Swear Fealty To Me, My Subjects!

Rayne and the puppets were enjoying a short vacation on the sunny beach.

During this period of time, Rayne got along very well with the puppets and this did not even require acting skills.

After all, compared to their creator, the puppets had always been pure, cute and could differentiate between right and wrong.

Even in the past, Rayne did not hate them.

However, three days had passed since the joyful seaside party. Rayne felt that this rewarding vacation should end here.

He would return to the capital tomorrow.

At that moment, Rayne thought of something.

"Speaking of which, how's Hela doing?"

"Hela… has just brought Lilia back to the capital,"

Histia, who was focused on her meal, raised her head and wiped her mouth. "I think she gave Lilia many ancient dragon ingredients in order to poach her from the grand prince."

Since the puppets were Hela's creations, they naturally had their own methods of observing her actions.

Rayne was shocked when he heard that. "Really?!"

Histia Hela nodded. "For real."

In other words… Hela, who was in the capital, guessed that the Imperial Guard, Lilia, who was stationed at the same place as the grand prince, might have been bribed by the latter.

She actually took out the treasures in her collection and bribed Lilia so that she could leave the grand prince's service and weaken the latter's strength!

If the grand prince became weaker, who would benefit? It was naturally Rayne!

In reality, asking the puppets to return home was a small test from Rayne for Hela. But now, the outcome of this test surprised Rayne.

At that moment, Rayne was touched.

A full 10,000 years…

This was the first time Rayne had seen this group of Imperial Guards spending their own money to work for him!

In the past, even when Rayne had the best relationship with the Imperial Guards, both parties merely had a purely transactional relationship.

Invasion was not part of the Imperial Guards' duties to begin with. Hence, Rayne could only offer high prices continuously for the Imperial Guards to work for him under the control of benefits.

Once the Imperial Guards received a satisfactory reward, they would serve Rayne.

However, if Rayne could not satisfy their appetite one day or if the Goddess of Order gave them an edict…

Rayne would be stabbed in the back at any moment.

But now, before receiving Rayne's orders or rewards, Hela took the initiative to work overtime and settle down Lilia who was by the grand prince's side…

Similarly, political struggles were not the job of the Imperial Guards!

This was way too much of a surprise…

It seemed like Rayne had finally selected the right strategy to deal with the Imperial Guards!

However, the time Hela contacted Lilia was a little strange.

According to Histia, when Hela contacted Lilia, the latter was following the grand prince to participate in a negotiation with the Gold Village dwarves.

That was a noteworthy detail…

Coincidentally, there was a demigod soldier in Gold Village. Due to the special divinity in her bloodline, she was extremely good at unraveling messaging magic.

In that case, was there a chance that Gold Village could hear the communication between Hela and Lilia?

The material Hela used to bribe Lilia was the flesh of the ancient dragon, Obadiah.

During this period of time, Lilia's little white duck did not have a good appetite and indeed, she needed some high quality meat.

However, this matter held an extraordinary meaning in the eyes of Gold Village.

That was because an utmost treasure that Gold Village had always dreamed of was coincidentally guarded tightly by Obadiah!

Now that they received news of Obadiah's death, Gold Village was probably in an uproar!

Of course, that was not a big problem.

Although his secret was exposed, Rayne felt that it was a good thing to inform the goblins and dwarves of Gold Village beforehand.

That was because Gold Village was Rayne's next target.

Their preparation would be convenient for Rayne's next move.

Rayne made a decision. "Let's not wait anymore. I'll return to the capital now."

Histia Hela was a little reluctant. "Are we leaving so soon..."

Rayne smiled and comforted the puppet. "Be good and listen to me. Tidy up and call Edaline and Lilia. We'll return to the capital."

"Yes, we'll listen to all your orders, Your Highness…"

Histia agreed softly and stood up obediently to do her work.

After three days of leave, the relationship between the puppets and Rayne continued to warm up.

They had already fallen in love with Rayne completely.

In order to obtain Rayne's reward and goodwill, they would spare no effort to be loyal to him.

Rayne's method of attacking the puppets was actually very simple. The puppets were naive and kind by nature and the divine blood did not make them overly cold and heartless.

Therefore, establishing a trustworthy relationship with the puppets was not much different from a normal relationship.

At most, he was a scumbag who was dating three people at the same time.

However, against Hela…

Rayne did not want to use the same method.

The dimensional rift opened up and Rayne and the puppets returned to the capital.

They returned to Hela's manor.

Here…

Rayne met Hela.

After three days, Hela's aura had changed a lot.

The cold-blooded beauty who was calm and elegant in the past and often smiled was now listless and dispirited…

Rayne could understand.

Given Hela's current experience, her lifelong dream had already been realized after she obtained the inheritance of the ancient dragon.

After losing her goal, there was nothing to fight for and she became lost and dispirited.

Right now, she desperately needed to find a new direction for her life.

"Your Excellency Hela,"

Rayne walked up to Hela with a smile on his face. "I heard from the puppet ladies about Her Excellency Lilia. She rejected the grand prince's employment. Was that done by you?"

"Yes, that's the case,"

There was a hint of anticipation in Hela's expression as she said with a smile, "It's my duty to share your burdens, Your Highness."

With that said, Hela looked at Rayne eagerly, as though she was anticipating… Rayne's praise.

Of course.

Although Hela had been using the words 'this is only part of the job' to convince herself, in reality, the reason why she wanted to spend money to weaken the strength of the grand prince subconsciously… was because she wanted Rayne to see her worth.

She wanted to be the same as the puppets...

However, Rayne's expression darkened after a moment of silence.

He glared at Hela with disdain and fatigue.

"Your Excellency Hela, do you have a problem with me? Why did you cause me so much trouble?!"

"Huh…?"

Hela was stunned. Her gaze was flustered and she did not know what to do.