Chapter 371: Meeting Princess
The guard recognized him as they were told about him being the future husband of the princess. The Guards didn't stop Ryder. Instead, one of them escorted him to the King himself.
Ryder was brought to the Royal Hall, where the King was sitting on his throne having a meeting with his ministers.
The guard informed the Eunuch about the arrival of Ryder, who in turn entered the Royal Hall and informed the King about the arrival of Ryder.
Ryder was instantly allowed inside the Royal Hall.
"So you finally decided to come back? You know how much our daughter missed you? You could've told us if you had something to do but leaving without telling us? That wasn't good," the King asked Ryder, frowning.
Ryder took a step forward before he bowed a little, respectfully.
"I would like to ask for an apology, Your Majesty. I was feeling intimidated by you, so I couldn't get to tell you that I needed to leave; however, it was urgent, so I couldn't stop myself either. I could only tell Aslina before leaving," he lamented.
"Whatever. What's happened has happened. Don't do this again. Go and meet my daughter. She's been waiting for you!' the King grumbled, telling Ryder to go to his daughter instead. He shifted his gaze to the Eunuch and announced, "Take him to the Princess."
"Yes, Your Majesty," The Eunuch and Ryder replied at the same time. Both of them turned back and left the Hall.
Ryder was brought to a garden where the Princess could be seen watering what seemed like a beautiful flower similar to a rose.
"You can leave," Ryder told the Eunuch in a low voice, making sure that the Princess whose back was facing him couldn't hear.
The Eunuch gave Ryder a look before he turned back and left.
Ryder stepped towards the Princess in slow steps without making a noise. The Princess was so immersed in watering the plants that she still didn't realize as Ryder appeared just a few inches behind him.
Ryder brought his lips closer to her cheeks.
"Beautiful flowers but none as beautiful as you," he whispered in her ears.
"Huh!" Like a scared rabbit, Aslina jumped as she felt a tingling sensation in her ears. She turned back to see if the voice actually belonged to the person she thought it did.
Aslina turned back and noticed that it was actually Ryder. Without thinking for even a single second, she jumped into his embrace, hugging him tightly.
"You came! You actually came!" Aslina started sobbing as she hugged Ryder.
Even though she hadn't been with Ryder for long, she had fallen in love with him. As he left, she thought she could bear the wait, having faith that Ryder would definitely return for her. However, as the wait got longer and longer, her urge to be with Ryder started increasing.
She started missing him more and more. She was also starting to have negative thoughts about Ryder. She was scared, thinking that something might've happened to him.
As she saw him standing in front of him and felt his body warmth, she couldn't control her tears any longer. Her eyes got wet as tears started falling from her eyes.
Ryder wrapped his hands around Aslina's back, rubbing it gently.
"Yeah, I'm back. I'm sorry I took longer. Anyway, I have finished my old missing. I'm even one step closer to establishing my guild in your kingdom. After that, I could be with you longer," Ryder assured in a gentle tone, smoothly floating the idea of establishing his Guild here, which was his main goal when he came to have her fall in love with him.
"Yes. Create a guild here. Father will help as well. Don't leave me ever again," Aslina asserted cutely. Her tears were somewhat starting to slow down.
"Only if you stop crying. If you don't stop, I'll be very angry at you," Ryder replied, shaking his head.
"I-i stopped." Aslina smiled as she freed Ryder to wipe her tears.
"My good girl. So, how have you been? Did you miss me?" Ryder inquired, rubbing Aslina's head.
"I've missed you so much," Aslina alluded as she smiled. Her smile was so beautiful that Ryder couldn't take his eyes off of her. Aslina seemed like an innocent girl who was at true peace after she got what she wanted.
" I missed you too, my beautiful lady," Ryder conveyed as he reached out his hands to touch Aslina's smooth hand and kissed the back of her hand.
"Do you have more plants to water, or I can take you out with me to see the city with me?" Ryder asked Aslina, who still had a vase-like object she was using to water the flower.
"I am free. I just came here to calm my mind since I was missing you," Aslina explained with an embarrassed smile on her face. She couldn't help but lower her head to hide her embarrassed expressions.
She put the watering object down on the ground before she held Ryder's hand. She still kept her eyes down, not daring to look in his eyes.
"Hah, you're really cute." Ryder chuckled, seeing her embarrassed. He held her hand firmly before he started walking towards the exit.
As Ryder walked through the city, he realized that the number of the Players in the city was getting more and more. The first time Ryder came here, he could see many players; however, right now, he could see many more players.
It was very easy to recognize players in this world as the players could see a red diamond-like icon above the heads of the players who had killed another player or the ones who were being punished for breaking the laws of the game. Those players could be killed without any penalty, and they gave slightly more experience than normal players of that level.
As for normal players, they had a green dot above their heads, which showed that they were players. However, only other players could see these signals.
Players could also see the usernames of other players above their heads as that was a default feature. There was also a way to make your username private, making others unable to see their usernames above their heads. However, most people didn't bother going through the settings to make their usernames private since it didn't bother them.
Instead of bothering them, it made them happier since it gave them the feeling of actually being in a game, and it made others know their name, which was a way for players to show off and get popular amongst the player community.