Month of the Withered Green Banyan, 3rd.
No matter how much Lady Sonia raged and protested, Colin's wedding went ahead as scheduled.
Theodore seemed to be treating it as a celebration of the unification of the Green Forest, so the occasion was quite grand. Everyone of any standing in the Green Forest had come to Sothoth Castle.
The enormous castle was festooned with decorations, while the cooks bustled about in the kitchen, preparing an array of exquisite dishes.
Roast chicken, roast lamb chops, steak, roast suckling pig, vegetable salad, raisin pudding, cheese, mead...
The long tables were laden with all kinds of food, and the hall rang with laughter and conversation.
But the wedding itself wasn't taking place there.
According to Green Forester custom, a marriage had to take place beneath a banyan tree, where the couple would forge a sacred bond.
And the most famous banyan tree in Sothos Territory was the "Divine Tree" behind Sothoth Castle.
"Today, I'm honored by your presence as you bear witness to the wedding of my son, Colin Sothos, and Sylvie Davis!"
Theodore wore a priest's robe, his expression solemn.
Aaron glanced at the bride and saw that Sylvie wasn't resisting. He understood at once that she had probably accepted her fate.
After all, what else could she do?
Besides, though the Davis Family's direct line had been wiped out, its collateral branches still remained. She had to think of them.
Lady Sonia and Sean were there, too, wearing polite smiles that any onlooker could see were false.
The vassals below, meanwhile, reacted in very different ways.
The original knights of Sothos Territory were naturally cheerful and proud to be there, while the newcomers who had sworn allegiance from Davis Territory wore more complicated, intriguing expressions.
"Hmm?"
Aaron scanned the crowd and spotted a stranger.
He was an odd-looking nobleman, dressed in a silk robe as smooth as milk, with every hair perfectly in place. A trace of arrogance lingered in his eyes as he surveyed the Green Forest nobles, like a city dweller looking down on country folk.
"Who's that?"
A thought struck him. He tugged at the knight beside him, Turner Shorien, and quietly asked.
"The Kagash Kingdom's envoy, the king's jester—Ferry Gato. He's brought the king's appointment. Seems the king intends to make our lord some sort of earl..."
Turner's disdain was plain to see.
After all, the Kagash Kingdom and the Green Forest had been at odds since ancient times.
Long ago, the forest barbarians, unable to survive where they were, had often raided the lords of the warm southern lands. The two sides had built up quite a "relationship"!
It wasn't until the Kagash Kingdom was established that things eased up somewhat. The Green Foresters weren't fools, after all.
Raiding the soft southerners was easy enough, but when those softies banded together, they could be a bit harder to handle.
Later, the kingdom proved unable to conquer the Green Forest, so it began granting titles to its strongest inhabitants, nominally bringing the region under its rule.
Isn't this just claiming territory on a map?
Aaron realized that his own title and the Davis Family's might have come about the same way. Hadn't the king previously appointed them some sort of barons?
But it was all meaningless. Neither side had ever taken it seriously.
Now that the Green Forest was unified, the king had probably been provoked into taking action. It was only natural.
Is this appointment meant as a gesture of goodwill?
Honestly, aside from sounding impressive, it means nothing. Call him a baron if you like; Sothos is still the ruler of the Green Forest!
Once he understood that, Aaron couldn't be bothered with the envoy. He turned his attention back to the lavish banquet.
Rather than think about all that, he might as well figure out how to eat well tonight.
Night.
The castle was still bustling.
Aaron had no interest in crashing the wedding night. He returned to his room, sent Tia away, and stretched out on the big bed.
Darkness. Falling.
In the Dream World.
It was still daytime. The Scarlet Sun hung in the sky.
"Come on. I hope I can find land!"
Ever since the war ended, Aaron had been spending the mysterious energy he generated each day on exploration.
Now, every time he entered the dream, he traveled in one direction, hoping to find land.
"Another boring day on the road..."
After confirming his direction, Aaron continued onward.
He had no idea how much time passed when suddenly, his [Danger Perception] was triggered. His consciousness sharpened, as if pricked by a needle.
"The sun!"
Aaron abruptly looked up and saw the sun he had corrupted, now turned scarlet.
The Crimson Sun was radiating terrifying light and heat. Its scarlet hue had deepened, almost turning black!
One dark spot after another appeared on its surface, like sunspots—or clotted blood!
The whole world seemed to fall silent. At that moment, even the most frenzied creatures stopped hunting and looked up at the changing sun!
Aaron's eyes nearly welled with tears. Then he saw the dark spots gather and detach themselves from the Crimson Sun.
The detached sunspots shrank and coalesced... forming a smaller black sun that hung beside the scarlet one.
Sizzle!
His consciousness felt as though it had been pricked by needles, and a faint, indistinct sound suddenly reached his ears.
It sounded like countless people shouting, or some unknown thing whispering and murmuring...
The muttering seemed to carry some kind of information, but it was laced with a powerful streak of madness!
"...sun...creation...darkness..."
The strange message appeared in a peculiar supernatural language, yet even an illiterate person could understand its meaning.
Aaron felt something deep within him stir. A moment later, he understood. Looking at the two suns, one red and one black, he couldn't help but sigh. "The sun... has gone mad!"
He already had a few ideas about what was happening.
A normal star had no consciousness.
But his alterations had given the sun a mind.
It was a mind of madness and chaos, but a mind all the same!
For a stone, gaining emotion was progress. Even a mad emotion was a crucial first step toward becoming a living being!
"And that black sun... Just looking at it makes me feel corrupted, degraded, plunged into darkness... Is it the madness of the Scarlet Sun made manifest? Its personified form?"
Aaron couldn't help but smile bitterly. "What have I... created?"
The Scarlet Sun had already been the source of madness and corruption in this world!
Now, something terrifying had emerged from that very source!
He had no doubt that the black sun's power could easily annihilate every living thing in this Red Sea!
Even the largest and strangest sea monster he had ever seen would be no more than an ant before it!
"If the Scarlet Sun is the Creator, then the Black Sun is at least the Creator's child... or maybe the Creator's incarnation... a god?"
Aaron's expression was complicated. "Then what does that make me? The Creator of the Creator?"
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