The third Trial was officially put on hold. The massive tournament grounds fell into an uneasy, structural silence as the arena monitors were shut down and the general public was cleared from the lower stands.
Inside the grand imperial Academy's briefing hall, the atmosphere was thick with absolute political friction. The supreme leadership of the Edrath Empire and the newly arrived high delegation of the Vadrant Elven Alliance sat on opposing sides of a massive mahogany table. At the center of it all sat Sora, still stripped of his female glamour, his long hair falling over the dark fabrics of his uniform. His baby bump was clearly outlined against the tight cloth, forcing every eye in the room to confront the raw reality of the situation.
High Queen Valaria of the Vadrant Alliance stared at Sora with a face made of cold marble, her fingers tightening on the armrests of her gilded chair. Her logical mind simply could not accept the complex variables presenting themselves.
"Not only are you a surviving Moonborn, but you carry the biological child of a human from the Edrath Empire of all places?" Queen Valaria detested the human race with every fiber of her being, her tone dripping with sheer revulsion. "After all, who else among these human barbarians would dare to defile an elven vessel? Who is the father of that child?"
"I am," Cassian replied smoothly from his seat, his eyes locking onto the Queen without a single flicker of hesitation.
The Queen's jaw tightened. "You knew of his true identity this entire time and still purposefully kept quiet about it to the continental council, My Prince?"
"The elf systematically deceived our Prince from the very beginning," Lucien chimed in from the shadows behind Cassian's chair, his tone perfectly clinical as he provided the necessary cover story. "His Highness, had no idea. Until the pregnancy."
Sora swallowed hard, his knuckles whitening against his knees. The atmosphere was shifting rapidly, and he couldn't calculate what was going to happen next.
"It does not matter how the conception occurred," the high elven priestess suddenly whispered to the Queen, her voice trembling as she recalled the vivid embers of the dying World Tree. "We are taking Sora back to the Vadrant Forest with us immediately. His past political sins will be entirely forgiven and forgotten. Right now, he will be elevated to the most important being in our lands, worthy of supreme recognition. The World Tree can only survive with his presence. Therefore, he is cutting all diplomatic ties with your empire and is coming with us."
"We cannot possibly allow that," Emperor Cedric cut through the conversation, his deep, authoritative voice echoing off the high stone walls. The ruler of the Edrath Empire leaned forward, his golden crown catching the torchlight. "He may be an elf by blood, but he still carries our imperial bloodline within his womb. How can we simply let one of our future descendants wither away in your distant lands of isolation? Children make mistakes, and we will fully forgive his deception as well. He will stay right here on Cassian's side."
Emperor Cedric paused, a sharp, calculating glint in his eyes as he looked at the two of them. "I suppose he is my son's chosen mate now, right? The gods clearly made this soul resonance happen, so who are we to refute the divine alignment just because we carry a history of resentment that we don't even remember where it stemmed from?"
Cedric turned a heavy, demanding glare toward Cassian, subtly nudging his son to speak for himself and execute immediate damage control using the massive political opportunity he had just handed him.
The room erupted into a controlled chaos of voices. The Elven Kingdom absolutely needed Sora for their survival metrics, but the Holy Empire completely refused to hand over a literal imperial heir. The twin-blooded child carried by Sora was a priceless asset to both nations, and neither side could afford a full-scale war in this crucial time of standing together against the pending border threat. Yet, neither side could afford to surrender to the other without losing their absolute pride.
"Return the divine vessel to us!" the elven counselors demanded.
"The child may be of elven blood, but he also carries the sacred imperial line as a blessing from our god of fertility!" the Edrath ministers roared back.
Lucien leaned down slightly toward Cassian, a low, tracking chuckle escaping his chest as he folded his arms. "My Prince, you truly seem to cause immense geopolitical trouble wherever you go."
Cassian let out a slow, calculated sigh, rubbing his temples. "I merely hired a courtesan through standard channels, Sir Arden. I never expected the biological occurrence to expand into a international crisis."
"Then perform your damage control," Lucien murmured, his eyes reflecting absolute amusement. "I know for a fact that your analytical mind is already calculating a scenario into your own favor."
Cassian rose from his seat, his tall, imposing figure instantly drawing the attention of the entire room.
"Everyone needs to calm down right now," Cassian commanded, his voice slicing through the noise like an iron blade. A heavy silence resonated through the hall immediately. Cassian walked down from the imperial platform, stepping across the floor to stand right beside Sora's chair.
"My imperial father is entirely correct when he says that Sora is my chosen mate through the direct intervention of the gods," Cassian stated clearly, his voice carrying across the silent council. "We all thoroughly know that the soul resonance of the Moonborn race does not happen on a random whim or because they choose it themselves, but because of the guidance of the moon god to find their fated ones."
Cassian glanced at the elven delegation, his expression turning sharp and demanding.
"From now on, this absurd, historical hostility between our nations needs to end permanently. During these dire times, we need to actively work with each other and unify our continent to become even stronger. Through my official union with Sora, I plan to bring our nations together. It is about time that the Vadrant Alliance stopped isolating themselves from the rest of the continent and took hands with us. That is, of course, if you want Sora to come with you and save your dying land."
"You dare?!" Queen Valaria roared, her royal composure cracking as she slammed her fist onto the table. "That child will come with us whether your empire likes it or not! He has a biological duty to fulfill for the World Tree, and I am certain he would want to serve his true homeland over a human cage!"
Cassian smirked slightly at the Queen's outburst before turning his head to look down at Sora. "What do you think, Sora? Do you truly want to go back to the elven kingdom?"
Sora looked up at him, his dark eyes wide and completely unfiltered. "Without you, My Lord?"
"Seemingly," Cassian shrugged.
"Then I have to politely refuse," Sora stated firmly, his voice echoing clearly through the grand hall. "I only live for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is the single reason I am able to live my life abundantly right now."
The elven counselors gasped loudly at the blatant rejection.
"Sora!" the elven priestess pleaded, her hands shaking. "This human empire wanted you executed just an hour ago before they realized you carried an imperial heir! That does not mean they will treat you well once the public eye is gone!"
"I thoroughly know that," Sora countered, his voice perfectly steady as he looked at the priestess. "And even so, I wish to remain by the prince's side. My mate."
"You dare to turn your back on your own nation?!" Queen Valaria hissed, her aura flaring with dangerous intent. "Even when we have graciously given you a pathway to come back home and claim your birthright?!"
"Who exactly needs whom here?!" Sora suddenly roared back, his voice snapping across the room with a raw, terrifying intensity that shocked the entire room into silence. He stood up from his chair, his dark eyes flashing with the sacred power he had inherited from the altar.
"And who exactly was the first to turn their backs on me and completely annihilate my entire family?!" Sora demanded, his breathing heavy as years of suppressed trauma rose to the surface.
Silence erupted through the entire hall. Not a single elven counselor dared to blink.
"This unexpected pregnancy forced me to completely confront my identity," Sora spoke, his voice dropping into a low, bitter frequency. "For years, I believed that I was completely unwanted. I believed my family were nothing but traitors and that my very bloodline was a cursed stain on the earth. Now, you all come marching into a foreign empire offering me divine status and supreme wealth—while back when I was literally starving for those exact things, you drove me out to be a half-dead stray in foreign lands that condemned our kind just as much! You called my lineage an impurity. I watched my family die by your blades, and I nearly died in the dirt myself. Where exactly was the importance of my life then?"
Sora took a step forward, glaring directly into the eyes of the Elven Queen. "Now that I carry a miracle for your dying tree, you call me blessed. Which one is the lie, Queen? How can your people revert to such absolute hypocrisy so easily, just because it suits you? The very individuals who condemned my bloodline now call me holy just because your kingdom is in desperate need of me. I, Sora Curzon, entirely reject your hypocrisy. I choose my mate, Crown Prince Cassian, who does not even hide his personal justifications to use me for his own goals."
The words hit the room harder than any physical battle spell. Sora's statement was loud and clear.
Cassian remained perfectly calm, stepping up behind Sora and gently patting the half-elf's back, a subtle gesture to comfort his spiking mana levels. "But we can easily work around those personal grievances," Cassian noted smoothly, turning his gaze back to the stunned Queen. "If you want Sora to cooperate in rebuilding your nation's life source, you must first join hands with Edrath in a permanent military and economic alliance."
"My Lord!" Sora whispered frantically, turning to face him. "I don't want to go back to those lands!"
"Sora..." Cassian said softly, his voice dropping into an authoritative but gentle murmur. "I know that this is emotionally difficult for you. But didn't you explicitly tell me earlier that you wanted to find your roots and know exactly where you belong? The Vadrant Alliance possesses those exact historical answers for you. And besides, you also need to locate your ancestral home to show our child where you come from—"
"You always care about me," Sora interrupted m, his face flushing slightly as he adjusted his uniform. "How can I leave someone who cares so much about me?....I want to stay here with you my lord."
Sora sulked brushing the lapels of his tunic and Cassian froze for a fraction of a second, his eyes widening slightly. "Is that what you truly want Sora?"
"Yes your highness, you know how much I adore you." Lucien suddenly cleared his throat loudly from the far corner of the room, cutting through the space before the two of them could form their own private, lewd bubble in front of the continental leadership. He had seen far too much of that behavior in private quarters, and right now, it was best to maintain the baseline of the negotiation.
Cassian cleared his throat quickly, standing up perfectly straight and regaining his cold composure.
"Anyway, as I was saying, Sora," Cassian continued smoothly, "you need to go back temporarily to forge your own path back home—one that does not completely rely on my system in every single aspect. And once our two nations officially unify their treaties, we will work around building our family in complete unity. I am certain there are specific elven customs to follow when a male is pregnant; you need to learn your own culture."
Sora pouted slightly, looking down. "But I will have to stay physically away from you for a period, won't I?"
"Once you successfully stabilize your nation's tree, I will formally marry you, and you will become my future lawful consort," Cassian promised, his voice carrying a rare weight of absolute certainty.
"In that case, then I will leave," Sora agreed instantly, his face completely clearing up.
The entire room of international ministers gasped loudly at his swift, unbothered change of heart.
"I will leave the moment the Queen formally accepts your proposition," Sora added, crossing his arms and looking back at the table.
Queen Valaria gritted her teeth, her knuckles turning white as she realized she was left with absolutely no choice. Her kingdom's livelihood were entirely tied to the half-elf standing before her.
"I will not decide on a massive geopolitical treaty immediately," the Queen managed to hiss out, her voice tight. "Let me and my trusted advisors delegate on this complex situation first."
"That is a perfectly fair decision, My Queen," Cassian replied, bowing respectfully toward her before entirely focusing his attention back on Sora's needy frame. "You may take your time."
The Queen was thoroughly displeased in so many structural ways, her exit from the room swift and tense. But as the doors shut, the remaining continental figures and the Edrath ministers could only think one collective thing as they looked at the young prince.
'His Highness heard our severe worries from the past summit meeting about how we desperately needed to form a resource alliance with the isolated elves... and he planned this entire scenario thoroughly from the very start. What a truly fearsome man.'
*****