CHAPTER 282: CONFRONTATION

Elreth’s grip was like iron as she all but dragged Khione through the manicured gardens, away from the main house and toward a secluded pavilion draped in flowering vines. The moment they were under its shaded roof, Khione wrenched her arm free, her ice-blue eyes flashing with cold fury.

"What do you want, Elreth?" she demanded, her voice as sharp and brittle as breaking glass. Whatever this arrogant princess was about to say, she was certain she wouldn’t like it.

The princess simply smiled, a slow, confident curve of her lips that only heightened the tension. She seemed to thrive on Khione’s hostility. As if on cue, two maids scurried into the pavilion, setting down a tray of delicate pastries and a pot of tea before bowing and retreating quickly, sensing the dangerous atmosphere.

"Can’t two childhood friends have a conversation?" Elreth asked, her tone lightly mocking as she poured herself a cup of tea, completely at ease.

"We are not friends," Khione stated flatly.

"Perhaps not," Elreth conceded, taking a slow sip. She then set her cup down with a definitive click and met Khione’s gaze head-on, all pretense of pleasantry vanishing. "I’ll be direct, then. I’m not here to play games. I have decided that I will make Nero mine."

The words hung in the air for a single, suspended second.

Then, the world froze.

A wave of pure, furious cold exploded from Khione. The delicate teacup in front of Eltreth instantly frosted over and cracked. The platter of pastries was encased in a solid block of ice. A thick layer of rime spread across the stone floor and crawled up the pavilion’s pillars with an audible crackle. The very air grew sharp and brittle, each breath feeling like needles in the lungs.

Elreth merely chuckled, a low, amused sound. She didn’t even stand up. A ripple of heat shimmered around her body, and the Law of Fire answered her call. The frost on her own clothes melted away in an instant. The ice encasing the pastries hissed and turned to steam, and the rime on the floor around her chair retreated, creating a small circle of warmth in the heart of Khione’s frozen fury.

"You see?" Elreth said, her orange eyes glowing with their own inner fire. "This is why it has to be me. You react with cold. You build walls. I am fire, Khione. I offer warmth and passion. Which do you think a man like Nero truly desires? A fortress of ice, or a hearth of fire?"

Khione took a step forward, the temperature plummeting even further. "You know nothing about what he desires. You see him as a prize, a tool for your family’s ambition. What we have is something you cannot even comprehend."

"And what is that?" The princess sneered, finally rising to her feet to face her rival directly. "A quiet understanding? A shared silence? How... boring for a man of such power. He deserves to be challenged, to be met with an equal fire, not placated with chilly calm!"

The confrontation was short, sharp, and silent, a battle of auras more than words. The pavilion became a warzone of elemental opposites—one side a blizzard of bitter cold, the other a contained, smoldering inferno. The flowers on the vines withered from the heat only to be flash-frozen by the cold.

Khione knew this was not the place for a real fight. With a final, glacial glare that promised a deeper winter to come, she turned on her heel.

"Try if you can," she said, her voice dropping to a deadly, quiet whisper that carried more threat than any shout. "And you’ll see the consequences."

She left the pavilion without a backward glance, the ice slowly melting in her wake, leaving behind a soaked, steaming mess and a fuming princess. The battle lines were now drawn, not with spells and weapons, but with a simple, terrifying promise. The fight for Nero’s heart had just been declared, and Khione had no intention of losing.

Left alone in the pavilion, Elreth let out a long sigh. The air was still warm and damp from the clash of fire and ice. A dangerous gleam shone in her orange eyes.

"Well," she murmured to herself, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"I have sown the seed with that provocation. She will be on her guard now. This will be fun!"

She could already picture her victory, savoring the challenge.

She was just finishing the last of her now-lukewarm tea when Azalea appeared, gliding into the pavilion with her usual elven grace. She surveyed the scene—the water-stained floor, the wilted flowers, the cracked teacup—and a knowing look crossed her features.

"Rough morning?" Azalea asked, her voice light.

"You could say that," Elreth replied, setting her cup down. "I was just having a... chat with our dear Ice Queen. What have you been up to?"

"I was talking with my mother," Azalea said, settling gracefully into the chair opposite Elreth.

Elreth frowned immediately. She didn’t need a detailed explanation. She knew how the minds of rulers worked; they were all the same, her own father included. If her father had seen Nero’s potential, so would the Elven Queen. A sense of heavy understanding settled over her.

"So," Elreth said, her voice flat. "You’re going to compete for Nero, too?"

Azalea didn’t deny it. Instead, she let out a soft, musical chuckle. "Let’s just say my mother helped me see the... strategic importance of securing a unique alliance."

A thick, heavy silence fell between the two princesses. They were best friends, but now a new and complicated factor had been thrown into their relationship. The air in the pavilion, which had just been a battlefield of fire and ice, now felt charged with unspoken competition.

Elreth studied her friend—the calm, calculating emerald eyes, the serene smile that gave nothing away. Azalea wasn’t driven by the raw, fiery passion that Elreth was. She was driven by a cool, long-term strategy, the kind that could be even more dangerous.

"So it’s like that," Elreth finally said, breaking the silence. "It’s not just me against Khione anymore. It’s the three of us."

"It would seem so," Azalea replied smoothly. "But please, don’t think of it as a fight between us. Think of it as... each of us presenting him with a different future. A different kind of queen by his side."

Elreth couldn’t help a dry, humorless laugh. "A future? Azalea, you sound like you’re negotiating a trade agreement, not pursuing a man."

"Is there really such a big difference when the man in question holds the power to change the world?" Azalea countered, her gaze steady.

The heavy atmosphere remained, but it was now mixed with a strange sense of understanding. They were rivals now, but they were also still friends who understood the pressures of their positions. The game had just gotten much more complex, and both princesses knew that their friendship was about to be tested in a way it never had been before.