The next morning, Reina awoke facing Queen Lisette in bed. She was still asleep, breathing through her slightly parted lips. The attempt on her life yesterday must have been hard, but it explained why the queen went as far as kidnapping an alchemist in her pursuit of an elixir of life.

Death was a concern for those with too little and too much to live for. Being so young while in charge of multiple kingdoms didn't offer much freedom to chase after her dreams. Whatever they were.

Reina wondered what Queen Lisette would be if she wasn't a queen at all.

As the monarch began to stir, Reina shut her eyes and pretended to sleep. She felt a hand tenderly stroking her cheek. The bed groaned as the queen seemingly drew closer, then a pair of lips pressed to her own. And again, and again, over and over until Reina couldn't pretend any longer.

Reina opened her eyes to the queen getting out of bed and throwing on a smock before leaving. Alone to herself again, she pressed a finger to her lips and blushed hard.

Across the room, Daisy was peeking at her from behind a wall of vines.

"Don't suppose you're safe from her hungry touch either?" Reina asked.

The alraune tensed up her vine barrier and hid herself.

When Reina threw the bed sheets off to get out of bed, she noticed a raging hard on between her legs. It was a miracle the queen didn't notice. How would she have reacted if she saw this?

Come to think of it, the penis didn't appear while receiving the queen's punishment in her room. The bedchamber must have some sort of anti-magic property. It would make sense, given her paranoia.

Setting these thoughts aside, Reina got dressed herself and prepared for another day of work. First thing in the morning was always maid duties. As she reached the door, her hand lingered on the doorknob and hesitated to exit the room.

"Why am I acting all eager to get to work for? Shouldn't I be looking for a way out?" She sighed.

Day by day, her desire to stay by Queen Lisette's side was growing. It shouldn't. She was a captive here after all. But what could she do until a philosopher's stone fell into her hand. Even then, would the queen really let her go after giving her what she wanted?

As soon as Reina opened the door, a familiar dark-skinned elf was leaning against the opposite wall waiting for her. She was dressed in light leather armor and hair tied to a thick braid behind her head as if preparing for battle.

"Kris. Normally, this is where I'd say 'good to see you again' enthusiastically. But I honestly could've gone without seeing you again ever."

"Get used to it." The elf scoffed. "The queen wants us downstairs within the next half hour. We're heading out."

"Where are we going?" Reina asked.

The three of them sat in a carriage reminiscent of the high priestesses' mobile mansions. Though nowhere near as large, it did have plenty of walking room and was tall enough that they weren't hunched over while standing.

"So what's my role out here? I'm no good without a cauldron," Reina said.

"Normally, I would have you stay at the manor," Queen Lisette began. "We may have a chimera on our hands, and that can only mean one thing."

"A philosopher's stone."

"Last night, villagers from Mingsk reported something about a horned beast with the body of a lion and the head of a rhino. We typically send word to Grathi and wait for help from a witch. This time, however, we're keeping them in the dark," Kris explained, staring out the window.

When Reina slid open the window, she saw a number of soldiers escorting the carriage. Although they were many, a chimera was nothing to scoff at in a fight. Especially so with only restoration potions and not a single elixir of strength. 

Well, little did they know that all of their potions were currently infused with her own semen to increase the batch quality. It would have to suffice.

"You may be an alchemist, but between your sharpened ears is what's truly valuable. Whatever the chimera turns out to be, you may be able to identify it for us to defeat it," the queen said.

"No amount of knowledge can save us from a dragon attack, can it?" Reina pursed her lips and frowned.

Queen Lisette nodded at Kris, who then handed Reina her serrated dagger that was previously taken away by the slavers. As she gripped the handle, Kris held on and glared.

"I still don't trust you. If I so much as think you're going to attack Her Majesty, I will—"

"Kris, that's enough. Reina won't betray me," the queen said with firm belief that surprised even Reina herself.

The dagger returned to her possession at last. She tied it to her right thigh, where the maid outfit's skirt split. Its design still left much to be desired, but at least she had quicker access to her weapon.

Their carriage came to an abrupt stop, jostling the passengers within except Kris. The elven guard walked to the back end of the car and threw open the door.

"Why have we stopped? We're barely halfway there," she called to a guard.

"There's a block in the road. The men're clearing it now!" he replied with fear tinging in his words.

Queen Lisette was looking worried, likely afraid it be could another assassination attempt. Reina stuck her head out the window to check down the road. Trees had fallen in the way, and soldiers were using horses to pull them off the road. Something about where their trunks snapped seemed—

She was yanked hard back into the carriage and fell on her butt.

"What did the queen say? Stay inside!" Kris growled.

"You two had me come out here for a reason. Let me inspect the trees, because the way they fell seems off," Reina argued.

Kris traded glances with the queen for permission, but the latter was reluctant to let either of them go.

"Don't leave me!" Queen Lisette exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She realized a split second later and winced at the pathetic side she had shown to them, then recomposed herself and cleared her throat. "Take Reina and keep a close eye on her."

The two of them nodded and made their way out.

"And… return to me…" she added meekly, but only audible enough for Reina to hear.

The next thing to reach her ears was a lot of bickering and the strong current of river rapids off to the right. Many escort guards maintained a dense perimeter around the carriage to protect their queen. Others scrambled about trying to clear the debris from the road.

"How hard is it moving a bunch of fucking trees?" Kris shouted over the humans.

It occurred to Reina that Kris was sort of an exception amongst the non-humans in the queen's service. Humans had always looked down upon their kind. Maybe it was due to being slaves millennia ago, or the priestesses' role as sexual diplomats during the war that inflamed their submissive stereotypes, but no human would be seen dead underneath the toes of a non-human.

Yet Kris barked at and terrified them like the queen herself.

"W-We're trying, but the horses are acting up!" One soldier was having trouble bringing his horse any closer to the fallen trees.

There were six that had toppled over. What stuck out were the breaking points of the trunk. None of them showed signs of being hacked by axes or fallen by natural means. They did, however, have impact wounds along one side. Like something repeatedly bashed a large hammer against the side of the tree.

"This wasn't done by humans," Reina said.

"Then what?" Kris asked impatiently.

"Look!"

"What the hell is that?!"

Kris and Reina followed the commotion to the other side of the river where a monstrosity returned their gaze. All at once, weapons were drawn and formations tightened.

The chimera had found them. It stood proud on four legs like a lion, but had the head of a rhino in which the horn was as black as obsidian.

Before anyone could react, it leapt across the river and landed in the middle of the small army. The formation scattered. Many were petrified in terror and others fell to the ground.

"What are you all waiting for? Attack!" Kris ordered at the top of her lungs.

Soldiers threw spears and fired arrows, but all their projectiles clattered off the monster's thick hide. Long tentacles emerged from the golden mane and flung everyone around it away.

Reina pulled out a slumber vial just as a tentacle had latched onto her ankle. The glass slipped from her hand as she and Kris were pulled up to the chimera's face. She cursed under her breath, then took out the dagger to slice the tentacle and free herself.

The chimera roared in pain and leapt behind the blockade with Kris in its grasp. She was about to cut herself off, but another tentacle snatched the weapon and threw it away.

"N-No!" she screamed as the chimera drew a thick, slimy tongue across her face and body. More tentacles came out to probe the restrained elf, slipping under her armor and teasing the erogenous zones of her body. One snaked into her leather trousers and tore off the laces holding it together.

"Is it… horny?" Reina asked herself, recalling what the previous chimera did to Yuen.

"What do you think… you're doing? You pathetic humans get over here and— aahh!" Kris shuddered as the tentacle seemingly penetrated her, the outlines of the appendage squirmed ruthlessly in her pants.

All of the soldiers were too scared or injured to do anything. Two more slumber vials remained in Reina's possession. If she could just get close without being caught—

The chimera suddenly took off into the forest at great speeds with its prize.

Queen Lisette threw open the carriage doors and had to be held back by her guards to keep from chasing after it.

"Kris! No!" she screamed.