Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Welcome to the Tiger's Den
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One day before the three princesses of the Elf Kingdom arrived at the Argent territory.
In front of the family head Agram's office, only one person deemed somewhat qualified to be called an 'heir' among the current Argent members was waiting.
The first: Wolfram Argent.
While standing with just a door between them, he swallowed several times.
It was due to tension.
Agram was always like that.
Unless the heirs came to him first with some matter, he never summoned them.
But this time was different.
The family head had called him first, saying he 'needed' him.
Wolfram wasn't dull enough to miss the meaning of that.
This wasn't just a simple report.
It was the moment a stone was placed on the long board that would decide the next family head.
Wolfram drew in a breath.
And slowly, deeply exhaled.
It was a method ingrained in his body from traversing battlefields.
A breathing technique to lower his heart rate, suppress his emotions, and cool his head.
A survival skill honed as the person in charge of Argent's military forces and knight orders, and as someone who had experienced real blood and death.
Once he regulated his breathing, his eyes changed.
The impatience subsided, leaving only cold composure.
With his back to the door, he didn't move a muscle until Agram spoke first.
Only the sound of flipping papers filled the room.
Time passed, and about ten minutes later.
"Wolfram."
A low, dry voice.
"Yes, Family Head."
"Tomorrow, three princesses from the Elf Kingdom will visit this place. Under the pretext of congratulating us on this marriage."
"I know."
Wolfram's response was immediate.
The rumor that the Elf Kingdom's king was practically chained to his throne was already common knowledge among high-ranking nobles.
Even long-lived races couldn't escape old age and illness, and the more closed-off a kingdom was, the faster its internal rot spread.
The result was this visit.
The princesses were moving in the king's stead.
To inspect, evaluate, and judge Argent directly under the name of a survey.
"They are guests."
Agram continued.
"But at the same time, they are eyes that have come to measure us."
Wolfram bowed his head.
"I will prepare so that neither etiquette nor hospitality lacks in any way."
His words carried the resolve of a soldier.
Preparations to show Argent's prestige.
The three princesses who would arrive soon.
Before their gazes, Argent had to stand not on family prestige, but on power.
And a significant portion of that weight rested on Wolfram, standing in this room right now.
But as if that wasn't the end of it.
"No."
The hand flipping papers stopped.
"Etiquette, hospitality—those are just superficial packaging."
His breath caught for a moment.
His gaze lifted, but they didn't meet.
Those eyes weren't in this room. The calculations were already done.
What would pass through the gates tomorrow.
The blood of high elves who would walk in, mistaken that they would be welcomed.
"Tomorrow, three high elf bitches will enter Argent at once. So let me make this clear."
His voice was low, but there was no room for doubt.
"Put on the etiquette and hospitality. But."
A beat.
"If they show even the slightest 'weakness,' neutralize them on the spot."
"...Pardon?"
Cold sweat trickled down Wolfram's spine.
The meaning was simple.
The welcome was conditional.
If the three Elf Kingdom princesses truly acted only as congratulatory envoys and left without touching Aira, there was no need to escalate things.
But.
If even a hint of calculation showed, if even a trace of greed slipped... Agram's lips curved up ever so slightly.
"No matter how sweet the Spring of Immortality is, the elves won't easily choose to mix human blood into their own."
Wolfram finally realized.
The reason the family head had accepted this marriage.
"Then..."
"Yes."
Agram nodded without hesitation.
"Like it or not, they'll have no choice but to approach Lucas Argent in the end."
The bastard.
Cast out by the family.
But the official master of the high elf princess.
And above all—
"They'll underestimate that child. Because he's a bastard, because he's young, because even the family discarded him."
Agram knew how common and how fatal that judgment was.
"But that honey badger cub isn't to be trifled with."
"Honey... badger?"
The moment you poked it, neither side would emerge unscathed, no matter who won.
"They'll mistake it for an easy hunt. But the result will be a beast that bleeds out with its jaws shattered even if it succeeds, unable to eat, or the hunter turned prey."
And those sorts of things usually ended up devoured by even larger predators.
"Then, it would only be a matter of time before Argent's high elf blood goes from one to four."
That wasn't a threat.
It was the conclusion of a plan already in motion.
In this room, not a single person could defy that flow.
"...Which means Argent isn't just after Aira. If we show even the slightest opening, they'll lock us in here too."
As Elcia finished speaking, silence fell over the room.
And naturally, their thoughts returned to the present.
Up until they had faced the first heir, Wolfram, they had only seen Argent as an intimidating family.
But the Argent family head.
The moment Elcia locked eyes with Agram, she was certain.
They had stepped not into a tiger's den, but into a 'breeding pen.'
Agram's gaze wasn't directed at humans.
There was no judgment, no interest.
Like looking at things without numbers or names, eyes gazing down at living 'materials.'
The intent readable in that gaze was singular.
Elcia voiced that conclusion quietly in the annex provided by Argent.
"This family didn't invite us as guests. If they deem it necessary, they intend to make us possessions."
The moment she heard that.
"What...?"
Belcia's eyes flashed.
"They're treating us high elves like livestock right now?"
"Sister."
Selcia bared her teeth and hissed.
"Let's just kill them all and leave. Every last one here."
The air in the room shifted instantly.
The two sisters' bodies lowered subtly. Weight shifted to their soles, breaths shortened.
Elf bodies were different from humans from the start.
No unnecessary flesh, movements as swift as the wind.
If beastkin had strength, elves had speed.
For high elves, that gap was even more pronounced.
Belcia and Selcia had already finished their calculations.
The moment they left this room, they'd take down one heir who wasn't the family head, then plunge straight into the forest.
No matter how much it was Argent, they couldn't pursue high elves who had entered the elf forest.
But.
"Stop it."
Just one word.
At that, both sisters froze simultaneously.
"Argent has already accounted for you two reacting like this."
"No way..."
"Even our ambush?"
Elcia nodded.
"Yes. They probably even know that I'm reading their intentions here and explaining it to you like this."
The room fell quiet for a moment.
Elcia recalled the instant she first met Agram's eyes.
It was too blatant.
Not assassination, not abduction—a gaze openly looking down.
It was strange.
If they truly intended to capture them alive, they could have done it far more quietly, far more skillfully.
Moreover, this was the abyss of the dark family Argent.
A gathering of those most adept at such things.
If they had moved properly, even she might not have noticed until the very last moment, let alone Belcia and Selcia.
Yet Agram hadn't hidden it.
The reason was simple.
There was no need to hide from the start.
Bam!
"Kyaa?!"
"S-Sister...?"
Elcia withdrew her fist from the wall and spoke lowly.
"From Argent's perspective, it doesn't matter if we move or not."
The air in the room sank.
"If we stay put, things proceed as planned: that Walter, one of Argent's heirs, pairs with Aira, and high elf blood is born outside the forest under Argent's name."
Of course, they'd have to share a bit of the Spring of Immortality's water as payment, but was that a real loss for Argent?
No.
If it were a group like the imperial family, staking their lives on a single 'miracle,' maybe.
But Argent was different.
They already overflowed with things scraped from the continent's underworld, and the Spring of Immortality was just one card among many.
Comparing 'sharing what you have' with 'gaining what you didn't' wasn't even on the same scale.
"Conversely, if we move, steal the spring water, kill Aira, and escape."
Elcia paused for a moment.
"That would be the best outcome. But the instant even one of us gets caught..."
There was no need to explain further.
If this were deeper in the elf forest, things might be different.
A space where trees, terrain, and mana flows were all allies.
In a defensive battle there, they could hold out in a prolonged war even if high elves dwindled.
But outside the forest was another story.
The Elf Kingdom had no experience in formal sieges against external territories, nor units organized for large-scale expeditions.
They specialized in mobility, assassination, and disruption, but lacked the power to break fortified enemies head-on.
Argent, on the other hand, were experts in that arena.
A territory on the defense, holding two or more high elf bloodlines.
For the Elf Kingdom to break through head-on outside the forest—information warfare, assassinations, supply cuts, diplomatic pressure all at once—was practically impossible.
In other words, the choices in this game were narrow from the start.
Stay still and lose the bloodline; move and fail, losing both bloodline and initiative.
The moment a mad human capable of actually executing the absurd idea of 'breeding high elves' appeared, it was perhaps an inevitable result.