Royal Capital Yeluvia, Frenzel Family’s Secondary Residence, Top Floor.
In the rather luxurious office, Yuri sat there as usual, handling her work.
However, while handling the work, Yuri remained frozen in place, still holding the quill pen as if she had spaced out.
"My lady?"
Beside Yuri, Marilyn furrowed her brows, looking somewhat helpless as she spoke, calling out to Yuri.
"What’s wrong?" Yuri snapped back to reality and asked.
"You’re spacing out again." Marilyn reminded with a deadpan expression.
It could be said that the clever use of the word ’again’ clearly showed that the same thing had happened before and wasn’t the first time.
"...I wasn’t spacing out." Yuri’s expression turned slightly annoyed as she argued. "I was just thinking about something, not spacing out."
"Thinking?" Marilyn’s expression remained unchanged. "I don’t think you were thinking about something. I think you were thinking about someone."
"I wasn’t." Yuri quickly retorted.
"No, you were." Marilyn said this with absolute certainty.
"I told you I wasn’t!" Yuri continued to argue.
"No, you definitely were." Marilyn calmly pointed this out.
"I—"
Yuri was about to say something, but Marilyn interrupted her.
"If you really miss Mr. Riezel, then just contact him already." Marilyn said, looking like she couldn’t stand it anymore. "You both have communication magic crystals, and you’ve both recorded the wavelength of each other’s crystal, so you can contact each other anytime, right?"
"..."
Yuri immediately lost her words.
"My lady... could it be that you’re shy?" Marilyn asked with narrowed eyes.
"Wh-Who said I’m shy?!" Yuri’s voice grew louder like she’d been hit where it hurt. "It’s just using the communication magic crystal to talk. What’s the big deal?"
"Indeed." Marilyn nodded in agreement, but then suddenly changed her tone. "In that case, how about you contact Mr. Riezel right now?"
"R-Right now?" Yuri couldn’t help but shrink her neck, her voice shrinking again. "Isn’t that a bit too much?"
"I think that if you don’t hear Mr. Riezel’s voice soon, that would be a real problem." Marilyn said bluntly. "In the last half month, you’ve spaced out at least ten times a day, and it’s starting to affect your work. Moreover, this habit is getting worse, so if you don’t do something about it, the whole Frenzel family might be in trouble."
"Is it that serious?" Yuri furrowed her brows, looking displeased. "It’s not that dramatic, right?"
Hearing this, Marilyn didn’t even want to respond anymore.
Not that dramatic?
Would someone who wasn’t dramatic daydream every day, unknowingly pick up a quill while handling work and sign Riezel’s name on documents meant for signature?
Clearly, this wasn’t just about how serious the issue was but about how serious the condition was.
Sighing lightly, Marilyn spoke again.
"If you’re too shy to contact Mr. Riezel, I can help you contact him instead."
As she said this, Marilyn immediately took out a communication magic crystal from her clothes.
When Yuri gave Riezel a communication magic crystal, she had recorded Marilyn’s crystal wavelength in it, as well as Riezel’s crystal wavelength in Marilyn’s crystal, so Marilyn could contact Riezel as well.
Knowing this, Yuri became extremely panicked.
"W-Wait! Don’t act impulsively!" Yuri exclaimed, quickly trying to stop Marilyn.
"Please don’t stop me, it’ll be fine soon." Marilyn ignored her master and started initiating the communication.
"Stop! At least let me prepare mentally first!" Yuri screamed in panic.
Marilyn looked at Yuri with the expression of someone looking at a coward, but didn’t slow down her actions to contact Riezel.
"Stop it!"
Yuri, in a panic, raised her hand and unleashed a purple wave.
In an attempt to stop Marilyn, Marquis Frenzel actually used her proud and terrifying Decomposition Magic.
"My lady?!"
Marilyn was shocked and quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the purple wave heading toward the communication magic crystal in her hand.
As the purple wave shot past Marilyn, it flew toward the nearby bookshelf.
"Not good! Yesterday’s finished documents are in there!" Marilyn exclaimed in panic.
Upon hearing this, Yuri froze.
Just as they both mentally prepared themselves to redo yesterday’s work, a section of the room suddenly turned black.
A circular purple-black portal, like a black hole sucking everything in, opened in front of the bookshelf, and two people stepped out of it.
Coincidentally, the purple wave shot straight toward one of them, causing both Yuri and Marilyn to widen their eyes.
"Magic Destruction."
In the next second, a familiar voice came from that person’s mouth, accompanied by a dazzling magic circle that unfolded in front of him.
It clashed head-on with the incoming purple wave, and in the end, it seemed to break the purple wave apart, as the Decomposition Magic, which could break down any object, actually began to break down before vanishing completely.
"..."
In that instant, the air suddenly fell silent.
Yuri and Marilyn stared blankly at the two people walking out of the portal, and among the two, the smaller one seemed just as confused, as if the situation had come out of nowhere.
Only the person who had just cast magic, eliminating Yuri’s Decomposition Magic, remained silent, standing there for a long while.
"By the way... isn’t this welcoming ceremony a bit too enthusiastic?"
Riezel, who had walked out from ’Gate’, couldn’t help but comment sarcastically aloud.
Upon hearing Riezel’s voice, Yuri and Marilyn finally snapped back to reality.
"Wh-What’s going on?!"
Just like that, the office, which had been somewhat quiet, suddenly became lively.
===
Half a month had passed, and Riezel and Yuri were once again sitting across from each other in her office.
In front of them, a cup of fragrant red tea had somehow appeared, allowing them to sip and chat as they talked.
"I see..."
Yuri calmly took a sip of her tea, then organized Riezel’s explanation before simply repeating what he had said.
"So, you’re saying that you’ve actually reached Mavros Territory, and even got to Bessare, the border closest to Sinielle, but because Princess Lizbeth wanted to go home, you used magic to bring her back, right?"
"Umu." Riezel also took a sip of tea, equally calm, and nodded at Yuri. "I’m glad you understood so quickly."
"Glad?" Yuri smiled faintly, but her eyes showed no amusement. "Do you really think that explanation was enough, oh Lord Lightning Sword Saint?"
"What else do you want?" Riezel seemed completely unaware of Yuri’s mood, chuckling lightly. "I’ve told you nothing but the truth, not a word of a lie. Isn’t that explanation enough?"
"Enough, you say... Are you kidding me?!" Yuri exploded, unable to hold back her loud voice. "One magic spell can take you straight from Bessare in Mavros Territory to the royal capital? And you even pinpointed my office directly? How is anyone supposed to accept that?!"
At least, as one of the continent’s eight Strategic-Class Magicians, Yuri couldn’t accept this ridiculous fact.
"When did such absurd magic even exist in this world?!"
"Why did I never know about it?!"
"Where did you even learn this kind of magic?!"
"No, my head’s a mess..."
Yuri rubbed her temples, her face looking tired.
Not only Yuri, but even Marilyn, who was quietly listening nearby, felt like she was hearing a fictional story.
"Mavros Territory is at the southernmost tip of Jinas, and Bessare is at the very edge of this southern land. It’s at least twenty territories away from the royal capital Yeluvia, which is at the heart of the kingdom. If you traveled by carriage without rest, it would take at least a month, right?"
Yet, with just one magic spell, Riezel could easily erase that whole month-long journey, making travel between the two places effortless.
Even Marilyn, who was usually calm and composed, couldn’t help but feel stunned.
However, amid her shock, Marilyn couldn’t help but worry about something else.
"Did you say you wanted to come back?"
Marilyn, turning her gaze to Lizbeth, who was standing by Riezel’s side, asked in a cold voice with furrowed brows.
"Why do you suddenly want to return? Don’t you even have the determination to follow your master and wander the world?"
Marilyn’s words carried a subtle disappointment that others might not catch.
"N-No, it’s not like that!" Lizbeth quickly shook her head.
"Then... why do you want to come back?" Marilyn stared into Lizbeth’s eyes as if trying to see through her thoughts.
"I..." Lizbeth opened her mouth but quickly lowered her head. "I just want to go to the royal palace and see Fath—His Majesty, and ask him something."
Lizbeth’s answer stunned Marilyn.
"Ask something?"
Even Yuri momentarily let go of her concerns about Riezel’s Gate and shifted her focus.
Ultimately, Riezel explained to Yuri and Marilyn.
"We ran into some issues in Mavros Territory, and this involves Lizbeth’s origins."
Yuri and Marilyn immediately fell silent, especially Marilyn, whose gaze toward Lizbeth became more complicated.
Lizbeth, full of regret, spoke again.
"I know this is selfish, but I really want to ask His Majesty how he met my mother and what kind of person she was."
Yes, this had been a decision Lizbeth had struggled with, thinking about it for a long time, until she finally made up her mind.
She really wanted to ask Hendrick if he knew about her origins.
What other identity did she have besides being the princess of Jinas, the illegitimate daughter of the current king?
What connection did she, and Moslow in her arms, have to the ancient magic civilization?
What was ’that clan’ Maya had been mentioning?
All these questions had been troubling Lizbeth for quite some time, so much so that she decided to return and ask Hendrick, who might be the only one who could offer some clue.
Riezel understood Lizbeth’s feelings, which was why he immediately agreed to her request without hesitation and used Gate to return to the royal capital, letting her meet Hendrick.
"...Have you thought this through?"
Marilyn was silent for a while before speaking.
"You’re no longer a princess, but rather an attendant swordsman sent out by the royal family. You know the royal family’s rules, right?"
Indeed, the royal family’s rules were clear—a princess sent out as an attendant could no longer be recognized as part of the royal family and definitely couldn’t claim to be one of them.
Because the royal family still had pride, they couldn’t let others know that, in order to recruit promising and powerful individuals, they had sent their own princess to serve as an attendant for someone else.
Even though this couldn’t be hidden from everyone, at least it shouldn’t be widely known.
For this reason, strictly speaking, Lizbeth was no longer a royal, nor the king’s daughter, but just an attendant. By the rules, she shouldn’t have the qualifications to meet Hendrick.
Of course, this was only the case if Lizbeth were just a normal attendant.
"What if it’s in my name?" Riezel chimed in calmly. "If it’s in my name, then the King should be willing to meet Lizbeth, right?"
Needless to say, Hendrick would be more than happy to get closer to Riezel.
If Riezel truly requested a meeting in his own name, even if Hendrick were busy in his chamber with his beloved consort, he would immediately get out of bed and come to meet Riezel.
However—
"But that way, you might end up falling into that old fox’s trap and find yourself in a situation where you owe him a favor."
Yuri understood the situation and quickly dismissed Riezel’s approach before turning to Lizbeth.
"How about this? I just happen to need to go to the royal palace for a while. They say some ancient magic civilization’s documents have been discovered, and the King is gathering the court magicians to study them. Lizbeth, why don’t you come with me? I’ll take you to meet the King."
"Isn’t that too much trouble for you?" Lizbeth asked hesitantly.
"It’s just guiding the way and passing on a message." Yuri smiled and shook her head. "I’m sure the King won’t refuse my request to meet him. I’ll find a chance to excuse myself, and you’ll be able to have a proper conversation with him then."
At this, Lizbeth still hesitated, unconsciously looking at Riezel.
Riezel nodded at Lizbeth, signaling her to go on.
With Riezel’s support, Lizbeth took a deep breath before bowing her head to Yuri.
"Then... I’ll trouble you!"
"It’s nothing." Yuri responded with a carefree look, even seeming a bit happy.
It couldn’t be helped.
She had finally met the person she had wanted to see all this time, so her spirits were naturally lifted.
Seeing Yuri, Marilyn couldn’t help but mumble a few words about her master in her heart.
Unaware of all this, Riezel continued drinking his tea, seemingly indifferent, but only he knew what was really on his mind.