"I..." Vicky's eyes trembled, "I think...
...I can."
"But can you, really?"
Rhys and Vicky were not really given time to think. The two were just at the corner of the mall, almost in their own world — but they were quickly brought back by Lina, who just suddenly descended from the 2nd floor of the mall and sat beside Vicky on the bench.
"Where... did you even pop out from!?" Vicky almost jumped from the bench as she looked at Lina.
"Can you?" Lina completely ignored Vicky's shock as she returned her gaze and looked her in the eyes, "Can you compete against all of us?"
"You... heard our conversation?" Vicky took in a small gulp as her words started to stutter, "Linette... I can explain, we—"
"L...Linette, this... I can..."
"No need to explain anything," Lina let out a sigh as she stood up from the bench and stood beside Rhys, resting her head on his arm, "It's just weird because you and I are literally cousins. I never really imagined I'd have a literal relative in the fucking harem... that's awkward as fuck."
"Harem...?" Vicky squinted her eyes in confusion, "You're... not mad at all? Are you... mental?"
"I am," Lina said without any hesitation, "The question is...
...can you be?"
***
"Master Rhys, you're back! Just in time for us to show you where you will be training my children and the others."
A few hours later, Rhys, Lina, and Vicky returned to the King's palace via a helicopter. And Rhys wasn't even able to land both his feet on the ground before Prince Lance approached him and pulled him away.
"Leave the two ladies for now," Prince Lance said as they left Vicky and Lina. There was a certain quiet awkwardness obviously lingering between the two, and Lance did not want anything to do with whatever caused it. And so, he just quickly continued dragging Rhys deeper into the castle until they reached a colossal door; with more than several guards seemingly protecting the perimeter.
"We're going to train inside the castle?" Rhys blinked a couple of times as he remembered Agatha and how destructive Nobles could be if they tried, "I think it is more advisable to train outside in the field, Sir."
Rhys was actually starting to think that the Royal Family actually had a more sensible side, but that was once again slowly going down the drain.
"What? No, no..." Lance let out a small chuckle as he raised his hand, ordering the guards to open the gigantic door... which created an almost wailing hymn as they slid open. The outside of the door looked like wood, but it wasn't at all — it was metal, a very thick slab of metal,
"...I know why you would be surprised, some countries treat the Holes as a business, after all — especially Amerka. But for Enkland, we treat the Holes as a plague. And I am aware that they don't teach you this in your textbooks or tattle them on the news...
...but the current Enkland has already covered 99% of all the Holes that appeared in the past thousand years."
"...What?" Rhys blinked a couple of times as he looked at Lance; his eyes filled with utter disbelief at what he just heard. The only thing he could do was follow Lance as he stepped into the large and vast hall — and there, inside, were several groups of people.
Some were running around, while some were just sitting in front of their screens; the cups of coffee they had already drank, reflecting on their exhausted faces.
"Say that to me when you've actually won against me even once."
A day after, all of the grandchildren of the King were dressed in completely different sets of training clothes; with one of them even wearing a full plate of armor. All of them prepared for this day since their grandfather himself would be watching them — they were also excited to dive down into the Underworld...
"Master Rhys, are we... really going to do this here?"
...only for Rhys to place their training right dead at the center of the nearest city from the royal palace.
Suffice it to say, Lance's wife, Annabeth, was furious as to why Lance even approved of this. But the only thing she could really do was keep quiet and bow her head as the King also gave his permission.
Of course, the streets and surrounding area were cleared of civilians, but they couldn't actually control all the population, and most returned to watch.
"You... like the attention, don't you?" Vicky asked as she looked at the crowd of people who were trying their best to sneak a peek, "Why... here? We're vulnerable here, what if one of those rebel groups tries to attack us?"
"You're Nobles," Rhys placed his hand on his back as he started walking and looking at Vicky and the others from head to toe, "You already have an insane amount of power."
"...But we're not trained," Vicky turned to look at her siblings and cousins, who were just goofing around; seemingly oblivious of the danger, "...That's exactly why father hired you. It's... dangerous here, people could get hurt."
"Exactly," a small smile crawled on Rhys's face, "Lose control like your aunt did...
...and all these people are going to die."
"W—"
"None of that is going to happen."
And before Vicky could actually gather Rhys's thoughts, the knights and guards who were preventing the crowd from going near them all stood to the side and made way — not for the crowd, but for a group of people in black suits; all of them, wearing sunglasses even though the sky in Enkland was forever dim.
"Mr. Rhys Wilder," the one leading them showed his ID to Rhys, "We're from the International Intelligence Agency...
...we need you to come with us right now."
"The IAA?" Lance, who was watching all of this unfold from the side, could not help but rush toward Rhys and the others... only to be stopped by the IAA and his own knights, "You have no—"
"Stand back and stay away from Rhys Wilder, Your Highness...
...He is now under investigation and is suspected to be the head of a terrorist organization that bombed an Amerkan federal agency. Whatever immunity he has or has been granted has been temporarily revoked as a suspected terrorist — He is to be sent back to Amerka to be held and interrogated immediately...
...I hope you do not resist, Mr. Rhys Wilder."
"...Right," Rhys just let out a short but very deep breath, shaking his head before just very slowly placing his hand at the back of his head.
"What...? Victoria, call your grandfather!"
Prince Lance and the others could really only watch as the IAA unceremoniously dragged Rhys away before he could even teach Vicky and the others anything. Very soon, however, as Rhys disappeared into the crowd, Lance realized something, "Wait...
...what about my half a billion pounds?"