High above the clouds, on a tree that soared into the sky, Dickfer lay crookedly on the neck of Muhha, watching the thin rain that resembled mist sprinkling the forest.

“It’s going to rain.”

As the god of the earth, he had made a contract with the long-ago ruler of the Kontana Kingdom, the king.

“Because of that damn seed.”

Around that time, Dickfer was looking for a mysterious seed that could create divine beings with fruits, but the king of the land I guarded happened to discover it first.

Having wasted time searching for the seed of the divine being for a long time, Dickfer had no more time to wait.

When he threatened to hand it over to the king immediately, he proposed a simple contract.

Only once, whenever they wanted. All Dickfer had to do was fulfill the simple task of granting the royal family’s request.

If they asked for an unreasonable request that he couldn’t fulfill, he just had to gather the energy of protection. Dickfer lightly accepted the king’s proposal.

After a few years, around the time when he had forgotten the facts about the promise.

The Absolute Deity came and ordered him to go to Feriyat, adding that he should bring Vercheria and marry her.

At first, he doubted his ears.

Marriage.

Even if they were Awakened, the fact that marriage was a promise to be destroyed in this life didn’t make sense.

“If you bring Vercheria to the Kontana Kingdom and keep her there, I’ll give you complete divine power in the next life.”

No.

This was an unbelievably good condition.

It meant that he didn’t have to search for Awakened ones anymore as long as he lived with Vercheria. He didn’t have to go through the annoying infancy that one had to go through in the human body before being born. There was no more radical proposal for Dickfer, born as an incomplete god.

No matter what happened, he made up his mind to bring Vercheria to the Kontana Kingdom, and when he arrived at Feriyat.

This time, it was not a contract being brought out but a contract by the king’s daughter, Lawrence, who was being sold to the Feriyat Empire.

“I’ll tell you where Vercheria is. I’ll tell you how to tempt her. I know better than anyone what she’s weak against. I don’t care if you marry her or fight; I’m not interested. All I ask is that you prioritize my orders above all else here.”

“Damn, what the hell do they think of me? Calling me out for rain, threatening with a contract.”

The contract between a human and a god was absolute, so Dickfer, as a party to the contract, had no right to refuse it, which was the most problematic aspect.

“Damn it.”

Dickfer spent some time watching the rain falling in the blue forest. Then, he patted Muhha’s big head, bald like a deity’s.

“Let’s go to the palace, Muhha.”

Gerard’s morning started relatively late. He was not a person passionate about keeping schedules or receiving reports like the previous emperors, so the officials always had to be cautious when meeting the emperor. However, today Gerard was sitting in the dining room from an early hour. As always, the glamorous Rione was by his side, and on both sides were guests he had invited, sitting side by side.

On the left were Lakrahan and Vercheria, and on the right, the empress and Kellita faced each other.

“Since guests from the north have come after a long time, wouldn’t it be courteous to have breakfast together? Don’t you think so?”

At Gerard’s words, the empress and Kellita nodded with smiles on their faces. When he gestured, a table was spread with food that made one’s mouth water just by looking at it.

The excessive ingredients for breakfast, which were too extravagant, revealed the intention to suppress the spirits of the guests.

As the dishes were arranged one by one, intense glances exchanged among them.

Vercheria to Rione, Kellita to Vercheria, Gerard to Lakrahan.

And Lakrahan was looking at Empress Lawrence, wondering what she was thinking.

“Empress, Your Majesty.”

All eyes turned to Lakrahan’s voice. Lakrahan, wearing a tunic made of leather instead of a cape, looked formal but comfortable.

His freshly washed face made people forget that he was a hero who had wandered through intense battlefields.

“Yes, Duke Lakrahan.”

Lawrence stared at Lakrahan with an expression that perfectly suited the occasion.

Lakrahan, looking at the cutlery placed in front of him, spoke as if he didn’t care.

“I think I saw you, Your Majesty, during a walk in the garden yesterday morning.”

Everyone’s attention shifted to Gerard. Lawrence, who had tried to speak, was ignored by Lakrahan, who continued to speak in a low tone.

“Oh. It must be a mistake.”

Lakrahan briefly ignored her response and continued, “You were with a man.”

Silence fell in the dining room. Gerard turned sharply towards Lakrahan, and the sound of Lawrence turning her head was audible.

Kellita, who was sitting next to Lawrence, got up without realizing it, gesturing to call a maid.

“I need water. Suddenly got thirsty. Hm-hmm.”

Watching the maid run to fetch water, Kellita casually sat back down.