Round Two Ends; Round Three, an Even Fiercer and More Spectacular Clash Among the Gods, Begins at Once! (Continued)

He simply hated goblins.

I never thought that one day... I'd actually have to ask such a lowly race for help.

But he had no other choice.

At that moment, the Prince looked solemn, his breathing ragged, his mind caught in a state of extreme tension and anxiety.

That was only natural...

After all, not long ago, his nephew, Rhine Hyun, had discovered the secret of his collusion with the Golden Land.

Ever since, the Prince had been consumed by fear, constantly on edge, and unable to get a good night's sleep...

What exactly was Rhine Hyun planning to do?

When would he expose me?

What would he do to me?!

All sorts of questions tormented the Prince's mind.

In the end...

The Prince decided that he had to confront the dwarves.

And to put on a strong front and ensure his safety, the Prince had paid a great price to hire Lilia Hain, asking her to serve as his bodyguard for the time being.

The race of the people he was negotiating with was certainly surprising.

But...

Well.

The Prince sighed helplessly.

"Fine. Let's hear your solution."

"No problem, but before that..."

The goblin's gaze shifted to the Prince's back.

The goblin asked in surprise, "Could this be Miss Lilia Hain of the Imperial Guard?"

"That's right. I'm Lilia. Do you not trust me, sir? You can rest assured!"

Lilia Hain declared solemnly, "I do the job I'm paid for, and I always keep my word. Since I agreed to help His Highness the Prince, I won't back out, even if it means treason—so go ahead and talk about whatever you like."

The goblin nodded with a smile, his manner extremely friendly, then continued speaking to the Prince:

"We've learned about your situation. Rhine Hyun found the IOU you signed with the Golden Land, but he hasn't used it to expose you. So you can't be sure what the Prince has in mind—is that right?"

The Prince nodded in silence.

The goblin said, "To be honest, the Golden Land has long been researching and infiltrating Hain's political system. We know a little about your country's situation, but Prince Rhine is a very special case. Judging by his past behavior, what he's done this time is quite out of character. It doesn't seem like a decision he made on his own..."

The goblin rubbed his hands together. "So, after discussing it, we've concluded there's only one course of action."

The Prince said, "Spit it out!"

The goblin smiled sheepishly. "But, strictly speaking, this plan isn't really appropriate..."

The Prince laughed. "You mean you're planning to assassinate Rhine Hyun? Wonderful! Forget what's appropriate—I'd be glad to see him dead!"

"No, that's not it."

The goblin shook his head. "We mean that the Golden Land intends to sever ties with you."

"What?!"

The Prince was shocked. "What are you saying?!"

The goblin spread his hands with a wry smile. "Exactly what it sounds like, Your Highness. They say that Prince Rhine is a foolish wastrel. So, if what you've told us is true, we suspect he must be acting on someone else's orders... In that case, the IOU makes things quite clear. It was a warning to both you and us!"

The goblin said, "Your Highness, it's time to stop. That would be best for all of us. Of course, we'll collect your outstanding loans in our own way."

"Stop? No chance!"

The Prince ground his teeth. "I came to you to solve this problem, and now you want to just walk away?!"

The goblin said, "Your Highness, we're merchants, not gamblers. We can't find out who's standing behind Prince Rhine. If it's a noble or a minister, perhaps we could still find a way to negotiate. But what if it's the Empress? Or, worse still... what if Miss Histia is purging Hain's political scene? What would you do then?"

The Empress and Histia...

At the mention of those two names, the anger on the Prince's face faded somewhat...

The Prince asked, "Lilia, do you think Histia is involved in this?"

"No, I'm certain she isn't."

Lilia of the Imperial Guard smiled. "Big sister Histia isn't a gentle person. If she were investigating this, then just for deliberately losing the war and handing the Casey Islands to the dwarves, she'd have already torn you to pieces."

The Prince's expression darkened further. He managed a strained smile.

"You heard that, didn't you?"

"Yes, I heard every word..."

The goblin seemed deep in thought.

He activated a magical device and conferred with several other high-ranking members...

After weighing things over, the goblins reached their final decision.

"I've decided to stick with our original plan, Your Highness. The Golden Land will no longer provide you with funding."

"You hairless beast! Don't push me!!"

The Prince flew into a rage. "You were the ones who came to me and forced me to sell out my country, and now you want to throw me away?! If you dare toy with me again, I'll show you what Hain's Imperial Guard can do!"

Stupid little green dwarf!

The Prince was burning with anger. Did those goblins not understand why he'd brought the Imperial Guard with him?

"Your Highness, why get angry? If you stop now, you won't suffer any losses."

"I will suffer a loss!"

The Prince gritted his teeth. "I'll lose the Crystal Throne that should have been mine!"

The goblin said nothing...

The goblin fell silent.

The atmosphere grew dangerous.

The Prince signaled to Lilia, telling her to be ready to act at any moment.

Lilia Hain nodded on the surface, but remained quite calm, as if the matter had nothing to do with her.

Just then...

A ring on Lilia's hand suddenly lit up.

It was a communication device that Lilia owned.

With it, Lilia could receive orders from her superiors at any time, and also chat with her sisters who had the same kind of ring...

The message she'd just received was from one of her Imperial Guard sisters.

Hela: [Lilia, what are you doing?]

Lilia: [I'm watching the Prince do business with the Golden Land.]

Hela: [I knew it... You and the Prince are stationed in the same city, so of course he'd come to you.]

Lilia: [Don't worry, big sister Hela. Once His Highness the Prince finishes talking with these dwarves, I'll kill them all. It'll be fine!]

Hela: [Lilia, stop getting involved in this.]

Lilia: [But the Prince said he'd give me a Silvermoon Dragon. My little white duck hasn't had much of an appetite lately, so I could kill a dragon and feed it to her...]

Hela: [...]

Hela fell silent for a moment.

Then Hela sent Lilia a picture.

Lilia asked curiously: [Is that a rib? It's huge! What animal is it from?]

Hela: [The ancient dragon Obadiah.]

Lilia: [Holy shit?!]

Hela: [Come back right now. Don't make any more mistakes. I have a whole warehouse of this stuff.]

Lilia: "!!!"

Lilia immediately shut off the communication.

Then, without another word, she turned and tore open a rift in space, ready to leave.

The tense standoff in the stone chamber ended in an instant.

The Prince was stunned. He cried out, "Lilia, what are you doing?!"

Lilia waved lazily. "I'm off the clock, Your Highness~"

The Prince was dumbfounded. "No, are you really going to... clock out right now?!"

Lilia said, "Can't be helped. My little white duck wet the bed!"

The Prince shouted, "You get back here!! Get back here!!"

The Prince yelled at Lilia with all his might,

but Lilia acted as though she hadn't heard a thing. Humming a tune, she left in high spirits.

The goblin's expression was solemn, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching.

"Your Highness..."

The goblin bit his hand, trying with all his might not to laugh. "Your Imperial Guard really is impressive. I've certainly seen that for myself."

The Prince broke down.

He smashed everything in sight. "Aaaaaah, damn it! What on earth is going on?! What is happening?!"

Thanks to Mianrou for the tip! You're too generous!!

Also, some readers in the comments wanted to know what my older books were, so I'll list them here.

This Master Didn't Have a Conscience

<Peeking at the Emperor's Diary Made Yuheng Star Lose Her Cool>

I'm a Salaryman at Rhine Life

4. Demon Sword Sisterhood (Thanks to Bu Cheng Yunyun's Xue for the tip)

Space was torn open, then slowly healed.

And so,

His Highness the Prince's loyal bodyguard, Lilia Hain, made her stylish exit!

The Prince was about to go mad.

The goblin tried very hard to stifle his laughter. After a moment, his expression finally relaxed.

"Then, Your Highness, our conversation ends here."

After enjoying the Hain Empire Prince's splendid performance, the goblin smiled at the empty air behind him and said,

"Miss White Vulture, please see our guest out."

"Certainly."

A pleasant female voice rang out.

Another rift in space appeared in the stone chamber.