Yeluvia, Royal Palace.
When the carriage, engraved with the Frenzel family's crest, entered the royal palace once again, Riezel paid another visit to this white castle.
However, this time, he could clearly sense that the atmosphere was vastly different from the last time.
Last time, due to the award ceremony, he had seen numerous nobles gathered here, all dressed in extravagant attire, heading toward the audience room while chatting happily—clearly had the air of a celebration.
Meanwhile, the current royal palace seemed to have turned into a heavily fortified fortress, where fully armored knights could be seen everywhere, marching in groups and rushing about with an intimidating presence—tension was palpable throughout.
"Looks like whatever happened really shook the royal family, huh..."
Riezel watched everything unfold as if it had nothing to do with him, and even the remark he made carried an air of detachment, making it obvious to anyone that he was keeping himself out of it.
Lizbeth, on the other hand, was looking nervous and guilty, acting like a thief caught red-handed.
'Seriously, she really doesn't know how to hide her emotions?'
Lizbeth's guilty expression right now practically screamed that she was the culprit behind Sorren's incident.
"Lizbeth." Riezel patted her on the shoulder. "Relax, okay? You know, the way you're acting, people will think something's up even if there isn't."
"Uhh… Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Lizbeth knew she had brought trouble and quickly became dejected.
"I know..." Riezel massaged her stiff shoulders a bit. "Don't overthink it, yeah? Just clear your head and treat it like you're going home. In the first place, this is your home, right? There's no need to be so tense."
"U-Um... I'll try my best..."
Lizbeth, after being massaged by Riezel a few times, seemed to relax a little and became shy.
"Good, that's better."
Riezel smiled slightly and let go of Lizbeth's shoulders.
"Alright, let's head in."
Lizbeth nodded repeatedly and followed behind Riezel as they walked toward the throne room.
According to Yuri, the entrance to the royal treasury was known only to the king, and no one else, not even the other royal family members, knew its location.
Surprisingly, this included Yuri herself, who, despite claiming to have entered the royal treasury once, had no idea where it was located.
"I really did go somewhere with the King, but when I snapped back to my senses, the royal treasury's door was already right in front of me."
At that time, Yuri spoke in an almost mystical tone while describing her experience to Riezel.
Nevertheless, thanks to this, Riezel's curiosity about the so-called royal treasury had only grown stronger, and he was eager to see what mysteries lay within.
Since Riezel had been to the throne room a while ago, he remembered its location, so even if Yuri hadn't come with him this time, he knew exactly where to go.
After navigating through several twists and turns, Riezel and Lizbeth finally arrived at the entrance to the throne room.
"Sword Saint Riezel Brynhart, here to seek an audience!"
Just like last time, a court official stood by the door of the throne room, and upon seeing Riezel, he immediately called out loudly toward the inside, signaling the two knights beside the large door to slowly push it open.
"I-I'll just wait here for you, Master."
Lizbeth spoke hurriedly, knowing that, as an attendant, she couldn't go any further.
"Alright. Wait for me to come out." Riezel nodded calmly.
As soon as the door to the throne room opened, he immediately entered the throne room alone.
As he entered, he scanned the room and saw that it looked exactly the same as last time. Nothing had changed, except that the officials and knights stationed on both sides were all gone. Only Hendrick remained, seated on the throne, seemingly reviewing a document.
Of course, he knew Hendrick wasn't actually alone in this room.
Riezel cast a discreet glance at the empty space behind Hendrick before stepping forward to the throne.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Riezel bowed his head slightly, his expression calm and unreadable.
"You're here..."
Hendrick lifted his head from the document in his hand, his face showing the same friendly smile to Riezel as when they had first met.
Hendrick closed the document and set it aside before speaking.
"I owe you an apology."
Hendrick opened the conversation with an apology.
"My son acted inappropriately toward your family, and that's due to my failure to supervise him. I hope you can forgive me, Sir Brynhart."
As Hendrick spoke, he even bowed his head slightly, offering a sincere apology.
Seeing this, Riezel felt a bit surprised, as he had not expected the king to bow his head in apology to him.
'Now this is interesting...'
Riezel's eyes flickered slightly, but his face remained calm as always.
"Your Majesty, you're being too kind." Riezel calmly shook his head. "In the first place, this isn't your fault but Prince Sorren's, so you don't need to apologize for that."
"No, I've said it already, this was my failure in keeping him in check."
Hendrick shook his head as well, his expression laced with guilt.
"I've been too lenient with him, and now he's grown bold, thinking he can do whatever he wants. I thought at least he'd have some sense of boundaries, but to think he would go as far as to target the family of a Sword Saint... it's truly..."
Hendrick sighed softly while discreetly observing Riezel's reaction.
Riezel remained silent, simply standing in place, his quietness speaking volumes.
Seeing this, Hendrick's eyes flashed with a thoughtful glimmer, but he quickly regained his composure.
"If I'm being honest, that incident is what he brought upon himself." Hendrick continued. "He ignored my order to stay in the palace and learned a harsh lesson because of it. I hope Sir Brynhart can let this matter rest."
Hendrick's intent was clear—since Sorren had suffered enough, he asked Riezel not to pursue the matter any further.
"Of course..." Riezel replied calmly. "If I've come here today, it means I no longer intend to pursue it."
Even though Riezel said this, only he himself knew how much of his words were true and how much was false—at the very least, Hendrick couldn't tell.
As a result, Hendrick could only give Riezel a deep look for a moment before speaking again.
"Hmm, that's good to hear, but as compensation, I'll take you to Jinas's most prized royal treasury and let you choose one treasure."
"In our kingdom, very few people get such an opportunity. Even royal family members usually don't have access, and only those who have made significant contributions to the kingdom are granted permission to select a treasure from the royal treasury."
"For example, Marquis Frenzel, whom you know, was given a chance to enter after becoming a Strategic-Class Magician, ascending to the rank of marquis, and becoming the Chief Court Magician."
"Also, the Guardian Sword Saint, who is currently guarding the border, has worked tirelessly and has always been defending our homeland, so he was also once allowed to enter the royal treasury."
"Another Strategic-Class Magician of our kingdom has also entered the royal treasury, along with the Borley family's Sword Saint."
"Aside from them, no more than five people in the entire kingdom have had the privilege of entering the royal treasury."
As Hendrick explained, his tone was filled with a sense of pride and allure.
"If Sir Brynhart is willing to serve the kingdom, it's not impossible to enter again in the future."
Such a statement clearly had an ulterior motive.
"Is that so?" Riezel smiled lightly, acting ignorant. "In that case, I'd better check it out for myself."
"If you're ready, then let's go." Hendrick nodded, acting as though there was nothing more to it. "I'll take you there right now."
With that, Hendrick stood up from the throne, picked up the sword leaning by his side, and slowly walked over to Riezel.
*Thud!*
Suddenly, Hendrick tapped the floor with the sword, creating a heavy thud.
In that instant, the floor split apart.
Yes.
With Hendrick's action, the floor split apart as if some kind of mechanism had been triggered, causing both Riezel and Hendrick to immediately lose their balance and begin falling downward.
"?!"
Riezel's eyes narrowed, just about to make a move when Hendrick's voice echoed in his ears.
"Don't resist."
Hendrick extended his hand toward Riezel, showing that he was completely relaxed, not offering any resistance.
Staring at Hendrick, Riezel stayed silent but gave up on making any moves, letting himself fall downward.
Luckily, the fall didn't last long.
As they reached a certain point, a mist, like water vapor, rose up, enveloping both of them and causing Riezel and Hendrick to stop falling, suspended in the mist as if floating in the water.
Before long, Riezel could feel himself moving.
"What's this?"
Riezel glanced around with a look of surprise on his face.
What he saw was an area filled with a dense mist, like steam, completely obscuring his view of the surroundings and making it impossible to see where they were heading.
He tried using the Transparent World but found that the mist actually interfered with his senses, blocking any attempts to investigate.
As a result, he couldn't see through the mist, nor did he have any idea where they were moving. He could only drift along, like a leaf carried by the current, completely losing control of his own body.
"What you're seeing right now is a magical substance called the 'Mist of Nothingness'. Its formation requires extremely harsh conditions."
Hendrick's voice sounded in Riezel's ears.
"It will take us to the royal treasury, so don't resist. Just wait quietly for a moment."
Upon hearing this, Riezel neither nodded nor responded but simply remained silent and waited.