Rosalina tilts her head to the side with squinted eyes and pats the egg hesitantly.
A small chuckle escapes her lips, as she looks at me with a slight glint of intrigue in her eyes...I can't say for sure why she's looking at me that way, but I'm curious as to why.
"What drives you to the obsession and concept of family?" Her tone is rather dark, explicitly showing that she expected a sure answer instead of something vague. I scratch the back of my head and laugh awkwardly...all while she stays still, making the cold expression on her face a sign of her anticipation.
"I grew up in a loving family," I answer softly, averting my gaze from her.
Perhaps she could see my trembling hands since I was holding the egg tightly now.
It's exactly that I don't want to let go of it.
She arches her brow, her eyes darting between the ground and back to my face. "Hmm...the concept of a family does not exist in this world," She says with a sense of clarity, her words hanging in the air...
However, before I could even ask what her vague words meant, she immediately asked me another question.
"Is that why you were willing to accept my marital conditions?"
I flinch for a moment as she guesses my intention spot-on.
"...yes. I wanted to be like my father," I say with a forced smile...a subtle one. The one I always use to hide my displeasure.
Of course, I do want to be like my father...before he cheated on my mother, at least.
Her eyes widen a little, looking at me with surprise. It seems like she's seen right through me...but, given that our relationship was made for our mutual benefit, she questions nothing of it since we did not establish our relationship with trust.
"...commendable endeavors," She smiles slightly with an approving nod, refusing to ask or say anything about what I'm dealing with.
And thus: silence entered the air between us after that interaction.
So...knowing how awkward it is, I decided to ask her questions to redirect her to another action.
"Umm...Rosalina...do you know where my bag is?" I ask, doing so while looking around the courtyard for any sight of it.
She nods and points to the room where I was staying...come to think of it, I think it's the only room in this pavilion...perhaps, it's her room?
So I was staying in her room?!
I panic slightly, but I quickly recover...it's alright, I didn't do anything much there except for resting.
I didn't disrespect her space and use her things...so I should be fine.
"Oh...okay," I smile, and then ask another question. "Do you know how to incubate this egg?" I look below and warmly rub the top of the egg...still unsure of what to do to take care of it.
All except imitating the same loving gesture that my mother would do when I was still a young kid.
A rosy flush appears on her cheeks, catching me off guard.
What's up with that reaction?...
She covers her mouth with her hand and fakes a cough, looking at me with utmost confidence. "That is...a method that is most unfamiliar with me, much less others...none would know how to incubate beasts— it would go against my very nature."
A part of my heart shatters...
No one knows?
So then, how will this slime grow?
"That creature of yours is a type of slime that has long been extinct...or so I thought, until this very day," She sighs, but I sense...an intentional withdrawal of information from her. "The egg you're holding is the last Cultivator Slime that exists in this world."
My jaw drops to the floor as I look at the egg with shaky hands...
The last of its entire bloodline is on my hands?!
"As for what this type of slime does...it's good for cultivating crops. The strongest of these slimes can cultivate crops for harvest in a second...and the weakest can cultivate them for 10 minutes," She says, making me even more curious.
"However, it's useless in battle, and has a weak vitality," She continues, giving me more information about the slime that my egg has yet to hatch.
Sure, farming may not be useful on the battlefield...
But imagine! You're out in the world to survive, and you need food?
Yeah! This will be very helpful!
"What an amazing slime..." I say with excitement, my eyes sparkling with happiness. "Do you suggest I travel with the egg, or do you suggest I leave it here?"
She ponders, looking at the egg with squinted eyes.
"Take it with you...If it's any other monster, the more experience it has in seeing battle, the faster it would grow," She says, making me laugh inwardly.
Despite being such a beauty, it seems to be hard for her to get into her maternal side...
I wonder if it's because she's a beauty whose only goal is to fight against monsters that she had to adapt to life on the battlefield?
One that had to be the cold warrior: with no time to lament on family and emotions.
"Hmm...I suppose I can keep it with me," I nod...but I'm keeping it away from danger.
Who knows? Maybe some part of her words would realize itself into reality, and monsters do live in such a way.
But more important matters need to be discussed...
Before I end my conversation with her, I then ask her about the last and most important thing for my plans...
"Hey Rosalina...regarding my clothing?" I ask, and she points in the direction of that bag of mine that was resting on some...cloth?
Is that...my clothes?
"Those are radiant-ranked clothing that repairs itself when it's damaged." She acknowledges, giving me both my bag and the piece of clothing. "Take it to good use— for you now represent Mount Lianthan as a whole."
She reaches her hands out to me— a signal of acquiescence to the duties that I uphold, and the traits I should embody as her husband.
But I accept the responsibilities nonetheless.
Just as much as I accept the piece of clothing she was handing over to me.
It was similar to the design she was wearing— a beautiful hanfu colored in shades of brown, gold, and white, with a purposefully masculine aesthetic.
But still...even if it's amazing...
...what the hell?! The forums said that equipment was hard to obtain!
Not to mention clothing-type equipment that is useful for both battling and lifestyle!
Truly, connections still matter at the end of the day...