"Hahh..."
Yuri, who had already returned to her office, seemed to be disinterested in working.
At this moment, she sat at her desk, continually sighing.
Even Marilyn couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable watching her master like this.
"How about I go fetch Young Master Isaac and Young Lady Mediste?"
Marilyn suggested, planning to bring the younger siblings back to their senses.
"Never mind..." Yuri shook her head. "They don't have much entertainment at the main residence and rarely get a chance to play around like this, so let them enjoy themselves."
Marilyn wanted to say something but hesitated.
After a moment of serious pondering, she decided against it.
"I've handed them over to one of the servants to give to him..." Marilyn replied, noticing that her master seemed to perk up. "However, he didn't look at them himself and passed them all back to the servant, who didn't dare deal with them casually, so now they're all with me."
"Yeah, that's so like him..." Yuri nodded with a wry smile. "Anyone still sending letters to Riezel or requesting meetings must be of high status, not just minor nobles. At the very least, they'd have to be major nobles or even higher than our family, like dukes, for example..."
"I took a quick look through it, and indeed, most of it was sent by marquises, with quite a few from dukes..." Marilyn said in a completely flat tone. "As for counts, there were fewer, probably because they feel their status isn't high enough to have a relationship with a Sword Saint, but among them, Mr. Riezel's two friends still sent invitations for a meeting, as usual."
She was clearly referring to Archie and Carrera.
"Seriously, those two are really persistent..." Yuri said with a hint of annoyance. "Carrera Elliott might just be acting as a go-between, but Archie Rhein is being a bit shameless..."
"Reports indicate that this Rhein family's second son has been eager to meet Mr. Riezel ever since he became a Sword Saint." Marilyn explained. "Apparently, after Count Rhein drastically changed his attitude and claimed that if his second son could invite Mr. Riezel to their residence, he would make him the heir, which has made this second son a bit impatient."
She didn't mention that Archie had actually come to the Frenzel residence several times over the past few days.
Since Riezel was always engaged in challenges, the arena was packed with spectators—three layers inside and three layers outside. Ain and Ian were rotating shifts to maintain order with the knights, which meant Archie couldn't get in.
Each time, Archie came with high hopes but left disappointed.
Let alone stepping into the residence gate, he couldn't even step into the arena's perimeter.
However, there was nothing he could do since this wasn't just any family but the Frenzel family. As a mere son of a count, he couldn't afford to pull any strings or ask anyone to make way for him to enter.
Not to mention Archie, many nobles also came hoping to see Riezel and establish connections during his battles in the arena, but he didn't pay them any mind.
In the first place, these battles were for Riezel to gain free excelia daily, not to entertain these so-called nobles with idle chit-chat, so he truly had no interest in interacting with them.
As a result, Riezel instructed Ain and Ian to allow only those coming to challenge him near the arena, keeping everyone else at a distance.
Moreover, since there might be some family members from count, marquis, or even duke families among the spectators, Archie definitely didn't dare to act recklessly, so he ended up leaving peacefully each time.
Marilyn chose not to mention these details to Yuri, finding them unnecessary.
First of all, for Yuri and the current Riezel, anyone from count families wasn't even worth their attention. Even if the count himself came personally and requested a meeting, they could easily decline, let alone a mere son of a count.
Even if it was someone from marquis families, there was no need for Riezel and Yuri to personally greet them unless it was the marquis themself who arrived in person.
However, it was a different matter when it came to duke families.
Since they were the royal family's relatives and held significant influence in the kingdom, it made it difficult to refuse them. If the duke came personally, even Yuri would have to greet them herself, and she couldn't just dismiss the meeting invitation they sent.
"How about this? You bring all the letters from dukes to me, and I'll review and respond to them personally..." Yuri said after thinking for a moment. "As for the rest, just send a polite refusal."
She did this because she knew Riezel had no interest in these matters. Even if the letters were from dukes, he would probably just toss them aside without a second thought and definitely wouldn't respond to them or agree to any meeting invitations.
Knowing this, Yuri could only help him by declining politely.
Since they were still high-ranking officials of the kingdom, ignoring them would undoubtedly offend them. So, even if Riezel wasn't interested, it was best to refuse politely and respectfully, giving them some courtesy.
Besides, there was no need to make enemies over such trivial matters. If they held a grudge, it could become a great deal of trouble.
She was quite familiar with handling such situations and knew the best way to deal with them. After all, when she became a Strategic-Class Magician and was promoted to marquis, her popularity was certainly on par with, if not greater than, Riezel's current popularity.
"Understood."
Answering calmly, Marilyn naturally had no objections.
However, just then, Ain suddenly knocked on the door and entered the room.
"My Lady!"
As soon as she entered, the usually calm and collected female knight appeared somewhat flustered.
"What's wrong?" Yuri furrowed her brow.
"Someone is here to visit."
Ain spoke briefly as usual, but there was an unprecedented hint of anxiety on her face and voice.
"Visit? Who?" Yuri asked instinctively.
A moment later, Ain gave a response that made both Yuri's and Marilyn's expressions change slightly.
"It's the ninth princess..."
Ain took a deep breath before uttering the name.
"Princess Lizbeth Jinas."
===
At this moment, Riezel was still in the arena, facing his 199th challenge, with the number of defeated challengers soon reaching two hundred.
It sounded quite intimidating, but compared to the number of challenges he had faced in the past few days, it wasn't that much.
Additionally, the arena was almost continuously in operation from morning to evening, only pausing for a meal and stopping just at sunset. Given his lightning-fast speed in defeating his challengers, handling a thousand challenges in a single day was not impossible.
In other words, the current number was really nothing to him.
While Riezel enjoyed his relentless win streak, Ian, who was meticulously registering the challengers' names and their order, was suddenly approached by a knight who hurriedly whispered something in her ear.
"What?"
Ian's hand movement momentarily faltered as she showed a look of surprise.
*BOOM!*
A thunder-like roar sounded at the same moment, followed by a lightning bolt striking down a challenger who had just stepped onto the arena.
"Next."
Riezel sheathed his sword and stood still, this time not offering any guidance but simply announcing the next challenger.
However, Ian did not call out the next challenger's name.
"Wait a moment, Mr. Riezel."
She approached with a serious expression, moving to Riezel's side.
"Hmm? What's up?"
Riezel looked slightly taken aback, his gaze filled with confusion as he looked at Ian's serious expression.
'Does she want to challenge me again?'
In recent days, apart from external challengers, there had also been challengers from the Frenzel family—namely, Ain and Ian.
Seeing that Riezel truly had the strength and abilities of a Sword Saint and was willing to accept any challenge while offering guidance, Ain and Ian were interested, just like the other swordsmen.
A Sword Saint's guidance was immensely valuable, and even special cases like the Letto brothers gained much from it.
For swordsmen like Ain and Ian, it was clearly even more enticing.
Although both of them were Sword Masters, they were relatively inexperienced.
It was understandable, as they had only recently become Sword Masters, not even two years into it, making them novices compared to experienced and expert Sword Masters like the Letto brothers, Marco, and Alder, who all had at least the power of Level 6.
Ain and Ian, on the other hand, were not only at the lower end of Level 5, but their swordsmanship wasn't even Special Swordsmanship, making the chance to receive guidance from a Sword Saint a rare opportunity.
Because of this, like the other swordsmen, they had also challenged Riezel and received guidance from him.
Riezel, with the Transparent World and his long experience as an instructor in the Demon Slayer Corps, found it quite easy to offer valuable advice.
As a result, his guidance was very useful, greatly benefiting Ain and Ian, who closely followed him and humbly accepted his advice.
Riezel thought Ian was simply eager to challenge him again and learn more, but he was clearly mistaken this time.
"Mr. Riezel, an important guest is here for you."
Ian whispered in Riezel's ear, bringing with her a sweet aroma.
"A guest for me?"
Riezel felt uncomfortable and frowned at the mention of a guest.
"Who?"
Someone important enough for Ian to interrupt him must be special.
Sure enough—
"It's a princess of Jinas..." Ian said with pursed lips. "Her Highness specifically requested to see you."
"..."
Riezel fell silent immediately.