Obviously, the so-called 'go out for a walk' that Riezel mentioned was not just taking a few laps around Lizbeth's bedchamber—he truly intended to go outside.
Hence, with Euryale, Lizbeth, and Luna accompanying him, he directly left the bedchamber.
Originally, it should have been impossible for their group to leave Lizbeth's residence so smoothly, considering that she was still effectively under house arrest by the king.
If she merely wandered around within the bedchamber area, then she still retained a certain degree of freedom and would not be restricted. However, if she wished to leave the palace grounds, then she would first have to get past the knights stationed at the entrance to her residence, all of whom wore Sword Master Medals.
If she alone had tried to leave, those knights would definitely have stopped her, but with Riezel leading the group, it became a completely different matter.
As the current Sword Saint who had forced the king himself to back down through sheer strength, the matter of why Riezel had appeared in Lizbeth's residence was clearly already known to the knights.
They also knew that, regarding Lizbeth's situation, the king had already made a certain degree of compromise, as shown by how his current attitude was no longer as forceful as before and had instead shifted toward seeking Riezel's cooperation.
For that reason, upon seeing Riezel leading the group out, the knights merely exchanged glances with one another before immediately pretending not to notice anything at all, acting as though they had seen nothing and allowing the four members of his group to leave unhindered.
Naturally, the scene left the clueless Luna feeling somewhat incredulous.
"...They just let us through that easily?"
Clearly, this maid still had not realized just how significant the things Riezel had done within the royal palace truly were, nor how intimidating he appeared in the eyes of others.
She was merely a maid, and one who had spent years serving Lizbeth, a shut-in girl who rarely ever left her residence, so Luna's experience and understanding were naturally limited. Otherwise, she would never have dared to openly talk back to Riezel.
A Sword Saint, no matter how young, was not someone a mere maid could casually provoke. Not even a former princess like Marilyn had the qualifications to disrespect a Sword Saint. Even Hendrick, despite being the king himself, had to treat Riezel politely. Even if it was only superficial courtesy, it was still enough to demonstrate the status held by a Sword Saint.
Luna's situation could only be described as ignorance breeding fearlessness.
Fortunately, Riezel was not the sort of person who cared excessively about status. Otherwise, she would already have been charged with disrespect, and her fate would certainly have been worse than death.
Meanwhile, while the maid was still feeling astonished, Riezel had already begun strolling around the area while holding Lizbeth's hand with one hand and Euryale's with the other.
No matter where he went, the surrounding area was filled almost entirely with castles, and the atmosphere was rather deserted. Aside from the occasional knights patrolling through and servants or maids handling miscellaneous chores, there was practically nothing else to be seen.
"Hm, this place is pretty empty, huh?"
Riezel glanced around and casually commented.
"Because the people living here are mostly those who rarely show themselves in public."
Luna explained instinctively after recovering from her surprise.
"Unmarried princesses like Her Highness all live in this area, along with some consorts who have fallen out of favor with His Majesty and certain members of the royal family who also aren't particularly favored."
"For example, Crown Prince Reinhard Jinas, who has always been weak and sickly, used to live here until he became the professor of modern magic at Spriller Academy and moved out."
"And Seventh Prince Benedict Jinas has also continued living here because of his personality, which His Majesty has never liked."
"Oh, and Third Prince Sorren Jinas moved into one of the palace residences here not long ago as well."
Upon hearing that final sentence, Riezel raised a brow.
"Oh, that damn mad dog lives here now, too?"
Riezel's openly insulting remark frightened Luna badly.
Only Lizbeth, who knew something about the relationship between Riezel and Sorren, quietly explained the situation.
"Elder Brother Sorren—I mean, Third Prince Sorren only moved into this area after suffering severe injuries not long ago. Apparently, His Majesty wanted him to recover somewhere quiet."
Hearing that, Riezel narrowed his eyes.
"Hah, his injuries still haven't healed?"
Even though his tone sounded calm, there was also a faint trace of mockery hidden within it.
"Yes..." Lizbeth answered honestly, failing to notice the implication in his voice. "His Majesty used an ancient mystical artifact to heal his severe injuries, but apparently he still needs some time to recover... though he should be fully healed soon, right?"
Her assumption was understandable, considering this was a world where magic existed.
With the combined support of healing magic and recovery potions, even Riezel, whose Gate had once been damaged, had recovered completely from a near-death state within only a month. No matter what, that mad dog prince was still a prince, so the treatment he received would certainly not be inferior to what Riezel had once received and might even be better.
For that reason, even if Sorren had likewise been at death's door, he should already have nearly recovered by now.
"Hearing that actually kinda makes me miss him a little..." Riezel remarked calmly before abruptly changing the subject. "Which palace residence is he staying in?"
"Umm..."
Lizbeth immediately looked troubled.
She had only returned to the royal palace a few days ago, so there was no way for her to know which residence Sorren was currently staying in. After all, not long after Sorren's incident occurred, she had left the royal palace to become Riezel's attendant and had only recently returned.
"It's that one."
Luna, however, quickly pointed in a direction, drawing Riezel's gaze over.
In that instant, an enormous and magnificent structure entered his field of vision.
Unlike Lizbeth's somewhat remote residence, this grand residence surpassed hers in scale, decoration, and magnificence alike. It also occupied the most central position within the royal palace, surrounded by numerous castle buildings like stars encircling the moon.
"Hmph, that mad dog is staying there?" Riezel curled his lip in disdain. "Hendrick Jinas really does favor his third son."
Even after being relocated to a place that resembled a cold castle, the residence Sorren lived in still far surpassed everyone else's.
Clearly, that alone already explained many things.
Although many people, including Riezel, viewed Sorren as nothing more than a mad dog undeserving of such treatment, in Hendrick's eyes, he was still someone he valued greatly.
Or rather, perhaps that king simply did not have many alternatives.
Among the princes of the royal family, the only particularly famous and accomplished ones were Crown Prince Reinhard, Third Prince Sorren, and Seventh Prince Benedict.
Reinhard had been born intelligent and highly knowledgeable, serving as the professor of modern magic at Spriller Academy, but unfortunately, he had always been physically weak and thus incapable of practicing the War King Sword Style that had been passed down through the royal family for generations.
Benedict possessed exceptional talent in magic, as his magic compatibility in both the Transformation System and the Control System was 4th Grade, making him one of the most talented individuals below the Tactical-Class. Unfortunately, his timid and cowardly personality made him utterly unsuited to becoming king.
Only Sorren possessed the greatest swordsman talent among this generation of royal family descendants. He had become a Sword Master at the age of fifteen and was now already an expert Sword Master with the potential to become a Sword Saint in the future.
Compared to those advantages, his violent and arrogant personality was naturally ignored by Hendrick.
If the royal family did not wish for the throne to be taken by the nearly flawless genius son of Duke Cordelion, then they naturally had no choice but to support Sorren with everything they had.
Hendrick's favoritism toward Sorren had been born from the dual pressure of such internal and external factors.
"How ironic..."
Riezel did not bother concealing the ridicule in his voice.
"Hm?"
Just as the words left his mouth, however, he suddenly noticed something unusual.
"What are they doing over there?"
He pointed toward the entrance of Sorren's residence as he questioned Luna, who stood behind him.
At this moment, some sort of disturbance was occurring there.
A group of knights was carrying something out of Sorren's residence.
Upon closer inspection, the objects turned out to be long shapes wrapped entirely in white cloth, and the knights carried those long objects out from Sorren's residence with expressions filled with fear and grief.
Meanwhile, around them, a group of servants watched the scene with pale faces. Some were trembling uncontrollably, while others had collapsed directly onto the ground, radiating an aura of terror and despair.
"That's..."
Luna's expression changed instantly.
Fear, grief, and anger appeared on her face as well, causing her to bite her lip while her complexion turned slightly pale.
"Luna? What's wrong?"
Lizbeth noticed Luna's abnormal reaction and asked with concern.
"..."
Euryale, meanwhile, suddenly twitched her small nose as though she had smelled a familiar scent, her gaze locking onto the long objects.
Riezel frowned slightly before a transparent light flashed within his eyes as he looked toward the cloth-wrapped objects.
As soon as he saw them, his expression changed as well—first came surprise, followed immediately by cold indifference.
At the exact same time, Luna lowered her voice and finally explained in a sorrowful tone.
"Those are... corpses... the corpses of servants in the residence who Prince Sorren innocently murdered."
The moment those words were spoken, a suffocating atmosphere immediately spread through the group.
"C-Corpses?"
Lizbeth was stunned.
"Yes..."
Luna bit her lip as she spoke, both hatred and fear evident in her voice.
"Ever since Prince Sorren moved into that residence, some servants have been brutally killed almost every single day for no reason at all."
"Some of them only made minor mistakes, while others didn't do anything wrong whatsoever, yet they were still mercilessly murdered."
"I heard people say that after Prince Sorren was injured, his emotions became extremely unstable."
In other words, those people had become outlets for the mad dog prince's anger. Simply because of that, they were cruelly killed and lost their precious lives just like that.
"How could that happen..."
Lizbeth clearly had not known about this matter before.
Perhaps she had simply never had the chance to witness such a scene, while also being preoccupied with her own troubles all this time. Only now did sorrow finally appear on her face.
"..."
Euryale, however, only observed for a short while before returning to yawning repeatedly.
She had indeed smelled the familiar scent of blood, but as a vampire born under special circumstances, the only blood she cared about was Riezel's and Lizbeth's, while the blood of anyone else could not stir even the slightest trace of desire within her.
Now that she had confirmed it was not what she wanted, the vampire lady naturally lost all interest in those corpses.
As for the sorrow ordinary people felt, such emotions simply did not exist for her, whose mind remained as pure and spotless as that of a newborn child.
As a result, Euryale quickly stopped paying attention.
Riezel, on the other hand, grew increasingly cold.
"A mad dog really can't stop eating shit..."
As he spoke, he shifted his gaze, his transparent eyes shining as he looked into the palace residence itself. Using the penetrating ability of the Transparent World, his vision passed through layer after layer of walls until it landed inside the largest room within the residence.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Riezel let out another sound of surprise.
"Master?"
Lizbeth, who had still been grieving moments earlier, was immediately drawn to Riezel's reaction.
"W-What did you see this time?"
Luna looked completely confused.
Riezel, however, ignored Luna and even ignored Lizbeth.
He simply stared fixedly at the room—or rather, at the humanoid figure lying within it—as the transparent glow in his eyes flickered intensely.
Only after a long while did he finally withdraw his gaze, revealing an unreadable expression.
"Master, what's wrong?"
Lizbeth could no longer hold herself back as she tugged at Riezel's clothes and questioned him anxiously.
"...It's nothing."
Riezel did not answer her question, and after his eyes flickered briefly, he continued.
"C'mon. We're gonna pay a visit to that mad dog."
"Eh?"
"A-A visit?"
Lizbeth and Luna both froze instantly, the two of them equally shocked and panicked.
Riezel, however, gave them no time to properly react before directly walking toward the grand residence.
"Master!"
Lizbeth immediately lost her composure and hurried after him while calling out.
"A-Are you crazy?!" Luna shouted in shock and panic. "Who would willingly visit Prince Sorren when he's in that kind of state? Aren't you scared at all?!"
Unlike what she expected, her words earned her a look from Riezel as though he were staring at a fool.
However, that look caused Luna to suddenly realize something once again.
Honestly, this man really had no reason to be afraid.
He was a Sword Saint.
Even if he was the youngest Sword Saint of the current era and had received the Sword Saint Medal less than half a year ago, he was still not someone anyone below the rank of Sword Saint could challenge.
Even if Sorren was a Sword Master who had inherited the War King Sword Style passed down through generations of the royal family, he still probably posed no threat to a Sword Saint.
Still, why did he want to visit Prince Sorren?
Faintly, Luna began to feel uneasy.
===
"What?"
At the same time, inside the throne room, Hendrick abruptly rose from his throne after hearing the knight's report.
"You're saying Riezel Brynhart is heading toward the Third Prince's residence?"
Hendrick's brows furrowed tightly.
"Y-Yes..."
Below the throne, a Shadow Knight whom Hendrick had secretly assigned to monitor Riezel's movements knelt on one knee while reporting fearfully.
"No, this is bad..."
Hendrick's expression shifted slightly.
Clearly, this was definitely not a good thing.
After all, while outsiders did not know the truth, Hendrick had already confirmed that the culprit who had severely injured Sorren and nearly killed him on the spot last time was Riezel.
And now, Riezel was actually going to meet Sorren?
Could that possibly lead to anything good?
Absolutely impossible.
"...Notify Marquis Borley and have him head to the Third Prince's residence immediately."
After a moment of uncertain silence, Hendrick finally spoke.
"Come. We're going there as well."
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
[Support me and get early access to the next chapters at: /VALRRR]