Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: 31. Political Marriage
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The air in the audience chamber froze in an instant.
The immense chill of magical power emanating from Duke Arden crushed everything around.
Kwaaaa!
A pressure on a completely different level from what Professor Ingrid had unleashed in the Noblesse Hall.
The marble floor trembled faintly, and the others standing nearby drew sharp breaths, lowering their postures.
Of course, that magical pressure wasn't directed solely at me.
It bore down fully on Elysia as well, the duke's own daughter.
"...Ugh."
Elysia, standing at my side, had already gone pale.
Her lips pressed tight, her hand crushed my arm in a vise-like grip.
A normal human might have dropped to their knees begging for mercy from the pressure alone.
They might even have fainted.
Groans, large and small, leaked from everyone's mouths in the audience chamber.
But amid them all, only I kept my lips sealed tight.
Kwaaaa!
"Hoo."
The duke raised his mana another notch, as if intrigued.
I clenched my molars hard. Aside from my face paling slightly, I was still holding out.
Of course, that didn't mean I had any leeway.
The density of the mana Duke Arden was emitting made even breathing agonizing.
Still, I stood ramrod straight, meeting the duke's eyes head-on.
"..."
Tok. Tok.
The duke's fingers, drumming neurotically on the armrest, stopped. A glint sparked in his eyes.
"Hmm."
Shwaaak!
The eternal-seeming pressure lifted. His piercing gaze softened.
As his tapping ceased, the crushing mana vanished in a heartbeat, silence descending.
"...Insolent wretch! How dare a mere human stare straight into His Grace the Duke's eyes!"
One of the lined-up elders slammed his staff down, bellowing.
His wrinkled face quivered with rage, as if he'd charge me himself.
"Kneel at once and show some proper respect!"
Respect my ass.
I swallowed a scoff and shot back.
"Is the 'respect' you speak of threatening your guests?"
I swept my gaze over the contemptuous stares pouring from every direction.
My voice had sunk lower than before, but it was plenty loud for these pointy-eared pricks.
"I've never heard that Silvria's etiquette falls short of humans'... but from what I'm seeing, it does."
"You...!"
The elder surged to his feet in fury, but the duke raised a hand, halting him.
"Enough. He's not wrong."
"Kuh..."
At the duke's curt words, the chamber's clamor ebbed like a receding tide.
The elders, staffs clutched and trembling, grudgingly turned away.
"Dreadnote Family, was it?"
"Yes."
In the now-silent audience chamber, the duke eyed me anew.
His gaze held deeper interest than moments ago.
"I know of your house. But your presence outshines even those hailed as your family's true heirs."
"...You honor me, Your Grace."
"Honor? How many humans could face a 7th-circle mage's pressure head-on and stay composed?"
The duke propped his chin, leaning back casually.
"I can almost see why Elysia chose you."
His unexpectedly favorable response had Elysia and me exchanging glances.
We'd anticipated the elders' backlash, expecting nothing from them. But the duke defied expectations.
"Father, then..."
Masking her trembling voice, Elysia's words rang out.
Perhaps sensing things might go better than hoped, a thread of hope gleamed in her eyes.
Her father had never shown such interest in an outsider—let alone a human.
But Elysia's expectant smile faded swiftly.
"Enough, Elysia. Interesting doesn't mean approved."
Like snapping her from hope-filled reverie.
Duke Arden's voice dropped cold, cutting her off.
His unyielding demeanor froze her smile into powerless rigidity.
Kwaaak.
Yet she showed no sign of surrender.
Her grip on my arm only tightened.
"Ha, but...!"
"This marriage is a pact between houses. Tantrums won't change it."
Kkiiik.
"...Smart as you are, you know that. Looks like she's fallen hard for you."
"She has good taste in men."
Straightening, he shot me a glare.
"..."
"Your talent is freakishly high. Perhaps even eclipsing elves."
Duke Arden's icy voice echoed off the ceiling.
The faint goodwill from before evaporated like smoke, supplanted by frigid reason.
The duke rose slowly, advancing step by step.
Each footfall toward us redoubled the air-crushing pressure enveloping my body.
"But to become Arden's son-in-law, talent yields to bloodline... and honor."
'Not going easy, huh.'
...Tch.
Not even settled in, and already drained.
No—stress piling up fit better.
'Told Imir not to stir trouble.'
At this rate, I'll be the one blowing it.
"Bloodline and honor. Crucial, yes."
The duke halted nose-to-nose with me.
His unyielding mana waves scraped my skin raw, but I didn't budge an inch.
"I'm a count's house eldest son. Bloodline? Nothing lacking. And."
I tilted my head, stepping forward instead.
Locking eyes straight with the duke.
'Elysia. Sorry.'
Tried holding back, but this mess demanded I snap.
"I doubt the honor Your Grace invokes is so cheap it's dictated solely by being an elf."
[Absorbing negative emotion 'Rage'.]
[Absorbing negative emotion 'Killing Intent'.]
The moment those words left my mouth at Duke Arden, the surroundings iced over.
To prideful elves, it was blasphemy—a blatant taunt.
"Y-You cur! How dare you, from what house!"
"Family Head! Rip that insolent tongue out now!"
The elders bellowed in outrage.
Staffs thumped the floor deafeningly, but I paid no mind.
Rather, the malice flooding from all sides.
It steadied my mind nicely.
"..."
Amid the delusion of fading clamor.
I gazed at my reflection in the duke's eyes and pressed on.
"Honor is seized and proven. Not born with."
"Bold words for a human."
"Just facts."
As if a faint smile ghosted the duke's lips.
I held his stare, unflinching.
"Then answer me. What proves your honor?"
"Father! This is..."
Elysia tried to butt in desperately, but I squeezed her hand lightly, stilling her.
Her moment had passed.
The duke demanded ironclad proof of my worth.
Fail that, and her pleas rang as childish petulance.
Duke Arden held no softness for her whims.
"Doesn't Your Grace know the methods best?"
I smiled naturally, tossing the challenge back.
I'll do the feat; you rig the stage.
Arrogance ripe for offense.
Yet a peculiar gleam—not rage—flashed in the duke's eyes.
"True. Word-boasted honor weighs less than leaves. Proof lies solely in prowess."
The duke extended a hand slowly toward me.
His long fingers sliced the air; three mana-woven parchments hovered between us.
His eyes flickered hazy as blue mist.
"Arden's name crushes any house on the continent. To claim son-in-law status, etch your worth into all Silvria."
"Speak."
I replied evenly. Beside me, Elysia's grip tightened on my sleeve.
But retreat now would only deepen her misery.
No thought of it.
"Three duels."
The chamber murmured at the duke's decree.
"Topple Silvria's three proudest warriors with your human frame, and I'll grant you honor. The marriage talks with Elysia return to square one."
"Father! That's... too cruel! Evan's just a student like me...!"
She cried out frantically, as if hearing nonsense.
Duke Arden—her father—was all but commanding death outright.
Desperation laced her voice now, but he didn't glance her way.
"Prove it. Lose once, and you're exiled. Your tie to Elysia severed eternally."
"Hoho... The Family Head had a plan."
"Our needless fretting."
The elders' eyes brimmed with my inevitable defeat.
Sure. A human felling three elf warriors in succession? Laughable impossibility to them.
I held silence briefly, then curved my lips faintly.
"Fine. I accept."
"...No! No, Evan! Please..."
Elysia shook her head desperately, clutching my arm, tears brimming.
Her eyes begged me to retract.
But I enfolded her hand gently, soothing.
"Don't worry. I keep my promises."
I don't pick fights I can't win.