"Stop caring much about anything…"
Lizbeth's words made Riezel fall into deep thought.
He recalled the moment Lizbeth had drawn Moslow, her golden eyes brimming with indifference and detachment—her cold gaze was chilling, as though she were a god looking down on all things, powerful yet stripped of any human emotion.
For some reason, when he thought of Lizbeth in that state, he could not help but recall that woman, Ice Maiden.
He remembered how, when that woman had pulled out the so-called national artifact, she had been much the same as Lizbeth just now—not only becoming one with the weapon in her hands and gaining immense power, but her eyes had also glowed with an icy blue light.
Like frozen glaciers, her gaze reflected nothing but coldness toward all things.
Of course, that woman had always been cold, like a block of ice, so even without drawing that so-called national artifact, she had been unbearably cold.
At the time, Riezel had noticed nothing unusual, but thinking back now, he could not help but wonder whether that woman, like Lizbeth, also entered some sort of altered state when wielding that national artifact.
Still, since she was already so cold to begin with, even if she did enter such a state, she would only appear just as cold, making it seem like nothing had changed at all.
'Now that I think about it, her national artifact sword was actually pretty similar to Moslow... Could there be some kind of connection between the two?'
Riezel grew thoughtful.
"Umm... Master?"
In that moment, Lizbeth spoke again, her voice soft.
"If you don't like that side of me, then I won't use Moslow anymore."
As soon as she said this, Moslow, cradled in her arms, began to tremble, seeming to be expressing its own dissatisfaction.
Ever since its seal had been undone, it appeared to have become far more lively than before.
"Be good, stop fussing." Lizbeth pressed down on the shaking Moslow.
Clearly, compared to Moslow's displeasure, she cared more about her master's feelings, which made Riezel, who realized this, chuckle a little.
"You're sure that when you enter that state, you're not losing control of yourself?" Riezel pressed once more for confirmation.
"Yes." Lizbeth nodded quickly. "I can still hear your voice. It does feel kind of strange, but even in that state, I'd never think of betraying you."
Her behavior earlier had already proven as much.
When Riezel had spoken, Lizbeth, even in that state, hadn't reacted as quickly as usual, but she had still followed his command—stopping when told and finally putting Moslow away.
Perhaps in that state, she didn't care about him as much as she usually did, but since she cared for nothing, she also felt no resistance to obeying him.
In this sense, it was very similar to how Euryale had been after becoming a vampire.
Euryale had indeed gained the ability to resist her creator, Riezel, after her rebirth, but since she had never thought of resisting, he had seized the opportunity to strengthen his control—binding her with an attendant contract and taking her as one who could never harm him.
Likewise, once Lizbeth drew Moslow, she could have chosen not to obey Riezel, but because she cared neither for losing her rights as a person nor for losing her freedom, she ended up obeying him anyway.
In that sense, the two of them truly seemed like kin bound by the same bloodline.
With this thought, Riezel finally nodded.
"In that case, you can decide for yourself when to use Moslow. I won't restrict you on that point."
He believed Lizbeth knew her limits.
"Got it, Master." Lizbeth nodded obediently, her voice soft and compliant.
Seeing her like this, Riezel could not help but smile faintly, and while sheathing Hermit, he reached out to gently stroke her head.
"With your ability now, you should be able to handle most enemies even without Moslow, right?"
From their recent bout, Riezel had already gained a rough sense of Lizbeth's current abilities.
Overall, her raw strength and speed hadn't changed much, but thanks to improvements in her reflexes, sixth sense, and combat instincts, she could now hold her own against expert Sword Masters.
And when she unleashed her vast magical energy—turning it into terrifying spiritual power that disrupted her enemies—unless they had some way of resisting mental interference as Riezel did, even opponents a whole rank above her would find themselves at a loss.
In other words, Lizbeth had already reached the level of an expert Sword Master and possessed the ability to challenge higher-ranked enemies. Even against a Sword Saint, if they couldn't counter her overwhelming spiritual power, they could very well be defeated by her.
It was understandable.
Even Riezel himself couldn't exert his full power under Lizbeth's suppression, so how could other Sword Saints possibly fare better?
Take Rohm or Sigmund, for example—when facing Lizbeth's terrifying spiritual power, they would likely lose nearly half their strength, and on top of that, their minds could be thrown into chaos.
Under such circumstances, it wasn't impossible for them to fall to her.
Among the Sword Saints he knew, only Raven was a bad matchup for her.
With Rebellion's magic breaker effect, Moniz's magic defense, his resistance to swordsmanship, and his immunity to various abnormal and weakening statuses, he was well-equipped to counter Lizbeth and unlikely to fall to her.
But how many Sword Saints in this world had such convenient resistance against Lizbeth's spiritual power?
For this reason, if Lizbeth unleashed her full strength now, she could already fight on par with a Sword Saint—and if the matchup favored her, she might even defeat one outright.
An attendant capable of dueling Sword Saints!
If word got out that Riezel possessed such an attendant, many jaws would surely drop.
Having an attendant capable of fighting Sword Saints—there were hardly any people across the entire Akasha Continent who could boast such a fortune.
Yet Riezel not only had one, but he had more than one.
It was only natural.
He also had the rebirth vampire queen—her strength was by no means inferior to that of a Sword Saint, and perhaps even surpassed ordinary ones.
Just how powerful she could be at her full strength, Riezel did not yet know.
As for Lizbeth, if she drew Moslow and fused with it, releasing that immense power as before, Riezel had no idea what level she could reach then either.
'My two attendants really are something else...'
Riezel didn't know whether to feel glad or troubled.
To have two attendants capable of rivaling Sword Saints was certainly something to celebrate, but sadly, both of them had issues—once their true powers erupted, they became dangerously difficult to control, which had become a source of his constant headaches.
Lizbeth, however, thought little of such things because to her, Riezel's acknowledgment of her strength was enough to make her happy.
'If it's me now, then I don't need to rely on you to protect me anymore, right, Master?'
As this thought crossed her mind, Lizbeth couldn't help but giggle softly.
Now, she had the ability to protect her master instead, which was what it meant to be a truly qualified attendant.
Unaware of just how rare and precious she had become, the little princess clung to such a small, almost pitiful wish.
An existence comparable to a Sword Saint, even capable of unleashing power beyond that—a super-level being across the entire Akasha Continent—and yet, her wish was only to be a proper attendant?
Needless to say, it was not just humble—it was almost unbelievable.
Nevertheless, that was the true heart of Lizbeth Reinnail.
Even though she had not been with Riezel long and, logically speaking, should not have developed such deep feelings for him, life never followed logic.
Now, the innocent princess had come to see the man she had not even chosen as her master at the start as the most important, most trusted person in her heart.
It could only be said that she was simply too kind and pure, too inexperienced with the cruelty of the world.
Fortunately, her kindness and purity were not one-sided.
Perhaps precisely because of that sincerity, someone who rarely opened his heart to others had, without even realizing it, begun to see this little princess as an important person to him as well.
Otherwise, why would he have risked offending the Mavros family and the Guardian Sword Saint—and why would he have made enemies of the seven behind those magic dolls—all just for her sake?
Truly, fate worked in wondrous ways.
===
After confirming Lizbeth's current abilities, Riezel brought the little princess back to the Frenzel residence, leaving behind only the devastated courtyard for the Frenzel family to repair.
Naturally, the Frenzel family soon began to talk about Riezel and Lizbeth's situation, and in no time, rumors spread from one to another, until many in the royal capital knew that Riezel had returned.
In the royal palace, Yuri received the news and, with Marilyn in tow, immediately rushed home at once.
Unaware of all this, Riezel, walking down the corridor of the annex, suddenly turned to Lizbeth beside him.
"Where's Euryale?" Riezel asked curiously.
Because Euryale's condition was still unstable, after bringing her back, Riezel had arranged for Lizbeth to stay with her and look after her.
Thanks to this, Lizbeth and Euryale now shared the same room, even sleeping in the same bed.
"Miss Euryale doesn't seem to be awake yet..." Lizbeth replied with some embarrassment. "She doesn't really do well in the daytime. Although she's super lively at night and never wants to sleep, when the day comes, she just knocks herself out and won't wake up no matter what I do."
Hearing this, Riezel only nodded, unsurprised.
It was, after all, a common trait among vampires—something inevitable.
===
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