Death... and me

Only a few seconds later did Qia release Rean before getting away from him.

"This..."

Rean's mind was still blank. There was no one around, so why would she do that?

"What's the meaning of this?"

Qia, with a face as red as a tomato, noticed that she had gone too far. It's just that Rean's attitude had really pissed her off. How could he have absolutely no interest in her even after the kiss in the Tea Shop? She couldn't accept that. That's why she forced herself to do that. Of course, she now regretted it very much as she tried to think about an excuse.

"Th-That means I accepted your deal. Since that's the case, we will have to do a marriage ceremony. This ki-ki-kiss was just practice when the kissing part arrives. Yes, that's just it, definitely!"

Rean finally nodded.

"Oh! So that's what it was about..."

However, Rean's mouth twitched a second later as he thought.

'Like hell it was! Just practice your head! If that's the case, why are you all red like that? You can't even look at my face correctly!'

Roan might have accepted such a lousy excuse due to his denseness, but Rean was different. Still, he didn't say those words out loud. On the surface, he was really accepting that obviously ridiculous excuse.

Qia finally turned around and walked away while saying.

"An-Anyway, that's it. I'll have to talk with my parents and my Master after this. They will maintain contact with you and Droman later. Oh, right! Since this is a marriage, you will have to bring your parents for the ceremony too."

Rean was taken aback. However, he didn't have time to ask more things because Qia dashed away as soon as she said those words.

'This girl... What will I do with her? She didn't seem to have any interest in me a few moments ago, so why did she do it?'

Rean pondered a bit before shrugging his shoulders.

'Oh well, whatever. I'll deal with it another time.'

Rean could only do that since Roan was already waiting for him back in their room in the Dalamu Residence. With the teleport formations in the city, Rean only took a few minutes to arrive there, though.

"Alright, I'm here now."

Roan nodded.

"So, what happened with your talk with Qia?"

Rean scratched the back of his head before saying.

"So far, it seems like she accepted the fake marriage deal. The idea is that we will use each other for our own benefit. She will be with me when I come to the Imperial City to check the Imperial Family's situation. When we aren't doing it, she is free to go or do whatever she wants. This way, she will be released from the burden of following the Imperial Family's decisions regarding political marriage and other things. After all, her Master's idea was to have her marrying into my family, and not the other way around."

Roan nodded.

"I don't know how the hell you turned out like that, but it doesn't matter. The fact you'll have access to close information from inside is more than worthy enough. Even you had to have children with her, it would still be worth it."

Sure enough, Roan only cared about succeeding in putting Calina on the throne. Whether Rean would have a hundred children or not didn't matter as long as it was beneficial.

"Like hell, it would. Sigh... whatever, it is useless to tell you such things. Let's go back to the main topic. I found out who rebelled against the Imperial Family."

Roan didn't seem surprised.

"I found that out as well. Thanks to Old Worm's Class A identification, the Dark Web Organization released everything they knew so far."

"Old Worm?"

Roan nodded, and he began to explain. Obviously, Rean was shocked to hear that Old Worm's connections went that deep in the Capital.

"Truly... Just who is Old Worm? Well, Mia and Ancestor Zuan probably know something. We can ask them once we go back."

Roan shook his head.

"Leave it. Something tells me that it would be useless to ask them anyway. As long as Old Worm has nothing against us, then so be it."

Rean thought that Roan would be the one most curious about it.

"Well... If you say so..."

Rean then changed the topic.

"Anyway, you also know that Vagro, Calina's Father, was the one who rebelled. It also happened right after she received the information that Calina was attacked in the Profound Abyss. What do we say to Calina?"

Roan shook his head.

"There's nothing we should say. Make sure you stay quiet so that Calina's training won't be affected."

Rean nodded, not finding it too surprising. Although he thought that keeping it a secret was not right, they truly needed her to show results before focusing on something else. Calina seemed to love her parents, so chances were that she would rush back to the Capital if she found out the truth.

"Very well. Nevertheless, Calina will find about it sooner or later. Did the Dark Web Organization know what happened to Vagro and Calina's mother?"

Roan narrowed his eyes as he threw the Jade Slips to Rean for him to check. Rean then spent some time analyzing the information on them.

"What? How come they disappeared?"

Roan shook his head.

"I have no idea. However, the information says that Vagro encountered the Emperor before the event happened. As to what they talked about, no one knew. I believe it has something to do with the fact that Vagro is married to a woman of the Chrole Empire."

Rean then thought about a possibility.

"Do you think Calina's parents were sent to the Chrole Empire?"

"That's a possibility. I have my doubts whether there was really a rebellion or not. Maybe it was used as an excuse for something else."

"Indeed. If you think about it, the Soul Gem System selected Calina instead of the other princes and princesses. Perhaps this situation with her parents was part of the reason the Soul Gem System chose her. Of course, this is just a possibility."

Roan agreed with Rean.

"In any case, I don't think Calina's parents are dead. That being said, there is no need to alarm the girl just yet."

Rean nodded before changing the topic once again.

"The Jade Slip says that the situation in the Imperial Family isn't that bad yet. It's basically just as we thought after analyzing the Soul Gem System's quest details. However, it seems like we did find something new."

Rean then looked in a particular direction through the window as he continued.

"The Prime Minister, Huan Qelol. He's the one keeping this delicate balance so that an internal war doesn't start."

Surprisingly, the Prime Minister of the Empire wasn't anyone from the Sasamil Family or the Subordinate Clans. Instead, it was a man who came from a middle-class country. From the information available about Huan Qelol, they found out that he controls an immense power inside the court, only losing to the Emperor himself.

All the princes and princesses did their best to curry up Huan's favor on their side. However, he was keeping a neutral position so far. His neutral position wasn't only about who he would support to be the next Emperor or Empress. He also had no opinions about this war against the Chrole Empire.

None of the princes and princesses wanted to provoke this man. If they did that and he decided to support someone else to the throne, their chances of ascending to the throne would be cut by more than half. At the same time, if they can bring him to their side, their ascending chances would be much higher.

Still, the thing that all princes and princesses valued the most on him was his relation to the Emperor. As long as Huan chose one side, there would be a good chance that the Emperor would hear his opinion. The Emperor still had the largest influence in the court and in the Empire. His cultivation was also unfathomable. Few believed that force would be enough to take the throne from him. However, Huan's words could make everything much faster.

"What do you think? Can we get that guy's support?"

Roan snorted.

"At the moment? Impossible! Calina is far from being a good enough material for an empress. Even if she was, why would he side with her? In fact, I believe he will keep his neutrality until the very end. Or at least, until the Emperor makes his move."

Rean narrowed his eyes as he looked at Roan.

"You have said the same thing in the past, but you still haven't told me what move is that?"

Roan nodded.

"That's because I don't know what it is. I only have a few guesses. However, I'm even more sure that the Emperor's move will come with the information about this prime minister."

Rean understood where Roan was coming from.

"Are you telling that the Prime Minister is keeping the balance because the Emperor asked him to do so?"

Roan nodded.

"Exactly. Of course, this is just a possibility. Still, I'm pretty sure I'm right. In fact, I think all the princes and princesses who are fighting for the throne already noticed that as well. Nonetheless, they haven't given up yet. They only had to find a way to convince Huan that their side was right."

Rean narrowed his eyes.

"Now that I think about it, the Emperor hasn't selected a Crown Prince or Princess yet, right?"

Roan confirmed.