Chapter 253: Preparing for War
Chapter 253: Preparing for War
Rhain slowly stood up from the stone step.
He offered a polite, respectful bow.
"I am deeply grateful for your high regards, Matriarch Seraphine," Rhain spoke, "To be deemed worthy of your daughter is an honor."
He straightened up.
"But I must refuse."
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
"I am already married to the only woman I will ever need," Rhain stated, glancing softly toward the doorway where Seris had left. "Furthermore, there are no feelings between Lady Lyra and myself. She clearly despises the idea of this union, and I have no interest in forcing it upon her. It is better for everyone if this marriage does not happen."
Seraphine frowned deeply.
"Rhain, you must understand the reality of your situation," Seraphine warned, her voice carrying the harsh truth of the martial world. "It is practically impossible for me to help you otherwise. If I invoke this favor, I will be dragging the entire Emberford Noble Family into a political war against the Royal Court."
She looked at him with piercing eyes.
"Neither I nor my family will ever go against the Royal Family for an outsider. The risk is simply too astronomical. But... if you are my son-in-law, it is a different matter entirely. A family protects its own."
The severity of the situation finally crashed down upon the Preceptors.
"Rhain, please, think rationally!" Octavius urged, "This is not the time for pride! If you do not accept this, you will have to face the Emperor’s wrath!"
"Matriarch is offering you a lifeline," Mordecai added grimly. "A marriage of convenience is a small price to pay for your life!"
Even Myrielle, who had been fiercely protective of Seris, spoke up with a conflicted expression.
"Rhain, please, think about this rationally," Myrielle pleaded, "Marrying Lyra is actually very good for you. And it is good for Seris, too!"
The moment those words left her mouth, an awkward silence fell over the chamber.
Every single High Preceptor, Preceptor, Carmilla, and even Seraphine turned their heads to stare at Myrielle with intensely suspicious and bewildered expressions.
How could a Master actively try to convince her own disciple’s husband to take a second wife?
Sensing the incredibly weird and judgmental stares boring into her from every direction, Myrielle’s face flushed with embarassment.
"W-What?!" Myrielle hurriedly stammered, waving her hands defensively. "I just meant that Seris will get a good sister! They could look out for each other! That’s all!"
Everyone nodded in understanding and turned their heads back to Rhain, but no one saw the complicated emotions of sorrow, and helplessness in her eyes.
Despite the Preceptors’ urging and Myrielle’s awkward persuasion, Rhain’s expression remained as solid as unbreakable ice.
He simply shook his head. "My answer remains no."
Standing on the side, Lyra’s hands clenched into trembling fists.
He refused her?
Again?
First, he had openly called her weak in front of a hundred thousand people.
Then he had humiliated her in the arena.
And now, when her own mother practically offered her to him on a silver platter to save his life... he refused her without a second thought!
Countless men in this dynasty were literally dying just to earn a single glance from her, yet this man acted as if marrying her was some kind of inconvenient chore!
"You arrogant scoundrel!" Lyra scoffed haughtily, masking the bizarre, stinging ache with blistering anger. "Don’t flatter yourself! Do you think I want to be tied to a reckless brute like you? I wouldn’t marry you even if you begged me on your knees!"
Rhain didn’t even spare her a glance.
He turned toward Carmilla and offered a brief, respectful nod.
"I will have to go now," Rhain stated calmly, turning his back to the group. "I appreciate everything the Academy has offered me today. But I will find a way to face the Royal Family myself."
Lyra’s teeth ground together audibly.
Rhain turned toward the chamber doors.
"Rhain, stop!" Fabian yelled, reaching out.
"As I said, I will find my own way to face them." Rhain paused at the threshold without turning around. "I have not survived this long by relying on other people’s mercy."
"Wait," Aldren said urgently. "At least stay tonight while we—"
"Let him go."
Carmilla’s voice stopped everyone.
She looked at Rhain’s retreating back.
"He has been through enough tonight," Carmilla said. "He needs some time to think, not another hour of us shouting at him."
Seraphine sighed and inclined her head.
"I agree."
She turned toward the doorway, and her voice followed Rhain into the corridor.
"It is not easy to make such a monumental decision in such a rush. I am ready to give you some time to think it over, Rhain. Speak with your wife, she deserves to be part of this decision far more than any of us."
Seraphine’s final words echoed behind him.
"But remember this," Seraphine added, her voice chillingly grave. "Three Domain Masters fled Stormveil City an hour ago. By dawn, Emperor will know exactly what happened. You really do not have much time."
Rhain didn’t reply.
He pushed the heavy doors open and stepped out into the cold night air, leaving the group standing in silence behind him.
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Rhain walked down the quiet, moonlit corridor of the Core Palace.
Despite the overwhelming pressure of the entire Solathane Dynasty bearing down on him, his dark grey eyes were as placid as a still lake.
As he approached Seris’s secluded pavilion, two figures were pacing anxiously near the entrance.
The moment he stepped into the courtyard, Seris’s pale purple eyes immediately locked onto him.
"Husband!"
She rushed forward, her pale purple eyes scanning his blood-stained face with worry.
"What happened in there?" Seris asked, "Did the Dean and the Preceptors find a way? Is there a solution to this crisis?"
Rhain looked at her distressed, beautiful face.
He raised his hand, gently brushing a stray lock of silver-blue hair behind her ear.
"They are still thinking," Rhain replied softly, his voice carrying a soothing calmness. "There are a few options on the table, but nothing is finalized yet."
He pulled her into a brief, comforting embrace. "Do not worry about this. Your husband will be safe."
Seris buried her face into his chest for a moment, hugging his tightly.
She knew he was downplaying the severity of the situation to keep her from panicking, but feeling him close really eased her heart.
Rhain then turned his dark grey eyes toward Liana standing a few paces away.
"Liana," Rhain spoke, his tone turning serious.
Liana looked up at him. "Yes?"
"You need to return to the Outer Palace immediately," Rhain stated bluntly. "And from tomorrow onward, you should not be seen around us. I have directly provoked the Royal Family. Anyone associated with me will be dragged into this mess. Remaining by my side will only endanger your life."
Liana’s emerald eyes looked at him directly.
The usual timidness that plagued her was nowhere to be seen.
"No."
Rhain raised an eyebrow.
"I am not leaving," Liana declared fiercely, "I am not afraid of any danger. I will stand by your and Seris’s side, no matter what happens."
She stubbornly clenched her fists tightly at her sides.
"If you truly consider me a friend, Rhain, you will not deny me this."
Rhain looked at the stubborn, unyielding expression on Liana’s face.
He knew that arguing with her right now would be completely pointless.
He let out a long, quiet sigh, raising a hand to rub his temples.
"I am tired," Rhain murmured. "I need to rest."
Without waiting for their response, he walked past the two girls, heading directly toward the innermost private chamber of the pavilion.
Once inside, Rhain sealed the doors behind him.
The gentle warmth he had maintained in front of the girls instantly vanished, replaced by a chilling ruthlessness.
He stripped off his blood-soaked, ruined white robes and tossed them onto the floor.
Fwoosh—!
A spark of blood-red fire ignited in his palm.
The Red Tribulations Heavenly Flame instantly engulfed the fabric, incinerating the filth and blood into nothingness in less than a second.
He retrieved a fresh set of dark robes from his spatial ring and quickly changed.
Once he was clean, he flipped his palm
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The transmission talisman in his hand was practically vibrating out of control.
He had already received several messages from Vulcan.
Rhain channeled a thread of dark essence into the talisman.
"Master!" Vulcan’s voice exploded from the talisman the instant the connection was made. "Are you safe? I am already mobilising my brothers. We need to meet and plan our next move!"
"No," Rhain refused immediately. "We will not meet right now. From this moment on, we do not make contact in person unless I explicitly order it. The Royal Court’s intelligence network will be watching my every move. Drawing a direct link between me and the Celestial Elixir Pavilion right now would be a fatal mistake."
Vulcan fell silent for a second, swallowing his panic. "Understood, Master. What are your orders?"
Rhain’s dark grey eyes flashed with a dangerous, calculating light.
"Release an announcement from the Celestial Elixir Pavilion and spread it across the neighboring provinces," Rhain commanded. "Tell them that the Celestial Elixir Pavilion is officially recruiting Domain Master Realm experts as guest elders."
Vulcan sucked in a sharp breath. "Domain Masters? Master, beings of that caliber are incredibly arrogant. They rarely bow to even major Noble Family."
"They will bow to this," Rhain stated coldly. "Make it clear that we are only recruiting rogue Domain Masters, those who possess no ties or loyalties to the any great power or the Royal Court."
"The reward for their loyalty and service will be ten flawless Mystic-Grade pills every month."
Within the third floor of Celestial Elixir Pavilion, Vulcan nearly staggered and fell hearing Rhain’s offer.
Ten flawless Mystic-Grade pills... every single month???
In the entire Solathane Dynasty, there were only a handful of Grandmaster Alchemists.
And out of those revered, untouchable figures, not a single one of them possessed the ability to refine a Mystic-Grade pill beyond fifty percent purity.
Even a severely flawed Mystic-Grade pill was something that was sold in millions.
Offering ten flawless pills monthly was a temptation so fundamentally absurd that it would drive any rogue Domain Master to madness.
They would gladly sell their own hearts, let alone their loyalty for that reward.
"Master... with an offer like that, we will have Domain Masters flocking to our gates like starving wolves," Vulcan spoke in a trembling voice, as he imagined that ridiculous image in his mind.
"That is exactly the point," Rhain replied. "I need an army of powerhouses, and I need it quickly."
He didn’t stop there.
"Furthermore, expand our logistics network immediately," Rhain ordered. "Start sourcing raw material providers beyond Stormveil City. We can no longer afford to rely solely on the Thunderwood Noble Family. We need completely independent supply chains."
"I will put Ives and Ezra on it immediately, Master."
"And finally," Rhain continued, his voice dropping to a chilling decisiveness. "Prepare the capital and logistics required to establish branch pavilions in other major cities across the dynasty. We are going to expand. I want the Celestial Elixir Pavilion’s wealth and influence spread so wide that harming us would bleed the entire kingdom."
"It will be done exactly as you command, Master," Vulcan vowed with fanatical devotion.
The talisman dimmed, and Rhain stored it away.
He had finally understood a brutal truth.
In this world, individual strength alone was not enough.
If he wanted to survive, if he wanted to ensure that no one could ever look down on him and trample on his dignity, he needed to build his own power.
A power that could even challenge the Solathane Dynasty.
He was already preparing for the worst-case scenario.
If the Royal Court demanded his life... then he would simply go to war against the entire goddamn dynasty.
At this very moment, Dean Carmilla, Matriarch Seraphine, and the High Preceptors were likely racking their brains, stressing over ways to shield him, to negotiate with the Royal Court, and to save his life from the Emperor’s impending wrath.
But Rhain’s thoughts were moving in an entirely different direction.
Save his life?
A bloodthirsty smile curled the corners of Rhain’s lips.
No one would have ever thought that while the titans of the city were desperately trying to figure out how to save his life from Lucius... Rhain was meticulously calculating how to kill Lucius.
Lucuis had crossed the one line that Rhain would never forgive.
He wouldn’t be able to rest peacefully until Lucius was a headless corpse rotting in the dirt.
"Lucius must die."