"Your Majesty, what happened?"
The moment he saw Her Majesty the Empress, Modo's eyes grew red. He dropped to one knee, his voice choked with a sob.
The Elf Empress clutched her chest, her face flushed crimson. Her expression was utterly strange. It took her a long moment to snap out of it and regain her proud, cold demeanor. "It's nothing, Modo," she said calmly. "Is this how you carry out the mission I entrusted to you?"
Modo's head hung low. In the presence of Her Majesty the Empress, he dared not show the slightest hint of his usual pride. Besides, if she hadn't personally arrived today, he feared he would have faced even greater humiliation—being held at swordpoint by a human without showing the proper courage, losing all his dignity.
Although Modo told himself that the human was shameless and despicable, it was an indisputable fact that his own strength was inferior.
