The contents of the Emperor's Decree brought relief to Alex's worries but the last thing was a pain in the ass for him.
Every time a new king ascends to a kingdom, a coronation legion is sent from the Empire who will coronate the king.
But in his case, he was called directly to the Empire.
Isn't walking into the Zenith, Capital is Kinley akin to asking for beating from all around.
It was not about his strength only he needed to make others strong also.
In the meantime, although Alex had recovered wholly in the presence of these unwanted guests Alex wasn't able to heal Christina and can only make her suffer.
Casting a high-grade healing spell may pull too much suspicion and he didn't know whether these will be his friend or foe.
Although Josh looked friendly on the surface, who knows if he turned out to be a backstabber?
...…..
Riya was occupied with Alice as she asked Riya to tell her about the things that have happened after we left Zenith and wanted to hear Alex's stories after departing from her.
Christina was busy thinking about the division of the army along with Mordek while Catherine accompanied Alex to have a chat.
Alex found Catherine to his liking when it came to political discussion.
And having two heads is better and Catherine was the one who was going to handle the kingdom in his absence.
"Catherine, tell me what you think about the situation?" Alex asked.
"Everything is moving quite smoothly to the point that it feels quite unnatural," Catherine replied while looking at Alex with a solemn expression.
"I am worried about Princess Alice. She seems to be a little playful and immature on the surface but she knows how to act according to the situation."Alex spoke, rubbing his chin.
"And the power of her guardians worried me. If something bad happens this time, we will be dying powerlessly."
"How much do you know about her?" Alex asked.
Catherine laid her back on the couch while resting her cheek on her palm and started to recall the bits and pieces of Alice.
"Alex, do you remember the day when we were bonded together by the ritual, I mean the day we were married?"
Alex shook his head, he didn't even remember the face of his wives or anyone in his family and she was asking about the event.
"Alex the ritual took place in Church and The Pope himself conducted it."
"In the ritual, from your side, only Alice and the first princess were present along with the Emperor."
Alex raised his eyebrows hearing about the First Princess and wondered now what kind of relationship she had with him.
'I hope that there is no hostility between us but what surprised him was that none of his brothers were present at the scene.'
"I heard from Riya that Alice treats you very well and cares for you a lot though I didn't know much about the First Princess who had an aloof and cold personality."
"Hmmm!" Alex nodded and continued to listen to Catherine's words while mulling over them.
"I know you are weary of her. But still, at least you should try your best to forge your relations with her. And on top of that, you at least try to mask your hostility."
"Princess Alice may be saddened by your behavior."
"You should already know that blood is thicker than water."
"All our situations may be quite bad and we might have been forced to marry you but it doesn't mean we don't sympathize with you."
"Unlike you, we all have been loved by our families and at least we have someone to rely on before we fell."
"Being an idiot you have been scrutinized and criticized by society even though this was not your fault, to begin with. I don't know if you remembered the things or if you are trying to bury them out of the fear of getting hurt, the torment you have gone through wasn't something one can endure."
"Although we find it hard to accept you as a husband before that doesn't mean we hate you."
"Even though you are disowned, that doesn't mean you don't have a family. On top of that, the very reason you were disowned had been resolved."
"So, I think you should take the chance to forge a cordial relationship with Alice and others."
"I am not telling you to actively seek out them but at least you should try to mend your relationship with those seeking out for you."
"I know you are in a position where you cannot trust anyone and many wolves may be already eyeing to use you but I know you are clever enough to know the wolf in sheep's clothing."
Alex heard Catherine's advice and felt as if a heavy burden had been moved away from his heart.
He stood up and walked toward Catherine, hugging her gently startling her.
"Thank you, Catherine. Your words really meant a lot."
Catherine, who tried to struggle free, stopped in her tracks on hearing Alex's warm words.
"I will try to sort out things. Before that, we should start to take care of all this mess."Alex spoke with a sigh.
"Although, it may not look like we are in a really bad situation. Integrating three kingdoms into one isn't as easy as it looks."
"Wright and Nevan could be made into one easily before but with addition, Amidon which is a sharp contrast with the other two requires armed forces."
"Moreover, there is a heavy loss of personnel in the war along with resources. Your Nevan side is in the best condition."Alex spoke.
"Your loss of troops was minimal and I heard you tossed the entire battlefield and wreaked havoc alone," Catherine spoke while staring at Alex's expression.
Killing so many people might have burdened him. Catherine knew that Alex wasn't the kind of person who would kill unreasonably but the situation forced him to do so.
Moreover, she knew that Alex wanted to rescue her as soon as possible and Alex was saddened by her absence which touched her a little.
Oblivious to Catherine's thoughts, Alex thought that she was trying to appreciate him and he rubbed his nose with a proud look.
"You already know that your hubby is great. If you want I can even move an entire mountain in the way and bring stars from the sky."
"Blaaaah!" Catherine snorted and the tiny bit of respect that had been aroused in her heart for Alex was all lost.
If Alex knew that the number of affection points he had gained in a few days had decreased because of his casual words, he would have coughed a litter of blood.
.....
Alex stood before the door with an uneasy expression.
"Today is too hot, isn't it?" Alex asked but looked around to see no one was around him.
He was standing before Alice's room where she was staying, currently accompanied by Riya.
Alex felt that he can kill many without batting an eye but when it comes to conversing with a stranger who is somehow related to him, he started to feel uneasy.
Maybe it was trauma or a mental burden left behind by his older self who has been ignored since birth.
Alex was about to knock on the door when he heard the sound of giggling from inside.
Although Alex knew that he should give them some privacy, Alex's heart wasn't able to calm down and take a peek.
"This is all for the sake of knowing the opponent and gaining useful information."
Alex mumbled trying to reason with himself and shook away the guilt from his heart.
Alex put his ears on the wall and channelized his mana to increase his hearing power and soon was able to hear the inside conversation.
"Big Sis Riya tells me the truth, does my brother bully you, thinking of you as a maid and treating you poorly."
"No, your big brother is kind to me. He cares for me a lot."
"My Lord doesn't allow anyone to look down on me and he takes strict action on anyone who looks down on me."
"Big Sis, why are you still calling him My lord, isn't he already your husband? Just call him hubby or in case you can call him honey?"
Riya blushed a little and her face became red as a tomato and seeing her reaction Alice laughed a little.
Alex, the thief who hears her sister's words, gave her thumbs up.
'My sister seems to be a good girl. I should reward her in the future.'
'I doubted her unnecessarily.'
"Even My Lord had told me to drop the honorific but I just couldn't. Calling him Lord from years ago formed a habit." Riya answered.
"Big Sis Riya, why are you behaving like a naive girl? You should show some coldness and let Big Brother run after you."
"From early days you have been running after him and taking care of him. Now he should be the one running after you."
"Just try to avoid me and put some distance for a few days, you will see how effective it is."
"Men are always like this. If you get in their grasp easily, they would just get bored of you." Alice advised Riya.
'Damn!! She is not my sister.'
'How dare you give such a crooked idea to my lovely Riya. You are tainting my Riya.'Alex muttered inwardly with an angry expression.
'This kid is just 17 years old and hasn't even fallen in love and she is trying to lead my Riya astray.'
'Riya don't listen to her. Your hubby is the best.'
"But what If My Lord gets angry and starts to ignore me for real," Riya spoke in a worried tone.
Alice pondered for a moment thinking about Riya's words"In this case, there is only one option."
Riya's eyes brightened while looking at Alice with expectant eyes.
"Then you should just be proactive and pull brother into your grasp and try to cook rice with him."
"Once the rice is cooked, what can Big Brother do after that?"
Riya who heard Alice's words was startled for a moment and her face became so red that it looked as if he had caught a fever.
One could even see smoke rising from her head.
Even Alex was embarrassed when he heard Alice's words.
'Who the hell made her a Princess?'
'Is she a Princess of an Empire or a hooligan of the street?'Alex cursed and unable to take in any more knocked on the door and coughed a little.
After all, who knows what kind of crooked idea she may give to Riya.?
"Riya are you here?"
Riya who heard Alex's sound suddenly thought that Alex might have heard the words and she jumped up in fright.
Alice, whose condition wasn't far from Riya, thought about finding a hole and hide in that hole.
