Frenzel Residence, Yuri's Office.
At this moment, Riezel and Yuri were sitting across from each other.
Riezel stared at the ceiling, then at the window, as if he were looking at something interesting.
Yuri, on the other hand, was glaring at him, as though she were staring down a troublesome rascal.
Lizbeth and Marilyn were also present nearby.
Lizbeth stood behind Riezel, clutching her sword with a tense expression, while Marilyn stood behind Yuri, watching Riezel with the same condemning look as Yuri.
In this situation, the entire office was engulfed in a strange, eerie silence.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
After a long while, Yuri finally broke the silence.
What she said sounded like a question, but her tone was full of certainty.
"What?"
Riezel tried to play dumb, showing an innocent expression, but all he got in return was a pair of rolling eyes.
"You're still trying to hide it from me?"
Yuri scolded sternly, a frown adorning her beautiful face.
"You were invited out for dinner by Carrera Elliott to discuss matters about that mad dog, and then, the next day, this incident happened. Do you think I wouldn't figure out that it was you?"
"Attacking a prince, seriously injuring him, nearly killing him even—this kind of incident that will shake the entire kingdom to its core, who else would dare to do it if not you?"
"You really have some guts... I knew you were meeting Serena Cordelion, but just when I was thinking about not prying into what you and that girl talked about, you went and caused such a big mess. Knowing this, what do you want me to say?"
"Were you incited by the Cordelion family or something? What exactly did Serena say to you?"
Yuri got more and more agitated as she spoke, and if not for the table between them, she might have already grabbed Riezel by the shoulders.
Riezel couldn't help but smile at Yuri's reaction.
"Look, it's not like I was intentionally hiding it from you; it's just that the fewer people who know about this, the better, since it will make it less likely for any flaws to be exposed." Riezel explained, shrugging his shoulders casually. "It's just a mad dog, anyway. I failed to kill him, so what's the big deal?"
"Hahh... Only you would dare say something like that, you know... Even in private, others wouldn't be so brazen..."
Yuri sighed, her expression turning complicated.
"Regardless, you really caused a big mess this time. I've already received word—before dawn, all nobles in the royal capital, whether aligned with the Duke Faction or not, have been summoned to the palace and interrogated by the royal family."
"No matter if they're major nobles like dukes or marquises, none of them can escape. Even some who are loyal to the Royal Faction have been questioned."
"Of course, minor nobles have it worse. They've all had their minds read or interfered with by the court magicians using magic like memory reading or mind control."
"Commoners can't escape either. Even now, the royal knights are still going door-to-door, taking away anyone suspicious without exception."
"In short, the royal capital is in chaos right now. Since the Cordelion siblings have already gone to the palace, I'm probably going to be summoned soon."
Yuri informed Riezel just how significant the incident he had caused had become.
Lizbeth was immediately frightened and couldn't help but cast a worried look at Riezel.
Riezel, however, seemed to have expected all of this, as his expression didn't change in the slightest.
"Hmm, they wouldn't use magic like memory reading or mind control on you, would they?"
Riezel seemed concerned only about this matter.
"Seriously, who do you think I am?" Yuri replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm still a Strategic-Class Magician, you know? They wouldn't dare use that kind of magic on me unless they have a death wish."
As a Strategic-Class Magician, her magic attainments were far beyond that of an average magician.
For a magician in her class, she could unconsciously use magical energy to repel Combat-Class Magic from the Interference System. If she were prepared, she could even counter Tactical-Class Magic from the Interference System.
In order to read the memory of a magician of Yuri's class or to interfere with her mind, it would take, at the very least, magic cast by a magician of the same class or the use of a powerful magic item to have any effect.
Moreover, with Yuri's status on the line, anyone using such harmful magic on her would probably be something even the king wouldn't dare order.
In other words, Yuri was in no danger of having her memory read or her mind interfered with.
"I see, that's good..." Riezel nodded calmly. "In that case, you don't have to worry about anything. No matter what the royal family asks you, just say you don't know."
Yuri clearly didn't need him to tell her what to do.
What else could she do at this point?
Report Riezel?
She herself wished Sorren would drop dead, so how could she possibly help the royal family catch the culprit?
However, the real problem was—
"What about you?"
Yuri asked while looking straight into Riezel's eyes.
"What's your plan?"
Indeed, this was the real problem.
It wasn't about Yuri, but Riezel, the direct orchestrator of this attack and the royal family's target—the one the kingdom was actively hunting.
"If I can guess it was you, the royal family will definitely suspect you too..." Yuri continued, worry creeping into her voice. "If they use force, try to read your memory, or mess with your mind, what are you going to do?"
At this, Riezel simply gave her a reassuring look in response to her concern.
"Let them try if they can."
Riezel sounded so calm when he said this.
Why?
Obviously, with Self Redemption, he was immune to physical and mental interference, so who could possibly read his memories or manipulate his mind and spirit?
Moreover, with the effect from Endless, Riezel possessed the highest rank of 'Abnormal Resistance' development ability. Not only would direct interference not work, but even indirect one wouldn't be effective.
Because of this, he wasn't worried about being compromised by such means.
Naturally, he also believed that the Cordelion family wouldn't be subjected to these methods either.
Since the Duke Faction was already an enemy of the royal family, how could they not be prepared against such tactics?
Needless to say, as long as Yuri and the Cordelion family didn't expose him, he would be fine.
As for Lizbeth and Marilyn, they were safe because they were attendants.
With the attendant contract in place, all information related to their masters' interests would be restricted. Even if someone tried to use magic to extract them, they wouldn't succeed.
At least, if someone wanted to bypass the restrictions of the attendant contract and forcibly extract the information the attendants knew, their magical prowess would have to surpass that of Riezel and Yuri, the two masters who had placed the contracts.
What did this mean?
It meant that unless they were a Strategic-Class Magician, it would be impossible to break the attendant contracts set by Riezel and Yuri.
For Riezel, since he was already Level 6 and possessed not only Mage as his development ability but also extremely high proficiency in MAG, the strength of the attendant contract he cast wasn't something a magician below the strategic class could break.
As for Yuri, she was already a recognized Strategic-Class Magician, with no exaggeration involved, so no one below her magician class could tamper with her attendant contract.
Moreover, since magic that could affect oneself or others belonged to the Interference System, the magician who tried to bypass the restrictions would have to be a Strategic-Class Magician specializing in the Interference System.
However, of the eight Strategic-Class Magicians on the Akasha Continent, four specialized in the Transformation System, two in the Control System, and two in the Structure System, while not a single one specialized in the Interference System.
Given this, no one in this world could tamper with the attendant contracts of Riezel and Yuri.
Needless to say, not only did Riezel not have to worry about anyone here slipping up, but he was also confident that he hadn't exposed his identity when he attacked Sorren.
After all, he had used the Selfless State to its fullest, completely sealing off his aura and fighting spirit. He hadn't even used any magic from start to finish, leaving no trace of magical energy behind.
Coupled with the essence of the Shadow Strike Sword Style that he had merged into his Mist Breathing, he could avoid almost any kind of detection.
In other words, the chances of him being exposed were nearly zero.
While the royal family might have serious suspicions about him, they definitely wouldn't be able to confirm it was him or find any evidence proving he was the culprit.
In this situation, Riezel really didn't believe he would be caught.
Of course, even if he were caught, so what?
Worst case, he would just run away.
With his current strength, he might not be the most powerful or invincible existence in this world, but if he really wanted to escape, even Jinas would have to mobilize all their forces and lay out an inescapable net to have any chance of stopping him.
If it weren't for worrying about implicating Yuri or dragging her family down, he would have left Jinas right after attacking Sorren, not caring at all whether his identity got exposed or not.
"No matter what, you need to be careful."
Saying this, Yuri seemed to feel a bit more at ease as she saw Riezel looking completely calm and unworried.
She trusted his abilities quite a lot and knew that if he was this confident, the chances of him being exposed must really be low.
As long as he didn't get exposed, everything would be fine.
Yuri was definitely on Riezel's side, and she even felt a bit 'schadenfreude' over the royal family getting hit like this. {T/N: Schadenfreude is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or humiliation of another.}
It was understandable.
When the Frenzel residence was attacked, the royal family chose to turn a blind eye. Now that their prince had been attacked, Yuri naturally wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine.
She decided that she wouldn't just refuse to cooperate; she would also stir things up even more.
"Well, want to join me in filing a protest against the royal family?"
Yuri suddenly asked, flashing a sly smile at Riezel.
"Just think, the Third Prince snuck out of the palace in the middle of the night to deal with the people he had kidnapped. Now that the incident has been exposed, everyone knows about it. As someone directly involved, you have every right to protest against the royal family as a victim, don't you?"
Upon hearing this, Riezel was stunned at first, before chuckling and giving Yuri a thumbs-up.
"Heh, what a brilliant idea!"
With that, Riezel and Yuri jointly wrote a protest letter and sent it to the royal palace, launching a strong protest that would stir up yet another wave of chaos in the royal capital.
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At this moment, the royal palace had become a place where even the slightest movement would immediately be noticed by every faction.
All the nobles, whether they liked it or not, kept a close eye on the royal palace's every move, fearing that a lack of information might lead to disastrous consequences.
Meanwhile, the noble children who once acted arrogantly and unscrupulously outside were now confined to their homes by their respective families, forbidden from causing trouble. Additionally, the knightly orders under these families were also forced to act with extreme caution, not daring to do anything that might raise suspicion from the royal family.
All of this gave the royal capital a tense and severe atmosphere.
In such a situation, the joint protest made by Riezel and Yuri to the royal family was like a beacon in the eyes of the already anxious nobles.
"A joint protest from the Lightning Sword Saint and Marquis Frenzel?"
"A Sword Saint and a Strategic-Class Magician protesting together? Even the royal family can't ignore them, right?"
"Ignore them? Are you joking? Haven't you heard what they're protesting about?"
"I heard that Sword Saint Riezel Brynhart harshly condemned Prince Sorren in the letter. He was furious about His Highness secretly kidnapping his family and strongly demanded that the royal family give an explanation."
"What? His Highness must be out of his mind to kidnap the family of a Sword Saint!"
"If the royal family doesn't handle this well, things could get ugly."
As soon as the nobles heard the news, they exchanged their opinions with each other.
In their eyes, Riezel's actions were perfectly reasonable and justified.
Having one's family kidnapped in secret by royalty without any official reason or justification was undeniably a criminal act.
Had it been an ordinary person's family, the situation might have been different, but Sorren had actually kidnapped the family of a Sword Saint, which made things much worse.
No one believed that a revered and respected Sword Saint should remain silent in such a situation.
Moreover, if one were to delve deeper, it raised questions about whether the royal family had ulterior motives for doing that or whether they were plotting something shameful against the Sword Saint, which could easily be interpreted as a sign of a bigger conspiracy.
As a result, when news of the joint protest letter broke, the nobles immediately realized that the royal family was in deep trouble this time.
Facing a justified accusation from a Sword Saint, the royal family couldn't simply brush it off and definitely had to respond.
Of course, in this kind of situation, there were plenty of people eager to kick them when they were down.
"Rena."
In the study in the Cordelion residence, Sergius, who had just returned from the royal palace after being personally interrogated by Hendrick, talked to Serena after hearing the news.
"Write a letter in my name, supporting the protest."
"Say that, as a fellow descendant of the royal bloodline, I am deeply ashamed of Prince Sorren's actions. Laying hands on the family of a Sword Saint is the greatest insult and disrespect. A member of the royal family who does not set a good example for the people, but instead commits such disgraceful acts, has committed a serious crime. Thereby, the kingdom must punish those responsible accordingly."
Once this letter was sent, there was only one direction this would go.
It would escalate.
As the leader of the Duke Faction, the Cordelion family took the lead in publicly supporting Sword Saint Riezel Brynhart, openly questioning the actions of the royal family.
Needless to say, this was like pouring fuel on an already raging fire, intensifying the situation even further, especially when the other nobles in the Duke Faction followed suit, sending letters of protest and demanding severe punishment for Sorren—the whole matter would definitely explode, spiraling out of control.
However, this was not the end.
Even the other Sword Saints surprisingly began sending letters to the royal palace, joining in the protest.
—Attacking the family of a Sword Saint is an act that chills my heart. I hope the kingdom delivers the proper punishment to those responsible for such a crime. Otherwise, I will not be able to rest easy.
This was the content of the letter sent by the Guardian Sword Saint stationed at Jinas's border. Even though it was only a short paragraph, it made everyone aware of his stance.
—As a fellow Sword Saint, such an incident truly makes me uneasy. I hope the kingdom will deliver the proper punishment to those responsible for such a crime.
This was the letter from the Meteor Sword Saint, who was wandering abroad, and it wasn't much different from the first one.
—I hope the kingdom will deliver the proper punishment to those responsible for such a crime.
This was the letter from the Borley family's Sword Saint. It was brief and straight to the point, demanding the punishment of the culprit without a single wasted word.
Ultimately, the formal protest letters from the three Sword Saints plunged the royal palace into a state of chaos.
Everyone understood that they weren't siding with Riezel or supporting the Duke Faction but were simply taking a stand from their own perspective, finding the situation unacceptable.
One should know that they were all Sword Saints, holding the same status as Riezel. If someone in the royal family could target Riezel's family today, what would stop them from going after theirs tomorrow?
Needless to say, this was a development they would never allow.
As a result, they each sent a protest letter, and it was obvious that these protest letters were delivered with magic, arriving at the royal palace just a day after Riezel and Yuri sent their joint protest letter.
However, what made it worse was that, in addition to their status as Sword Saints, these three also held the status of major nobles, meaning the royal family could not possibly ignore their opinions.
When Riezel heard about this, he was genuinely surprised.
"Who would've thought all those Sword Saints would get involved?"
He truly hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
He wasn't too shocked by the Cordelion family jumping in to kick the royal family while they were down, as it was predictable, but the fact that these Sword Saints, whom he had never even met, were making their opinions known at this critical moment truly caught him off guard.
Although Yuri was also surprised, she knew they did this not because of Riezel.
"They're not helping you but helping themselves..."
Yuri explained the reason to Riezel.
"Like you, they're also Sword Saints. If they don't protest now, who knows if someone might ignore their status and pull the same lowly trick on them someday?"
"So, to prevent that from happening, they need to make their stance clear and voice their strong opposition as soon as possible so everyone, especially the royal family, knows where they stand."
"Moreover, this is the only way to curb the arrogant behavior of those targeting a Sword Saint without restraint—to let everyone know they won't take it lying down."
After hearing Yuri's explanation, Riezel understood.
He had never met these Sword Saints, and they were neither friends nor family, so it was basically impossible for them to act for his sake.
Regardless, thanks to them, his demand for an explanation from the royal family had become much easier to achieve, making it difficult for the royal family to retreat.
Now, his problem had escalated to something almost involving the entire circle of Sword Saints.
If the royal family couldn't handle this situation properly, they would definitely be in serious trouble.
===
Royal Palace, Throne Room.
Hendrick sat on the throne, staring at the protest letters one by one, feeling an intense headache coming on.
In this tense situation, Rohm appeared behind Hendrick and spoke up to give him a bit of advice.
"Your Majesty, this matter is not to be taken lightly. We must come up with an answer that will satisfy these Sword Saints as soon as possible, or it might turn into a nationwide crisis."
Anyone with a brain knew that the conflict between multiple Sword Saints and a kingdom, if not resolved soon, would undoubtedly lead to major upheaval. If foreign forces took advantage of this situation to stir up trouble and split the kingdom and the Sword Saints, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Not to mention, the Guardian Sword Saint was currently stationed at the border, helping Jinas defend against external invasions. If he lost trust in the royal family or became dissatisfied with the kingdom, it could lead to disaster at any moment.
As for the Meteor Sword Saint, he had long wandered in foreign lands and had significant contact with outside forces. If provoked, the possibility of his defecting and changing sides was not out of the question.
Lastly, the Borley family's Sword Saint went without saying.
One should know that the Borley family held a pivotal position in Jinas. They were Jinas's sharpest blade, with a Sword Saint emerging each generation to protect it.
Moreover, the royal knightly order was also under their command, and nearly every knight in the kingdom saw this family as their idol, their spiritual pillar. If they decided to take any action against the royal family, and the royal knightly order followed, it would shake the very foundation of the kingdom.
Besides, there was also Reizel Brynhart, the unprecedented youngest Sword Saint in history, who happened to be a Tactical-Class Magician as well—his future was completely unpredictable.
Needless to say, if things weren't handled well, the trouble could be exceptionally enormous.
Naturally, this didn't even take into account the Strategic-Class Magician, Yuri, or the One-Eyed Sword Saint from the Cordelion family.
One stood with Riezel, the other with Sergius, both ready to protest against the royal family at any moment.
In short, all of these individuals were the continent's most honored swordsmen and magicians, so any trouble they caused would bring tremendous damage to the kingdom in no time.
Hendrick himself was well aware of the gravity of the situation.
However—
'Sorren is already severely injured, almost at death's door, and he's still unconscious! How am I supposed to punish him?!'
Hendrick was both frustrated and angry.
'Am I supposed to send him to his death?'
In truth, Hendrick was still on Sorren's side.
It wasn't that he believed Sorren was right, but Sorren was, after all, the best among his children.
If he didn't support Sorren, who else could he support?
As for Sorren's brutal and vicious personality, though he felt uneasy about it, he didn't see it as a big problem.
Born into a royal family, he knew well that people like Sorren were born to stand above others, as whatever they did, they almost always got their way. Given this, the arrogance and recklessness of a young prince were nothing unusual.
In fact, he had been even worse than Sorren when he was younger, but once he ascended the throne, his temperament matured with age, his perspective changed, and in the end, he settled down, no longer as brash as before.
He really saw a lot of himself in Sorren, so he believed that once Sorren matured, he would definitely change.
It was precisely because of this belief that he had always turned a blind eye to the things Sorren had done and continued to support him.
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