I look up at her with hesitation, wondering what has come to this...10 minutes have passed since the guy with the greatest gift left with curses and gritted teeth.
It's 5:40 pm now.
And well?
Yeah, now I'm the one to give her my proposal...
"Oh, you were the fool from the streets." Her eyes twinkled with a sense of curiosity, looking revitalized.
It seemed like she preferred to see someone new rather than deal with the usual line of men who came to her pagoda.
However, that didn't last for long since she returned to her stoic behavior. "So you've heard of my conditions?" She asks, resting her hand on her cheeks as she sat with an impertinent behavior.
That was her way of taunting, I believe...
"...yes," I answered back, smiling at her nervously as I tried to hide the awkward laugh that was brimming in my throat.
I'm sure she could sense it.
I was fidgeting, my eyes looking at anything else aside from her eyes.
"Hmm...very well, if you're that confident," She hums with a sarcastic tone to her voice, her lips slightly parted as she holds a parchment of paper in her hands. "You're a newcomer, so I'll ask you questions."
In an instant, when she drew out the parchment, an array of green particles was formed between both of us.
It was a boundary encirclement! It was the very first test that would happen when you would first apply as her husband candidate. She would ask questions, and I would have to answer truthfully.
"What is the most important aspect of a wife for you?" She asked, and for sure, I could feel a chill run all over my body.
Perhaps it's because of the array she cast, but I'm convinced that she knows everything, and she will know if I'm lying.
"I...I don't know," I answer truthfully, making her squint her eyes in response.
She doesn't comment, and only stares at me...or rather...what's inside of me?
It looked like she was looking at me, but at the same time, it did not.
"Mmm...and what do you intend to do if I were your wife?" She asks another question, making my head float into nothingness.
"I don't know," I answer again, seeing a vein pop on her forehead.
I can tell...she's probably thinking "What type of idiot is this person?".
Yeah...that's my bad. I don't think I could even lie since my mouth is running off the words by itself.
"...what is the best thing you can offer your wife?" She asks, her tone growing more and more impatient. Her hands tap the table constantly, getting annoyed with my "I don't know" antics.
For a moment, I believed myself to say something just as stupid as "I don't know," but what came out was rather different.
"Food, care, and loyalty," I answer, making her look a bit intrigued.
Perhaps my answers were different from those who came before me.
But oh, what do I know? Maybe she just likes the food comment.
"And the worst thing you can offer your wife?" She asks, and immediately, my heart feels restricted and constrained...
Why am I feeling like this? I know I'm not a bad person.
I'm my mother's son, who has dedicated everything to becoming a son whom she would be proud of. I'm—
"That...that I came from my father," I answer, almost feeling like my mind was reeling into some sort of nausea that came from nowhere.
I could tell she was alarmed, as the nauseating feeling stopped.
Along with that was the formation of a crack in the array between us.
She grows silent for a second, and just as I feel better, she snaps her fingers.
She doesn't intend to fix the crack.
"What is your biggest motivation to make me your wife?" She asks, her voice and tone devoid of anything, not even compassion or pity for the backlash of pain I felt earlier.
I kept my silence momentarily, shaking my head off the pain from those questions I was forced to answer.
I've thought of lying, of saying something that she wanted to hear instead of something true.
I can do it if I put more effort into it because she's weakened the encirclement...but in the end, I told her the truth.
"To make a lot of money," I answer, and her brow twitches, another vein popping on her head.
She scoffs at me and looks at me with disgust. "So you plan to make me one of those slaves in those men-run brothels?" She asks, emitting an aura that intimidated my whole body.
"What?! No! I meant-" I look at her with confusion, and immediately try to think of the words that would explain my current predicament.
"I meant...I wanted to earn money in this world with only one wife. It's so that I can keep my promise to my mother...I want to deactivate the harem settings in my way...if that makes sense..." I explain to her, making her look at me less hostile, but still rather annoyed.
She lets go of the barrier immediately and scoffs, casting me aside. "Family, settings, and promises...you speak of utter nonsense." She says, her frown growing more prominent by the second.
It's as if the more I say, the more she gets mad at me!
She places the parchment on the table, resting her hands on her cheek as she stares at me.
It was over...right? The information from the forum said that she only had 5 questions for the players.
But she asked me one more...?
"Beyond the binding oath of marriage, what would you say is your personal philosophy comprised of?" she stands straight and benevolently and then asks her question, which sounds like a riddle.
Perhaps this was her genuine self asking, not the one predetermined on that parchment of hers.
Huh, it's odd...how come the parchment and her personal question differed so much in—
"Do you have an answer?" She asks, her tone filled with impatience.
She looked at me expectantly, demanding one.
But in truth? Even while I was distracted...I already have a predetermined answer for that.
"I...don't have an answer for that," I say with a sheepish laugh.
Her eyes squint, and she looks at me intently. This time, really looks at me.
"Is that truly your answer?" She questions again.
I can only nod, seeing the disappointment flash in her eyes— but just as quickly as she would cement her feeling of discontent, I give out my follow-up response...one that explains why I don't have an answer.
"I haven't lived long enough to decide on how I should think," I say.
"Is that so?" She laughs, her voice challenging and taunting. "Then what would you say becomes the deciding factor for how one should live?"
I take a deep breath, eyes gloomy.
Simply, the words came out of my mouth: "The people around them: the people they allow themselves to be with."
Her brows furrowed, looking at me with absurdity. "Am I right to assume that you believe that one should live according to the will of the people they center themselves to?"
I blink, my gaze hardening as I consider her question
"...no. Of course not. Our personal philosophies should not be defined by the people around us...but rather, how we deal with them," I explain wholeheartedly.
She only looks at me with befuddlement, her whole body tensing as she glares at me with discomfort.
I look back at her with confusion...have I said something...wrong?
And in a moment that came so suddenly...
She laughs to herself. Manically, with full absurdity.
Her voice was crisp and clear...her body shaking from both amusement and something akin to rage.
The ambience has changed once again, and I am unsure of why...
"Catch," She scoffs, grabbing something from her pocket and tossing it to me.
I try to grab it quickly, but I end up falling short, and instead, I see a ring on the floor.
A ring. A beautiful golden ring with an intricate dragon-shaped figure that held a lustrous emerald-looking gem in the middle.
"Consider yourself my husband, dearest," She says, her tone filled with contentment.
I grab the ring, scrambling to stand straight with the ring clasped in my hands.
She then dispels the barrier between us and speaks of words that no one who was currently in line would like to hear.
"Tomorrow at dawn, meet me in my pagoda. We shall solidify our marriage here." She remarks to me with a political smile on her face. "As for all the others in line..." Her hands point out the gate, a dangerous smirk playing on her lips. "Leave. My decision has been made."
It was regarded to me...and I knew then that everyone in the line's efforts had definitely turned useless!
A commotion was created, yes, but they didn't say anything inherently negative: not when she was there.
Not when she could easily kill everyone there.
"That goes for you, too, husband." She whispers to me, hand gripping my shoulder tightly as she warns me. "We shall continue our conversation...at a later time."
With her hand trailing away from my shoulder to the side, she watches everyone else from behind.
Scrambling. Packing their stuff. Running away.
And did just the same...
Especially when she was already residing further into the pavilion...an action I had no right to question.
Not when I wasn't in a position to do so.
Not when I was running out of time.
Immediately, I leave the pavilion and walk the path down the mountain, making my knees cry in pain.
Eyes were behind me, and some even wanted to question me, but I ignored them and ran forward to avoid being discussed!
...so yes, I ran down the mountain, making my knees cry in pain...
Damn, they say that games are fun...but the most popular game right now has been nothing more than a pain for me...both mentally and physically!
Besides that, I reckon that it was already 6! I spent 20 minutes with her?! How did I end up confined in that conversation with her for such a long time?!
So quickly, I move to the beam of light and log out, checking the time.
I immediately sat down on the floor, resting my body from all that walking!
It's been a while since I had such an intense and rigorous exercise...
Anyways, the time— it was...
It was 7:04 pm, which meant that it was nearing dinner time.
And thankfully?
My mother came home earlier and has already cooked food for me, even though I already told her I could do it for her...
Oh well, she beat me to it fair and square, so I don't blame her.
Next time, I'll get to the kitchen first.
My win streak with who cooks first at dinner time is ruined thanks to the game...great, just great.
Nonetheless, I gobble the food down to the last bit, looking at my mother with gratitude, and she only looks at me skeptically.
"Why are you so hungry?" She asks as she serves me some more vian from the table.
"I walked a lot in a game I was playing," I sighed, making her laugh.
"That's good, you should do that more often," she snickers, but not out of annoyance. Never.
I only smile playfully in response. "We'll see", I keep my words cryptic, continuing to enjoy my food for the night before the moment passes.
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< Catelia: Mount Lianthan — 9:56 P.M. >
Meanwhile, in the world of Belunia, Rosylviana is sitting down on the ornamental and well-furnished wooden chair that she kept in her living room, especially since it was an artifact
that long existed before the men came to the world she used to know.
It's always been her hobby to sit on this particular chair when she felt anxious.
It was a perfect example of a rare and serene moment that a person of her stature would have less than little luxury to have. She must always stay headstrong and upright, but this sudden change...it was something she never expected to happen early on.
In her mind, the possibility had always been "some time later" in the future.
But not now. Not at a moment when she felt that she wasn't ready.
"The fool with the heart of a sage..." She whispers as she looks at the paper she used for her interrogation. Her eyes droop down low, looking back and forth between the paper and her own hands, a mix of sadness and anticipation visible in her eyes as she grits her teeth.
Nonetheless, she knows that she has to feel ready somehow.
"I can only hope that I made the right decision," She sighed to herself, not the least bit happy about the sudden change in her situation...it was practically unbelievable to find a man with such a demeanor.
A rare character: an earnest and caring man who lived according to the justices and injustices that they faced.
He was the perfect partner that she had specifically demanded from the gods, and thus, she must fulfill her rightful duty to avoid her people's ruination. "I shall abide by the will of the gods," she says to herself, her countenance comparatively somber that night as compared to the usual.
But now, with her heart and mind intact, she is ready to commit to the reality of the situation.
...to the fate that was warranted from her the moment everything had changed for the worse.
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