Chapter 106: The Wine of Victory Triggers…

“Wait, what did you say? We’re even now?”

Grand Duchess Sophia widened her fiery red, beautiful eyes in disbelief. Not just her—the knights around her also wore expressions of utter astonishment.

“Master Archmage, you came all this way to help us kill a powerful lich, which was already beyond extraordinary. Don’t forget, you also saved the lives of a hundred thousand Marino citizens. And you’re just taking this little bit as compensation?”

“You kissed our Grand Duchess’s collarbone, had a sip of wine, and now it’s settled?”

Clearly, no matter how artistically embellished the pink envelope might be, its lewd essence was unchanged. Yet you managed to turn it into something utterly romantic.

Lewdness is stealing bodies.
Romance is stealing hearts.

You’re so incredible—do your parents know about this?

But looking at Rhett’s calm yet faintly smiling face, they suddenly felt an odd sense of justification. No wonder you became a legendary archmage at such a young age!

Shock and awe quickly gave way to admiration and respect.

For the knights, any lingering doubts in their hearts had already been blown away like smoke by this romantic act.

In unison, they bowed deeply, not only to pay their respects to their savior but also to acknowledge the aesthetics of the remarkable man before them.

Downs and Harry, those two little brats, had their mouths so wide open that you could probably stuff a whole egg inside. Downs clenched his fist and placed it against his chest, while Harry, as if mocking, covered his eyes with his hands. Yet, curious and shy, he peeked through the gaps between his fingers to “steal a glance.”

What they didn’t realize was that their master had already cursed them in his mind a million times: You little brats, I wanted lewdness, not romance! If I automatically became an archmage at 30 in this world, the first thing I’d do is hang you both from a tree!

Tears streamed in Rhett’s heart.

Yet he still had to maintain the guise of a romantic archmage.

No choice—kids always mimic adults. Rhett could proudly claim to be like Cao Cao, but he was sure these two brats would grow up to flaunt their “heroic ambitions” too.

I don’t want to set a bad example. At least on the surface, I have to keep it proper! Rhett sighed inwardly.

Damn it, every extra second here is torture.

But no one knew what Rhett was really thinking!

Meanwhile, Sophia, the central figure of this whole episode, took a long time to recover from her daze.

Absentmindedly, she gently stroked her delicate, sensual collarbone with her left index finger. The sensation stirred vivid memories of the tiger-like warmth of Rhett’s lips.

Her finger accidentally touched a tiny bead of sweat—or perhaps a drop of leftover wine—which slid down from the hollow of her collarbone and disappeared into the deep valley below.

For a moment, Sophia had the illusion that the warmth of Rhett’s lips was still there!

Her body trembled slightly, and she finally snapped back to reality. “Even… Thank you, Master Archmage, for your grace! Your selflessness and generosity illuminate the entire Marino Highlands!”

The Grand Duchess bowed once again, lowering her head further, afraid that anyone might notice her fiery red face and flushed neck.

Just then, a half-dead lich stirred, disgruntled. As his drafty jaw creaked open, Rhett’s gaze turned icy.

In the next second, a streak of radiant rainbow light shot down from the mage tower outside the city, crossing half the town, piercing through the mansion’s grand windows, and crashing down on Brutus.

“Ahhh! Aaaahhhh—!”

Amidst agonized screams, the lich, judged by the Light of Heaven, finally met his end.

His cries, however, conveniently interrupted the lingering romantic atmosphere on the scene.

“This…” Sophia was utterly confused.

Rhett sighed. “Alright, here’s what we’ll do. Use my name to inform Barbarossa’s side that Brutus, after his resurrection, has one of his targets set on the Empire. I bet the Empire won’t dare to ignore him. Relax, a team of adventurers averaging Level 12 can easily handle Brutus in his weakened, resurrected state.”

The Grand Duchess froze for a moment before nodding.
Rhett might not have dealt with the aftermath himself, but by throwing out a ‘symbolic olive branch,’ he essentially resolved the issue.

Looking across the human nations, there would be fewer and fewer countries unwilling to give face to Archmage Tesla.

Not to mention that this incident could even be tied to the Barbarossa Empire.

Rhett had essentially taken care of everything for the Duchy of Marino.

“Alright, enough gawking. You two—did you forget something?” Rhett turned to his two disciples, giving them a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

The two troublemakers immediately froze, their bodies stiffening as chills ran down their spines.

They almost fainted.

Oh no! We forgot about the punishment! If only we hadn’t gossiped, would Master really have needed to come all this way?

Pale-faced and dejected, the two brothers followed Rhett through the portal like children being led home by an angry parent.

As the first generation of mages born after the magic-starved century, one a Master-level mage (Downs) and the other a high-level mage (Harry), these two should have been treated as honored guests by any king.

Yet now, they obediently followed Rhett like kittens carried by a mother cat.

The scene was almost like a painting of world-renowned humor.

As the trio prepared to close the portal, Grand Duchess Sophia hesitated. “Ah! You’re leaving just like that? At least stay for our victory banquet…”

“No need. I need to return and enforce sect discipline,” Rhett replied. He felt the hands of his disciples, which he was holding, tremble violently.

As though wanting to stop him but too shy to do so, Sophia stretched out her hand but quickly pulled it back as if shocked. Her voice softened. “At least… at least tell me your name.”

Rhett smiled but did not reply. However, just as the portal was about to fully close, a voice resonated in Sophia’s soul:

“Rhett!”

“Rhett… is it?” The Grand Duchess felt her heart pounding uncontrollably, unable to calm down for a long time.

And so, the three mages descended like the wind and vanished like light.

They left behind a new legend for the Marino people and the entire human world.

Yet, for the Marino Duchy, the central player in this event, the aftermath of the great attack was far from over.

With her father and brother both dead, Sophia was left with a massive mess to clean up.

For two weeks straight, she worked tirelessly.

Disaster relief, resettling citizens, rebuilding homes, clearing undead remains, hunting down fleeing undead, and organizing a state funeral for her father and brother.

Days passed as she summoned citizens working abroad to return and rebuild their homeland, calling back those serving as mercenaries to restore the duchy’s military. Eventually, the duchy’s situation returned to some semblance of normalcy.

When she was busy, she didn’t have time to think. But when she finally had a moment to breathe, she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably in her room for three hours.

Gradually, however, the image of a certain handsome figure in a mage’s robe became clearer and clearer in her mind.

That night, restless and unable to sleep, she mulled over her thoughts before pulling out a blank sheet of dragonhide parchment.

She wrote a land transfer contract for a four-square-meter plot of land.

Under the recipient’s name, she wrote a single word:

“Rhett.”