After Trey left, everyone continued staring at the arena for a long time, trying to fully comprehend what they had just witnessed.
Samantha and Cassandra were still sitting there, embracing each other. For them, life was now divided into before the arena and after.
Before the arena, they had been popular princesses—talented, admired by representatives of all races. They were loved, admired, and their futures had seemed predetermined: one day, they were meant to inherit the throne after their parents inevitably left this world.
After the arena, everything had changed.
They no longer belonged to themselves.
Before, they had understood that one day they would have husbands they likely would not even know beforehand. But that had seemed natural. They belonged to their own people, were of the same race, and for the sake of continuing the royal and matriarchal bloodlines, such sacrifices were considered necessary, just like alliances formed through marriage.
But the arena changed everything.
Now they both knew who their husband would be.
He was neither a light elf nor a dark elf.
A half-elf.
A half-elf who raised more and more questions in their minds with every passing minute.
Would they become the next rulers?
Of course not.
From this moment on, they were lost to both the light elves and the dark elves.
They had expected that immediately after his victory was declared, Trey would take them away with him to perform the marriage ritual. That was what they feared most, mentally preparing themselves for the worst.
But instead, he simply turned around and silently left.
That action surprised them even more than everything that had happened before.
Several minutes later, the arena gradually began to empty until only the director, the two princesses, and the two rulers of their respective peoples remained, still watching everything through the screen.
Each of them looked at the girls with their own emotions.
The Queen of the Light Elves was troubled.
She sincerely regretted giving away her last daughter to a half-elf, but the conditions had been clear and had to be honored. As a proud elf, she could not go against her own words and decisions, especially after publicly acknowledging defeat.
The price was too high.
But the word of a ruler was worth more than personal feelings.
The Matriarch looked at Cassandra with a mixture of envy and pity.
Her envy came from the fact that the half-elf possessed the element of darkness—a power that had always remained desirable and rare even among dark elves.
Her pity, however, was directed less at her daughter and more at the situation itself.
Like the Queen of the Light Elves, she could do nothing against the half-elf, neither openly nor in secret.
Too much had changed in a single day.
Rising to their feet and helping each other, Cassandra and Samantha headed toward the exit, ignoring the words of the Queen and the Matriarch.
In their minds, they no longer belonged to either the race of light elves or the race of dark elves.
They had already become something suspended between a past and a future they had never chosen.
Waking up to a quiet knock at the door, at first I thought it was just part of a lingering dream.
I was already about to close my eyes again and continue sleeping when the knocking came once more.
Getting out of bed, I could only wonder who had decided to visit me at this hour.
Glancing around the room and not finding Keyrin, I quietly walked to her door and slightly opened it.
She was asleep on the bed.
She had not even changed clothes.
It seemed the exhaustion and tension of everything that had happened had finally caught up to her.
Letting out a quiet sigh, I closed the door and headed toward the entrance, trying to figure out who was knocking.
The knocking came again, a little louder this time.
Could it be Cassandra and Samantha?
Possibly.
Though it seemed to me that after losing in front of the entire academy and their own parents, they would still need more time to recover.
"Who is it?" I asked quietly, not rushing to open the door. Better to know who had come first.
Silence followed.
For a moment, I thought the uninvited guest had changed their mind or simply had not heard my question.
I was about to repeat it when a barely audible whisper came from behind the door.
"It's us."
The voice was quiet, but the nervousness in it was unmistakable.
So they really came.
I couldn't help but note their determination and willingness to face the consequences of their own defeat.
As I carefully began opening the door, footsteps sounded behind me.
I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
"Were you talking to someone, or am I imagining things?" came Keyrin's melodic but sleepy voice.
"Yes, they came," I answered shortly.
She immediately understood who I meant.
"Oh... I'll go pour something to drink. This is going to be a long conversation," Keyrin said with a heavy sigh before heading to the kitchen.
Nodding to her and watching her retreating figure, I opened the door.
At first, I didn't understand why the corridor was so bright, but a second later I remembered I hadn't turned on the lights in the room earlier.
Giving my eyes time to adjust, I reached for the switch and pressed it.
Soft light filled the room.
Blinking a few times, I finally looked at those standing before me.
Samantha and Cassandra.
Both were visibly nervous, almost pressing themselves against each other.
They were still dressed exactly as they had been in the arena.
Apparently, they had come here almost immediately after finally being able to leave the arena.
"Come in," I said, stepping aside and inviting them inside.
They exchanged glances, as if checking each other's resolve one last time, then nodded simultaneously and entered.
Watching their behavior, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of person they imagined me to be now.
A monster?
Possibly.
Though most likely not the kind of monster they had already imagined.
After waiting for them to take off their shoes, I closed the door and led them into the main room toward the sofas.
A pleasant aroma drifted from the kitchen.
It seemed Keyrin was brewing something hot.
Maybe it would calm the princesses' frayed nerves, at least a little.
After sitting down on one of the sofas, I noticed Samantha and Cassandra remained standing in front of me for some reason, heads lowered and trembling faintly.
"Sit down. We have things to discuss," I said, growing increasingly irritated as I pointed at the sofa opposite me.
Both princesses flinched, then obediently sat in front of me.
Avoiding my gaze, they lowered their heads.
An awkward silence filled the room.
They clearly didn't know what to expect from me.
As for me, I stayed silent, thinking about the best way to tell them what they needed to know.
While I was considering my words, soft footsteps came from the kitchen.
Looking over, I saw Keyrin carrying a tray.
There were four mugs on it.
Two gave off a pleasant calming aroma, while the other two, as far as I could tell, contained ordinary tea.
Walking over to the table, she carefully placed the tray down.
The aromatic tea was meant for Samantha and Cassandra.
I noticed Cassandra couldn't take her eyes off Keyrin.
"Drink. You need to calm down," Keyrin said calmly before shifting her gaze to me. "Trey, I asked you not to traumatize Samantha too much."
She spoke that last sentence with noticeable irritation.
Under her gaze, I suddenly felt rather uncomfortable.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Keyrin sat beside me.
Samantha and Cassandra kept glancing between her and me, clearly unable to understand what was happening right in front of them.
A servant was sitting beside her master.
Not only that—she was openly scolding him.
For a moment, Samantha thought she saw her older sister standing before her.
The same mannerisms.
The same confidence.
Without fully realizing what she was doing, she reached for the mug and slowly took a sip.
Seeing this, Cassandra jolted as if about to snatch the tea from her hands, but after noticing Samantha was perfectly fine, she stopped.
For several seconds, she shifted her gaze between Keyrin and me, then cautiously took her own mug and started drinking as well, never stopping her observation of us.
We stayed silent, giving the girls some time to recover and calm down before the conversation.
"Feeling a little calmer now?" Keyrin asked gently, looking at the two princesses.
After seeing Samantha and Cassandra nod cautiously, Keyrin turned to me, signaling that I could begin.
"You probably have a lot of questions," I began, shifting my gaze to the girls. "But first, why did both of you come here?"
I could already guess the reason, but I preferred hearing it from them directly.
"We came for the marriage ritual with you," Samantha answered quietly.
Marriage ritual?
Not understanding what exactly she meant, I turned toward Keyrin.
I immediately noticed the change in her expression.
Her cheeks slowly reddened, and from the movements of her hands, it was obvious she had suddenly become nervous.
"Trey, do you know how marriages are conducted among noble elves?" Keyrin asked, looking at me intently.
"No. Why would I know that?" I replied, shaking my head.
Taking a deep breath and pressing a hand to her temple, Keyrin prepared to explain.
It seemed she had already anticipated this headache in advance but had apparently planned to tell me later.
"As you know, all light and dark elves have a partner assigned to them almost from childhood," Keyrin began.
After making sure I understood what she meant, she continued.
"The bloodline and talent of noble elves have always been considered stronger and more valuable. But at the same time, their fertility has historically been lower than that of other races. Because of this, nobles in the past often kidnapped other people's wives and husbands to continue their own bloodlines and strengthen their blood."
Keyrin paused briefly, choosing her words.
"Over time, the situation stabilized. But royal blood retained a special protective mechanism—a seal, or marriage ritual."
At those words, her face turned even redder.
"When a royal's partner first knows them as their partner, a special seal activates."
She tried to sound as serious as possible, though embarrassment still slipped into her voice.
"After the seal activates, the royal can no longer have a child with other partners. More than that, if the seal isn't maintained for too long, the bearer will either die over time or fall into sleep until their partner returns."
After finishing the explanation, Keyrin shifted her gaze from me to the two princesses.
A heavy silence settled over the room for several seconds.
"But I don't know exactly how it works for dark elves," Keyrin added thoughtfully, looking at Cassandra.
Under her gaze, Cassandra visibly blushed.
"For us, it's necessary to drink the partner's blood during the first night together. That way, we bind not only our bodies but also our blood," Cassandra answered haltingly, trying not to look at either me or Keyrin.
After hearing that, I let out an involuntary sigh and fell into thought.
More precisely, I already had a solution to this situation.
The problem was something else.
The temptation was too great.
Many men would probably dream of something like this—having elven wives. And not just elves, but two princesses at once.
Closing my eyes, I tried to throw those useless thoughts out of my head.
There was no point in sealing two princesses and placing an even larger hunter's mark on myself.
I had already drawn too much attention.
"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, but I have no intention of sealing either of you. Neither through blood nor any other method," I said calmly, opening my eyes and looking at the princesses' suddenly changed expressions.
Genuine surprise was written all over their faces.
"I'm refusing not because I dislike you or have anything personal against you," I continued. "No. The reason is that neither you nor I gain anything from this."
Samantha and Cassandra remained silent, listening carefully.
"You challenged me to a duel because of your parents' wishes. One wanted to reclaim a runaway princess, while the other wanted leverage within her own kingdom and a way to suppress dissatisfaction."
I paused briefly.
"But aside from that, you feel nothing for me. Just as I feel nothing for you."
The words sounded cold, but honest.
"So I want to offer you a way out of this situation. One that will allow you to preserve not only your dignity, but also your seals."
After finishing, I looked carefully at the princesses.
Their emotions were changing too quickly—from shock to disbelief, then to cautious hope.
"What do you want to propose?" Samantha asked, shifting her gaze from me to Keyrin as though unable to understand why her sister still hadn't interfered.
"A fake marriage. Or, to be more precise, a fake sealing until I finish my studies at the academy."
For a moment, absolute silence filled the room.
"After that, you'll be free to choose your own partners."
The moment I finished speaking, both princesses' eyes widened so much that for a second, I thought they might actually fall out.
"You want to offer us... the freedom to choose our own partners?" Cassandra asked with a stammer, slowly raising a hand and pointing at me.
"Yes," I nodded calmly. "I want to give you the chance not to be forced to tie your life to someone you feel nothing for except duty."
After my words, Cassandra fell completely silent.
It seemed what she had heard still hadn't fully sunk in.
"But why would you do that?" Samantha asked in surprise. "Wouldn't it be more beneficial for you to have two powerful princesses on your side and the influence of two kingdoms at once?"
Genuine confusion was clear in her voice.
She truly couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"That's beneficial for those who are afraid, or those who seek power," I answered calmly. "My path is different."
My voice became noticeably darker.
"And on that path, the power of the light and dark elves will not help me."
After a short pause, I added,
"To put it simply... I'm cursed."
As I said that, I shifted my gaze to Cassandra.
Of everyone present, she was the one most capable of understanding the meaning of those words.
There was no longer any point in hiding something like that from a wielder of darkness.