Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 168 Royal Tricks

"H… help me!"

"M… monster!"

Vicky and the others were still completely blindfolded, and although the words they were hearing should be making them relieved since it was obvious that their kidnappers were being dealt with… just the sheer fear from their screams made them uncomfortable.

Fortunately for them, the screams of fear, begging, and just utter horror did not last long before they were finally freed by Rhys. But as soon as they finally saw what was happening behind the screams, most of them just either fainted right there and then, or vomited where they stood.

It probably took the entire night—no. Even as the sun was already starting to veil the castle, Lina's cousins still could not recover from the sight they had seen. Human heads, either crushed or decapitated; limbs, scattered everywhere. Guts, blood, torn flesh, mangled flesh, exposed bones.

The most violence they have ever really seen was in movies, but it would seem that deaths in real life were not as clean as they make it out to be… or maybe it was just because of Rhys.

"I do apologize for this, Mr. Rhys. You are supposed to be a guest in this house, and yet you ended up only having to endure us, and in the end even save our lives,"

And finally, after Lina's cousins were done wiping their tears and snot, someone finally approached Rhys as he was moving across the castle and collecting the ID badges of the guards who were killed during the infiltration — Prince Lance,

"This happens all the time, people targeting the Royal Family isn't new… but this is the first time they've gotten this far. If it wasn't for you, I am afraid the royal family that has stood for a thousand years would be no more. And for that, you have our eternal gratitude, and I apologize that I am the only one bowing in front of you right now."

"It's—Hm," Rhys did not really know what to say as Lance suddenly bowed to him. And with the two of them the only person in the large hallway,

"And eternal gratitude should come with an eternal reward," Lance took in a short but very deep breath, "And what is more eternal than a covenant of marriage? Our two families, bonded by love. My daughter, Victoria, has taken quite a liking to—"

"No," Rhys immediately shut down Lance's proposal as he handed him the ID badges, "Those are the IDs of the guards who aren't involved with your kidnapping, sadly all of them are dead. Just talk to their families for me and bury them as heroes, I'll take your word as the reward."

"No, that wouldn't be fair," Lance shook his head; his thick mustache, twitching as he did so, "They were always going to get a knight's funeral for protecting and serving the royal family, Mr. Rhys. Please, I insist. Marry—"

"I have Lina," Rhys could not help but take a step back as he could almost see fumes escaping Lance's nose from how excited he was, "I think I already have my hands full with one member of the royal family, and I only have one. And speaking of her, she also deserves your gratitude since she handled some of the infiltrators too."

"I will reward her with something, but that is completely different from your reward, Mr. Rhys."

"Agatha has already promised me something," Rhys could not help but sigh as Lance truly did not seem to have any plans of backing out.

"I am certain that whatever my sister is giving you is not enough!" Lance shook his head as the fumes escaping his nose grew even more violent.

"That…" Agatha promised to pay for Rhys's bionic leg which costs 3.2 billion Amerkan dollars… but perhaps Lance did not need to know that just yet.

"Then, at the very least, let me bestow upon you the title of Baron. I can do at least that."

"How about a signed and written contract for Lina's cousins not to bother or try to kill Lina anymore?" Rhys sighed.

"That is already a given!" Lance raised a finger, "And then land and title as a Baron!"

"...Fine," Rhys closed his eyes and nodded, "But I will not be responsible for anything."

"The only thing you will be responsible for is the acres of land we will be giving you, my boy," Lance placed his hands on his waist, "Choose, choose which land you want!"

"I… even get to choose?" No wonder the royal family is declining despite their family being filled with Nobles. Not only were they not even training, they… are stupid. Perhaps a result of inbreeding all those years ago, "Then… can I get a land where King Aethelblac used to live? If he has a manor or anything of the like, Sir. But if he doesn't then—"

"He has, King Aethelblac was the first Noble to be born in these lands. The place of his birth is a historic sanctuary," Prince Lance started brushing his thick mustache as he looked away and glanced at Rhys back and forth.

"Oh…" Rhys let out a small sigh of disappointment, "...Then any—"

"We can give it to you, but it will be under a condition," Lance then cleared his throat,

"For the duration of your stay here…

…please train my children and their cousins how to fight."

"No."

"I will add 50 million pounds."

"Hm…"

"For each child you teach."

"Okay," Rhys's hand instinctively reached out as soon as he heard that. Just how rich are these people?

This is dangerous… he was starting to think that it might have been worth it to come here after all in spite of all the harassment and spoiled, insufferable children surrounding him. It was also weird that Lance was addressing them as children in front of Rjys when Henry and the twins were the only ones younger than him.

"Then I will apologize to you in advance, Master Rhys," Lance once again bowed his head before shaking Rhys's hand, "The next generation of the royal family is a bit of a handful — not as handful as my sister, but still very much a trouble."

"Don't worry, Your Highness…" A small smile started to crawl on Rhys's face, "...I have experience in training troublemakers."

"That makes me absolutely excited, Master Rhys," Lance nodded as he turned around, "Now, if you may, the King wants to meet you."

"The King?" Rhys could not help but blink a couple of times as he heard Lance's words. From all the things that have been happening, he completely forgot the fact that he has not even met Enkland's monarch. Why wasn't he in the castle?

"Oh, the King lives in the main castle, Master Rhys," Lance let out a hearty chuckle as he noticed Rhys's confusion, "Due to Agatha and my late older brother's antics, we were granted our own manor so they could… move freely."

"You were kicked out?"

"Yes," Lance dropped his head and sighed, "Please, do not ask me for more details. Linette's already waiting for you to pick out her dress."

"Dress…?"

"Ah, yes…" Lance cleared his throat while walking away, "...since it will take a while to repair the castle and replace the servants, all of us will be staying in the Royal Palace for the time being — Father has prepared a banquet to welcome us. My cousins and the others from the branch family will also be staying there while we are there, a sort of reunion, in a way."

"Wait…

…are you saying I am going to train Lina's cousins while all of your family are there?"

"..." Lance did not really say anything, but due to his wide and thick mustache, Rhys could actually see that there was a wide smile forming on Lance's face.

Why… does it feel like Rhys was somehow getting tricked again?

***

"Rhys, how do I look?"

"...The same as you did just a couple of seconds ago when you asked me that — beautiful."

"Can you give more specifics…!? At least tell me I would look better with the dress off!"

"You would."

The Royal Family was abnormal in more ways than one. They were just in a hostage situation just hours ago, and yet right now, they are currently picking their dresses and are on their way to a banquet.

Lance and Agatha did say that they were used to being attacked… but they also said the attack this time was more meticulous and far more dangerous — and if it wasn't for Rhys, all of them would still be in danger.

But no one seemed to care.

And right now, Rhys was just watching Lina pick out a dress for more than an hour.

"Will I…?" And as Lina was slowly undressing herself for the Nth time, she soon started to approach Rhys as she stripped down,

"We… still have a few hours before they take us to the party. We should…

…release some pent-up stress."

And the craziest one of them all was right in front of him.