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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Reason for Being Abandoned
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Of course, when she first heard that proposal.
Just like Agram the Family Head, Elsia firmly shook her head at the conditions of the Proxy Blood Fate.
"I refuse."
Her voice carried not a hint of hesitation.
"Not only retreating in defeat, but also giving up the Immortal Spring that was ours by right? Did you really think I'd accept such a terrible condition?"
"Aw, come on~ You're not backing out because you're scared, are you?"
"Enough with the pathetic provocations."
Elsia's gaze turned ice-cold.
"High Elves aren't a race stupid enough to fall for such low-level tricks."
...Belsiana or Selcia probably would have taken the bait by now, though.
In any case, the phrase "high risk, high return" might sound appealing, but if defeat came, you'd end up with absolutely nothing in hand.
You'd have to withdraw without reclaiming Aira, and even forfeit the Immortal Spring.
Far more rational was securing the Immortal Spring—the one thing guaranteed to be yours.
Besides, this was Argent territory.
Proxy Blood Fate was a traditional duel format created by the Argents.
No matter that he was a bastard son; on a stage this blatantly stacked in their favor, who knew what tricks he might pull.
Even while confident of victory, she wouldn't overlook even the 'off chance' of failure.
That was Elsia's thoroughness, befitting a High Elf.
And so, she rejected my Proxy Blood Fate proposal outright.
Until she heard the next words.
"For reference, I plan to send Aira as my proxy slave."
"Wha...?"
"What did you say?"
"M-Master?! Not me... but Aira?"
In that instant, the air froze solid.
Much more so than when I'd just dropped the bombshell about impregnating Aira.
The first to cry out was Piel.
The fox girl was the only combat-capable slave among the two I had left.
Piel, who had first awakened the Hero's power during the recent Proxy Blood Fate against Syl Argent, couldn't fully control it yet—but in her current state, she could handle most foes.
It was no wonder she was shocked that I planned to sideline her and send Aira, who didn't know the first thing about fighting.
And her reaction wasn't the only one.
Pfft.
For the first time in front of me, Princess Elsia burst into laughter.
"Kuh, hahaha!"
She threw her head back, laughing freely for a good while before speaking.
"So that's it—you plan to send that utterly useless girl as your pawn to fight in your stead?"
Her cold gaze turned on me.
"Against me, no less?"
"Of course."
"For reference..."
Elsia continued with a mocking sneer.
"Slavery is illegal in the Elf Kingdom. We're not the kind of race that deals in such barbarity."
Then she declared flatly.
"So if I must send a proxy for the Proxy Blood Fate, I plan to go myself—as both proxy and principal."
"Of course you would."
I nodded.
"That's exactly why I'm sending Aira in my place."
"...Why?"
Elsia's eyes narrowed.
I didn't hesitate.
"Because..."
I said it without pause.
"Aira has the 'right' to do it."
"...And so, under the agreement to release Princesses Belsiana and Selcia as well, the Proxy Blood Fate with Princess Elsia was established."
"...This is insane."
The conclusion was simple.
For this second Proxy Blood Fate, the substitute was Aira.
After accepting my proposal, Elsia hadn't shown her face for the next three days, as if by prior agreement.
She probably figured there was no reason to move first and risk giving away an advantage.
And on the day of the betrothal ceremony.
A condition so shocking even Agram the Family Head had to catch his breath was proposed, and the Proxy Blood Fate officially commenced right there.
By the rules, we had a grace period of up to one month.
Meaning, for that month, neither side would lay a hand on the other—we'd focus solely on preparations.
Of course.
No way was I going to spend that month cooped up obediently in the territory.
I'd slipped out under the plausible excuse of 'training,' just like last time.
And as always, my destination was the top white knight corporation in the [Vengeful Goddesses] world—the one that reliably looked after its pitiful subordinates whenever I was in a bind.
Princess Evelyn's Ashen Hand.
"Hehe. So I've come for some help again!"
"Lucas Argent."
A cold voice replied.
"Do you truly have no conscience at all?"
"Aw, Princess."
I waved it off casually.
"This is all just debt. Debt. I'll pay it back tenfold later, I swear."
Of course, the problem was that 'later' was at least a decade away.
But it didn't matter.
I planned to hand over some crucial information that would decisively aid her bid for the throne anyway.
In business terms, I was coming out ahead too.
We exchanged smiles and settled into her secret hideout for some tea when...
"Lord Lucas. Even you have to admit this is too much!"
Knowing it was rude, Aira still slammed the table and stood.
While Piel helped out at the teahouse upstairs, I'd brought Aira here to the Ashen Hand's underground hideout under the pretext of special training.
But from the moment we arrived, her expression hadn't brightened once.
She didn't even seem to understand why she had to be here in the first place.
"Lord Lucas. Me, as your substitute in the Proxy Blood Fate...? It doesn't make sense. Change it to Piel, even now!"
I didn't answer right away. Instead, I asked back.
"Why?"
A brief silence.
Aira bit her lip hard, then finally spoke with her head bowed.
"Because... Lady Elsia is the greatest genius in High Elf history."
Her voice grew quieter.
"Compared to her, I'm a High Elf who was born without a single Elf advantage."
She paused, then added to herself as a final blow.
"A failure."
With that, Aira slumped back into her seat.
Her head hung low, her gaze fixed on the floor.
The fine tea I'd offered to help her relax sat untouched, not a sip taken.
But that's precisely why I didn't back down.
"That's why I chose you."
Aira looked up.
"Pardon?"
I met her eyes squarely and said clearly.
"I can't accept leaving you like this."
Was it because I was a doctor in my past life?
Or because I was a reader who'd finished the original story?
Either way, I knew.
In the original tale, the one who survived without achieving anything, unable to even die.
The lone survivor who became the Elf Kingdom's final queen.
People later called her the Tyrant Aira.
Like a withered tree that couldn't fall, she lingered in decay, the only Elf left standing there.
Her wish for family recognition—the dying words of her mother—had twisted in the end.
It became rage, vengeance, hatred.
Only after hunting down every last Elf in the world, without distinction of age, child or adult, weak or strong, good or evil, did her destruction finally halt.
I had no intention of creating that tyrant from the original... no, that broken wreck of an Aira.
Instead, I'd grant the one wish she'd murmured like a soliloquy at the very end.
"If only I'd had even a shred of 'courage' back then... what might have changed?"
Now was the time to instill that courage.
And perhaps.
Maybe this position of a princess unrecognized by anyone overlapped with her own lonely fight in the imperial palace.
"Princess Aira."
"P-Princess? I'm just a mere slave now. You don't need to use that title, Your Highness."
To Aira's words, Evelyn quietly shook her head.
"No. Even if exiled, you still hold that wish to be acknowledged as royalty."
Her tone was gentle, but not vague.
It was firm.
"So I merely respect that about you."
"...!"
Aira fell speechless.
Right.
I'd almost forgotten, but our Princess Evelyn was this kind of person.
The genius character loaded with author-endorsed self-insert daughter traits—like forming the empire's strongest secret organization before age ten.
Yet compassion came before cold logic, hope before calculation.
She might act chilly on the surface, but she always ended up sparing people.
That was why.
The reason I'd sought her out first upon possessing this world.
It was her charm.
I grinned.
"...What's with that creepy smile?"
"I'm just smiling."
"Then don't do it while looking at me. For some reason... Lucas Argent, your smile gets under my skin."
See?
We could even banter like this naturally.
Teaming up with Evelyn was the right call.
And so.
"Hic... Th-thank you. Princess Evelyn. And... Master Lucas!"
Aira wiped her eyes as she spoke.
The despair from moments ago had faded, replaced by tentative hope on her face.
Seeing it, Evelyn gave a subtle smile of her own.
And just like last time, she placed the mana-measuring crystal orb before Aira.
"Place your hand on it."
Aira hesitantly laid her hand atop the orb.
"Don't worry, Princess Aira. Surely you possess... wonderful mana."
"Yes. I'll do my very best!"
The orb began to react.
The moment had come to detect the hidden mana of the forsaken High Elf.
A brief silence.
And then.
"...Huh?"
A low murmur escaped.
"Y-Your Highness. Why isn't this orb...?"
She couldn't finish.
The orb still wasn't glowing.
Even after minutes, there was no faint tremor, no precursor to a reaction.
Nothing.
Regardless of which of the five attributes held what values, it hadn't even started.
Because...
"...Mana."
Evelyn paused.
"None?"
"...Pardon?"
"..."
Aira's voice rang out in a tone utterly unlike before.
The orb remained silent.
No light, no waves, not even a trace that mana had ever existed.
The confirmed reading was one thing alone.
Zero.
It wasn't a lack of attributes.
Nor low values.
The very concept of mana had never existed for Aira from the start.
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