That Was Swearing Loyalty to My Dear

The doll shook her head and handed the document in her hand to Hela. "How could that be? He wants to talk to you. This is a meeting gift."

Hela took the parchment.

It was a transfer agreement that had already been signed and taken effect.

The item being transferred was a medium-sized gold mine in Kent County, south of the Imperial Capital.

Mm, a proper enough gift.

Hela tossed the agreement to the doll. "Put it away."

The doll nodded, then went to the underground storeroom and casually tossed the document into the mountain of gold, silver, and treasures.

The next day,

Hela visited His Highness the Prince's residence.

Led by a servant, Hela arrived at the Prince's study. She did not see the Prince there, but she did see a Magic Matrix.

It was a Sound Transmission Spell.

The Prince was not in the Imperial Capital.

"Miss Hela."

A middle-aged man's voice came from the transmission matrix.

In fact, as the Empress's elder brother, His Highness the Prince was only in his forties. His status was exalted, and he was still in his prime as a Ruler.

It would have been stranger if a royal like him had no thoughts about the Crystal Throne.

Having watched mortals fight over power and profit, Hela had little interest in it. She had always treated the Princes and the Prince as entertainment, watching from the sidelines.

Hela then asked why the Prince had invited her.

"I know that no movement within Hain can escape the eyes of the Imperial Guards. Every demigoddess possesses the ability to control the overall situation; you have merely kept a low profile and chosen not to expose yourselves."

The Prince revealed a sincere smile. "So I'll be direct, Lady Hela. In the future struggle for succession to the throne, I hope you will stand on my side."

Ha.

How straightforward.

Without even exchanging a few pleasantries, he was directly asking Hela to choose a side.

Still, Hela rather liked this way of communicating.

It saved trouble.

For mortals, fighting for imperial power and choosing whom to support was an immensely difficult and important decision.

But for the Imperial Guards, it was no more than an entertaining holiday activity.

Hela coughed twice and said solemnly, "The Imperial Guards are the sword in the Emperor's hand. Your Highness, have you ever seen a weapon choose its own Master?"

The Prince said, "But sometimes, blades can wound their Master."

"Hmph..."

Hela narrowed her eyes.

She understood what the Prince meant.

The Prince wanted Hela to carry out one of the Hain Imperial Guards' traditional activities.

Regicide.

To be honest, Hela did not reject this sort of work.

An Emperor was an Emperor. It made no difference who took the throne. They were all royals chosen by the God of Crystals. If one died and another ascended, it would not be breaking any rules.

The main question was whether the payment was enough.

The Prince had most likely invited Hela to his home because he feared that Hela had killed his subordinate because she favored the Prince's faction.

That was why he was so eager to win Hela over.

The Prince added, "I have prepared a grand gift for Miss Hela. I hope Miss Hela will consider it carefully."

The Prince's meaning was clear.

If Rhine ascended the throne, Hela would find a way to kill His Majesty Rhine.

And the Prince would offer her a reward that satisfied her.

As long as there was money to be made, Hela did not mind taking on such lowly assassin work.

After all, whether something was lowly or not was defined by mortals according to their moral standards. The Imperial Guards had always had a poor tolerance for mortal morality.

However...

The Hela of today was somewhat different from before.

Whenever she thought of the Prince's appearance and voice...

For some reason,

she hesitated.

At the same time, her daughters within the Spatial Rift also raised objections.

Compared to Hela, the dolls actually held the Prince in even higher regard.

They did not want to see their mother kill the Prince they favored.

After a brief period of thought,

Hela shook her head.

"I'm not interested."

Hela rejected the Prince's proposal.

"Your Highness the Prince, you know the rules. The Imperial Guards do not interfere in the royal family's private affairs. We are only loyal to the Emperor upon the Crystal Throne."

The Prince could not help but smile.

"Miss Hela, you need not reach a conclusion so early. Why not first take a look at the gift I have prepared for you?"

It was probably just more money.

She did not want to offend those little ancestors in the Spatial Rift just to earn a little more.

Yet the Prince seemed very confident in his gift.

"Miss Hela, listen carefully. I will now give you a set of coordinates. There, you will find the gift I have prepared for you."

This time, the Prince did not produce any physical object. Instead, he recited a string of numbers to Hela.

Coordinates...

Hela said nothing. A doll within the Spatial Rift immediately took action and arrived at the coordinates given by the Prince in an instant.

Then the doll returned,

bringing Hela astonishing news.

"Hela, there's a cave there."

"The cave is filled with gold!!"

Hela froze for a moment. "How much?"

The doll said, "If converted into Gold Coins, probably tens of millions... billions? I-I can't count them! Anyway, there's a lot, so much! It's all piled into mountains..."

Even Hela was somewhat surprised. The Prince was famously wealthy, but seeing him produce so much gold in one go still astonished her.

She asked in surprise, "All this gold is Your Highness's gift?"

The Prince's voice was gentle. "A small token of my respect."

Hela fell silent.

Hela was silent. She wavered.

Because the Prince was offering far too much!

"Hela. What are you hesitating for?"

The dolls would not accept this. They anxiously asked, "You're not going to agree to the Prince, are you?"

Hela's gaze wavered. "N-No, it's not about whether I agree or not. But haven't you seen it with your own eyes? That much gold! Even if Rhine Hyun sold his underwear, he still couldn't come up with such an enormous sum!"

The doll tried to persuade her. "Hela, we already have plenty of money!"

Hela frowned. Faced with her daughters' endless nagging, she finally lost patience.

"Have you all had enough? Naturally, I'll stand with whichever side pays more. Why are you protecting Rhine Hyun so fiercely? Even if Rhine Hyun made a deal with the evil dragon, the person he has to seduce is Shia, all right? What does that have to do with us?"

The doll was left speechless. "B-But..."

Just as Hela and the dolls were locked in an argument,

a servant's panicked voice suddenly sounded from outside the study.

"Prince Rhine... Y-You can't come here!"

"Ha, how amusing. All of Hain belongs to my family, and you're telling me there are places I can't go?!"

The study door was shoved open violently.

The newcomer

was none other than Hain's Prince, Rhine Hyun.

In the Prince's residence, amid a conspiracy against Prince Rhine, the Prince himself unexpectedly barged onto the scene.

The moment he pushed the door open, his bewitching eyes seized the attention of Hela and the dolls.

Hela and her daughters were dazed once more, their hearts racing...

Rhine looked relaxed as he strode into the study as though visiting relatives. Smiling, he looked at the Magic Matrix on the floor and took out a bottle of carefully prepared wine. "My dear uncle, your filial nephew has come to visit you!"

Prince Edgeworth was Rhine's uncle, as well as the first enemy Rhine encountered.

For Rhine, who had endlessly reincarnated and restarted his life, every reset began with dealing with His Highness the Prince. Over time, bringing down the Prince had become as effortless to Rhine as eating and drinking.

For this novice-village boss he had fought a thousand times, every point at which the Prince would cause trouble and every moment Rhine would counterattack had been etched into his mind, becoming almost instinctive.

The Prince's voice darkened. "Rhine..."

The moment Rhine Hyun appeared, the Prince's composed and gentle demeanor vanished.

Rhine's attitude was respectful. "Uncle."

The Prince said, "Rhine Hyun, this is my residence. I did not invite you here today."

Rhine smiled. "Yes, you did not invite me. You invited Lady Hela. Speaking of which... what were the two of you discussing just now?"

The Prince gritted his teeth. "It has nothing to do with you."

Rhine casually entered the Prince's study and walked to the bookshelf as though returning to his own home.

The Prince immediately became nervous. "What are you doing?!"

With practiced ease, Rhine pulled an ordinary-looking dictionary from the shelf.

Then, from within the dictionary, he slowly drew out an IOU.

"Let's see what this is... Prince Edgeworth of Hain borrowed one billion Gold Swords from the Golden Land, forged them into gold bars, and transported them to the northern Kenasi Islands for storage."

After reading the contents of the IOU, Rhine revealed an incredulous expression. "Uncle, you intend to use this dirty money borrowed from our enemies to bribe Lady Hela?"

The Prince was beside himself with agitation. "Utter nonsense!!"

At the side, Hela suddenly understood.