Chapter 249: 249 The royal family’s usual tactic
"Cough, cough...!"
Reiger coughed frantically, choked by the tea he had just sipped.
"Are you alright?"
Yuri was startled too and quickly stroked Reiger’s back, attempting to make him more comfortable.
Marilyn frowned and looked at Liz with a somewhat speechless expression.
"You, you’re not hurt, are you?"
Seeing such a reaction from Reiger, Liz suddenly panicked, looking like she didn’t understand what had happened but felt it must have been her fault.
Despite having just made such a bold statement, Princess Liz was instead frightened by Reiger’s reaction, leaving people to wonder whether to describe her as bold or timid.
"...What did you just say?"
Reiger finally managed to catch his breath and couldn’t help but ask the pitiful-looking princess.
"Did I hear wrong, or did you misspeak?"
Facing Reiger’s unsure inquiry, Liz appeared somewhat uneasy.
"Did I say something wrong?"
The princess herself now seemed uncertain.
Marilyn couldn’t stand it any longer and had to break the silence, saying so.
"What you meant to say was becoming an attendant, not a slave, right?"
Marilyn’s tone was a bit cold, and those unaware might think she was angry with Liz.
But Liz hastily shook her head.
"No, it’s becoming a slave." Liz clutched her sword tightly in her arms, quietly said, "How could someone like me have the audacity to ask to become an attendant?"
"...What’s wrong with someone like you?" Marilyn’s frown tightened more, making her voice colder as she said, "You are a princess, and even one of the most outstanding descendants of the royal family. In general, even proposing to become someone’s attendant is tremendously self-degrading, why mention it quite so self-defeatingly?"
Liz seemed to disagree with Marilyn’s words, muttering a little and then fell silent.
This apparently made Marilyn even more displeased, wanting to say something else but feeling like she lacked the basis to do so, causing a disagreeable atmosphere to emanate from her.
"Wait, let me get this straight first." Reiger raised his hand, silencing the conversation between the two, said, "Whether it’s being an attendant or a slave, in my view, it’s all preposterous, right?"
"What’s really going on?"
"Why did you suddenly propose to be my slave...er, attendant?"
Reiger thought about it and ultimately changed "slave" to "attendant" in his wording.
He had no choice, he was afraid his thinking was getting skewed.
A princess no less, one so beautiful and with such a nice figure, repeatedly talking about becoming a slave; if this were in his previous life, it could probably be written into hundreds of Chapters with an unspeakable plot by fans.
To prevent the fall of his inner morality, Reiger could only change his words, forcing himself not to think the wrong way.
But then, tears suddenly filled the eyes of the princess.
"Am I not qualified?" Liz stood up, bowed to Reiger, and said, "I’m sorry, it seems I was getting above myself. A person like me indeed doesn’t even qualify to be a slave, please excuse my presumption."
As she spoke, tears formed in the corners of Liz’s eyes, and she looked at Reiger with an expression so pitiful it was almost explosive.
"Perhaps Sword Saint Sir can consider me a sticky burr accidentally attached to him, or a foxtail gathered by the roadside; just don’t throw me away, I’ll do anything."
Upon hearing this, Reiger’s mouth twitched slightly.
Even Yuri and Marilyn had a speechless expression, looking at Liz with very strange eyes.
"This, this isn’t acceptable?" Liz saw that everyone was silent, immediately let tears fall again, and repeated her bowing, saying, "That’s right, like a sticky burr or foxtail, encountering me must be very disgusting, if I dirtied the hands of Sword Saint Sir, that would be too deplorable."
"Just consider me a trivial speck of dust, or a small, inconspicuous stone, just carry me around as you please."
Speaking thus, Liz cautiously raised her head and said to Reiger.
"Is this...okay...?"
She looked as pitiful as one could imagine.
So much so that, even though Reiger had done nothing, he suddenly felt as if he were a villain of the highest order, feeling a strong sense of guilt within him.
Even Yuri and Marilyn looked likewise, unexpectedly turning to Reiger as if to accuse him.
"Is...is this not okay?"
Liz was so distressed she was about to cry again, ready to continue bowing and apologizing to Reiger.
"Stop!"
Reiger quickly extended his hand, halting her.
Liz immediately froze in place, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Reiger, like a child scolded by an adult, too scared to move.
"...Please sit down and wait here for a bit." Reiger fell silent for a moment, then continued expressionlessly, "I have some matters to attend to, I will come back later to discuss it with you in detail."
Leaving these words behind, Reiger stood up and grabbed Yuri, who was beside him.
"Let’s go outside."
Reiger did not give Yuri any time to react or opportunity to speak, as he grabbed her and rushed outside, almost as if he were fleeing in panic.
Only Marilyn and Liz were left behind, gazing at each other.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
...
Outside the reception room, at the corner of the corridor.
Reiger had brought Yuri out here.
"What is the matter with this princess?" Reiger, unusually flustered, asked Yuri, "I almost thought she had been mistreated by me or something, do you know that?"
"...I know." Yuri gave a bitter smile and said, "I didn’t expect that the ninth princess, who just started making her mark this year and has been the talk of the capital recently, would have such a personality."
"This is not just a personality, but a temperament," Reiger sighed, and after calming himself down, he asked again, "So, what exactly is the situation now?"
Reiger, feeling unable to continue his dialogue with Liz, could only start with Yuri.
Ian had said that Yuri and Marilyn were aware of Liz’s purpose for visiting, so Reiger could only consult Yuri now.
The bitter smile on Yuri’s face faded immediately, turning into displeasure.
"I think the royal family probably ordered the ninth princess to be your attendant," she said.
As she spoke this, Yuri’s expression looked as if she was recalling some unbearable past experience, her displeasure reaching an extreme.
"The royal family ordered her to be my attendant?" Reiger finally recovered his composure and asked, "Why?"
Yuri provided a chilling answer.
"It’s an old trick of the royals," Yuri said calmly, "You know, don’t you? To establish an attendant contract, a magician must first agree to grant a wish of the swordsman."
This was common knowledge, understood not just by magicians and swordsmen but also by the common folk.
An attendant contract is a quite equitable agreement, benefiting both parties involved in the contract.
The magician needs a strong attendant to protect them, fighting on their behalf to secure time for casting spells during battles.
The attendant, on the other hand, makes a wish in return for pledging allegiance to the magician, considering them their lord and swearing loyalty.
If no wish is made by the attendant, or if the magician is unable to fulfill the attendant’s wish, the contract cannot take effect.
Even if the agreement is accepted initially, the attendant can abrogate the contract any time later if the wish is not fulfilled and leave the service of the magician.
In such cases, some higher-ups have exploited the institution of attendant contracts.
"Many high-ranking individuals cultivate valuable and skilled individuals not for their own use but to present to those they deem more valuable," Yuri explained to Reiger.
"These cultivated individuals are then ordered to establish attendant contracts with their intended targets and make wishes favorable to the superiors, achieving unspoken objectives."
"For example, the royal family would send talents they have nurtured to powerful nobles, prompting them to wish for ’eternal loyalty to the kingdom’ to place restrictions on these nobles, preventing them from acting against the kingdom’s interest," Yuri continued coldly.
"As long as these nobles are taken by these talents and do not intend to harm the state, they will accept the wishes."
Thus, bound by the contract, these nobles can no longer pursue actions detrimental to the state.
The royal family, in turn, can fully trust them, extending them a certain degree of confidence.
This method not only serves as a traditional tactic of the royal family but is also a method many nobles rely on to control their talented subordinates.
Not only in the Kingdom of Ginas, but across the continent of Akasha, this strategy is quite prevalent.
Some rulers even use this method to test their subjects, seeing if they are willing to enter such a contract.
If they are willing, it proves they bear no ill will towards their ruler.
If not, they are deemed disloyal and harboring ulterior motives.
Now, Reiger found himself confronted with such a situation.
"I think they must feel that, even if they can’t keep you tied to this nation, they must at least ensure you aren’t harmful to it, so they sent someone to be your attendant, making a wish of ’causing no harm to the kingdom,’" Yuri turned to Reiger, looking at him.
"I just didn’t expect that they would actually be willing to send Princess Liz here to you. It seems they highly value you as the youngest Sword Saint and Tactical Level Magician in history, worrying that someone less significant might not entice you," she remarked.
Hearing such words, Reiger also frowned.