Swear Fealty To Me, My Subjects!

Chapter 80: But… My Brother Is Begging Me!

…

Desolate Tundra.

That was a dead place in the north of Leta. It was located outside the Blazing Sun Wall and was known as the deep region. There were a large number of special lifeforms known as Black Catastrophes lingering there and it was unusually dangerous.

The exploration of the Deep Tundra by the mortals had been ongoing for the longest time but they had never obtained any results.

According to the explorers who returned alive, there was only a vast snowfield in the deep region of the Desolate Tundra and Black Catastrophes that could be seen everywhere. Apart from those two, there was nothing else.

There was no life, civilization or ruins. In fact, no one had even seen the lair of the Black Catastrophes.

This was the next battlefield that Rayne was headed to.

It was also the location pinpointed by the golden crystal given to him by the lake giant.

The frozen tundra that was circled by countless Black Catastrophes.

This was the homeland of Order.

At the moment, Rayne was contemplating his strategy after reaching the Desolate Tundra. Right then...

There was a knock on the door.

Rayne went to open the door.

As expected, it was the grand prince and Edaline.

Today, the grand prince had the same swagger, as though victory was certain.

Beside him, Edaline seemed troubled.

Rayne revealed a friendly smile to the visitors.

"Welcome, Your Highness and… Edaline~!"

"H-Hey… don't hug me the moment we meet!"

Although Edaline said no when she saw Rayne walking towards her with open arms, she still waited obediently to be hugged by Rayne.

"Hold on! Rayne, you left in such a hurry yesterday. We haven't said anything to you yet."

When the grand prince saw that Rayne was about to repeat the same trick to Edaline, he sneered and stepped forward to block Rayne.

Edaline who did not receive her hug: "…"

The grand prince went straight to the point.

"Rayne, there's something I want to solemnly inform you. As a prince, you're immoral and useless. Many people are already displeased with you. Among them is... your younger sister, Edaline!"

Rayne was stunned and looked at Edaline in surprise. "Is that so?"

Edaline was stunned for two seconds before nodding helplessly. "… That's right."

The grand prince smiled. When he saw how cooperative Edaline was with him, he felt even more confident.

There were some things that no longer needed to be hidden.

Therefore, the grand prince straightened his back and said calmly.

"Rayne, I just want to advise you to give up on the throne as soon as possible. Right now, Edaline has already decided to join forces with me to defeat you!"

Rayne nodded gently with a calm expression. "I see."

The grand prince's mouth cramped up.

In his expectations, Rayne should have been shocked or even begging for mercy in despair upon knowing that the strongest demigod in the mortal world had joined the fray...

However, Rayne was extremely calm.

He looked at Edaline.

.

"Is that so, Edaline? Are you going to support His Highness, the grand prince, to ascend the crystal throne?"

"Give up, Rayne. You're not worthy of the crystal throne."

Edaline said coldly, "It's for your own good."

Rayne nodded immediately. "Alright, I'll listen to you!"

Edaline: "???"

Instantly, Edaline was stunned.

As though she had seen a ghost, Edaline glared at Rayne in disbelief. "What… did you just say?"

Rayne: "You told me to give up on the crystal throne and I said alright!"

Edaline was puzzled. "W-Wait a minute... aren't you going to persevere for a little even?!"

Rayne smiled. "There's no need to. The crystal throne of Haines has been cursed by the elves. Starting from Her Majesty Cassius, all the Emperors of Haines will be devoured and tormented by the curse. I know, Edaline. The reason why you don't want me to ascend the crystal throne is out of concern for me, right? Thank you, Edaline. I'm very grateful for your thoughtfulness towards me."

"N-Not at all..."

Edaline looked to the side awkwardly.

Those were indeed Edaline's true thoughts.

However, towards Rayne's sincere gratitude, she was too embarrassed to admit to them.

Edaline had not expected this at all.

To think that her mission to threaten Rayne to give up on the crystal throne would go so smoothly.

Rayne had actually given up on fighting for the crystal throne with just a single reply.

Could he be acting?

Even the grand prince at the side felt that things were going too smoothly.

The grand prince asked curiously, "Rayne… have you really decided not to be the Emperor?"

Rayne replied, "Yes."

However, he continued sternly, "However, Edaline, Your Highness, although I can choose not to be the Emperor, someone has to ascend the crystal throne and endure the curse of Leta regardless. Therefore, the ownership of the throne is just a minor issue. Right now, the most important thing that needs to be resolved is the curse of the crystal throne."

"Mmm…"

That was indeed the case.

Edaline's expression turned strange.

She had not expected that Rayne… would suddenly become so pretentious.

He did not covet the throne nor did he want to risk his life by making a foolish move—what Rayne truly wanted to do was to break the curse set by the Leta elven demigod at the root!

"Edaline, do you think it's good to continue letting the elves of Leta curse our Emperors and kill our leaders?"

Rayne said firmly, "That will be the greatest humiliation to Haines and will severely affect our fate. No matter who our Emperor is, he can't be tortured continuously because of the curse of an enemy, right?"

While that may be true...

Edaline asked, "So, Rayne, what do you intend to do?"

Rayne no longer had a smile on his face. He said sternly, "I want to dispel the curse on Her Majesty the Empress. I want to go to Leta, find the root of the curse and remove it. Edaline, I can't do this alone. I hope you can help me?"

"That won't work, Rayne."

Edaline shook his head repeatedly. "The curse of the White Tower is undispellable. If there was a way to dispel the curse, the Imperial Guards would have acted long ago, right?"

When Rayne heard that, he seemed to be dealt a blow. He did not know how to argue and could only reveal a pleading expression.

"Little Eda… just once will do. Can you believe me just this once?"

"Sigh…"

Edaline could not say anything. Rayne's pleading caused her heart to waver.

Rayne, my brother... h-he's begging me?!

Edaline clenched her teeth and said coldly, "Don't digress. Hurry and promise me that you'll never want to be the Emperor of Haines ever again!"

Rayne sighed with disappointment and sadness.

"Alright, I promise you. However, I'm serious about dispelling the curse, Little Eda. I really need your help. If you can change your mind… I'll be very happy. Goodbye, Little Eda."

…

Just like that, after receiving Rayne's explicit guarantee, Edaline and the grand prince left his residence.

Victory came with ease but the grand prince seemed like he wanted more.

Initially, he wanted to humiliate Rayne.

However, the way things developed was beyond his expectations.

On the way back, the grand prince mocked.

"That Rayne is truly laughable. He actually wants to remove the curse of the crystal throne. Edaline, you're right. If there was truly a way to dispel the curse, the Imperial Guards of the past would have done it a long time ago. How would he have had the chance to do so? Does he think he's more powerful than the Imperial Guards?"

Edaline did not reply.

After leaving Rayne's place…

She remained silent the entire time.

The grand prince just asked if Rayne thought he was more powerful than the Imperial Guards.

That was not for sure.

After all, there was no one in the Imperial Guards who could defeat an ancient dragon or the evil god, Justice.

"He was just bragging. How can it be so easy to dispel the curse?!" The grand prince sneered in disdain.

Someone as strong as the grand prince and even the Imperial Guards were helpless against the curse.

How could a mere Rayne deal with it?

However…

Edaline still remained silent the entire time.

She was contemplating about things.

Unfortunately, the grand prince at the side was particularly noisy at the moment.

"Leta views us as enemies. If Rayne goes to Leta, won't we just be instantly f*cked? That's way too unrealistic. Hey… Edaline, aren't you going to say anything?"

The grand prince panicked.

"Hey, Edaline, are you really considering his excuse? He was lying to you! How could he have a way to dispel the curse?

Now that this guy has already admitted defeat, I'll become the Emperor of Haines a few years later after Cassius dies. That'll be good for you too, right?"

Finally, Edaline spoke and asked, "So, Your Highness, do you really think it doesn't matter? From now on, we should let every generation's Emperor of Haines be cursed by the elves and die in humiliation?"

The grand prince smiled. "Didn't I say that we can use the method of the regent to avoid the implicati—"

"Fufu…"

After a moment of silence, Edaline said calmly, "Your Highness, this is the end of our collaboration."

"What?!"

The grand prince was shocked.

The grand prince: "Hold on, hasn't our collaboration just begun? Without your help, wouldn't Rayne come back to fight with me for the throne right away?!"

Towards the anxious and noisy grand prince…

Edaline extended five fingers.

"Five."

"Huh? Five? What do you mean by five? Make yourself clear!"

"Four…"

"Wait, you're counting down? Tell me what will happen when the time is up!"

"Three…"

"Hey, wait! Calm down! Alright, if you want to back out, so be it! I won't pursue it! Don't do anything unnecessary, alright?!"

"Two…"

"I was in the wrong! Madam! I'll leave now! I'll disappear from your sights right away!"

"One…"

By the time Edaline finished counting the last number...

The grand prince had already scrambled and disappeared.

"Edaline, you can't do this to me! You can't!"

Under the cruel threat of Edaline, the grand prince in the distance let out a wretched wail like a defeated dog!

Finally, there was silence.

Edaline sighed.

Indeed, she could not leave Rayne alone just yet…

It was better for her to meet him.

Space was torn apart.

Edaline walked in and arrived at Rayne's house once more.