Ryu

  I wake up.

  White.

  The ceiling again.

  No physical pain—but my MP feels low. I try to sit up and struggle a bit. In the corner, someone is sleeping.

  It's Felmina.

  Is this like last time? I scan the room. No Roka.

  I throw the blanket off and try to stand. An IV is taped to my arm—looks like saline. Dizzy. I sit for a moment and wait for the spinning to stop.

  I pull up my status screen.

  SP: three-quarters full.

  HP: almost full.

  MP: empty—

  no wait, –1.

  –1!? Huh!?

  What kind of number is that supposed to be?

  I put my feet on the ground and hold onto the bed. There’s no strength in my legs.

  I check again.

  Ah. There it is:

  Status Effect: Drugged.

  Great.

  I try to get back into bed, but even lifting my arms feels like a workout. Felmina stirs and blinks awake.

  “Husband.”

  I stare at her, mind refusing to process that word.

  Husband!?

  WAIT WAIT WAIT—WHAT NOW!?

  If that happened, I would’ve remembered…

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Husband!?” I croak.

  She moves before I even register it—suddenly right beside me, helping me lie back down and lifting my legs into the bed as if I weigh nothing. I can’t resist anything in this state.

  She pulls up a chair and sits, nervously smoothing her dress.

  “Ah—no—”

  We both start speaking at the same time.

  “You first, Felmina.”

  She blushes. It’s… cute.

  “H-how are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine, but I have no strength.”

  I wiggle my arm. The IV tube shifts.

  “It must be this thing.” I glance at the drip.

  “What happened? Where’s Roka? Is she okay?”

  She sits up straighter, looking left and right like she’s picking the right place to start. She takes a breath and places a hand on her chest.

  “They told me we were found collapsed in Roka’s room. They brought us all here. The next day we were cleared to leave, and since then we’ve been visiting often. The doctor said you have something called MP Drain. Roka asked what that means, and he explained, but I didn’t really understand any of it, so I sort of tuned it out and—”

  I stop her with a raised hand.

  I see.

  Roka’s fine.

  “How long was I out?”

  “I think it’s twelve days now.”

  Twelve… days.

  Makes sense—they must have been rotating sleep shifts to stay here this long.

  But before anything else, the elephant in the room returns.

  “About earlier… Why did you call me husband?”

  She brightens instantly.

  “Exactly what I said. We’re married!”

  My soul leaves my body for a moment.

  Married? How? I don’t remember any of this. Was I sleepwalking? Delirious?

  “What!?” I choke out.

  She panics too.

  “Let me explain! We kind of… married you… on the king’s order… while you were unconscious.”

  She clasps her hands together.

  “To wake you up, I mean!!”

  “Okay—wait—calm down. Start over.”

  I squeeze her hand gently. She calms, exhales, and starts again.

  “You see, there’s a lot of red tape with using artifacts from the royal vault—registering identity, magical permissions, all of that. So we used the doppelganger rings as a proxy for the official signing, then we did the real signing here afterward. Once the wedding registration went through, we gained access to the vault, where we finally used the Force Awake Stone on you a few days ago.”

  I process that.

  “So because I’m now registered as royalty… I qualified for treatment with the Awake Stone?”

  “Yes. The doctor said you had to be conscious to be treated afterward, but the king already had plans in motion. He sealed this room off and assigned 24/7 guards for me and Roka.”

  She looks proud—like she successfully retold a very complicated story.

  “I’ll go get Roka. She’ll want to see you. I promised her.”

  She hurries out.

  I lie there, processing everything.

  Married. Drugged MP. Loyal seals. Awakened stones.

  I open my status again.

  MP: –1.

  Right. Let’s fix that.

  [Level Up] [Accept]

  MP goes to 0.

  HP and SP refill.

  Still drugged, still weak.

  [Level Up] [Accept]

  MP fills completely.

  I check again.

  Status Effect: Drugged.

  Still there.

  …Huh?

  I glance at the IV tube.

  Then at the status screen.

  Back at the IV.

  Oh.

  Ohhhhhh.

  I should probably pull that out first.

  I rip the IV out.

  NOW—

  [Level Up] [Accept]

  Strength floods back instantly.

  Level 27.

  I stand up and stretch.

  “I’m back, baby!”

  To an audience of zero.