Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Repay the Debt Without Fail
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The legendary being known as the Emperor of the Skies, the phoenix.
Only one place across the entire continent could bear that emblem.
The continent's mightiest power.
The Abellan Empire.
And even within the empire, that phoenix emblem was a symbol granted solely to the imperial family.
To those who knew this fact, the phoenix etched on the side of the carriage was a declaration in itself.
When that carriage entered Argent territory without any prior notice...
Whether it was the Elf Kingdom or the Argent Family, the two forces that had been glaring at each other and engaging in a battle of nerves just moments before—their gazes snapped toward it in unison, as if by prior agreement.
The chatter died down, and even breathing grew hushed.
And then.
No fanfare was needed; the carriage door simply opened.
The one who emerged from within was a girl whose beauty rivaled even the high elves, hailed as the world's pinnacle of 'beauty.'
Deep blue eyes like the sea.
Hair that shimmered with a blue sheen under the sunlight.
A tiara engraved with the phoenix emblem, proving her imperial blood, and a serene blue dress that carried dignified authority without ostentation.
She walked slowly forward to stand before the two assembled forces, bowing her head as naturally as if this had been planned from the start.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
Her voice was soft, yet it carried the weight of the empire.
"Family Head Agram. And Your Majesty, King Erdas."
"...Princess Evelyn?"
"Oh ho."
A short exclamation escaped.
"The 'Blue Rose' of the Abellan Empire, known only by rumor."
Erdas's eyes narrowed.
"I never imagined I'd meet you in person. This is truly an honor."
"The honor is mine."
Evelyn tilted her head slightly, her smile unwavering.
"To meet the King of the Elf Kingdom in my lifetime. It's an honor I scarcely deserve."
"Heh heh."
A brief chuckle.
"Come to think of it, the last Abellan emperor I met was 200 years ago."
He continued leisurely.
"I never expected such an exceptional figure among the short-lived races."
The words sounded like praise, but their edge blurred subtly at the end.
"Hee hee."
Evelyn's smile didn't falter in the slightest.
"There's a saying in the empire: The size of the vessel doesn't prove the depth of its contents."
She met his gaze gently.
"Short doesn't mean shallow, and long doesn't always mean profound, Your Majesty."
A moment of silence.
"...I see."
Erdas said no more.
This girl who had appeared out of nowhere was younger than anyone present.
Younger even than the Elf Kingdom's princesses or Argent's youngest heir.
Yet she countered the probing of an elf king who had lived centuries without so much as a twitch in her expression, meeting it with a smile.
'Impressive.'
It was the boldness befitting the continent's sole imperial blood.
He had tossed it out lightly as a test, but Erdas couldn't deny that he had yielded the first exchange.
He clicked his tongue once and let out a scoffing laugh.
'If she were a man, I'd have wanted to wed her to one of my children...'
He dismissed the fleeting thought at once.
After all, he had a different prey he wanted to hunt right now.
"Your Highness."
This time, Agram spoke up.
"What brings you to this distant territory?"
His voice carried undisguised wariness.
The Argent Family, dubbed a dark house, had long cultivated influence in the imperial palace through funds flowing from the underworld.
Even the emperor was unaware that many key figures in the palace were already deeply tied to him.
The first imperial prince, the most likely heir to the throne, was effectively in his grasp.
The one existence in that palace he had deliberately avoided contact with.
The Second Princess, who always slipped away from lobbies one step ahead and never overlapped like shadows.
For that Evelyn to set foot here personally.
Agram wanted to know why.
No, he had to know.
Gazes settled quietly upon them.
Like shadows falling over.
In that moment, Evelyn's poker face wavered ever so slightly.
The sound of her swallowing once.
And then, as if nothing had happened, her smile returned.
"Well."
Lightly, as if it were the most natural thing.
"Today, my 'precious people' are staking everything they have in a fight."
"...Pardon?"
"That's why I'm here."
Evelyn tilted her head slightly.
"To see if my dear friend, Lucas Argent, and Princess Aira can hold their ground to the end."
In that instant.
The air trembled once.
"......!"
Including Agram, the entire territory buzzed anew.
Whispers erupted, and gasps leaked from here and there.
Among them, the two who took those words head-on.
Shock beyond mere surprise—expressions verging on horror surfaced on Wolfram and Erdas's faces.
It couldn't be helped.
The names they had once dismissed without a glance.
The existence they had cast out from the family and even erased from memory.
Lucas Argent and Aira, called forth from the lips of the imperial princess as 'dear friends.'
The children they thought were discarded had returned, backed by the empire.
And what that signified—they, more than anyone present, knew it best.
The connection between Evelyn and Lucas had been maintained solely through the secret organization called the Ashen Hand.
If anything, their relationship was closer to collaborators than true friends.
Lucas sought the power to secretly escape Argent upon reaching adulthood.
Evelyn wanted to harness his skills, which always defied common sense in ways no one could predict.
Their interests simply aligned.
In truth, whenever they met, it was usually Lucas who initiated the conversation.
Requests for help.
Demands for information.
Or complaints about his circumstances.
Forgetting her status as princess, she always brushed them off—nothing more, nothing less.
Calling such a bond 'close friendship' stretched the term too far.
Moreover, their contacts were always in the shadows.
There was no reason to drag it into the light, nor any need.
Should the Ashen Hand's existence ever be exposed, even by chance.
It would mean 'the end.'
Yet on this very day, when the Proxy Blood Fate with Princess Elcia was underway.
Evelyn ventured into Argent territory—what was practically the heart of enemy lines.
And publicly uttered Lucas Argent's name.
There was one reason.
This entire board had been her scheme from the beginning.
'This fight isn't just a simple Proxy Blood Fate.'
She already knew.
So that night, she summoned Lucas and said:
"Lucas Argent. The reason Princess Elcia accepted the match on the condition of merely canceling the engagement."
She paused briefly.
"Shall I guess?"
Lucas gave no reply.
"Win or lose, it doesn't matter to her at all."
Evelyn continued calmly, eyes fixed on him.
"Because she plans to 'accidentally' kill Princess Aira during the Proxy Blood Fate."
In that moment, Lucas's gaze dropped to the floor.
His fingers tensed faintly.
That alone was answer enough.
A Proxy Blood Fate was such a ritual from the start.
A bloodbath where proxies fought in place of cherished blood kin, sparing the nobles from staining their own hands.
It might end in unconsciousness, but it wasn't uncommon for it to conclude with one side utterly broken.
And if the loser was a slave, it was simply chalked up to 'bad luck.'
That's why Princess Elcia accepted the proposal.
Win, and the engagement is canceled.
In truth, it was a condition that could never be fulfilled.
If Elcia won the Proxy Blood Fate, it meant Aira hadn't survived the arena.
No need to take back the discarded high elf, no need to bear official responsibility for her death.
Just claim she was too weak and died in the heat of battle.
The cleanest, safest way to prevent high elf blood from mixing with the lineage they despised.
That was this Proxy Blood Fate.
'Of course, Lucas Argent will find a way this time too.'
It didn't matter who the opponent was.
Even a mana-less high elf princess with no precedent—he'd handle it in a month.
For him, time was no excuse; it was a tool.
Evelyn knew that.
No, she believed it.
This man wasn't the type to stake his life on a losing battle.
But separately from that—as a fellow member of the Ashen Hand, and as someone who still owed him a debt she hadn't repaid.
She couldn't just stand by this time.
So Evelyn resolved herself.
This once, she'd loosen the noose he'd tied around his own neck, if only a little.
"I'll..."
She said.
"Create a reason why Princess Elcia can't kill Princess Aira."
"...Pardon?"
"So you just fight as you always do—with everything you've got."
A faint smile spread.
"Claim a brilliant victory."