"In other words," Adrian started without an ounce of expression on his face, "you had a taste of power and decided you liked the feeling."

The king looked at him for a while before chuckling, "you truly are amusing, dear butler."

"But yes," He didn’t bother denying, "I very much prefer remaining a king than going back to being a common soldier."

The two looked at each other for a few tense seconds before Adrian spoke up again.

"And the sudden rekindled hopes of the people here and the chance of us actually finding an exit, threatens this plan."

"Smart one," the king said, "until you arrived, those kids were just on a wild goose chase, but now? "

He didn’t complete his words but the implications were pretty clear.

"And I’m being told this because?"

Instead of an answer, the king stood up and slowly walked down the stairs before stopping a short distance away from Adrian.

There was a smile on his face.

"Because you are a variable that needs to be removed," he paused as he continued looking at Adrian, "if I intend to keep raising these sheep."

The next second, without warning, Adrian saw in clear detail as the King’s hand suddenly transformed into a grotesque black form before suddenly launching towards him.

The hand moved with unnatural speeds and before the butler had the chance to react, it pierced straight through his chest.

Or at least that’s what it seemed like at first.

But the next second, the ’pierced’ Adrian suddenly melted into a pool of shadows which then wrapped around the grotesque hand.

Within the King’s command, the extended hand suddenly twitched and turned back towards him.

And just before it could reach him, the king cleanly cut it off without a single change in his expression.

He then looked around, noticing that the butler had disappeared, so he let out a sigh and walked back to his throne.

The king calmly sat down and rested his cheek on the fist of the hand that had just regenerated.

"I guess the cat’s out of the bag," he muttered as he continued looking at the spot where Adrian previously stood.

For someone whose secret had just been discovered, he didn’t seem the least bit worried.

"Told you it wouldn’t be easy."

A voice came from the darkness, pulling the King’s attention towards it.

His relaxed expression suddenly changed, taking on one that seemed as if he had just spotted something vile.

Standing before him with a grin on his lips, was Marion.

The moment the king saw him, the atmosphere within the throne room changed completely.

The relaxed amusement from before vanished without a trace.

Instead, disgust.

Pure, undisguised disgust.

"Now now," Marion started with a chuckle, "that’s not the expression you make when a friend drops by."

....

"For the second time in one day."

"We are not friends," the king responded.

"Acquaintances then?"

"You are a parasite."

Marion placed a hand over his chest dramatically.

"That one hurt a little."

His expression remained one of amusement as he added, "although you say that, you’re not much different are you?"

The king’s red eyes narrowed and his expression darkened.

"I did what was necessary to survive."

"And then you got addicted to it," Marion replied immediately.

The king said nothing in response to that, his frown just getting darker.

"Anyway, like I said," Marion continued, "the butler will be hard to get rid of."

The king remained silent for a few seconds after Marion’s words, his red eyes fixed on the smiling man standing in the darkness.

"You sound oddly invested in him," he suddenly asked with a small frown on his face.

Marion’s grin widened.

"I am."

The answer came far too quickly and the king’s expression darkened further.

"I still fail to understand why you’re so obsessed with that boy."

"Because," Marion replied while slowly walking forward, "he’s interesting."

The throne room fell silent again.

Marion stopped a few steps away from the frozen corpses decorating the hall before lightly tapping one of them, causing cracks to appear on the surface.

"And what use will he have dead?" the king asked again.

"That’s for me to worry about," Marion answered, "you just focus on the fact that your sheep will never leave the pen."

"..."

The king might’ve been the leader of the expedition when they first entered this dungeon, but even he knew how dangerous the man before him was.

Despite the relaxed smile on his face, the pressure he released was proof of his strength.

Though, he almost always actively hides it, before someone like the king, it was essential to reminding him of the difference between them.

The king hated that.

He hated the fact that a man like this existed within his kingdom.

No.

Within his dungeon.

And yet, he had no choice but to bow his head in acceptance after all, that was the only way to get rid of this mad man.

After he was gone, this drowning paradise would completely belong to him and him alone.

"Anyway," Marion’s voice pulled the king out of his thoughts as he pointed towards the frozen corpses, "can I have them?"

---

Adrian, meanwhile, reappeared within Renelle’s tent, noticing that she was still asleep.

It seemed the king was truly what he suspected.

"You sensed that right?" he muttered seemingly to himself, but an answer soon came.

«Yes,» Noctis said, «the corrupted mana within him is higher than even the beasts you faced in the forest.»

The cat made itself comfortable in one corner of the tent, on what seemed to be a couch.

"Then that means he can somehow keep his sanity even with that much corrupted mana within him."

«Either that,» Noctis continued lazily while flicking its tail, «or he’s simply no longer human.»

The tent fell silent after those words.

Adrian glanced toward the sleeping Renelle for a brief moment before looking away again.

If it was the latter, then the king was likely far more dangerous than he appeared.

Not because of the fact that he was probably at A-Rank, but because creatures that had completely surrendered themselves to corruption usually lost all sense of reason.

Yet somehow, the king retained his mind.

Or at least, enough of it to continue ruling this drowning kingdom.

"That would explain his mutated hand," Adrian muttered quietly.

«What will you do about him?»

Adrian was silent for a few seconds before calmly answering, "nothing."

The answer caused Noctis to look mildly surprised.

«Nothing?»

"He isn’t my problem," Adrian walked toward the bed afterward and sat down beside the sleeping Renelle, "my priority is my lady."

His hand gently brushed through her silver hair as he continued, "and once we find the center of the black sea, we’ll leave this dungeon."

Noctis watched him quietly, «you think the others can handle him?»

Adrian shrugged slightly, "if they can’t, then they die."

His tone remained completely indifferent.

To him, the fate of this kingdom truly didn’t matter.

Not the king, his kingdom, the spirit mages, not even the people desperately clinging unto the newly found hope.

None of it.

The only reason he even agreed to investigate the black sea was because it was the most likely path toward getting Renelle out safely.

He was certain that Darius would be fine, after all, he was the only mildly useful one amongst the group he entered with.

Cassian’s death wouldn’t bother him at all, in fact, it’d very much be preferred.

The rest could probably hold their own, so they’ll be fine.

Adrian gently lay beside Renelle again, and the moment he did, a small smile appeared on her face as she moved closer to him.

He placed a hand on her head, gently patting it as he said, "I’ll get you out of here, my lady."

"After all," he smiled, "Avera needs a proper ruler."

---

[A few hours later.]

"..."

Everyone was silent as they looked at the magic tool before them in surprise.

"You made this in a single night?" the prince asked, still not believing his eyes.

"w-well, h-his blueprints did most of the work," the one who answered was a boy who seemed no older than fifteen.

He looked so nervous, with a pair of goggles resting on his brown hair and his brown eyes remained fixed on Adrian who was standing beside his lady and looked at the vessel behind the kid.

If one took a closer look at his face, they’d notice that he was pleased.

How couldn’t he be, after all, it wasn’t everyday you met someone with as much potential as Alvíss.

No, the kid might be even more of a genius, after all, it would be impossible to to create a submarine in a single night.

Yes,

A Submarine.