Swear Fealty To Me, My Subjects! Chapter 78: Brother, Did I Deserve It?

Rayne went to meet the Empress.

His conversation with the Empress did not exceed his expectations.

The Empress already knew that Rayne was involved in the death of Obadiah as well as his behavior in Gold Village.

In the end, the Empress decided to pretend that nothing had happened.

That was good.

In truth, Rayne was rather worried that she would suspect that he was involved with the evil gods and only managed to obtain his current achievements by borrowing their power. However, the Empress mentioned nothing about it the entire time—it was evident that she still trusted Rayne.

After the conversation was over, Rayne's mother, Empress Cassius, did something that she had done in his previous 999 reincarnations.

She pushed Constance to Rayne and expressed her desire for him to take her as his wife.

Towards that request…

In the past, Rayne had many ways to deal with it.

At times, he would shyly avoid the topic.

At times, he would agree on the spot.

At other times, he would tease Constance and make her propose to him instead...

However, no matter which option he chose, in the end, Rayne was always willing to be husband and wife once more with this only true love of his.

But now, the situation was different.

The path chosen by Rayne no longer allowed him to use the bargaining chip of marriage casually.

His wife had to be a powerful and valuable existence. Furthermore, the relationship with this existence must be stabilized through the contract of marriage.

There were a few such candidates in the mortal world.

Among them, one of the most outstanding candidates was Leta's Emerald Moon Queen, Alice.

With a count of his fingers, he realized that it had been a while since the Great Teacher of White Light obtained the purified quasigod skeleton.

He did not know when Leta's ascension ritual for the Moon Queen would begin.

On the way home, Rayne encountered Hela and the puppets.

They were here to bid farewell to Rayne.

Hela said regrettably, "Your Highness, I'm about to leave. We might not be able to meet again for a period of time."

Rayne smiled and said tenderly, "I'll miss you."

The puppets were reluctant. "Your Highness, can we teleport over to accompany you when we're free?"

Rayne revealed a look of surprise. "I'll look forward to that."

The puppets were excited. "Yay!"

After meeting Rayne, it was truly time for Hela to leave.

The teleportation magic was activated and a dimensional rift opened behind Hela.

At the final moment, Hela suddenly returned to Rayne. She held his hand, looked at him deeply and said in a gentle tone.

"Your Highness… in the past, I did not think that you were any different from other mortals. In fact, I had the thought that your existence had nothing to do with me. If anyone offered me a higher bid, I would have been willing to take your life even. I know that in the past, I was an enemy that you had to be wary of… but now, dear, I'm willing to go through hell and back for you."

Finally, she gave Rayne a passionate kiss and Hela led the puppets into the dimensional rift.

Rayne watched as the dimensional rift gradually disappeared.

He touched his lips and lamented internally.

Hela Haines.

So... you had such a tender side to you the entire time.

Rayne temporarily put aside the matter of Hela.

Next, he had to consider his next target.

Edaline Haines.

His biological younger sister.

Actually, he did not require a strategy for this lass.

This d*rned sister of his was sharp-tongued and cursed him everyday. In fact, she would even threaten from time to time that she would crush him personally once he became the Emperor.

However, this tsundere¹ sister of his was only tough on the surface and he did not have to worry that she would really cause trouble.

Right now, Rayne's priority was not to attack Edaline.

Instead, he had to get rid of the latent danger in Edaline before the worst case scenario began.

This was something that Rayne had never done in his previous reincarnation cycles.

But now, this was Rayne's last chance.

He could no longer revive.

Therefore, be it victory or failure, his life would come to an end in this lifetime.

No matter what...

Rayne no longer wanted to kill this sister who loved him deeply once again.

…

Rayne returned home.

Bored with nothing to do, he borrowed a few blueprints of forbidden curses from Constance and studied them casually.

The skies gradually darkened.

It was time to rest.

Lying on the bed that was finally empty, Rayne looked at the ceiling calmly.

Before he fell asleep, the door to the Nether Realm in his eyes opened slowly.

The bloody and desolate land of skulls appeared before Rayne.

The Blood Empress was looking at Rayne with a smile.

"Rayne Haines, you seem to be troubled about something. Do you need me to lend you my power?"

Rayne smiled. "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty. However, if I beg for your help desperately each time I encounter any trouble... that will only disappoint you, right?"

The Blood Empress laughed. "Rayne, there's no need for you to be so cautious. You're already the most outstanding chosen I've encountered in this era. I won't be disappointed in you no matter what. So, what sort of difficulties have you encountered despite possessing the strongest demigod army in the mortal world?"

Rayne: "I want to explore the depths of the Desolate Tundra."

When the Blood Empress heard that, she was silent for a moment. "Yes, you're right. That place is indeed quite troublesome."

Rayne smiled bitterly.

The Blood Empress said, "Let me remind you that that's definitely not an area you can step foot into."

Rayne said seriously, "But there's something I want there."

He repeated softly, "Something that must be obtained…"

Something that must be obtained?

Vaguely, the Blood Empress seemed to have guessed something.

She revealed a hopeful smile. "You're indeed… an extremely interesting person."

"You flatter me…"

"I won't disturb your rest. If you need anything, pray to me. I'll answer you at any moment."

Just like that, the land of skulls gradually disappeared from Rayne's eyes after that final sentence.

Not long after, Rayne fell asleep as well.

…

…

…

In the depths of the night.

Divine blood was diluted by the torrential rain and flowed in all directions.

Rayne's hazy consciousness was in a blurry scene. He did not know if everything was real or illusory.

It seemed like...

He was in a dream.

Here, Rayne caught sight of his sister again.

After defeating Histia personally, the strongest demigod in the mortal world who had ascended to the peak was stabbed in the back when she was unprepared. At that moment, she was kneeling in a pool of blood, feeling her life draining from her body bit by bit in despair and helplessness.

She raised her head with tears of sadness and looked at her most trusted kin in confusion.

"Why… brother… did I do something wrong?"

"You did well, but this is the end, Order."

"My name is Edaline… brother…"

"It's not important. You'll forget that name before long."

"Please… brother… don't look at me like that… I-I'm so scared…"

"…"

"I'm sorry… brother… I must have caused you trouble, right? This is… what I deserve, right?"

"Thea, do it."

"Brother… I really want to… have you hug me again…"

The demigod's head was severed by a golden sword.

The owner of the golden sword looked at Rayne with a conflicted expression.

"What are you looking at me for? Are you worried that you'll end up like her? Don't worry, that won't happen. You're different from her. You're a true god and no one can possess you."

"Your Majesty, you're crying."

"You're wrong. That's just the rain. This is not worthy of my tears."

In the hazy dreamscape, Rayne heard himself say calmly.

"I'm already used to it."

1. Should you really be reading this if you don't know what tsundere means?! It refers to a character with a personality that is strong on the surface but internally bashful.