Chapter 20: A Royal Shakedown

Like before, a sword is pointed at his neck again.

It’s not like Adonis did anything.

Or maybe it’s because this bastard prince who duped them of almost 400,000 gold coins was now requesting to "marry" the cherished daughter of House Dunamis.

This had to be a proposal right? He wanted her after all.

But the woman in question had her dragonbone sword on his neck like he was some criminal. He simply stood there loooking at her with half-lidded, bored blue eyes.

"You guys really love threatening people, don’t you?"

"Shut up!"

Prussia’s eye twitched.

Her tan knuckles popped around her sword hilt as she glared viciously into his heavenly face.

"Watch your tongue, you pathetic pervert. I know your game. You followed me here to play the charming prince, thinking a few cheap words would win over House Dunamis. Do you take me for a fool?!"

"You don’t want me to answer that..." said Adonis.

He sighed softly, reached up with a slender finger and casually tapped the flat side of her broadsword, pushing it a few inches away from his neck.

"Oh, please. Don’t flatter yourself, Lady Prussia. It’s not like I actually WANT you. Sure, you have quite a sexy, muscular body, and I won’t lie... you’ve certainly got a fantastic rack to boot. But romantically? Not my type."

"TCH—!"

Prussia almost exploded with rage. She didn’t know whether to be shocked, angry or insulted at his words. In a way, she could also take it as a compliment.

That’s how confusing this stupid prince could be.

"Wh-, What did you just say?!"

The usually composed warrior princess was stammering.

Adonis pat her smooth, bare shoulder.

"I said I need a bodyguard. Or a maid. A maid-guard, whatever you want to call it. I’m not particularly strong, you see? And since my safety is paramount, someone with your barbaric brute strength would make a decent shield."

Prussia gritted her teeth so hard they nearly turned to dust.

Veins pulsed heavily on her slightly large forehead.

"You’ve gone completely mad! Do you even know how to speak to a lady?! Disgusting!"

Ding!

[Target ’Prussia Dunamis’ is unexpectedly attracted to Host’s extreme boldness! Prussia Dunamis has gained +5 Affection for Host! Affection Level: -95% -> -90%]

Adonis stared flatly at the floating text.

’Jeez... this woman really wants to kill me, doesn’t she? She gets insulted, calls me a pervert, and her affection goes UP? What kind of warped, violent brain chemistry is going on in there?’

Before Prussia could fire off another insult, Darius held out a hand to silence her.

"My daughter will serve no one but the Dunamis family. She is the future and golden light of our great noble house. You speak out of turn, arrogant child."

Adonis gave a half-hearted nod, his eyelids drooping lazily as he waved his hand to dismiss the terrifying warlord.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever. We can talk about that later."

Darius’s eyes boiled murderously.

’Later...?!’

His fist tightened like he’d cave Adonis chest in.

’This shameless bastard just ’whatever’d’ me?!’

In the background, Korgan lowered his head quietly, letting out a deep, but thoughtful sigh.

’Honestly... this arrogant fellow would actually make a pretty nice ’wife’ for our Lady Prussia.’

Adonis tilted his head, his hand still resting on his chin.

"Anyway, I’m also going to need the Dragon Crucible. I plan on hatching the Immortal Dragon God Egg for myself. I hope to rule this nation someday, so obviously, I need all the power I can get."

"..."

For Darius, talking to Adonis wasn’t easy. The utter amount of nonsense that left his mouth half the time made him so angry he had to keep quiet and consider his choices.

"You have the galls to say that straight to my face? You won’t be getting a pebble from us, boy."

Adonis stopped stroking his chin. He straightened his posture and his half-lidded blue eyes turned ruthlessly cold as he glared straight back into the warlord’s face.

"Ah, my apologies for the poor choice of words earlier, I foolishly thought I was dealing with sensible people. But seeing as everyone in this room seems to share a single brain, allow me to correct myself... this isn’t some shitty negotiation. I came here to make demands."

Darius actually leaned back half an inch, taken aback by the sudden shift in mood.

"What...?"

Adonis held up a finger.

"Let’s talk politics. House Dunamis currently holds the First Seat on the Circle of Fangs, yes?"

Adonis drawled innocently, tapping his chin like a clueless kid who didn’t know his left from his right.

"And the Second Seat, the Morvain family, is the one you guys are so deathly afraid of, right? Hmm... I wonder what would happen if an Enchanter of my caliber decided to hand the dragon egg over to them instead? I wonder what seat you’d be sitting on then..."

Darius looked at the Fifth Prince with unexplainable hate.

"You can’t hatch that dragon egg without our Dragon Crucible to contain its wild power. You’re bluffing."

"Ehhh..." Adonis tilted his head side-to-side.

"It’s impossible, boy."

"Can’t I? I am an [Enchanter], aren’t I?"

Adonis tucked his slender hands behind his back. He turned his body around, preparing to walk out of the opulent room with his perfect chin held high.

Prussia folded her arms over her bursting chest, glaring at his retreating figure.

"It’s a bluff! You talk big for someone who can’t even gain praise from his family as an Enchanter."

Adonis paused and looked back over his shoulder.

"Oh, really? I’m an Enchanter currently in possession of a rainbow-tier water relic. I forged fairy soil with enough skill to fool the Third Queen’s magic eye. Do you really think I can’t hatch a simple dragon egg without your little pot?"

Prussia opened her mouth, but no words came out.

In fact, she felt stupid for even calling it a bluff.

The confidence he was speaking with...

’I didn’t think he was this bold... it’s a bit charming.’

Ding!

[Prussia has gained +5 Affection! Reason: Host’s boastful attitude! Target views Host as a soft, feminine man, but secretly adores this arrogant, braggart side of you! Total Affection Level: -85%]

Adonis smiled feverishly in his own mind.

’Heh, too bad it actually IS a bluff. I can’t enchant for shit.’

Resuming his cool character, Adonis boldly took another step toward the exit.

This was it. Darius had half a second to make a choice before the young prince walked out of those double doors. A dark part of the warlord wanted to dart forward and cleave the boy’s head off... it wouldn’t take him a fraction of a second.

But the other part of his brain stopped his muscles cold.

If the Fifth Prince died, they’d never find that dragon egg or the soil. And if Adonis was telling the truth about joining the Morvain family, House Dunamis would be ruined. It didn’t matter if he could actually hatch it or not... it wasn’t a risk worth taking.

"Hmph!"

Darius grunted loudly, staring at the boy’s back.

"Do you really think you’re worth something, boy?"

Adonis just kept on walking with a smile and eyes closed.

"Look at the state I’ve put your family of war dogs in, and ask me that again. Look at you, Darius. You ride and slay dragons for a living, yet here you are, sweating bullets over a simple decision. Since when do powerful men hesitate?"

Clang.

Darius’s hand slowly slid off the pommel of his sword.

He sheathed it fully.

Those final words struck a deep chord within him.

They resonated with the very core of his warrior code.

Adonis chuckled internally.

’Heh. Works every time. That’s the exact same line Darius uses in Volume 3 when he tries to recruit Leander during the siege against Falsbane. Thanks for the script, author!’ (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

Darius took a deep breath as his cannon-like chest expanded under his beastly fur coat. He marched over to Adonis in his large gravel-crushing boots and offered a handshake.

"You can have whatever you want. From this day forth, you may call yourself a partner of House Dunamis."

Prussia’s eyes went wide. "FATHER! YOU—?!"

Before she could finish her outrage, Korgan coolly slapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams. It was his job as her minder, after all... to stop her from doing stupid things that could ruin what may be the most critical alliance House Dunamis had forged in decades.

Adonis smiled sweetly and accepted the handshake.

His smaller, slender, porcelain hand was wrapped in Darius’s massive, calloused palm.

And just like that, the Fifth Prince formed an ironclad alliance with the fiercest noble house in the alliance.

As tradition dictated among Marsofian warriors, real "men" had to seal an alliance with strong drink.

Even though Adonis had never consumed a drop of alcohol in his past life, he forced himself to sit down on a wooden crate and down a wooden mug of bitter, heavy ale just for the sake of his new "brotherhood."

Prussia sat across from him, clutching a frothing mug of her own. She looked miserable. Every time Adonis snuck a glance at her golden-brown, beautiful face, she glared at him like she was a demon summoned straight from the pits of hell.

Adonis cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away, taking another small gulp.

Man...

Adonis looked at her lean, but perfectly muscular body.

’I’m wouldn’t call myself a degenerate, but between Minerva and Prussia... I genuinely don’t know which woman would murder me in bed first if I ever slept with them. They’re both so terrifyingly strong and dominant...’

He sipped his ale with a shamelessly perverted smile.

’Heh, heh. Not that I’m complaining, heh.’

Ding!

[Prussia Dunamis has gained -10 Affection! Reason: Host is an irredeemable degenerate! Affection Level: -95%]

"PFFFT—!"

Adonis almost spat his ale straight across the table. He barely managed to swallow it down, coughing into his sleeve while wiping his mouth.

’Tch... women.’

Late into the night, the ale finally caught up with him. Adonis felt extremely lightheaded, his cheeks flushed with a pale pink warmness. He rose unsteadily from his seat, tightly clutching the dragon crucible Darius had relinquished to him.

Walking toward the double doors, Adonis turned back and offered Prussia an angelic smile, waving a sleepy hand.

"I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Lady Prussia~"

Prussia didn’t even look up from her mug. "Go to hell."

"Always so charming." Adonis chuckled.

He managed to stumble his way back toward the Emerald Palace district.

Since the high-end luxury hotels of Gilishon City were clustered around the palace perimeter for the scenic view, the walk didn’t take too long.

By the time he reached the grand paved avenues, the goodbye ball had long since ended. He could only imagine Queen Lucelia panicking right about now because the Dunamis family didn’t attend as planned.

As he walked, Adonis rubbed his chin.

’System, is it possible for me to view the affection levels between Leander and Prussia?’

A holographic panel popped up instantly.

[Leander -> Prussia: 80% (Deep Infatuation / Ambition)]

[Prussia -> Leander: 10% (Mild Interest / Polite Tolerance)]

[Notice! Prussia admires her father above all else. So, she finds most men undesirable because they appear overly feminine and soft compared to him. In her eyes, the only way to win her heart is to prove oneself as a true, manly warrior.]

[This will be exceptionally difficult for Host, whose divine beauty dwarfs that of most women.]

Adonis arrived at the palace gardens.

"Haaaa-yooo-ahhh..."

The Fifth Prince yawned and stretched out his arms tiredly.

"Don’t worry, System. My plan is going perfectly. By the time I’m done with Leander... he’ll be nothing more than a trash prince in the eyes of everyone."