Time advances, the seasons change. While Ryan is now able to run and string words together, his parents have been waiting peacefully. Perhaps this will be the time he remembers as mere blurred images in the future, but it will be one of the few times they all smiled occasionally.
The hunt for big shots has temporarily halted, and Lawrence continues to head to work every day, if it can even be called work.
Among these women is Prescribed Dream.
Lawrence still doesn't understand why this woman insists on having physical contact with him, when on more than one occasion he has shown opposition to the idea. He knows that this woman plans to use him, just as he wishes to do with her, but for such a purpose, a deep relationship is not necessary. He is content with them being friends or as close to it as possible, enough for Prescribed Dream to change his destiny and allow him to know the future in exchange for paying the price.
But, why? Why does this woman insist on bringing her face close to his?
After returning from work and going back to the Inferior Plane, Lawrence has a visitor at his mansion. Cheerfully, he heads to the throne room and only after sitting in the sole seat, does he allow the visitor to enter.
“Reminiscent Euphony greets the esteemed ranker.”
Reminiscent Euphony greets Lawrence politely. She may be a princess, but in front of a hunter from the Divine Plane, she knows her place.
“If I had known you were coming, I wouldn’t have made you wait so long.”
Lawrence’s smile doesn't stay on his face for long, and he quickly returns to his usual tone of voice. “Princess Reminiscent Euphony, we have said what we needed to say. How would you like me to interpret your visit?”
Once he proposed the option of helping her, in exchange for her belonging to him and, along with her, the Sky Blue Mountain Kingdom. Initially, she rejected it, even if it cost her life, but there was a fact that completely changed her belief.
Divine Plane.
Reminiscent Euphony responds: “I accept your help.”
Lawrence's eyes reflect more skepticism than happiness. He cannot believe that there is genuine goodness in this world without an ulterior motive. Why is this woman sacrificing herself? What does she gain from all this?
“I have conditions in exchange.”
Lawrence nods, “I’m listening.”
“I want no unnecessary deaths, I wish to have the power to decide how to carry out your orders. I want to know what you think, why my people are acting. There should be no oppression, my kingdom must never realize that I am not the queen. Justice must prevail, every crime should continue to be punished just as today. The right to migration, if your rule is not approved by the citizens, they should not be persecuted for leaving…”
Lawrence hears each of her words, the emotions with which they are emitted, and he cannot help but think how much easier it would have been to conquer them by force. Giving in is not something he is used to doing, but somehow, it is amusing to see how this princess is striving not to mention one word.
Conquest, expansion.
Lawrence snorts internally. ‘Kingdoms exist to be conquered or to be the conquerors, what would humanity be without wars? Reminiscent Euphony knows this, knows how I will use her kingdom and in exchange wishes to keep only those adherents to my zeal for conquest, but she has doubts. Does someone from the Divine Plane really desire to wage battles just for territory? Ha! Lives and lands could not matter less to me, what I seek goes much beyond.’
The desire to possess it all.
Serene Will reads Reminiscent Euphony’s thoughts and notices some relevant information, which she will investigate on her own in the future, but for now… She touches Lawrence’s shoulder and when their eyes meet, he nods.
Reminiscent Euphony is speaking the truth.
“I accept your conditions. You will maintain your authority as queen, ruling the Sky Blue Mountain Kingdom as you see fit, but each of my orders will be the law. It will depend on you how you carry them out.”
Reminiscent Euphony smiles faintly at her fulfilled demands, but quickly hides her emotion. There is still a long road ahead, she does not know the ranker in front of her, what might happen if he changes his mind or, if from the start, he never told the truth.
“Thank you, esteemed ranker.”
Again she elegantly lifts her dress demonstrating the courtesy of a noblewoman, bowing her head to the true king, accepting that her destiny will be nothing other than a queen in appearance only. But even so, this decision has saved the lives of many people, she will be content as long as everything said in this room is fulfilled.
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Even though she now belongs to that man.
“By the way, I remember that you have a boyfriend.”
Reminiscent Euphony is surprised, she did not think that ranker Lawrence would be aware of that information, but she soon regains her composure. “There’s no reason for you to worry, I have already made arrangements to break off my engagement with him upon my return.”
“No, that was not my concern.”
The smile on that man’s face sends shivers down her spine.
“Someone like you will sooner or later lose interest in life and I do not wish for such a thing to happen. I will give you a gift, Reminiscent Euphony, await it eagerly.”
Her bad premonition grows with every second she observes ranker Lawrence, whose smile does not belong to a user of sacred magic. She fears this man might inflict irreparable harm on her loved ones, one that does not contradict their agreement.
“May I have a preview?”
“It’s a surprise.”
But that man prevented her from knowing about it.
She bids him respectfully farewell and leaves the throne room and subsequently the mansion. Her destination is Lakeleaf City, the capital of the Sky Blue Mountain Kingdom. The place where the ceremony to proclaim the new queen will be held, Queen Reminiscent Euphony.
When only Lawrence and Serene Will remain in the room, she asks: “Are you sure about revealing your intentions to the army? We still don’t know what will happen, if the Will of Nature finds out that you want to conquer the Inferior Plane, how will it respond?”
They have maintained a low profile to avoid the gaze of hidden entities, one of which is the Will of Nature. How many more beings like it are hidden in the Inferior Plane? The Forbidden Areas have proven to be a threat even to hunters from the Divine Plane, is there a similar threat that can attack them unrestricted by these laws? If so, then...
“I know, that’s why I’m doing it.”
Serene Will reads his thoughts and frowns. “You’re playing with fire, Lawrence.”
“But it won’t be us who get burned, the kingdoms will be our defense!”
If they manage to deceive them, however slight their doubt, it will be the Sky Blue Mountain Kingdom and Dajhir Kingdom that suffer the consequences. At the same time, they will be able to know who their enemies are, without even having to face them directly!
It is then that Lawrence feels something odd happening around him.
“What do you think you’re--?”
His words are cut off. A hand holds his neck and forces him to the ground, choking him mercilessly.
The person responsible for this...
“Serene… Will…”
Serene Will is the one holding Lawrence’s neck.
“I told you once, Lawrence.”
Her hand presses on Lawrence’s neck with such force that all his breath escapes in the first words, unable to utter the rest. While her face remains unchanged and emotionless.
“I will be on your side as long as you don’t become a tyrant.”
Resistance is futile, because there is no dao protector with a level higher than 510 at the Unquenchable Fire Brothel, Lawrence has not dared to surpass level 507. Such a level is insufficient, even when compressed, to rival Serene Will.
She continues saying: “I can overlook this, forget all the lives that will be lost if your plans come to fruition, but I do it because it won’t be you who kills them, can you understand how I’m feeling right now, Lawrence?”
The hand that holds his neck slowly releases him, but he remains in place, looking at the woman who just threatened his life.
“Don’t become a tyrant… I couldn’t bear to be the wife of one.”
Lawrence recalls having heard it, words similar to these.
When Serene Will embraces him, wanting to forget what just happened, he strokes her head without changing his expression, watching her with disinterest in his eyes.
“Your past, tell me about it.”
But he must know it, anticipating the moment this woman becomes his enemy.
Serene Will feels the warmth of Lawrence’s chest and relaxes, she doesn’t want to know his thoughts, it's enough just to have him close to her. When he asks about her past, she hesitates to respond, not because there is important information, but because they are memories that have been forgotten.
“I was born in Lobreguez City, a city very close to Bloodfall City, the capital of the Acacia Kingdom. All the restrictions of the capital were immediately applied to my city.”
Because it's Lawrence, she decides to bring those memories back to the present.
“I awakened my innate ability when I was still a child, I didn’t know how difficult life could be until the tyranny of the king punished with death anyone who committed crimes, a facade used to murder all his opponents. This brought with it the increase in the price of food, the price of life increased. My parents worked twice as hard to earn the same, it was then that I decided to use my ability to improve the quality of life for my family.”
Serene Will leveled up by defeating the demonic beasts nearby, she earned money from their sale, but she earned even more by killing corrupt hunters and knights. She could read their thoughts, knew what they did and what they would do, people like them were better off dead.
Despite this, she was never discovered, reading minds is a skill that made things much easier for her, even more so her third-person view when the other side outnumbered her. Thanks to this, her parents had a good life and died of old age, it was then that Serene Will decides to make changes in this kingdom.
“I started with smaller towns and slowly gained adherents, there were never any spies, I discovered them before they tried to do anything. Many hunters helped me level up, to acquire better weapons and magic artifacts. I repeated the process with each town until I got my first disciple. Illustrious Martial, that was the name he carved out for himself.”
Over time she met who would be her next two disciples, Sovereign of Light and Stellar Wisp. Together they attempted to change the kingdom and gained more adherents to their revolution, until the time came to attack the capital.
The tyrant king called for reinforcements from other cities, belonging to rankers who supported him, but no one ever arrived. It was the capital against four people, her and her disciples. In that fight she lost an arm, but in return all the rankers of the capital died, as did the king’s army. She placed the heads of all the corruption at the entrance of all the cities, with the tyrant's head adorning the capital.
“I chose a bastard son and made him king. The noble houses were cleaned, being led by young people of diluted blood. The beginning was not without problems, believing that a new era of chaos would begin, many fled the kingdom. Four years after the rebellion, those who had left had returned.”
Since then, the Acacia Kingdom has lived in a glorious era. The king had an heir whom he always taught to see Serene Will as a God, because she would always hold their lives in her hands.
Serene Will returns to her senses and sighs.
“As long as you don’t become a tyrant, I will help you, Lawrence.”
Lawrence says nothing until the end.
