[Marriage Certificate]

'...I'm really married now, huh?'

Soren muttered inwardly as he stared at the document in his hands.

Two names were visible on the parchment alongside the required thumbprints and signatures.

His eyes traced the words for the tenth time since leaving the courthouse.

Although he still found it hard to believe, considering whom he married, he decided to accept the reality in the end.

He folded the paper, tucked it into his pocket, and locked up at the house in front of him. Two stories, white walls, blue roof tiles. It was nothing special, just a regular house in a regular neighborhood.

Well, this was going to be their house now.

'...Hmm.' Soren turned to his side.

There, his wife, Ethea, sat in her wheelchair, staring straight ahead.

Her face... Yeah, he'd seen it a hundred times today and still couldn't get used to it—pale skin, sharp features, long black hair that looked too perfect to be real. Like one of those dolls rich people collect. Beautiful, yet dead inside.

She hadn't said a word since they left the civil affairs bureau.

Not one.

'Here we go.' Soren took a deep breath.

"This is it," he said outwardly, forcing cheer into his voice. "Our new home."

"..." Ethea remained silent.

Shaking his head inwardly, he grabbed the handles of her wheelchair and pushed her toward the door. Inside, he gave her the grand tour.

"Living room. Small, but still nice, right? We don't need much space anyway."

"..."

"Oh, this is the kitchen. I can cook. Do you like anything specific? Soup? Drink? Coffee?"

"..."

Soren kept talking.

The silence was uncomfortable as hell, but he endured it.

He then showed her the small backyard, the storage room, and other places.

By the time they reached the top of the stairs, his throat was dry, and his optimism was running on fumes.

Thankfully, they finally arrived in the bedroom.

He pushed the door open: a double bed, a wardrobe, a nightstand.

"And this is where we sleep," he said. Then, glancing at her pale face, "You tired? It's been a long day after all."

"..."

Ethea stared at the bed while Soren waited for her answer.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Fifteen.

'Still not talking, huh.'

Soren chuckled before speaking.

"Alright, I'll take that as a yes."

He moved the wheelchair to the edge of the bed and carefully positioned himself. He then leaned down, sliding one arm beneath her knees, the other behind her back.

The moment his hands made contact, cold slammed into him.

A bone-deep frost sank through his skin and wrapped around his core. His breath caught. The sensation spread fast, numbing his arms within seconds.

Then Ethea recoiled.

Her body locked up. Every muscle that could still respond pulled away from him with visceral rejection. Her breathing hitched, becoming shallow and sharp. For the first time since he'd met her, her eyes showed something real.

...Revulsion.

Soren froze mid-motion.

He stood there, bent over her, arms committed to the lift.

The cold continued to spread through his limbs, but it was nothing compared to the way she'd flinched from him. Like his touch was contamination. Like being held by him was worse than lying helpless in the chair.

'She can't even stand me touching her.'

The thought hit harder than the cold.

But he couldn't stop now, so he forced himself to move.

He adjusted his grip with excruciating care, trying not to hold too tight, trying not to make it worse.

He ignored the cold, her obvious discomfort, and laid her on the bed as gently and quickly as he could.

"...Done," he muttered, wiping away the sweat on his forehead with his already numb fingers.

He then sensed her gaze and looked at her lying there, still as a corpse, and something twisted in his chest.

'Is she... always this cold? Like, physically?'

He thought about what that must feel like, living in a body that felt frozen all the time. Probably miserably. Probably painful. Probably made you not want to talk to anyone either.

"You okay?" he asked, softer this time. "Need anything? Water? Extra blanket?"

Ethea's eyelashes flickered, her lips finally moving.

"...I... I need sleep."

She muttered in a chilling and low tone.

'!' Soren blinked in surprise. 'Did she... finally speak?'

But he pushed the shock aside and nodded.

"Alright, then get some rest. Goodnight."

He stood up, stretched, and walked to the other side of the bed. He was about to lie down when her voice came again.

"...Alone."

Soren froze, one knee on the mattress.

"...What do you mean?"

Ethea's ice-blue eyes remained fixed on him.

"You mean..." Soren guessed her meaning from her expression. "You don't want me to sleep with you?"

"...Yes."

Soren blinked again. Then he straightened up, turning to face her fully.

"But why? We're husband and wife now?"

"..."

"You signed the paper yourself today." His voice stayed calm, matter-of-fact. "Or... were you not being honest?"

Ethea looked away.

The silence stretched, making the atmosphere awkward.

Soren opened his mouth, then closed it.

The words sat on his tongue anyway, 'Or what, I'm not qualified to be the Ice Empress's husband? Is that it?', but he swallowed them down.

There was no point.

After all, she was once the revered Ice Empress, the jewel of the Morvain family, a woman whose beauty and bearing could silence a room full of CEOs and whose cold elegance made the social elite fight for even a glance in her direction.

But now?

Now she was a disabled girl in a wheelchair, married off to a nobody like him, discarded by the very family that once polished and displayed her.

If their positions were reversed, if he woke up one day to find everything taken from him, he probably wouldn't want to talk to anyone either.

So yeah, no point in poking at wounds that were still fresh.

"Alright," he said finally. "I'll sleep on the floor then."

She glanced at him, wanting to say something. But Soren beat her to it.

"In case you need help at night. You can't exactly get up on your own, right?"

"..."

Soren took that as a yes as well.

He grabbed a spare futon from the closet, tossed a cushion on top, and spread it out on the floor beside the bed. Not exactly ideal, but better than the couch. Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't slept like this before.

He then lay down, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

...

...

[Ding!]

[Conditions have been met.]

[Awakening initiated.]

...

An hour passed.

Maybe two.

Soren's eyes were still open.

He should be sleepless from happiness, right?

Married to the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. A wife who looked like she stepped out of a painting.

Any normal man would be lying awake with a stupid grin on his face.

So, was Soren normal? Yes.

Then, was he sleepless because he was like those normal men? Wrong!

He was sleepless because he had already figured out the truth.

It had been circling his mind since the ceremony ended. Since both families had looked so relieved to sign those papers. Since they'd handed over the house deed like they were disposing of garbage.

The Morvain family freed itself from its broken jewel, a burden they no longer had to carry.

And his own family?

They finally got rid of their embarrassment.

The son who never fit in, never measured up, never stopped being a disappointment from the moment he was born.

Two birds, one stone.

Marry them off to each other and forget they existed.

Soren remembered his father's last words to him at the courthouse.

"You're free now, Soren. Live your own life. We won't interfere."

Free?

What a joke.

They called it freedom, but the meaning was clear.

They'd been abandoned.

Both of them.

Cast out.

Given this empty house in this quiet neighborhood, where no one would see them or remember they existed.

"..."

Soren stared at the dark ceiling.

He'd been abandoned by them long before. Always ignored, shuffled aside, pushed out of frame in every family photo.

He'd made peace with it years ago.

But Ethea...

Soren turned his head slightly, looking up at the bed where she lay.

'Did she realize it too?'

Was that why she acted like that earlier? Not because of him specifically, but because she'd finally understood what had happened?

Just a few months ago, she was the revered Ice Empress. Adored and celebrated by everyone.

People lined up for a chance to meet her.

Powerful guilds offered fortunes to recruit her.

Princes and Young Masters sent marriage proposals.

Her family paraded her around like a trophy.

Now those same people had dumped her in this house with a stranger and told her to disappear.

That kind of fall...

Soren couldn't even imagine what that felt like.

First, he had never experienced that kind of life; he had always been at the bottom.

Second, it wasn't wise to judge others without putting yourself in their shoes.

Finally, what happened, happened.

They shouldn't dwell on it now.

Well, at least they had a roof over their heads.

At least their families hadn't literally thrown them out onto the streets.

Although this house might be empty and cold, it was still a shelter.

'...'

Soren turned his head slightly, glancing toward Ethea again.

'Alright then.'

The thought came quietly but with an unexpected weight.

'Since I married her, I'll support and protect her till the end of my life.'

This wasn't a romantic wow.

This was... just a personal decision.

An ordinary man's promise to fulfill his duty as a husband.

She was his wife now, for better or worse, but he'd signed the paper and made that promise.

And unlike his family, unlike hers, he didn't make promises he didn't intend to keep.

Whatever happened from here on out, he'd see it through.

"..."

The thought brought him an odd sense of relief.

It felt like he'd finally found solid ground after hours of floating in uncertainty.

Soren let his eyes close again.

His breathing slowed, and the tension in his shoulders eased. Sleep pulled at him gently this time, no longer held at bay by racing thoughts.

Eventually, darkness took him.

Then, in the depths of his consciousness, something stirred.

A pulse.

A pulse that bypassed his senses entirely and resonated in the core of his being.

Soren's unconscious mind registered it distantly, like a dreamer hearing thunder from far away.

The pulse came again, stronger and more focused this time.

And then, cutting through the void of sleep like a voice speaking directly into his soul, came words that weren't words, thoughts that weren't his own.

[...]

[Conditions have been met.]

[Awakening initiated...]

A heartbeat of silence.

Then everything ignited!

Pain exploded through Soren's body.

Something fundamental inside him was being torn apart and rebuilt simultaneously.

His back arched, his hands clenched, a strangled gasp died in his throat as his lungs seized.

Heat flooded his veins, and cold followed immediately after.

The two sensations warred inside him, neither giving ground, both burning with equal intensity.

'What... What is happening...'

His thoughts scattered, reformed, and scattered again.

Something was slowly forming inside him, growing and expanding.

A core of energy blazed into life in the center of his chest where nothing had existed moments before.

The pain peaked!

Then, as suddenly as it began, it stopped.

Soren lay gasping on the futon, his entire body drenched in cold sweat. His heart hammered against his ribs. His vision swam with afterimages of light.

Slowly, his breathing steadied.

And in the silence that followed, a final message echoed through his mind.

[Awakening complete.]

[You have awakened: Investment Authority!]

"..."

The messages faded.

Soren lay there, chest heaving, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes.

His mind raced, trying to process what just happened.

Awakening? Investment Authority?

None of it made sense.

He'd been tested at fifteen like everyone else.

He had undergone the awakening ceremony a few times.

The results had been clear: no Core, no Talent, no Ability, no potential.

He was unawakened, a dud.

Seven years had passed since then. People didn't just spontaneously awaken in their twenties; it didn't work that way.

And yet...

Snap!

Soren's eyes shot open wider.

His head whipped toward the bed on pure instinct, and his pupils constricted to pinpricks.

A masked black figure hovered over Ethea's sleeping form. And in one gloved hand, a blade catching the faint moonlight, already descending toward her throat.

"!"

Soren's body exploded from the futon.

He crossed the distance between the floor and bed in a single heartbeat, a speed he'd never possessed, a speed that shouldn't have been possible.

Crash!

His shoulder slammed into the figure's torso before the blade could fall another inch.

Boom!

Both bodies hit the wall hard.

"UGH!"

"AGH!"

...

"UGH!"

"AGH!"

Two pained groans mixed in the darkness.

Soren's vision swam from the impact, but he didn't let go. His arms locked around the intruder, pinning them against the broken wall. His mind raced even faster than his heart.

'Who the hell? Assassin?!'

However, the intruder recovered faster than he expected.

A knee drove into Soren's stomach. Air exploded from his lungs. His grip loosened just enough for the figure to twist free and stumble toward the window.

Soren gasped, lunging forward again, but his foot caught the edge of the futon.

Half a second.

That's all it cost him.

By the time he regained his balance, the window was open, and the figure was gone, swallowed by the night.

Soren stood there, chest heaving, staring at the empty frame.

The cold night air brushed his sweat-soaked skin.

Slowly, he turned.

Ethea was awake.

Her ice-blue eyes were fixed on him, wide for the first time since he'd met her. They were filled with complex emotions, difficult to read, though one stood out from the rest: shock.

She was staring at him like she was seeing him for the first time.

Soren opened his mouth to speak-

And the pain hit!

"!"

Every muscle in his body screamed at once.

He staggered, caught himself on the bed frame, and groaned.

"W-What the hell..." he muttered through gritted teeth.

His entire body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder. Muscles he didn't even know existed were screaming in protest. That burst of speed from before had vanished completely, leaving behind nothing but agony.

But he forced himself to stay upright and meet her gaze.

"A-Are you ok?"

He asked worriedly.

"..."

Ethea's eyes were still wide, still fixed on him with that strange expression. Shock, yes. But now something else as well. Something he couldn't name.

Then her gaze dropped.

Her lips parted.

"...Your arm."

"My arm?"

Soren looked down in confusion.

"!"

He saw blood.

Dark and wet, soaking through his sleeve and dripping onto the floor.

He blinked. Only now did the sharp sting register.

A gash ran along his forearm, deep enough to hurt, messy enough to need stitches. The assassin's blade must have caught him during the crash.

'Ah. So that's why it hurts so much.'

But compared to the rest of his body screaming at him, the cut felt almost secondary.

He pressed his other hand against the wound.

Warm blood seeped between his fingers.

"I-It's fine," he said automatically. "Just a scratch."

Ethea stared at him, at the blood, at the way it kept dripping no matter how much pressure he applied.

Yet, she didn't say anything anymore.

The silence stretched.

Soren turned back to the window, leaning out carefully, scanning the darkness below.

There was no movement or sound, just the shadows and the distant rustle of the trees.

Whoever it was, they were probably gone.

He pulled the window shut and locked it. The broken glass would have to wait until morning.

"I'll be back," he said and quickly walked out of the room.

_____ ____ _

The bathroom was small and cold.

Soren flipped on the light, squinting against the sudden brightness, and opened the cabinet.

First aid kit. Where was the first aid kit?

He found it on the bottom shelf and quickly pulled it out. Set it on the counter and finally got a good look at the wound under deep light.

'Urgh.'

It was worse than he thought, deep and ugly.

Heck, he even suspected that he had been poisoned!

He quickly grabbed the disinfectant and poured it directly onto the wound.

"Hss-!"

His vision went white, his teeth clenching. But he kept the disinfectant flowing until the bottle was half empty.

He exhaled shakily and reached for the gauze.

Wrapping one-handed proved to be more difficult than it seemed. The bandage kept slipping, kept getting blood-soaked before he could secure it. But eventually, after three attempts, before he could lose consciousness, he managed to wrap it tight enough.

The bleeding slowed and eventually stopped.

"Hm..."

Soren leaned against the counter, still breathing hard.

'F-Finally...'

'It's over.'

'We're safe...'

'I am s-'

Ding!

Soren froze mid-thought.

That familiar sound echoed in his mind, sharp and clear.

Then words materialized in his vision, glowing and translucent.

[Investment detected.]

[Target: Ethea Morvain(Wife)]

[Analyzing investment...]

[Investment: You have directly engaged the lethal threat, shielding the target with total disregard for your own safety. During the confrontation, you sustained a grievous physical injury and were subjected to a Tier 5 toxin.]

[Analyzing target response...]

[Your actions prevented the target's death.]

[Your determination ignited a faint ember of will to survive within the target's broken spirit.]

[Evaluating investment significance...]

The messages finally paused.

Soren still stood frozen, staring at the glowing text in dumbfounded silence.

[Evaluation complete.]

[Investment grade: SUPREME]

[Calculating returns...]

Dots floated in his vision as the process continued.

[Calculation complete.]

[Returns granted:]

A translucent list unfurled before him, each line appearing with a soft chime.

[1. Ice Emperor's Legacy (Incomplete)]

[2. Grade 7 Ice Affinity]

[3. Heaven-Treading Flash]

[4. Accelerated Regeneration]

[5. Investor's Eyes]

[6. Tether Bond]

[7. Fortified Body Constitution.]

[Integrating all returns...]

[Progress:10%...30%...50%...]

'Just what in the world is happening?'

Soren was too speechless to speak.

He didn't know what those returns or the messages meant, but he was sure they were something beyond the scope of anything he had ever heard of.

'Is this related to that?'

He recalled his previous painful experience.

'Am I... an awakened now?'

'...Me?'

'...Did I... really awak-!'

Thought barely formed before his body seized.

"Guh!"

Soren's hand shot out, grabbing the sink edge to keep himself upright. His knees buckled, his spine arched. He felt as if every nerve in his body lit up at once.

Then cold and heat, both at the same time.

They surged through his veins like liquid fire and frozen steel, racing each other to every corner of his being. His muscles convulsed. His teeth clamped down so hard he thought they'd shatter.

'W-What's-'

He failed to finish the thought.

The pain became frustratingly unbearable.

"Argh!"

Soren groaned out loud.

A few moments later, just as suddenly as it started, it came to a stop.

"Huf... Huf..."

Soren gasped, sucking in air like a drowning man.

Slowly, his vision cleared, and his muscles relaxed.

"Huf... Huf..."

[Progress:70%...80%...90%...]

"Agh!"