Waking up still alone just like in her single life, Chiaki stretched her body and washed her face. A little holographic box from the implanted (?) magical (?) smartphone-like device floated next to her as the cold water sloshed down from the shower head.
Panicking a bit, she turned off the water and read the notification from her calendar. Lance Hua and her were expected to return to the south by afternoon. She immediately planned ahead: horseriding to the station, horseriding from the station to the South Guardian's manor, and then having lunch together.
And then hitting her own bed in this realm. It was unfair of System to have her land on the first day of her transmigration in the most humiliating pose ever and keep her away from her own place.
At least let me get acclimatised to my area first, System!
Speak of the devil, the silent dialogue box that only appeared in her mind craved her attention, too.
Good freakin' morning. Can't you guys wait until I finish showering? You're worse than my previous boss; she had the decency to not contact me at this early morning, only on holidays.
She expressed her discontent at both pop-ups, the holographic one and the mental one.
[Coin balance: +100 from daily check-in. Total balance: 100.]
Okay, thanks. How many coins do I need to finally dig out everyone's secret here?
[Error - recursive function.]
Recursive function? Why is it?
A recursive function, if Chiaki remembered it correctly from a short programming course she joined aeons ago, was a function that called itself. Her pea-sized brain couldn't comprehend why System had to refer to the same question just to answer the question.
Forget it. Can I assume it will take many days and coins to shoot this question?
[Yes.]
It would probably be for the best. In real life, nobody liked to be interviewed like that. Nobody wanted to be questioned like that by a stranger they had just met and married to.
Chiaki had to build trust. Trus could only be built over time and proven by actions. But to think of it, she'd wait and see. It was her self-incited side quest, anyway. Her purpose here was still to be the heroine that helped people, just like in the original game.
A single heroine, to be precise. Her marriage was only one step away from annulment; if only it weren't for the sole purpose of fulfilling her heroine duties.
So, they ride horses back to the station. Wisteria villagers gathered around trucks of building materials, such as timbers, bricks, and bags of cement.
Trucks are allowed?
[In a limited number. Personal motorised vehicles are the ones that do not exist here.]
Fair enough, she praised the realm designers.
Was this designed by the scientist in the real world or by System algorithm alone? It's not a recursive function, is it? We're talking about the past.
[There is no Dome's past, present, or future.]
Finding it hard to argue a philosophical answer like this, Chiaki closed the dialogue box and focused back on the ramrod-straight posture of her husband on his brown stallion. She racked her brain to find topics to kill time, but none were.
The silent journey she partook in until reaching the capital ended as they arrived at the manor. A compound 20-acre width, it hosted the immense power generator in the Crystal Garden, the office of South Guardian, accommodation for servants and inner commanders, and only a tiny plot of land as her housing.
Located at the farthest point at the back, one had to walk a serpentine gravel path in the hilly back area of the manor to reach the Sentalu house. The second, tallest storey had a direct view of the crystal pyramid in the middle of the garden. So Chiaki always knew quickly if there were anomalies in the energy pattern sent from its apex to the atmospheric barrier.
Chiaki ordered the servants who brought Lance Hua's weekend suitcase — yes, somehow in this realm horses and modern suitcases could coexist in one picture — to bring it to the master bedroom. Due to the many trees in the yard, the air around Sentalu house was light and chill. They wouldn't feel seared on the hottest summer days because the strong branches provided shady spots, protecting them from the sun.
"Lord Hua can unpack and rest a while; I'll prepare lunch for us. Also, my nephew will visit us. He's coming from the academy."
He stalled at the bedroom door.
Chiaki sensed what was going on. "Or, if you don't want to sleep here, I have a big guest room, too."
He rubbed his chin but still entered, looking around the room from the tatami to the parquet area. Walking to the other side of the partition screen to see the king-size bed, he finally hummed briefly.
His large hand grabbed her satin sleeping robe that draped over the screen, threw it at her casually, and said, "I'll take this room."
"Alright," she breathed out after unconsciously holding it during his room inspection. "So, which side are you-"
"And you're sleeping in the guest room, okay?"
Huh? This slimeball of a prick dared move her out of her room?
Git.
System-why-do-you-assign-a-husband-like-this . . . She uttered it mentally in one single breath.
"But this is my room."
"Who said she didn't want to be forced in bed, hm?" Crossing his forearms and leaning on the bedpost, this jerk spoke like he owned this room.
Her mouth twisted into an ugly sneer. "Which part of my condition asked me to sleep in a separate room?" She didn't want to back down from this ridiculous conclusion.
"Because, little girl," his rude hand reached out to twirl a few strands from her temple so quick she didn't have time to sidestep, "how do you expect me to sleep like a log for many nights on end?"
"I'm not a little girl." If her voice could freeze an object, the cantankerous fingers would have already been broken and clanked on the floor.
"Well, when I taught at the academy, you were still a kindergartener."
His snarky remarks, brilliant eyes, and teasing smirk probably exist only to destroy one's Path of Indifference.
"Whatever," she snapped back. "Point is, it's my room. I can provide another room for you just fine."
"This is how you show hospitality to your husband?"
Arranged husband, she gritted her teeth.
Reciting the next highlight of the second chapter of the handbook: mental cultivation is the highest form of enlightening oneself, she turned calm in an instant.
How could she maintain her poise in any battle if she could get easily provoked? She was a Guardian; emotional maturity was the ultimate weapon to protect people.
The Path didn't only speak about the indifference from romantic love that betrayed her with the exes, but it also encompassed the apathetic approach from rage, exultation, and anxiety. Calculating, dominating, and understanding the world most neutrally was the success of the disciples of this path.
"If that's what my lord seeks, this general will grant it to you. But please don't push me any further. I'm still the master of this compound."
System did reverse their roles; now, Chiaki was the poor husband getting kicked out of the bedroom by the wife. Only that the wife in question was a 185-cm tall, almost forty years old vindictive man.
The staring contest between them terminated abruptly when a servant announced that Gin Burtenshaw had arrived.
The seventeen-year-old boy marched over. His messy, purplish black hair reflected the light from the living room's chandelier. A sharp set of eyebrows from his late father and soft, pliant jaws from his late mother blended prettily with the droopy eyes.
His cheerful bearing matched his compassionate voice as he greeted Chiaki, "Aunt Chiaki looks good today."
"Aren't I always?" With a smile that reached the tips of her eyes, she raised her hand to tidy his mop of hair.
A few inches taller than his aunt, he rounded his strong arms around Chiaki and laid his head on her shoulder. She gave him some pats on his back, and they separated.
"I graduated from the academy, seizing the best graduate position. Now I can be like you, can't I? Enrolling on the Guardians' recruitment and in two years, I could serve in your team as an officer!"
The youthful enthusiasm radiated from his eyes. "Look at me, Auntie. I'll make a good commander. Also, you must know that I received a gift because I was the best graduate. I delivered a valedictorian speech, too, but the main bonus is this one."
Talking to him always felt like talking to an excited dog that jumped around and hopped on its two hind legs as it greeted the owner who had just come home.
Listening to him patiently, she pointed to a chair and a mini table so he could place his sword and plop down. He followed it by gulping a big glass of water like loading ammo to his shotgun mouth before continuing.
"I-," he wiped his wet mouth with the back of his hand after drinking, "sorry, Auntie, I'm sweaty because the horses were stopped at a checkpoint before the station. I had to tell General Ao to give lenience to the students. We wanted to rush home to tell our family of this good news, but he tightened his rein on the pre-station checks just because . . . just because the shadow puppets."
Chiaki offered to pour more water into his glass, but Gin refused politely. "I'm fine, Auntie. Look, the shadow puppets-"
"-are the manifestation of the anomalies that can be concealed in your belongings unchecked," Chiaki explained it in her dulcet voice; her singsong tone was as gentle as correcting a pouty child.
"But I went with the smart graduates; we're not that dumb to let them sneak into our suitcases. General Ao's men didn't find anything from us. He just wasted our time!"
Hearing this whining, Chiaki only gently smiled and coaxed him. "You're the best graduate but still think like a kid. General Ao has the responsibility to protect the people in his jurisdiction. What if he hadn't done this extra care and one shadow puppet from the forests managed to travel with you, ended up in the capital and possessed someone important? You'd want to shoulder his burden, too, hmm?"
"Someone important like you?" His eyes widened into a pair of saucers.
"I won't let anything happen to my Aunt Chiaki! I got this armour. Look at this!" He brandished a sleek body armour, the material flowy like spring water. Still, it could transform into forged alloy at command. The velvety cover of the gift said that this was given to Gin for his outstanding academic achievement.
"You keep it yourself, okay? You won't know when you need it later, especially if you're my new commander," she suggested with a wink.
"No wonder your barrier is as holey as a sieve. This is how you recruit people," Lance said as he walked out of the master bedroom after he changed clothes into jeans and a fitted shirt. Didn't make him look any younger, to note.
His appearance alone raised Gin's hackles. Not a couple of minutes had passed before the previously warm interaction between an aunt and her nephew turned into a hostile battlefield.
Gin unsheathed his sword; the blade glowed with a silverish hue.
Oh well, so much for the first day in married life.