"What do you mean?"
She explained that she wanted to sleep with me. Of course, I refused—I would never sleep with a girl unless I was married to her. Disappointed, Aruna picked up the controller and resumed the game.
In my family, there's a tradition: you must never cheat or sleep with a woman unless she is your wife. I never truly understood this custom, but after many years of reflection, I finally did.
The next day, I went to the king's office after he invited me to my cousin Dozo's wedding. It was the very first wedding I had ever attended. And it wasn't just any wedding—it was a noble wedding. Every macaron or cake cost at least 10,000 Nari. (Nari is the currency in this world; compared to dollars, it's a thousand times more expensive, meaning a single macaron was worth 10 dollars—which is outrageously high for a macaron.) The wedding was scheduled for tomorrow at 4 p.m.
The following day, I arrived at the venue. I wanted to understand how a noble wedding actually worked. From what I gathered, nobles invite counts, dukes, princes, or academy directors—in short, everyone tied to nobility. The pastries could come from famous bakeries, or sometimes they were just cheap knock-offs disguised as luxury. Among nobles, taste doesn't matter—the price does. These nobles were truly spoiled rotten. If I ever get married, I'll only serve cakes and macarons worth 150 Nari. Anything more is just too expensive. And ironically, the more expensive ones usually taste worse.
After the wedding, I came to three realizations:
Nobles always prefer expensive things, even if cheaper ones look better or taste better.
If there's no statue or fancy decoration in the hall or house, no noble will even show up.
The more money you have, the more guests you'll get. If you're poor and invite nobles, none will come. But if you're rich, they'll all show up. Nobles hate spending their own money, but love spending it just to show off. That's why they flock to dinners and weddings—to indulge their appetites.
One month later, we received terrible news: the king had died of old age. It was time for the old man to go, though I did love him deeply. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't—I had made him a promise before Dozo's wedding. The truth was, he had taken his own life. He told me beforehand that it would happen. His death was meant to protect the kingdom… and I can only hope it truly will.
At the funeral, I spoke up:"Why did he die just before our wedding? What a shame… and I was planning to marry Aruna."
Immediately, everyone—even Aruna—shouted: "HUHHHH?!"
Yes, I had planned to marry Aruna right there at the funeral, to turn the sadness into something new. After declaring that I would marry her, I knelt down and asked for her hand. She finally accepted, under the applause of the crowd.
The following week was our wedding. Flowers were arranged in front of the house, a fountain was built, and the halls were filled with statues, paintings, bouquets, cakes, salads, chicken, fish, and more. I even hired servers. For the younger guests, I had prepared a special room filled with replicas of mana-consoles—a paradise for noble children. It cost me hundreds, maybe thousands of gold, but I had plenty of money. After the king's death, I became king myself, since my father refused the throne. The old king had already predicted my father's refusal and had arranged everything.
As I was drinking a beverage (non-alcoholic—I'm terrible with alcohol), I suddenly heard a sound. Not a clock… more like an alarm. I tried to understand where it was coming from. Then I closed my eyes.
When I opened them again, I was back in my old dormitory from my first year at the academy. On the desk in front of me lay a letter...