Rael barged into the throne room, with no one stopping him.
If anything, the guards let him through, which wasn't strange, considering the context of the message he had received.
Zafira was leisurely sitting on her throne, eating an apple.
However, that pissed him off even more.
"Zafira... What the fuck?"
"Rael, I know how you must be feeling, but I promise you won't have any obligations," Zafira replied, her expression firm.
"I believe marriage should be political or out of love—this is neither," Rael shot back.
Of course, the message that caused him to lose his shit was a marriage proposal by none other than Queen Zafira Sutekh herself.
He was flattered, sure.
What the fuck is she thinking?
"Would you rather have me marry some old man?" Zafira asked with a tilt of her head. "There are many who seek my hand in marriage, but all of them see me for my status, while you, on the other hand, don't."
"Are you serious? Come on, Zafira... I don't have a title, nor do I have any standing in your city. To be frank, I don't even have citizenship," Rael replied with a sigh. "If anything, I believe you're being irresponsible."
"This is what I mean, Rael." She stood up, a wide smile on her face. "You're blunt and say the truth. I will grant you citizenship and more if you accept."
Taking a moment to process, Rael decided to ask the real questions.
"What's the real reason? Does it have something to do with Yrgon?"
Zafira shrugged. "It does. I talked with my council regarding their offer and also gave them your stance. The best idea they came up with was if I had a husband. If I did, it would negate a lot of legal proceedings that Yrgon would potentially take in order to seize our land, one of which is my hand in marriage."
"So now, instead of asking for your hand in marriage directly, they would have to kill me first," Rael finished. "I guess I underestimated you."
She giggled softly. "I'm sure you won't mind a few enemies in the shadows when you have the Sutekh name backing you. Also, as I already said, you won't need to do any husband or king duties."
Why am I tempted to accept? Rael thought with furrowed brows.
Zafira Sutekh would become a huge figure by the time Sketa Online releases.
Now, if he had that influence and used it to scam other players, then...
"Zafira, can you guarantee my freedom?" he asked.
She nodded in response. "I give you my word. The documents have already been drafted—do you want to take a look?"
"Sure," Rael replied, and as he did, she took out a simple document from seemingly her inventory before handing it to him.
He read through it, mostly interested in the benefits he would get.
However, despite this, he found something that confused him.
"In Celestara, it's easier to break those types of contracts. I can just claim I can't bear children, and the divorce would happen the day following that," Zafira affirmed, making him let out a groan.
It was a delicate matter, and one he certainly didn't expect.
But in all honesty? If he was free to do whatever he wanted while also having a backing, then it was worth it.
"I see. Zafira, I accept," Rael stated, stretching out his hand awkwardly. "...I suppose you don't do marriage handshakes."
"No..." Zafira replied, scratching her chin as she pulled out a pair of amethyst wedding rings from her inventory before handing him both. "You usually—"
"I think I got it," Rael cut her off, clearing his throat and dramatically getting on one knee before staring straight into her crimson eyes. "Zafira Sutekh, will you marry me?"
With a smile, she extended her hand forward, parting her fingers. "I will."
Hearing the obvious confirmation, he slipped one of the amethyst rings on her ring finger while doing the same for himself.
The moment he did, a few system messages popped up in front of him
Hmm... This is definitely not how I expected my day to go.
Rael let out a sigh, which was quickly interrupted by the long-awaited pop-up.
•—Balance: 60,120 Trell—•
Fuck yeah. A smile beamed on his face as he turned toward Zafira, who was simply standing there awkwardly.
"Zafira, what do I call you around others?"
She tilted her head in thought. "I think the lovey-dovey approach would work well. You can stick to calling me Zafira in public, and I will still call you Rael. How's that?"
"Sounds convenient," he said with a nod. "Now then, Zafira, as much as I would love to stay in the palace, there's some stuff I need to do. I hope you don't mind."
Zafira shook her head. "Not at all. But... you will have to move into the palace at midday."
A fancy room right next to a hot wife? Yes, please. Rael thought inwardly. "Okay, see you later, Zafira."
With that, she waved him off, and he finally left, the guards bowing from time to time.
He kind of grew excited—however, with this amount of money he received, there was only one thing to do.
And that was to buy some property, set up shop, and prepare for the beta testers to arrive.
While this wasn't a starting city, it was extremely close to one—Yrgon.
There were a few main quests leading here, and for the players who had brains, he would have the perfect chance to test stuff out—and obviously, exploit them.
Of course, he should start with the obvious, and that was gear.
But just as he was about to craft, a message popped up that made him furrow his brows.
Of fucking course it is... That's what I get for gathering shit I don't need. He sighed before getting rid of his outdated emergency fund.
Yep. He swiftly agreed, and in the next moment:
Now that that was over with, it was time to begin stocking up.