Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Corva had spent every waking minute since her fight with Lucius in the tournament reviewing every move and step she made. The hammer she had forged and enchanted for the event had been broken as if it were another stick along the trail. It was her masterpiece.

'Titan Killer' was a weapon with three different enchantments on it. This was a new record for Corva in her work and a rare feat in general for weapons. Currently, the limit for high-end weaponry was two enchantments. Though items with two enchantments were exceptionally rare and expensive.

Her reveal of the weapon she named 'Titan Killer' was supposed to be a grand reveal of her prowess in Enchanting and forging, but they were overlooked by her opponent, Titan.

"Ugh, what a monster…" She whined as she collapsed onto her desk in a heap. "If he hadn't been there I might have won and then everything would have been fine. Right, Yue?"

Her maid, a rabbit beastman, gave her a defeated smile. "I'm sure you would have stood a better chance had that man not been there."

"He entered under a false name! He wasn't even really called Titan! Which means my baby's name was pointless… I even made a big show out of saying that… I looked so cool…"

Yue continued to give her master a defeated smile as she set down a cup of tea. The gentle young woman then grabbed a damp cloth and dabbed it around the exposed parts of Corva's face and neck, cleaning away the soot from her hours in her workshop.

"My lady… you have visitors soon. Perhaps it would be best if you readied yourself for them?" Yue advised.

"I really don't want to…" Corva grumbled, "Besides it's natural to feel pride as an elf of Aedrider to be caked in soot after a long day of work."

"Perhaps that is so for people in other positions, but, my lady, you are in a different position than others."

"Who is even visiting?"

"Representatives of your mother, I believe. Though I think one or two of your sisters are visiting with them. Shall I rouse my sister?"

Corva shook her head. "No, let her rest. She will rise as the sun sets. No need to wake her for this… ugh, fine I will get cleaned up. Will you bathe with me Yue? I love how you shampoo my hair; it is very relaxing."

"Of course."

The elven blacksmith and noble, stood and made her way to her massive bath on the first floor of her residence. Near to the door that led to the hot spring fed bath were a set of iron doors that called her name. Every part of her body desperately begged her to abandon Yue and head into her workshop.

Just as she took a step towards her workshop doors, Yue coughed and lightly grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt. Corva found herself surprisingly helpless as the rabbit-eared woman dragged her effortlessly into the baths.

After having a few days' worth of grime washed from her body and hair, Corva's natural beauty once again shined through. Her slightly tanned body was as enchanting as any other elf's and her upper body was well toned from her time in the forge.

Though a normal smith would have much larger muscles than she did, her magic assisted in her forging techniques and allowed her to develop a body that was much more physically desirable to most. Not that it mattered to Corva. Even if her hands and arms were calloused, muscular, and rough, she would not care. To Corva, all that mattered were her projects.

"My lady, you are ready."

Yue was the one responsible for maintaining Corva's presentability around other members of Aedrider's nobility. Without the woman, Corva would have long since been abandoned by the rest of her family for sheer lack of manners and presentability.

"Lady Corva, your guests have arrived, I will escort them to your parlor." Yue said with a bow.

A few minutes later and several deep breaths, Corva finally stepped into her parlor room to greet her mother's representatives as well as two of her sisters. Seeing as they had different fathers, her sisters looked only slightly similar to her.

Not only that, but they were the epitome of elven nobility. Their skin was fair and unmarred. Their hair was silky and gorgeous. Unlike Corva, her sisters were ephemeral beauties that represented the pride of Aedrider… just like their mother, the Queen.

"Dear sister, so glad you could take the time to host us."

"Yes, thank you for hosting us, little sister."

Corva was the eighteenth princess of the kingdom of Aedrider and was the youngest of her siblings. She also had thirteen brothers, though as men, they were not in line to inherit the throne. As such, they were not considered princes, since the position did not exist in their culture.

"Princess Corva, a pleasure. We bring you news of your mother's condition." Experience new stories on empire

Her breath caught in her throat and she forgot the manners that Yue reminded her of out of concern. "Is she okay? How is mother? After she left the tournament she did not show up for the banquet and I have not seen her since…"

Her mother's retainers had a sad look in their eyes. The lead retainer, a handsome elven man with deep purple eyes and golden, blonde hair answered her with a crack to his voice. "The queen is showing signs of falling into the Long Sleep. As weeks go by, she spends more and more time asleep. We fear it may not be long until her position passes to the next chosen queen."

The Long Sleep was what happened to elves who died of old age. Normally, an elf would live for up to four hundred or five hundred years. When they reached full maturity at age thirty, they remained unchanged in appearance up until their death. As their death approaches, they sleep longer and longer, until finally they fall into an unshakable sleep and pass peacefully.

The queen of Aedrider, Corva's mother, was one of the rare elves that had lived for almost a thousand. Precious few of their people remained who had the wisdom and experience of their mother and it was a great loss to their people to lose her.

Not only that, Corva deeply loved her mother and as the youngest of her thirty siblings, she was the spoiled child who was granted all that she wanted from her mother. The queen did not expect to have had a child as late in life as she did, so Corva was only in her thirties. Though she was an adult, she was so much younger than her closest sibling who was still over a hundred.

"I see…"

"We needed to discuss the terms of succession. Many of your sisters have already been informed of the next steps as they still live in the palace. However, we wanted to come out to your personal manor and discuss the situation with you directly.

"I am sorry to bring you such terrible news and then immediately move on to business, but we must discuss the next steps. We must decide on the next queen of Aedrider, Princess Corva."