Chapter 9: Love

In the empire, the words of Siah spread wildlife as expected, to the point that the emperor heard about it.

In a dark room with a long table, the emperor and his nobles gathered for a meeting. "So who is this weird adventurer that they have been talking about?"

A courtier besides him answered, "His name is Siah, an Orichalcum adventurer who appeared in the town of Maya near the demon forest. It is said that he takes down the whole horde that attacked the town of Maya, earning the title of Inferno Warden. Not only that, but he also killed the kraken 3 months later and cleared more than dozens of dungeons. He also captured cyclopes in our empire who have been our headache and even got the agreement of 10 guild masters to become an adamantite adventurer. Currently, he forcefully gets the northwest land where they killed the kraken from the king. It is also said that he didn't kneel when talking to the king of Lara."

"A fool? He may be great, but to not bow to a king, he's a fool, isn't he?" A noble said.

"Such a disgrace the king Duke must have felt after that! HAHAHAHA!" another noble said, and all of them laughed.

"Silence!" The emperor shouted. With just a single word, they all kept their mouths shut.

"This isn't a mere joke! A man who has done great things must know the meaning of not kneeling down to a king! Refusing to kneel to a king could be seen as an act of defiance or rebellion; he should know this, yet he still didn't do it! It only means one thing! That man is no fool! He has so much power to the point that making the kingdom of Lara his enemy isn't a problem!"

A noble who is near the emperor speaks,

"I agree with his majesty. For someone like him to be so close to us, he is a threat," he said, looking at the emperor.

"We are currently at war with the surrounding nations, and one of them is the kingdom of Lara. They might use him to participate in the war. Having an enemy who killed great monsters and demons, he should be hunted down before it happens."

"I agree with him," another noble said.

"I agree" 

"Yeah" 

All of them agreed to what the noble said: "It's settled then; we must kill that man and take his weird weapons with us! With that much power, we can conquer the world!"

Meanwhile, on Siah's base, Siah is currently standing in front of the construction site. "What a boring day! Fuku doesn't want me to help with the construction; he also doesn't want me to fight those soldiers because I might kill them, he said. I can control my powers too!" He said, venting to the loud construction site.

"Meh, I'm just waiting for the guild's answer, so this is like a vacation? But ehhhhh, it's so boring."

Mae then shouted to Siah, "Siah! Fuku is calling you!" As she ran towards Siah.

"Ohhh, I hope this is interesting," he said, walking with Mae. Mae led the way leading to the guest house, which was made specifically for guests. There's a carriage outside, a beautiful one.

"Oh, a noble?" Siah said, getting inside the guest house.

"Oh, speak of the devil; here's his Majesty Siah, your husband," Fuku said.

"Pleased to meet you, his Majesty Siah," Amelia said, and she did a small curtsy.

"Huh!?" Mae and Siah said both at the same time. Siah smiled at Amelia, then said, "I'll just need to talk to Fuku real quick." He then grabbed Fuku's hand and dragged him outside.

"What's the meaning of this fuku?" Siah said with a serious face.

Fuku smirked. "Well, I did tell you about this, didn't I? And besides, it's only on paper; you don't have to worry about it."

"What!? I told you I didn't want it, didn't I? And besides, this is the only thing we could do to be allied to the kingdom of Lara."

Siah sighed. "It's only on the paper, right? These people are now under my responsibility; I brought them here. If it's for them, I'll do it."

Fuku smiled. "I'm glad that you fully understand the situation now; let's go back then and not keep the guest waiting."

They get inside; there, they are all waiting for them. Siah stands up and says, "I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Oh, no, no, it's fine. I apologize also for the sudden appearance. I hope we're not bothering you."

"Oh, you're not bothering us; it's just the right time," Siah said, sitting down with two sofas facing each other and a small table in the middle. That's its formation.

"Let's go back to our topic, shall we?"

"Yes," Amelia said. "As my father said, I will become your mistress, which is the sign of our alliance."

"If you're happy to have me, then I'm okay with it," Siah said with his poker face.

"Of course! I'm more than happy to! Please treat me well," she said, bowing her head.

"Please raise your head; of course we will treat you well; after all, you're now part of my family," said Asiah with a smile on his face. Amelia saw this and blushed.

"Thank you"

"Now then, let's cut the boring topics. We can handle this now, your majesty. How about taking Amelia around?" Fuku said.

"Of course," Siah replied. Amelia only has her maids, a dozen knights who are loyal to her, and her courtier, who will handle politics at her place if she's gone.

Some of her knights followed Amelia, and Mae followed Siah, being left with Amelia's courtier, some of her knights, and Fuku and his diplomats.

Siah and Amelia walked around, showing her around the construction site. "This is a large construction project! I never seen one before! Waaaa~! What are those flying things? They are so cute~!" Amelia is loud.

"Um, lady Amelia, please watch where you're going, as being so close to the construction site is dangerous."

"Ahh, I'm sorry," she said, clinging to Siah's arm. "You would protect me, right?" She said with seductive eyes.

Siah, however, feels very uncomfortable with the position. "Uhhh, of course." Meanwhile, Mae is like a boiling kettle that is about to blow up. She's been staying quiet for a while now, but she's so pissed at what is happening so far.

"Please, don't get too close to His Majesty Siah," Mae said with a calm tone but a pissy face. She's trying to hide it, but it's too noticeable.

"Oh, I'm sorry, hehe." Amelia let go of his hand. "Your Majesty, I've been curious; what's up with construction? It's too large! But, slowly, I can see that it's a castle, isn't it? And it's about to finish."

"Oh, yeah" 

"Wow! You're only here for not even a year, yet you are already about to finish your castle. Amazing!" She said with dazzling eyes.

"She's so energetic," Siah said to his mind. Hours passed, and they finished going around and getting back to Fuku. Siah is drained mentally; it's his first time handling a girl so hyper like her after all.

"We've been waiting for you; the meeting of ours was successful; you two can rest," Fuku said.

Siah went with Fuku, while Amelia and his servant prepared for the night.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

In the night, where Siah is sleeping, a dark figure is standing beside him. Siah noticed the presence and immediately got his pistol inside his item box and pointed to the dark, mysterious figure.

To his surprise, it was Mae. From the look of her face, she's drunk, which can also explain why she gets inside his room easily. "Um, Mae? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

Tears drop from the floor. "You... YOU FCKING LIAR!" she shouted and punched Siah in the chest. "You treated me so nice! So nice that I thought that you loved me! But I was wrong! It was just you being nice to people!"

"Siah  is silent, not knowing what he did. "I gave you everything—my body, my soul—I even trained hard just to be next to you! Yet... you're now married!" While crying and punching Siah's chest on his bed, she looks at Siah with a despairing face; it's as if she lost everything.

Siah wiped her tears using a towel he bought from his system. As he wiped her tears, he said, "Mae, I know what you've been through. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding and the mixed signals I gave you, but the marriage wasn't really what you imagined; we're only marriages on paper for the kingdom of Laya to not see us as a threat."

"Then... you don't really love her?"

"Yes, you see, Mae, it seems that you have developed romantic feelings for me, but... I didn't really know what it's like to fall in love."

"Eh?"

He giggled, "Yeah, I never fall in love in my entire life, so you should give up on me. I may even die before I fall in love. Exploding this world, fighting monsters—that's my goal, and I don't think falling in love in that process is possible."

Mae smiled, "I see," while looking down.

Siah smiled and looked at her. "I'm glad you understand."

She stands up and says, "I've decided!" She shouts, "I, Mae, will make you fall for me!"

"Huh?" Siah said, dumbfounded.