The biting chill of the Galen Town winds whipped through the street, kicking up small clouds of loose dirt, but it did little to dampen the silver-haired woman’s unnatural enthusiasm.

"Later~!" Zephyra greeted with her voice a bright melodic sound that completely contrasted the dreary atmosphere of the town.

She waved her hand enthusiastically, her glowing purple eyes tracking the wooden carriage parked just outside the modest inn.

Up on the driver’s bench, Neo was currently adjusting his grip on the thick leather reins.

The young Protagonist apparently had ample experience at this which suited Klaus just fine.

Klaus stood a few paces away with his hands buried deep in his pockets.

He looked over at the reinforced carriage with his dark eyes narrowing slightly.

He still hadn’t forgiven the crimson-haired noblewoman sitting inside, and honestly, running the calculations in his head, he wasn’t sure he ever would.

Betrayal wasn’t something that easily washed out but, for the sake of ending this chaotic Chapter of his life, he could at least give them a basic send-off.

The small glass window of the back cabin was slid wide open.

Seo was sitting there, her crimson hair framing a pale face that looked entirely drained. She was looking directly at him however Klaus simply raised his head up meeting her gaze with a deadpan expression.

"Later."

With that single, dry word, he immediately turned his back on the carriage and began walking toward the heavy oak door of the inn.

"Wait!" Seo shouted with her voice cracking slightly.

Klaus paused, letting out a quiet, long-suffering sigh before turning back around.

Through the open window, he saw that the crimson-haired woman’s cheeks had reddened slightly which was a stark contrast to her pale skin.

Standing beside Klaus, Zephyra immediately raised a delicate, suspicious eyebrow at the sudden display of emotion.

"I-If you ever come to the capital," Seo stammered with her fingers tightly gripping the edge of the wooden window frame as if it were her only lifeline, "please come over to the Aestrea Household so you can come over an—"

"Hyah!" Neo suddenly let out a sharp shout from the front.

He violently whipped the heavy leather reins against the horses. The beasts snorted, their powerful muscles coiling before they lurched forward.

The heavy wooden wheels groaned against the dirt road, and the carriage immediately began moving, completely cutting off the noblewoman’s sentence.

"Neo, stop..." Seo said with her voice turning into a desperate plea but the rumbling of the wheels and the clattering hooves easily drowned her out.

The carriage was already picking up speed, tearing down the main road of Galen Town.

The very last thing the noblewoman did, right before Klaus turned into nothing more than a distant dot in her vision, was reach her hand out the window to wave at him.

A second later, her arm disappeared back into the dark cabin as the vehicle rounded the corner and vanished down the road.

Silence descended upon the front of the inn, save for the whistling wind.

Zephyra immediately turned to Klaus, her bright smile instantly replaced by a highly skeptical look.

"Did you do something to her?"

Klaus casually reached out and placed his hand flat against the center of the wooden door.

Beneath his palm, a complex, luminescent magic circle immediately bloomed to life, glowing with a soft blue light.

It was a secondary magical lock, a convenient system designed so that whoever was renting out the inn could open it using their mana signature, even if they didn’t have the physical brass keys on hand.

The magical mechanism clicked softly, and the heavy door swung inward.

"What? Me do something to her?" Klaus said as he stepped over the threshold into the warm, dimly lit hallway. "She kidnapped me and tried to sell me off to the Death Cult."

The temperature in the hallway seemed to drop by ten degrees in a single microsecond. Zephyra’s glowing purple eyes darkened into twin voids of abyssal fury as she walked in alongside him with the wooden floorboards groaning beneath her feet despite her light frame.

"She tried to sell you off to the Death Cult?" Zephyra asked.

Klaus simply nodded, not even bothering to look back as he unbuttoned his coat. "Don’t worry about it."

Zephyra’s hands clenched into tight fists, her silver hair catching the dim light of the inn’s magical lamps. "I—"

"I already plan to take my revenge one way or the other," Klaus interrupted smoothly, cutting off what was undoubtedly going to be a gruesome vow of murder.

He offered a slight knowing smile, but just because he smiled didn’t mean he had forgotten a single thing.

Klaus considered himself a very petty person.

He even had a sure-fire, highly effective way to threaten high-ranking nobles now... after all, Zephyra was standing right beside him, completely obsessed and packing enough physical strength to punch a reinforced carriage into the stratosphere.

She was the ultimate trump card! But for now, all he wanted to do was take a break.

Ever since he had woken up in this world, his life had been an absolute nightmare of progression fantasy tropes.

All he did was train until his muscles tore, get a tiny fraction of free time here and there, and always get thrown headfirst into life-threatening situations where his survival hinged on razor-thin margins.

Was this some sick, twisted joke orchestrated by the world itself to force him to get stronger? Because if it was, he didn’t like it one bit.

’I need some slice-of-life Chapters for once in my life,’ Klaus thought, aggressively rubbing his temples to stave off a headache.

"I see..." Zephyra said softly.

The horrifying murderous look in her eyes instantly vanished, replaced once more by her usual, sickeningly sweet devotion. "I hope you include me in your revenge when you want to have it, Hubby."

Klaus turned to her, raising his hand and lightly patting the top of her silver head. "Of course, though it’ll be more like Business."

He stepped past her, moving down the short hallway and directly into the inn’s spacious living room.

The moment his eyes landed on the plush slightly worn fabric of the main sofa, all the tension bled out of his spine as he practically threw himself forward.

Upon hitting the cushions, Klaus immediately began kissing the couch with his face buried deep into the soft upholstery.

’Dear couch~’ Klaus thought, a tear of pure joy nearly escaping his eye. ’I don’t want to leave you behind again...’

He rolled onto his back, sinking into the cushions.

There were still a month and some weeks left before the grand Academy Entrance exams. That was a massive chunk of time.

Klaus mentally mapped out his schedule, completely intent on taking it pretty easy until then.

He would casually practice his new skills, maybe meditate and make some medicinal herbs on the side to build up his capital, and actively avoid any glowing magical anomalies, cultists, or deranged snipers.

Zephyra entered the living room a few seconds later.

A heavy blush was dusted across her flawless cheeks from the headpat. As Klaus laid spread-eagle over the couch, the silver-haired woman suddenly reached down, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and immediately took it off in one fluid motion.

She let out a heavy, exaggerated sigh of relief.

"I was feeling so hot and sweaty..." she announced, before casually tossing the discarded garment straight at him.

The fabric sailed through the air and landed with a soft smack directly onto Klaus’s face.

Klaus scowled, peeling the shirt off his face and holding it up with two fingers. "Hey! Don’t throw your sweaty shirt at me..."

Zephyra blinked, tilting her head innocently. "I thought Engaged couples sniffed each other’s sweaty clothing."

Klaus violently threw the shirt right back at her, hitting her in the chest. "That’s the most kinky stuff I’ve ever heard, but no. I, and a lot of people, are not that weird..."

With a heavy sigh, he laid back down on the couch, crossing his arms behind his head and staring blankly up at the wooden ceiling beams.

His mind naturally drifted back to his system interface.

’I should probably spin the wheel,’ Klaus thought, visualizing the glowing gacha screen in his mind’s eye. ’I haven’t done so in a whi—’

Before he could even finish the mental sentence, a shadow fell over his face.

Zephyra was suddenly hovering directly above him, leaning over the back of the couch. Her face was mere inches from his with her glowing purple eyes sparkling like stars.

"Hubby~" Zephyra purred. "How did our kiss feel last time?"

Klaus didn’t even blink.

He maintained unbroken, utterly unimpressed eye contact. "That was a pretty normal kiss if you ask me. Well, except for you straddling my chest like some kind of animal."

Zephyra’s face immediately exploded into a brilliant shade of crimson. She raised a hand, her fingers shyly touching her soft lips as she looked away, completely flustered by the blunt summary of her aggressive affection.

"Wanna kiss again? Tee hee~" Zephyra asked, peeking back at him through her silver eyelashes.

Klaus’s expression violently twitched. He reached up, extending his index finger, and poked her directly in the center of her cheek, pushing her face slightly away.

"Don’t say ’Tee hee’ ever again..." Klaus instructed flatly. "It only fits cute girls, not muscular girls that can crush their Fiances in one go."

The moment the words left his mouth, everywhere changed.

With that, Klaus sat up on the couch. Zephyra slowly looked down at her own body.

Because she had thrown her shirt at him, she was currently standing there in just her bra and trousers. Her physique was undeniably impressive... honed by years of combat, bearing defined sculpted muscles along her abdomen and arms that held terrifying explosive power.

Her shoulders slumped slightly. Did Klaus not like her like that? Was she too masculine? Too scary? The thoughts raced through her mind, causing her to instinctively cross her arms over her stomach in a rare display of vulnerability.

"I like muscular women, though..." Klaus added casually, adjusting his sitting position.

Zephyra froze. The blush returned with a vengeance, burning hotter than before, spreading all the way down to her neck.

Sensing the need to pivot the situation before she completely short-circuited or tackled him again, Klaus asked.

"Why don’t we cook lunch together...?"

That instantly spiked a new, entirely different reaction. Zephyra’s lips thinned into a tight, nervous line.

She averted her eyes, looking intently at the wooden floorboards.

"I, uh... grew up in a castle," Zephyra admitted, her voice unusually small and hesitant. "So I don’t exactly know how to cook that much..."

It was a highly logical conclusion. Royalty didn’t tend to spend time over a hot stove when they had legions of private chefs at their beck and call.

Klaus simply smiled which was a rare genuine expression that softened his usually sharp features.

"Follow me," Klaus said, standing up from the couch.

Zephyra obediently followed right on his heels as they walked out of the living room and entered the inn’s adjoining kitchen.

It was a modest setup, featuring a heavy iron stove, a wooden prep island, and several cupboards stocked with basic supplies for the renters.

"Cooking really isn’t hard," Klaus said, rolling up his sleeves.

He walked over to one of the wooden wardrobes, pulling open the door and retrieving a fresh loaf of bread.

Moving to the next cupboard, he pulled out a small wooden crate filled with fresh eggs. He set them both down on the table with a solid thud.

"Why don’t we keep this simple?" Klaus proposed, looking over at her. "And we crack and fry some eggs?"

Zephyra averted her eyes to the ground once more, her highly defined shoulders actually trembling slightly.

For a woman who could punch a hole through a mountain, the prospect of culinary failure was apparently terrifying.

"I haven’t tried bread and eggs before," Zephyra said quietly. "So I wouldn’t know how to prepare them."

Klaus stepped closer, closing the distance between them. He reached out and gently took her hand, pulling her slightly closer to the table.

Her skin was warm but she let him guide her without any resistance.

"That’s why I’m here to teach you," Klaus said smoothly.

He pulled a ceramic bowl from a nearby shelf and placed it directly in front of them. "Watch closely."

Using only his right hand, Klaus casually picked up an egg from the crate. With a swift motion, he tapped it against the edge of the bowl, his thumb and fingers separating the shell seamlessly.

The golden yolk and clear whites slid perfectly into the ceramic dish without a single fragment of shell following it.

"Now you try," Klaus said, gesturing to the crate.

Zephyra nervously reached out and picked up an egg. She held it between her fingers as if it were a highly volatile explosive. She hovered it over the bowl, gritted her teeth, and squeezed.

CRACK.

It wasn’t a tap... It was a total obliteration.

The delicate shell instantly shattered under her monstrous grip, exploding into a dozen tiny white fragments that rained down into the bowl, completely mixing with the violently ruptured yolk. Her hands were covered in a gooey mess.

Zephyra stared down at the ruined egg, her purple eyes wide.

She looked up at Klaus with her lower lip trembling slightly, looking entirely as if she wanted to tear up from the sheer frustration of her own strength.

Klaus didn’t sigh.

He simply grabbed a damp cloth, gently wiping her hand clean, and offered a comforting smile then he stepped around behind her with his chest lightly pressing against her back.

He reached around, placing his hands gently over hers.

"You’re using too much force," Klaus murmured, his breath brushing against her silver hair. "It requires finesse, not power. Here. For each egg you break properly, I’ll owe you one kiss on the cheek."

The effect was instantaneous. Zephyra’s posture instantly stiffened as a surge of overwhelming motivation practically radiating from her body.

Her eyes locked onto the crate of eggs with the intense, hyper-focused glare of a predator zeroing in on a target.

With Klaus’s hands gently guiding hers, she picked up the next egg.

"Light tap," Klaus instructed.

She tapped it. It cracked slightly. She separated the shell, letting the contents fall.

She slightly overdid the pressure on the release, dropping a tiny speck of shell into the bowl, but it was vastly better than the first attempt.

By the time they reached the final egg in the crate, her muscle memory had adapted. She tapped it perfectly, separated it flawlessly, and the yolk dropped beautifully into the pile.

"Perfect..." Klaus praised.

Next was the mixing part. Klaus grabbed a fork, demonstrating the motion. "You just need to beat them until the yolks and whites blend into a single, consistent color."

He handed her a spoon.

Zephyra took it, her eyes flashing with determination. Instead of a rhythmic beating motion, her wrist suddenly became a violent blur.

She spun the spoon inside the bowl with such terrifying inhuman speed that a miniature vortex formed in the center of the eggs.

It sounded like an industrial machine was running in the kitchen. In less than two seconds, the eggs were whipped to an immaculate frothy consistency.

Klaus stared at the perfectly blended bowl while blinking slowly. "That’s one way to do it."

He took over from there, adding a pinch of salt and a dash of local spices to the mix. He moved to the sink, washing the heavy iron pan thoroughly before placing it on the magically heated stove then he poured a small layer of oil into the pan, letting it heat until it began to shimmer.

"Now, we just pour it in and let the heat do the work..." Klaus told her, maintaining his position standing right behind her.

As the eggs hit the hot oil with a loud, satisfying sizzle, the savory aroma instantly filled the small kitchen.

Zephyra watched in absolute fascination as the liquid began to solidify and fluff up.

While she was distracted by the cooking process, Klaus leaned forward. He pressed his lips softly against her right cheek.

Zephyra gasped lightly, her shoulders jumping as a furious blush rushed to her face.

"Klaus..." she whispered.

"I’m owing you kisses, after all," Klaus stated simply. "So I’m paying my debt."

He leaned in again, kissing her cheek... then again.

He counted the eggs she had broken perfectly, paying out the exact amount of promised affection as the eggs fried in the pan before them.

By the final kiss, Zephyra was basically melting against his chest, completely entranced by the intimacy of the moment.

Once the edges of the egg were perfectly browned and the center was cooked through, Klaus expertly folded it and slid the massive fluffy omelet onto a large ceramic plate.

Zephyra leaned over it, inhaling deeply with a bright radiant smile breaking across her face. "It smells amazing!"

"Of course," Klaus replied, grabbing two forks and the plate. "Why don’t we move back to the couch to eat it?"

Zephyra nodded enthusiastically, completely agreeing with the suggestion. They walked back into the living room, taking their spots on the couch.

They sat close together with their legs pressing against each other as Klaus set the plate on the small wooden table in front of them, slicing off a piece of the egg and feeding it to her.

It was the absolute peak of a slice-of-life afternoon!

...

Hours passed. The sun completely dipped below the horizon, casting the streets of Galen Town into the dark of evening.

A heavy click echoed through the front door of the inn as the oak swung open, and three highly exhausted figures trudged into the hallway.

Taula, Serra, and Mirela stepped inside, dropping their travel bags to the floor with heavy thuds.

Being at the capital to officially register Maurie had been a logistical nightmare, filled with endless bureaucratic red tape, snooty nobles, and mind-numbing paperwork.

They were entirely drained with their muscles aching for rest.

Taula rubbed the back of her neck, stretching her stiff shoulders.

"Do you think Klaus will be he—"

Her words abruptly died in her throat.

The three girls stepped into the archway of the living room and froze.

On the couch, Klaus was lying down comfortably with his eyes closed in deep relaxation.

Zephyra was lying down directly next to him, practically plastered to his side. Klaus’s arm was draped casually, yet firmly, around the silver-haired woman’s bare waist.

On the small wooden table in front of them rested the completely empty plates from their shared meal.

Serra’s jaw dropped. Mirela blinked behind her glasses, completely failing to process the highly intimate scene before them while Taula just stood there.

Her hands balled into tight fists and a thick highly visible vein violently popped on her forehead as she stared at Klaus’s arm wrapped around the half-naked royal.

She took a deep breath.

"KLAUSSSSSSSSSSS!" She yelled out, the sheer volume shaking the very foundations of the inn.