Lady Elara Valmont smiled warmly. She stepped closer to the towering, black-armored man, trying to use her charm and reputation to win him over.
"I am sure you must have heard my name, Lord Zero," Elara said in a soft, polite voice.
"Please, do not worry about these two Princes. As long as the Valmont Family is here, no one will dare to touch you or force you to do anything. You are completely safe with us"
She expected him to be grateful. Most commoners would fall to their knees and cry tears of joy if a top noble offered them protection.
But Zero did not move. His glowing red eyes stared down at her coldly.
"If you are here to recruit me just like these two fools, then forget it," Zero's distorted, robotic voice cut through her sweet words.
"I do not join anyone. And I do not work under anyone"
Elara's warm smile froze on her face.
Zero completely ignored the shocked alchemist. He turned his heavy helmet back toward Prince Caspian and Prince Kaelen.
"You two are blinded by your own arrogance," Zero warned the Princes, his voice filled with dark menace. "You think just because you are Princes, you can do whatever you want inside this Kingdom. Do not ever put it in your heads that I am helpless just because I have no surname."
He took a step forward, the heavy DHUD of his boots making the Princes flinch.
"Oakhaven and Solaria might be strong, but they are not the only powers in this world,"
Zero stated coldly. "There are many other powerful Kingdoms and Empires across this continent. If you annoy me, I can simply take my flawless fruits and miracle potions and deal with your enemies instead. I can give them the power to wipe your Kingdoms off the map. Keep that in mind before you try to threaten me again"
Both Princes turned completely pale. They hadn't thought about that. If Lord Zero went to a rival Empire and supplied them with 100% pure potions, Oakhaven and Solaria would be destroyed in the upcoming war. Zero held the fate of their nations in his hands.
Zero then turned his attention back to Lady Elara.
"As for you, Valmont," Zero sneered, the disgust clear in his voice. "I do not care about your family's protection. Because I absolutely hate the noble bloodline"
The entire room gasped. To openly hate nobles in front of royalty and high society was a crime punishable by death.
"Nobles are disgusting, filthy people,"
Zero continued, thinking of how the nobles treated the demi-humans and Kaelith like animals. "You hide behind your fancy last names and gold coins, but inside, you are all rotten. I would rather burn my items to ash than become a dog for a noble family"
"How dare you?!"
Brielle Ironheart could not hold it in anymore. Her face was red with furious anger. She drew her broadsword halfway out of its sheath. The sound of sliding steel filled the room.
"You insolent commoner!" Brielle shouted angrily at Zero. "Lady Elara was treating you with the utmost respect! She offered you safety! And you dare call the nobility filthy?! You will apologize to Lady Elara right now, or I will cut your tongue out!"
Zero slowly turned his head to look at the angry knight. The killing intent radiating from his black armor suddenly spiked, pressing down on the room like a crushing weight.
"A loyal dog barking for its master," Zero mocked, his voice so cold it made Brielle shiver. "**Draw your sword completely, little knight. I dare you. Take one swing at me, and I will break your blade, shatter your arms, and bury you under this floorboard before your Lady can even blink"
Brielle froze, her hand gripping the sword tightly. Her warrior instincts were screaming at her. Every alarm bell in her head told her that if she pulled her sword out, she would be dead in a split second. She gritted her teeth, totally paralyzed by his terrifying aura.
Sitting on the velvet sofa, Princess Seraphina Aldric watched the whole scene with wide eyes. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest.
She wasn't angry. In fact, she felt a strange, thrilling sense of joy.
'He is right,'Seraphina thought to herself.
'My brother... the nobles... they are disgusting. They treat people like trophies and tools. But this man... he doesn't care about their power. He doesn't fear their crowns. He is completely, absolutely free.'
For the first time in her life, the Princess looked at a man not with political calculation, but with deep, genuine admiration.
Elara Valmont quickly raised her hand, signaling Brielle to push her sword back into the sheath. Elara was deeply shocked by Zero's hatred for nobles, but she was a very smart businesswoman. If she couldn't buy him, and she couldn't protect him, she needed to find a completely different way to deal with Lord Zero.
Elara did not get angry at Zero's insult. Instead, her eyes softened with a deep, dark understanding. She gently pushed Brielle's sword fully back into its sheath.
"You can have whatever you want, Lord Zero," Elara said softly, her voice echoing in the quiet office. "Gold, beautiful women, land, anything. You are right to hate the nobles. They are arrogant and cruel. But I am different from them"
She took a step forward, looking up at his glowing red eyes.
"I have never misused a commoner," Elara stated proudly. "I have never put them in danger or made them feel small. You can go to any Kingdom and ask about my name. I give equal rights to everyone who works for me. I respect women, and I have never tortured an innocent person. Do now why?"
Elara pointed a slender finger at the two shocked Princes.
"Because I know exactly what happens to the powerless. These Princes treat people like tools. And I know this, because when I was weak, my own family treated me the exact same way"
The room went completely silent. No one expected the great Lady Elara to reveal her secrets.
"My mother was not a noble," Elara confessed, her voice turning bitter. "She was just a common servant. She was very beautiful. One night, my father got drunk and forced himself on her. That is how I was born"
Prince Caspian and Prince Kaelen widened their eyes. They had no idea the top alchemist of the world was born from a servant.
"My father already had two high-status noble wives," Elara continued, her hands clenching into fists. "They hated my mother. They treated her worse than a dog. They tortured her mentally and physically every single day until the stress and pain finally killed her"
Elara looked down at her own hands. "And I could not protect her. Because I was born completely useless. I have absolutely zero mana in my body. In this magical world, I am considered trash. My family hated me. They were planning to force me to marry a fat, disgusting old noble just to get rid of me"
A proud, fierce fire suddenly ignited in Elara's eyes.
"But I had a hunger for knowledge," Elara declared. "If I had no magic, I would use my brain. I studied medicine. I learned how to mix herbs. I started making potions using pure science and hard work instead of mana. Slowly, my potions became the purest. I single-handedly turned the Valmont family into a global superpower in healing
medicines"
She looked directly at Zero, showing him her true strength.
"Now? I am the absolute ruler of the Valmont Guild
What did you do to them?" Zero asked calmly, his distorted voice showing a hint of genuine curiosity for the first time.
Elara smiled. It was a cold, terrifying smile.
"I did not kill them," Elara said simply. "Death is far too easy. They needed to suffer and regret what they did to my mother"
She crossed her arms, looking like a true queen.
"I took away all their power," Elara explained.
"I forced my father to step down, making him a useless old man with no authority. As for his two cruel noble wives? I stripped them of their expensive jewelry and silk dresses. I moved them out of the main mansion and put them in the servant quarters. Now, those two proud noblewomen spend their days scrubbing the exact same dirty floc mother used to clean.
Princess Seraphina gasped softly, covering her mouth.
"And their legitimate noble children?" Elara finished. "I cut off their inheritance. If they want to eat, they have to work as basic delivery boys and cleaners in my potion shops. They cannot even look me in the eye anymore. Every single day, they live in absolute fear and regret because they messed with the wrong 'trash'"
Elara looked back at Zero's iron mask.
"I am not a normal noble, Lord Zero," Elara said softly but firmly. "I am a survivor who crushed the nobles under my own heel. I understand your hatred. That is why we should work together.