Chapter 258: Lize's Heart Knot

"Bier Family?"

Marlene sulked instantly.

"Those bastards actually dared to find trouble with you!"

Lize appeared depressed. She held a teacup and stared blankly into the red tea. After the incident, the trio were escorted back to the stronghold by Rhode and Gillian. All the soldiers sealing off the entire marketplace were gone. During their journey back, Rhode asked them about the incident, but he didn't receive a definite answer. He only knew that someone emerged out of nowhere, chased the soldiers away, and rescued them. As for who the savior was, Anne didn't mention and neither did Lize. Christie was in a semi-conscious state, so she wasn't able to provide any valuable insights. However, Rhode wasn't upset with them over it. From Lize's stutters, he had already realised her thoughts so he didn't want to interrogate her by force. He had appointed Marlene to check on this matter because no matter what, both of them were childhood friends, and maybe there were something that not even Rhode could intervene with.

Just as expected, Lize never had such hesitations toward Marlene and immediately came clean with everything.

After listening to Lize's narration, Marlene noticed the importance of this matter. She knew Lize's past more than anybody else and strictly speaking, Lize's past could be considered a stain. Not only a stain of herself, but a stain of the whole Munn Kingdom. Those idiots from the South had planned to make the kingdom collapse and they wanted to capture Lize, which clearly showed their intentions to know more about her past.

"What do you intend to do, Lize?"

Marlene calmed her emotions and asked.

"I don't know..."

Lize blankly shook her head.

"You don't intend to discuss this with Mr. Rhode?"

"... I don't know..."

Lize lowered her head, and her sullen expression returned.

"I only wish to be an ordinary human, ordinary girl, or ordinary adventurer. I only wish for such a life. I don't wish to create trouble, and not to mention, bring trouble for others... Mr. Rhode is already busy, and if I trouble him with this..."

"But the problem is, now your problem isn't merely yours."

Marlene interrupted without the slightest degree of politeness, to which the other maiden quickly lifted her head in shock..

"Lize, you know yourself that your problem already involves the mercenary group. Anne and Christie were dragged into it without any reason too. Don't you think that you owe them an explanation? Not only that, but also the current situation. Since they have laid hands on you, it means that they already know your identity..."

Marlene paused and gazed at the pale maiden.

"... You can't hide from your bloodline, Lize. You can ignore it, but you can't deny its existence. In your body or in my body, they're all the same. It's just like no matter how I deny it, others will still see me as the heir of the Senia Family. In this world, there are many things that we can't change with our will. What we want to be isn't always what is."

Marlene stood up and walked to Lize's side. She extended her arms and embraced her.

"Do you still remember, Lize? Those times when no child in the palace was willing to approach me. Every single one of them except you. I always wanted to play with the, and tried my best to behave like them, but no matter what, I still am the heir of the Senia Family. If they accidentally caused me any injuries, they would be in big trouble. They were afraid of my family, so they kept distance from me. This is the truth in this world, Lize. Back then, you were my only friend; surely you understand my feelings? And now? Not only you are you, Lize Noir. No matter how you try to escape, you wouldn't be able to erase the existence of Lize Calante Belgrade. Or perhaps, Lize Calente J. Frandrica Belgrade."

Lize shuddered upon hearing the names. She returned Marlene's embrace as if she could counteract the hate in that name.

What should I do?

Lize had no idea. Her mind was in a mess. Admit my identity to Mr. Rhode? The maiden felt it was a tad too early. Besides, in Lize's heart, this was her personal matter and shouldn't implicate others.

"If you don't know what to do, I do have a suggestion," Marlene said.

"No matter what, this situation has indeed implicated the mercenary group and if it's really the Bier Family, then those rats won't let this matter off so easily. I think, regarding this, we can assert to Mr. Rhode. Whereas for your identity, we can keep it a secret... until you decide to come clean with it. I think this isn't a difficult problem, since Mr. Rhode is a kind person. If he understands your sorrows, he won't reject you. If you don't have the courage to let him know, I'll do it for you."

"Marlene..."

Lize remained silent for a moment and as if she decided, she shook her head.

"It's alright. Thank you, Marlene. But, this matter started because of me, so I should personally tell Mr. Rhode... No matter what, just like what Her Highness said, this is my responsibility."

At this moment, the bewilderedness in the maiden's eyes vanished and was replaced with an oddly determined belief.

It was late at night.

The beautiful full moon hung in the night sky and was complemented by twinkling stars like diamonds shining brightly on a picturesque painting. Everywhere was silent, but to Rhode, the night was nowhere tranquil.

At this moment, he was sitting behind his desk and looking at the information on his hand. Opposite him was Gillian with both her elbows resting on the desk. She rested her cheeks in her hands and stared at Rhode. Her fluffy tail swung left and right interestingly.

"Bier Family..."

Rhode mumbled under his breath and placed the piece of information on the table. Previously, Lize stood out and explained some parts of the situation to him, which included the reason why the knights arrived and their motive. Of course, Lize didn't mention much about her past, but he knew that for her to take the initiative to explain was good enough. As for her past, since Lize didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't force her to. However, from the fact that those people wanted to capture her, it showed that her past wasn't simple at all.

As for the Bier Family, Rhode wasn't unfamiliar with them. In Munn Kingdom, those people called themselves the core forces of the 'Reformist Party'. To this group of people, their ultimate goal was to end the royalty's rule of Munn Kingdom and rebuild it with a new and similar ruling class as created by the Country of Light parliament. And since they wanted to capture Lize, it proved that Lize was definitely helpful to their plans. After all, these Southern nobles couldn't be compared to the Northern as most of them were born as merchants. They wouldn't do anything without benefits or advantages.

It seemed like history didn't change.

Rhode tapped his finger on the tabletop. The danger of the Munn Kingdom involved both inner and outer factors. On the surface, this was another conspiracy of the Country of Light's parliament's attempt to borrow the reformist forces to take down the Munn Kingdom. However, from a player's perspective, it was a totally different matter. After Lydia's rise to power, the 'Reformist Party' wasn't as formidable as before. The Archangel had been targeting the traitors who had been trying to overturn the country, and now it could be said that the Reformist Party had reached their most dangerous stage. It was considered the final door to the King's Party and Reformist Party; if the King's Party was victorious, then the Reformist Party would be eliminated. But if the Reformist Party didn't care about the consequences and dragged the King's Party down together with them, then it wouldn't be a good thing for Munn Kingdom too.

Due to such a matter of life and death, the Reformist Party engaged in these series of movements. Along with the Country of Light's parliament, they attempted to disturb order, raise the price of produce, and attack border merchant ships in order to create havoc within the kingdom in an attempt to overthrow the King's Party rule. Of course, they were doing all this under the name of 'resisting the violent dictatorship of the King's rule', but to Rhode, it was no different from maintaining illicit relations with a foreign country.

Due to this, although Lize didn't explain her identity, Rhode wasn't blindsided either. Besides, he already knew the history of the game and in addition to Marlene's hint, he guessed that Lize was an important person within the King's Party. At the very least, he was sure that she was important enough to affect the Reformist Party's 'great cause'. Now that he knew Lize's position, he wouldn't mind her past too much... No matter what, she couldn't be Lydia's illegitimate child...

However, this ambush did remind Rhode that Lize's past might be the reason why she was ambushed in the first place. But the Starlight mercenary group was also the other possible target of this ambush. Previously, Shawn, the leader of the Dark Fang mercenary group, had once reminded Rhode that the Country of Light's parliament would also be sending their men to the Midsummer Festival. Thinking back on how his Starlight mercenary group had trampled the series of plans that the Country of Light's parliament had planned, this inference wasn't any delusion. And the bunch of Reformist Party people, who had always been the lackeys of Country of Light, wouldn't miss this opportunity to impress their owner. Not to mention, although Rhode had messed with the Country of Light and their plans, it also affected the Reformist Party's benefits as well, so they wouldn't sit by idly and not do anything. Luckily, Paphield was situated far from them and it wouldn't be easy for those Southerners to intervene.

"Master, do you have an idea already?"

Gillian asked as Rhode stopped all his movements. He shook his head in denial.

"Currently, we don't have too many leads, but I don't think that we should worry too much. Paphield isn't their territory, so it won't be easy for that bunch of idiots to create trouble. Next, we should focus on our strength. Besides..."

Rhode paused, as though reminded of something. Then, he stood up.

"From tomorrow onward, strengthening our mercenary group will be our main priority."

He made his decision.