Chapter 1010: The Best Thing in Your Life

Dusk settled slowly over the Ice Monarch’s territory.

The last bluish shades of the sky disappeared behind the mountains, leaving only the moon reflected across endless stretches of snow. Small flakes drifted silently around the palace, glowing for a few moments whenever they crossed the light of the magical crystals scattered along the walls.

After spending most of the day playing with Vex, Strax had finally managed to get the little dragon to rest.

Managed was perhaps a generous word.

Vex had simply burned so much energy running through the corridors, building ice animals, and forcing her father to participate in imaginary battles that she ended up falling asleep hugging a wooden dragon before dinner was even over.

Now, only Strax and Mercedes remained awake in that part of the palace.

The two stood on the large balcony of the Monarch’s private chambers.

Mercedes had a thin blanket around her shoulders, not because she needed protection from the cold of her own territory, but because Vex had insisted that "Mommy looks prettier like this" before going to sleep.

Strax rested his forearms on the stone balustrade, watching the snow fall beyond the walls.

For a few minutes, neither of them said anything.

It was a comfortable silence, very different from the kind that had existed when they first met, when every pause seemed to hide a threat or a struggle for authority.

Strax was the one who broke it.

"I’m going to accept the Witches."

Mercedes did not look surprised.

After their conversation that morning, perhaps she had already expected the decision.

"The entire Congregation?"

"If Monica can close a decent agreement with them, yes."

Strax watched a snowflake land on the new Gauntlet of Darkness before melting against the energy flowing through the metal.

"But I don’t just want libraries and laboratories. I want to use their knowledge to increase Asgard’s strength."

Mercedes turned her face slightly.

"Your army."

"That too."

She spent a few seconds studying him.

"You’ve been talking about expanding the army more and more often."

Strax did not deny it.

Mercedes placed her hands on the balustrade beside him.

"Why? You’re on good terms with the Heavenly Emperor. At least as far as I know, neither of you seems interested in turning the continent into a battlefield."

"We are on good terms."

"Then?"

Strax raised his eyes toward the horizon.

"The problem is, I’m not thinking much about him."

Mercedes understood before the next explanation even came.

"The gods."

"The gods."

The wind passed across the balcony, moving Mercedes’s long hair over her shoulder.

She had heard enough reports to know that something was stirring on the other continent.

Ancient divinities taking positions among mortals.

Forces that should have remained hidden interfering with empires.

A conflict far larger than most of the world realized beginning to take shape beyond the eyes of ordinary people.

"I know they’re there," Mercedes said. "But I still don’t know how far you intend to take this."

"To the end."

She frowned.

Strax continued without dramatizing his answer.

"I have to kill all of them."

Mercedes turned fully toward him.

"All of them?"

"The ones going after the Core."

Her expression changed.

Strax leaned his back against the balustrade.

"They want the Core of this planet. Not to protect anything. They want to absorb it, use that power to elevate themselves even further, and then decide how the world should exist."

Mercedes became serious.

"Are you sure?"

"Persephone confirmed it. Hades knew. Zeus is already building strength on the other continent, and he isn’t the only one involved."

Strax slowly closed the hand covered by the gauntlet.

"If they manage to reach the Core before we’re ready, it won’t matter whether the Heavenly Emperor likes me or not. It won’t matter how many Monarchs are still alive. A war between territories stops meaning anything when the enemy intends to tamper with the foundation of the world itself."

Mercedes shifted her gaze toward the snow.

"So the Witches would be part of the preparation."

"Exactly. Asgard already has enough monsters capable of crushing things."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"Monica even made a point of explaining that our problem is brains."

Mercedes let out a quiet laugh.

"She isn’t wrong."

"Thanks for the support."

"You melted the Helm of Darkness to make a gauntlet."

"Everyone keeps using that against me even though it worked perfectly."

"Because it’s an excellent example."

Strax shook his head, but kept smiling.

"That’s exactly why I want the Witches. Better artifacts. Barriers. Soul research. Homunculi. Golems. Weapons capable of hurting divine beings. If I’m going to send soldiers against things that existed before several kingdoms in this world, I’m not sending men with ordinary swords and hoping for the best."

Mercedes remained silent for a few moments, absorbing that.

Then she let out a long sigh.

"Ever since I met you..."

Strax looked at her.

Mercedes continued, staring at the snow.

"I was a Monarch living in a frozen territory where practically everything obeyed what I said. My greatest concern was keeping certain creatures away from the borders and making sure no one was stupid enough to provoke the North."

"A peaceful life."

"Relatively."

"And then I appeared."

"And then you appeared."

A faint, amused exhaustion entered her voice.

"Then Vex appeared. Then I had to learn how to be the mother of a little dragon who apparently has infinite energy and considers sleeping a conspiracy created by adults."

Strax laughed.

"You make it sound like you don’t enjoy it."

Mercedes gave him a sideways glance.

"I didn’t say that."

"You don’t have to."

He moved a little closer.

"Come on, be honest. That laugh of hers is the best thing in your life."

Mercedes went silent.

A faint red slowly appeared in her cheeks.

Strax noticed immediately.

"Look at that."

"Don’t start."

"You turned red."

"It’s cold."

He looked around at the woman’s completely frozen domain.

"Mercedes."

"Shut up."

Strax started laughing.

"You are literally the Ice Monarch trying to blame the cold."

She turned her face away, hiding part of her expression behind her hair.

That only made it worse.

Strax stepped closer until he stood beside her, resting one arm on the balustrade behind her body.

"When I first met you, you were so arrogant and cold that every sentence sounded like it needed to remind the whole world that they were standing before a Monarch."

"I am still a Monarch."

"I know."

"And I’m still arrogant."

"Less."

Mercedes narrowed her eyes.

Strax smiled.

"Now I see you running after Vex because she came out wearing mismatched socks, making hot chocolate because she decided water was ’boring,’ keeping those horrible drawings she makes..."

"Her drawings are not horrible."

"She drew you with six arms."

"That was creativity."

"She drew me as a black worm with wings."

Mercedes had to hold back a laugh.

Strax brought his face closer to hers.

"Now you’ve gotten so cute I almost feel like kissing you."

Mercedes’s expression changed immediately.

She turned toward him.

For a fraction of a second, Strax expected an irritated response.

Mercedes grabbed the collar of his clothes.

And kissed him.

There was no warning.

Her lips met his firmly, surprising Strax enough to leave him completely still for the first instant.

Then he responded naturally, sliding one hand around her waist as Mercedes moved closer.

The kiss quickly lost its impulsive quality and became slow, quiet, almost too gentle for two people who usually solved a large portion of their problems through absurd amounts of force.

The snow continued falling around them.

A few flakes landed in Mercedes’s hair before becoming tiny shining crystals beneath her own aura.

Moonlight passed through the clouds above the mountains, covering the balcony in silver and blue.

For that small interval, there were no soldiers, reports, Monarchs, Witches, or gods.

When Mercedes finally pulled away, she remained close enough that their foreheads nearly touched.

Strax smiled.

"Was that you agreeing that you’ve gotten cute?"

"No."

"Seemed like it."

"It was to make you stop talking."

"Worked badly. Now I want to talk more."

Mercedes sighed, but the smile on her lips was far too small to support any real irritation.

Strax ran his thumb along the side of her face.

"You like this life."

Mercedes looked through the open balcony door, toward the corridors where Vex was sleeping.

This time, she did not try to deny it.

"More than I thought I would."

Strax went quiet.

Mercedes looked back at him.

"That’s why, if those gods really threaten this world..."

Some of the softness vanished from her face, giving way to the old Monarch.

"...then it won’t be only your army preparing."

Strax smiled.

"I knew there was still some of that terrifying woman in there."

"Some?"

The temperature on the balcony dropped several degrees.

Strax laughed and pulled her closer by the waist again.

"Fine. A lot."

Mercedes allowed him to bring her in, resting her head against his chest for a few moments as both of them returned to watching the snow.

From inside, far removed from the silence of the balcony, Vex’s sleepy voice suddenly echoed through the corridor.

"DADDY!"

Strax closed his eyes.

Mercedes started laughing.

The voice came again.

"I CAN’T FIND MY DRAGON!"

Strax let out a theatrical sigh.

"The best thing in your life."

Mercedes gently pushed him toward the door.

"Our daughter is calling you."

"Our daughter now?"

"When she wants something in the middle of the night, mostly yours."

Strax looked at Mercedes, offended.

She simply took the lead and walked into the palace with a satisfied smile.

Strax followed shortly afterward.

The gods could wait a few minutes.

Vex’s missing wooden dragon, apparently, could not.