DING!

(Your affinity with the Void Element has increased from 12% to 25%!)

(Void: 25%)

Richard received the System notification not long after Grace left.

It was already night, after all. However, he couldn't help but be surprised that the one that increased was his affinity with the Void Element.

This was beyond his expectations.

'Maybe because I've been using it more often,' Richard thought.

With that increase, although there wasn't any drastic change, at the very least, the Aether consumption when he entered the void state was reduced significantly.

He could now remain in void form twice as long.

When he was close to the capital, Richard returned to the Dragon Hall.

The empress was still recovering. Her condition looked better, yet clearly not back to normal.

When he appeared, the empress opened her eyes.

"Richard, have we returned?" she asked.

"Yes, we're very close to the capital," Richard replied.

Hearing that, the empress finally stood up.

"Your Majesty, where should I take you?" Richard asked.

Her village had been destroyed. Bringing her back to the palace was obviously impossible since she was no longer anyone of status after the shift in power.

"I'll go to my sister's house for the time being and continue my recovery there. You don't need to take me; I can fly on my own now. By the way, don't call me Your Majesty anymore. I'm no longer an empress. Just call me Maya. My real name is Maya Holystar. If that feels difficult, you can call me Sister Maya. Don't call me anything that makes me feel old," she said with a gentle smile.

Richard found it difficult to react to her request to call her Sister Maya.

It was outside his habit, but since this was what she wanted, he had to follow.

It truly wasn't appropriate to keep addressing her as Your Majesty when she was no longer an empress.

"I'll try," Richard replied.

"What's so difficult about that that you make it sound like you need to practice?" she said, laughing lightly.

"It does require practice. I'm sure others would also find it difficult to call you anything else, considering you used to be such a good empress," Richard replied.

"Don't praise me like that, I'm not that good," the empress said, shaking her head.

After that, she left the Dragon Hall and Richard followed her.

"Are you really able to go back on your own?" Richard asked.

"Don't worry. I'm now at the Lord Realm, so with even a bit of my strength, I can cross a province in a short time… Alright, see you later. Don't forget to visit me again. I truly didn't expect that you'd already become a man. Ten years ago, you were just a small boy, but now you're so handsome."

After saying that with a soft laugh, the empress flew away.

And her speed even surpassed the speed of Richard's flying vessel.

Richard was left slightly dazed when he heard the empress call him handsome.

It was a compliment, but… was that normal?

At this moment, Richard's flying vessel began entering the capital.

Now wasn't the time to leave, and Grace also needed to return home first.

Richard needed to meet Lilith and talk about the future.

Besides that, he wanted to know what she need from him.

But before meeting Lilith, Richard wanted to visit Sophia Whitewater first to see his younger brother.

He descended from his vessel and flew straight to Sophia's house—where he remembered she slept with his father.

The gate was firmly shut, but from above, Richard landed directly in front of the door.

Tok! Tok! Tok!

He knocked immediately.

Moments after he knocked, the door opened, revealing Sophia in a casual dress with her hair down.

She looked briefly surprised when she saw Richard.

"Richard, this is rare. What brings you here?" she asked with a slight smile.

"My younger brother. I heard you were pregnant from my father. I want to see him," Richard said without small talk.

Hearing that, Sophia froze for a moment before chuckling.

"So you already know," she said.

"I wasn't trying to hide it. I was just worried you might not be happy with your younger brother's existence."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Richard replied.

"It's just my concern. This kind of thing is common, especially with siblings from different mothers," Sophia said.

"I'm not that petty," Richard replied.

"Hahaha, since you already know, there's no need to hide it anymore. But you can't meet your little brother now because he's not here."

Richard furrowed his brows. "Where is he?"

"He's traveling with his teacher on a half-year journey around the world to broaden his horizons," Sophia replied.

"With his teacher?" Richard hadn't expected to hear something like that.

"Who is his teacher?" Richard asked again.

"You wouldn't know him. But your younger brother has great magical talent, though his achievements so far aren't as good as yours."

"When will he return?"

"Not long now. Maybe one more week. It's been a long time since he left. Don't worry, I'll contact you later. Since you still want to meet him even after hearing everything, I'm sure you really are a good older brother." Sophia smiled brightly.

"Alright." Richard nodded.

Then he left, flying straight toward the palace.

This time, the palace was extremely crowded.

Richard saw many officials going in and out.

This seemed to have been going on since noon.

After reclaiming the kingdom's territories, Lilith naturally needed to reassign positions.

Many former officials had died during the Holy Light Kingdom's invasion, so new ones had to be chosen.

Richard hesitated to enter the palace with so many people around.

He couldn't talk privately with Lilith at all.

After thinking about it, he went to an inn first.

He would come again tomorrow morning, certain that Lilith's affairs with the officials would be finished by then.

At the inn, he chose to sleep so time would pass quickly.

However, he had only slept for a short while…

Suddenly, he sensed someone appear, making him jerk upright with eyes wide open—only to see a woman with bright blonde hair.

"Were you looking for me, boy?" the woman asked..

Richard blinked his eyes several times.

He didn't stay dazed for too long.

"Sister Lilith, why did you come?" he asked.

He had to say that it felt a bit uncomfortable when he had just fallen asleep and was suddenly awakened.

But fortunately, the sight of Lilith's figure refreshed his eyes.

"I want to discuss the reason I asked you to come see me immediately," Lilith answered.

Richard nodded when he heard that.

"What exactly is it?" he asked.

He was quite curious whether this was something beneficial for him or for Lilith.

If it was the first, that was good. If it was the second, that meant he would have to do something for her.

Of course, Richard hoped it was the first.

"First, I will tell you the big problem this kingdom has, something even more difficult than the invasion from the Holy Light Kingdom." Lilith continued.

"Ohh…"

Richard showed an uncertain expression when he heard Lilith suddenly talking about the kingdom's problem.

The problem was that she even said it was harder to handle than the invasion from the Holy Light Kingdom.

"In short, this kingdom has an enormous debt to the Order of the Crimson Veil, the Order of the Peak World, and even the Skylight Clan." Lilith continued.

When she mentioned the Skylight Clan, she gave Richard a particular look, as if she knew his connection to that clan.

"Are you serious, Sister?" Richard asked with a somewhat frozen expression.

This was information he least expected.

On Earth, it was common for a nation to have large debts big enough to make them bankrupt.

But he didn't think that a nation in this world would have a similar concept.

"Surviving as a kingdom is not easy, especially after the kingdom has long failed to produce truly strong Magi. A lack of resources is common, to the point that they can't even pay the soldiers' salaries. What other way do you think the kingdom can survive besides going into debt?" Lilith replied.

"If they fail to pay, what will happen?"

"If they fail to pay, they have the right to seize all our assets. If our assets are still not enough, then what they seize is our territory."

"That would be the most disgraceful humiliation," Richard said spontaneously upon hearing that.

"Even more than just humiliating. After all, a Royal Family will protect their kingdom no matter what happens. They would rather die if their kingdom collapses because such destruction is a disgrace. If it collapses because of failing to pay a debt, our Starry Kingdom will practically be mocked era after era in the future. Naturally, I cannot allow that to happen under my rule. However, the final deadline is near, and this is the last one."

"How can I help?" Richard asked.

He had never heard of this, so this was likely a secret.

For Lilith to tell him this only meant she wanted his help because she had run out of ways.

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