Nova raised his hand and said, "Stop. You don't have to answer now, there's still a week before the emperor's birthday. Use that time to clear your thoughts."

But Letto surprisingly shook his head. "I've already made my choice."

At his side, Granier perked up his ears while Nova raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is it?"

Letto said slowly, "I choose to kill the king and exile the rest of the royal family from Lotra as a warning. Should they ever set foot back in the kingdom, they will be sentenced to death."

He paused and looked at their faces beside him to see any kind of reaction, but he couldn't read them at all. One had been the court mage for years and was used to maintaining an unreadable expression even in the gravest situations. The other had learned to lie and deceive as a child, so keeping his thoughts hidden from Letto wasn't difficult.

Letto gave up trying to read them and asked directly, "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"That's an idea," Granier said, then continued, "You should be aware that if the royal family seeks revenge for what you've done, you may have to deal with a possible rebellion by some of their supporters. That could destabilize the kingdom for a time and give others the opportunity to attack us."

Letto nodded, his eyes clear. "I understand the risks, but if possible, I don't want to kill innocents."

Seeing the future king filled with such conviction made Granier nod internally. At the very least, he's not a maniac, but he's still mindful enough to kill his enemies. If something does come up, I'll have to clean up the mess, but I'm already used to it. He said, "If that's what you want, then I'll support your decision."

The mage's words made Letto further affirm his choice. He moved his gaze toward Nova, who had stood silent until now, and looked at him with a mix of anxiety and expectation.

'He doesn't know his territory will be way bigger than just Lotra, leaving the kingdom's royal family with nowhere to go. I can't be too harsh, this is his first decision as king, and I don't want to shatter it or cast a permanent shadow of doubt on him. I'm sure if anything happens, he'll learn from it on his own,' Nova thought.

He looked at Letto and said, "Not bad. Keep it up, and you'll do great as a king."

If Letto had heard such praise from anyone else, he would have dismissed it without a second thought, but coming from Nova, it scattered any doubt he still had about his decision. He stared at Nova as a silly smile spread across his face.

"Alright, alright," Nova said, snapping Letto out of his thoughts. "Get to work. You need to clean up the house and learn the basics of your duties from Granier before you're officially crowned. There's no time to waste."

Letto nodded solemnly. "What will you do?"

"Since when did you find the courage to ask me about my business?" Nova smiled at him. "Take care of your stuff before minding mine." He turned and left.

Granier looked at Letto, who stood frozen on the spot, and sighed. Still a long way to go.

////////

Nova walked to his room, his mind filled with thoughts about his next steps. He reached the door when he heard a hasty shout.

"Princess! Princess!"

Two pairs of footsteps echoed through the winding corridors of the palace, drawing closer and closer to where Nova stood.

His thoughts rapidly shifted, turning toward the princess he had met months ago.

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'Must be her. There's only one princess in Lotra, Veliora. We left a bit too abruptly last time, maybe she's wondering where I even went… Should I meet her?' His expression was complicated, but as he thought more about it, he soon shook his head. 'There's no point. It's best if she thinks I disappeared, if she even remembers me. Soon I'll leave this place, and deepening bonds with people here will only make things harder and more complicated for both me and them. After all, we're from two different worlds.'

Nova's expression returned to normal. As the footsteps drew closer, he stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him with a clunk. Outside, Veliora, followed by a maid who was catching her breath, walked right past his door without stopping.

Inside, Nova walked to the middle of the room and sat down. From his Inventory, he fished out the helmet containing the bone tempering liquid and stared at it intently.

'I need to be careful with this, or I might die. Last time, a single drop almost managed to drill its way through my bones. Now I'm pretty sure two drops won't kill me, but I have no idea if a third might. Perhaps I can treat this like an herb and dilute it in water?'

Hundreds of simulations ran through his mind, and he frowned.

'Diluting it will lessen the potency of this liquid. Considering how rare it is, I don't want to waste a single drop, even at the cost of enduring more pain. I'll take two drops and see how it goes. I'll adjust the quantity after that.'

He tilted the helmet toward himself and was about to drink the liquid when he froze.

'I've been so focused on the quantity that I forgot the key detail.'

The question stumped him, and his hands slowly lowered. 'How am I going to drink exactly two drops? If I take a sip, it'll be way more than just two drops and the same applies if I dip two fingers in it. I don't have a syringe to draw them, nor any other tool either.'

He stared blankly at the liquid, his mind running through all his abilities, trying to find the perfect one to use until his eyes suddenly brightened.

'It's so obvious. Why didn't I think of that? I can use wind.'

Without further thought, he placed a hand above the bone tempering liquid as wind gently flowed through his fingertips. His eyes focused, and the wind began spinning faster and faster, forming a faint spiral that became clearer by the second. Soon, the surface of the liquid trembled with faint ripples.

Nova's hand moved slightly, and a small stream of liquid lifted from the helmet, writhing in the air like a worm. The higher it rose, the thinner the spiral became and the liquid thinned along with it.

'This should be enough,' Nova thought, watching a small sphere of liquid, just enough for two drops, hovering at the tip of the spiral. His hand moved slightly, cutting the sphere off from the top and encasing it in wind. The spiral slowed, lowering the liquid until, with a faint plop, the remaining liquid returned to the helmet, leaving the small sphere suspended above.

He quickly stored the helmet back in his inventory and stared at the sphere, muttering, "Training my wind control all these days wasn't for nothing."

"Come." With his finger, he beckoned the sphere closer until it hovered right above his head.

Nova tilted his head slightly upward and, without much fanfare, parted his lips. The wind holding the liquid in place loosened at his command, and the sphere, containing roughly two droplets, slipped free, falling neatly into his mouth.

Knowing the effect wouldn't be immediate, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and waited. It wasn't long before hell descended upon him.

The two droplets, once calm in his body, stirred violently and, within seconds, dove toward the nearest bone.

Earlier, due to Nova's bodily strength, a single drop couldn't break through his defenses. But now, as if augmenting each other's strength, the two drops met only slight resistance before drilling a hole through the bone and rapidly spreading throughout his body.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, his teeth clenched, and his face twisted in pain as his body quivered slightly.

Only the sound of muffled groans filled the room as the bone tempering liquid coursed through his bones one by one, leaving holes within them along with a thin film of white substance slowly repairing the damage.

The pain was unbearable, so much so that even Nova, who had grown accustomed to pain after years of experience, could barely hold back a scream through sheer willpower. Even so, he had no room in his mind to care about anything other than staying sane. That was why, while the bone tempering liquid took effect, he didn't notice a black energy that emerged from his tissues as if shaken from sleep and made its way into the bones, mixing with the film left behind by the liquid until it turned black.

The process took only a few minutes before the bone tempering liquid exhausted itself, leaving Nova matted with sweat and panting for breath. Yet he didn't pause to check his condition, instead, he took out the bone tempering liquid from the Inventory and split two more drops.

He had one week to become as strong as he could, and there was far too much liquid he needed to go through while the speed at which he could endure it was too slow. Knowing that the time to return to Earth was drawing ever closer, and uncertain of the situation there, he needed strength, as much strength as possible.

His eyes burned with desire, he drank the two droplets and weakly mouthed, "Again."

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