The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

After her suggestion to talk to Freya, which in my current mental disposition was more like an order, I sighed. I lacked a fundamental idea of how I could even start this discussion. The 'Hey, I noticed that you decided to marry me' wasn't an exceptionally engaging start to any conversation without making it instantly awkward. Besides, there were very few things I could discuss after Freya announced her unwillingness to divorce me. There was depressingly little I could do once I agreed to something under the unflinching authority of the World's System. I have to take responsibility for my actions. In a way, that was what life has always been about. After ruffling my hair helplessly, I realised that talking with Lavender and Amber had not helped me even a little. I had noticed the looks Freya gave me when she thought I wasn't watching while I talked with Amber. If I could guess, there were two of us who wanted to talk, but neither of us could find any way to start such a discussion. After a few long moments of visible struggle and hesitation, Freya slowly stood up and approached us. I sat with my legs crossed, but Amber simply shifted a bit. She wasn't planning on going anywhere and even made me smile when she winked at me.

"Theon... I mean, King Theon, I..." she stuttered and bowed her head slightly.

"Theon is enough," I said, filling the awkward silence. While I was aware that all the women present were listening, I appreciated the fact they kept pretending to talk with each other. "I don't know what you expect, but..." I sighed, suspecting she struggled with the same thing I did initially. "This world is different from ours. Its customs and traditions are nothing like what I knew from back home. It takes time to accept such changes..."

She just nodded and clenched her fists. "It's funny... I had centuries to learn everything about this world but I just pursued the knowledge I found useful or entertaining." She took a deep breath. "But... I don't regret anything. The Queens of Arcadia were nice to me and I'm so glad to be here. I'm just... I'm just a bit lost. I must deal with my feelings..."

"You need time, Freya." Amber gently smiled and sat closer to me. "Don't worry. It's something we all have..."

"But..." She bit her lip so hard that it went white.

"But we are Mortals?" Amber asked, and when Freya turned her gaze away, she giggled. "We are not exactly Mortals, Freya. We will be forever young as long as the Righteous Dungeon is alive."

"Let's take a breath of fresh air..." I stood up and motioned for Freya to step outside.

She followed me mindlessly, her gaze locked on the floor. Amber joined us as the curtains and balcony doors opened on their own. The fresh breeze quickly cleared the air inside the room, and as we entered the balcony, Freya suddenly trembled. Her eyes widened as she slowly looked skyward, and I saw tears falling down her cheeks. She covered her lips with her hand.

"It's so beautiful..."

"It is..." I admitted and offered her a place to sit. "I often find myself gazing at the night sky ever since I arrived here."

"I spent my entire life underground..." She sobbed. "Not by choice. I couldn't leave my Dungeon before, but now..."

She looked at me fearfully as Amber simply hugged her. At first, I wasn't sure what she was afraid of, but just one glance at my Half-Elf wife was enough for me to understand. Of course, Freya was afraid. After all those lonely centuries underground, she finally met people who weren't scared of her and would endure eternity like she had. Then I showed her the stunning night sky over Avalon, with billions of stars shining on the black velvet fabric of the universe. The untold millions of glittering dots were like diamond dust scattered by God's hand. The moonless night was, as it used to be, one of the brightest nights, perfect for watching the stars. I took a deep breath, full of pleasant scents of various flowers, herbs, and other fresh garden aromas. While I had enjoyed Avalon and the various sceneries available in many of the Dungeons under my control, she had been confined to live with only as much as possible underground.

"Somewhere up there is Earth," I said, looking up.

"What?" she asked with a voice full of emotions. "I thought this was some kind of parallel world."

"I'm not surprised... But no. This is the same universe, but most likely, we are so far away that the people from our old world would never reach us." I tried the roundabout way of starting that conversation. So far it was better than my other ideas.

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I could say that’s what the Angel told me, but it probably wouldn't help my case much..." I smiled, amused by my memories. "But that's how it was. After I had died, my soul was collected by an Angel who offered me a deal... Long story short, I'm here, fighting the Ruinous Powers and their servants. The creatures you call Mana Drinkers are, in fact, Chaos Spawns and Voidlings. Those creatures work in the shadows, hoping to corrupt this world. I was hired to stop them, no matter the cost, but I imagine saving the people of this world is the desired outcome."

"It's hard to believe..." She looked at her slim hands and clenched her tiny fists. "But, just look at me. I'm a Dungeon that looks like a Dwarven girl."

"Well... a very tall Dwarven girl, but it's true," I laughed. She slowly relaxed and smiled. It was a beautiful smile.

"What now... Lord Theon?"

"It's just Theon..." I sighed, and after a slight pause, I added. "I don't have the heart to send you away or force you to divorce me. I just want you to be sure you won't regret anything." I put my hands behind my neck as I lie more comfortably on the sunbed, looking at the stars. "Freya, I don't know what life has planned for me. I wasn't born with all the answers ready for everything I face. Like now... I'm unsure, Freya. It's not exactly the most comfortable way of starting a relationship. Throughout my life, I was convinced that marriage was one of the most important parts of people's lives. Here... I barely understand it, but it still holds the same significance. It's hard sometimes, but... I would lie if I told you that I don't like my current life."

"I think I understand you," she admitted sheepishly. "I want to learn more about what kind of man you are. But I'm also afraid to learn about anything I wouldn't like. Moreover, I don't want to be again alone... I'm sorry for my stubbornness, but now I would be too embarrassed to do it ever again if we were to call it off. I would rather cling to the decision I made and fantasise about how you loved me enough to save me back then than face reality and loneliness once more..."

"Well... I can't forbid you, so feel free, I guess," I chuckled but then turned serious since I wanted to warn her. "As I told you, I want you to be honest with yourself and make sure you won't regret anything. The World's System is pretty specific on that matter; once we go any further, it will be the good old 'till death do us part,' so yeah..."

"I like talking with you..." She smiled warmly.

"That's a good start, I think." I smiled back and nodded. "I'm not going to rush you. You can stay in one of the Palace rooms or freely return to your Dungeon... But, I'm afraid if you do that, you will fully commit to the rebuilding efforts of the Dwarves."

As she pondered that, I smiled softly and looked up. The stars were gorgeous tonight.

"I'm afraid you are right," she giggled. "You won't ask me about them?"

"About the Dwarves?" I tilted my head slightly to see her carefully neutral expression.

"Yes."

"I figured out that it might be some kind of hobby or a fascination connected with your current form." I smiled softly. "Speaking of which... I would more like to learn how you started looking like this."

"Well... Both." She took a deep breath. "Even back on Earth, I was fascinated by the literature and myths about the Dwarves. Tolkien's influence through his masterpieces shaped my late childhood and I quickly fell into a rabbit hole. As a teen, I found a new thing: the romanticised stories about Vikings." A somewhat sour grin replaced her happy expression. "I didn’t spend a particularly long time enjoying that hobby... I died," she slowly explained and smiled dryly. "I woke up here, in this world, in the darkness under the Mountain. Beyond the reach of stars and moon. Hidden from the warm touch of the sun. At first, I was nothing more than a small gemstone. I was scared and alone... I couldn't tell how long it took me to accept my existence because you definitely couldn't call something so pathetic a life, but eventually, I started to move on. I built and expanded my domain and I changed. With time, I grew and started resembling a porcelain, or more precisely, a crystal doll. Then, a few centuries ago, I met Angie..."

She paused momentarily and gently covered her lips to clear her throat discreetly. I growled at myself for my inconsideration and summoned various drinks. The beverages appeared on the nearby table, and I took a tall glass full of orange juice. Freya picked it up upon seeing it, and her eyes widened in shock once she tasted it.

"It's real orange juice!" she shouted and downed the entire glass in one go.

"I also have chocolate if you are interested." I waved my hand and a tray full of various masterpieces made by Annika appeared on the table, making Freya swallow audibly. Without hesitation, she greedily stuffed the biggest praline into her mouth and hummed in delight. To avoid sidetracking during her story, I smiled and asked, "Who is Angie?"

"She was my first friend in this world," Freya sighed sadly. "As you probably guessed, she was a Dwarven girl. She never spoke of the reasons that forced her to flee into the inhospitable mountains that were my home, but I had my suspicions. She aimlessly wandered the mountain range before she found her way underground, and eventually, she found me. I was happy to find another sentient being in this world. Various critters and the occasional Goblin had attacked me, but she was the first person I could talk to. She told me many things and kept the company, and in exchange, I provided her with everything she needed to survive. I learnt that she was alone; her family and friends were killed and she was cast away from her home. During that time, I learnt everything I knew about the Dwarves. I also started to look like her. But... Angie never saw me grow up. She was a Mortal, and as you can imagine, the changes I discussed took me centuries. She was dead long before she could have seen me change."

"I'm sorry..."

"Thank you..." She smiled faintly. "Angie hooked me up with Dwarven culture. It was easy, considering my Dwarven fascination from my previous life... One day, I woke up as a full-sized crystalline Dwarf girl."

"Interesting..." I rubbed my chin. "I wonder if you have a Humanity bar."

Amber shrugged. "She does, but it's weird."

"What do you mean?" We both looked at the Half-Elf in surprise.

"Well, for starters, she is max-capped. Secondly, no matter what she has tried to do, her stats change so insignificantly that she won't drop even one percent before returning to the max value."

"What? That's unfair..." I sighed and Freya giggled.

"Oh, I think I know what the problem is in your case, Theon," the Dwarven-Core girl smiled and waved her hand haltingly while taking a sip of juice from the glass she held in the other hand. "It's a scaling difference. Simply put, compared to you, whatever I do is basically laughable."

"Don't sell yourself short..."

"Oh, trust me! I'm not. It's just you who are ridiculous. Your personal domain, the capital of Arcadia and the biggest city of Aderon, Avalon, is easily ten times bigger than my entire Dungeon. If not twenty..." Freya looked around in the soft darkness of starry night and slowly shook her head in disbelief. "But that wasn't enough for you. You seized control over two countries and eight, if not nine, Dungeons. Your Immortal Legions are permanently on an expedition, which should drain you out of mana, but no! You are actually raking it in like crazy!"

"If you put it this way, it might be a little odd..."

"Unbelievable... So you strain your humanity, which is basically a hidden status for the Dungeons, and risk potentially horrible things… only to call it 'a little odd', I... I shouldn't be shocked, but I am, Theon." Freya shook her head in disapproval and looked at Amber. "You can see the Humanity Gauge?"

"We all can. I wonder if you can because you received the same unknown skill as the other Queens."

"Oh..." Freya looked at me, then at her own hand, and again at me a few times before she snickered. "I see yours, but I can't see mine. Funny."

"Let's go to sleep now..." I smiled and stood up slowly, but seeing Freya's blank expression, I quickly added. "Your room is prepared, and we can check if Luna would put you to sleep..."

"Ummm... What?" Freya's eyes widened.

"It's... It's hard to describe. You just have to test for yourself."