Galaxy's First Ruler

Sigh!

If it was any other normal Viscount or even higher Ranked Dreamer in place of Aldrich, he wouldn't have given out such a sigh.

With this sigh, Aldrich put all the inexplicable visions and sounds that he had just experienced to the back of his mind. He wasn't among the people who kept brooding over something that was beyond their reach. It took more than patience, calmness, and a cunning mind to be a scholar at Aldrich's level.

The incident had indeed perplexed Aldrich. But instead of losing himself in search of its meaning, Aldrich's mind was focused on more pressing questions? Questions that one could only think of by letting their mind free of distractions with only one sigh.

Who would benefit by giving Aldrich and Tyra such visions and experiences?

Was it a Skill? Or was it even the work of some person?

If it was spontaneous, what moment or action could be its cause?

Questions like these kept popping into Aldrich's mind, and he kept answering them to himself. But the last question stuck to his head, with no answer. As Aldrich repeated it a second time, he felt a shaking in his left hand.

Aldrich looked at his palm and found Tyra's stiff fingers shivering as she kept crying in front of him. He narrowed his eyes as he remembered the last thing that had happened before the vision. Aldrich couldn't help but again scan Tyra's Record thoroughly.

[…

Record of Boudicca

Status: Cursed, Sealed, Disoriented, Sad, Longing, Curious

…

Rank: Duke (Sealed - Viscount)

…

…]

The moment Aldrich had seen the name Boudicca, he knew things had gone awry at some point. There was no way he wasn't aware of big names in the Galaxy by now. And the name Boudicca was on the lips of many, taken in the same breath as the other name, Duke Eydis.

Aldrich did not know why no scroll talked about the previous Marchioness becoming a Duchess. He could only guess that she had recently ranked up. But even after mulling over it many times, he couldn't find the reason for her sealed Rank. Aldrich could only dismiss it at the time being because of the lack of data on the Duchess.

The more vital question Aldrich had asked himself was whether this Sealed Status could even be lifted at will or not?

Coming back to Aldrich's present thoughts, he couldn't remotely find any Skill in Tyra's or Boudicca's Record that was based on touch. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed "Amalia" narrowing her eyes at them. Not giving her an excuse to come up to them, Aldrich slightly nodded and said to Boudicca.

"You still want to dance or not?"

As if coming out of a lost state, Tyra snapped her head up and looked at Aldrich. It didn't take for one to be a genius to know that her eyes were full of hope and expectations. As she nodded, Tyra took a deep breath, and with it, any presence of tears on her vanished.

The entire period of Tyra putting her hand on Aldrich's hand didn't take more than a few seconds. It was enough for Amalia to narrow her eyes at them. But not enough for other Dreamers and Marquesses to give it another thought.

Aldrich grasped Tyra's hand and pulled her close to him. Tyra put her left hand on Aldrich's shoulder and Aldrich gently put his right hand on her waist. Their transition from fazed state to just another couple gliding on the floor in tandem with music couldn't be smoother.

Aldrich, controlling the movement of his lips so that none could read them, asked.

"So let it out. Why did you ask for a dance?"

Tyra still had a hint of redness on her nose and at the corner of her eyes. But she seemed to have regained the strength from her unknown purpose as her feet moved along with Aldrich's in perfect rhythm. She gently smiled and replied.

"You are smart."

"Humph! And yet you consider me a fool."

Aldrich harrumphed and snapped his devilish face downward. For a moment, his white eyes met that of the black eyes of Tyra. From an outsider's perspective, Aldrich's seemingly white eyes were just an effect of the mask on his face. And hence, people had yet to make a connection between him and the white-haired assassin.

Tyra shook her head and broke this contact. She again planted her eyes on their next steps, following the music, and spoke out.

"All men are fools to some extent."

Aldrich raised his brows as, for the first time, he sensed a hint of deep repugnance towards men coming out of Tyra's heart. But this repugnance wasn't strong enough to control Tyra. A big evil smile came on Aldrich's face after sensing this emotion. He couldn't believe that one of the biggest doubts he had about Tyra would be cleared so soon.

'So the Seal placed on her Rank is self-inflicted.'

It wasn't certain how in the world Aldrich could infer such a thing from a simple emotion. But it was clear from Aldrich's expression that he would be soon using this information for his gain to the full extent. Not letting the hidden Duchess sense anything out of place, Aldrich nodded his head and said.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Or maybe you aren't just interested in men."

As Aldrich passed the comment casually, he felt a pain in his left palm. Tyra had squeezed it so hard that his fingers had contorted and were about to break. From the depressions and tension on her face, it seemed she had even gritted her teeth. But before this sudden squeeze could cause a cracking sound, Tyra relaxed her grip and apologized laughingly.

"Hehe! My Lord, forgive me."

Aldrich said nothing, but these few exchanges were enough for him to figure out Tyra's personality. Not finding any reason to stay with her any longer, he blurted out.

"Okay. You can cut the crap now. What do you want?"

The smiling expression on Tyra's face vanished as soon as it had come. She stared at Aldrich in dead silence for a second before gravely saying, "There is…"

"… a heavy Darkness about you."