Free Web NovelChapter 21: Bingo?
Emma was visibly stunned at the utter audacity of this blue-haired woman claiming that shameless brat as her ’dear’ already, her fists clenching at her sides as a sudden knot of heavy frustration.
"Oh, don’t worry," Aria added with a flawless, polite smile. "I assure you, your Young Master won’t try to do anything crazy or inappropriate like the Duke feared. After all, he belongs to me now. Now, please. Leave us."
Emma hesitated, her gaze darting to the back of Eren’s head. But defeated, she clicked her tongue and marched out of the room, slamming the heavy oak doors shut with unnecessary force.
Eren sat perfectly still, realizing that he was left entirely alone inside a predator cage that was more than ready to devour him whole.
"Alright, she’s out of the room. Now tell me what you wanted to say"
The moment they were alone, the sugary-sweet expression had completely vanished on her face. The polite smile remained, but it mixed genuine annoyance and exhaustion.
She let out a long sigh as she let her hourglass figure slump back to the cushion.
"Just accept the engagement deal. It’s already signed. Making a fuss about it now is just useless."
"Give me one good reason why I should willingly shackle myself to a known public hazard," Eren countered.
Aria tilted her head, an amused glint behind her dark blue eyes. "Because you brought this upon yourself. Don’t tell me you already forgot your grand speech at the duel? The one where you loudly proclaimed that if you were the one engaged to me, you would dote on me so thoroughly that I’d never have to show my true, ugly colors to the world?"
Eren went completely, universally silent. He said that entirely for fun. It’s just a tactical taunt designed to deal maximum emotional damage to Reinhardt’s fragile ego.
Seeing his horror across his usually smug face, Aria suddenly burst into a laugh, shaking her head in satisfaction.
"Look at your face," she giggled cutely, waving her hand dismissively. "Relax, Eren. I am kidding. No matter how dramatic your little speech was, do you truly think a daughter of the Reedings family would fall for you just because of a few pretty words from a notorious troublemaker?"
Eren’s left eyebrow twitched violently. Enough was enough.
Bam!
Eren stood up from his cushion and slammed his leg onto the low table, leaning his tall, athletic frame inches away from hers.
"Game time is officially over, Aria. Shut up, drop the riddles, and tell me the actual truth," he demanded, his voice dropping into a low that filled the predator cage.
Even with that, Aria didn’t lose her regal composure. However, the playful light completely drained from her eyes, suddenly turning dead serious.
"I need a shield, Eren, a shield with conditions of contract engagement," she said flatly, staring directly up into his intense gaze. "Because I intend to become the next sole ruler of the Reedings Dukedom."
Eren’s eyes widened by a huge fraction. Twist after twist today.
"Reinhardt is going all out to force me back into that betrothal," Aria continued, her jaw clenching slightly with genuine disgust.
"Ever since he woke up from his coma, he has been wooing both my father and my elder brother, trying to corner me. But after your little display at the academy, I finally opened my eyes. I realized exactly how much precious time, energy, and political capital I had utterly wasted playing the obsessed fool for a piece of trash."
Eren slowly lowered his leg from the table, though he remained standing, his mind frantically recalculating the entire political system of The Throne Hearts.
"An ambitious goal, Lady Aria. But how exactly do you plan on executing it like that? Everyone knows Duke Reedings is a notorious, old-school patriarch and your elder brother is the designated successor."
Aria let out a dry, bitterly sarcastic snort. "Successor? Which brother are we talking about? The brainless idiot who has aggressively wagging his tail after a commoner Saintess candidate?"
’Ah. Right,’ Eren’s brain suddenly clicked with realization. He had completely forgotten that her elder brother was the third male lead of the game, and easily one of the most fiercely, embarrassingly obsessed members of Alice’s reverse harem.
In the game, that brainless simp was so thoroughly blinded by the protagonist that he eventually drove a blade straight through his own younger sister’s heart and wiped out his own bloodline just for the crime of going against the holy Saintess.
"No wonder you’re looking for an exit strategy. Madness really does run in the family."
"It’s a terminal disease," Aria agreed flatly. "Which brings me back to you. I chose you because the Volsver family is the only powerhouse in this kingdom with enough military and political leverage to keep a direct check on Reinhardt’s Angelus Dukedom. With your family acting as my official shield, Reinhardt can’t drag me back to the altar without risking a civil war."
She gracefully rose from her cushion, smoothing out the folds of her dress. "You don’t have to give me an answer right this second, Eren. You can deliver your decision anytime before your return to the academy. We can negotiate your personal gains and the finer details of the contract engagement then."
Aria turned and began walking toward the door, while Eren stared at her hourglass figure swaying with effortless elegance.
But suddenly he called out, voice serious.
"Is that really all, Lady Aria?"
She paused her hand over the handle.
"Dethroning your brother and blocking Reinhardt is a solid plan," Eren continued, walking up to her with narrowed blue eyes. "Tell me... is there a hidden agenda behind your grand succession plan? Like, say... using the full might of the Reedings Dukedom to help a certain royal girl ascend the throne?"
Aria froze. She turned her head back over her shoulder, her dark blue eyes gleaming with a mix of respect and curiosity.
"My, my...Did Reinhardt’s aura attack actually knock some hidden genius into that skull of yours, Eren Volsver?"
Eren simply offered her a knowing smirk in return.
’Bingo! My guess was 100% correct. The lore doesn’t lie.’
