Ning got himself a room in a hotel in the commercial district, which wasn't very different from the room back in the City of beginnings.
It was a tall building, and Ning stood before the window to look at the capital city. People moved in the streets like a colony of ants. The sheer number of people in that one place was baffling.
It reminded Ning of those few cities in the Southern continent of Kumia, where they were so packed that they had to make buildings that went sky high just to accommodate them.
He then looked into the horizon and could see a massive black building that towered over every other building. It stood somewhere outside of the government district in the west and was so massive that Ning didn't even need to think twice to realize what it was.
"So that's the Aether Tower huh? Are these folks so good that they are even sought after by the royal palace?" he thought.
He walked away from the window and sat on his bed. He was curious about the royal family, so he brought a small piece of information from the system that gave him a general knowledge of them.
Ning was a little surprised when he found out that Emperor Kain had 3 wives and 7 concubines. That was a number he hadn't expected to see.
Even in Kumia where polygamy was normal, he hadn't seen this many wives to a single man. 'Damn, the emperor sure has a harem,' he thought.
Amongst those 3 wives, only 1 was the royal empress and everyone else held no authority in the royal court.
With the 10 women, the emperor had fathered a total of 22 different children. Amongst them, only 3 had managed to successfully inherit the emperor's golden hair.
The 3 were the second son of the Emperor, Gilian Xandars who was born to his second wife. The 5th son of the emperor, Amien Xandars, was born to the first concubine.
And finally, the second daughter of the Emperor, Elizabeth Xandars, was born to the fourth concubine.
The next ruler of the empire would be chosen from amongst these 3, and the choice would entirely belong to the emperor himself.
"I see," Ning thought. "If you have no say in becoming an emperor, and you really want to become one… then the only way to guarantee your victory is by getting rid of your competition."
"No wonder her second brother tried to kill her and stop her from returning. She adds another threat to his ascension to becoming an Emperor," Ning thought to himself.
"It seems she won't really be safe until the Emperor chooses a successor, which is also entirely up to him."
"System, can you let me know if either Reever or Lisa ever have any threat on their life?" Ning asked.
<Constantly monitoring two humans will cost a lot of energy>
<Are you sure?>
"Hm, it will really cost a lot? Is there a way to make that task cheaper?" Ning asked.
<There are some ways>
Ning spoke with the system for a while before settling on a way where he could monitor them, but he also didn't have to spend a lot of energy.
Light shined in front of him and something appeared. Ning grabbed the thing and disappeared.
* * * * * *
Reever was way too stunned to function normally any time soon. He laid on the bed, wondering if this was all a dream.
Sometimes, he would have to get up to check if he was even sleeping on a bed, considering it was so soft that he didn't even feel it half the time.
Lisa had gone to the bathroom to freshen up, so he was stuck alone with his own thought.
He looked at the brilliantly white ceiling with patterns that he didn't know could even be made by people.
He was just a village boy who excitedly left the village to go study in the tower and was rejected.
He struggled to even survive with the bare money he was able to gather after those days.
He didn't want to return to the village as a failure, not that he had anything left for him there at all.
His parents had died to the attack of the beasts, along with many other of his friends and neighbors.
He remembered the times when he felt like everything was going downhill. The rejection, the lack of money to even feed himself, the feeling of being a lost cause to the society.
There were times when he had contemplated suicide. There was a time when he nearly went forward with that thought.
It was only when the boss found him in the streets and offered him work in his store that he was able to get back on his feet.
It was thanks to the boss that he met Lisa there as well and fell in love with her.
He had just expected to live a normal life with his normal wife who was simply self-conscious of her hair. What a stupid thought that was.
To think that he was now suddenly the Prince consort to the only royal princess with a claim to the throne.
In just a single day, his world had turned upside down, and he was unsure if it was all even a dream or real life.
"I'm going to go mad if I don't talk to someone about this," he said to himself.
"Well, then you can talk with me," someone spoke from in front of him.
Reever immediately got up from the bed and saw Ning standing up in the middle of the room.
"Eh? Brother Ning, how did you get in here?" Reever asked.
"I snuck in here," Ning said.
"Oh no, this is the royal palace. You need to leave before they find out you are trespassing, especially to a princess' quarters.
"I know, I will leave as soon as I'm done with what I came here to do," he said. "Go bring your wife. It's a very important matter that concerns her too."
