That Is Swearing Loyalty to My Dear

Constance: "That price is too high for me."

As a millennium-old empire, the Hain Empire possessed abundant resources, with countless pieces of equipment and items capable of matching demigod-level power.

But high-end equipment was always scarce.

Take Constance's sword, for example.

Ever since the Crystal Goddess of Order ascended to the rank of chief goddess, the "Silver White Crystal" created by the goddess had gained the ability to appraise the ranks of magical derivatives, establishing a unified standard of measurement for the mortal world.

These magical derivatives included high-ranking warriors who gradually transformed themselves into magical creatures through training.

They also included all kinds of magical weapons and items.

The classification of quality was exceedingly simple and straightforward. The five colors reflected by Silver White Crystal—white, green, blue, purple, and gold—were enough to encompass every nonliving magical creation in the mortal world.

Golden weapons were already the highest-quality weapons that could be found in the mortal world. Even as an Imperial Guard, Constance possessed only this one sword of golden quality.

Though Hela's asking price was exorbitant.

...Constance could not exactly blame her for it.

Constance and Rhine had privately conducted a transaction with the Dragon of Lust. For such an act of defiance, it would not have been impossible for the Goddess of Order to cast down a Crystal Spear and execute them on the spot.

This was extremely troublesome for Constance.

And even more fatal for Rhine.

No one in the court was willing to provoke the Imperial Guard.

But ambitious figures coveting the Crystal Throne and wishing to eliminate the Prince and take his place were everywhere.

Constance knew very well that Hela could make this deal with anyone. The fact that she had come to Constance first was already remarkably considerate, given that woman's temperament.

Yet Constance had not expected—

Hela to be even more considerate than she had imagined!

"Forget it. I know you're not exactly well-off when it comes to equipment, so how about this? I won't take your sword."

Hela shrugged.

"Then I can only go ask Italien for money. She's Prince Rhine's biological younger sister. She should be more than willing to spend some money to avert disaster for her brother, right?"

"Forget it. Someone will die."

Sigh...

Constance was somewhat helpless.

In the end—

She reluctantly compromised.

The Mithril Ritual Sword, tempered with a dragon soul, was removed from Constance's waist and placed on the table.

"Take it."

The Worth of a Thousand-Lifetime Reincarnator

As the heir to the Hain Empire, Rhine had been provided with the finest educational resources by the court.

Though Rhine in his first life had been a fool, he at least possessed common sense.

As the future Emperor, he could not possibly remain ignorant and uneducated.

Therefore, Rhine worked hard at most of his lessons.

But not a single course related to combat.

Whether it was magic, swordsmanship, or horsemanship, Rhine refused to put effort into any of them.

The reason was simple.

In Hain, even an idiot knew that the Imperial Guard were the nation's main source of combat power. In a country where even the regular army rarely had a chance to prove itself—what the hell was the point of Rhine, an Emperor, practicing swordsmanship?

No matter how fiercely he trained, could he really be fiercer than the Imperial Guard protecting him?

However, Rhine could not slack off during today's swordsmanship lesson.

Because Rhine's swordsmanship course had a new teacher.

He was a heavyweight figure.

The Imperial Duke, Marshal of the Northern Army, swordsmanship instructor to two generations of Imperial Guard, and the man hailed as the Empire's strongest mortal swordsmanship grandmaster—Grand Duke Norman.

Though nearly fifty years old, the Imperial Duke remained at the peak of his physical condition due to the tempering of magic and martial arts. Not only did he command a massive army, he also maintained friendly relations with the Imperial Guard. The faction under his leadership was likewise one of the major political powers within the Hain Empire.

Before such a big shot—

Even a Prince had to smile and try his best to win the old man's favor.

Hitching a ride with Hela of the Imperial Guard, Grand Duke Norman had returned from the front lines to the imperial capital for rest and recuperation.

And taking advantage of this opportunity—

After discussing it with the Empress, the Grand Duke decided to teach the Prince swordsmanship for a time.

The Grand Duke's intentions were good.

Grand Duke Norman had been an upright soldier all his life. Now that the Empress was frail and ill, Prince Rhine was the legal successor to the throne and would also become the one Norman served.

Therefore, Grand Duke Norman naturally ought to spend more time with the Prince and build a relationship of trust.

And—

Grand Duke Norman also hoped to teach this young Prince a little. After all, Prince Rhine's current conduct was truly... somewhat unbecoming of a ruler.

"Then before we begin the lesson, Your Highness, try to defeat me once."

Grand Duke Norman said with a genial smile, "Do not feel pressured, Your Highness. I will be careful."

However—

When the Grand Duke and the Prince arrived at the training ground where they usually practiced, and both took up blunt training swords...

The Grand Duke's worldview collapsed with a crash!

In theory, as the Prince's new teacher, Grand Duke Norman did not yet know the Prince's skill level. He should have sparred with the Prince for a few rounds first to assess his ability.

Yet the Prince's combat prowess brutally shattered the Grand Duke's understanding of the world!

Clang—!

The training sword flew from his hand, and the Prince's blade pressed against Grand Duke Norman's throat.

Once again...

The battle ended the instant it began.

The Grand Duke's gaze trembled, his face twitching. He stared at the Prince in horror, even beginning to stammer.

"I-I lost again? Your Highness... did you, did you use magic?"

Rhine answered, "No. It was only ordinary swordsmanship."

The Grand Duke was on the verge of collapse. "Then why... was Your Highness's speed... so fast?!"

Rhine said, "I merely took the shortest path for the sword."

The Grand Duke asked in a trembling voice, "You mean... a straight line?"

Rhine, a Reincarnator who had experienced a thousand rebirths and spent ten thousand years of spare time practicing swordsmanship to a godlike level, calmly shook his head.

"No."

Storm into the Higher World and Pull Out Order's Power Cord

A thousand cycles of reincarnation had been far too long.

In this world of absurd difficulty, Rhine constantly experienced death and rebirth. In every life, aside from desperately seeking a way to break the deadlock, he also used the rest of his time to cultivate little hobbies and relieve his stress.

Like practicing swordsmanship.

Or magic, or the combat arts of various other races...

And most of the time, he would train these arts to perfection, reaching their absolute limit until there was not the slightest possibility of further improvement.

If he had been training martial arts with efficiency in mind, then stubbornly pouring limitless time and resources into a single discipline would never have been a good choice.

But Rhine only treated it as entertainment and did not care how much time it consumed. Yet even so... he had still mastered a great many skills.

With those abilities, if Rhine possessed the strength of a demigod, then even ten Imperial Guards would not be able to defeat him. He could charge straight into the higher divine realm and pull out Order's power cord.

But allowing talentless Rhine to obtain strength comparable to the Demigod Imperial Guard was, in truth, far more troublesome than taking down the Goddess of Order.

So in the end, Rhine's swordsmanship could only earn him the favor of a sword-obsessed old man in the arena and gain him a few anecdotes that increased his reputation.

Putting away his weapon, Rhine helped the shocked old Marshal to the side and chatted with him for a while.

The Grand Duke's ultimate purpose in coming to teach Rhine swordsmanship was to deepen his relationship with the future Emperor, so Rhine naturally indulged him.

He patiently explained the principle behind that strike to the Grand Duke.

Though the old Grand Duke did not understand it, he was deeply shaken.

And when the lingeringly frightened Grand Duke asked how Rhine's swordsmanship had become so sharp—

Rhine smiled and offered an explanation.

Rhine said that it was probably because his Crystal God Bloodline had awakened. His martial skill now all came from the goddess's inheritance.

The moment those words were spoken, the way the Grand Duke looked at Rhine changed at once.

His gaze was mixed with expectation, faith, and worship.

Prince Rhine... had received the blessing of the Crystal God?

His Highness truly was the chosen Emperor!

At that moment, the old Grand Duke saw hope in this debauched Prince—the Empire's hope!

Ha...

And Rhine murmured inwardly.

In Hain, this explanation really was the most effective.

.

Night.

After finishing a day of study, it was time for Rhine to rest.

Normally, at a time like this, Rhine would send an invitation from the Imperial Palace to some beautiful young noblewoman in advance, or simply pay her a visit and spend the night together.

But Rhine had lost interest in that now.

Rather than seek out women, he went to the Sanctuary.

According to Sanctuary rules, members of the imperial family had to visit the Sanctuary at a fixed time every day and pray to the Goddess of Crystal, Order.

Today, Rhine uncharacteristically followed the rules.

Entering the Sanctuary, Rhine saw the enormous statue of the goddess formed from growing Silver White Crystal.

And the white-haired girl kneeling before the statue, praying quietly.

"Your Highness." Constance noticed Rhine's arrival and softly called out to him in greeting.

Rhine responded with a nod. Though Constance had her back to him, he knew that she could see him.

The two stood silently before the statue.

For a long time now, the two of them had not had any proper conversation.

Ever since the day Constance had been taken away by the Sanctuary, she had never smiled at Rhine again. To the Rhine of those years, her cold gaze had been unfamiliar and piercing.

Yet even so, everything that had happened today still made Rhine clearly understand that Constance's feelings for him had never changed.

Suddenly.

Rhine's gaze fell upon Constance's waist.

Rhine froze for a moment.