Poof.
Robin collapsed onto a plush, richly upholstered couch, its soft cushions absorbing his weight like a sigh of relief from the universe itself. With a groan of exaggerated weariness, he brought his hand up to his neck and began rotating it slowly, left then right, working out the tension with practiced movents. A sly smile curled at the corners of his lips.
"Ahh~ A simple man like , still stuck at Level One, really shouldn't have to endure this kind of pressure. It's downright criminal," he said with a light laugh, half-joking, half-serious.
Casually, he removed the crown from his head using one hand—its weight seemingly negligible in his fingers despite the authority it represented. He rested its golden edge on the tip of his index finger and began spinning it slowly with the other hand, the tal catching glints of light in a srizing dance.
"So..." he mused, raising an eyebrow with amused curiosity, "Those who oppose oppose you. Those who befriend shall have your favor... That's what you said, right?"
Sitting across from him with regal posture and serene grace, Rinara didn't flinch or lower her gaze. Her back was straight, her head held high with quiet confidence befitting a sovereign. She answered with the cool detachnt of soone who'd spent a lifeti mastering diplomacy.
"Just ceremonial words," she said calmly, her tone asured and almost indifferent. "Don't let them weigh on your mind."
"Oh? So you didn't an it after all?" Robin chuckled as he flicked the crown gently into the air, watching it turn end over end before vanishing with a soft shimr into the confines of his newly acquired spatial ring.
He leaned forward slightly, a teasing glint in his golden eyes.
"You do realize, of course, that your little speech was captured by all the directional light-recording boxes and broadcast live to every one of my planets, right? It's a bit late to walk it back now, don't you think?"
"...I have faith we won't find ourselves on opposite sides," Rinara replied smoothly, every word calculated. Her voice was like velvet stretched over iron.
Robin gave a small shrug. "Maybe you're right. In any case, I do appreciate the gesture. You spared my children from the burden of having to step in—and for that, I owe you one."
There was a pause. Rinara's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"...The Golden Soul Shard," she said quietly, her voice now edged with urgency. "Who was it?"
She had encountered many beings in various states of Soul Resonance throughout her life—so of imnse power, others of terrifying presence. She had once even stood before a being known as a Behemoth, a being whose na echoed across dinsions. But the pressure she felt earlier today had far surpassed even that. It was a suffocating force, an overwhelming dread. When the owner of the Golden Soul Shard had looked at her, it was as if she were an insect beneath his heel—utterly insignificant. It was the sa way she used to look at Robin. That reversal burned her pride.
"Hmm... He prefers to remain anonymous," Robin said nonchalantly, waving a hand dismissively as if brushing away an annoying fly. "But honestly, you don't have to concern yourself. As long as we're on good terms, you'll never have to see him again."
Not that she'd be seeing him anyway—but she didn't need to know that.
Rinara's fingers flexed slightly, betraying her frustration.
"...Can you at least tell what he did to that woman?" she asked, her voice a touch more forceful. "She vanished. It was as if everything she did was undone. He... reversed everything. Do you even know where she went?!"
Robin shrugged again, a wry grin playing on his face.
"Your guess is as good as mine, unfortunately," he said with a trace of amusent. "If you couldn't tell what happened. How on earth would soone like know?"
He leaned back against the couch, folding his arms.
"Apparently, though, she's sothing of a minor celebrity in Sector 100-Mid. I doubt the truth will stay hidden for long. Sooner or later, the dust will settle, and we'll both know what really happened."
Then he straightened slightly, his tone shifting to sothing colder, more direct.
"So tell , Lady Rinara. Why are you still here? What's really keeping you? Don't tell you're still hoping I'll kneel before you? Surely you're not that naïve."
"You were officially crowned re minutes ago," Rinara said with a wry smile, clearly unbothered by his bluntness. "Yet you still speak like a soldier fresh from the trenches."
She raised her chin, golden light dancing in her eyes.
"No, Lord Robin. I have no desire for your submission. Nor do I seek to make you my subordinate. You have already made that perfectly clear—more than once. But I do still believe we can form a powerful bond. If you want to call it a business partnership, fine. But perhaps... it could grow into sothing more."
Robin blinked once, then gave a sheepish smile, the edge in his voice softening.
"You're right. I apologize for my harsh words," he said sincerely. "As for a partnership... that part's easy."
He closed one eye thoughtfully for a mont, then asked:
"Tell sothing. Can Soul Shards be infused into drinks? Like, I don't know—soul juice or sothing?"
Rinara stared at him, her expression briefly unreadable. "Thank you, no," she said, narrowing her eyes. "I don't require anything at the mont."
Knock. Knock.
The doors to the chamber creaked open slowly, and two young won entered, both radiant in their own ways—Zara with her quiet strength, and Emily with her gentle poise.
"Your Majesty," Emily said with a graceful bow. "Did you summon us?"
Robin gave a calm, deliberate nod, then extended his hand slightly in a gesture toward Rinara.
"Lady Rinara is now recognized as an official trade partner of our empire, effective imdiately," he announced with clear authority, his voice echoing softly through the chamber. "I want you both to begin compiling a detailed inventory of our publicly shareable assets—natural resources, refined materials, technological innovations, and experintal equipnt. Focus only on items that can be safely exchanged without posing strategic risks to our internal security or long-term developnt."
He paused for a mont, letting the gravity of his words settle before continuing.
"Be sure to include the permissible trade quotas as well—how much we can sell before it starts to hurt us. And rember, all transactions must follow the principle of equivalent exchange. We aren't in need of energy gems or any other currency, no matter how exotic. We value balance."
Then, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips as his tone relaxed slightly, but the sharpness in his golden eyes remained.
"Once the list is complete, assemble a formal trade delegation and deliver it to Lady Rinara personally. You'll find the precise coordinates with King Volbe—ask him directly."
He then turned toward Rinara, his expression unreadable yet piercing, eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that refused to blink.
"I trust, Lady Rinara, that your subordinates will not imprison or mistreat our envoys as they did with Volbe. Twice. That kind of hostility would make our relationship... unnecessarily fragile before it even begins."
"Understood, Your Majesty," the two young won replied in perfect unison. They bowed respectfully, then turned and exited the room.
As the heavy doors clicked shut behind them, Rinara let out a soft exhale. Her displeasure was barely hidden.
"So I'll only be receiving access to the assets available for open circulation?" she asked, arching a delicate brow, her voice laced with clear irritation.
Robin chuckled, deep and genuine.
"You'd be amazed how much I allow into public trade, Lady Rinara," he said, folding his arms behind his back as he began to pace casually across the polished floor. "And besides, I hope you have sothing that might catch Zara's interest in the first. She's... particular."
He turned back toward her, grin widening.
"Besides, this is a perfectly reasonable starting point, wouldn't you agree? There's no deep trust between us, no long-standing bond—no history worth invoking a special clause. Just hours ago, we were standing on opposite ends. Let's not pretend otherwise."
"True enough," Rinara conceded with a slight nod. She tapped her fingers lightly against her knee before continuing, "Then tell , Robin. How do you suggest we move past that? How do we get from mutual suspicion... to aningful cooperation?"
Robin didn't answer right away. Instead, he sat back down, resting his elbows on his knees, his fingertips rhythmically tapping together. The silence between them grew thick, and Rinara understood it well.
She was in the presence of soone dangerous.
Not just a man with influence. Not just a ruler with vision.
But a wielder of the Law of Truth—perhaps even more than one Master Law. And behind him stood an even greater shadow: a Supre Being who treated Nexus powerhouses as if they were flies. The re mory of that gaze—the one that looked at her like she was a disposable insect—sent a chill down her spine.
Yes, Rinara admired what Robin had built: the might of the True Beginning Empire, the potential of its future, the boldness of its will. But now, more than ever, she understood...
It wasn't the empire she needed to secure.
It was him.
And perhaps... that wasn't such a terrible thing.
After a long pause, Robin finally moved. He retrieved a thin parchnt from his side, along with a stylus that shimred faintly with spiritual ink. Then, with asured strokes, he began to draw—fragnted lines, scattered symbols, complex curves that hinted at a larger, more dangerous whole.
"During the attack... or rather, during the failed invasion attempt by the Empress of Blood and Destruction," he began, voice low and thoughtful, "she cast a soul-based technique on one of my followers. It froze him solid—locked his body in stasis, halted his biological processes completely."
He paused.
"The energy surrounding the spell was purple. I strongly suspect it belonged to the Royal Purple soul class. My Eye of Truth isn't developed enough yet to confirm every detail about that class, but... I've seen sothing like this."
His drawing was deliberate—but misleading. His hand sotis trembled, sotis erased, sotis darkened only fragnts. The glyph was broken, distorted. And yet, despite the intentional obfuscation, the pattern kept growing—spreading outward like a curse blooming in silence.
"Hmm?" Rinara leaned closer, her eyes narrowing.
And then, suddenly, they widened.
She recognized it. "This... This is the Curse of Eternal Stillness!!"
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