Max nervously showed the guard at the palace the letter or recommendation by Amelia as the guard skeptically looked at him again and again before letting him pass inside.
The guards that his brother had left at the palace were all at the very peak of tier 3 with a tier 4 palace master. So the pressure they gave off was too strong for a weakling like Max.
Max was a bit intimidated as the bulky men lead him through the corridors of the palace, however his discomfort lessened when he stopped focussing on the men and started to focus on the beauty of the palace.
Each pillar was intricately carved with designs of elephants , monsters and humans carved into the white stone.
Some were painted with beautiful golden paint and silver linings while the other were painted in full color.
The garden was well trimmed and not even a single blade of grass appeared slightly bigger than the other as fifteen to seventeen gardeners could be seen dedicatedly mentaining the estate.
Max was thoroughly impressed by the luxury his brothe lived in, and wondered if someday he could become king through his own merit like his brother did.
Max wondered how many players in the world wanted to experience a life like this in Omega, yet his brother was one of the only players who could enjoyt it and yet did not.
Either always at war or always working, he was hardly at the palace to enjoy it’s grandeur and sometimes Max wondered if there was something wrong with his brothers head.
Max was a little naive he did not understand the sacrifices his brother had to make to earn this place as his home and the amount of risks and hardfought battles he had soldiered through to make this possible.
It was only those men who did not earn the luxuries they experienced that succumbed to the luxury. Strong men who paved their own way in life looked at luxury as a perk of their success however they did not see it as their final destination.
For Max who had been brought up in a plentiful environment thanx to Rudra busting his rear in Omega, although he appreciated his brothers achievements and tenacity he did not truly understand the sacrifices he had to put to get there.
He respected Rudra from his success and wanted to be successful like his brother , where he should try and be diligent, hardworking and humble like him.
After walking about 5 minutes , Max was lead into the court chamber where the queen sat on the throne addressing a citizen regarding some issue as she glanced at the new guest entering and motioned towards the guards to wait 5 minutes.
Max waited for a while and only when the citizen left was he allowed to approach near the queen who walked down from her throne to closely inspect Max’s face.
Max’s first thought seeing Ruby was that she looked incredibly pretty in her regal blue dress and her smooth white skin , however Ruby’s vision of Max was completely different.
Ruby instantly saw the simmilarities in Max’s face and Rudra’s as she gently touched his chin and asked ” Are you a relative of my husband? “.
Max was shocked , this was the first time someone had recognised him to be Rudra’s brother in-game.
Both him and Rudra did not alter their appearance while making their characters in Omega to keep the sync rate maximum, however nobody has been able to spot the simmilarities until now.
Blushing Max said ” Err , umm , yes , his little brother “.
Ruby covered her mouth as she hid her shocked expression but soon gave Max a bright smile and said ” come brother in law , let me host you to the royal palace “.
Ruby excitedly led Max onto a tour of the palace as she chartered endlessly about all the things Rudra had changed for him in the place to make it as per her liking and how she tried to stop him from making false expenses but he insisted to doing it anyways.
Although she was complaining max could make out that she was very happy with Rudra’s decisions as whenever she said his name her cheeks blushed a little more red than usual.
In the end Ruby said ” So how is my husband? Any news? ”
And Max replied equally brightly as he patiently told her everything about Rudra in hell over the past few months.
Ruby listened intently , seemingly getting scared when Max narrated the dangers of the war however she seemed to be not involved in the story of Rudra’s heroics or his strength in the war at all , as the only thing she cared was his wellbeing and would only smile when Max ended the story of a raid with ” So that’s how Rudra conquered this village , without taking a single point in damage “.
For 4 hours the duo talked and talked as max gave her a full accounting of the war in hell and how it was at its climax now , and Ruby quickly started to pray to Beniogre following that as she wished for the safety and health of her husband.
Only then did she ask Max his purpose of visit as max shyly revealed his reason ” Actually i need help feeling mana in my body and the elves seem to have the mana flow device in vanaheim , if the queen can help me get the church to borrow it , then it would be a great help “.
Ruby nodded as she clapped her hands and summoned her servant , whispering something in her ear she wrote a letter and sent her away with it.
Smiling towards Max she said ” the device will be here in 2 hours , let’s have dinner till then “.
Max was shocked as to how much power the queen seemingly wielded and happily agreed to the dinner as he praised his brothers old stories to the high god once again at the dinner table.
Surprisingly Max did not feel awkward with Ruby at all and by the time dinner ended he felt completely at home, as if he just ended a dinner session with Naomi.
Smiling max was content that his brother had found two good women to marry , which is why his heart started to sting even more at the comments he had made previously.
Swearing to apologise to his brother when they met next , Max seemed to go back to his innocent ways again.
Little did he know however, his world was soon to be turned upside down when it would be revealed that he could not wield mana.
