Episode 19 ...

Now that all of them are here, Scarlet can finally start the meeting.

Scarlet opened her mouth to speak the first words.

"I believe all of you have been well when I was asleep."

"Yes, we have, my queen." Levin was the first one to reply. He took a step forward and bowed his head. "We've also been patiently waiting for your return."

Scarlet hummed. "... I must say... I am quite pleased that all of you responded to my summons immediately. I was supposed to meet you all yesterday however an unfortunate accident took place so I instructed Eigeel to move the meeting to this date. I hope my decision didn't cause any disruption to your plans."

The facial expression of the Order immediately turned anxious and distressed because of her words, they thought the queen was feeling down and the throne room erupted with noise.

"It wasn't, my queen!"

"Please, trust us. You didn't disrupt anything at all." that was Silver, desperately shaking her head while trying her best to make Scarlet feel a little better coz she thought that Scarlet was discouraged for moving the date of the meeting because of the incident yesterday- which was not, and a misunderstanding on her part because Scarlet wasn't disheartened at all.

"We will always respond to your summons as fast as we could, my queen," and that was Aqua, with her cheeks and nose slightly flushed, she must have drank a little before coming here. She looks like an anxious strawberry while nodding vigorously as she spoke. "I pray you do not see it as an inconvenience for us. We will always come running to your side..."

"I agree with Aqua, my queen." Eireen added. Nodding with the same level of enthusiasm as Aqua, but in a sober state. "We don't see your summons as an inconvenience at all. In fact, if you wish it, I could stay by your side forever, never leaving you..."

"Awoooo!" Red howled, adding to the noises since he couldn't talk.

Noticing that the throne room was in a disarray, Scarlet ordered to restore the peace. "Enough!" her voice echoed inside the throne room, and everyone inside went silent. "Do not speak no more. I've heard enough of your thoughts and it's enough for me to understand..."

The Scarlet Order knelt at once on the floor, "We apologize, your majesty!" they shouted in unison and stayed silent until Scarlet spoke again.

When everything seemed to be in order, Scarlet opened a different topic. ".... By the way... I'm rather glad that all of you were able to maintain this realm in my absence." she said, her gaze traveling around the well maintained throne room. "I think giving a just reward should be done..."

Eigeel stepped forward and spoke, "It was our pleasure to be of use to you, your majesty. Nothing gives us more joy than serving you and that is our greatest reward."

"I share the same thoughts as well, your majesty." said Eireen, "I wish you would rely on us more from now on. Especially me. You can order me whatever you want! I'll be very, very delighted to do them for you. Just call my name and I will come running to your side and fulfill your wishes. If you want, you can just look at me and I will immediately know what you need! I'm also planning to never leave your side so that I can serve you properly and even guard you..." Eireen kept talking about how she would personally serve Scarlet, her queen, while her brother, Eigeel, was strangely removing the monocle on his right eye and begun cleaning it's lens using the tip of his dress shirt.

The corner of Scarlet's mouth twitched, feeling a little bit uncomfortable from Eireen's words. She really does have an obsession of pleasing her.

"T- That's quite enough, Eireen, thank you. Please don't over do your job. You know you can rest if you're tired."

There was a little snap from somewhere...

"Oh I won't get tired of serving you, my queen- Aw!" Eireen cried out.

Something hard just hit her in the head.

"W-What?" Scarlet asked, biting her lower lip afterwards, stopping herself from laughing since she saw Eigeel secretly throwing his detached monocle lens to stop his sister from saying any more nonesense. What happened didn't escape Scarlet's sight.

Eireen glared at her older brother and the two started talking fiercely with their eyes. She can feel the air between them crackling but she let them be.

After a moment of silence , Eireen finally spoke. Her expression defeated by Eigeel. Seems like she can't win against her older brother, as always.

"Nothing, my queen. Of course, just call me whenever you need, anything at all, the pleasure is all mine..."

"Hmm." Scarlet shifted her attention to the remaining members of the Order that she didn't talk to.

"How about the others? What have you done in these last few years when I was asleep?.... Talon?"

Talon took a step forward to answer her question. "My queen, to answer your question, except for Eireen and Red who stayed behind to defend this castle, the rest of us were in the human realm collecting information during and after the great war."

The Human realm huh?

Scarlet scanned her memory and thought, "Isn't the human realm among the weakest of the nine realms? Why were you gathering information there? Tell me 'exactly' what happened."

Talon didn't answer, but Eigeel did by butting into the conversation.

"Your majesty, may I speak for Talon."

Silence. "... Very well. You may speak in his place." Scarlet nodded in approval.

"Thank you, your majesty. Since the end of the great war—exactly 14 years since your rumoured death and our demise. The 8 realms had been in a state of decline since then. It happened because among the great leaders of the nine realms, you were the only one who survived with a serious injury while the other eight were killed in battle."

"... So the war didn't end completely after I fell asleep?"

"No, your majesty. They believed Gehenna was already lost, so the coalition didn't serve any purpose. They started fighting among themselves until everything was nearly destroyed."

"... And how did the war end?"

"... It ended when the king of the 7th realm died."

Silence... "The Emperor of the Holy Gods?" Scarlet murmured.

The ruler of the 7th realm was a very powerful being. Her former self almost believed he could conquer the 9 realms when the great war broke out. That is if he didn't fall into a coma...

His son the crown prince of the holy land became his proxy but he was still lacking, especially in warfare. What really bugs Scarlet is why did the Holy Emperor die? Did he passed away in his sleep?

"... So... Therefore... I'm the only one who survived," Scarlet mumbled and Eigeel heard her.

"Indeed, my queen, and for the last hindred years our existence has been erased from the history of the realms thus we were able live in peace while waiting for your awakening."

"... Is that so,"

"Yes..."

Eigeel was about to return to his place in the line of subjects when Scarlet lifted her index finger to stop him.

"I still have one question."

Eigeel respectfully bowed his head and took a little step forward, "I will do my very best to answer it."

"... A while ago, you said they had forgotten our existence, right?" Scarlet asked.

"Yes, my queen." Eigeel immediately answered.

"... Then how could they have forgotten? I mean, our realm was once among the strongest 3 of the 9 realms. They should be able to remember us even a little in the records of the Great War."

"...W- Well, your majesty... to answer your question... The other realms forgot about us because of your spell... You protected and hid us in the dark dimension- far away from the other realms. You also made our enemies believe that our kingdom was destroyed after the explosion that you've caused. The leaders became angry so they decided to burn and destroy all written evidence regarding our realm's great existence and established a law to never speak of us ever again."

"... Really... So, you learned all of 'this' from the information you've gathered all these years?" asked Scarlet.

"Indeed, your majesty." Eigeel said. Affirming her statement.

"... Mhm... Thank you, Eigeel, that is all I want to ask you." Scarlet said.

"You're welcome, your majesty." Eigeel replied.

There was silence again.

"... Since all of you have been gathering information from the human realm, I want each of you to report your discoveries to me." Scarlet suddenly ordered.

After hearing her words, all of the members of the Order- including their clan members and subordinates bowed and shouted in unison.

"As her majesty bids it, we will follow."