(Orlax’s POV)
Riana and I arrived at a basent located beneath the elin family’s house.
After opening the basent door, I saw a long corridor, with statues of people lining both sides.
"This is the Elin family’s tomb."
"I see."
I followed Riana in silence until we reached a spot where there was no statue but instead a large coffin where a person lay.
It was Baron elin, Riana’s father, lying there, appearing to have been cleaned thoroughly and dressed in appropriate clothing.
"Hello, Father."
Riana stepped forward and sat beside the coffin, unconcerned about her now dirty clothes.
"It was your wish to see in my wedding dress, wasn’t it? Look, now I am wearing it. I got married today."
She placed her hand on her father’s cheek and began speaking in a soft voice tinged with sorrow.
"But you weren’t here, Father."
Tears stread down her face as I clenched my fists.
’If I had arrived earlier, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.’
I started berating myself again while looking at Riana’s miserable state.
’So that’s why you wanted to marry so quickly, huh.’
I leaned against the wall and waited until Riana cald down.
But even after a long ti, she remained where she was, still talking to her father and crying.
I stepped forward and placed my hand on her head, trying to comfort her.
"Alright, alright, calm down. What’s done is done. I don’t think your father would be happy to see you like this."
"How many tis must I say I’m not a child for you to try to comfort like that?"
Riana stood up and wiped her tears as she spoke.
"I don’t know. Maybe every ti?"
"There won’t be another ti. I won’t cry ever again."
"You can’t do that. You’ll cry even if you don’t want to—you’re human, after all. Emotions are what drive us."
"Yeah, yeah, wise man."
"Yes, I am wise. Instead, whenever you want to cry, co to and I’ll comfort you."
"And how would I co to you while I live here and you’re in the capital?"
"What do you an? You’ll be living with in the capital from today onward. You’re the empress, and you have duties to fulfill."
"Huh? Duties? I—what!!"
Seeing Riana’s sudden outburst, I rubbed my forehead due to the headache and looked into her confused eyes.
"Did you seriously not think about that when you asked to beco the empress?"
"Ahem, of course I did."
She turned her head to the side and looked at the ceiling while whistling.
"Of course, you didn’t think about it. I should have expected that. Alright, listen to ."
She focused her attention on and listened to what I had to say.
"From now on, you will no longer be responsible for ruling Baron Allen. Soone else will take over that responsibility, and you will be responsible for the entire empire."
"Wait! Wait! Soone else? This city has been ruled by Baron Allen for three thousand years. It’s impossible to give it to soone who isn’t from the Allen family!"
"Alright. Do you have any relatives who could rule this city?"
"My uncle exists, but he lives in the capital with his children."
"Okay, ask him to co and govern the city from now on."
"I’ll tell him. But what if he doesn’t want to co here?"
I looked at Riana, who was considering the difficult position if he refused, and I spoke with curiosity.
"Riana, remind who you are again."
"I’m Riana elin. Why? Did you forget my identity?"
"Wrong. You are Riana Tirshtain, the empress. When you command soone to do sothing, they must execute it, or they will be punished."
"Oh, right. I’m the empress now—I can do whatever I want."
She tapped her head when she rembered her new identity.
"I have a question that’s been bothering . Why did you want to beco the empress?"
We were now out of the basent, walking through the halls of the house, and we reached Riana’s room.
"For no reason."
My lips twitched when I heard this answer, and I looked at Riana, who was smiling.
’This girl really gives headaches.’
I pushed open the room door and entered, but I didn’t see Riana beside . I looked back and saw her standing frozen at the entrance.
"Why did you enter my room?"
Her question made feel slightly strange.
"What do you an why? Since we’re married now, we’ll be sharing the room from now on."
I felt so amusent as I saw her flustered state and smiled slightly.
"Impossible! Impossible! Get out of my room! Now! Get out!"
Her face turned red from my words, and she remained standing at the door, shouting for to leave.
"Oh, co on, dear. Why are you feeling shy? Co and sit next to ."
I lay down on the bed and playfully gestured for her to lie beside .
"Are you mocking ?! Get out of my room now!"
"Tsk, and here I thought we’d share an emotional night together."
I whispered those words in her ear and gave her a light kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.
’Finally, I feel better. Teasing her is so much fun.’
A big smile appeared on my face as I headed to my room, took a shower, changed my clothes, and lay on the bed.
But just like yesterday, I couldn’t sleep due to the nightmares that plagued , and I remained awake all night.
When the sun rose, I decided to prepare a al for myself and went to the kitchen.
Because I hadn’t slept for two consecutive days, I began to feel my brain burning due to exhaustion and fatigue.
My body moved sluggishly since my mind hadn’t had enough rest.
’This is frustrating. I need to find a solution, or I might die from lack of sleep and exhaustion.’
I finished preparing a simple al and headed to the courtyard to get so fresh air while eating.
Swoosh!
I heard the sound of a sword and instinctively looked toward the source.
In the middle of the courtyard stood a red-haired girl with her eyes closed, practicing swordplay.
Riana wore training clothes consisting of a sports bra and short shorts to avoid restricting her movent.
I stood at a distance and ate my breakfast while watching her train.
’She’s really diligent. But it’s strange—everything from her stance to her attacks is perfectly executed. Why hasn’t she reached the master rank yet?’
By observing her movents, I deduced that her skills had already reached the master level, but her body hadn’t.
’It’s as if she possesses advanced software, but her hardware isn’t capable of running it.’
Lost in my thoughts, Riana spoke while keeping her eyes closed.
"Watching people train isn’t a good habit."
I knew she ant , so I stepped out of my spot while holding the food tray.
"I didn’t want to interrupt your training."
"No problem. If you want to see train, just let know next ti."
"Alright. Have you eaten yet? If not, why don’t you share my al?"
"Hmm, okay."
I placed the tray on the ground and handed a spoon to Riana, and we began eating.
"This is incredibly delicious! Who made it? I don’t rember ever eating anything of this quality before."
"Thanks."
"Huh? Why are you thanking ? Don’t tell that this..."
"Yes, I made this al myself."
"Impossible!!"
Riana set her spoon down and looked at in disbelief.
"Why?"
I asked calmly while continuing to eat.
"I an, you, making food of this quality? A person has to train for years to create dishes this tasty."
"Okay."
I looked at her and gestured for her to continue speaking.
"And you were a prince—maids must have always prepared your als."
I remained silent while listening to her words, which began to irritate .
"Riana, the first ti I cooked was when I was two years old. Since then, I have prepared my own als. No maid has ever made my food—I cooked it myself."
I set the spoon down on the tray and stood up, unwilling to continue this pointless conversation.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t know that."
Hearing Riana’s apology cald my anger slightly, and I stood beside her while she finished eating.
After she finished, she stood up and dusted herself off.
"Thank you. That was really delicious."
"You’re welco."
We stood in awkward silence until I spoke again.
"Riana, do you want to beco stronger?"
"Of course, I want to be stronger."
"Why?"
"Because I don’t want everything to be taken from due to my weakness."
"Alright. I can make you stronger, but it depends on your willingness."
The shock was evident on her face when she heard my words.
"You can make stronger? Tell how—I’m ready to do anything for power."
’Alright, I’ve only tried this before with Sera.’
[Would you like to form a contract with the person standing before you?]
’Yes.’
[Contract successfully established. Would you like to view the stats?]
’Yes.’
A transparent blue screen appeared before , displaying all of Riana’s attributes.
After reading everything, I was utterly shocked.
’This... Can sothing like this even exist?’ .
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