One Moment

Erika ignored her bleeding hands and the shocked look on the servants' and imperial guards' as she walked through the halls of Maximinus palace.

So what if her hands were bleeding?

So what if she was injured?

Such things were trivial to the 'pain' that Erika was feeling.

That indescribable feeling in her heart.

It hurts.

It hurts so much.

And she hates how she could literally nothing about it.

Nothing but lament her past mistakes.

She didn't know when it happened but Erika found herself in the terrace of Maximinus palace after she left Maxwell alone with Michelle in the parlour.

Perhaps it was because, three years ago, this place was the site of Erika's one chance to confess to Maxwell.

Her only one chance, that she squandered horribly.

In the three years since then, never again has an opportunity arose that gave Erika even a remotely similar scenario with the perfects conditions like that one then.

Coordinating and micromanaging the entirety of the Imperial Drussian Armed Forces has been taxing on Erika's time.

Although Maxwell revolutionised the administration and report system in the establishment of the original Violet Army, through compulsory standardised reports and military articles written by every level of military authority which allowed for easier management of the army, that still did little to minimise the amount of Erika's time that was required.

This was especially true after the Violet Army was reformed into the Imperial Army that it is today.

The issues and problems caused by the current state of technology were still prevalent.

At the very least, the reforms only slightly compensated for the technological deficiencies.

The fact that even with the use of carrier pigeons or dedicated horse riding messenger teams, co-ordinating and supervising the entire Imperial Army in all of its aspects has consistently given Erika a headache.

After all, she had to account for so many things like time differences and future predictions and possible interruptions of messages.

In short, it was just so tedious and boring.

In truth, Erika had only one wish.

And that was to be back on the front-lines of a battle, commanding her 999th Omega Corps against the enemies of the Imperium of Drussia.

To command the Imperial army by Maxwell's side.

Nowadays, it was rare for Erika to even be by Maxwell's side.

At the very least to stay by his side for an extended amount of time.

Unless it was to read out his weekly report or because she was required to accompany Maxwell for a meeting or formal event like before in the parlour, Erika was rarely able to spend time with Maxwell.

And it was mainly because he spent the majority of his time locked within the confines of his bedroom.

It was at times like these that made Erika wonder how things would have been different if she made that choice all those years ago.

Perhaps this was her punishment for her lack of resolve.

Either way, there was nothing that Erika could do that could change the past.

And all Erika could do was accept that fact.

While leaning on the railing of the terrace in a similar manner to how Maxwell did all those years ago, Erika allowed herself to relax as she sung to herself.

"𝘈𝘶𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘭ü𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘉𝘭ü𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯

𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘪ß𝘵: 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘢."

Soon, without even knowing it, small tears began to form in Erika's eyes.

"𝘏𝘦𝘪ß 𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯

𝘸𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘸ä𝘳𝘮𝘵 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘢"

As she sang those small droplets of tears slowly trickled down Erika's cheeks from her eyes.

"D𝘦𝘯𝘯 𝘪𝘩𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘻 𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘚üß𝘪𝘨𝘬𝘦𝘪𝘵,"

Not even Erika knew why she was singing to herself, or even how the idea of doing such a thing came into her mind. Perhaps it was for her to reassure herself, as pathetic as that may sound. Nevertheless Erika continued singing as the tears fell from her eyes.

"Z𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘶𝘧𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘳ö𝘮𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮 𝘉𝘭ü𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘥."

While she sang, small snippets of Erika's fondest memories mingled within her mind.

The memory when she utterly annihilated the crusader forces despite the odds being heavily stacked against her.

The memory of her very first battle experience where she first witnessed the beauty created from the art of war.

The memory of when she first met Maxwell...

"𝘈𝘶𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘭ü𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘉𝘭ü𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯

𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘪ß𝘵: 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘢."

As Erika soon concluded her song, she realised the reason why she sung to herself and why she sung that song in particular.

It was because it was a song taught to her by Maxwell.

A song that was about her.

A song that had Erika herself, as its main subject.

Erika couldn't help chuckling to herself in what she could only describe as self-deprecation as even when she was simply trying to reassure herself, in truth she was actually reminiscing about Maxwell.

She didn't even know why that song meant so much to her in the first place.

If she remembered correctly, it was simply a song Maxwell made up on the spot because he was bored.

Or at the very least, that was what he said.

"Lady Pollorov?!"

Soon after Erika finished singing and lost herself into her own thoughts, she was instead interrupted by a servant who called out to her from the distance as he walked towards her.

"Maxwell has summoned your presence at the palace's parlour and..."

The servant paused for a moment as if to think how to properly say what he needed to do next before he finally spoke up.

"And he asks if you are ok."

Erika eyes widened slightly in shock when she heard what the servant had to say. Just before she could respond however, the servant spoke up first.

"He also told me to inform you that he wants you to answer that question personally yourself, to his face."

A short moment of silence passed before Erika nodded quietly at the servant before she replied to him.

"Then I must be on my way."

Soon, Erika retraced her steps back to parlour where she originally left Maxwell with Michelle.

Along the way she saw faces, some of which were the same ones from before when she was leaving the parlour while the rest were new faces. Either way, those details didn't matter all that much to Erika.

Within moments, Erika found her way back to the doors of the parlour before she gripped the doorknobs, her bleeding hands already dried up long ago.

And yet, she just couldn't bring herself to open the doors.

There was a small inkling of doubt that lay deep within her that stopped her from turning the doorknob and meeting Maxwell inside.

After all, how could she not be feeling this way?

After the way she conducted herself in front of both Maxwell and Michelle, it would be a miracle if Maxwell didn't immediately scold her.

However, she knew that no matter what, in the end, she could never deny Maxwell's request.

After taking a deep breath and bracing herself for the worst, Erika opened the doors before she went inside.

"I'm sorry."

However, to Erika's surprise. The answer that Erika received the moment she opened the doors was something that she never expected. Completely ignoring the fact that Michelle was nowhere to be seen, Erika was not even able to recover from the shock as she lost the ability to raise her voice, leaving Maxwell free reign to continue speaking.

"I'm sorry... I've been... I've been really inconsiderate of you..."

Erika was not even able to describe or decipher what kind of look Maxwell had in his eyes as he spoke. It was one of those rare moments that Maxwell's voice sounded as if it was genuine and sincere.

"I've should have known that things would have turned out that way with Michelle... I know you don't hear me say this often but for once, it's... it's my fault."

"What are you saying your majesty?"

Soon, Erika was once again able to find her voice the more she listened to Maxwell's words. Probably because, what he said was something that she fundamentally could not agree with.

"It was I who made a fool of myself in front of Michelle. It was I who soiled both my image and yours. If there's anyone to blame it's me."

"While that may be true, as your superior it was my responsibility to have the foresight to stop such events from happening..."

A short moment of silence occurred as the two of them stared silently at each other before Maxwell once again spoke up, breaking the silence in the process.

"It's just that I don't know what I want anymore..."

Like before, Erika could not describe what kind of look Maxwell had in his eyes while he was speaking. All she knew was that his voice sounded genuine and even had some slight hints of insecurity within it.

"I've been feeling rather... empty nowadays... I don't know why but I'm beginning to feel that everything is pointless again... That was why I've been spending most of my time alone. I'm just lacking the motivation nowadays. Even as the emperor."

Although Erika wanted to retort what he said, she was not given the chance to as Maxwell continued speaking.

"So I thought that maybe I need to try something new... So I've been thinking..."

Maxwell paused for a moment as if to reassure himself before he continued speaking.

"I remember that Keizwell has used his private funds to open up his 'Pleasure Palace,' simply just to display his wealth and power as the treasurer... and partly to slight Cromwell. Anyhow that's not important."

Maxwell paused for a short moment before he continued.

"What's important is that while it may have some rather... 'depraved' aspects, I also hear that its cuisine also serves a very exotic, unique and high quality set of foods."

Erika didn't know what kind of expression she held on her face as she realised where Maxwell's words were leading towards.

"Perhaps you would like to 'accompany' me there sometime soon?"

Soon, Erika froze completely on the spot when that special sentence left Maxwell's mouth.

It happened.

It actually happened.

With a casual shrug, Maxwell made another offhand remark as if what he said was no big deal. He finally returned to his casual, nonchalant manner that Erika was used to.

"That's if you are able to make the time of course. I know you have a busy schedule."

There was only one answer that Erika could possibly give.

"But of course your majesty, there is nothing in my schedule that takes precedence over you. You can rest assured that I can make time for whenever you ask of me."

When Maxwell heard Erika's response, he chuckled before he continued speaking.

"Ironically enough, it was actually Michelle that gave me this idea."

When Erika heard Maxwell, she immediately remembered the original cause of this series of events in the first place.

That detestable Michelle.

And yet, Erika now had to thank Michelle for one of her deepest dreams coming true.

How ironic indeed.

Nevertheless, Maxwell shrugged off his own remark before he went to ask something of Erika.

"Speaking of Michelle. She told me that to make up for what you did, that you should be the one to pack away the chess board once we finished the game."

As Maxwell said this, he pointed to the chess set that was right in front of him that Erika somehow did not notice. Although that did not mean that she would not comply with Maxwell's orders. After she made a slight bow, Erika moved to complete the task set before her.

Just before she could do so however, a certain sight caught Erika's attention.

It was the board state of Michelle's and Maxwell's finished chess game.

The current board state of their chess game was left in a perfect draw.