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Adventurer Town Delhurst, Town Hospital (Kyle POV)

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I stared out the window at the clouds floating by in the sky as the quiet boredom started to overtake me. I inadvertently let out a sigh. It was about 2 PM and I was currently sitting in a hospital bed with a full arm cast on my left arm. My arm was stuck in a bent position as the cast hung on the sling attached around my neck, and a sense of clunkiness was present whenever I moved it.

About six hours ago, I finally managed to lug Aria back to town, and when the guards at the gate saw how injured we were, they immediately brought us to the hospital. Once we arrived, one of the nurses saw my mangled left arm and I was immediately taken to a doctor, who set what was left of my broken bones back in place before patching up the bigger wounds on my left arm with some light healing magic and setting it in a cast.

And so, you’re probably wondering something along the lines of why didn’t the doctor just use magic to fix my left arm entirely if healing magic exists? But the thing about healing magic is that, while it can miraculously heal mortal wounds, it also drains the vitality of the person being healed.

What? You thought you could just fix a hole in your stomach with no repercussions by chanting a few words? Well, unfortunately, it isn’t that easy, and if you ever tried that, you would live, but it probably wouldn’t be for much longer. Instead of becoming a donut, you’d lose a few decades of your life span in exchange. Healing magic is akin to high-level regeneration, and the amount of life force required for something like that has to come from somewhere, doesn’t it?... Well, the repercussions probably wouldn’t matter for me since in my case, I’m technically a god, so there’s the whole immortality thing going on, but the doctor doesn’t know that and completely healing my broken arm with magic would’ve drained several years of vitality from a normal person.

Anyway, moving on, apparently there Aria only had light injuries and was just extremely exhausted, so the nurses just bandaged her up and let her sleep in a bed, whereas the doctor forced me to sit tight in a hospital bed for the last six hours even though my arm was already treated. There wasn’t even anything else wrong with me except for some slight blood loss. Sure, I was tired from sprinting at top speed for so long, but I’ve already been resting for hours and it wasn’t like I was so exhausted I couldn’t walk. At most, maybe my legs would be sore tomorrow.

I leaned back in my bed after I realized I was beginning to go crazy from staring at the clouds for so long and my cast blended in with the white sheets as I slowly rolled around on top of the bed.  After a few minutes of rolling around, the tension left my body as I returned to my original position and stared up at the ceiling with a sigh.

“I should go get something to eat. They can deny me my freedom for now, but at least let me get some food!” (Kyle)

I was beginning to mentally plan out how I would sneak past the nurses to the cafeteria when suddenly, I heard what seemed like the nurses yelling from the hallway outside. After a moment, the door to my hospital room burst open and a woman covered in bandages fumbled through the door.

“-miss, you can’t go in there!” (Nurse)

I sat up in bed and looked over at the door to see what the intruder wanted from me before we made eye contact. A pair of crimson red eyes stared back at me as the intruder, Aria, froze in place, and there was an awkward atmosphere for a moment as multiple nurses entered before trying to pull her out of the room to no avail.

A few more awkward seconds passed by before I finally waved my hand at her to get her attention.

“Hey, Aria, wanna grab lunc-” (Kyle)

Aria instantly broke free from the nurses and ran over before tackling me on the hospital bed. Her arms wrapped around me in a hug and she buried her face in my chest as she squeezed as hard as she could.

“Argh! Aria, stop! The doctor just set my arm and you’re gonna break it again!” (Kyle)

Waves of pain pulsed from my left arm as Aria’s bear hug started to crush my cast, but after a moment, she looked up at me as she finally loosened her death grip. I let out a sigh of relief as the pain subsided and wriggled my right arm out from her hug before pushing her head away to pry her off of me.

An awkward scenario played out after that as I explained the situation and our relationship to the nurses and the security trying to drag Aria out again. Eventually, after I apologized for the trouble Aria caused, they left us alone in the room.

Aria was seated in a chair to the right of my hospital bed, and a moment of peace finally passed by again after that whole disaster. She stared down at her hands in her lap as she sat there, and I sighed before turning to her.

“Ugh. Finally, they all left. I was already starting to feel claustrophobic after the nurses came in, and the whole security team afterward didn’t help either... Look, Aria, I’m flattered you rushed to visit me, but please just slow down and do it normally, otherwise the town guards will be here next.” (Kyle)

“...why…” (Aria)

“What? Did you say something?” (Kyle)

Aria lifted her head to face me with a hurt look on her face.

“Why... Why did you come for me?... I told you not to come! Didn’t you read the letter I left!?” (Aria)

“Letter?... Oh, you mean that piece of trash you put on my desk? I ripped it to shreds right after I read it.” (Kyle)

Aria suddenly moved forward and grabbed me by my shirt as tears started to well up in her eyes.

“Then why put yourself in danger like that!? The whole reason for this was so you would be safe, and just look at what happened! You’re lucky you still have an arm! You could’ve died!” (Aria)

I looked down at Aria’s hands gripping my shirt collar, and I slowly raised my hand before grabbing hers by the wrist.

“... So?” (Kyle)

Aria’s hands released their grip on my shirt as I grasped them, and I moved them away before sighing.

“Let me tell you something, Aria. My name is Kyle, and I’m a B-rank adventurer in Delhurst. I’m one of the two members in team ‘Party,’ and my partner is a muscle-brained idiot who can’t do anything but fight.” (Kyle)

“Wha-” (Aria)

“She’s a glutton, awful at any form of social situation, has no friends except me, abuses everyone close to her, isn’t good at anything but swinging her sword, and worst of all... she thinks that it’s ok to just leave her partner behind so she could go die stupidly by herself.” (Kyle)

“Oi!” (Aria)

Aria grabbed me by my collar again with an angry look on her face as I gently smiled back at her.

“But even so, she’s important to me. And if I had to risk my life for even the slimmest of chances to save her, I would still go in a heartbeat because she’s my one and only partner.” (Kyle)

Aria’s grip on me loosened again as I straightened up my back and put on a serious face.

“So what if I could’ve died? Is it wrong for me to try and save my partner? This broken arm hurts, but I wouldn’t mind breaking my arm hundreds of times if it meant that I could bring you back alive. You couldn’t bring yourself to risk losing me? Well, I’ve already lost too many people important to me, so let me ask, do you think I could bring myself to risk losing you too?” (Kyle)

“... I… I... I’m sorry... I never took into account how you felt… Thanks for saving me, Ky...” (Aria)

I released all the tension in my back and slumped over as Aria let go of me before placing her hands on her lap again.

“Well, I guess I’ll forgive you this time. It’s all over anyway, and we’re both alive, aren’t we? We even managed to kill the dragon. So it’s a bit late, but congratulations Aria. You’ve completed your mission.” (Kyle)

The edges of my mouth curved upwards into a small smile. My hand moved over and I patted Aria’s head as she finally let the tears flow and cried her eyes out.

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Outskirts of Solria, Capital City of the Raidion Empire (Kyle POV)

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Aria’s voice and some bumpy shaking woke me up as the background noise from the countless people surrounding our carriage finally reached my ears.

“Ky, wake up. We’re almost at the gates.” (Aria)

I let out a yawn and sat up on the carriage seat I was sleeping on before looking out the window to see the seemingly endless line of people and carriages behind us.

It’s been about two weeks since we killed the dragon, and after we were released from the hospital, we still needed the dragon’s monster core as proof that Aria had slain it, so Aria and I went back to its den and dug out the monster core from the pile of shattered ice chunks that used to be the dragon. Afterwards, we rested in town for another two days and celebrated before officially disbanding our party at the guild, saying goodbye to the inn owner, renting a carriage, and starting the trip to the capital.

I still remember when I saw the capital for the first time though, it had an imposing city wall, and you could see the countless buildings inside through the large gates, along with what seemed like the upper part of a huge castle in the center of the city. The roads leading into the city were large enough to fit four or five carriages side by side, and the gates had teams of well-armed guards to maintain order in the influx of people trying to get into the city.

But ironically, the thing that surprised me the most wasn’t the grand castle, the solid city walls, or the seemingly well-trained guards, no, in fact, the most surprising thing was the size of the goddamn line.

The line to get into the city was massive, and the end of it was so far away that you could only barely make out the details of the castle from there. The illusion and grandeur of the capital city lasted for all of ten seconds before it was promptly snuffed out by the crushing realization that we would probably be in line for several hours at minimum, maybe even days if we were unlucky. And so, we waited in line for god knows how long, before it was finally about to be our turn to enter.

The carriage in front of us finished and the guards let them in as the morning sun warmed up the upper half of my body which was sticking out the side of the carriage. Aria brought our carriage up and a few more minutes elapsed as the guards checked our guild cards for identification before letting us in.

It was finally the end of the torturous wait, and the moment we passed the gates I was overcome by the atmosphere of the capital once again. There were hundreds of people running about in every direction, dozens of carriages rolled along the streets, and there were layers upon layers of stalls and stands obscuring the shops and buildings. The sound of incoherent chatter echoed through the carriage as I stared around with a smile at the liveliness of the capital. It was nothing like Delhurst, where it was rare if you even saw a few dozen people on the street at a time, it really felt like I was back in a capital city again. A few minutes passed as our carriage chugged along the road and we were already pretty deep into the city when I called out excitedly to Aria while she drove the carriage towards the direction of the castle.

“Aria, we’re finally in the capital. Where are we going first? We could check out the weapon shops or should we go try some of the restaurants?” (Kyle)

“Well, I have to go to the castle to make a report first, so we’ll be heading off to the middle district.” (Aria)

“Alright, sightseeing it is! Let’s go, I wanted to check out the castle anyway!” (Kyle)

I gave a grin to Aria as she laughed and pointed towards the castle.

“Yeah, let’s go. At this rate, we might even make it in by sunset.” (Aria)

“Yeah!... Wait, what!?” (Kyle)

I moved my line of sight over to where Aria was pointing with a foreboding sense of fear as my grin immediately turned into a distraught frown. And it was there that I saw it again, my mortal enemy, my eternal antithesis, my worst nightmare.

It was another goddamn line.

“What, you thought we could just waltz into the middle district so easily? Looks like you’ve never been to the capital before Ky, so let me tell you, the middle district is where all the nobles live and the only thing more rotten than the nobles is the bureaucracy, who decided to put this borderline antique checking system in to appease the nobles.” (Aria)

Aria gave me a smug grin as she giggled at my pained face, and I slammed my head against the carriage wall a few times before my scream was drowned out by hustle and bustle around me.

“Goddammit!” (Kyle)

***

A few hours later, it was quite late in the afternoon and we had finally arrived at the castle in the middle district. I sat balled up in a corner of the carriage as I hugged my knees and sighed with tears in my eyes.

“...I wanna go home…” (Kyle)

Some knocking on the door of the carriage reached my ears as I finally got up and saw Aria outside with a serious face. She opened the door and dragged me out as she stared straight into my eyes.

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“Alright, Ky, you’ll have to come into the castle with me to make the report. I’m going to tell you right now, we’re meeting with the Emperor, so please, just stand behind me, don’t say anything stupid, don’t do anything stupid, and be on your best behavior.” (Aria)

“What? The Emperor!? Wait, I thought we were just coming to visit the castle so you could hand in a written report, and then we would do some sightseeing or something! When did it turn into a meeting with the Emperor!?” (Kyle)

“Didn’t I tell you before that my mission to kill the dragon was given to me by someone very important? Well, we finished the mission, so I’m reporting back to the person who gave it to me, the Emperor.” (Aria)

“Yeah, but I thought it was just some high ranking noble, or maybe a member of the court, not the literal highest in command of this empire!” (Kyle)

“Well, now you know, so come on. You won’t even need to say anything, I’ll do all the talking, so just sit in the back like a good boy and agree with everything I say.” (Aria)

“Alright, alright, I got it, just be a yes-man.” (Kyle)

I let out a sigh as Aria brought me over to the front gate before presenting a piece of paper with what seemed like a seal stamped on it to the guards.

“I am Lady Irisveil. I request an audience with his majesty immediately as I have completed my mission and have returned to report my success.” (Aria)

“I see, then I’ll inform the prime minister about your return.” (Guard)

One of the guards left and entered the castle while Aria and I stood awkwardly in front of the rest of the guards. After a few minutes, the guard returned and told us to follow him into the castle.

We entered through the gates and were promptly met by a team of maids, who led Aria and me inside the castle to separate waiting rooms. After I was escorted to the room, the maid that led me there left, saying that she would find some suitable clothes that I could wear for the meeting.

The room was basically filled with expensive items like I expected. In the middle, there was a big sofa in front of a finely crafted wooden coffee table, a small nightstand with an expensive looking vase on it, and the walls were covered by paintings in gilded picture frames. I sat down on the sofa and waited in silence as I awkwardly looked at the fine art around the room.

After a few more minutes, the maid came back and handed me some clothes before promptly telling me she would be back later when I was finished changing.

The clothes she handed me were typical nobleman’s clothes, with a vest, a tailcoat, a pair of pants, and leather shoes. I was able to change into the vest, pants, and shoes, albeit with some difficulty due to my left arm, but the tailcoat was a little too small for me since my cast couldn’t fit into the sleeve. I opened the door and entered the hallway with the tailcoat in my hand to look for the maid, but there was nobody outside. I wandered down the hall as I called out, but there was still no response of any kind. After walking for a while, I had already given up on calling out and was just wandering around aimlessly, but suddenly, I heard some noise and what seemed like faint voices from one of the rooms nearby. I went over and opened the door hoping that maybe someone who could help me was inside.

“Excuse me, have you seen any-” (Kyle)

I cut myself off mid-sentence as everyone in the room froze up while we stared awkwardly at each other. Inside the room was a well-built middle-aged man dressed in what looked like a high-quality military officer uniform. He had brown hair with streaks of grey running through it and a similarly colored beard which showed his age, along with a slightly imposing presence to him. However, any imposing presence he might have had was immediately thrown out the window once you saw that he was currently in the process of running his hands all over the maid that brought me to the waiting room earlier.

“Uh… Ahem. Sorry about the intrusion... Don’t worry, I understand that everyone has their needs. If anyone asks, I didn’t see anything.” (Kyle)

I slowly started closing the door and backing off into the hallway as the middle-aged man and the maid immediately snapped their bodies back into a stiff standing position and looked away with embarrassed blushes.

I returned to the waiting room, decided I just wouldn’t wear the tailcoat, and waited for a few minutes before I heard knocking on the door. I opened the door to find a different maid there who informed me that the Emperor was ready to meet with me before escorting me over to the audience chamber.

When I entered the chamber, everyone in the room stared at me. I glanced around the audience chamber, which was a large room with a long red carpet and carved pillars on both sides leading up to a regal throne.

Aria had her hair done up and was wearing a long red dress that looked like what a noblewoman would wear to a party. The dress matched the color of her eyes and hair, and she was holding a small box in her hands as she stood there waiting for me.

There were a few guards standing at attention by the pillars, but sitting on top of the throne was... an awkward sight. The person sitting on the throne looked exactly like the middle-aged man from earlier, but this time he had a large navy blue cape and a golden crown on him. Smiling and standing behind the throne, was another well-built middle-aged man in a similar looking military officer uniform. He had a clean shave, short blonde hair, and a sheathed long sword hanging on his waist.

Welp, looks like my head’s gonna be on the chopping block. It seems that only I could be unlucky enough to accidentally walk in on the Emperor sexually harassing one of his maids minutes before I’m supposed to have an audience with him.

I locked eyes with the Emperor, and we both put on nervous smiles as we stared at each other awkwardly while I walked up and stood behind Aria. The sound of my footsteps died out and silence spread through the room as everyone turned away from me to stare at the Emperor for a moment before he finally cleared his throat and began the meeting.

Aria kneeled down on one knee, and I immediately followed after her.

“You may rise.” (Emperor)

Aria and I stood up as we waited for the Emperor to respond.

“So, it seems that you have returned, Lady Irisveil. I take it that you have successfully completed the test that I have assigned you.” (Emperor)

Aria walked up and gave a formal knight salute to the Emperor before opening the small box in her hands to reveal the dragon’s monster core sitting inside.

“You are correct, your majesty. With the assistance of my partner, Kyle, I have slain the dragon which made its nest in the Zolran mountain range, and we have returned to the capital to submit the proof of its subjugation.” (Aria)

“Very well. I can see that you have passed my test and completed your end of our agreement, therefore, I will now complete my end. Under my authority as the current Emperor of the Radion Empire, Lady Aria of House Irisveil will be granted the title of Marchioness, and she shall be rewarded with the former mansion of House Irisveil, along with the spoils of her subjugation and a military office. We will once again meet in three days to hold the official ceremony and determine her military rank.” (Emperor)

“Thank you, your majesty. The House of Irisveil will forever remember your favor.” (Aria)

"Yes... Well, I will see you again in three days, Marchioness Irisveil. You are dismissed for now." (Emperor)

Aria took a deep breath before turning around and pulling me along by the hand to the exit of the chamber.

Whew! I’m safe for now. Looks like the Emperor doesn’t want my head today, he even let me off scot-free. He might be a little perverted, but looks like he’s still a pretty nice guy. I guess I misjudged him.

I let out a sigh of relief in my mind as I let Aria lead me towards the exit, but just as we were halfway there, the Emperor cleared his throat again to get our attention. Aria and I turned around as I put on another nervous smile.

“Ah. Actually, please wait a moment, Marchioness Irisveil! Ahem. It seems that I almost forgot about your companion. Now, Sir Kyle was it? You have done a great service for not only Marchioness Irisveil, but also this empire and its citizens, which I believe should not go unrewarded. You may let me know of any desire you have, and if it is within both reason and my power, I shall reward you with it.” (Emperor)

Hey, you perverted old man, just let it go already! I’m sorry I walked in on your sexual escapades with the maids, but it’s your damn fault in the first place for doing it, and even if you’re gonna do it, at least have the decency to lock the door! If you want my head just say it, no need to make some elaborate scheme to bait me onto the guillotine! I’m already happy with what I’ve got, I’m not gonna live the high life with your dirty money just to get put on death row a week later for a crime I didn’t commit!

I gave a bow and tried to put on my best fake smile as my brain raced to push out a response.

“Thank you for your generosity, your majesty, but it’s quite alright. As you can see, I am just a manaless helper and merely assisted Marchioness Irisveil from the sidelines during the battle. I am not deserving of any grand reward, even the chance to meet your majesty in person is more than enough of a reward for me.” (Kyle)

The Emperor let out a surprised cough as I saw a faint bead of sweat roll down his forehead and he struck a wry smile on his face. My eyes shone with a sharp glint as I heightened my eyesight to its limit.

I knew it. Did you really think I was stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trap, you old pervert? How stupid do you think I am? If you want to plant some contraband on me, you’ll have to place it in my cold, dead hands.

“Nonsense, even just assisting Marchioness Irisveil from the sidelines is enough to merit a reward. After all, you were facing a dragon, and surviving the battle with a mere arm injury is proof of your capabilities. Not many have the bravery necessary to face a dragon, especially as a manaless.” (Emperor)

Goddamnit! Just let me go! It was an accident, I won’t do it again, I promise! These lips are sealed, I’ll take the damn secret with me to my grave, so give it up already! What do I do now? Should I try to stall?

“Thank you, your majesty, but I did not expect a reward so suddenly. If I may ask, would it be possible to discuss this at a later date? I am afraid that I must put some more thought into my decision.” (Kyle)

“I see, but it would be rude of me to let you leave with just a verbal promise, and it would be difficult to set up another meeting without a definite time. Hmm… Ah, I have an idea. How about I leave you with a blank imperial edict and you can write down whatever you want when you make your decision. You merely need to send it to me through the guards afterwards, and if it is reasonably within my power, I will make it official with the imperial seal. Well then, it is getting late and I would like to retire to my room for the night. Someone fetch the deed to the former mansion of House Irisveil for Marchioness Irisveil and a blank imperial edict for Sir Kyle, then send them on their way.” (Emperor)

“Ah, wai-” (Kyle)

“Thank you for your favor, your majesty, I’m sure Sir Kyle will not forget your kindness either.” (Aria)

I tried to call out to stop what was happening, but Aria cut me off with an urgent voice and immediately dragged me out of the audience chamber where we were handed the deed to a mansion in the capital and a piece of high-quality paper with the symbol of the Empire printed on it before being promptly escorted out.

We left the castle stiffy and returned to our carriage outside where Aria and I stood facing each other for a moment. After letting out a deep breath, Aria immediately grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me violently.

“What the hell did you do!? Why did his majesty give you a blank imperial edict!?” (Aria)

“Goddamnit! He got me, that sly dog! I’m telling you right now Aria, this edict’s worthless! I don’t even want to touch this cursed piece of paper! I’m one hundred percent confident that if I ever use this blank edict for anything, my head will be on the chopping block by the next day!” (Kyle)

“That doesn’t answer my question! In fact, it just makes me more worried! Tell me now! What the hell did you do!?” (Aria)

“I can’t tell you! The whole reason he gave me this blank edict was as a threat to buy my silence!” (Kyle)

After about half an hour of back and forth yelling, along with a nostalgic beating from Aria, I finally spilled the beans without giving out too many specifics and managed to convince her that as long as we never used the edict, we would be perfectly fine. Aria and I were currently sitting next to each other on the carriage with forlorn expressions as our bodies slumped down on the seats.

“... Hey Aria.” (Kyle)

“Yeah?” (Aria)

“Where are we gonna go now?” (Kyle)

“Where do you think we’re going?” (Aria)

“Is it back to Delhurst? Because I kinda miss my inn room right now. Guess that fortune teller back in Delhurst really was a quack. What kind of good luck is pissing off the Emperor the same day I enter the capital.” (Kyle)

The life came back to Aria and she whacked me in the head one last time before sighing, but after a moment, she started to giggle.

“Argh!” (Kyle)

“Are you an idiot?” (Aria)

The sound of her gentle laughter echoed around me, and I got up and held my head as Aria stepped out of the carriage before facing the moon with her back to me. Her hands hung loosely by her side and her silhouette radiated a sense of tenderness as it covered a part of the beautifully clear moon in the night sky. I exited the carriage too and stared at her standing there for a moment until her soft voice drowned out the sound of the night breeze.

“... You know, I still remember when I left the capital. That morning as I was packing up my things, I was trying to toughen myself up mentally, but deep down inside, I was scared. I thought maybe I wouldn’t ever return to the capital, maybe this would be the last time I ever saw the city I grew up in and the people I knew.” (Aria)

Aria took a deep breath of the crisp night air before spreading her arms out as wide as she could.

“But, I’m back now. It’s all over and done with, and it feels like I’ve finally gotten rid of a huge weight on my chest. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my life. So… we’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we, Ky? Well, I’ll be honest with you this time. Thanks for being my partner, Ky. I wouldn’t be standing here right now if you weren’t always there for me. You told me before that I’m an important person to you, and it’s my turn to tell you that you’re an important person to me too. Sometimes I wish that we could just go back to those dreamlike days in Delhurst, just adventuring without a care in the world, but everything has to come to an end, and it’s the same with our party. You can do whatever you want now, and as much as I would like to, I can’t force you to be by my side anymore, so I’ll only ask you once… Hey, Ky... if you have nowhere else to go, then...” (Aria)

Aria dropped her arms again and held them together loosely behind her back before doing a cute twirl on her heels and turning to me with a lovely beaming smile.

“Will you stay with me?” (Aria)

Then it was as if time slowed down to a crawl for me.

The gentle moonlight was ethereal as it danced around Aria, and a pleasant breeze swirled past both of us. The soft breeze made her dress billow slightly and her silky red hair flowed in the wind.

I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the tender atmosphere that enveloped us, maybe it was her adorable genuine smile that finally made her look like a girl her age again, maybe it was the way she finally made my heart skip a beat, or maybe it was a combination of everything, but at that moment, to me... Aria was even more beautiful than the moon in the night sky.

A feeling of warmth slowly filled up my chest, and when I finally came back to my senses, I had a slight tinge of blush on my face. The edges of my mouth unconsciously curved upwards into a smile as I hid my mouth before sighing. I took a deep breath and reoriented myself before staring into Aria’s eyes with the same smile.

“Do you even need to ask? Where else would I go? I’m already home. After all, I’m standing right next to you, aren’t I? So come on, let’s go to the mansion. I’ll even make your favorite for dinner tonight, beef and potatoes.” (Kyle)

Aria stood there smiling for a second as tears started to flow down her face. She buried her face in her arm before wiping away the tears and giving a cute sniffle as her crystal clear voice rang out again.

“... Yeah, let’s go.” (Aria)

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Solria Castle, Master Bedroom (Reynard POV)

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Hello everyone, my name is Reynard Charbert Raidion, current Emperor of the Raidion Empire, and I’ve just narrowly escaped castration. You see, I lost myself to temptation and got caught flirting around with one of the maids. I was scared out of my mind thinking that my wife would find out I was harassing the maids again. The last time she found out, she told me if I ever did it again, she would castrate me!

At first, I thought it was a new servant who caught me, and I was going to have the guards stop anyone from leaving the castle so I could deal with it after the urgent meeting with Marchioness Irisveil, but imagine my surprise when the guy who caught me, Sir Kyle, walked into the audience chamber and stood behind the Marchioness. I initially panicked and just tried to get them out as soon as possible, but after a bit of thought, I took the chance to bribe him under the guise of a reward for helping Marchioness Irisveil.

But man, that Kyle fellow really was scary. I told him he could have anything he wanted as long as it was in my power, and I thought he would just ask for some gold or a title of nobility, but I couldn’t believe my ears when he actually rejected the reward.

I got nervous for a second there, showed an instant of weakness, and tried to cover it up with a fake smile, but the moment I slipped up, the glint in his eyes immediately sharpened like he was looking at prey. It scared the daylights out of me. I’m sure I was just a fat meal in his eyes. He even tried to leave right afterwards to put some more pressure on me. But I managed to keep my cool this time on the outside, and pushed a blank imperial edict on him. I kicked them out after that and even told him he could just mail in the edict so I wouldn’t have to ever see him again. It’s a good thing Marchioness Irisveil dragged him out of there in time though because I was about to blow my act if he didn’t take the edict. Well, now I’m just stuck in bed for the rest of the night. I didn’t even have dinner yet.

I stared at the ceiling as tears leaked out of my eyes and the sound of my rumbling stomach filled the room.