[[Author Note: Character Lilja identifies as Mira. In simple terms, Lilja is an otherworlder just like Bjorn was in the gdiator world. Lilja now possessed the body of Mira. They are the same person.]]

  “Are you okay?” I could hear Mira’s birth mother asking her the question as we moved from one table to another, greeting all the guests at the reception dinner.

  She stole a gnce at me before giving her a weak nod. In the very next second, I could feel the gaze of my new mother-in-w, almost burning a hole in the side of my face.

  This elf-bitch can act.

  Her acting was so convincing to these normal humans that I got disgusted looks from many of the women in the dinner reception.

  Irene was no exception. There might be different reasons for her.

  However, I couldn’t say what I did wasn’t painful. I am not sure what took over me, but all I wanted at that moment was to teach her a lesson.

  When I noticed she was bleeding in that area as well, I realised I may have been too harsh with her.

  Then again, she had asked for it. After all, she was the one who was asking to be used like a ragged doll.

  My father-in-w was quite chill about it. He spped my back, saying, “This way, I will be able to see my grandchildren soon enough.”

  Or, he might be a little too drunk.

  “It should be fun to go fishing with our grandchild, wouldn’t it be Baldr?”

  “Of course.” I never knew the father of my identity could ugh. “How about a golf session?”

  The pair of men started rescheduling their meeting and everything for a trip with the grandchild that hadn't even been born. In contrast, Illya was trying to calm down Mira’s mother.

  Even without Lilja saying anything out loud, everyone had an obvious idea about what had happened from her red face and slightly awkward walking.

  “Go, go. You have more people to meet.” My father-in-w waved his hands.

  Well, they were the st table.

  During different dinner courses, we met various people, primarily the other 1% of the world, politicians or father’s friends.

  Now, only the desert was left to be served.

  “Come with me.”

  Trying to understand why Lilja suddenly dropped her act, I looked at her.

  She didn’t.

  She was staring at the distant table close to the entrance. Only one man was sitting at the table.

  “Don’t touch that man.”

  “What?” It was easy to notice that there was something not normal about that man. He was sitting there wearing boxer shorts with a tank top.

  Yet, not a single person is paying attention to him.

  When I stopped in front of the table, the man wiped his greasy hand on his white tank top and extended his hand to do a handshake.

  I pulled the chair back and sat on the table.

  “Looks like staying in the other world has made you forget about human courtesy.”

  “Says the man who came to the wedding uninvited.”

  “How can you say that for sure? You don’t even know who the family friend of that identity is.”

  “If you have nothing else to say, I will leave.”

  When I was about to stand up, Lilja grabbed my clothes, pulling me to my seat.

  “Oh! Didn’t notice that the great springe-bringer was here too?” He looked up and down at her. Then he looked at me, then at her again. “Did I miss anything? Did spring really come into the life of the great elven queen?”

  “Just say what you want to say.”

  “Oh! You are even using your real body to complete the return condition! And he…” He looked at me, adding, “You are not an elf. You are not even a human. What are you?”

  I jumped back, escaping the hand that was coming to catch me. The chair I was sitting on fell with a loud bang.

  Yet, none of the guests looked at me.

  “Why Lilja? You are someone who can even change the ws of nature with magic, and you went for a man who can’t even use it? Why?”

  “Ramos. Just do what you have to do and leave.”

  “Why? It is not like you have anything else to do. It looks like he has fertilised your eggs already.”

  “Huh!”

  She looked at me. I looked at her.

  “Oh! You didn’t know?” He bit on the mb chop, nodding, “It is understandable. It is yet to settle down in your womb.”

  Lilja looked at me. I looked at her. There were definite upward trends at the edge of her lips.

  However, that is not important right now.

  “Who are you?”

  “I am Ramos. Didn’t she already say my name?”

  “Ramos is the overseer of this world. He is also the first dragon of this world.”

  “And what a dragon is doing here?”

  Ramos gestured at the table.

  “What is this?”

  “Sit down.”

  Receiving her nod, I did.

  “Let’s keep it short. The desert will be coming soon.” Again, he wiped his hand on the tank top, expining, “Do you know what a forbidden nd is?”

  “The system said it is the space between two pnes. They are so entangled with each other that the ws of the nd don't work on them.”

  “There are two more things you need to know. First, the forbidden nd is constantly expanding. Well, they are slow, but they are expanding on both sides of the pne. Most importantly, the inhabitants of both the pnes are constantly trying to reconquer the nd.”

  “Reconquer? Aren't these parts too entangled with each other to reconquer?”

  “It is hard. Very hard. And it is impossible to concur a smaller forbidden space. However, after the forbidden space gives birth to the core, you can conquer it. As long as you conquer the core, you can gain control of the pne.”

  “So, everything will return to normal in that area!”

  “Nah! It will be turned into a secret space bound to this world.”

  “Secret space!” I am not expecting to hear that word here. I thought that as the other world was a nd with magic, it was expected there.

  “It doesn’t look like it is your first time hearing about them.”

  “No.”

  “Have you been to one?”

  “I have.”

  “You have! It looks like the world you were isoted to is an evolved one. So, who owns that space?”

  “A dragon emperor, I guess.”

  “Have you ever met one?”

  “My title is given to him.”

  “Oh! You have quite an exciting adventure, I guess.”

  Lilja’s expression was also saying the same thing.

  “What does it look like?”

  “It was normal.”

  “Normal!? How is it normal?”

  “Well, you can call it a prison. As it is being used to hold someone hostage.”

  “Hostage?”

  “She might be somewhat comparable to the dragon.”

  “That makes sense.” Ramos paused and stared into bnk space before saying, “It’s not like you are lying.”

  “How do you know? Did the system say that?”

  “He has access to all the information of the system, as long as you don’t try to hide it,” Lilja expined.

  “Then you are not that bad, I guess. Good.” Following his gaze, I found a pair of gsses inside my coat pocket.

  “This!”

  “The system won’t function normally in the forbidden space. Those will do as a portable low-grade one in the forbidden space.”

  “Am I going into the forbidden space?”

  “That’s the rule?”

  “Rule? I thought I would need to go to the forbidden space to extend my stay. I am not hoping to.”

  “That is okay. However, you are a special case. Rather, your identity is.”

  “Andng Exploration League has an 11.7 % stake in the forbidden nd of Nozul Forbidden space. He was enjoying a hefty dividend from the earnings. Now that a problem has occurred, he chose to run away.”

  Lilja understood I got none of the words he was using.

  “Think of the forbidden zones as a company. You own 11.7% of it.”

  “As a company? What does it make?”

  “Forbidden zones are like treasure troves. Magic stones are the most common, along with minerals, weapons, armour, and many things that could be taken out of the forbidden zone. Explorers have to pay tax for everything they bring out, and you get some part of it as an investor.”

  “But I thought this guy had no money.”

  “That is because the Ayarus guild, who owns 42 % of the stakes, monopolises the entry into the forbidden system. And as they are investors, they didn’t need to pay taxes either.”

  “This guy's life is more messy than I thought.”

  “Not this guy. Your life is a mess.” Ramos ignored my gre and cpped, “Oh! The desert is here.”

  “However, there is an emergency. There is a beast break-out. So, the investors have to join the next expedition.”

  Ramos licked the pte clean. “You will be leaving on the fifth, a week from now. And you can get the rest of the information from the system and your manager. Thank you.” He didn’t even give me a chance to respond and stood up.

  “There is something I want to know.”

  Sigh

  “You have fed me. I will answer one of your questions.”

  “How do you keep all this secret from normal people, I mean from the inert?”

  “Less than 0.1% of people are aware of it. It is easier to hide than make it open.”

  Little did we know then that the entire world would learn about it in a week. And the reason is…