After the battle, Alvin left with Oro, who carried a bounty worth 500 million, while Queen Ella summoned the three remaining ministers and ordered them to deal with the aftermath at the scene.
She also instructed them to prepare tomorrow's national address.
At the same time, she took the initiative to send a protest to the World Government and ordered the incident to be widely publicized across the seas.
A member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea had brazenly attacked the king of an affiliated nation, and a Marine Vice Admiral had also been involved. She had to publicly express strong dissatisfaction with this matter.
This was the furthest she could go, because she could not openly confront the World Government.
Moreover, if she did not speak out first and seize the advantage in public opinion, the Marines might turn the situation around and accuse her of colluding with pirates.
After arranging all of these matters, she returned to her bedchamber, which had already been cleaned. Everything that belonged to Oro had been completely removed.
Now that the threat had been eliminated, her parents and younger sister, who had been staying in the Ice Palace for safety, could finally come out.
The family returned to the ground they had not seen for so long, their hearts filled with mixed emotions: excitement, relief, and above all, resentment toward Oro.
"Where is that bastard Oro?" Queen Ella's father, Oliver, asked with a grim expression, his voice filled with anger.
Queen Ella remained calm and replied lightly, "He was taken away by Alvin. As for Oro's family, I had them all dealt with. Not a single one was left alive."
Oliver thought silently for a moment before slowly nodding.
"Alright. You should all go and rest first. I have already arranged everything. There will be a lot to deal with tomorrow," Queen Ella said, signaling for the maids to enter and escort them away.
"Hmm, Ella, you should also rest early. Tomorrow the burden of the entire kingdom will fall on you," Queen Ella's mother, Sonia, said with clear concern on her face.
"I understand," Queen Ella replied with a nod.
"Um… Sister, where is Alvin? Has he already left?" Allie asked while looking around curiously.
"He just finished a battle, so he is probably resting now. Go to sleep quickly. As a princess, you will also have many things to handle tomorrow," Queen Ella said softly as she reached out and gently ruffled her sister's hair.
"Okay, I know!" Allie nodded energetically.
Soon after, the three of them were escorted away by the maids and returned to their former living quarters.
Once these matters were settled, a trace of fatigue finally appeared on Queen Ella's face. However, remembering that Oro was still alive, she walked toward the bedchamber.
Alvin's temporary room had been arranged next to hers within the royal chambers. When she arrived, she saw Oro still lying unconscious in the hall.
On the floor, Oro lay sprawled like a broken rag doll, his limbs twisted and deformed.
Queen Ella stood in front of him. Her ice blue eyes resembled a frozen winter night as anger and disgust intertwined within them, her cold gaze seeming to freeze the air itself.
She stepped forward lightly. Her expression was indifferent as the heel of her shoe pressed precisely onto the wound where Oro's Achilles tendon had been severed, the injury still raw and bloody.
"Ah!"
Oro suddenly twitched.
Excruciating pain surged through him like a violent tide. Veins bulged across his face and a shrill scream burst from his throat, echoing through the empty palace hall.
"Hey! Ella, don't kill him!" Alvin's voice came from the bathroom through the rising steam.
He was soaking comfortably in the bathtub, but upon hearing Oro's screams he quickly shouted.
"Don't worry. I won't let him die so easily," Queen Ella replied without turning around, her voice as cold as shattered ice, every word filled with chilling intent.
"Wuwuwu… Ella, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have joined forces with Hanafuda to attack you. Please spare me!" Oro sobbed miserably, snot and tears covering his face as his body trembled from fear and pain.
"Oro, I truly did not expect you to be so vicious. Not only did you cooperate with one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea to attack me, but you also murdered so many members of the royal family. I believe I never mistreated you, so why did you betray me?" A layer of frost seemed to cover Queen Ella's face as her high heel slowly twisted deeper into the wound.
"Ah!!!"
Oro screamed again, the sound slicing through the quiet palace like a blade.
"It's all because of you! Ever since childhood you never even let me hold your hand, and even after our marriage you still acted arrogant and distant! I was the one who married you!" Oro roared madly, cold sweat pouring down his face as his eyes filled with bitterness and resentment.
Queen Ella's expression turned icy, and the chill surrounding her seemed to solidify, making the air tremble.
"And for that reason you joined forces with a Seven Warlords of the Sea and slaughtered the companions you grew up with? So many families who refused to submit to you were killed because of this? But do not forget that everything your family has today was given by me. If I had not granted it, your family would never have risen!"
By now Oro knew he had no chance of survival, so he no longer bothered to conceal the hatred in his heart.
Enduring the agonizing pain, his face twisted grotesquely as he spoke with venomous hatred.
"They deserved it!
Let me tell you something. The reason I treated you well back then was because my family ordered me to.
This country should never have been ruled by your Floran family.
And besides, I was indeed very interested in you…"
Before he could finish speaking, a cold light flashed in Queen Ella's eyes. The anger she had suppressed for so long erupted instantly.
She kicked forward violently.
Crack!
Oro's leg bone snapped cleanly in half.
Another horrifying scream echoed through the bedchamber like the wail of a ghost, sending chills down one's spine.
Inside the bathtub, Alvin listened to the continuous screams coming from outside and felt a shiver run down his back.
Women are truly terrifying, he thought silently.
At that moment the bathroom door opened and then closed, followed by the sound of high heels tapping against the floor.
"Hey! Queen Ella, are you serious?!" Alvin quickly sank deeper into the water before turning toward her with a shocked expression.
"What? Are you saying that everything you said earlier was nonsense?" Queen Ella's lips curved slightly upward into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
She bent gracefully and hooked a finger around the heel of her shoe, removing it and tossing it casually aside.
She walked forward with light steps, each movement causing her slender waist to sway like a willow branch in the wind. Her identity as a queen carried an irresistible charm as she slowly approached Alvin.
Then she stopped in front of the bathtub.
Looking down at him.
Her ice blue eyes gazed at Alvin with natural majesty and unconcealed contempt.
"Damn it! Queen Ella, how dare you provoke me like that! I'm an adult!" Alvin could not help reacting when he saw the contempt in her gaze.
"Hmph. Provoking you and…"
Queen Ella's voice gradually faded before she could finish the sentence.
(————)
Listening to the curses coming from outside, Queen Ella felt an unprecedented thrill.
Her high heels had already been put back on.
She had already decided that tonight she would conquer Alvin. For that purpose she even revealed her Devil Fruit ability from time to time, making Alvin fully aware of Queen Ella's formidable strength.
After all, she was the user of the Zoan type Dog Dog Fruit, Ancient Model: Aurora Snow Fox.
However, Alvin's current strength was not weak either.
Before long.
Queen Ella began to curse again, her face flushed with shame and anger.
"Bastard!" Queen Ella suddenly cried out in a weak yet delicate voice, filled with humiliation and fury. "I am the Queen! How dare you humiliate me like this! Ah!!!"
Yet within those curses,
There was also a faint trembling that could not be hidden, whether it came from anger or from that strange excitement…
...
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