She looked up at him, eyes red and trembling.

"Please…"

Aron was already so annoyed.

He was already irritated, and the princess begging nonstop wasn't helping.

He just wanted to claim the new ability he'd acquired, not babysit royalty having a meltdown.

He was actually about to activate his water control to throw her out when a sudden idea struck him.

Wait… she's a princess. She should know the information I need.

His annoyance vanished as quickly as it came.

His expression relaxed, his gaze sharpening with interest.

If she truly was anything like those movie princesses that wanted to explore the world, she must know plenty about it.

And coming from royalty, her knowledge would be reliable.

Aron pursed his lips and turned toward the kneeling princess, who was still crying and begging like her life depended on it.

"I'm not interested, but…" he said slowly.

The princess' eyes brightened with a hint of hope.

"I need information about the world. In exchange, I'll give you a favor, of my choosing."

He waited calmly.

"You mean… you'll owe me a favor?" she asked.

"Of my choosing," Aron repeated with a nod.

"Wait, but..."

"I don't have much time to waste princess," he cut in.

"I will grant you one favor of my choosing. Whether you like the repayment isn't my problem."

He waved a hand lazily.

"You can leave me alone… or take the deal. But the unbinding is non-negotiable."

Helena almost screamed in frustration.

This was nothing like what she'd expected.

She assumed that, as the number one beauty in the land, Aron would lust after her or demand something physical.

Which honestly, she had already made up her mind and wouldn't have minded.

He was gorgeous, and technically her husband now. In her head, it made perfect sense.

She glanced at Aron, cheeks warming.

Princess Helena couldn't stop the blush from creeping onto her face.

Aron blinked. He'd been expecting a spoken answer, not sudden maiden behavior.

"…Okay," she finally said.

Aron didn't comment. He simply watched as she rose from the floor, wiping away the tears and snot with as much dignity as she could salvage.

(Like mother, like daughter…) he thought, shaking his head.

"What information would you like to know about Earth?" Helena asked once she was composed, standing straight before him. Aron sat casually atop the bed and replied:

"Everything there is to know."

---

Eight thousand years ago…

After some time, Aron gained a clearer understanding of the world he'd landed in, and yes, it was exactly what it seemed.

Another world. Again.

But this one was… complicated.

According to Helena, this world was called Earth, and in ancient times, Earth had already been in a technological era when the Awakening began.

One day, a white light shot across the sky. Scientists back then chalked it up to "gamma Ray realese," Helena said, waving dismissively, and life went on normally for a while.

Then the animals mutated.

They attacked humans. Devoured them. Some even gained intelligence.

Humanity dropped straight to the bottom of the food chain.

Monsters treated humans like livestock for nearly a thousand years.

Humanity was utterly powerless.

Then, everything changed.

Until five humans emerged, beings later revered as deities.

They commanded creatures of immense power, beasts capable of shaking continents, and with their strength they stabilized the world.

They also exposed a method for humans to contract those creatures, which became known as familiars.

But familiars didn't serve humans for free.

They fed on human life force, literally draining it to survive and to maintain their own dying worlds.

Every human produced life force in different quantities.

The greater your life force, the more likely a powerful familiar would take interest in you.

To measure this, humans eventually got devices that graded life force from E to A, with A-rank being the highest ever recorded.

The two kings Aron had met earlier were among those rare A-ranks.

Raim, in particular, had the strongest familiars in the world.

Four thousand years ago, he fought his way to the top and was crowned Emperor of Earth.

Familiars came from many races and clans, each led by a king.

Familiars were divided into races and clans, each with their own king.

Anyone capable of forming a contract with such a king instantly became one of the pillars of the world.

Everything ran smoothly, until Earth was discovered by other worlds.

And they invaded.

...

..

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