Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Queen's Coronation
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Judak☆) Already sent people lol, go ahead.
No sooner had she checked Judak's comment than a knock echoed through Evelyn's room.
Knock knock knock.
"M-Mommy!"
She hadn't heard a single knock since the apocalypse.
Evelyn felt a terror greater than when she'd been chased by monsters.
'H-How did they get all the way here?'
Ophelia Manor had long been overrun by beasts.
It was practically a dungeon.
A labyrinthine garden crawling with monsters that could spring out from anywhere.
So who the hell were these people casually knocking on her door?
Evelyn peeked through a crack in the door.
Her confusion only deepened.
"We've come with good tidings."
The first was a dwarf.
A dwarf from the Antares Mountains, knocking on her door.
"P-Poor human... Could you open the door?"
Followed by a porter with an odd speech pattern.
"Hee hee, open up and you'll at least keep your life."
And just a weird elf.
'What the hell is this!'
How were all these races together?
Evelyn trembled and pretended to be dead without answering, but it wasn't a good choice.
Crack!
"Eek!"
"Oh, you're in there."
A knight-looking man burst in, smashing the doorknob with monstrous strength.
He was the most normal-looking one, for what it was worth.
He extended a hand kindly.
"We'll escort you."
"Th-That... yes..."
She couldn't bring herself to say no.
Evelyn had no idea.
She never dreamed this party was the famous multiracial one from the gallery.
Or that the knight whose hand she took was their crazy leader.
In any case, under the party's protection, Evelyn stepped outside the ducal territory for the first time since the fall.
*
Inside Kelton Royal Castle.
Armored knights led the way as soldiers charged in with spears and swords.
"Kieek!"
"Kill them all!"
The group split from Adrian was reclaiming the interior of Kelton Kingdom.
Their armor and gear might be ragged, but constant battles had honed their skills to perfection.
"Grrr..."
Slash!
With the beast on the throne dispatched, the castle cleanup was complete.
"All clear?"
No more beasts emerged despite Lloyd's incantation.
It meant the castle interior was fully secured.
Half joyful, half fearful, the army finished the reclamation after three straight days and nights of fighting.
Everyone was exhausted enough to collapse.
Lloyd felt like he'd pass out the moment he closed his eyes.
And yet they'd won because...
Title: It's me
Poster: Judak☆
(Spicy tuna can box meme)
(Triangle kimbap meme)
Eat up and fight lol
- Lloyd) Oh man!!! No need for this!!! Seriously!!!
ㄴ This guy's got no shame lololol
ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋ The tone screams he won't take no for an answer
- Tuna hooooo!
- Judak, you know I love you, right?
- What would we have done without you? Lol
- One spoonful of Judak fixes any hopeless founding war ㅇㅇ;
- Fuckin' thanks man, you're the best
ㄴ Thankful enough to curse...
ㄴ That's how grateful he is
...they had the backing of the gallery's admin and owner, Judak.
You couldn't lose even if you wanted to.
As everyone sprawled out in exhaustion, reaching for tuna cans and heated triangle kimbap, the entrance grew noisy.
"Sir Lloyd!"
A middle-aged knight rushed in panting.
Alfred, the knight who'd sided with Lloyd when Adrian split.
"What is it? Beasts incoming?"
Lloyd jumped up in alarm, but Alfred grabbed his shoulders and shouted.
"She has arrived!"
"Pardon? Who... no way?"
"Lady Ophelia has just arrived!"
Evelyn Ophelia.
The sole surviving lady of Kelton Kingdom's only ducal house, and the future queen of the restored Kellearton Kingdom.
At those words, the soldiers forgot their fatigue and scrambled to their feet, peering outside.
And almost simultaneously, one figure appeared in the audience chamber.
"That's her..."
Lloyd stared in shock at the entrance.
But he had to squint.
The warm glow pouring from behind her at the entrance made it impossible to look directly.
"O-Oh... Finally..."
"The one we've only heard tales of..."
As the overcast skies that had loomed during the reclamation cleared, bathing the chamber in light, everyone instinctively knew.
She, standing at the center, was more than worthy to be their queen.
Poised and unflinching amid the flood of gazes, without a hint of tremor or shrinking.
As they all admired her, Evelyn slowly opened her eyes and thought.
'Embarrassing.'
Locked in her room for years, just gallery-posting.
To her, this sudden crowd and attention was suffocating and overwhelming.
*
The coronation proceeded immediately.
Knights and soldiers parted to the sides as Evelyn advanced toward the throne like a stiff wooden doll, clack-clack.
Everyone knelt.
"Lead us!"
"Glory to Kellearton, our queen!!"
Amid the torrent of cheers, Evelyn thought calmly.
'I wanna go home...'
Overwhelmed by the stares, she squeezed her eyes shut.
But closing them only made the surrounding whispers clearer.
"She's the closest to Judak..."
"Rumor is, she's the first to trade items with him and chat casually."
"She stayed and held the territory till the end, even when everyone fled after defeat."
Rumors bloated with misunderstandings.
The trade was just selling him her bed when she was starving.
She hadn't held anything— she'd hidden in her room like a corpse.
Closest to Judak...
'Hmm, that's true.'
Everything but the first was exaggerated.
Plus, the coronation was live-posted to the gallery by that knight Lloyd's brainfart.
He spammed an entire page of quality posts with the ceremony.
- Season 402124: Human kingdom founded
- But she's the same as the fallen lady?
ㄴ Doesn't match up at all ㄹㅇ
ㄴ Thought she'd just be cute, but IRL she's pure nobility ㄷㄷ;
- Cute but with this untouchable elegance ㅇㅇ...
ㄴ Gap moe for sure
ㄴ Wanna pat her head like crazy ㄹㅇ
- So she chats with Judak using emojis all bright and sunny in that aura?
ㄴ Ugh, wasn't gonna say it but...
ㄴ ?
ㄴ Decided not to, so I won't
ㄴ This guy's insane lol
The gallery especially.
She missed the days of casual posting.
What the hell was this now?
Her snow-white cheeks began flushing red.
She hadn't asked for this excessive attention.
That's when she spotted an impure post.
- Judak☆) From fallen lady to queen overnight?!
ㄴ Why you doing this dude
ㄴ Die
ㄴ (Queen grimacing con)
ㄴ When did they drop queen con lol
- Judak☆) Queen cheeks kinda red, upvote if big lol
ㄴ Big upvote
ㄴ For real?
ㄴ How do you even catch that lol
ㄴ Red-cheek queen approved... ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Fanart possible? With respect for our queen
ㄴ O
ㄴ Draw it now
"Y-You, Judak..."
The culprit who'd made her queen.
Seeing him chat like it was hilarious, Evelyn got pissed.
And she wasn't some comfy queen either.
The moment the coronation ended, knights swarmed with reports.
"Your Majesty, sorry right after coronation, but beast remnants..."
"Your Majesty, our food situation is..."
"Your Majesty! Beasts massing in the eastern forest for attack...!"
Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty.
Her mind went blank, mouth agape, soul drifting out.
Then a gallery notification pinged.
Judak☆: Queen now lololol
Judak☆: Also, got investment stuff to discuss, you free now?
The love-hate guy, too much yet too grateful, appeared casually.
And his greeting? Congrats on becoming queen?
Congrats congrats?
Evelyn: KYAAAH!
Judak☆: ???
Evelyn: HAAAH!!!
Judak☆: Hey
Evelyn:
ㅗ＼ㅍ /ㅗ
ㅗ＼ㅁ /ㅗ
ㅗ＼ㅍ /ㅗ
ㅗ＼ㅁ /ㅗ
Evelyn snapped and lost her reason.
*
Beyond the rift, in an unknown space.
A hand shot up from withered, twisted corpses drained of life.
"Huff!"
Golden hair dulled of luster.
Haggard appearance.
No one would recognize him as the former Frederick Crown Prince.
"Judak, you bastard! Damn Adrian traitors! I'll have revenge! No matter what!!"
Crawling from the assassin corpses he'd orchestrated, Frederick's eyes burned with venom.
He caught his breath roughly, scanning around.
A world dyed purple, beyond the rift.
A bizarre place.
"This is the outside..."
Towering strange spires piercing the sky.
Or familiar castle architecture.
All mashed together into a grotesque landscape.
Frederick nearly lost his mind at the sight.
"F-First, survive."
Madness doesn't calm before greater madness.
Frederick held his breath, trying to duck behind a nearby structure.
If not for the figure staring right at him.
"Oh? A live one?"
"Person...?"
Frederick turned his head in a daze.
There was a person in the ruins' center.
"People here too? You! Help me out!"
Frederick shouted at the thing.
No way it was a beast.
Its clean attire didn't match any beast features.
It slowly approached Frederick.
"Yes, hurry and pull me out!"
The moment Frederick flailed to grab its hand!
Crunch!
"Guh... ack...?"
Frederick split into Fred and Rick.
Unbelievable speed for such a delicate hand.
As Frederick blinked in agony, it smiled with crinkled eyes and whispered.
"Bon appétit."
Its aura thickened further.
"Judak? Got it."
It stared at the rift, smiling expectantly.