Orion found that these thoughts were fleeting, disappearing almost as soon as they crossed his mind. There was no need to dwell on such matters when the answer was already right in front of him.
He let out an internal sigh, realizing that perhaps he had been too hard on his future mother-in-law. Since she would soon be a part of their family, Orion decided to treat her with more care and attention in the future.
He contemplated starting by assisting her in stabilizing the current situation of the Prismerian Kingdom, a notion he considered a positive step.
Queen Selene closely watched Orion as he absorbed her words, and she couldn't help but let out an internal sigh of weariness. When she first encountered her daughter outside Orion's room, she sensed that something was amiss. Her observation of her daughter's behaviour around Orion only confirmed her suspicions.
In fact, Queen Selene had raised her from birth and as such knew her daughter inside out. It would have been a grave error if she had guessed incorrectly.
Nevertheless, for anyone else, Queen Selene wouldn't have bothered to spare them a second thought if they didn't meet her standards. Yet, the person her daughter had fallen in love with was Orion, and so she had decided to carefully assess the pros and cons of this situation.
From her analysis, she found it not to be a bad idea, despite Orion's mention of having other wives. With the two Luminaris heiresses choosing to honour their promise and become his partners, coupled with Orion's current standing in the kingdom, there was the hope that her daughter, with Orion's assistance, could lead the Prismerian Kingdom to new heights, even if the kingdom itself didn't escape from the mountain.
So, Queen Selene concluded that the benefits clearly outweighed the disadvantages.
"Okay, I will make sure to remember your words," Orion replied, his tone reflecting his seriousness.
"Alright, that's all there is to discuss. I will have Madam Seraphina come for you tomorrow when the event is ready. Now, I can see you have important matters to attend to, so I won't keep you any longer," Queen Selene said.
With that, she turned to leave, clearly in a hurry to attend to her own tasks.
"After we find a way out of this mountain, I'll make it a priority to find out how we can remove that artefact from around your neck," Orion declared with confidence. His words made Queen Selene pause in her tracks, and she turned to look at him.
A beautiful smile graced her lips at his offer. "I'd like to thank you in advance then, Mr Orion, if you can truly find a way to rid me of this artefact," she said, her tone filled with appreciation. "However, while I would gladly accept your help, Mr Orion, considering that this is a powerful artefact, it might be best not to stress over it too much. I'm confident that I will eventually find a way to remove it."
While Orion had already surprised her on several occasions to the extent that she began to doubt if they could truly compete with the outside world, should they manage to escape this mountain. She was aware of the immense challenges that came with dealing with ancient artefacts, especially lost ones.
Her past experiences with the ancient artefacts in the Crystalforge clan had made her cautious, and she didn't want Orion to divert his focus from the scout mission.
"It appears that the Queen doesn't have full confidence in my words. Nevertheless, should I find a way to assist you in removing that artefact from your neck, I hope to be rewarded with..."
"A wish," Queen Selene promptly interjected, finishing Orion's sentence for him, as though she could already tell what he wanted.
"Yes," Orion responded with a slight smile. "One wish, for anything I desire?"
Queen Selene observed Orion's confident expression and nodded in agreement. "Very well, since you seem so confident, what if you fail to remove this artefact?" she asked, awaiting his response.
"I haven't entertained that possibility because I don't plan on failing," Orion replied. "But it appears you already have something in mind, Queen Selene. I'm curious to know what it is."
Queen Selene pursed her lips. "If you lose, the only thing I would want is for you to promise me one thing: that you help us Prismerions out of this mountain," she said. She then added, "Or help me take care of my daughter in case things don't work out as planned."
"That's two promises, Queen Selene," Orion remarked, observing Queen Selene as she realized her mistake.
"But you don't need to worry," Orion assured her, shaking his head. "I don't need to make a promise to take care of her."
Queen Selene immediately felt her heart skip a beat. She briefly stared at Orion, sensing a fluttering sensation in her heart before quickly suppressing it.
"Thank you, Mr. Orion. I will see you later," Queen Selene said, turning away abruptly and briskly walking in the opposite direction, showing no sign of slowing down even as she distanced herself from Orion.
Observing the Queen's hurried departure, Orion shook his head and let out a weary sigh.
It was clear from a mere glance that the pressure on the Queen had intensified, which would undoubtedly be detrimental to her health if things continued in this manner.
Nevertheless, he knew that he could only wait for tomorrow to discover what the trial of the guardians was about before leading the scout mission to the upper section of the mountain, which would likely bring them across White Flame. Orion decided to take one step at a time to avoid making mistakes.
Orion turned around and made his way back to his room, where Princess Crystalia, Flintor, and the Luminaris Clan Heiresses were waiting for him.
"What took you so long?" Princess Crystalia asked, her tone tinged with suspicion. She was curious about the nature of the conversation that had caused such a lengthy delay between her mother and Orion.
