"What is this 'Celina's Ungodly Face Cleanser'?" asked the Marchioness.
"It's something that I discovered when I added a certain mixture of herbs together and applied it on my face to keep me cool during the summer. It did wonders for my skin so I am opening a store soon to sell it along with some other good skincare products I made," said Celina pridefully.
"This girl is better bullshitting than me!!" Daren could not believe how easily these lies spewed out of Celina's mouth. It looks like he needed to step up his own bullshitting game.
Daren took a seat next to his 'wife' and the Marquess followed suit as it was quite embarrassing for the both of them to just stand there listening to the crazy conversation their spouses were engaging in.
"We bought a shop in the central trading district and are going to start selling Celina's creation's about a week later." Daren added.
"What's your motivation behind opening a store?" asked Andrew as he was always interested in what people's intentions behind certain things were.
"We are doing it to pay for my sister's hospital bills." Celina blurted out.
"We heard what happened to your sister from our aides as pretty much the entire city knows about your guy's situation. Is that the only reason though?" asked Margret. Unlike when the Marquess questioned them in order to learn their intentions, the marchioness was genuinely curious.
"I suggested that Celina start a store as it would take her mind off of her sister. I don't want her to be stressed every second of the day," said Daren with a pang of pain in his voice.
Andrew and Margret nodded at the couple's response. The bright mood had turned gloomy when talking about family issues.
"Okay. It seems that the mood has worseneLet'sets talk about something else. What do you guys think of Igrit City and the Gigantus Empire."
The Marquess posed a question that seemed normal but had an assortment of hidden agendas behind it. Of course, Daren saw through it.AhhEhh. I like the friends I made, the food I, ate, and the park too.' said Celina gleefully. She enjoyed being with her friends, laying down in the park to talk to them, and eating delicious meals alongside them.
Daren enjoyed the same things as her but a bit less than her as he had already done some of this back in his old life.
"I think Igrit City is prosperous and the environment is good, even though there are rumors about the Demonic Cult going around. About the entire empire as a whole though, I have no opinion. I have not seen the rest but I o know that there should be other city's that are on par or better than Igrit."
Daren's lengthy response was everything that the Marquess was looking for. he wanted to know if Daren was someone with an actual brain and not a just air-head
Marquess Andrew knew that if he could ask Daren to stay with him, he would but the royal family's rules would not allow that. He was only allowed to have Grandpa Kuro by his side.
The royal family's rule did not, however, stop him from being friends with cultivators and seek a mutual relationship with them.
Daren mentioning the Demonic Cult showed that he was knowledgeable about the current state of things. It showed that Daren, unlike the rest of the common folk who believe demonic cult's presence to be only a rumor, knew that they were truly here.
Andrew was going to make this, smart, talented, and kind young man stay within his city to the best of his abilities. Even though the Marquess hated schemes, he could not help but partake in them to ensure the safety of his family.
Andrew knew he was a hypocrite and he loathed himself for that but when it came to family, no compromises could be made.
"I assume that you are planning to settle within this city then." asked the Marquess.
"Yeah. Celina likes it here and going back to the village at this point will only bring us unnecessary troubles. I'll buy a nice house when we save up enough money. One near the park would be just fine, don't you think so dear? " Daren addressed Celina with that final part.Uh-huhhuh. I like that park. I don't think I'll get bored at taking walks in for a while. It's pretty big and there is a lot to see. " Celina wanted to stay in the city for at least a couple more months.
She wanted to make sure Daren had finished setting up the foundations for his organization before traveling the world without worries. Celina also did not mind the current life she has.
"Why not stay at our place until you get a house of your own." offered Margret.
"We wouldn't feel comfortable in such a grand house. That's especially true when it's not ours," said Celina. Even though she liked how this place looked, she knew that Daren could not escape performing his nightly slaughter with ease.
Bang!
The doors to the dining room opened suddenly and halted the conversation there. There were all sorts of maids and butlers dressed in the classic white and black outfits, carrying trays of magnificent food.
You could see practically every color of the rainbow on those plates that had an assortment of colorful vegetables and perfectly cooked meat.
As the maids presented the food and placed it onto the table, the seated personnel made their decisions for what they would eat. The butlers then plated the foods they wished for and served them swiftly but elegantly.
As soon as the butler's finished serving everyone, Celina grabbed her knife and fork and started to taste each food little by little. Once she had tasted every single thing on her plates, the monster consumption of food began.
The servants were shocked at what they saw but it did not hinder them in their duties as they quietly lined up behind the diners. They were ready to serve whenever necessary.
The maids and butlers could not help but take occasional peaks at Celina who was trying combinations of all kinds. Sometimes she would mix up 2 foods, sometimes 3, 4, or even 5.
It was truly a sight to behold. Celina was becoming someone who searches for the best possible combinations, a true food connoisseur. There's no one who would be able to stop here monstrous ambitions.
She would only stop when she had tested all the combinations she wanted to or if the food had run out.
"She sure can eat! My new friend is much more of a free spirit than I am." says Marchioness Hendrix.
The group spends about half an hour, dining slowly. They were doing this to keep up with the large amounts that Celina was consuming.
They talked about all sorts of things while eating. By the time they had finished dinner and had dessert. The group had bonded quite closely and understood each other's ambitions and personalities much better now.
"So what you guys want is the power and wealth to be as free as you want." said Andrew. " You should know that power and wealth only bring more responsibility."
"We know very well that there are responsibilities that come with that. We also know that only those two things can truly grant you a place to come back to when you are tired and want to rest." said Daren.
"They are also the things that guarantee the best safeties when faced with things that threaten your life or your way of life." added Celina. She was understanding the world around her at a fast pace.
"Your beliefs certainly are not wrong in any way. That;s why I suggest you two to try in some way to bring honor or a large service to this nation. Become a noble within the vast lands of Gigantus and you will receive freedom in basically all of the human realm."
The Marquesses words were exactly what Daren wanted to hear. Having a powerful public identity will make it to where very few people would suspect him of doing certain things that he planned to do.
"You really think that I can gain a noble title in this empire? I heard that there has not been a long time since a new noble family has been born within Gigantus." asked Daren. He knew this all from the souls of the thieves that knew their empire pretty well.
Actually, one of the thieves he killed was not a thief at all. Rather a covert spy that has been planted within this empire as part of someone's grand schemes.
He was planning to use that scheme in his own way to get himself a noble title but he had to make sure he could get one first.
"That is quite true. Its been over 200 years since the latest addition to the noble titles. I can guarantee though that the current emperor is quite generous to those who do a service to this nation. He just has not found someone worthy of giving a title too since the start of his reign 190 years ago." The marquess truly liked to give too much information that was not needed as Daren knew all this.
To the marquess though, since Daren was not from the empire and did not even have a solid education, he needed to inform him as much as je can about the nation's current state.
Daren silently nodded. The marquess took that as him saying that he would try his best. The marquess knew that it took mostly luck and the ability to take advantage of situations to become a noble.
He believed that Daren, as someone with great cultivation talent had to be lucky. Andrew also knew that someone had to have great decision making abilities too gather enough money to buy a shop in the central trading district with only a small cultivation base, being young and having not much life experience.
The marquess knew that Daren had the ambition and everything else he needed to achieve his dreams. He knew that Daren only needed a lucky event pop out of nowhere to achieve his goal.
If Daren did do so, not only would Andrew gain a friend who has high cultivation potential, but also someone trustworthy who could add to his power within the chaotic world of nobles.
As Daren and Celina were exiting the doors of the mansion, the Marquess stopped them.
"If you ever need anything, just come over and ask me or tell Grandpa Kuro to relay the message. I will do anything to help." said Andrew to the couple.
"I'll send a messenger over to where your staying my friend. I am going to definitely drag you out to accompany me to the market." said Margret with dominance.
The marchioness would definitely drag the kindred soul of Celina with her to wherever she went from no on. She would never take no for an answer.
"Hehe. I won't mind going with you if you treat me to those nice cupcakes you were talking about." Celina would not mind if she got to try some new foods. She would easily leave behind Daren.
There was nothing for the two men to say here. They could only sight internally at their partners. They truly loved their partners and everything about them.
They would really not want to say anything to change them even if they know that it would not affect them in any way.
As soon as Celina and Daren had the gates closed behind them, they saw that Andrew and Margret were still watching them from the mansion doors. They were waiting for something.
Under the shadows cast upon the trees by the moonlight, a luxurious, white carriage pulled into sight. It was just as white as the moon and decorated with shiny gold trim.
On the doors of the carriage was the double blue H that was entangled and written in a strange, curvy font. This is the Hendrix family insignia.
Leading the carriage was a middle-aged coachman. Under his hands were the two, grayish muscular steeds that would power the carriage.
Grandpa Kuro stepped out of the carriage and said "The master has told me to let his guests take the carriage to their inn.".
Daren looked back at the couple at the doors and nodded as a thank you. He would gladly accept a comfortable ride home in order to not upset his new friend in any way.
Under the darkness of the night sky, the bright moon was shining down upon the entire world. Next to the colossal, white moon was another blue-colored moon. The blue moon was about half the diameter of the white moon.
In this world, the arrival of the blue moon meant that next day would mark the start of the rainy season. A season where it would rain for days straight sometimes.
This season would last two whole months, in which 90 percent of the days, in which the skies poured endlessly.
Once the carriage reached the inn, the couple hurried to their room. Once inside, Celina put on a pajamas with blue bunnies on it.
She then proceeded to tuck herself into the blanket into the bed and immediately dozed off. Even though the body provided by the system does not get tired physically, Celina wants to be as human as possible so she tried seeing what sleeping is like.
Daren then took off his fancy, crimson set of clothes and donned the new black set that he bought with it.
Before Daren did his usual jump off the windowsill, he scanned his surrounding to make sure that no one was watching.
His already sharp senses that were honed in his previous lives were further enhanced by the power of cultivation.
The only people that could possibly escape his senses would be people who were above the Body Strengthening stage.
People that could reach above the body strengthening stage were all working under powerful forces like the royal family or the military. Daren was sure he had not done anything significant enough to attract the attraction of such powerhouses.
Daren confirms that there are no gazes n him as he disappears into the night sky that was slowly being covered with gigantic clouds.
........
Six days later.
The tension within Igrit City was rising. As more bodies were being found every morning in alleyways, hidden room in inns, bars, and other establishments.
All the bodies were sucked dry of blood. Their eyes, noses, ears, toes, and fingers could be found dismembering and arranged in peculiar formations.
There was so much death looming around that the government could no longer suppress the news. 65 percent of the population was sure that either the demonic cult or some group similar to them had sent assassins to wreak havoc in their peaceful city.
In the midst of all of this chaos, there was a bright pink store that had a large wooden sign that was painted in a bright, golden color.
The sign read "Celina's Heavenly Beautification Products. "
(Looks like someone doesn't have any talent in naming.)