"What the hell!" I muttered, clenching my fist. "Do you even consider this a reward?"

"..."

"Tsk, I'll think about it after completing the quest."

I removed my dirtied clothes and spent the next half hour washing myself properly.

"The shirt is also ripped!" I groaned as I looked at the white shirt that had been cut from the shoulder due to Theon's attack.

"I'm sorry, Nymeria. I couldn't take care of your gift properly."

After glancing at the clothes for a few seconds, I put them into the inventory and pulled out the night suit.

When I came out of the bathroom, I found Ume standing just outside the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Waiting for you," she replied.

"But why are you standing at the door?"

"What if you fainted again and I couldn't hear it?"

Yeah, those were the words of a goddess who could detect an army approaching from hundreds of miles away.

"Don't worry, silly. It won't happen again."

I hadn't noticed it before, but now that I did, she was wearing the same night suit—shirt and shorts—that she wore at the inn.

Her long, milky legs gleamed like polished jade, and a soft pink blush bloomed across her knees.

"Are you comfortable in these clothes?"

"So you finally noticed them," she murmured, playing with her hair, her toes nudging and clutching against each other. "You are the only man who can see me in these."

"Ume, I never saw such a beautiful pair of knees before," I complimented, glaring at her legs.

"D-don't look at me like that," she whimpered, awkwardly pulling her shirt down. "It's embarrassing."

I pulled her closer by the waist and lifted her into my arms.

"Kyaa! Why are you lifting me?" she exclaimed, flustered.

Without giving her a reply, I moved toward the bed, gently placed her down, and reached on top of her, my hands on either side of her head.

She turned her face sideways, her shyness written all over her features.

Taking it as a positive sign, I reached for her smooth, heavenly neck and began kissing her.

"Ahn~"—a seductive moan that could turn any man into a wild beast—left her lips.

Her hands reached behind my head, and she pulled me back by my hair.

"You aren't allowed to do lewd things until we are married," she hissed, her face burning with an intense rosy hue.

"Lewd things like?" I asked, grabbing the wrist of the hand pulling my hair and kissing her forearm.

"Th-the things you're doing right now," she murmured, her grip on my hair loosening.

"But I'm only showering my fiancée with affection. Is kissing also lewd?"

"It's not! B-but the way you're embracing me, it—it feels so strange."

I removed her hand from my hair and asked, letting her hands rest on my cheeks, "Ume, assume one day I suddenly vanish and can't return due to some circumstances… what will you do?"

"Why are you asking such a specific and peculiar question?"

"It's just a hypothetical situation. I want to know what you will do in that case."

"I will wait for you until you return. If it takes five years, I'll wait five. If it takes fifty, I'll wait fifty. If you don't return for five hundred years, this maiden will wait five hundred. And if you still don't come back… then I will find you, even if you're at the farthest edge of the universe. And once I do…"

"Once you do?" I asked.

She grabbed me by the shoulders and, in a swift motion, rolled our bodies, ending up on top of me before I could react.

"I will tie you down to my bed and never let you get away from me again," she replied, sitting on my stomach, her hands resting on my chest.

A heartwarming sensation I had never felt before surged through my body. Placing my hands on her waist, I rose to a sitting position and tightly hugged her.

"Thanks for these words, Ume," I whispered, my eyes unconsciously filling with tears. "It truly means a lot to me."

"Huh? Dummy, why are you crying?" she asked, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

"I don't know."

She gently patted my head, placing my face between her bust.

After a moment, the two of us lay down, and before I knew it, I fell asleep in her warm embrace. It was the most comfort I had ever felt while sleeping.

---

"Mmwah."

"Good morning, my betrothed," Ume's soft, beautiful voice filled my ears as she gently kissed my forehead.

When I opened my eyes, I was still in her embrace, my face resting on her arm as a pillow.

"One here, please," I asked with puppy eyes, touching my cheek.

Surprisingly, instead of the usual reluctance, she grabbed my face and—

"Mmwah."

"Whoa, this is the best morning ever," I exclaimed before requesting, touching my lips, "May I have one here, please?"

"Don't push your luck," she hissed, shoving me back.

"But you owe me one," I insisted as she took quick steps toward the bathroom.

"I'm not ready yet!" she blurted before shutting the door.

"Oh god! Why is she so lovable!" I groaned, squinting my eyes.

After refreshing ourselves, I wore the mask, and the two of us left the room and reached the underground village where the Grade 3 mines once stood.

The houses that used to be filled with slaves were now occupied by the Awakeners we had captured after the war.

Vyaghra and Jambavan were already standing on the raised platform before the village, waiting for us when we arrived.

"Greetings, Your Majesty," the two announced the moment we reached the stage.

Scanning the area, I asked in a loud voice, pointing at the figure I was looking for, "Vyrion, have you completed the order I gave you?"

Vyrion and his group looked at me with confused visages as they walked closer to the stage.

"So it was really you in the camp back then?" he asked.

"That's why I told you we wouldn't be able to work together if you knew more about me. By the way, what about the task? Prepare yourselves to cough up the Soul Stones if you haven't."

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