Cyllus had fully demonstrated what it meant to be childish. Even after accepting Charles's gift, he still couldn't admit defeat.
In the end, he insisted on challenging Charles to a competition—and if Charles lost, he'd have to break up with Stella.
Charles understood that Cyllus needed to vent his dissatisfaction, so he agreed to humor the king's antics.
But losing? That wasn't an option. Charles was fully aware that if he did lose, this king would absolutely force him to leave Stella. He'd never doubted that for a second.
So, in the first round, Charles cleanly defeated Cyllus.
According to Stella, her father had already stopped being a challenge to her long before she left for overseas studies—there was no way he could possibly defeat someone like Charles.
As a fire-attribute Blazer, Cyllus was completely powerless before Charles.
Yet Cyllus used that as an excuse to cry foul, claiming Charles had "cheated," and demanded a rematch.
Then came arm wrestling—where Charles crushed him.
A footrace—where His Majesty got lost in his own capital and had to be escorted back by palace guards.
Even rock-paper-scissors—Cyllus didn't win a single round.
Eventually, the indomitable Cyllus was forcibly subdued by Astrea. After being pestered all afternoon, Charles was finally able to get some proper rest.
The next day, after a full night of "education," Cyllus finally calmed down. But even so, he proposed a condition before he would formally acknowledge Charles and Stella's relationship.
That condition: win the upcoming mock war against the neighboring country of Quedolan.
The relationship between the Kingdom of Vermillion and the Kingdom of Quedolan was complicated.
Several centuries ago, Vermillion had gained its independence from Quedolan through war, and from that moment on, the two nations were bound by blood and hatred.
Back then, the Cobrand royal family of Quedolan had resorted to slaughtering members of the Vermillion family to force them to surrender their independence.
That grudge was passed down through generations, ingrained in the hearts of both their citizens and royal lines.
And in recent decades, both nations had fought repeatedly over natural gas fields located between their borders.
Yet the one who changed all of this was none other than the seemingly unreliable Cyllus himself.
Thirty years ago, shortly after ascending the throne, Cyllus had charged alone through Quedolan's front lines and stood before King Clave of Quedolan. There, he boldly proposed settling their centuries-old war with a duel between kings.
King Clave, too, was a forward-thinking ruler, and just like that, centuries of hatred between two nations came to an end.
Today, while they still held "wars," they had become little more than joint military exercises. The loser would simply take over the maintenance of the shared natural gas facilities for the year.
Of course, the winner would pay a financial support fee, to help with infrastructure upkeep. In other words, neither side actually lost much.
Charles hadn't expected Cyllus to have such a noble history. But thinking about it, it probably had more to do with Queen Astrea's influence.
Stella fully agreed with that interpretation.
Charles's task now was to participate in the upcoming representative battle—and defeat Quedolan's Blazer champions.
It was said the leader of the opposing team would be Prince John of Quedolan, whose Device was a golden warhorse. His ability was a conceptual interference-type that allowed him to charge in any terrain by "creating roads."
It sounded interesting—but to Charles, that was all it was. Interesting.
Cyllus probably knew this too. But still, watching his precious daughter run off with some brat was simply too bitter to accept.
And so, while waiting for the representative battle to begin, Charles spent his time touring Stella's homeland under her enthusiastic guidance.
Stella was in high spirits—Charles had finally been accepted by her family. Astrea, in particular, was very pleased with this talented young man. (Of course, the magical skin ointment played no small part in that.)
As for Cyllus, once Astrea had given her blessing, his opinion no longer mattered.
Thus, Stella had been like a joyful fairy, wandering through the capital hand-in-hand with Charles. It was, in fact, one of the rare times they'd gone on a real, proper date.
Charles hadn't expected Stella to be this beloved in her country. While the Vermillion royal family already had immense national support, Charles could feel that Stella was someone truly special.
The whole nation adored her from the heart. To them, she wasn't just a princess—she was a treasure.
And not just because of her title. It was because Stella treated everyone as family. No one deserved love and respect more than she did.
Soon enough, everyone knew that the boy by her side was her boyfriend.
And thus Charles heard no end of lines like "If you break Her Highness's heart, I swear to xxxx you," and "If you ever make her cry, prepare to be xxxxx." He lost count of how many times he heard those words.
But aside from that, the past few days had been some of the happiest in his life.
Apart from natural gas, one of Vermillion's key exports was flowers and flower-based products. The kingdom had vast, breathtaking flower fields.
Walking hand-in-hand with Stella through one such field, Charles felt his entire soul relax and unwind.
But peace never lasted long—and this time, it was something he couldn't ignore.
The Shenlong Temple had been attacked!
When Charles first heard the news, he was stunned—who would be bold enough to strike that place? Then his grip on his phone nearly shattered.
Because this attack… might have been because of him.
"I'll send you the full report. The Grand Elder said not to blame yourself—no real harm was done.
But he also said the enemy probably won't stop targeting you. You'd best prepare yourself."
Charles was silent for a moment before replying, "I understand. Thanks for the info. And please tell the Grand Elder—I'll take care of this myself."
He ended the call and opened the files that had been sent to him.
The attacker's name was Orr Gell, someone Charles was very familiar with—one of the Twelve Apostles of Rebellion. His codename: The Puppet King. And he was also a confirmed Majin.
Seeing that title, Charles immediately thought of Reika Hiraga. If his hunch was correct, Orr Gell was Hiraga's true identity.
No wonder the theory had arisen that Orr Gell attacked Shenlong Temple because of Charles.
Orr Gell held a particularly important position in Rebellion—he had used his powers to manipulate over a thousand high-ranking officials and tycoons worldwide. He was Rebellion's most critical information and influence network.
But just two days ago, he had suddenly released all his puppet control.
And the next day—Shenlong Temple was attacked.
Clearly, he had underestimated Shenlong Temple's strength. While he had managed to manipulate several warrior monks into killing each other, the Grand Elder had intervened in time and driven him off.
Though both were Majin, the gap between Orr Gell and the current Battle God was too vast. The fight ended almost instantly.
Perhaps Orr Gell had never intended to fight the Grand Elder head-on. As soon as he realized the difference in power, he'd retreated.
So aside from a few monks injured by the manipulation, the temple had suffered no serious loss.
But that was already more than enough to make Charles furious.
It had been Shenlong Temple that took him in when he first arrived in this world. They taught him martial arts and gave him a place to belong.
Now that they had been attacked because of him, how could he possibly remain calm?
"The Puppet King, huh? Old grudges and new—let's settle them all."
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