Chapter 877: Into the Heart of Theresis

At the same time, inside another palace within the royal palace, a young man clad in refined, noble attire sat behind his desk. Yet instead of paying attention to the mountain of documents piled before him, he remained distracted, unable to calm his restless mind.

"Your Highness."

A black-clothed swordsman appeared soundlessly in the corner of the room, concealing himself within the shadows before dropping to one knee.

"Speak."

As he responded, the young man neither looked up nor turned toward the swordsman. Even so, the swordsman still reported respectfully.

"Just now, that ’doll’ entered Urvashi. She is now at the main gate of the palace."

Hearing that, the young man’s pupils instantly contracted.

"...I see."

Only after a long silence did he whisper to himself.

"So... Krauser Augman failed, didn’t he...?"

For those living in Theresis, the implications behind those words were enormous.

Krauser Augman was one of Theresis’s Sword Saints, powerful enough to rank among the top three. Yet he had failed to stop the ’doll’ and had allowed her to reach Urvashi and arrive at the royal palace, leaving only one explanation.

Someone on the other side had been strong enough to repel Krauser, perhaps even powerful enough to ensure that the Sword Saint never returned.

"Riezel Brynhart..."

At this moment, the young man finally realized that the mysterious magician who had Sword Saints serving as attendants must have been the legendary Lightning Sword Saint himself. Otherwise, Krauser would never have vanished without even sending back a single report.

But why?

Why had Riezel come to Theresis now?

Was it merely a coincidence?

Or did he have another objective?

"And he just happened to be traveling with the doll...? Is that really just a coincidence?"

In the end, the more he thought about it, the more unsettled he became.

Seeing his master’s expression, the black-clothed swordsman hidden in the darkness spoke in a low voice.

"Should we..."

While speaking, he drew a finger across his throat.

"We already failed outside," the young man merely replied coldly, never even glancing at him. "Now the doll is about to enter the palace. Do you honestly think we’d succeed now? And even if we did, making a move here would only hand Olivia and the others an excuse. If we actually did that, I’d be the one dragged into the abyss, while those women would be the ones benefiting."

Hearing that, the black-clothed swordsman lowered his head and fell silent.

Meanwhile, the young man pondered for a while with an uncertain expression before suddenly speaking again.

"Make the preparations. We’re going to meet them."

"Yes."

Almost instantly, the black-clothed swordsman acknowledged the order, after which his figure blended into the darkness and disappeared completely.

At the same time, the young man stood up, took a golden robe from the nearby coat rack, draped it over his shoulders, and left the room.

===

"So they finally came..."

A woman’s voice echoed through the brightly lit room.

Designed with an open layout, the room was not particularly large and connected directly to an outdoor balcony, while there was very little furniture inside. Aside from a small white table, a matching white chair, and a tea cart, the room was almost empty.

A young woman who appeared to be around Ivy’s age—perhaps slightly older—sat in the white chair. Exquisite pastries and a steaming cup of black tea rested upon the small white table before her.

At a glance, it was obvious that she had been enjoying afternoon tea.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Standing beside the elegant young woman, a beautiful maid respectfully delivered her report.

"They entered Urvashi directly aboard a carriage pulled by monsters and headed straight for the palace. They are currently at the main gate and are about to enter."

"Whether it’s the doll or the mysterious magician mentioned in the intelligence reports, along with his attendants, all of them arrived safely."

"It seems Lukais and the resistance forces that knew of the doll have all failed. Prince Oscar has failed as well."

"Everyone... has failed."

Upon hearing the report, the young woman, who was also addressed as ’Your Highness,’ gently furrowed her elegant brows.

"Riezel Brynhart...?"

Recalling the name mentioned in the intelligence reports, she murmured softly.

"Could it really be him? But why would he come to Theresis? And how did he become involved with the doll?"

She had clearly begun overthinking things herself. Even though she was far calmer than the young nobleman, the crease between her brows refused to disappear.

"It’s all because the Beryl family couldn’t mind their own business. They’re merely a noble family of count rank, yet they’re so blind to the situation. They deserve to die."

Saying that, the maid emitted undisguised killing intent.

"Honestly, that’s hardly surprising."

At the maid’s words, the young woman replied calmly.

"Count Beryl belongs to one of the older generations of the nobility and has always been absolutely loyal to Her Majesty. Because of that, he naturally leans toward the Princess Faction, which supports preserving the traditions of the queendom. Even so, he has never openly declared his allegiance."

"Strictly speaking, he belongs to neither the Princess Faction nor the Prince Faction. He is firmly part of the Queen Faction."

"After Her Majesty secluded herself in the royal chambers, ceased appearing in public, and divided governmental authority between the Princess Faction and the Prince Faction, Count Beryl entered the palace many times seeking an audience with Her Majesty. Yet every request was denied."

"As time passed, the old count likely began to suspect something. He probably wondered whether Her Majesty had been secretly harmed by those of us fighting over power and therefore could no longer appear."

"Ordinarily, there would have been nothing he could do. A mere count’s family could never change the direction of the queendom."

"But... the doll awakened within Count Beryl’s territory and fell into his hands."

"Knowing both the existence of the doll and what she represented, Count Beryl could hardly remain without ideas."

"Having his younger sister conceal the doll’s whereabouts and then send her to the palace in Urvashi once the opportunity presented itself was the only way he could interfere with the nation’s affairs."

Because of that, the young woman had long since prepared herself mentally.

She knew that as long as nothing happened to the doll, she would eventually make the journey to Urvashi and enter the royal palace.

She had been watching the entire time, observing whether the doll could survive the assassination attempts from every faction and safely reach Urvashi.

The only thing she had never expected was for the doll to become connected with the prodigy whose fame had recently spread throughout the central continent and bring him here as well.

Now, the legendary doll had successfully reached Urvashi and was about to enter the royal palace.

At the same time, the legendary Lightning Sword Saint was about to enter the heart of the nation where the fiercest political struggle was unfolding.

"Things have become a little troublesome..."

Realizing that she could no longer peacefully enjoy her rare afternoon tea, the young woman sighed softly.

However...

"Still, the truly anxious one isn’t me. It’s my impatient elder brother," the young woman said calmly, her tightly knit brows gradually relaxing. "In that case, there’s no need for us to rush. Let’s observe the situation a little longer."

"Is that really alright?" the maid asked with some concern. "What about Her Majesty...?"

"It’s fine..."

Looking unbothered, the young woman replied while shaking her head.

"Given Her Majesty’s current condition, she can no longer do anything herself. If she wants to reclaim the authority and status that once belonged to her, she’ll have to rely on herself."

"In the first place, this isn’t the world it was several centuries ago. No one is going to willingly hand over the power they’re holding and place her back upon the throne. If she wants to reclaim the position of queen, plenty of people in this country will stand in her way."

Having said that, the young woman lifted her teacup and leisurely took a sip.

"Worrying won’t accomplish anything. For now, all we can do is watch."

Hearing that, the maid lowered her head to show that she understood.

What she didn’t know was that her mistress was nowhere near as calm as she appeared, since there were still far too many uncertain factors surrounding the doll. Until those uncertainties were resolved, she wasn’t truly afraid of the doll’s arrival.

However, the young Sword Saint who had become a living legend in less than a year—his intentions and his attitude were things she simply couldn’t ignore. If he truly supported that person, then the situation would become genuinely dangerous.

A supreme powerhouse acknowledged as the strongest in a great kingdom, with two female Sword Saints serving as his attendants—making such a man an enemy was far too unwise.

At the very least, she had no confidence in facing him head-on.

If he had no intention of withdrawing...

’...If I can’t defeat him, then I’ll have to find a way to win him over.’

Having reached that conclusion, the young woman continued sipping her tea while constructing one plan after another in her mind.

===

Everyone knew that, given the circumstances of a kingdom’s royal family, each generation would never consist of only one or two children.

Take Jinas, for example.

Hendrick himself had more than ten children even without counting Lizbeth, who wasn’t related by blood, which was undoubtedly far more than an ordinary family, or even most noble families.

Meanwhile, the royal family of Theresis wasn’t nearly that large.

After all, the queen was the ruler of the queendom.

As women, they naturally couldn’t marry several—or even dozens of—men and produce a large number of descendants like some kings could.

In Theresis, every queen married only one man during her lifetime, and that man became the prince consort of the queendom. Furthermore, the queen held immense authority and remained occupied with state affairs, making it impossible for her to have many children.

As a result, this generation of the royal family had only three royal heirs.

One was male, while the other two were female.

Under normal circumstances, the two princesses should have competed against one another for the throne, while the lone prince would have sought another path early in life.

Unfortunately, the ancient tradition of Theresis—that only princesses could inherit the throne and only queens could rule the nation—had finally ignited generations of accumulated resentment.

Simply because they were born male, they were forever barred from inheriting the throne?

How could proud princes possibly accept that?

Moreover, after the first queen passed away, Theresis gradually lost the strength it possessed when the nation had first been founded. Under successive generations of queens, the queendom had not flourished. Instead, it had steadily weakened.

Naturally, that gave rise to countless problems, until at last the princes of the royal family began to rebel.

Hence, Theresis descended into complete turmoil.

Of course, if the struggle had remained confined to the royal family, it wouldn’t have affected the entire nation.

But the problem was that the conflict had gradually spread from the royal family to the entire nobility.

Take the current generation, for example.

Although there were only three royal heirs, they weren’t the only ones with legitimate succession rights.

Since the ducal families that were only three generations removed from the royal family still shared close blood ties, their descendants also possessed inheritance rights and were qualified to compete with the three princes and princesses.

Among those ducal descendants were both men and women.

As a result, before the struggle for the throne truly began, both sides had already formed alliances, intending to eliminate the opposite side before settling the matter among themselves.

And that was how the Prince Faction, composed of the male heirs, and the Princess Faction, composed of the female heirs, came into existence.

When Riezel and his group entered Urvashi and arrived at the royal palace, it wasn’t only the two individuals addressed as ’Your Highness’ who noticed their arrival. Every member of both the Prince Faction and the Princess Faction who possessed succession rights received the news and grew tense.

"They really came?"

"We sent so many people to assassinate them, and not a single one made it?"

"Damn it... this just made things a lot more troublesome."

"Tch, his arrival is definitely bad news for us."

"No. We’ve come too far to give up now."

"But the legendary doll has already entered the palace. It’s too late to stop her."

"Let’s wait and see."

"Let’s see what the three people inside the palace decide to do."

"Surely Prince Oscar isn’t just gonna sit back and watch the doll awaken?"

"Let’s see how Her Majesty reacts."

"I refuse to believe someone from several centuries ago can reclaim modern-day Theresis while standing completely alone."

Various factions in Theresis reacted differently after receiving the news.

Some were speechless.

Some were worried.

Some were unwilling to accept reality.

Some were filled with resentment.

Others simply watched coldly, waiting to see how events would unfold.

Naturally, the neighboring nations keeping an eye on Theresis were also closely observing everything while secretly making plans of their own.

Completely unaware that he had already become a thorn in countless people’s sides, Riezel entered the royal palace in a carriage with Lizbeth and the others.

With the Beryl family’s guarantee, simply entering the palace was enough to avoid being stopped by the guards.

However, the fact that no one stopped them didn’t mean anyone welcomed them either.

Because no one came to receive them or guide them after they entered the palace, Riezel and his companions were effectively left on their own, with no idea where they were supposed to go.

"Let’s head over there."

After quietly surveying the surroundings, Yanivette pointed toward a certain direction.

Standing there was an enormous castle of breathtaking grandeur.

"That’s the queen’s residence."

Yanivette spoke with the calm composure of a victorious general returning from battle, or a monarch who had quietly returned incognito.

"Since this is a rare opportunity, allow me to return to my bedchamber first. After that, I shall properly receive all of you."

===

[A bonus Chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]

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