The crazy bastard Gran Cabrio looked at me and grinned.
I gnashed my teeth in anger after sensing the madness behind his grin.
How many people had died in front of that grin?
Ten thousand?
Hundred thousand?
A million?
The crazy emperor had massacred people left and right since he ascended the throne, and that bastard was smiling at me right now.
“Why aren’t you smiling?” he asked. His grin deepened as he said, “Smile, my beloved bitch.”
“…”
“You are now this esteemed being’s bitch, so why aren’t you smiling?”
“Your grace is… immeasurable… my lord.”
I was forced to bow my head and speak shameful words.
“Yes, that’s the right response.”
“…”
“You’re my bitch, so you’re going to stay by my side forever, both in this life and in the next, and even in the distant future! Kekekeke! Kekekeke!”
I could not understand what this crazy bastard was saying, but if only I understood him. if only I understood what he meant by how we would be together even in our next lives. If I had understood it, I would have killed myself right there and then.
No, I should have just killed myself at the time.
However, I chose to live not for fear of my own life but to protect the precious people around me from that madman. Ironically, I failed to realize that a clean swift death was far better than a long despicable life.
Twenty years later…
“You have to go with me… Kekeke… You will never escape from me, my beloved bitch…”
The madman was obsessed with me despite his fatal illness.
I could not understand, and I did not want to understand the madman. The only thing I understood was that something so precious and sincere like love actually had such a despicable and hideous side to it.
The madman’s obsession for me far surpassed the boundaries of insanity and despicableness that even the devil himself would doubt his own abilities and start looking for another job.
I was captured by the magicians on the same day the madman breathed his last, and I was dragged to some place where they had done something unforgivable to me.
They separated my soul from my body.
Yes, my soul was separated from my body and was stuffed in a chest. I realized something after being locked in the chest, but I could not tell anyone about it.
Far away in the distant future… the madman would come back to life.
He was definitely going to open this chest and transfer my soul into a new body.
“By my side forever, both in this life and in the next, and even in the distant future!”
I thought the madman had bluffed when he said that, but it wasn’t a bluff at all.
He was dead set on keeping me by his side for eternity.
The idea of having to stay by his side forever was absurd, and I hated it. I did not want to become the madman’s bitch again and be subjected to his deranged obsession hiding beneath the veil of love.
I refuse to do so.
Never…
But just in case… just in case that madman comes back to life and tries to open this chest containing my soul…
I did not want that to happen, so I placed my dying will in this chest.
The only man I loved…
The man who suffered all his life at the hands of the madman…
I pleaded that only his song would be able to free me from this chest.
That way, the madman would never find me…
***
Right after the flashback ended.
“W-What was that? The soul within this chest is the empress?” Siegfried stuttered.
He was in absolute disbelief.
“That is correct, the soul stored within that chest is the soul of the Infamous Tyrant’s empress,” Daode Tianzun replied with a grim smile.
“That’s crazy…”
“She was engaged, but she was forced to become Gran Cabrio’s plaything and suffer her entire life. Her soul is still suffering even now.”
“The man she was supposed to marry was a singer of the Royal Choir? The one who sang the Aria of the Sun King?”
“Exactly…”
“So… the only way to open the chest is to appease the soul of the empress within it, and the way to do that is to sing the Aria of the Sun King?”
“Correct.”
Siegfried finally understood the quest.
‘But what’s the relationship between the empress’ soul and the hidden class?’ he wondered. He had many questions, but it was impossible to find the answer to each and every one of them.
‘Ah, let’s just clear the quest.’ Siegfried decided not to ask so many questions.
He decided to just focus on clearing the quest.
“Where can I find the music sheet of the Aria of the Sun King?” Siegfried asked.
“Beats me,” Daode Tianzun replied with a shrug. He rubbed his beard before continuing. “I think it was around fifty years ago? I heard that a male singer at the Royal Arts Academy had one in his possession, but I’m not really sure.”
“The Royal Arts Academy… I think I will be able to find it.”
“Hmm? Really?”
“You will be here, right?”
“Yes, I will…”
“Then, I’ll be right back.”
Siegfried bowed toward Daode Tianzun and immediately walked away.
‘That guy is quite useful in many ways…’ he thought of Gringore.
Gringore was immensely talented in singing, and he was a graduate of the Royal Arts Academy. Gringore was the key to clearing this important quest.
***
Siegfried immediately summoned Gringore after returning to Proatine.
A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.
He asked Gringore about the Aria of the Sun King.
“The Aria of the Sun King? Hmm…” Gringore pondered for a moment before replying, “I heard that one of my batchmates has that music sheet.”
“Really?” Siegfried expectantly asked.
“I was not able to see or listen to it. She claimed that it was a family heirloom.”
“That’s a shame… You probably won’t even need a music sheet if you’ve heard it…”
Siegfried knew very well and slightly despised the fact that Gringore possessed perfect pitch. Therefore, it wouldn’t have been difficult for Gringore to remember the song.
“She majored in visual arts,” Gringore added.
“Oh, really?”
“We are taught many forms of arts in our first and second year at the academy in an effort to broaden our horizons, but…”
“…?”
“Unfortunately, she’s severely tone-deaf. Haha…”
“I-I see…”
“Anyway, I will write a letter or call my batchmates and ask about her whereabouts because Your Majesty requires that music sheet.”
“Thank you, Scribe Gringore.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty.”
***
The next morning, Siegfried logged into the game.
Gringore immediately went over to him to report. “I found her, Your Majesty.”
“Really?”
“Do you wish to pay her a visit? I will be glad to accompany you.”
“Let’s go.”
Siegfried, Hamchi, and Gringore then went to find the person in possession of the music sheet.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Gringore knocked on the door of a luxurious-looking mansion.
A butler opened the door and asked, “Who is it?”
“Ah, yes, my name is Gringore.”
“Gringore… Are you by any chance the young lady’s…”
“Yes, that is me.”
“Oh! Who could have known that I would get to meet the best artist on the continent?! I am honored!”
Surprisingly, the butler called Gringore the best artist on the continent.
‘You should’ve just been a celebrity… Why did you become a scribe and go through so many hardships…? Don’t you feel like your talents are being wasted?’ Siegfried couldn’t understand Gringore’s thought process.
However, he knew very well that there was a stark difference between being good at something and doing something one loved, and it was extremely rare to find a job that was applicable to both.
In the end, Siegfried decided to mind his own business.
After all, Gringore’s life wasn’t his life to live.
“But why are you here? Are you here to meet the young lady?” asked the butler.
“Yes..” Gringore replied.
“Hmm…” the butler muttered with a troubled look before he replied, “I apologize, but the young lady is currently—”
“Gringore!”
An extremely beautiful woman suddenly popped up behind the butler.
“Oh! Julianne!” Gringore exclaimed.
“How long has it been?! But, you… you’ve become extremely handsome… I mean, you were already handsome before, but…”
“Haha…”
“What brings you here?”
“Well—” Gringore was about to explain.
However, the butler suddenly interrupted. “Young Lady! You should not be here. Please hurry and go back inside!”
“Don’t treat me this way. It is true that I have shamed our household, but are you telling me that I should not meet my friends from the academy?” Julianne retorted in a cold voice.
“T-That’s…”
“Gringore is famous as a tight-lipped individual since our academy days, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“I understand, Young Lady…”
“Please don’t forget to keep this a secret from Father, too.”
It seemed that Julianne had a personal issue she was currently dealing with based on her conversation with her butler.
“Come in,” she said to Gringore.
“Thanks,” Gringore replied and stepped inside.
“Ah, please come in too. Omo! So cute!” Julianne was about to usher Siegfried in when she suddenly squealed in joy after seeing Hamchi.
However, Gringore interrupted. “Julianne…?”
“Hmm…?”
“Are you by any chance…?”
Julianne smiled and replied, “Yeah, that’s right. I’m pregnant.”
Anyone could see that Julianne was pregnant—her tummy was too big for her to be otherwise.
“I’m already eight months pregnant.”
“Y-Young Lady!”
“Shut up!” Julianne growled and glared at the butler.
“Ah…” Gringore was rendered speechless. It finally became clear that she was indeed troubled, and Gringore had a good idea what was troubling her.
“Hmm… Julianne…?”
“Yeah?”
“That is… Hmm… How should I put this…”
“It is out of wedlock and also without love.”
“Ah!”
“I mean, this is still love, right? Anyway, come in first. We can talk inside, and Father isn’t home right now as well.”
The group then walked into the house.
Chatter… Chatter… Chatter…
Gringore and Julianne chatted about their days back in the academy, just like most people would do after an overdue reunion.
‘How can I destroy Chae Hyung-Seok…?’
Meanwhile, Siegfried was still trying his best to come up with a way to destroy the Genesis Guild while petting the giant hamster on his lap.
An hour later, Julianne finally addressed the elephant in the room and asked, “What brings you here all of a sudden?”
“Ah, let me introduce this person first,” Gringore replied.
They had a motive for their visit, but it was common courtesy to greet and chat with the host before addressing the elephant in the room.
Gringore finally introduced Siegfried to Julianne. “This person is the King of the Proatine Kingdom, His Majesty Siegfried van Proa, and he is also my liege.”
“Omo! Why did you just tell me?! I thought he was your manager or something! I apologize for my rudeness, Your Majesty. My name is Julianne de Renoir, and I hope for your understanding.”
“Aigoo! Not at all!” Siegfried replied almost immediately.
He couldn’t even feel bad about how he got treated as Gringore’s manager. It was all because Julianne was greeting him according to how noble ladies would greet esteemed guests despite being eight months pregnant.
“Your body does not belong to you anymore, and I’m just a king of a small kingdom. Please do not strain yourself,” Siegfried said.
“But…”
“Please sit comfortably. I implore you to.”
“Thank you for your kind consideration, Your Majesty.”
Julianne sat down at Siegfried’s behest.
“Do you remember, Julianne?” Gringore asked.
“Remember what?” Julianne replied.
“The Aria of the Sun King.”
“Of course, it’s our heirloom.”
“The Aria of the Sun King is the reason I’m here with His Majesty.”
“Why do you need that song all of a sudden?”
“It’s a top-secret matter, so I can’t go into the details, but His Majesty needs that music sheet. If it’s difficult to show us the music sheet, then you can also play it for us at least once.”
“Is it because your memory is really good, and you have perfect pitch?”
“Yeah.”
“No.” Julianne shook her head.
“Hmm?”
“It’s not a difficult favor, but I can’t give it for free.”
“Why not?”
“I have a condition,” Julianne said. She turned toward Siegfried before continuing. “Your Majesty.”
“Yes?” Siegfried replied.
“May I tell you my condition?”
“What is it?”
“Please give me a house and a job in your kingdom.”
“A house and a job?”
“It’s all so that I can leave this place and raise my child on my own. This house is suffocating me.”
“That’s not difficult—”
“And…”
“…?”
“Please find this man for me.”
***
Tremble… Tremble…!
Thirty minutes later, Siegfried was trembling in anger as he gripped the sketch of a man.
“This damned… chain quest… ARGH!”
[Looking for Husband Kim on the Continent][1]
[Provide a house and job for Gringore’s batchmate—Julianne—in the Proatine Kingdom. Then, help her find the father of her child, Adventurer Swallow.]
[Reward: Music Sheet of the Aria of the Sun King]
[Progress: 0% (0/3)]
[1. Provide a nice house – At least five hundred square meters.]
[2. Provide a job – Arts professor at the Proatine Arts Academy.]
[3. Find her husband – Bring Adventurer Swallow to her.]
It turned out that the most important quest that would lead to the opening of the ark containing a hidden class was finding Julianne’s Adventurer husband. In other words, Siegfried had to look for a gamer and bring him to Julianne in the game.
1. Husband Kim is like John Doe for unnamed husbands since Kim is the most common surname in Korea. ☜
