The Ancients World

[I wanted to let everyone know that I have a p-a-t-r-e-o-n with two new exclusive stories on it. One is The Aeternus Universe, and the other is a new story with a basketball system. I hope you guys will give it a chance. The link is /easyread. Remove the dashes. Webnovel censors the word.]

I get out of the bathtub and grab a towel. I head back into the room and sit down on one of the chairs. Sally is still sleeping. I fully fry myself and equip my gear. I make my way towards the door and leave. I walk towards the mansion's living room, and once there, I see a familiar head maid. She is cleaning some of the furniture and making sure everything is tidy. I walk over to the couch and take a seat. She doesn't look at me or acknowledge my existence. If she wants to blame me, then I'm not going to stop her.

A heartbroken mother isn't someone I'm going to set straight. Eventually, she'll have to accept that her son's death on the field isn't a single person's specific fault. It's okay for her to grieve and be in pain, for her to need to blame someone. "You sure are up early." I turn my head towards the familiar voice, and Amelia joins me in the living room. She sits on the couch across from me, and she is ready for the day. "The gift I got in your name is a set of silk sheets. Hope they believe it's actually from you." I laugh at that. She follows suit too.

I'm sure the King and his soon-to-be Queen already have silk sheets. It's not like they'll refuse a gift from me, which is very pretentious to say. "Thanks for handling the shopping. I needed to get away from the giant fields of people. How much did you have to deal with while shopping? There are only so many guards." Before I left, the crowds dispersed and were guided away by the guards. Her moving around the city and shopping probably made it incredibly hard to keep the crowds away. There is no way we could get all the sick and wounded.

This means there are those out there even more desperate and broken since they missed their chance. They say you can't help everyone, and that's true. "The guards had a harder time keeping them at bay once I started moving around the city and making my usual stops. At one point, the running from the sheer volume made the ground tremble slightly. I'd say almost every person in the city was following or trying to find me." I don't doubt there were players in that crowd too. The friend request and messaging system still don't work.

There still isn't a way for players to communicate directly with each other from long distances. I don't think there will be for a long time. So players getting a chance to see me or my 'mother' seems like a chance to make a strong ally in a dangerous world. "When are we leaving for the wedding? All you told me is it's starting in the late morning." Amelia informs me that we'll leave here in a couple of hours. It's early morning right now. "Are we taking another carriage there?" If I had to pick, I'd like to fly, just 'cause it's faster.

She nods her head, and before I can ask another question, a few butlers walk into the living room with food and tea. This type of constant service can get annoying, in my opinion. We end our conversation and decide to have some food. After a minute or so, Sally walks into the room. Still in her pajamas, no less. They are modest and cover her skin. They are pink and fluffy pajamas. I smile and wave her over. She comes and sits next to me and is handed a plate of food and a cup of tea by the butlers.

While Cera, Sally, and Amelia have breakfast and finish waking up. The chaos at the palace is reaching a boiling point. Ever since Jackson's bride found our Slayer Zern is coming to the wedding, she has been on a warpath. Upgrading everything and anything, sparing no expense in any department. Poor Jackson has been pushed to the sidelines and can only watch his staff and servants suffer his bride's wrath. It's similar all over in terms of noble houses. Women making sure they look their best, as well as their husbands, for when they meet Slayer Zern.

I look at my soon-to-be wife and queen and see how determined she is to make this a spectacular showing. If she only knew how little Zern cares. I don't want to put myself in harm's way and telling her that I'd be doing so. Sometimes it's just best to get out of the way and let her do what she needs to do. One of my many court officials comes up to me and plops down next to me. "I know that showing off to Zern is important, but shouldn't we be trying to impress his mom? This seems like a wasted effort." How right you are, my friend.

The way to win over Slayer Zern is through Amelia Zern, which I have already done. She has become a great friend and an amazing noble. The way she helps the poor and sick brings a balance and life to Zenith. I doubt we would have recovered as fast without her doing everything she could to help the people who needed it the most. "I get where you are coming from, but it's in everyone's best health if we just let her do what she wants. If it makes her feel better about the wedding and meeting Zern, then who are we to stand in the way." Another one of my officials comes into the conversation.

My bride begins to yell at some poor seamstresses about the condition of her new dress. I lean back in my chair and sigh. "Slayer Zern is a good friend of mine, and if he was seeing this right now. He'd probably laugh. He doesn't like being the center of attention or being around lots of people in general. It's a huge honor that he's coming to our wedding, but I know he wouldn't have come if his mother wasn't there to answer for him. I got in a lot of trouble with my fiance because of that..." My officials laugh at the little piece I've added to the conversation.

My bride seems to sense my enjoyment in this dire time. She darts her head at me, and my officials scatter like rats. She marches at me and stares down at me with a darkened gaze. "I'm glad you are over here having a good laugh when I'm busting my ass to make this a perfect wedding for our esteemed guest to enjoy." I feel a chill run down my back at the cold tone in her voice. "I'm going to count to 5, and if you aren't up and helping with something, you won't get any after the wedding." I take that threat seriously, and I stand up.

I immediately find something to help with. Setting up tables, helping with chairs. Anything at all, I want some after my wedding night. After a few minutes, some nobles of the Baron rank walk in, and many are carrying gifts. There are people already showing up early for the wedding. This will cause even more problems with my bride, but I'm not going to be in her line of sight. I see her make eye contact with the nobles who have entered, and they all flinch at the sinister look on my face. I decide to ignore the proceeding yells from my wife.

I'm sure nobles are going to be showing up early due to Slayer Zern's attendance here. Not to mention nobles are going to try and befriend his mother. I've already gotten multiple messages and threats from the church regarding her. Most are on the lines of how could I hide this? She is too important. You better protect her until we get there. Some people from the church are even coming to the wedding. I don't know who, though. They are only coming because Amelia and Slayer Zern are going to be here. They'll likely beg him for help.

Many people of high ranking all over Gaia are on their way to the wedding in Zenith city. Be them low ranking nobles or kings and queens themselves. While they will pay their respects to the new couple, most are going for the singular purpose of the meeting and speaking with Zern. One of the people on the way towards Zenith via teleportation gates is none other than Saintess Lucy. She is almost in Zenith city.

I only have one more teleportation gate to go. As the Saintess, I won't have any problems getting into the wedding, and I'll admit that I'm nervous. This will be the first time I ever meet Slayer Zern, to think he was in The Holy City not too long ago. With Leonard retiring and a new Pope being selected soon, it's going to be rocky. For the first time since the creation of the church, the seers aren't the ones finding the new Pope. I can only hope this doesn't mark the destruction of the church.