The Queen's Favorite.

"You passed the illusion world test and were pronounced the queen consort, but you haven't served Her Highness yet. You're not in her favor," Teacher Vynessa barked, her face contorted with anger. Kae was puzzled by the outburst and couldn't understand why.

"Kneel down right now!" Vynessa commanded, her voice leaving no room for argument.

"What?! I should kneel down? On what account? Because I'm not in Her Royal Highness the Queen's favor?" Kae raised an eyebrow, his expression confused.

"You're to kneel down because you arrived at my class late. Just because you're now the queen consort doesn't mean you can disrespect your teachers," Vynessa snapped, glaring at Kae.

"Teacher? I haven't accepted you as my teacher yet," Kae replied with a smirk. "And aren't you supposed to ask why I was late before passing judgment? What kind of teacher behaves like you?"

"What?!" Vynessa yelled, drawing a bow and arrow that radiated a bright red light like molten magma. She aimed it at Kae, prepared to shoot. "What did you say again?"

"I said I haven't accepted you as my teacher," Kae repeated, his expression stern as he glared at Vynessa, whose face boiled with anger. Kae's eyes soon widened as Teacher Vynessa's arrow hurtled towards him, its red glow illuminating the training ground. He felt a surge of fear, but before he could react, another arrow intercepted it, emitting a bright blue light.

'Damn! This lady is cruel. She really wants to kill me,' Kae thought, his eyebrows raised in shock as fear engulfed him. He did his best to hide his emotions, swallowing hard.

Ding!

{She's not going to kill you, but she'll render your legs useless. What a pity. How are you supposed to perform tasks if you have no legs? How could you even provoke an Elyria you haven't enslaved yet? You're so eager to die, aren't you?}

{Dying willingly would also attract heavy punishment, and after that, you'll have to start your mission all over again. What a pity!}

'You can read my thoughts, just like the evil system before I blocked it?' Kae asked internally.

{Of course. Unless you block me from seeing your thoughts, though.}

'No, it's fine. You're the system that belongs to me. Unlike the evil system that caused me pain whenever it answered questions in my mind, you don't cause me pain, so you can stay,' Kae replied inwardly before focusing on Vynessa again.

All the other consorts present in the training ground, as well as Eirakon, couldn't help but gape in shock at the heated argument between Vynessa and Kae. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the arrow aimed at Kae's leg but soon felt relieved when another arrow saved him—a stark contrast to Vynessa's, which was undoubtedly meant to harm him.

Everyone soon directed their gaze to the right angle of the training ground, where Commander Aethera stood with her bow still drawn. Her expression was stern as she held her bow and arrow tightly, ready to obstruct Vynessa's arrow again if she dared to shoot.

"Greetings, Commander!" Everyone chorused in unison, their heads slightly bowed in respect. Commander Aethera then moved closer and stood before Vynessa, her expression still stern.

"Rise!" she declared, and everyone stood straight again. "What crime did the queen consort commit that you wanted to cut off his legs with your arrow?" Commander Aethera asked coldly, her gaze hard as she directed her question at Vynessa.

"The queen consort did something he wasn't supposed to do, so I decided to teach him a lesson," Vynessa replied, her head still bowed, not daring to look Commander Aethera in the eye.

"And what exactly is the crime he committed?" Commander Aethera pressed, her eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Do you think Her Royal Highness the Queen would spare you once she discovered what you did to one of her consorts? Is Her Highness's declaration of them all as her consorts just a mere joke to you? How dare you try to hurt him?!"

Vynessa quickly dropped to her knees, her head bowed. "He treated the consorts' training as a mere joke. Her Majesty gave the rules for training her consorts, but this consort arrived late to the training. He treated Her Royal Highness's words as trash, so I wanted to teach him a lesson by rendering his legs useless. That way, he would always remember the mistake he made whenever he recalls why he's in that condition."

"You would have regretted ever existing in this world if you had succeeded in punishing him. Now listen: he's Her Majesty's favorite consort," Commander Aethera declared seriously. Noticing the confused expressions on Vynessa's face, as well as the other consorts' and Eirakon's, she continued, "He's the first person in history to defeat Malumbra without losing a limb, so he has already won Her Majesty the Queen's favor without serving her yet."

"Now tell me: what do you think will happen if you kill a potential consort with martial skills like his, who can go to war between neighboring countries and defeat them, thereby relieving Her Royal Highness the Queen's burden?" Commander Aethera continued, a smirk playing on her lips. "Do you think you could handle the consequences?!"

'Wars between neighboring countries? Martial arts? You must be kidding me! You Elyria have powers; you don't need consorts to go to war with you, do you? Are you trying to sacrifice the consorts or what? Is that what this training is for?' Kae thought, puzzled.

Ding!

{You don't think there's only life in the imperial palace, do you? And you don't think there's only one country ruled by Elyria, with no other one? If that's what you think, you're wrong. There are plenty of Elyria dominating other parts of the world. Although the female Elyria can go to war and win but the male Elyria who are weaker than normal human beings and some other male humans are the ones used as war soldiers because the female Elyria regard going to war themselves as an insult to their status. They can only go to war as advisors, training the soldiers.}

{You, being a human and the first to defeat Malumbra without losing a limb, have already proven your potential to the Queen. Who knows, you might become a valuable advisor? Now all they have to do is train you more in martial arts, although they believe you have no magical affinity, unaware that you do. The evil system will also help you absorb martial arts knowledge more quickly.}

'Damn! So my mission isn't just about sleeping with female Elyria in the palace and enslaving them? I have to go to war too?' Kae asked himself. 'How exactly does that help? It's not like I'm teaching the demon lord how to fight; he already knows all that.'

Ding!

{Of course. How else are you supposed to meet other potential Elyria and enslave them if you don't leave the palace? How are you supposed to explore this world and learn more about it? And going to war will lead to you performing the evil system's tasks.}

'Oh, I see! The evil system's tasks will only start when I begin learning martial arts, where it will help me absorb it faster. And when I start going to war, that's when it will start giving me tasks,' Kae thought to himself with a pang of realization.

{Yes! You'll also meet more Elyria to enslave, so you'll also be performing the lust system's tasks.}

'You mentioned something about other humans who have systems since the God of War and other immortals also reincarnated into other bodies. Will I come across some of them then?' Kae asked himself.

Ding!

{Of course, you'll come across them, but you will never get along. Besides, you won't even be able to tell them that the demon soul is within your body, and neither will they be able to tell you that certain souls reside in theirs. You shouldn't even worry about that. Instead, focus on how to accomplish the tasks given by each system.}

'Hmm...'

"I made a very big mistake, Commander. I really deserve to die. Please pardon me," Vynessa apologized, trembling in fear, her gaze fixed downward.

"Just get on with the training. The Queen expects to see results soon. Mind you, I'll be joining in teaching the royal consorts," Commander Aethera declared, her tone serious.

"Yes, Commander!" Vynessa said before rising to her feet.

Commander Aethera then shifted her gaze to Kae, her expression softening, and winked at him seductively.