Richard reached out and took the empress's hand to check her condition.

And it seemed that she was purely just asleep—yet an extremely deep sleep.

Richard knew she wouldn't wake up until at least tomorrow morning.

After thinking for a moment, he moved the empress into the Dragon Hall, including her carriage.

He then flew straight toward her residence.

Prince Alex, who had been in the courtyard earlier, was no longer there. Richard guessed he had probably gone inside the large house.

Richard himself could not enter directly since there was a formation preventing unauthorized people from going in.

He could only stand before the door and knock.

Before the prince arrived, he first sent the empress out of the Dragon Hall.

The woman was still asleep, so he had to carry her in his arms.

It didn't take long before the prince appeared behind the door, shocked to see Richard holding his mother.

"W-what happened?" he blurted out.

"I ran into her on the road. But she was terribly drunk. I thought she would endure it, but then she fell asleep…" Richard explained briefly before handing the empress's sleeping body over to Prince Alex.

The latter looked dazed when he heard his mother had gotten drunk—clearly something he had never encountered before.

Even so, he still accepted his mother's body into his arms.

"Let your mother rest. I'll be going now," Richard said.

After saying that, he left just like that.

Prince Alex didn't even have the chance to say anything else.

After leaving the empress's residence, Richard headed directly to the palace.

It was already evening, and the palace was beginning to grow quiet.

Richard walked straight toward its gates. The soldiers guarding the entrance naturally recognized him and didn't stop him from entering.

They knew that he wasn't just a star of the kingdom but also had a close relationship with the Queen, Lilith Holystar.

Continuing forward, Richard arrived at the palace doors and entered the hall directly.

He immediately found Lilith sitting on the throne with her legs crossed.

Today she wore long pants and a top similar to a shirt but designed for women.

Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun, though in a slightly messy style.

Regardless of her style, she was always stunning in anyone's eyes. Even if she somehow became bald, Richard believed she would still look beautiful.

Moreover, Richard sensed that Lilith had become stronger compared to the last time he saw her.

He even suspected she had already advanced into the Ruler Realm.

Receiving the inheritance that disqualified her from competing for the World Magic Aether had accelerated her growth tremendously.

Richard knew that Grace would also advance quickly. She only seemed to lack a few things.

Right now, Lilith was speaking to a commander who had come from who-knows-where, along with his soldiers.

Lilith appeared to be giving them instructions, and they could only keep nodding.

When she saw Richard appear, Lilith was slightly surprised, then she hastened her business before dismissing the commander and his soldiers.

Richard stepped toward her with a faint smile.

"You finally returned," Lilith said.

"Sister Lilith, I'm sure you've heard the news about me today," Richard replied.

If it were the Red Star Empress, it would be normal for her not to know; she no longer had any information network. But as the Queen, Lilith naturally had a vast one.

"How much did you obtain?" Lilith asked.

"Enough to pay your kingdom's debt installment," Richard answered.

After saying that, he showed her a ring.

"Didn't you need 350 million?"

He tossed the ring to Lilith as he said it.

Whoosh!

Lilith's hand moved quickly to catch it.

Immediately after, a shocked expression surfaced on her face.

She stared at Richard strangely.

"You… actually did it?" she said.

"Didn't you believe the news you heard, Sister Lilith?" Richard chuckled.

"Hmph…" The woman seemed unable to find words to comment.

"So, what now, Sister Lilith?" Richard asked, clearly referring to only one thing—their marriage.

Lilith seemed troubled when this topic came up.

She looked at Richard from head to toe.

"Tonight, I'll summon the elders. First, I'll order them to pay the installment and then discuss this matter," Lilith said.

"They'll definitely agree, right?" Richard asked.

"This decision is in my hands. This is just to inform them, and so they can calm down for now since the kingdom's payment can be made," Lilith replied.

Richard nodded at that.

"Then I'll wait for the good news."

"Come back tomorrow," Lilith said.

"Of course…" Richard began to smile.

But he still didn't leave. His eyes stared intensely at Lilith's face.

The latter rolled her eyes.

"What now?" she asked, sounding panicked.

"Nothing, don't worry, I'll be patient until our first night," Richard replied before turning around and leaving.

Lilith was left frozen.

She probably never expected that the boy who had once been merely a child now looked at her with such desire after becoming an adult.

Although she wasn't angry at his desire for her, it was difficult for her not to feel awkward, since part of her still saw Richard as that little boy.

After leaving the palace, Richard had dinner in a luxury restaurant, inside a private room, alone.

Night came, and he received a System notification.

DING!

(Your mastery over Mind Attack has increased from 48% to 63%!)

Mind Attack (63%)

Apparently, Mind Attack had gone up again.

Richard wondered if the System intended to raise it all the way to 100%.

99% wasn't significant—only at 100% mastery would he gain the ability to unleash a Mind Attack domain.

From the restaurant, Richard could easily observe the royal palace since it was very close.

Perhaps around 9 p.m., he saw several figures arriving at the palace, flying straight from the sky.

Most of them were elderly men and women.

Richard didn't recognize any of them, but their auras were extremely threatening.

If not Peak Lords, they were Rulers.

Despite its decline and uncertainty whether their Great Ancestor in the Order of the Crimson Veil still lived or not, the Holy Star Kingdom still had several Rulers.

They were the ones who kept the kingdom strong.

Most importantly, they possessed several Tier-7 Weapons and even Grand Weapons.

As a Lord, Lilith had killed two Great Generals using the kingdom's Grand Weapon.

It seemed Lilith had summoned the kingdom's elders.

Richard wasn't interested in spying since he still trusted Lilith.

He believed the woman would keep her promise because he had helped her overcome one of the kingdom's greatest problems.

Most importantly, Lilith herself was the one who wanted to marry him.

Richard eventually left the restaurant and went for a walk, too lazy to train.

The only time he wasn't lazy was when he absorbed Aether, because only then did he feel his power increasing dramatically.

'I wonder where Old Joe is,' he thought, remembering the old man.

If he didn't practice magic, he probably wouldn't have survived this long considering how much alcohol he drank.

But he should still be alive since he practiced magic.

Still, what Richard knew was that the old man chose to wander.

It was hard to guess where he was now. He might not even be in the Holy Star Kingdom anymore.

As he thought about Mr. Joe, Richard saw a group of Sky Armor Knights arresting a criminal.

Richard was interested in their captain, a blonde and handsome man.

He felt familiar.

Augus—his childhood friend from the orphanage who had indeed been recruited into the Sky Armor Legion.

Richard was quite certain that was him.

He had simply grown into an adult—and seemed to have developed considerable arrogance.

Richard saw him gripping the collar of the criminal he had caught.

The criminal appeared to be resisting and shouting that he wasn't the culprit.

But Augus choked him to force a confession.

Richard approached as others were afraid to get close.

The soldiers who saw him were stunned and instinctively stepped back.

Augus was the last to look at him—and he was even more shocked.

Richard smiled faintly, knowing that Augus recognized him very well.

"Ri-Richard," he said, taking a step back.

Even though he hadn't seen Richard for a long time, he only grew more afraid of him.

How could he not be—Richard, at seven or eight years old, had already been someone he couldn't defeat, let alone now.

Even Grimoire-Realm Magi had been shredded by him.

"How about I help find out if he's the culprit or not," Richard said.

And Augus could only nod.

Richard then sent a Mind Attack at the man.

The man was only a weak Magus—Mind Attack easily seized control of his mind, turning his eyes vacant.

Everyone knew Richard had taken over his mind.

"Are you the culprit?" Richard asked.

The man immediately shook his head.

"No, not me," he said.

"Then do you know who the culprit is?" Richard asked again.

"I don't know, I was only passing by."

"I see…" Richard nodded and looked at Augus.

"He definitely isn't lying," he said.

And Augus could only show an awkward expression.

Richard knew Augus must have known the man wasn't the culprit. He simply didn't want to bother looking for the real one, so he chose to blame someone convenient to turn into a suspect.

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