Contents
Chapter Sixty-Four
Overview
The group gains a lavish audience with Queen Quilimar, presents the amarth egg, and admits Joon sent them to steal her Ring. Quilimar reveals only royal blood can wield relics and that she and Euyn are not Baejkin. This shatters Euyn’s claim and destabilizes the group’s purpose and trust.
Summary
Sora and her companions are escorted as honored guests into Khitan’s opulent palace, passing nobles and Ambassador Zeolin. In awe of the gold‑laden halls, they enter a sky‑themed banquet room where a single regal table faces a vast painting of Khitan’s founding.
Queen Quilimar arrives with General Vikal and a guard phalanx. She greets Euyn coolly and warms to Aeri, acknowledging her as niece Naerium and welcoming her to a land where a woman can stand on her own. Refreshments are served as the court watches from afar.
Mikail announces they brought the amarth egg, and Aeri sets it on the table, crushing cakes. Quilimar notes her deceased husband had sought it. Choosing candor, Sora states that King Joon sent them to steal Quilimar’s Ring, prompting Vikal and the guards to tense.
Quilimar replies that only royal blood can wield the relics and assumes Joon risked Aeri because she could use the Ring. When Mikail challenges her, Quilimar reveals a long‑kept truth: only Joon and Omin are legitimate children of King Theum; after a hunting accident, the king could sire no more heirs. She states that she and Euyn lack Baejkin blood.
Silence falls. Euyn pales, and Sora realizes he could never have been king and likely knew it, igniting her fury over the risks they took for his promises. Quilimar chastises Euyn for his secrets without gloating. Sora concludes that both the harsh and sympathetic portraits of Quilimar are true.
Who Appears
- SoraPOV observer; confronts Quilimar with Joon’s theft order and feels betrayed by Euyn’s hidden lineage.
- Queen QuilimarKhitan’s queen regent; receives the group, reveals only royals wield relics, and that she and Euyn aren’t Baejkin.
- EuynWounded ally; exposed as not Baejkin, nullifying his claim to Yusan’s throne; visibly shaken.
- Aeri (Naerium)Joon’s daughter; presents the amarth egg; welcomed by Quilimar; identified as the one who could wield the Ring.
- MikailChallenges Quilimar’s claim; reels at the revelation of Euyn’s illegitimacy and lost claim.
- General VikalKhitan general; escorts the queen and tenses when Sora admits the theft plot.
- RoyoCompanion who keeps Aeri from stealing; witnesses the courtly exchange and revelations.
- Ambassador ZeolinKhitan ambassador; observes their procession, stunned by Aeri with the egg.