Chapter 53
For the past few days, the servants had been moving through the mansion with even their footsteps hushed.
That was because Lady Selena was in an extremely foul mood.
There was an obvious reason for her mood.
The news of the 'Ashen Forest Expedition,' which had become a hot topic in the Imperial Capital—or by now, throughout the entire Empire.
Its overall commander was not the head of the family, but Astin.
Selena had learned of it the day after the notice was posted.
She was already displeased that she had not been informed of the family's affairs, great or small, and now the matter had spiraled completely out of control.
Bang-!
The Cardenos family head's office.
Unlike usual, Selena threw the door open and strode inside.
Valdemar stopped flipping through his documents and turned his gaze toward her.
Selena approached the desk with heavy, pounding steps.
"You must stop him."
It was a blunt demand.
Valdemar leaned all the way back against his chair.
"We must call it off and clean up the mess, even now."
Selena had never been one to raise her voice before her father.
But today, she showed no sign of backing down. Deep anxiety and anger clouded her silver eyes.
"It's the Ashen Forest. This isn't an expedition; it's suicide. You know that too, don't you, Father?"
Selena believed Astin's decision to proceed stemmed from his competitive spirit.
She herself, an illegitimate child, had distinguished herself on the northern front and returned in glory.
From Astin's perspective as the legitimate heir, he must have worried that his position would be overshadowed.
It was the product of an obsession with achieving accomplishments greater than hers by any means necessary.
She understood that feeling all too well, but the Ashen Forest was beyond comparison.
A hellscape beyond human ken, utterly incomparable to the North.
She could not simply stand by and watch him throw his life away because of his competitive spirit.
"Do you intend to let Cardenos's legitimate eldest son die such a meaningless death?"
"……"
"You must intervene personally, Father. Only then will Astin stop."
Valdemar set down his pen.
"I have no intention of doing so."
At his excessively calm reply, Selena's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Astin's departure on the expedition is something he and I have already discussed."
Her father, the head of the family, knew about this insane act of suicide and had allowed it.
At the thought that followed, Selena's body shuddered.
Could it be that he intended to eliminate Astin—
"Father."
Her angry gaze shot toward Valdemar.
It demanded an explanation—or a denial.
Before answering, Valdemar turned his head toward the window.
"Look outside. Even I would find it difficult to gather that many people. Yet Astin did it. He has gathered and is commanding thousands of warriors."
Valdemar rested his interlaced hands beneath his chin.
"Astin, that child, has changed a great deal while you were away."
"……"
"Trust your younger brother, Selena."
It was an answer she had never expected.
Yet it still failed to provide a clear answer to Selena's question.
Selena's lips parted as she tried to argue, but in the end, she bit out words contrary to her true feelings.
"I believe only what I have seen."
The door flew open—
With that, Selena left the office.
There was not a trace of hesitation in her retreating figure.
After she left, Valdemar silently raised the corners of his mouth.
"So she is worried after all."
Astin had changed. Selena was unaware of it.
No.
She must have heard vague reports.
She had said she believed only what she saw, but even looking out the window, she could see how Astin had changed.
Yet Selena denied it.
"……"
Valdemar, too, had once doubted Astin even after seeing his composed demeanor.
He had thought, 'How much could you possibly have changed?'
He had been trapped by memories of the past and failed to see the present.
Valdemar saw himself reflected in Selena.
***
"Phew-"
I let out a long, deep breath in front of the door.
Selena's door. It was a place where I couldn't help feeling inexplicably nervous.
I lightly straightened my clothes.
After even tidying the hair sticking up, I raised my hand.
Selena picked at everything, invoking the family's legitimate heir. This was a necessary precaution.
Knock knock-
After several seconds of silence, the door opened only a narrow crack.
Selena's silver eyes appeared through the gap.
"Ah, Sister. You were here—"
Just as I was about to greet her with a friendly smile.
Grab-!
A hand shot through the gap and seized me by the collar. Before I had a chance to resist, brute force yanked me inside.
Bang!
The door slammed shut the instant I was dragged into the room.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
I erased my flustered expression and smiled affably.
"That's quite an intense welcome. Oh, I see the cosmetics are working well. Your skin looks much smoother."
Whoosh!
Selena, still gripping my collar, pulled me closer.
We were so close that the tips of our noses nearly touched. Heat radiated from Selena.
"What the hell are you thinking?"
"I came to ask you for a favor, Sister."
"I'm asking you what you're thinking."
Her hand tightened around my collar.
I had no intention of answering her question honestly. I had come here for another purpose.
"I'll get straight to the point. Please join the Ashen Forest expedition, Sister."
Selena stopped short. The tension in her grip weakened along with it.
The hand gripping my collar slowly loosened.
Before I even had a chance to straighten my collar, she shot me a fierce glare.
"Did you come all this way just to say that?"
As always, her tone was dry and devoid of inflection.
"Yes. If you help us, the expedition's chances of success will increase exponentially."
"Get lost."
"Think about it carefully. If I succeed in the expedition, my martial achievements will completely surpass yours. Doesn't that make you jealous? Wouldn't it be better to join the expedition and achieve glory together—"
Crash-!!
A deafening roar erupted, and a powerful gust of air swept past my cheek.
Fragments of the shattered wall flew in every direction. Dust billowed thickly into the air.
I stopped speaking and slowly turned my gaze.
Selena's fist, which had narrowly missed my cheek, was embedded in the wall, smashing through it as though it were paper.
"I don't care about martial achievements. If you die there, I'll become the head of the family."
"……"
"I don't care whether you live or die."
After spitting out those venomous words, Selena coldly turned her back on me.
"Get lost."
I smiled bitterly as I watched her unyielding back.
I had confirmed it. I now knew what true emotion lay beneath my sister's rough attitude.
Knowing how she had treated me in my first life, I could easily tell that those harsh words were not sincere.
"I know you very well, Sister. If it's you, you'll end up coming."
Selena did not look back.
I watched her until the very end, then grasped the doorknob.
***
"Ohhh……"
"Damn, they're stunning……"
The open ground where the expedition volunteers had gathered fell silent.
Elves—creatures most people could go their whole lives without seeing even once—and hundreds of them at that—had appeared.
Pure silver and green hair, pointed ears, and beautiful features that captivated onlookers regardless of gender.
The appearance of elves who had hidden themselves in the forest for hundreds of years was a wondrous spectacle in itself.
But their gazes were not filled with simple admiration.
"They're elves. Real, living elves."
"How much would they fetch if we sold them at a slave market?"
"Damn, what a body. I'd have no regrets if I could touch one just once."
The crowd was a mixture of mercenaries and rough drifters.
Open greed seeped from their eyes.
The elves' delicate brows furrowed at the vulgar wagging of tongues.
Several elven warriors rested their hands on their bowstrings and kept watch on their surroundings.
'Humans are as lowly as ever.'
Priestess Ariel bit her lip tightly.
She had expected a reaction to some extent, but facing it in person made her breath catch.
The elves' decision to hide in the forest had certainly been influenced by humans as well.
At this rate, friction would arise before negotiations even began.
It was just then, with tension at a breaking point.
"Please make way."
Someone appeared before the elves, parting the crowd.
It was a woman impeccably dressed in the Black Lion uniform.
The moment they saw her, the elves unconsciously held their breath.
Elves were a proud race known as the pinnacle of beauty.
Yet the woman before them was bewitching enough to surpass the natural beauty of her race by a vast distance.
Mystical silver hair that seemed to embroider the Milky Way. Crimson eyes that shone redder than jewels. Flawless skin and sharply defined features.
The aura uniting it all added to her overwhelming presence.
Even Priestess Ariel forgot her wariness for a moment and lost herself in a daze.
"You must have had a long journey."
Lucia, the representative and adjutant of the expedition's commander, gave the elves a small bow.
"You've come to join the expedition, correct?"
"Huh—"
Ariel belatedly came to her senses and hurriedly answered.
"Y-yes, we have."
"Young Master Astin isn't here at the moment. He'll probably arrive soon, so please wait inside."
Lucia opened a path and gestured to one side.
—The natives of the Ashen Forest will come looking for us on their own before long. If they arrive while I'm away, please escort them politely into the mansion. If we leave them outside, they'll be treated harshly.
"He told me to bring the elves inside when you arrived. Please come this way."
Ariel was inwardly startled. He had known in advance that they would come.
Of course, if one knew the elves' circumstances, this foresight was predictable.
They entered the grand ducal residence under Lucia's courteous guidance.
Grumbling could be heard behind them. They complained about being given tents while the elves were escorted into the mansion, and so on.
A mocking voice cut in and instantly dismissed their complaints.
"They must be planning to use them as slaves—as servants in the mansion."
"Well, nobles do go crazy over elf slaves."
Ariel squeezed her eyes shut and pretended not to hear.
As expected, humans were utterly lowly.
"Priestess, something seems very suspicious."
One of the elder elves approached Ariel and whispered close to her.
"Why are they going out of their way to bring only us into the mansion? Could there be some ulterior motive, just as those humans said……?"
Ariel felt cold sweat run down her spine.
Astin von Cardenos, the expedition's overall commander.
Judging from the man's reputation alone, he was more than capable of doing exactly that.
The hundreds of elves were kept waiting in a spacious annex prepared beside the mansion.
Despite the comfortable surroundings inside the mansion, their unease only grew like a snowball.
Of them, only Priestess Ariel was escorted to the reception room.
"Then, please get some good rest."
Lucia left the reception room.
Sitting alone on a luxurious sofa, Ariel swallowed dryly.
"……"
The silence of the reception room pressed heavily upon her shoulders.
Though she had lived for a thousand years as an elf, tension won out at this moment.
'Astin, the Grand Duke's eldest son. Our fate rests on negotiations with that man.'
Enduring whatever insults and humiliation they offered had to come first.
As long as they weren't captured and made into slaves, she should consider herself grateful.
Ariel clasped her trembling hands as she steeled her resolve.
"Phew……"
Her entire body felt as though it were stiffening.
She could not even guess what attitude the man whose reputation made even humans recoil would show.
Nor could she predict what unreasonable demands he might make with her entire tribe as collateral.
Ariel slipped her trembling hand into her bosom. She tightly grasped the World Tree's Seed, which held the elves' hopes.
'Sacred Tree, please grant me wisdom and courage.'
She sat ramrod straight, too tense even to lean against the backrest.
Gulp-
She could feel each dry swallow scrape her parched throat.
Creeeak-
At that moment, the reception room door opened.
"Cough!"
While trying to steady her breathing, she accidentally choked.
"Cough! Cough! Kehk!"
Ariel hurriedly pounded her chest, forgetting all decorum.
Only after coughing so hard that tears gathered in the corners of her eyes did she barely regain her composure.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
A figure passed into view across from her.
Ariel steadied her breathing and raised her gaze.
His features were sharply and distinctly defined.
Elegant brows and upturned lips.
His overall impression was steeped in the arrogance unique to nobles.
It was rash arrogance to judge someone's character solely by their face.
Yet the thousand-year-old elf's intuition—the survival instinct of one driven to the edge of a cliff—sounded an alarm.
"Ah……"
The man before her was not a negotiator.
He had the face of a merciless tyrant.