Unlike last year, this year’s winter seemed especially long.
At least, that was the case for the people living in the royal capital of Jinas, Yeluvia.
Recently, the temperature throughout the region surrounding the royal capital had dropped sharply, leaving the sky gloomy and overcast as cold snow began to fall.
It felt as though something was being foretold, causing the atmosphere of the entire royal capital to lose much of its usual luxury and prosperity, becoming somewhat bleak and deserted instead.
At this moment, the pedestrians on the streets hurried along without speaking, their heads lowered as they radiated a tense and uneasy mood.
Carriage after carriage raced down the main roads, kicking up waves of snow several feet high.
Groups of fully armed knights patrolled the major streets with stern expressions and vigilant eyes, frightening passersby into quickly moving out of their way.
Currently, the royal capital had entered an unprecedented state of maximum alert, as though an enemy nation were about to invade. Countless knights could even be seen standing watch along the city walls.
As a result, the current royal capital was guarded even more heavily than Bessare, the military city of Mavros Territory.
Under such circumstances, the Frenzel residence was also enduring this harsh winter, with thick layers of snow covering both its rooftops and courtyards.
A closer look revealed that this detached residence, which had once been left in ruins after the attack by the black-eyed knights and magic dolls, had now been completely repaired.
Inside one of the rooms, Riezel awoke from his sleep.
"Mm..."
"Mnn..."
Soft murmurs sounded from both sides of him, reaching his ears.
Riezel instinctively turned his head and immediately saw two faces so beautiful they seemed worthy of being called goddesses.
Other than Lizbeth and Euryale, who else could they be?
At this moment, the two women were still asleep and had not awakened just because Riezel had gotten up.
It couldn’t be helped.
Just by looking at their delicate shoulders exposed outside the blanket, it was obvious that Riezel had put them through quite an the previous night.
He reached out and gently caressed the faces of both women before disappearing from the bed in a flash and getting up without making a sound.
"?"
Euryale immediately opened her eyes and looked toward Riezel.
Clearly, no matter how quietly he moved, he might have been able to avoid waking Lizbeth, but he could not hide it from Euryale.
"Shh..."
Riezel immediately raised a finger and made a gesture for silence before speaking softly.
"It’s fine. Keep sleeping. You don’t have to get up with me."
Hearing that, Euryale simply nodded without objection, closed her eyes again, and drifted back to sleep.
Only then did Riezel get dressed and quietly leave the room.
"Master."
As Riezel stepped out and carefully closed the door behind him, Lilith appeared beside him as though she had teleported there.
"You’re standing guard outside again?" Riezel asked, not sounding surprised at all. "Didn’t I tell you that you don’t have to stay by my side all the time while we’re here?"
"My apologies, Master, but I’m afraid I cannot comply."
Lilith lowered her head respectfully.
"Yeluvia is currently in a state of turmoil. Recently, quite a few noble families have been robbed amid the chaos and have fallen from power or even lost their lives."
"Under such circumstances, there is no guarantee that some foolish insects won’t become arrogant enough to believe they can challenge your authority and come to disturb you."
"Therefore, please allow me to remain by your side as your guard twenty-four hours a day. Otherwise, I simply cannot rest at ease."
As she spoke, there was even a trace of earnest persuasion in her words.
"I’ve already got Lizbeth and Euryale with me. Wouldn’t it be better if you stayed by Yuri’s side and protected her?"
Riezel smiled wryly as he reasoned with her.
"But Her Highness Lizbeth and Lady Euryale are not currently by your side." Lilith remained stubborn. "When those two are absent, please allow me to attend to you."
"...Fine."
Unable to argue with Lilith, Riezel could only nod.
"But when Lizbeth and Euryale are with me, you’re gonna help protect Yuri instead. Got it?"
"Yes."
Lilith immediately agreed with a bright smile.
Only then did Riezel leave with Lilith and head toward the office on the top floor of the manor.
He knew that at this hour, Yuri would already be awake and busy with work.
Sure enough, when Riezel arrived at the office, not only were Yuri and Marilyn present, but Ain and Ian were there as well.
"Morning, everyone."
Riezel greeted them with a calm nod as he stepped into the office.
"Mr. Riezel. Good morning."
"Good morning."
As soon as they saw him, Ain and Ian hurriedly bowed to Riezel, their attitudes remaining extremely respectful as they greeted him without the slightest hint of carelessness.
"You’re up?" Yuri looked at Riezel with a faint smile. "Finally willing to leave your warm bed?"
Even though it sounded like teasing, hidden beneath those words was a trace of dissatisfaction and resentment that most people would never have noticed.
Riezel immediately let out a few dry laughs.
Ever since Lizbeth had told Yuri with a deeply flushed face that she and Euryale would be sharing a room with Riezel, Yuri had vaguely sensed what had been going on between them. Since then, she had occasionally displayed hints of dissatisfaction and resentment like this.
Not only Yuri—even Marilyn had secretly stared at Riezel several times. Whenever Riezel noticed her, she showed no embarrassment whatsoever and instead glared at him for quite a while, forcing him to avert his gaze.
"Still busy?" Riezel quickly changed the subject. "Your family’s stuff still isn’t settled yet?"
"If only it were that easy."
Yuri shot him a glance, seemingly aware that he was deliberately changing the topic.
"Repairing the manor wasn’t a big deal. We just hired court magicians proficient in Structure System Magic, and they finished it quickly. But the other issues aren’t so easy to resolve."
"Things like rebuilding the magic defenses and recruiting new members for the knightly order can’t be completed in a short period of time."
"And it isn’t just our family. Every noble family is facing the same problems."
Although the turmoil caused by Sorren had ultimately been suppressed through the combined efforts of the various forces led by Riezel, the casualties and losses suffered during the conflict could not be repaired overnight.
Taking the Frenzel family as an example, not only had many buildings been damaged during the unrest, but their magic defenses had also been destroyed. On top of that, numerous knights had died in battle.
As a result, the Frenzel family’s combat power was now at an unprecedented low point and urgently needed reinforcement.
"A lot of people died?"
Riezel sat down across from Yuri and asked calmly.
However, the ones who answered were not Yuri, but Ain and Ian, the leaders of the Frenzel Knightly Order.
"During the last upheaval, our knightly order lost a total of 431 members. Another 127 suffered severe injuries or permanent disabilities and could no longer continue serving as knights, forcing them into retirement."
Ian sighed as he delivered his report.
"At present, only 242 members remain in the knightly order. Our combat power is less than forty percent of what it was at its peak."
Ain also reported quietly.
"Hm, that’s really a devastating loss."
Riezel nodded in understanding.
Within the limits permitted by the kingdom, a marquis family like Yuri’s was normally allowed to maintain a knightly order of 700 members.
As a Strategic-Class Magician and the Chief Court Magician, Yuri possessed special privileges that allowed her to add another hundred members, bringing the total to eight hundred.
Now, out of those eight hundred people, 431 had died, and 127 had retired due to severe injuries and permanent disabilities, leaving only 242 members remaining.
Given that, their combat power had indeed weakened dramatically.
How to quickly rebuild their knightly order and restore their family’s strength amid the kingdom’s current instability was a problem every heavily damaged noble family needed to consider.
"We’re actually among the fortunate ones..." Yuri smiled bitterly. "At the very least, everyone in the royal capital knows you’re here. No one dares to casually target the Frenzel family."
"Oh?" Riezel grinned, the corners of his lips curling up. "So everyone’s having a rough time, huh?"
"Much worse than rough."
Yuri sounded helpless.
"After this upheaval, nearly every noble family in the royal capital has suffered losses to varying degrees. Some were even completely wiped out, with not a single survivor left behind."
"Yes, the previous unrest may have ended, but a new one has already begun."
"Some people have set their sights on the territories and authority of nobles who can no longer recover. Others have begun squeezing the minor nobles beneath them to compensate for their family’s losses. In fact, there are even ambitious minor nobles challenging heavily weakened major nobles in hopes of replacing them."
"And to make matters worse, the king has already passed away, so the surviving members of the Royal Faction and the Duke Faction are fighting more fiercely than ever over the succession to the throne and simply don’t have the time or energy to deal with anything else."
"You could say that the current royal capital has become a battlefield for power and profit. Open and hidden struggles are unfolding everywhere, and even those who want to stay out of it are being dragged into them."
"You know, the fact that we’re still able to sit here peacefully discussing how to replenish the knightly order is all thanks to you."
Needless to say, anyone who knew what had happened during that day of chaos understood one thing: the person who absolutely could not be provoked in the current royal capital was Riezel.
Riezel’s strength was simply too overwhelming.
Even the Old Sword Saint, Redson Elieman, had openly admitted that he was far inferior to him. Not to mention that Riezel was accompanied by two female Sword Saints whose identities remained a mystery.
Three Sword Saints hidden within a single noble family... who would dare cause trouble for them?
As a result, the Frenzel family was probably the safest and most peaceful place in the entire royal capital at that moment.
"What’s the situation over at the royal palace?"
Riezel asked casually, his tone calm as though he had merely brought up the matter in passing.
"They’re still arguing and haven’t reached any conclusion."
Yuri shrugged helplessly before giving his answer, sounding completely unsurprised by the ongoing stalemate.
"The Royal Faction has nominated the first prince and the seventh prince as candidates, hoping that one of them will successfully ascend the throne and become the next king."
"The Duke Faction suffered terrible losses, and its strength has declined greatly, but Sergius ultimately stepped forward. Together with the recovered One-Eyed Sword Saint, Hardt, he has forcefully entered the race."
"The Borley family controls the Royal Knightly Order, but they’ve chosen not to support either side."
"In the end, Sir Redson was forced to come forward once again and publicly support the Royal Faction."
In other words, the new king had not yet been chosen, and the competition for the throne was still ongoing.
As for who would ultimately emerge victorious, no one knew.