Chapter 260: 260 ’Reinnaier
That day, within the royal palace’s chambers, King Hemulinp and the Shadow Sword Saint Rom had pushed aside all their duties and engaged in a discussion throughout the night.
As a result of this discussion, Liz visited the Franzel residence once again the next day and brought Reiger a draft agreement.
The agreement stated that her Highness Liz Genius, as the ninth princess of the kingdom, was willing to become the attendant of the newly appointed Sword Saint Reiger Brillhaut and to form a contract with him.
However, there were two conditions.
First, as long as the Genius Kingdom did not instigate any provocations, Reiger was also not to initiate any actions that could shake the very foundation of the Genius Kingdom.
In other words, as long as no one provokes Reiger, he must not do anything that could harm the existence of the Genius Kingdom or destabilize the nation.
As for matters that do not concern the fundamental existence of the kingdom, they were not covered by this condition; Reiger was free to do as he pleased.
This was the royal family taking a major step back, the greatest compromise, setting only the minimal demands, and it was indeed the first of its kind in history.
Yuri told Reiger about this after learning of the matter, saying that her initial contract with the royal family was "not to betray the nation under any circumstances," a condition shared by another strategic magician in the kingdom.
This showed just how lenient Reiger’s contract terms were.
Second, he must not demand the War King Sword Skill training method from his attendant.
This was a requirement given to all those who formed attendant contracts with members of the royal family.
The War King Sword Skill is a hereditary sword technique of the Genius Kingdom’s royal family, a symbol of the royals and of the nation itself, and under no circumstances could it be disclosed to outsiders.
On this matter, the royal family made no compromises, nor could they afford to, as it concerned their heritage, which they could not treat lightly.
Fortunately, Reiger was not particularly interested in the War King Sword Skill, so this requirement was inconsequential to him.
These two conditions would be stated by Liz as her wishes when she formed the contract with Reiger, and they would remain valid for life.
This meant that Liz would also be Reiger’s attendant for life.
An attendant contract is different from a slavery contract; it is essentially an equal trade, and therefore the contract includes several mechanisms.
One such mechanism is that, depending on the attendant’s wishes outlined during the contract formation, the contract’s duration varies.
If the wish is relatively easy to fulfill, then the contract’s duration is generally short, typically no more than two or three years. The attendant just needs to serve the contract holder for this period. Once time is up, the contract ends, and the attendant regains their freedom.
Conversely, if the wish is difficult to fulfill, the contract’s duration will be lengthy. If the wish is excessively difficult, such that the contract holder cannot fulfill it, the contract might even fail to be established.
The two wishes Liz represented on behalf of the royal family were not particularly difficult, but since they were valid for life, the contract’s effective duration was naturally lifelong as well.
"Fine," Reiger said after reviewing the agreement, finally nodding in acceptance.
"It wasn’t in vain that I specifically started with that Shadow Sword Saint and had a big fight with him," Reiger chose Rom, not merely because of their past.
He merely used Rom as a mouthpiece to express his own wishes to the royal family, albeit very assertive ones.
For this purpose, Reiger had demonstrated his strength in front of Rom, prompting the royal family to proactively yield.
The outcome was favorable.
If it was just demands of this nature, Reiger was still willing to comply.
Moreover, even if Reiger agreed, the contract’s binding power on him was practically negligible.
The royal family was unaware that Reiger was a magician with a talent for creating null systems. His decomposing magic not only worked on material objects but was equally effective on magic.
That means, whenever Reiger wished, he could use his decomposing magic to dissolve the attendant contract.
Previously, he had not agreed not because he felt really constrained by the attendant contract, but because there was no need and no desire, leading him to simply resist.
People unaware of this might think that Reiger truly resisted the constraints of the contract. Little did they know, the contract’s binding power had long been negligible for him.
Thus, Reiger finally agreed to the contract, preparing to take Liz on as his attendant.
This news was only circulated within the royal family and became known to a few especially high-status nobles through their own intelligence channels, but others remained completely unaware, and not a hint of this information reached the commoners.
No one knew that during this period, a royal princess had become Reiger’s attendant.
But one piece of news soon spread throughout the entire kingdom.
That was, in two days, Reiger would officially be knighted and receive the Sword Saint Medal from the royal family.
......
Meanwhile, at the Franzel residence, a contract ceremony was about to take place.
"Are you ready?" Reiger asked Liz, who was standing opposite him in the drawing room of the residence.
"Yes, I’m ready!"
Liz responded nervously, clutching the sword of Moslo.
"Then let’s begin."
Reiger nodded and turned to the side.
There, Yuri and Marilyn were both present, and a flickering black shadow emerged.
"This is the contract document personally prepared by His Majesty," the voice of Rom came from within the shadow, tossing a piece of parchment toward Reiger.
It was a specially made document meant for the attendant contract ceremony.
The document was crafted from special magical materials and the content of the contract—the two requests made by the royal family to Reiger—was written on it with ink made from a mixture of magic crystals’ powder.
Once this contract document is used in the attendant contract ceremony, the content written on the document would be enforced as the attendant’s wishes once the contract takes effect.
"You can check it."
Rom had spoken thus to Reiger.
Reiger took the Contract Document, spread it out, and confirmed the content of the contract written on it.
The content was correct, with no textual traps or other complications, just straightforwardly drafted with those two requirements.
"Marilyn."
Seeing that Reiger’s expression was unchanged, Yuri immediately understood that there were no issues and called out to Marilyn.
Marilyn promptly came forward.
In her hands, she held a small knife.
Reiger took the knife and made a cut on his finger, dropping a drop of his blood onto the Contract Document.
Liz quickly came over as well and took the knife from Reiger’s hand, cut her finger, and let the blood drip down.
After these actions, magic power began to emerge from Reiger’s hand holding the Contract Document.
"[Contract]."
A brief chant echoed as the magic power from Reiger’s hands suddenly turned into flames, setting the Contract Document on fire.
"Bang!"
The flaming magic power rapidly burned the Contract Document into ashes.
The ashes fell and formed a magic array under Reiger and Liz, emitting a faint glow.
The glow turned into particles, and seconds later divided into two streams, one merging into Reiger’s body and the other into Liz’s.
Afterward, the magic array disappeared, and all the phenomena vanished along with it, restoring calm.
"The contract is established."
Yuri announced this with a voice of indeterminate emotion.
"Huff..."
Rom and Marilyn simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief as if a significant event had been concluded.
Reiger and Liz looked at each other, both feeling a subtle connection.
This was proof that the Attendant’s contract was effective.
With this contract, Liz would no longer be able to act against Reiger’s interests and must wholeheartedly protect him. She would be somewhat unable to disobey Reiger’s commands, though it was not as coercive as a slavery contract demanding unconditional obedience to any command.
Reiger also had to adhere to the contract and not act contrary to it. Otherwise, depending on the severity, the lightest consequence would be the contract’s invalidation, and the severest might trigger a contractual penalty mechanism.
Both parties thus established a direct connection at this moment, no longer being completely unrelated individuals.
Reiger gave Liz a smile, making her cheeks suddenly turn red with shyness.
This scene, in the eyes of others, might lead those uninformed to misunderstand?
Despite it being a contract ceremony, the atmosphere between Reiger and Liz seemed somewhat like a wedding ceremony, enough to make Yuri standing aside squint her eyes, feeling displeased.
In contrast, Marilyn looked at Liz with a somewhat relieved compassion in her eyes.
"This way, this child will have an easier time in the future, right?"
As Marilyn thought this, Rom, also feeling somewhat relieved, suddenly spoke.
"Now that the contract is established, Princess Liz should change her surname."
At that statement, Reiger immediately looked towards Rom.
"Change her surname?"
Reiger was puzzled.
"It’s the rule," Rom said calmly: "A princess who leaves the royal family to become an Attendant shall no longer bear the surname ’Genius’."
This was the royal family’s name, and since Liz was no longer posing as a princess, she naturally couldn’t continue using this surname.
"What?" Reiger said somewhat sarcastically, "Is this because you fear that the royal family’s use of their princess as a bargaining chip might be exposed?"
Rom maintained his silence.
Yuri and Marilyn, however, appeared unsurprised.
After all, they had already once experienced such a situation.
"What surname do you like?" Reiger didn’t dwell on the matter too much, having taunted Rom, he then turned to Liz and said, "How about ’Inpeish’, like Marilyn?"
At this, Marilyn glanced at Reiger but did not voice any opposition.
Liz hesitated for a moment before timidly saying,
"Can I revert to my previous surname?"
Before being taken back to the royal palace by the King, Liz had used a surname that wasn’t of this country’s royal lineage.
"What was your previous surname?"
Reiger naturally had no objections, just asking this question.
At this, Liz’s cheeks turned a bit red, and she unexpectedly showed a rare smile.
"Reinnaire."
"Liz Reinnaire."
"That was my original name."
Thus, on this day, Liz reclaimed her name.
Unnoticed by her, the sword she always held in her embrace, tucked inside its sheath, subtly glowed with light.