Rohm had still shown considerable restraint when subduing Sorren, so after Riezel and the others left, only a few minutes passed before the unconscious Sorren slowly woke up.
When Sorren opened his eyes, Riezel was nowhere to be seen, and the only person standing before him was Hendrick, who stared back at him with a cold, unfeeling gaze.
As a result, he fell silent.
"Do you know what you've done?"
Hendrick spoke in an icy voice.
Sorren did not answer and continued to remain silent.
Looking at Sorren like this, even Hendrick could not help but soften slightly—but no matter what, he still had to say what needed to be said.
"I should've warned you long ago not to provoke Riezel Brynhart, shouldn't I?"
Hendrick continued, disappointment evident in his voice.
"Winning him over is far more worthwhile than offending him. Anyone with a working brain can see something that obvious, so why won't you listen?"
"How are you supposed to earn the people's trust like this? How are you supposed to defeat the Cordelion family? How are you supposed to ascend the throne smoothly?"
"A king must know how to restrain himself and control his emotions. I've already told you that many times."
"If you still can't do it, then I'll truly have to reconsider whether I should continue raising you as the heir."
None of Hendrick's words were light, but he had no choice except to say them. Otherwise, this matter would never be resolved, and in the end, the royal family would be the one left unable to step down gracefully.
Riezel had already become someone so firmly established that even the royal family no longer dared to offend him casually.
If Sorren still could not recognize reality and change his way of thinking, if he still could not consider how to deal with Riezel from the perspective of a king and instead continued acting according to his own temper, then Hendrick truly would have to harden his heart and choose another heir.
Fortunately, after hearing Hendrick's words, Sorren unexpectedly remained calm this time.
"...I know what I should do."
Unlike before, there was none of his usual madness in his voice—there was only a coldness that sounded as though he were merely stating a fact.
"Good."
Somewhat surprised by Sorren's attitude, Hendrick nodded in satisfaction.
"Remember this. Don't let there be a next time."
Only after giving that final warning did Hendrick lead the large group of knights and leave the room.
Sorren silently watched Hendrick depart, his eyes unnaturally calm, extraordinarily indifferent, and even extraordinarily cold.
"A king... huh?"
Sorren muttered, and after a long while, he suddenly laughed, his laughter sounding somewhat deranged.
"Heh, you really have always ruled like that, haven't you, Father?"
Sorren shakily rose to his feet, his movements unsteady as though every muscle in his body was protesting the effort.
"For the sake of the royal family's interests, you sacrifice whatever needs to be sacrificed, even your own descendants."
"For the sake of the royal family's interests, the weak can be ignored, while the strong can become allies. Grudges can be forgotten, and concessions can be made."
"You've always ruled like that. You rule without even being allowed to lose your temper, always accommodating others and accommodating the kingdom."
"What's the point of being king like that?"
Sorren laughed softly, and the more he laughed, the louder it became.
"If you ask me, you shouldn't be king anymore, Father."
"I understand better than you how a king should rule."
"Once I become king, I'll use the power of the entire kingdom to wipe out the Cordelion family and the Lightning Sword Saint alike!"
As he muttered to himself, an unprecedentedly cold and sinister power gradually erupted from Sorren's body.
"I know exactly what I should do..."
"Riezel Brynhart..."
"I'm going to kill you!"
Inside the chaotic and bloodstained room, the sinister power spread like a swamp and swallowed everything.
Before long, the shadow Sorren cast upon the wall began to twist and writhe, roaring like a monstrous beast.
===
At this moment, Hendrick was leading Florent and the knights out of Sorren's residence and toward the main gate.
"Your Majesty."
Florent, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly spoke.
"There seems to have been some enormous and inexplicable change in Riezel Brynhart."
As soon as those words were spoken, not only did Hendrick immediately stop walking, but even Rohm, hidden within the shadows, became fully attentive.
"An enormous change?" Hendrick asked with a frown. "What kind of change?"
Florent did not answer immediately and instead carefully recalled the feeling he had experienced.
"He... became stronger."
After a while, Florent finally spoke those words.
"Stronger?"
Hendrick was instantly stunned.
"Yes..."
Florent replied with absolute certainty.
"And not just slightly stronger—he became much, much stronger."
"When he caused havoc in the royal palace before, I could still sense his strength and the threat he posed. Back then, however, he didn't give me the feeling that he was unbeatable."
"But now, only two days later, the feeling he gives me is completely different."
"I feel as though the current him is simply impossible to contend with, so yes, he has become stronger. Much stronger."
After hearing Florent's words, not only Hendrick, but even Rohm felt a chill run down his spine.
"How is that possible...?" Rohm could not help but speak up. "He's only seventeen years old. How could even someone like you, Marquis Borley, find him impossible to contend with?"
Who was Florent Borley?
He was the descendant of a Sword Saint family that had been passed down for centuries, the captain-commander of the Royal Knightly Order, and the publicly acknowledged number one knight of Jinas.
As long as that reclusive figure hidden within the royal palace did not appear, this man was the genuine strongest person in Jinas.
Before Riezel became famous, among the remaining five Sword Saints of Jinas, aside from the fully retired Old Sword Saint, every other Sword Saint unanimously believed that they could not defeat this captain-commander.
Florent's strength ranked among the very best Sword Saints on the entire continent. He was completely on a different level from ordinary Sword Saints and was even superior to most veteran Sword Saints.
According to Riezel, this Sword Saint of the Borley family, like the Old Sword Saint guarding the treasury, was a Level 8 existence, fundamentally different from ordinary Level 7 Sword Saints.
Someone like him still had a twenty to thirty percent chance of victory even against the Old Sword Saint.
Yet when facing Riezel, he had actually admitted that the other party was completely impossible to contend with.
How could that possibly be?
Rohm's heart was filled with disbelief.
"...Are you serious?"
Hendrick's expression grew ugly once more as he turned toward Florent and carefully confirmed every word.
"I would never joke about something like this, Your Majesty."
Florent spoke calmly, his expression remaining composed and unwavering as he met Hendrick's gaze without the slightest hint of hesitation.
"We would still have to fight to know for sure, but at the very least, the current Riezel Brynhart truly gives me that feeling—there's not a single lie in my words."
"I can tell Your Majesty with certainty that although the previous Riezel Brynhart was strong, in my perception, he still seemed inferior to the mysterious woman who had always stayed by his side."
"But now, the feeling he gives me, and the threat I sense from him, are already no less than those of that mysterious woman. He may even have surpassed her already."
At this point, a sharp light began shining in Florent's eyes, while a trace of fighting spirit ignited within his heart.
As long as the Old Sword Saint did not appear, he was invincible within Jinas.
Under such circumstances, even he could no longer remember how long it had been since he had encountered an opponent worthy of challenging.
One should know that the Borley family had always upheld the principle of testing one's sword against worthy enemies. Every successor of the Borley family had grown through countless challenges, tempering their sword through battle after battle before finally stepping into the realm of a Sword Saint.
Florent's son, Albert, was like that, and Florent himself had been no different.
Florent had always believed that only by challenging powerful enemies could his sword become sharper and he himself become stronger.
Because of that, after exchanging a single move with Euryale in the throne room and sensing her strength, he had spent the last two days thinking about finding a chance to challenge her.
And now, it seemed there was one more person he wanted to challenge.
In truth, the strength of both Riezel and Euryale, along with the threat they gave him, made him feel joy rather than fear.
Hendrick, on the other hand, wore an increasingly uncertain expression.
At this moment, he finally began to feel some regret.
He regretted acting rashly, and he also regretted not stopping Sorren back then, ultimately allowing Riezel and the royal family to form a grudge.
Had he known that the young man was so powerful and had such a terrifying expert following him, he would never have come into conflict with Riezel, no matter what.
How could he not, after learning that those were two Sword Saints even stronger than Florent?
And both of them were still so young!
Especially Riezel.
While possessing such terrifying strength, he also knew how to use all kinds of powerful magic. Not to mention the space magic that made people drool with greed—even the magic he had used before in the throne room still remained vivid in Hendrick's mind.
'Magic beyond Strategic-Class Magic...'
Recalling that pillar of light which had seemed to descend from the end of the world itself, Hendrick's eyes contained yearning, greed, and endless fear.
'It seems our attitude toward him will need to change once again...'
After a long silence, Hendrick suppressed the countless thoughts in his mind and spoke.
"Rohm, send several Shadow Knights over here to keep watch. No matter what, don't let Sorren clash with Riezel Brynhart again. Understood?"
Hearing that, Rohm opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only answer unwillingly.
"Yes."
===
"Master..."
At the same time, while returning to her own residence, Lizbeth nervously spoke to the silent Riezel in an attempt to break the awkward atmosphere.
"What's up?"
Riezel smiled faintly as he responded to her.
"Why did Master go to my brother's—I mean, Prince Sorren's—place?"
Gathering her courage, Lizbeth finally asked the question.
In response, Riezel unexpectedly gave a straightforward answer.
"Because there's something wrong with him."
Riezel's words caused both Lizbeth and Luna to freeze.
"Something wrong... with Prince Sorren?"
Luna was visibly stunned.
"Yeah..." Riezel nodded calmly, his voice entering everyone's ears. "You'd all better prepare yourselves. If nothing unexpected happens, something's gonna go down in the royal palace very soon. And when it does, we'll definitely be the first ones to get dragged into it."
An indescribable sense of unease immediately spread through everyone's hearts at his words.
However, time waited for no one.
From this moment onward, the moment of chaos drew closer with every passing second—until it finally descended and completely engulfed the entire place.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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