As night fell, the evening wind gently swept across the land, passing through the royal capital known as Yeluvia and even drifting into the royal palace itself, completely unaffected by Light of Heaven.
Even though the Strategic-Class Magic Light of Heaven constantly covered the skies above the royal palace, it did not prevent harmless things from passing through, such as the sunlight during the day or the cold wind at night.
Unless the king wielding the Sword of Authority activated its isolation effect and completely sealed off the royal palace from the outside world, normal movement and travel would not be obstructed.
And that was also why people could still enter and leave the royal palace on a daily basis, with only the use of magic being prohibited.
Tonight's royal palace was no different from usual.
Aside from the anti-magic effect of Light of Heaven remaining active, the movement of people in and out of the royal palace was still relatively unrestricted.
Because of that, when shadowy figures silently slipped into the royal palace one after another, not only did the knights guarding and patrolling the area fail to notice them, but even Light of Heaven showed no reaction whatsoever.
All of the shadowy figures resembled ghosts wandering through the night, as there was not the slightest trace of life aura on their bodies, and every movement they made was completely soundless, making them even more concealed than Shadow Knights trained in the Shadow Strike Sword Style.
Yet their final destination was neither the forbidden areas of the royal palace nor the quieter palace complex.
It was the place where the king resided—the throne room.
Sitting upon the throne that belonged solely to him, Hendrick was now deep in thought.
"What should I do to repair our relationship...?"
Clearly, Hendrick was thinking about Riezel.
Even though Riezel had embarrassed him multiple times and left Hendrick extremely displeased, just as he himself had said, a king could never allow himself to be controlled by his emotions.
For the sake of the royal family and the kingdom, he still intended to win Riezel over.
Even if Riezel already showed signs of being impossible to sway and lacked proper respect toward the royal family, things were still manageable. Since making an enemy out of him was not an option, they could only do everything possible to pull him to their side.
As for the methods Hendrick could think of, there were only a few.
"Either make an exception and let him enter the treasury early to choose a treasure, or send another princess to become his attendant... Two would work as well..."
Now that Lizbeth's status had practically been exposed to Riezel, Hendrick naturally had to make up for it by sending another princess to his side.
He believed that, given how much Riezel valued Lizbeth, if he sent an attractive princess to serve as his attendant—perhaps even having her whisper into his ear at night—then Riezel would likely ease his relationship with the royal family.
"But... who should I choose this time?"
Hendrick found himself troubled.
In fact, the last time he had selected a princess to serve as Riezel's attendant, he had already struggled greatly before finally choosing Lizbeth.
Now that he had to make another selection, he truly could not think of a princess worthy enough to become Riezel's attendant.
In the first place, the reason Lizbeth had been chosen last time was because she was exceptional enough to have value as an attendant, but this time?
Was there any princess in the royal family more outstanding than Lizbeth?
Unfortunately, there was not.
"Looks like I'll really have to send two at once..."
Hendrick sighed helplessly.
If quality was lacking, then quantity would have to make up for it.
Even if none of those princesses could compare to Lizbeth individually, sending two sisters together would at least provide some additional appeal.
"Mm, let's do that."
Having made his decision, Hendrick immediately began selecting the two most beautiful daughters among his children, but suddenly...
"Father."
A familiar voice came from outside the door.
'Sorren?'
Hendrick snapped back to his senses and frowned.
'It's already so late. Instead of properly recovering, why did he come here?'
Even as that thought crossed his mind, Hendrick still spoke without hesitation.
"Come in."
With his permission granted, the doors slowly opened.
Sorren, who had finally left his chambers after a long absence, walked inside and arrived before the throne.
"What? Your body is fine now?"
Hendrick casually glanced at Sorren and asked indifferently.
"Of course..." Sorren smiled and spoke in an unusually calm tone. "I could've gotten out of bed long ago. You were the one who wouldn't allow it, Father."
"I couldn't just let you wander around carelessly. Who knows what kind of trouble you'd end up causing again?" Hendrick said earnestly. "After this period of punishment, you should understand your mistakes by now, correct?"
"Yes..." Sorren's smile became even calmer. "I now understand how childish I was before. I won't make the same mistakes again, so please rest assured, Father."
"I'm glad to hear you say that..." Hendrick's expression immediately relaxed. "Go on, then. Why did you come to see me so late at night?"
"Yes, there is something..." Sorren nodded calmly. "It's regarding Riezel Brynhart."
Hearing that, Hendrick immediately straightened his posture.
At this point, anything related to Riezel automatically drew his full attention.
"What happened to him?"
Hendrick hurriedly asked.
Seeing his father react like this, a trace of coldness flashed through Sorren's eyes before quickly returning to normal.
"Earlier today, before you all arrived, that man actually gave me something."
Sorren took an object out of his royal robes.
It was a dagger.
"What is that?"
As soon as Hendrick looked at the dagger, he involuntarily shivered.
Peculiarly, the dagger emitted an extremely gloomy and cold aura, and its entire body was pitch black in an ominous manner, enough to make anyone feel uncomfortable just by looking at it.
"I don't know..." Sorren shook his head. "He threw it to me without explaining anything. I felt like there was something seriously wrong with this dagger, so I brought it here for you to examine and determine exactly what was strange about it, Father."
"Hmm..." Hendrick continued staring at the dagger before nodding deeply a moment later. "Mm, there really is something wrong with this dagger. It may even contain something harmful. Being cautious is a good thing. In fact, you should've brought it to me much sooner. Rohm."
He called out, causing a figure to emerge from the darkness.
"Please give it to me, Your Highness," Rohm said with a serious expression. "It looks extremely dangerous. Both you and His Majesty possess noble status, so it would be best not to touch it carelessly."
Hearing words that were practically a lecture, Sorren not only showed no displeasure but actually smiled.
"Sir Rohm is absolutely right. Well then, I'll leave it in your care."
Sorren handed the dagger over to Rohm, and Rohm instinctively accepted it.
However, the instant Rohm grabbed the dagger, a shocking change occurred.
*Bzzz!*
Suddenly, the cold energy fluctuating around the dagger erupted violently and shot toward Rohm like a snake.
"Wha—?!"
Rohm's expression changed drastically.
He wanted to react, but it was already too late, as the cold energy had already traveled through the hand gripping the dagger and entered his body.
As a result, he discovered that he could no longer move.
Meanwhile, the dagger's cold energy continued pouring endlessly into his body, causing veins to bulge across his entire body while the whites of his eyes gradually turned black.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Rohm let out a painful scream as he clutched his head and collapsed onto the floor, as though he were resisting something.
"Rohm!"
Hendrick abruptly rose to his feet when he saw the sudden development.
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
At the same time, faint sounds of air being sliced apart came from outside as shadowy figures rushed into the throne room one after another.
A closer look revealed that the ground outside the doors was already covered with unconscious knights.
"Haha... HAHAHAHA—!!!"
Looking at Rohm writhing on the floor in agony and the horrified expression on Hendrick's face, Sorren finally stopped hiding himself and burst into wild, exhilarated laughter.
"I knew it. Once this holy relic appeared, the one who'd come into contact with it would definitely be you, Shadow Sword Saint."
"You damn watchdog. With you secretly watching over everything, it was really hard for me to do anything."
"But now it's perfect. Just like me, you can accept the transformation brought by this wonderful power, too! Hahahaha!"
Sorren's frenzied laughter filled Hendrick with both shock and fury.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Hendrick shouted angrily.
"What am I doing?"
Sorren revealed a bizarre smile and tilted his head toward his father.
"I'm doing what I've always wanted to do, Father."
"I've long since had enough of this. We're the masters of this country. We should be the noble existences who control everything, yet you keep restricting me from doing this and that. It's completely unreasonable."
"You're also a terrible king. You compromise here, retreat there, and claim it's all for the kingdom and the royal family, but in reality, those are just excuses to hide your own cowardice."
"Under your rule, this country has become twisted. It doesn't resemble a great nation at all."
Sorren spread his arms wide before loudly making a declaration.
"SINCE YOU CAN'T DO IT, THEN I'LL BECOME THE KING INSTEAD!"
"I'LL CONQUER EVERYTHING!"
"I'LL KILL EVERYONE WHO DARES OPPOSE ME!"
"I'LL PUSH THIS COUNTRY'S POWER TO ITS ABSOLUTE LIMIT AND TURN THIS PLACE INTO THE PERFECT GARDEN I ENVISION!"
"YOU CAN LEAVE THE STAGE HERE, COWARD!"
Sorren's arrogant and insane speech caused Hendrick to completely lose control.
"You bastard!"
Hendrick immediately drew the Sword of Authority, preparing to activate the power of the Light of Heaven and suppress Sorren, but—
*Pu-chi!*
Blood suddenly sprayed across Hendrick's body.
"Huh...?"
Hendrick froze.
"Wh... at...?"
Slowly and blankly, he lowered his head and looked at his own chest.
To his shock, a hand was protruding through the front of his chest, having pierced entirely through his body, and the culprit stood directly behind him.
It was a man wearing a black robe.
"Sorry about that."
A frivolous voice came from beneath the robe.
"But you don't have a role to play anymore."
"Just like the prince said, you should leave the stage here."
"Only then can the real show begin. Hehe..."
Laughing casually, the man withdrew his hand.
"SOR... REEENNN—!!!"
With an unwilling cry, Hendrick collapsed to the floor and died on the spot.
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[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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