As they entered the meeting area, Aiko and the General were welcomed by a group of guards, with seven figures at the far end of the library hall patiently waiting.
Of the seven, two were faces that Aiko recognised—the Queen and Princess Ariana, whom she had grown familiar with while surveilling Tsunami.
Instinctively, she took a second to read the room, as everyone's gaze followed her entry and lingered on her peerless body.
'So that's the witch, huh!' most of them thought.
Even though they had heard the rumours, they couldn't believe such a perfect cultivation figure could spell so much danger.
But not everyone shared the same sentiments.
The two familiar faces sat on different thrones, with the queen sitting on the higher one, while the princess sat on the slightly lower one.
From the lower throne, a dangerous gaze was directed at Aiko, with no intention of hiding her anger, which everyone noticed.
Sensing hostility and killing intent, Aiko tracked the source until she pinpointed its origins.
'Huh, the bitch!' Aiko narrowed her eyes as she came face-to-face with the source of her suffering.
Part of her was furious that the goddess was playing favourites, as Tsunami had a warm welcome to this world.
Even though she knew that the place was still dangerous for Tsunami, filled with cunning humans, it was quite a stark contrast to her welcome.
Then came the Princess, the other reason for her salty feelings, who had immediately ordered the guards to send her to the supermax after learning that she had come out of Tsunami's room.
In some context, she wasn't surprised; after all, she did kill two servants after being spawned in the real world by the mansion.
An act she took purely in self-defence, since the servants attacked her, even when she visibly surrendered, something that prompted her decisive, merciless act.
But out of jealousy, the Princess wasn't satisfied with just sending Aiko to the supermax. She kept lamenting to the enforcers to offer her to some depraved, vile beast.
Something that the enforcers didn't dare comment on. After all, despite the respect they had for the princess, they couldn't go against the Queen's orders, just because of some love triangle.
And Aiko managed to eavesdrop on one of their conversations, discovering the woman's evil nature.
As a result, in the small library, the atmosphere grew awkward as the two women gave each other piercing, dagger stares.
When Princess Ariana saw Aiko's defiant nature, she unleashed her cultivation base, a 1st-step Favourite suppression that forced Aiko to her knees.
The floor immediately caved in under the oppressive force, with Aiko experiencing several hundred pounds of weight on her.
Though her body began sweating as she struggled to breathe, Aiko remained defiant to the very end, not averting her stare.
"Control yourself, Ariana." Queen Amelia finally spoke.
Her voice, authoritative as she released her third-step cultivation and cancelled Ariana's suppression.
"If you continue behaving like a commoner, I'll have you forcefully removed." Her gaze lingering on the Princess, conveying the message.
'Not now, there's a time and place for everything,' while reassuring the guests of royal etiquette through her harsh scolding.
'Bitch you'll pay if anything happens to my man.'
Princess Ariana seethed inwardly as she stood up, assumed a bowing posture, and apologised sarcastically.
"I'm sorry... I have a fear of rats and mistook you for one."
"I hope Princess Aiko can be magnanimous and overlook my actions this one time."
These strings of actions forced everyone to look at Princess Ariana with gawking expressions.
But to Aiko, the new piece of information was more interesting than Ariana's audacity.
'Huh, I'm a Princess?'
...
When everything was calm, one of the guests coughed, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"Young lady, are you okay?" he asked Aiko, who was still sweating heavily and struggling to stand.
General Kristoff, who was just a foot away, didn't even bother helping her, showcasing his displeasure with the prisoner and the given release order.
Seeing this, the elderly man sighed, releasing his peak third-step cultivation base and assisted Aiko from a distance.
"Come here, young lady," said the elderly man softly, as if to a daughter-in-law, shocking everyone present.
The four figures, who had accompanied him, all raised their eyebrows, as this was definitely not the way their patriarch behaved toward strangers.
But then they recalled the rumours of her relationship with Tsunami and sighed for their own subpar talents.
At the centre of the hall, once Aiko got her bearings, she slowly approached the elderly man and stood in front of him, then bowed.
"Thank you."
"Mhh... not bad, not bad", the elderly man responded, with hints of approval, as he stroked his white beard.
During that brief interaction, Aiko's survival instincts took over, with only one sentence in mind.
'My second lifeline.'
...
After taking a moment to read the young lady with his divine sense, which brought up nothing but her lack of cultivation, the elderly man waved his hand, creating an acoustic field of isolation around the two of them.
Then he introduced himself.
"Most people call me the Yamamoto Patriarch, while a few individuals call me Mr Yamamoto."
"Then we have that boy... Tsunami." He paused, his face showing the proudest gleam so far.
"He calls me Sir Alex, and finally Princess Ariana, who calls me Godfather."
His expression then turned unreadable as he asked Aiko.
"Among these names, which one are you going to call me?"
'Eh! This old man is testing me?' Aiko raised an eyebrow, quickly picking up the hidden questions, and began weighing her options.
During this time, the elderly man didn't seem to rush her or grow impatient. It was apparent that he gave her response great meaning, which is why he gave her the much-needed time to decide.
'Our relationship moving forward will be determined by how I answer.'
'I'm a Princess, probably from the Cream Pie Kingdom.'
'And given that no one from Cream Pie has come for me yet, or how the people in this palace failed to recognise me early on, it means my situation is even worse than Tsunami's.'
'For some reason, this old man doesn't care much about my background. Or it is safe to say he doesn't fear it, as that general used the word strong when he first said I'm from Cream Pie.'
'So, I come from a powerful royal household, with a shit water back story.'
'Great!' she sighed sarcastically.
'Since Nathan became Tsunami because Tsunami was killed, I'm most likely no different.'
'The only weird thing is that both this Princess and I share the same names.'
Aiko took a deep breath and stared at the man, trying to read any final cues.
'He cares deeply for Tsunami, even willing to break one of the treaty clauses he signed for him.'
'Since he believes I'm special to Tsunami's eyes, then as long as I abandon my other identities, and live as Tsunami's woman from now on, he is willing to protect me.'
'He will surely ask me about his whereabouts later, but that is a problem for tomorrow.'
Aiko stretched her hand and smiled.
"Aiko Summerfall, greets Godfather."