“You can’t,” Rowena said firmly, leaving no room for any leeway, and added, “You have no idea how dangerous the world outside is. We already know how you almost ended up getting killed when you stepped outside. I can’t risk that again, no matter what.”
“All this for a promise? So you plan to stay true to the promise you gave your father till I rot in here?” Asher asked with a displeased look. He knew she was right, but he wanted to see if she was truly planning to keep him inside forever.
Rowena’s expression didn’t change as she said, “You have the right to be angry, but you also have to accept your reality. Your status is the only thing that protects you, but that protection ends if you leave the castle. You also won’t understand, but my father’s final and only wish is something I have to fulfill as his daughter.”
“So basically…I am imprisoned by my own wife,” Asher sarcastically chuckled.
“Anyone would kill to stay in a safe place like you without worrying about surviving the next day. You get life crystals every day, and you don’t have to rot in here. There are many more things you can do in this large castle than you expect,” Rowena said while giving him a strange look.
Asher nodded as he walked towards her slowly, “You are right about that, and I won’t complain from now on. But you have to promise me that I am the King of this castle,” He stood right in front of her as he added, “Which means…I can do anything as I please.”
Asher had to admit that she looked even more breathtaking as he stood near her. If not for honing his will, any ordinary man would be incapable of uttering even a word before her, especially considering the natural dignified aura she was giving off.
Rowena squinted her eyes, and since he was standing so close before her, she truly felt like she was standing before someone entirely different than the soulless boy she had known for more than 14 years. She wasn’t used to somebody coming this close to her.
She walked past him and said with a subtle turn of her head, “I can’t promise you absolute authority since that would be irresponsible of me. You also can’t do anything that causes trouble to the royal families or makes our kingdom look bad.”𝓋xt.𝗰𝚘
“Royal families?” Asher asked with a surprised look.
“This kingdom is not run by just a single royal family. We might be the ruling royal family, but there are other royal families that protect and secure our kingdom. They stay in this castle too, and you will meet them during the celebration. You will get introduced to them when the time comes,” Rowena stated.
Asher subtly frowned as he knew that one of the young members of these royal families had made his life miserable in his past.
He felt that getting back at such an important member would surely take a lot of time and effort but not impossible.
“Of course. Why would I go and trouble them? For now, I just need a little help from you. Give me Master access to this castle if you really meant what you said before. Now no need to ask me why I need it,” Asher said while knowing that getting the Master access to this castle would let him teleport to any location of this castle by placing his hand on the walls and also allows him to see the things going on in the other parts of this castle.
He also wanted to use it to block off his room so that not even Rowena could spy on him, especially what he does in his room. But he felt that she doesn’t seem like the kind to spy on him. Otherwise, she would have been asking questions regarding the ring and so on.
He had learned about the Master access thing after reading the books on his shelves, and according to it, this was a very special privilege only available to the ruler to keep an eye on the things going on within their castle.
He was astonished that this ancient-looking castle had such convenient functions, almost like it had a life of its own.
Rowena didn’t expect him to make such a tall demand right off the bat and said, “Only the king or the queen who rules the kingdom can have such access.”
Asher smirked and said, “I know some of our laws, and I know the Supreme access can never leave the hands of the ruler. But the Master access is a restricted version of the Supreme access, and as the Royal Consort, I believe I have the right to hold the Master access.”
Rowena closed her eyes briefly and nodded, “You will have it. If that’s all, I will be leaving,” Saying so, Rowena elegantly walked out of the door.
Asher sighed, wondering if this was what a true queen was like. Quite elegant and graceful in every single action of hers yet her entire being had a commanding presence.
But he now realized that he had a lot of obstacles to take care of before he could come up on top. He still had a feeling that his existence wasn’t welcome at all to most of the people here.
He decided to deal with all this by taking small steps. And the first one involved the task he had ordered Kookus.
“He must be there by now…” Asher mumbled as he placed his hand on the wall and smiled when he could feel the rich demonic mana coming from the castle’s walls. This meant that Rowena had given him the Master access as he wanted. And to his surprise, it seemed like his room was already closed off, preventing anyone from spying in. He didn’t expect anyone to respect his privacy, or did someone do this to not let anyone know how he was getting tortured within his own room? He considered it food for thought as his thoughts moved on.
Apparently, even a cripple can use the Master access since this famous castle named the Demonstone Castle was doing all the heavy lifting.
He could already see each and every corner of this castle without being physically there. He could see the servants and maids walking to and fro, doing their jobs, while also noticing certain men and women dressed in grand clothes walking about in the halls as well.
He could recognize Seron among them and assumed that the beautiful woman with a sharp expression walking beside him was his wife.
“Interesting…” So Rowena’s uncle indeed lives here. Asher felt it made sense since he was her uncle, after all, and wondered how many children that guy had.
He liked how convenient it was to peep at the things happening within this castle secretly, but as expected, he was unable to peek into places like Seron’s quarters and places where only the queen had the right to enter. But this let him quickly learn which all places were considered special within this castle.
He then finally took a look at the smallest East Battlement and saw two maids and a young man waiting there. One of the maids had red skin, looking around the late forties and standing with a confused and nervous look. Her skin color was the same as Kookus and Ceti’s.
‘Yet another werewolf huh…’
The other maid looking around her thirties was standing straight with a lofty expression, her arms crossed. Her skin was green as any other goblin’s.
Asher coldly smirked as he closed his eyes, and the next moment his figure suddenly vanished from the room.
In one of the East Battlements, Kookus was waiting with both the maids which Asher had ordered him to bring. His fingers were restlessly tapping between themselves as certain thoughts passed through his mind.
“Stupid Kookus, you dragged us here telling that the retard consort was calling for us, but we have been wasting our time by waiting here long enough. Now you better do my chores for the rest of the day,” The younger maid with curly hair said with a frustrated look.
The maid with the red skin nervously raised her hand slightly, “Jenna, you have to be careful with your words. The Royal Consort is no longer the same, and if anybody else—”
“Oh, shut it, Merina. You are as cowardly as ever. Nobody is here anyway, and even if anybody heard, you know nobody would care,” Jenna said with her head raised high.
Kookus scoffed, “Oh yeah? Then why didn’t you have the guts to even go to his room? Were you afraid the Royal Consort might remember the things you did to him and tell it to the queen? You must love your ugly neck so much,” Kookus was finally able to release some of his frustrations along with his words.
“W-What did you just say?” Jenna couldn’t believe this wimp suddenly got the guts to talk back to her. He was someone who would even lick her feet if she stepped on his head, but she had no idea that Kookus had gained confidence after his interaction with the Royal Consort. If he finally got to be the servant of the Royal Consort, who seemed to be as smart as him, why would he have to fear a maid, even if she was ranked high among the servants?
But before Jenna could teach Kookus his place, the space before them suddenly twisted as a young man with blue skin and pointy ears revealed himself, “So you both are here as expected,” Asher said with a subtle smile as he looked at their shocked expressions.
