“Oh my god, Miss Elaine! It’s been a while.”
“Ah! Marquise of Habron and Your Highness the Prince…”
Elaine was flustered and wondered if she should have mentioned Prince Abel before Marquise Sasha, but Sasha, seemingly unconcerned with etiquette, held Elaine’s hands tightly and grinned.
“I’ve been meaning to invite Miss Elaine again, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance. It’s so nice to meet you again today.”
“Thank…you.”
“You’re still cute, Haha!”
As Sasha started to talk, Malek, who had turned into Abel, brought up the main topic.
“You came with a great partner today.”
“Ah, that, I am the chaplain of Count Lindell’s family, but he doesn’t have a partner, so it just so happened…”
“Well, Count Lindell’s son is so busy that it would be difficult to meet him no matter how many times I ask, so how could he have time to find a partner?”
With those words, Sasha and Malek turned their gazes to Sergey. As a nobleman, it was impossible not to greet the prince and his biological mother.
‘I guess coming with Elaine gave these guys a good excuse.’
Sergey knew Sasha and Abel’s intentions, but he let them do what they wanted.
After all, he would have to deal with both Abel and Anais at this banquet today.
“Let me formally introduce myself. I am Sergey Lindell, heir to the Count Lindell.”
“Thanks to Miss Elaine, I finally got to know Count Lindell’s son.”
“I am also honored to meet you, prince.”
Malek slyly mocked Sergey, but Sergey responded with a relaxed expression.
Sasha, who had been glancing back and forth between the two, wrapped her arms affectionately around Elaine’s shoulders and pulled her away from Sergey.
“Miss Elaine, these two are going to have a boring conversation, so shall we go over there? I’ll introduce you to the other ladies.”
Elaine was embarrassed, but she could not dare to refuse the offer of Sasha, who was an empress.
As Elaine walked away with Sasha, Malek cast a spell on Sergey.
‘I’m sure he’ll accept my offer, but I’d better make sure he’s captured.’
The magical power that rose around Malek was mixed with evil magic that tempted the opponent.
No normal person would have been able to resist such a seduction.
But the variable was that Sergey was not an ordinary person, no, he was not human at all.
Sergey, far from being charmed by the spell that covered his whole body, felt disgusted.
‘You’re playing dirty tricks for a dragon. You must have lived a long time in the human world.’
Aside from feeling disgusted, he was very curious about the other person.
Although he had not met many of his own kind, he knew the basic nature of dragons.
They were noble and took great pride in maintaining balance in the world through their immense power.
‘I couldn’t believe that such people were using the magic of seduction that was only used among humans.’
‘So, I can only assume that he lived in the human world for a very long time and learned the bad aspects of human civilization.’
‘It’s a bit strange that the magic power isn’t pure. It’s clearly the dragon’s magic power, but there’s a lot of it mixed in.…’
Sergey led the conversation naturally even while trying to guess the other person’s identity.
The one who was surprised was Malek.
‘My seduction is not working.…?’
He never thought a twenty-year-old human male could have such strong mental power.
Even people with strong mental powers would show signs of being influenced by the spell of seduction, but he didn’t feel any of that from Sergey.
Malek tried not to be swayed by Sergey, who seemed so unlike any other human he knew and brought up the ‘price’ he had prepared with Sasha.
“So, why don’t you hold my hand, I promise to give you a bigger price than holding my sister Anais’ hand.”
“If it is a big price…”
“If you’re the Count Lindell who runs several large businesses, you must feel the constraints of the law at times. Don’t you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Haha! I know what you’re thinking, so there’s no need to worry about what others think. I think it’s unfair to hold those who are working to develop our empire to the same standards as others.”
“Is that so?”
Malek expected Sergey to show his grin. But Sergey’s expression remained indifferent.
‘What? Do you think I’m bluffing? Or do you think I’m trying to show off?’
Embarrassed, Malek offered a price that would normally be acceptable to a young man.
“The relaxation of business regulations is the price paid to Count Lindell, and of course, we promise to give the best treatment to you personally.”
“What kind of treatment are you talking about?”
Malek smiled in satisfaction at Sergey’s response.
“I’ll give you a position in my inner circle. You’ll be able to go wherever you want. I’ll also give you financial compensation without the Count Lindell Knowing. I’ll give you a blank check, so write down the amount you want.”
Malek, who had offered money along with power, whispered secretly one last time.
“And if there’s a young lady you like in this banquet hall, you can choose her. Whether she’s your one-night stand or your marriage partner, it doesn’t matter. I’ll send her to wherever and whenever you want.”
For a moment, Sergey’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Thinking it was the young man’s excitement, Malek lowered his voice and subtly rebuked Sergey.
“If you were so busy that it was hard to find a partner, why didn’t you contact me in advance? I or my mother would have introduced you to a much more beautiful young lady.”
Sergey’s eyebrows furrowed as he realized that the object of comparison for ‘much more beautiful’ was Elaine, completely forgetting that he was in front of the prince.
‘They all look the same except for Elaine, what’s so much more beautiful? What’s wrong with this guy’s eyes?’
If the opponent was a human, it would be understandable, but knowing that it was a dragon, Sergey felt very upset.
He thought his contractor was the cutest.
That was bad enough, but it was also offensive to have another dragon criticize Elaine’s appearance.
“Sergey Lindell? Why is your expression like that? Is it because you feel regret?”
At the other’s unwise attitude, Sergey stopped trying to be nice.
“Your Highness, I think you are misunderstanding something.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“I already have enough money and power. I don’t want women or entertainment either. What good would it do me to receive something in return for what I already have?”
This time, Malek’s brow furrowed.
No matter how good the family was, there was no noble who would dare to speak to the prince in that way.
Malek, who was so used to playing the prince, found himself thinking like a human and found Sergey annoying.
However, it was too early to use magic power to subdue humans.
Malek said, suppressing his rising irritation.
“Then tell me what you want. I will give you anything I can give you.”
“There is nothing I particularly lack, so I don’t have anything I want, but if I had to pick one,…”
Malek’s face was a mixture of irritation and anticipation.
But Sergey could not have wanted anything from the human world.
Then he suddenly remembered Elaine and said with a sly smile.
“Peace in this world…?”
“What…?”
Sergey became much happier after seeing Malek’s expression, which had become completely distorted from absurdity.
“Hahaha! I’m just joking. I will think carefully about the suggestion Your Highness gave me.”
“Ah…Hahaha! I didn’t know that Count’s Lindell son liked joking. Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you. I hope you have a pleasant banquet tonight..”
“I hope Your Highness enjoys the banquet as well.”
Sergey glanced at Malek with a stern look and turned away.
Not even realizing that Malek’s gaze was burning brightly as he watched his back.
‘Sergey Lindell…He’s quite an arrogant person. I have to find this person’s weakness.’
It’s easy to threaten and suppress with magic, but once he starts swinging magic, things get complicated.
Besides, Malek felt a bit cautious about using magic on Sergey since he didn’t seem to have any aura.
Malek quickly reviewed the information he had gathered about Lindell and Sergey and saw Sergey approach Elaine and pull her away from the other ladies.
It suddenly dawned on him that Sergey’s partner today was Elaine Newt.
‘No matter how busy you are, you bring your family’s chaplain as your partner? And an illegitimate child who is a disgrace to the Newt family?’
The idea of Elaine being the Count of Lindell family’s personal chaplain was strange.
When Malek first heard that story, he thought that Sergey was in such a hurry to find a chaplain that he had no choice but to take Elaine, who was left at the end of the selection meeting. But in fact, a family as big as Count Lindell’s had no reason to put their faith at the forefront, and there would have been no problem if they had selected a chaplain the following year.
‘So why did they take Elaine, who everyone ignored?’
Thinking about it that way, Malek realized that Sergey’s attitude towards Elaine seemed incredibly affectionate.
‘Hmm…This might make things interesting.’
A leisurely smile returned to Malek’s lips.
And on the other side of Malek and Sasha, Anais approached Sergey with her maternal grandmother, Marquise Orlov.
Although she was nervous about losing her player to Sasha and Abel, she did not lose her elegant demeanor as expected of a crown princess.
* * *
