but I didn't see us being able to send troops to them and make ground. There's a chance we'll have to strike back on Empire soil if we want them to take our independence seriously.”

  Leonardo looked over some notes on military strategy that Racknar had made ages ago. “I mean we have access to military strategies and technologies far beyond what we should, so hopefully that'll make up for us not having as big of a military or that many high level mages. We probably only have three to five mages capable of ninth tier spells. Though that's not counting the creations Ivory and my sister can make that can match that level of magic.” Elizabeth sighed as she sipped tea. “Yeah, I could have gotten this information over the orb or even the stone since I don't exactly need to see your face for it. The only reason I came in person was for Racknar.”

  Leonardo nodded and sipped his own tea. “You really do care about the lad, don't you? In spite of everything that you've been through and the way he looks.” Elizabeth shook her head. “Not in spite of, because of everything we've been through together. Regardless of how he looks or what he calls himself, he's still the same man I grew to admire.” Leonardo nodded. “But is that affection really romantic interest? Can you honestly say you want a future with him in that way? I mean think of the future generations. This'll either end your bloodline or replace it with something not human. Other people might resent you, him, and whatever kids you might have.”

  Elizabeth loudly clanked her empty tea cup to the plate before setting it on a table. “I don't give a single fuck what others think of me anymore. I spent one lifetime in a gilded cage caring more about what others think and how I look than my own happiness. I was just as miserable as Racknar who always put others first. Been there, done that, no thank you. This time around I'm going to be a different kind of selfish, and pursue happiness over optics. If the world hates me for my choices, well then in the words of Violent Jay, Fuck the World.”

  Davy blinked a few times. “Did you… did you just quote an I.C.P song?” Elizabeth chuckled. “Racknar used to listen to a lot of different kinds of music in his past life. His playlist shuffle was wild. Anyway, I've made my decision. Besides, the plan is to shift to a democracy once we are independent anyway, so the noble bloodline won't really be a thing that matters anymore.” Krys'tal did a hand gesture. “Is that really the best option though? Democracy wasn't exactly working for us in the old world.” Elizabeth let out a short laugh. “That's because America was way too big and had way too many people. Bramble would be lucky to have the size of a single state with a relatively similar population. A lot easier for everyone to be heard. Also that wasn't a true democracy but a representative democracy.”

  Marionette scratched her head. “I don't know the difference but I guess I don't really need to. So I'm guessing the plan is once everything is settled and Bramble is fully independent it's retirement from politics to raise a family or whatever you want to do.” Elizabeth shrugged. “Once I'm no longer needed at the throne I can spend all the time I want with Racknar. What exactly we'll be doing together is in the wind. I'm done holding back my feelings because of social expectations and potentially bad optics.” Davy chuckled. “And what about the rest of us? Would that mean you'd become a permanent Monster Masher, or would we disband?” Elizabeth shrugged. “We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  Elizabeth spent the next few days at Castle Camelot, doing paperwork and doing her duties as queen from Camelot instead of her throne while waiting on Racknar to recover. On the fourth day he finally came out of his room, his limbs regrown and all signs of physical trauma healed. His eyes however, told a different story. They looked tired, like he hadn't gotten much sleep. “I'm not at one hundred percent yet, but I'm well enough to let myself be seen. I'll give it a few more days before we return to taking quests. It'll be business as usual until the war comes.” Elizabeth ran over to Racknar and gave him a big hug. “You don't need to rush yourself. The world isn't going to end because you took a vacation.”

  Racknar hugged back. “I know, it's just… I have a hard time sitting still when there's still work to be done.” The moment is interrupted by the large message orb on the table chiming and the face of Father Frederick showing up. “People of the Empire of Ran, I send this message on an open channel to be received by any messenger orbs and sending stones in the Empire. It is with much sorrow that I report the death of Emperor Ran and his Grand Holiness the Pope of The Church of Longinus. Both of these great and noble men, who were on in their years, did not die of natural causes. No, in fact, they were murdered. The victims of assassination.”

  The room was dead quiet as everyone’s eyes were now focused on the stone. Frederick continued. “Now normally the next Emperor would be selected based on the line of succession dictated by his high majesty but the next person in line, the archduke of Ran, died some time ago and a replacement has not been found yet. Evidence collected at the scene of the crime indicate that both the Emperor and the Pope were killed by the same person in a targeted attack on our great Empire and the Church, as such I have no choice but to declare a state of emergency. During this time I, archbishop Frederick, will temporarily hold the positions of both Emperor and Pope until this crisis is over with.”

  Davy looked over to Ariagoria. “Can he even do that?” Ariagoria shrugged. “It's never been done before as far as I know. But there are “emergency powers” protocols, I just don't know the specifics.” Racknar grumbled. “Whether the rules allow it or not doesn't matter. If no one challenges it, then that's all it takes.” The Archbishop continued. “Now, these murders happened around two weeks ago, but I and the Cardinals as well as the Emperor's top advisor all agreed that it was best to hold off on an official announcement until the assassin had been positively identified via an investigation. We felt it was best not to give this upsetting news to the public until we had a suspect we were confident enough in being guilty to announce.”

  Marionette shivered. “I suddenly got a really bad feeling. I'd have goosebumps if my body was capable of that function.” Frederick continued. “Witness testimony and evidence collected have confirmed, the assassin and culprit is none other than the high ranking adventurer and Duke of Camelot, unofficial military advisor to the new queen of Bramble which violates adventurer’s guild rules, Racknar Aradae.” A wanted poster appeared with both the knight illusion and Racknar's true face. “Who is actually a member of a beast-kin race who bears the Mark of Kain. This is a clear act of war perpetrated while the Empire was still deliberating on what to do about Bramble’s request for independence.”

  The wanted poster vanished and it was the Archbishop again. “This is also a clear failure on the part of the global guild of adventurers. As such we not only declare war on Bramble but hereby disavow the guild and it will disband all Empire locations and leave. Also, all non-humans, guild or not, have two weeks to self-deport. All non-humans who fail to do so will be executed. The Empire and the Church will no longer allow these impure and animalistic individuals to live in our land. As the Book of Longinus says: And I the Lord, build this place for thee humans, and declare thee kings of this earth and all things in it your domain.”

  Ariagoria smashed the orb. “That's horse shit! We were all in Alfheim fighting a false minor goddess and nearly getting killed two weeks ago!” Leonardo placed a new orb on the table as someone swept up the busted one. “This entire thing is clearly a set up! We have to do something!” Racknar grumbled. “There is little we can do. Anything we say can easily be rebuffed and any evidence we submit can be claimed to be counterfeit.” The broadcast ended followed by the nations of Alfheim, Nidavellir, and Skald all issuing support with the queen of Dokkalheim going so far as to state that the Mashers were in her nation at the time of the assassination, showing a document dated after the assassination stamped with by the local guild branch.”

  Racknar sighed as Frederick came back on the broadcast to point out the guild was already in question and he wouldn't put it above them the fake documents, then he used some sort of magic to scramble things and prevent further broadcasts on public channels via orb and stone. Racknar grumbled and gritted his teeth. “Unfortunately, this puts diplomatic solutions out of reach for now. He's forced our hands. Hopefully that underground railroad of information can be used to help the non-humans leave the Empire. We should take in as many refugees as we can.”

  Elizabeth nodded in agreement. “If words won't convince people of the Empire that Frederick is a fraudulent little shit, then we'll have to let our actions talk. Sleep gas and spells combined with defensive measures. We're not killing a single enemy unit on the battlefield. We have two weeks to prepare for war. Chop chop people, ain't no rest for the wicked.”