Chapter 775 - 608 personally issued summons

If it were in a previous life, waiting for a woman to get ready could take up an hour or two.

In that respect, Liz and Yuloli were incredibly quick, as Reiger had only returned to his room for a few minutes before they came looking for him.

"Haah—"

Yuloli, brought by Liz while yawning, had her sleepy eyes half-closed and her clothes loosely worn, causing Reiger to find the sight both amusing and absurd.

"While you don’t even need sleep, you act as if you’re truly sleep-deprived."

From this perspective, perhaps Yuloli was quite human indeed?

"How do you feel, Yuloli?"

Reiger called out to Yuloli, his voice full of probing.

"?"

Unfortunately, the Vampire Queen just tilted her head, looking at Reiger with a confused expression, as if she couldn’t quite grasp his meaning.

"Alright then."

Reiger couldn’t help but sigh.

"Miss Yuloli really can’t communicate with us, can she..."

Liz, who was leading Yuloli, seemed to share the sentiment with a hint of regret.

It had been a while since they brought Yuloli out of those ancient ruins, and the Vampire Queen still behaved like a newborn child; not only was she unable to communicate, but she couldn’t even speak a single word.

Yet, to say she completely misunderstood others wasn’t entirely true.

"I always feel sometimes she understands what we are saying, and occasionally she even takes some actions on her own, it’s just that maybe even she herself doesn’t know why she does it."

Reiger gazed at Yuloli, recalling the moment when Liz’s bloodline awakened and the queen grasped him, preventing him from rushing forward.

At that time, the queen must have known what was happening to Liz, hence she was reluctant to let Reiger interfere.

"Yuloli Reinayier."

Reiger called her full name, eliciting a response from her.

"......"

Yuloli lifted her eyelids to look at Reiger, and after a while, she tilted her head again, her face full of puzzlement.

"Never mind," Reiger gave up on trying to communicate with the ancient queen and said to Liz, "You lead her, Liz. Don’t let her wander off."

"Understood, Master."

Liz naturally had no objections.

Only then did the trio leave the room, preparing to chat together once Yuri returned.

But before Yuri could return, Reiger was waiting on another piece of news.

"The King has summoned Liz?"

In the mansion’s hall, Reiger received such a message, which left him frozen in place.

"Father... has summoned me?"

Liz, holding Yuloli’s hand, was also taken aback, standing motionless.

"Yes." The butler stood before Reiger with utmost reverence, reporting to him, "An envoy from the palace is currently outside, saying they have come to escort Princess Nine back to the palace."

"...This is rather intriguing." After a moment of silence, Reiger said expressionlessly, "Wasn’t the King the one who sent his own daughter away, showing that he no longer considered her part of the royal family? And now, why is he using summons and referring to her with that outdated term ’Princess Nine’?"

Liz also had a complex look on her face.

You see, after she was sent to Reiger’s side, the royal family did make a declaration that the fact of a royal princess becoming someone else’s attendant was never to be known by others, hence they would no longer regard Liz as a princess of the royal family.

As a result, Liz’s surname was revoked, and she was forced to revert to her old surname.

And when Liz sought out Hemulinp to inquire about her mother, he too circled around the issue, diverting the topic repeatedly and showing interest only in Liz’s highly valued master, not caring in the least about Liz’s current treatment or the kind of life she was leading.

Now, not only did they take the initiative to summon her, but they also used the old title "Princess Nine," which understandably left Liz feeling emotionally conflicted.

"This... I’m not quite sure myself."

The butler appeared troubled, responding to Reiger with fear and caution.

There was no helping it; he was just a humble butler, who dared not think too deeply or comment casually on royal affairs—even if Reiger criticized the royal family in front of him, he would only feel fearful and wouldn’t have the slightest idea about the details.

Reiger understood he was putting the butler on the spot.

This matter, even if discussed with the butler, would be of no help, right?

"Did they say why they were summoning the Princess?"

Reiger inquired.

"No." The butler shook his head, replying truthfully, "They only said that the summons was personally issued by His Majesty."

"Is that so?" Reiger narrowed his eyes and said, "They summoned only the Princess?"

"Yes." The butler replied respectfully, "The envoy mentioned that His Majesty has summoned only Princess Nine and has not summoned you."

Upon hearing this, Reiger laughed.

"Interesting," he murmured to himself, "to summon only an attendant, bypassing her master in the process. What is he planning to do?"

Even though Liz was a former princess and the daughter of Hemulinp, she was now Reiger’s attendant. Even if an attendant isn’t as bereft of autonomy as a slave, and should they wish to meet someone, it would still be inappropriate to bypass their master, right?

Not to mention, Liz’s master is none other than Reiger Brillhaut, recognized as one of the Sword Saints and possessing a significant status even within major nations.

Hemulinp had also treated Reiger like a treasure and tried his best to win him over; but now, he had bypassed Reiger to summon his attendant instead, which clearly showed a certain disregard for Reiger’s opinion.

Just as Reiger was about to say something, Liz spoke up first.

"Master," Liz looked at Reiger with a hint of hesitation, "May I go to the palace to see Father... to see His Majesty?"

Hearing this, Reiger knew what Liz was thinking.

"...Do you still want to learn the truth about your origins from his lips?"

Reiger looked at Liz and voiced the thoughts hidden in the young girl’s heart.

"Perhaps he remembered something, which is why he summoned me in such a hurry."

Liz couldn’t help but hold onto that hopeful wish and looked at Reiger somewhat imploringly.

"...Are you sure you want to go to the palace alone?"

Reiger always felt that the matter wasn’t so simple, or perhaps not so innocent.

At the very least, he didn’t believe that Hemulinp would suddenly remember something and hasten to summon Liz, prepared to tell her.

From what King Hemulinp had shown so far, it was evident that he was a qualified emperor but not a qualified father.

Even if he truly remembered something abruptly, he would likely brush it aside, certainly not treating it as a matter of urgency to immediately summon his daughter and inform her.

That was the impression Hemulinp left on Reiger.

Even if he knew that his son had nearly died at Reiger’s hand, he could act as if nothing had happened and continue to extend an olive branch to Reiger afterward, especially after learning that Reiger could use "Teleportation Gates" and had defeated Revin Meipros. The attitude he displayed was even warmer than before, without the slightest regard for the grudge against his own son.

In his eyes, there was only the Kingdom of Brillhaut, and he remembered only that he was the King of Brillhaut.

Aside from that, anything that wasn’t beneficial to the development of Brillhaut could be put aside.

For such a person to suddenly, with such abnormal urgency, summon Liz, if Reiger were to say there wasn’t some trickery involved, he wouldn’t believe it himself.

Even if they were to go to the palace, it would still be better for him to accompany Liz than for her to go alone.

Liz, of course, was aware of Reiger’s concerns.

"Don’t worry, Master," Liz whispered, "Even out of respect for you, he wouldn’t harm me."

These words managed to convince Reiger.

If Liz had tried to persuade him with some father-daughter sentiment, believing that her own father wouldn’t harm his daughter, Reiger definitely wouldn’t have been convinced.

But Liz’s reasoning was based on Hemulinp’s personality, which indeed seemed to be the case.

If he did anything to harm Liz and thereby angered Reiger, a Sword Saint and Magician of Tactical Level Magic with boundless potential, Hemulinp would surely see this as a loss not worth the gain.

Therefore, given Hemulinp’s style, he really wouldn’t dare to cavalierly ignore Reiger’s threat and do something to Liz.

"...Alright."

In the end, Reiger reluctantly nodded under Liz’s pleading gaze.

"It’s good to visit the palace; perhaps he really did remember something important and is eager to tell you."

Upon hearing this, Liz showed a look of joy.

"Thank you, Master."

The little princess quickly bowed to Reiger in gratitude.

Reiger then turned to the butler and gave an order.

"Take Liz to the envoy from the royal palace."

"Yes."

The butler bowed in response.

Liz followed behind the butler and left the hall.

Watching Liz depart, Yuloli stood still for a while, then was about to follow her.

Reiger stopped Yuloli and shook his head at her.

Yuloli glanced at Reiger, then at the departing Liz, but eventually stood still, remaining beside Reiger without moving.

It wasn’t long before Liz was taken away by the envoy from the palace.

At this moment, Reiger still didn’t know that once Liz left, she would never return.

And the palace was on the verge of a tremendous upheaval due to Liz’s return.

...

Noon.

When the sun was hanging high in the sky at its zenith, Yuri finally returned to the Franzel mansion.

During this period, the young lady had been staying in the royal palace, deciphering ancient magical civilization scripts, to the extent that when Reiger came to see her in the office on the top floor of the mansion, the fatigue in her eyes was unmistakable.

But before Reiger could express his concern, including Marilyn who stood quietly by, both Yuri and Marilyn immediately noticed Yuloli, whom Reiger brought along, holding her hand.

"Your Highness?"

"Liz?"

Yuri and Marilyn were both stunned in unison.

Had the Ninth Princess... grown up?

The two exchanged looks, confused.