The victory and the confrontation

Mortis saw the people of Venice standing on the wall, celebrating the victory of the queen and her margravine. But Mortis was not in a celebratory mood and instead took his wives, accompanying them to the queen's camp while the soldiers were still busy collecting the weapons and arresting the captured enemies.

At the queen's camp, Mortis and his wives were greeted with great jubilation. Many of his wives received the attention shyly and reservedly, waving modestly. Leonie and Marina, on the other hand, received the recognition proudly and honorably, as it also represented their rank. The soldiers were surprised by the presence of the dwarf, but no one was really surprised, on the contrary, Mortis was highly appreciated for the diversity of his women and received many congratulations. Mortis moved gracefully and proudly through the crowd, even though he didn't feel like celebrating, he didn't let on.

Arriving at the queen's house, Mortis saw the nobles who had opposed her being anchored to the ground in handcuffs. The queen looked at them in shock and at the same time with contempt. Disappointment was written all over her face. The Margravine, on the other hand, was watching everything closely, pacing up and down and wielding her spear infused with lightning, which sent small bolts of lightning into the ground and burned it. But when the Margravine saw Mortis, a smile appeared on her face and she calmed down for a moment until she saw Elysia. Elysia pressed herself against Mortis and hooked herself to him, while grinning at the Margravine in a victorious and evil way.

"You!" the Margravine angrily pressed the word from her lips and became angry. "Where have you been?" she asked Elysia angrily now. But Elysia just shrugged her shoulders and replied, "On my way to find my happiness and become stronger - without your help or mother's. And as you can see, I have found it."

"Pah! Searched for your happiness? Don't tell such a joke, you three-headed demon! You only ran away from home because you were a coward and couldn't face the fact that I became your father's wife. You couldn't bear that he suffered from a disease and died. Therefore, you just blamed us and ran away from your duties. You blamed us for the fate of the former margrave, even though you knew that he had been ill for a long time. I'm surprised you're not chained here like those traitors, coming for my head or the heads of the other women, including your mother, you spoiled brat!"

Mortis watched tensely, watching as the souls in Elysia rotated and trembled greatly. It seemed as if one soul was growing larger and cornering the others, as if one soul was just lecturing the others before Elysia's true soul emerged and took control. Elysia was very calm and collected all at once and took on a very different posture - a very elegant and snooty posture, as if she had nothing but ants in front of her. In a sweet yet venomous voice she said, "Oh, little Elara, you know very well that I hate that nickname. Or do I have to beat respect into you again, like when we were kids?"

She continued, "You're still straight as a spear stabbing forward, but dare stab me again and I'll embarrass you in front of everyone here. I hope you understand that. After all, I'm not going to let you talk to me like that and stop imagining things. If I wanted you dead, I could have done it without you being able to fight back. I just needed some change and slept, which is why I let Lucia and Serena take the lead. But now I'm fit and awake again, I've processed the information, and I have to say that you kids are really nothing but trouble."

Mortis was amazed, because he had never noticed that Elysia's soul was ancient. She showed him a picture of an apparition that resembled a goddess. This almost frightened him, but so he became even more curious and continued to study Elysia's soul while she argued with Elara. Suddenly, a purple-haired woman stepped out of a tent and slapped Elysia. Then she took her in her arms and cried pitifully. Elysia sighed and comforted her mother with stroking gestures on her back, but her eyes were on Elara, who threatened to finish her off yet. Elysia then took her mother and went with her into the tent to finish this scene. Baron Darius followed her, as did Rose, to calm Lillia and Elysia down and prevent the situation from escalating.

Elara had real fear in her eyes, and her lips trembled slightly with anger and rage. But she pulled herself together and was about to turn to the traitors to vent when a strong male hand grabbed her by the shoulder. Mortis stroked her and spoke in a low voice: "Don't take this to heart. Only where there is much love can there also be such arguments. It will be alright. As it seems, you are actually good friends. It will be all right." Then Mortis let her go and went into the main tent to negotiate with the queen, who watched the whole spectacle and was increasingly surprised by the young counts.

The tied up nobles and citizens stood there with their mouths open. The guy in front of them, who already had a group of women, was flirting with the next one in front of them as if it was commonplace, not giving it a second thought. On the contrary, the women of Mortis engaged the Margravine in conversation, spoke encouragement to her and received her kindly. This made some people's blood run cold, and they would have preferred to cry blood. One young man in chains said, "Now I know what he means to do better. I swear I will follow this man, for I want to accomplish what he also accomplished."

As it was quiet, the young men listened and nodded in agreement. Mortis' women smiled and did not let on. But when they looked into the tent and saw a beautiful half elf, they knew who the second person Sarah was talking about was. It was clear to some, mainly Helga, that this was yet to be felt by Mortis, as his harem seemed to be increasing in record time.

In the big tent, where the queen stood at the table on which small figures were placed, she waited nervously for the women and Mortis to enter. Although she was the one who was supposed to judge and rule people, she became very nervous and felt like an apprentice on the test bench when the women of Mortis entered the tent with her and examined her from top to bottom. This was unusual for the queen, and it showed her what she was hoping for. For the first time in her life, she felt the desire to prove herself, to belong, and to have a man at her side.

When she looked into Mortis' stern eyes, she felt a pleasant tingling on her skin. But she didn't let on and maintained her cool gaze as she gave friendly greetings to Mortis and the women, as well as her advisors and the captains who were attending this war meeting. Then the women took their seats in a corner of the tent and looked at how things were going to proceed, while Mortis stepped forward to join the meeting. A servant immediately brought him a chair so that he could sit down with the other nobles and advisors.

When Elara from Venice also entered the tent and joined the meeting, the queen opened the session with friendly words. She now wanted to know how they should deal with the traitors and citizens, since many nobles were involved and there had been some losses. It was important to act quickly, but not to be too radical in doing so, so as not to cause more resentment among the population and among the other nobles. They had to find a way to not weaken the empire too much without looking weak.

Thus began a long meeting and discussion in which various approaches and possibilities were explored. The queen listened attentively while her advisors and the captains voiced their suggestions and concerns.