Chapter 3

"My name is Yubelluna. I will be your servant from now on, Master."

Oh? Interesting. With this, one of the requirements for my mission is done. However, let's ask my father first.

"Father?"

"As she said, she will be your peerage member from now on if you want her. If you decide not to take her, I will search for a new candidate for your first peerage member. What do you think? Do you want to take her?"

I look at my father for a second and then look at Yubelluna. She might try to hide it, but I can see it. The nervousness inside of her. She might try to act mature, but she is still a teenager two or three years above me. She did not have enough experience to hide her real emotions.

I look her right in the eyes and say.

"What do you want, Yubelluna?"

"I beg your pardon, master?"

"What do you want to do from now on?"

"I-I want to serve you, master."

I shake my head and say.

"No. I want to know what YOU want. I want to know what you want from the bottom of your heart. I did not need a mindless servant in my peerage. I want someone who can think for themselves and is ambitious enough to accompany me through my journey to reach my own ambition. I need a Peerage member, not a servant. So, I ask one again."

I get closer to her and say.

"What do you want to be, Yubelluna? What is your heart desire?"

She hesitated for a second before suddenly saying.

"I want to make my family's magic known throughout the world! I want my explosion magic to be something many people remember in their heads! I want to be the strongest mage in the world!"

I grin at her declaration and say.

"Are you willing to work hard to reach that goal? Are you willing to bleed? Are you willing to sweat? For your goal."

"Yes! I will work hard! I will try my hardest to be the best!"

"Then! I, Riser Phenex, will take you, Yubelluna!"

I open my palm, and a queen appears on the palm of my hand.

"Yubelluna! I deem you worthy to be my queen! However, this piece comes with a burden! You shall be my queen! The Queen is not a trophy wife! No. They are the ones sharing the burden of their king. The king will be the one leading in the front, and the queen shall be the one leading from the back. She is the one taking care of the things that the king cannot do on his own. However, come along, that burden is a great power. As my queen, you shall be my second in command. You will be my voice when I'm not around. You are me when the situation needs it to be. Can you bear that burden? Can you be a good queen?"

She looks at the piece on my hand and looks at me. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly knelt in front of me.

"I know that I am not ready to be your queen, master. However, I am willing to learn. I'm willing to learn how to be a good queen. I cannot promise you that I'm a good queen now, but I can promise you that I will be a good queen in the future. If you are willing to trust me with your queen piece, I shall not disappoint you, master."

I look at her for a few seconds before grinning.

"That is a good word to hear. Then, Yubelluna, I shall claim you as my queen! Be reborn and bear the symbol of phoenix with pride!"

I put the queen piece on her head and see her absorb the evil piece. I can feel her energy increase tremendously and stop after increasing it four times than her original reserve. I can see her look at her body in awe.

"Welcome to the family, Yubelluna."

She snaps from her thoughts and quickly says.

"Thank you for accepting me as your peerage member, master."

"Please call me Riser."

She only smiled at me and did not say anything. Urgh. I have a feeling she will not say my name. Oh well.

I look to the side and see my father grinning at my actions. I look at him and say.

"Father, can I ask you to teach her how to be a great queen?"

My father looks at me proudly and says.

"Of course! I will ask someone to teach her about politics and how to be a great queen."

"Thank you, father. Is there anything else? I want to train."

"Ah, before you go, take a seat. I need to tell you something."

I nod and sit in front of him while Yubelluna stands behind me.

"Other than Yubelluna, I need to tell you about something. Something that affects our family and your future."

"What is it, father? If this is affecting our family, should I hear this? Shouldn't you talk with the other adults instead of me?"

"Ah, this is involving you, my son."

He takes out a piece of paper, places it on the table, and says.

"That is a marriage contract between you and Riser Gremory."

Ah. Here it comes—the accursed marriage contract.

"I know that you did not like Rias, but she is a perfect person for you and our family. With her becoming your wife, our family will gain a powerful ally in the form of the Gremory Family and the Bael Family."

I look at my father for a second and say.

"I understand, father. However, can you not tell her about our arrangement for now? I want to get close to her and create a better relationship other than an arranged marriage between the two of us."

"In short, you want to make her fall in love with you."

I nod and say.

"Yes. I want to make her fall in love with me. I know what kind of girl she is. She is someone who values her freedom too much and will not want to be tied to an arranged marriage. She will revolt against this contract if I do not get close to her first."

My father nods his head and says.

"Very well. I can grant you that. I will ask Zeoticus about your request."

"Thank you, Father."

"It is not a problem, Riser. "

"Is there anything else, Father?"

"Just one last thing. We will visit the Gremory family in two days. Make sure you are ready."

"Of course."

After saying that, Yubelluna and I walked back to my room. I invited Yubelluna into my room and took out my company stamp. My Pocket Apartment might be locked, but my pocket space is still working. That means my inventory is still working fine.

I look at Yubelluna and say,

"Yubelluna, this is a stamp that makes you mine. I'm a greedy person. I want to make sure the others know that you are mine. Will you let me mark you as mine?"

She smiles at me and says,

"Of course, master. I'm already yours, and I will wear this mark with pride."

I smile at her and stamp her stomach with the company stamp. After a few seconds, I take away the stamp and see a phoenix mark on her stomach. I can feel a connection between Yubelluna and me. I only need to wait for three days for her to join my retinue.