A beautiful pink river.
Colorful fishes jumped out of the water painting the calm river surface with small ripples.
Beautiful red trees grow on the surface of the river, with their leaves glowing like blue crystals and dying parts of the pink river blue.
The sun was slowly setting in the distance, covering the sky with an orange hue.
Sitting on the banks of the river was a beautiful young woman in a white one-piece and a yellow hat. She was hugging her knees and staring at the river with a small smile.
Beside her was a young man who appeared at some point. Resting his chin on his palm, he stared at her with a smile.
Even with all this natural beauty that looked like a scene out of a painting, she appeared the most stunning. Just staring at her smile tugged his heartstrings.
"How long are you going to stare?" Sarah just noticed his arrival and asked softly without turning her head.
"As long as I can," Varian answered without any thought.
Sarah's lips curled up at his answer and she rested her head on his shoulder. Her intoxicating lavender scent reached Varian and wrapped his arm around her waist, "Sometimes, I just want to forget everything and live away from everyone without any worries."
Sarah chuckled softly and kissed his cheek, "But you won't, will you?"
Varian glanced up at the sky, "I also want to grow stronger, see the universe and go on great adventures."
"Mr. Boyfriend, peace or adventure, which one is it?"
"I want both,"
"You greedy thief! You won't settle for one, will you?" Sarah bit her lip.
"If a thief isn't greedy, then he won't make it big," Varian laughed with pride.
"Then go to your Sia, why did you come here?" Sarah snorted.
"I just want to be with you now. Only you."
"Liar. Enigma is handling the kingdom work and there's only me now."
Varian shrugged. "So, only you and Enigma are available. I only want to be with you. Technically, I didn't lie."
"You really want to be stabbed, eh," Sarah made a fierce face at him but she only looked cute.
Varian laughed and stared at the setting sun. Sarah also stopped the bickering and fell silent.
The two remained silent even after the sunset and stars appeared in the sky.
— — —
"…I only care about the results," In the courtroom of the Palace, Enigma sat in the grand chair just below the main throne and ordered the officials.
"Yes, Divine Envoy!" Everyone, excluding the Matriarch, bowed and left the court.
"Divine Envoy…" The Matriarch glanced nervously at the young woman who seemed to be barely twenty.
Unlike the Lord who was like a literal god, this woman was weaker. She wasn't even a peak level 9, much less a Sovereign.
If she wanted, the Matriarch could subdue her in a single move. But she didn't dare.
She's the 'Divine Envoy' of the Lord. In his own words, 'In my absence, treat her as me. Her words are my words.'
And even if the Lord wasn't in this room, the Matriarch had a strong feeling he knew everything that was going on here.
Forget attacking her, if she even showed hostility, she might be killed the next second.
"Divine Envoy, what should I do?" The Matriarch suppressed the bubbling anxiety and asked in a calm voice.
"You mean what punishment you should be facing?" Enigma said in a cold voice.
No matter the end result, the intentions and actions of the Matriarch were unforgivable.
If there's no punishment, the deterrent of 'Lord' would decrease. Without any fear, people wouldn't hesitate to commit crimes and things would mess up.
This world was Varian's private property. As he grows stronger and embarks on more adventures, Hortians and Hortus could prove to be very helpful.
It's best if Hortians loved Varian to the extent of risking their lives to save him in the outside world.
But Enigma wasn't naive to think that people would unconditionally love Varian. Even if he granted all their wishes, the minds of people would always come up with new things. As they say, you can't please everyone.
In addition to love, fear of 'Lord Varian' must also be instilled.
For both personal and professional reasons, this Matriarch must be punishment.
But how?
Enigma tapped the armrest of her throne and pursed her lips.
Killing her seemed like an easy way out. Torturing her in public was too violent. What's more, even though she's very cruel to them, the Matriarch was genuinely a benevolent figure to the public.
So, if the public feel their Matriarch was treated brutally, they'd harbor resentment against their new Lord.
Enigma looked at the anxious woman in front of her and narrowed her eyes.
A punishment that'd really be painful for the Matriarch but wouldn't appear brutal to the public.
"Your punishment is…"
— — —
That night, Varian and Sia used a disguise treasure to appear as Hortians to everyone but themselves and went on a date.
It was a simple shopping, eating, and watching a movie of sorts. Sia enjoyed exploring the exotic goods, food, and entertainment like a little child on an outing.
As they moved from stall to stall, street to street, Varian remained in a daze as he lost himself in Sia's cheerful smile.
As they sat on a rooftop cafe under the starry sky, Sia who was in the middle of eating a sweet dish that resembled a fruit ice cream, noticed that Varian was still staring at her absent-mindedly.
"Want some?" She brought the sweet to his mouth and he took a bite absentmindedly.
"Var? Var?" Sia waved her hand.
"Huh?" Varian came to his senses and looked at her in confusion, "What is it?"
"You're out of it since…half, no, a full hour! What's going on? Are you tired? Shall we go back?" Sia held his hand and asked with a worried face.
Varian felt the coldness from his palms and confirmed that he wasn't dreaming. With a big smile, he looked into Sia's eyes and said, "I can't help it. Sarah is very happy for some reason. She didn't speak a word about it but I can tell. And you, you were smiling and enjoying yourself throughout the date. And you…you were cheering during the movie and excited to try new things."
Varian suddenly stood up and pulled Sia into his arms. Startled, she fell into his hug and looked up into his eyes in confusion.
"Sia, I don't know what happened, but you're no longer having that sadness and burden…you're finally free," Varian kissed Sia's forehead.
"I…" Sia wanted to say she met Amanda but recalling Amanda's worries, Sia swallowed her words.
Varian smelled her sweet scent and gently pulled her closer.
Unlike before, there was no repulsion. This direct contact with Varian, feeling his hot breath, touching his warm body was too much for Sia.
She felt butterflies in her stomach when Varian suddenly said.
"Something that can make Sarah so happy and you so relieved, particularly, you free of that burden you always carried—it happened in the trials."
'Oh no!' Sia's body suddenly stiffened.
Varian rubbed her back gently, "So it really is the trial. And it should be that trial. If you meet everyone you killed, you'd also meet her."
"N-No!" Sia shook her head vehemently, "There were millions of abyssals! She's only a level 1. She must've gone in friendly fire."
"But I saw you and Sarah disappear from the battlefield in the middle,"
"We were resting, of course!"
"I told you to come to me if you had to rest,"
"We didn't want to distract you."
"I see…my mother didn't blame you, did she?"
"No—wait, how can she blame me if we never met?" Sia shook her head and looked at Varian as if he was crazy.
With a chuckle, Varian and Sia disappeared from the cafe and appeared high in the sky.
Floating in the clouds, Varian looked down at the bright night city below before turning to the beautiful stars above.
"Sia," Varian smiled brightly, "My mother doesn't want me to worry about her resurrection. If it's me a year ago, I would've searched for how to resurrect her after knowing this. But the me now won't. I don't think even Celestial Rankers can do it. It's a far-off thing. So, don't worry, I won't risk my life."
Sia lowered her head and nodded.
"Can you…" Varian's voice grew weak and vulnerable in the cold wind, "…please tell me what did she say?"
Sia bit her lip and nodded.
