At this moment, the royal palace had become a place where even the slightest movement would immediately be noticed by every faction.
All the nobles, whether they liked it or not, kept a close eye on the royal palace's every move, fearing that a lack of information might lead to disastrous consequences.
Meanwhile, the noble children who once acted arrogantly and unscrupulously outside were now confined to their homes by their respective families, forbidden from causing trouble. Additionally, the knightly orders under these families were also forced to act with extreme caution, not daring to do anything that might raise suspicion from the royal family.
All of this gave the royal capital a tense and severe atmosphere.
In such a situation, the joint protest made by Riezel and Yuri to the royal family was like a beacon in the eyes of the already anxious nobles.
"A joint protest from the Lightning Sword Saint and Marquis Frenzel?"
"A Sword Saint and a Strategic-Class Magician protesting together? Even the royal family can't ignore them, right?"
"Ignore them? Are you joking? Haven't you heard what they're protesting about?"
"I heard that Sword Saint Riezel Brynhart harshly condemned Prince Sorren in the letter. He was furious about His Highness secretly kidnapping his family and strongly demanded that the royal family give an explanation."
"If the royal family doesn't handle this well, things could get ugly."
As soon as the nobles heard the news, they exchanged their opinions with each other.
In their eyes, Riezel's actions were perfectly reasonable and justified.
Having one's family kidnapped in secret by royalty without any official reason or justification was undeniably a criminal act.
Had it been an ordinary person's family, the situation might have been different, but Sorren had actually kidnapped the family of a Sword Saint, which made things much worse.
No one believed that a revered and respected Sword Saint should remain silent in such a situation.
Moreover, if one were to delve deeper, it raised questions about whether the royal family had ulterior motives for doing that or whether they were plotting something shameful against the Sword Saint, which could easily be interpreted as a sign of a bigger conspiracy.
As a result, when news of the joint protest letter broke, the nobles immediately realized that the royal family was in deep trouble this time.
Facing a justified accusation from a Sword Saint, the royal family couldn't simply brush it off and definitely had to respond.
Of course, in this kind of situation, there were plenty of people eager to kick them when they were down.
"Rena."
In the study in the Cordelion residence, Sergius, who had just returned from the royal palace after being personally interrogated by Hendrick, talked to Serena after hearing the news.
"Write a letter in my name, supporting the protest."
"Say that, as a fellow descendant of the royal bloodline, I am deeply ashamed of Prince Sorren's actions. Laying hands on the family of a Sword Saint is the greatest insult and disrespect. A member of the royal family who does not set a good example for the people, but instead commits such disgraceful acts, has committed a serious crime. Thereby, the kingdom must punish those responsible accordingly."
Once this letter was sent, there was only one direction this would go.
It would escalate.
As the leader of the Duke Faction, the Cordelion family took the lead in publicly supporting Sword Saint Riezel Brynhart, openly questioning the actions of the royal family.
Needless to say, this was like pouring fuel on an already raging fire, intensifying the situation even further, especially when the other nobles in the Duke Faction followed suit, sending letters of protest and demanding severe punishment for Sorren—the whole matter would definitely explode, spiraling out of control.
However, this was not the end.
Even the other Sword Saints surprisingly began sending letters to the royal palace, joining in the protest.
—Attacking the family of a Sword Saint is an act that chills my heart. I hope the kingdom delivers the proper punishment to those responsible for such a crime. Otherwise, I will not be able to rest easy.
This was the content of the letter sent by the Guardian Sword Saint stationed at Jinas's border. Even though it was only a short paragraph, it made everyone aware of his stance.
—As a fellow Sword Saint, such an incident truly makes me uneasy. I hope the kingdom will deliver the proper punishment to those responsible for such a crime.
This was the letter from the Meteor Sword Saint, who was wandering abroad, and it wasn't much different from the first one.
—I hope the kingdom will deliver the proper punishment to those responsible for such a crime.
This was the letter from the Borley family's Sword Saint. It was brief and straight to the point, demanding the punishment of the culprit without a single wasted word.
Ultimately, the formal protest letters from the three Sword Saints plunged the royal palace into a state of chaos.
Everyone understood that they weren't siding with Riezel or supporting the Duke Faction but were simply taking a stand from their own perspective, finding the situation unacceptable.
One should know that they were all Sword Saints, holding the same status as Riezel. If someone in the royal family could target Riezel's family today, what would stop them from going after theirs tomorrow?
Needless to say, this was a development they would never allow.
As a result, they each sent a protest letter, and it was obvious that these protest letters were delivered with magic, arriving at the royal palace just a day after Riezel and Yuri sent their joint protest letter.
However, what made it worse was that, in addition to their status as Sword Saints, these three also held the status of major nobles, meaning the royal family could not possibly ignore their opinions.
When Riezel heard about this, he was genuinely surprised.
"Who would've thought all those Sword Saints would get involved?"
He truly hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
He wasn't too shocked by the Cordelion family jumping in to kick the royal family while they were down, as it was predictable, but the fact that these Sword Saints, whom he had never even met, were making their opinions known at this critical moment truly caught him off guard.
Although Yuri was also surprised, she knew they did this not because of Riezel.
"They're not helping you but helping themselves..."
Yuri explained the reason to Riezel.
"Like you, they're also Sword Saints. If they don't protest now, who knows if someone might ignore their status and pull the same lowly trick on them someday?"
"So, to prevent that from happening, they need to make their stance clear and voice their strong opposition as soon as possible so everyone, especially the royal family, knows where they stand."
"Moreover, this is the only way to curb the arrogant behavior of those targeting a Sword Saint without restraint—to let everyone know they won't take it lying down."
After hearing Yuri's explanation, Riezel understood.
He had never met these Sword Saints, and they were neither friends nor family, so it was basically impossible for them to act for his sake.
Regardless, thanks to them, his demand for an explanation from the royal family had become much easier to achieve, making it difficult for the royal family to retreat.
Now, his problem had escalated to something almost involving the entire circle of Sword Saints.
If the royal family couldn't handle this situation properly, they would definitely be in serious trouble.
===
Royal Palace, Throne Room.
Hendrick sat on the throne, staring at the protest letters one by one, feeling an intense headache coming on.
In this tense situation, Rohm appeared behind Hendrick and spoke up to give him a bit of advice.
"Your Majesty, this matter is not to be taken lightly. We must come up with an answer that will satisfy these Sword Saints as soon as possible, or it might turn into a nationwide crisis."
Anyone with a brain knew that the conflict between multiple Sword Saints and a kingdom, if not resolved soon, would undoubtedly lead to major upheaval. If foreign forces took advantage of this situation to stir up trouble and split the kingdom and the Sword Saints, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Not to mention, the Guardian Sword Saint was currently stationed at the border, helping Jinas defend against external invasions. If he lost trust in the royal family or became dissatisfied with the kingdom, it could lead to disaster at any moment.
As for the Meteor Sword Saint, he had long wandered in foreign lands and had significant contact with outside forces. If provoked, the possibility of his defecting and changing sides was not out of the question.
Lastly, the Borley family's Sword Saint went without saying.
One should know that the Borley family held a pivotal position in Jinas. They were Jinas's sharpest blade, with a Sword Saint emerging each generation to protect it.
Moreover, the royal knightly order was also under their command, and nearly every knight in the kingdom saw this family as their idol, their spiritual pillar. If they decided to take any action against the royal family, and the royal knightly order followed, it would shake the very foundation of the kingdom.
Besides, there was also Reizel Brynhart, the unprecedented youngest Sword Saint in history, who happened to be a Tactical-Class Magician as well—his future was completely unpredictable.
Needless to say, if things weren't handled well, the trouble could be exceptionally enormous.
Naturally, this didn't even take into account the Strategic-Class Magician, Yuri, or the One-Eyed Sword Saint from the Cordelion family.
One stood with Riezel, the other with Sergius, both ready to protest against the royal family at any moment.
In short, all of these individuals were the continent's most honored swordsmen and magicians, so any trouble they caused would bring tremendous damage to the kingdom in no time.
Hendrick himself was well aware of the gravity of the situation.
However—
'Sorren is already severely injured, almost at death's door, and he's still unconscious! How am I supposed to punish him?!'
Hendrick was both frustrated and angry.
'Am I supposed to send him to his death?'
In truth, Hendrick was still on Sorren's side.
It wasn't that he believed Sorren was right, but Sorren was, after all, the best among his children.
If he didn't support Sorren, who else could he support?
As for Sorren's brutal and vicious personality, though he felt uneasy about it, he didn't see it as a big problem.
Born into a royal family, he knew well that people like Sorren were born to stand above others, as whatever they did, they almost always got their way. Given this, the arrogance and recklessness of a young prince were nothing unusual.
In fact, he had been even worse than Sorren when he was younger, but once he ascended the throne, his temperament matured with age, his perspective changed, and in the end, he settled down, no longer as brash as before.
He really saw a lot of himself in Sorren, so he believed that once Sorren matured, he would definitely change.
It was precisely because of this belief that he had always turned a blind eye to the things Sorren had done and continued to support him.