After that, she took Alice away.
The Grand Tutor didn't use Spatial Rift to return directly to the Royal Court.
Spatial Rift was too taxing for Alice; she couldn't bear it.
That was fine.
Now that they had chosen the New Moon King, taking a little more time on the way back didn't matter.
Besides, during the journey to the Royal City,
the Grand Tutor could test and teach the new New Moon King.
Meanwhile, Alice was weighed down with worries.
She had somehow found herself on a journey, and had no idea what awaited her.
But at least she understood one thing:
her fate had changed beyond recognition.
"By the way, Grand Tutor..."
Alice suddenly asked, "Have you ever heard the name Rhine?"
The Grand Tutor replied, "There are many people named Rhine, but there's only one Rhine we need to concern ourselves with: the Prince of the Hain Empire, Rhine Hyun."
Alice asked, "May I ask how old Rhine Hyun is?"
"Nineteen. Why do you ask?"
"It's nothing. I just heard a guest mention it today."
Alice answered with a bright smile, but inside, she was utterly shocked.
Because
the Mr. Rhine who had taken her to bed last night... looked like a young man of about nineteen, too!
The Grand Tutor said, "I don't know what you think of the Hain Empire, but you need to understand this: the blood feud between Leita and Hain will never end. From now on, the Hain Empire is your enemy, and Rhine Hyun is an enemy we must eliminate. Understand?"7
"Mm, I understand."
Alice nodded solemnly.
She understood.
Rhine Hyun, the Prince of the Empire—was not her enemy!0
If Alice had any feelings for His Highness Rhine, they were certainly not hatred. They were, above all, love!
The enmity between their countries had nothing to do with Alice. She was just an ordinary elf with nothing but her bloodline to her name.
So even if he was a prince of an enemy nation, Alice would always keep a place in her heart for the Mr. Rhine she loved.9
The Grand Tutor suddenly looked over. "What did you just say?"
Alice: "Huh?!"
Alice was confused. She hadn't said anything just now.
The Grand Tutor asked coolly, "I mean, what were you just saying in your heart?"
Alice's face changed, and she hurriedly explained, "I was saying that damn Rhine Hyun will be hacked to pieces by us sooner or later! He's scum! I hope he dies a miserable death!"
"..."
The Grand Tutor gave Alice a cold look, then said no more and continued on her way.
Sigh...
The Grand Tutor sighed inwardly.
This year's New Moon King...
was going to be a handful.0
The Empire's Imperial Princess
After leaving Miss Alice behind, Rhine and Hela wasted no time and headed for their destination at full speed.
Farther north than the northern border lay the vast Desolate Frozen Land.
And the lair of the ancient dragon Obadiah
was said to lie within a Spatial Rift somewhere in the outer reaches of the Desolate Frozen Land.
As they drew closer to the Desolate Frozen Land,
Hela began to feel an invasive pressure,
along with the deep hostility that the frozen land held toward outsiders.
Hela looked into the distance.
Once they crossed one more mountain range, they would reach the Desolate Frozen Land.
At the thought of soon claiming the ancient dragon's treasure for herself, Hela trembled with excitement.
But when she remembered that she would first have to face an ancient dragon one-on-one, she seemed a little less eager for the treasure...
As warriors under the Creator Gods in legend, ancient dragons were unquestionably a superior race in the mortal world, their existence already approaching that of true gods.
And among them, there was indeed one exceptionally hardworking dragon who had, through sheer effort, attained complete divinity.
The Imperial Guards, who were only demigods, were in fact far inferior to ancient dragons in terms of prestige.
Of course, that wasn't always the case...
As far as Hela knew, there were still a few exceptional demigods who could defeat ancient dragons.
For example, Leita's White Light Grand Tutor,
and the two monsters among their Imperial Guards.
—An ancient dragon, huh... If Histia or Italien went, they could probably smash one to pieces with a single punch.
Hela speculated to herself.
After all, those two had bloodlines that were far too outrageous.
Her elder sister, Histia, and the Imperial Princess, Italien, had broken the Hain Empire's record for demigod bloodline purity. They were hailed as the greatest miracles in the Hain Empire's thousand-year history.8
But setting aside those two ultimate demigods, whose bloodline purity exceeded 90 percent and who were practically the Goddess of Order herself with a little cornstarch mixed in...7
Hela, ranked third, had... very little confidence in herself.
Hela was certainly powerful, too.
With three demigod puppets and four sets of max-level divine gear, she could easily overpower an ordinary demigod in battle.
But...
she was only somewhat powerful.
In another era, Hela might have become the senior Imperial Guard or the Empire's Shield or something along those lines.
But with those two great figures holding down the fort in Hain,
she was doomed.
"Your Highness Rhine, there's something I've always been curious about."
Remembering Italien, Hela suddenly thought of a question that had puzzled her for a long time.
"Isn't Italien your biological younger sister?"4
Hela asked, "Why is your twin sister the second-ranked Imperial Guard in Hain's history, while you, her older brother, are...?"0
Hela spoke to Rhine.
But she received no answer.
She turned to look at him, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
A Spatial Rift had opened beside Rhine,
and the puppets were chatting and laughing with him through it.
Good grief...
Those three brats really did know how to follow instructions.
The puppets hadn't broken Hela's rules by leaving the Spatial Rift without permission,
but clearly, that didn't stop them from growing closer to Rhine.
"Your Highness has such beautiful eyes. I wish I could see them every day!"
"Miss Italien Hela, these eyes are the blessing of an evil dragon. Gazing into them won't do someone as pure and flawless as you, a demigod puppet, any good."
"Then Your Highness should [self-censor][self-censor]!"2
"Right, me too!"
The puppets [self-censored][self-censored][self-censored][self-censored][self-censored][self-censored][self-censored][self-censored]7
At that, Rhine immediately put on a serious expression.
"Ladies, don't joke around. How could demigod puppets be compared to prostitutes? No matter how beastly I might be, I'd never lay a hand on Lady Hela's daughters."2
"Ah..."
The puppets were terribly disappointed and asked timidly, "You really can't?"
Rhine answered gravely, "That's right. I can't."
"Waaah..."
The puppets were deeply crestfallen and let out plaintive cries.
But soon,
they came up with another idea.
"Then, Your Highness Rhine... aren't we going to hunt an ancient dragon next?"
"Yes, that's right."
"If we do well in battle, could we ask Your Highness Rhine to reward us?"7
"A reward?"
"After all, Hela and we will be risking our lives to fight for Your Highness! You gave Hela treasure as a reward, so what will you give us?"
Rhine thought it made sense. "Then, ladies, what kind of reward do you want?"
The puppets' eyes turned shy, their expressions saying, "You know what we mean."
"Hmm..."
Rhine furrowed his brow and thought about it gravely.
Seeing this, Hela immediately spoke up. "Your Highness Rhine, you don't need to take those little perverts' jokes seriously. You don't have to agree to anything..."
Rhine said, "All right, I'll give you what you want!"
The puppets cried, "Woohoo!!!"4
Hela rolled her eyes.
Rhine added with a smile, "But the most I can give you is a kiss."
Hela breathed a sigh of relief. "Just a kiss...? That's not a big deal."
"A kiss..."
The puppets immediately got excited. "Then I want to kiss Your Highness all day long!"
The corner of Hela's mouth twitched again.
The puppets said, "We want kisses every day!"
Hey...
Before you continue