Tristan’s eyes wandered about as they had nothing to do. At the moment, he was led into a somewhat grandiose chamber and gestured to one of the seats available by one of the female servants around.

The moment he entered the chamber, dozens of pairs of eyes immediately locked their attention on them with much curiosity. Tristan, however, kept his casual attitude and just sat nonchalantly, making himself comfortable as his drink was served by the servants. 

During this entire process, his eyes only scanned over everyone in the room for a brief moment before paying them no more heed.

Tristan personally thought the dark elves’ culture, where they were given freedom to enjoy little things like drinks, massage, and female companions, to be very much welcome. In his opinion, the dark elves were comparably more free-spirited than their counterparts living in the Vanyar Kingdom – which was good news.

It was the dark elf princess, Illiana, again who stood up and introduced Tristan to all these new and unfamiliar people. After the introductions, Tristan finally knew who these people were.

Apparently, they were the prominent figures in the kingdom, the dark elf elders. All of them were individuals with saint or magus level strength. Therefore, Tristan knew better than to underestimate them.

As for the one who sat on the main seat, it was of course the ruler of the kingdom, the Unbroken, King Visier.

“You all have seen what our guest here is capable of.” Illiana said, “If you have any doubt, you may ask your questions directly to him.”

Tristan maintained his silence as he was curious about what Illiana was trying to do. There was something about the female dark elf that he found liking, hence he just let her continue with whatever she planned.

Hearing her words, one of the elders opened his mouth as he stared at Tristan.

“Tell me, Lord Tristan. Why did you kill Janus and hundreds of the Forlorn elves?”

Illiana glanced at Tristan to see how he would react to such a sensitive question right out of the bat. She expected the latter would coldly glare at the one who asked, hence she was surprised when she saw that Tristan’s face had no fluctuations. Well, for Tristan, this question was indeed surprising, but not unexpected.

In fact, he could somehow guess what was the objective of this question-and-answer session for. Even so, he would let it run its course. After all, it was better to have closer relations by knowing about each other more.

Tristan straightened his back and looked at the elder who asked the question as he explained the three reasons as to why he did it.

One, it was because the other party hurt his wife, the princess of Vanyar Kingdom, Serene. Second, it was because they were a direct threat to the city that he was responsible with at that time. And last, it was because he needed blood essence.

When they heard the reasons, the elders started to whisper among each other. Few moments later, one of them asked, “Please tell us, Lord Tristan. Which of the three was the main reason?”

This question apparently brought a lot of interest as Tristan could see the attention of the elders were completely focused on him now.

Tristan gave the question itself a contemplation. The Forlorn Kingdom’s threat toward Caerleon City was not immediate, hence he could safely cross that reason off the list. As for the blood essence, it was also something that he could gain from other sources.

Therefore, the real reason why he killed and literally decimated the Forlorn Kingdom by himself was because..

..the first reason; because they hurt his wife Serene.

Tristan could see the different reactions to each other on their faces when he told them the main reason. Some showed an expression of shock, some incredulousness, some respect, some even showed disdain though they quickly hid it.

As for the king himself, he seemed to find the reason to be amusing.

“Hahaha, I can’t understand the wood elves’ obsession with their relationships. So are you that kind of person, Lord Tristan?” He said, “Did you really end hundreds of lives because of love?”

Tristan, on the other hand, found the king’s question to be something half-joking – something that he didn’t need to answer. Illiana, however, stared intently at him as she seriously wanted to hear his answer.

Even though he didn’t feel the need to answer, he finally decided to give it. 

“Haha, you got it wrong, Your Majesty. Between me and the princess of Vanyar, it was merely a marriage based on understanding. Hence my answer to your question is no.”

He then looked toward the elders and said, “I punished the Forlorn’s because they have hurt my family. Hurting my family is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and unfortunately that’s exactly what they did at that time. For that, they must be punished.. Don’t you all agree?”

For a moment, there was silence as no one responded to him. Eventually, the king nodded and said, “Good answer.”

Afterwards, the dark elves asked more questions following the information they heard about him. They knew about how he was helping the orcs in the battle against the Asgardians, they knew how he ruthlessly killed adventurers for orcs, and so on; basically all the noteworthy and notable deeds he had done.

At the end of the day, Tristan realized what these questions were for.

At first glance, these people seemed as if they were very much interested in what kind of person the new king of Arcadia was. But what they were really asking for, what they really wanted to know was..

How much he prefers humans over elves.

The previous ruler, King Callan, was known for his love toward humans, and exactly the reason he was being loved by his people. Unfortunately, this love for humans was something that the dark elves despised.

Fortunately, Tristan’s track record so far has shown he was willing to ruthlessly punish humans without mercy. 

When they reached this conclusion, Tristan almost couldn’t hold the laugh threatening to burst out of him. It seemed the dark elves had no idea about his origin and memory, which was exactly what they despised. Perhaps, this matter was better left unexplained.

The conversation continued for long enough that Tristan lost count of how many nods and approvals he saw. Put it simply, it was extremely lengthy.

Illiana seemed to notice Tristan’s gradual lack of interest as she decided to stop the seemingly unending stream of questions. Immediately after, she said. “If there were no other questions, I hope the elders would show support for the decision.”

Right now, Tristan couldn’t help feeling that he was like a person on trial and waiting for a verdict. Illiana looked at him and gave the sentence.

“There is no need to doubt it anymore. Lord Tristan has proved his strengths and his character. For this, we have agreed to make peace with Arcadia and will help the latter for the incoming threat.”

The elders nodded their heads in agreement with Illiana’s words. However, the king who had been silent for the last hour suddenly smiled and spoke, “With one condition…”

This sentence made the atmosphere in the room tense. Illiana was confused by her father’s words, while the elders were nervous because they didn’t know what their king meant with that. As for Tristan, he calmly looked at the king.

“You and me, we shall become family, that is my one condition,” said the King

Tristan let out a deep sigh, he knew exactly what the sentence meant as the same treatment was received from the Vanyar Queen a few months ago.

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,