"You're a bit off your leash. Don't you think?" Rael commented with a frown. "How exactly is Celestara supposed to help you kill your father?"
"Not Celestara, but you," Reinhardt corrected with a straight face. "I wish for your assistance, and your assistance alone. No third party, only you."
"And what does my assistance look like, exactly?" Rael tilted his head and took a sip of wine. "I could ruin my reputation if I'm ever found out. And knowing you, you'd bring me down along with you."
"I definitely would, but that's only if you were to betray me," Reinhardt stated. "As much of a scumbag as you might think I am, I return respect when it's given to me."
Yeah... I don't think so. Rael sighed. But sure, I'll bite.
"So what's your grand plan then? How are you planning on killing your father, and what role am I supposed to play in this plan exactly?"
"You'll be the executioner," Reinhardt said plainly. "I don't think I have what it takes to kill my father. However, you seem like someone who'd be able to do that."
"Is it because you're afraid?" Rael asked, and Reinhardt merely flinched before slowly nodding.
"Yes... you could say that."
I guess I can work with this... Rael thought as he masked a smirk.
There was one very easy solution to this problem, one that required little to no risk.
Accept the position of executioner, somehow kill Reinhardt's father, and then manipulate Reinhardt himself into doing Rael's bidding.
That had been the plan ever since he implanted that Origin of Fear in Reinhardt's mind. However, he now had a pretense for going through with it.
"Very well then, I can be the one who delivers the final blow to your father," Rael said with a smile. "But you must take care of everything leading up to that."
Before Reinhardt could speak, Rael continued. "I'm not showing up until the stage is set and the king is isolated."
"That's doable." Reinhardt nodded. "I wouldn't want you getting caught. After all... the people of Aztera judge the rulers very heavily. If they found out I had colluded with you to kill my father, then they'd form a vote and banish me."
"And yet you're still taking the risk." Rael chuckled. "Why? I'm sure I haven't shown my strength to you, so how are you so certain I'd be able to kill your father in the first place?"
Reinhardt sighed and then tapped the air.
Immediately, a surprising pop-up appeared in front of Rael's eyes.
"A weakling wouldn't have even one of those, yet you have two," Reinhardt remarked as he walked back to his seat across from Rael and then dug into his food.
A moment of silence followed. And of course, Rael wasn't going to break it as he dug into the food the maids had prepared.
It was simply delicious, like always.
Of course, their moment of silence didn't last long since, within minutes, they had already devoured all the food present.
"For someone who doesn't have Gluttony... you sure are—"
"Zip it." Rael cut him off. "I believe our talks here are done. And I wish to go back to my lovely wife, so wrap it up."
"Very well..." Reinhardt trailed off as he tapped the air a few times, and soon, a friend request arrived.
"Don't message me unless it's important," Rael added. "Oh, and don't do anything before the summit. I want to attend it without any disruptions."
Reinhardt nodded. "I'm not planning to kill my father for at least another couple of months, so don't worry."
"Great. Now that everything's over with, I believe you should be making your way out now," Rael said, yet Reinhardt still sat in his seat, unmoving.
Rael furrowed his brows. "What now?"
"You were the one who blew up our supplies in Sylvaran, correct?" Reinhardt asked.
However, Rael kept his composure and simply shrugged.
"No clue what you're talking about. Now shoo... my wife woke up."
While he did sound like a cheating husband, she really had woken up. And he, for one, didn't want Reinhardt and her to meet.
Because Reinhardt was trash, and he didn't want to dirty Zafira's eyes with trash.
Therefore, after gulping down the entire bottle of wine, Reinhardt began making his way out.
Rael made sure to accompany him just in case he decided to stray somewhere.
And after a few more minutes of silent walking, they arrived outside where his soldiers were stationed, glaring at the soldiers of Celestara.
After all, they had come with the intention to intimidate Celestara, but now, they were leaving in peace.
"I'll keep in touch, Rael Sutekh," Reinhardt said with a smile, putting on his prince charming act again.
He walked ahead toward one of his soldiers, then suddenly pulled out his greatsword and proceeded to cut off the soldier's head.
No one even batted an eye as Reinhardt pushed the soldier away and sat atop the horse.
"Now then, king of Celestara. Rest assured, I'll share every word with my dear father. I'm sure he'll be delighted," Reinhardt stated with a wink.
Then, with a simple wave, he galloped out of the palace without looking back.
Yeah... I sure hope this guy isn't useless and actually somehow manages to convince his father to support Celestara... Rael trailed off as he let out a sigh.
Who am I kidding? That guy is going to fold the moment he sees his father. I just need to prepare myself to deal with the consequences within the week, he thought, and sent a single message to Reinhardt.
Not even a moment later, he replied.
Not much of a talker, I see...
Nonetheless, with these unexpected talks finished, it was time to recall Linlin and her sister.
He waited, and waited. Then, after a few minutes, Linlin finally replied.
He could already visualize Linlin hitting Qiqi over the head, so he let out a chuckle and turned toward the palace.
Now I need to deal with the inner affairs...