The king remained silent through most of the discussion.

Unlike Terah’s ruler, he understood politics well enough to see the true danger immediately. The queen had changed, she wasn’t as impulsive as she used to be.

At the moment, she was clearly angry but she was also controlled which made things infinitely worse.

A furious monarch could make mistakes, but a calm one prepared for war.

This wasn’t really a small matter, if Gladia gets destroyed the influx of refugees and the hit on the economy will be massive. Titam transported most of their goods to Gladia since it was their biggest market and now, things weren’t too good.

The whole human continent was between a rock and a hard place.

Finally, the king calmly spoke.

"What about the future king?"

The room shifted instantly. They had done enough research on him to make a far-fetched assumption.

While the queen was terrifying, her husband was something else. He frightened the kingdom differently because unlike her, he easily adapted to anything.

The reports from the competition described the same thing repeatedly.

Rapid and unnatural growth.

The future king had entered the forest as merely dangerous and returned far worse as someone capable of standing beside Lilith.

And now, someone had attempted to kill him, again. Everyone knew who it was but they still held it in.

The king narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"Lock the borders," he calmly said, " and find out how much influence he has over her decisions."

No one answered immediately because they all knew the truth since they had somehow witnessed it and it was far too much.

.

. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

.

Far beneath the dark elven kingdom, hidden beneath layers of stone and corrupted Aether, the real architects of the chaos gathered in silence.

A massive underground chamber stretched endlessly beneath flickering blue flames. Ancient spells and paintings covered the walls while dozens of cloaked figures stood around a circular table carved from black stone.

At the center of the room, the main villain finally lowered the communication artifact slowly.

"Interesting."

The surrounding figures remained tense.

One of them spoke first.

"She didn’t attack."

"No."

Another frowned beneath his hood.

"That makes no sense."

It truly didn’t.

Every calculation had predicted immediate retaliation. The assassination attempt, the prince’s death, and the Gladia palace abandonment. Lilith should have responded with overwhelming force instantly.

That had been the plan. Force her to become the aggressor so that she could break the treaty publicly.

After that, they could unite humanity against the dark elves. It was a simple, predictable, and clean plan, instead, she made an ultimatum.

The man rested one hand against his chin thoughtfully.

"She’s calmer than expected."

"That’s impossible," another figure muttered," the reports say she’s obsessed with her husband."

"She is."

"Then why wait?"

Silence lingered briefly, then the man smiled faintly before speaking.

"Someone is restraining her."

Understanding spread slowly through the chamber. Of course, how had they ignored that important part?

The future king.

The man who should have died during the competition had beheaded one of their best pawns and returned stronger. They had expected Igrad to overpower Atheline so that Lilith would be forced to save him and disrupt the competition but the man always seemed to exceed his expectations.

One hooded figure spoke uneasily.

"The original plan depended on emotional retaliation."

"And now?"

The man’s eyes darkened slightly.

"Now they’re thinking politically."

And that was very dangerous. Alone, both Lilith and Atheline had two completely different personalities and their way of doing things.

While Lilith is organised most of the time, she always resorts to force if things don’t go smoothly while Atheline was more of a planner between them.

The two balanced each other’s instincts. Her overwhelming power was met with adaptability while her ruthlessness was met with restraints. This was a deeply irritating combination.

Another figure stepped forward.

"Should we accelerate the next phase,"

The man considered quietly then shook his head.

"No."

Several figures looked surprised.

"She gave seven days," he continued calmly. "Which means we now possess seven days as well."

"To do what?"

The chamber grew quieter.

The man’s smile widened slightly.

"To make humanity desperate."

Black flames flickered violently around the underground hall.

"Gladia’s royal family is already hidden."

"Then what?"

The man looked towards the direction of the human continent that had already begun to panic and its rulers who were beginning to fear.

"...Now," he said softly, "we convince the other kingdoms that surrendering Gladia’s royals will only delay their own destruction."

Silence followed.

Then one hooded figure finally understood.

"You want them to resist together."

"Yes."

"And if they refuse her ultimatum..."

The man’s eyes gleamed faintly in the darkness.

"Then the queen of the dark elves becomes the first ruler to shatter the Great Continental Treaty in centuries."

A slow smile spread beneath several hoods now. Because once that happened, war would no longer be avoidable and the continent would finally begin tearing itself apart exactly as intended.

.

.

.

In the dark elven kingdom, the shock of the gifting ceremony being postponed had waned, and the celebrations had started but that didn’t last long.

Three hours later, news had already spread through the kingdom. No one knew how it had traveled so fast between the two continents, but it had reached them nonetheless.

The celebrations stopped for approximately three minutes, then the dark elves started cheering.

Imperial music thundered through the court and the hologramic screens that had yet to be taken down. Nobles laughed openly as goblets overflowed with wine.

The competition had already turned the kingdom into a festival. Atheline had proved himself capable and a good choice but it seems someone had tried to assassinate him during the competition.

The reaction of the dark elves upon getting the news was both expected and unexpected.

Excitement.

Thousands gathered throughout the plazas beneath the screens as someone played the recording of Lilith’s voice through the screen. It echoed across the kingdom once more.

"... Gladia kingdom will be erased."

The crowd exploded.