"Your Highness, I believe greetings should be in order, but right now, I think it’s more important to know what exactly you said for him to end up like this?"

There was simply no way Riley wasn’t going to ask Prince Rowan when the murderous aura radiating from his mate was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Kael was seated behind the desk in complete silence, but somehow that only made things worse. The golden dragon looked less like the ministry head and more like a natural disaster moments away from erupting.

Meanwhile, the cause of this catastrophe stood there, looking... surprisingly embarrassed.

"Apologies," Rowan admitted with a faint cough. "I had to do it."

The Elven Prince actually had the decency to look slightly guilty, though unfortunately not guilty enough to avoid saying whatever nonsense he’d apparently told Kael earlier.

"I believe he had no intentions whatsoever of granting us even a moment of his or your time," Rowan continued diplomatically. "And while we understand where that’s coming from, we truly had no choice. As you can probably tell, we have a situation that constitutes an emergency."

Riley didn’t answer immediately.

He merely raised an eyebrow.

Prince Rowan smiled back at him with the expression of someone initially feigning innocence despite being the very source of the problem.

Then, after a brief pause, the red-handed elf finally admitted,

"I simply said, ’Congratulations on your marriage.’"

"..."

Riley slowly tilted his head as if making a point.

The black dragon’s face carried an even graver expression afterward, one that practically screamed,

’And...?’

Because there was absolutely no way Kael would currently resemble the burning sun itself if that was the only thing Rowan had said.

Sure enough, the Elven Prince looked faintly caught before smiling rather wistfully.

"And," Rowan added calmly, "I apologized for failing to make myself into a viable option for you."

"..."

"..."

"It is a regret I’ll simply have to live with."

The Prince actually sounded regretful, albeit teasing, while saying it, too.

Meanwhile, behind the desk, a certain golden dragon looked moments away from combusting on the spot.

The air itself felt dangerously hot.

But more than those two, Riley was honestly just dumbfounded by the sheer self-confidence of this elf.

Really.

At this point, the only possibilities were either a death wish or a solid fucking plan.

Though by the look on his mate’s face and that bubbling irritation Riley could feel from their bond, Rowan better have both as this was looking to be more of an and than an or.

"Well," Riley finally said slowly, "if your goal was to get his attention, then I guess that definitely worked, Your Highness."

He sighed faintly before rubbing at his temple.

"Maybe a little too well."

As such, Riley could only pray for the future succession plans of the elves at this point.

Then, with the calmness of someone trying to prevent an even bigger political dispute, he slowly walked toward his mate.

"Not that I don’t understand the reasoning," Riley continued carefully, "but I sincerely hope you have an extremely good follow-up plan now that you’ve successfully gotten his attention."

Because if not...

Well.

Riley was becoming increasingly certain that the next catastrophe to hit Eryndra wouldn’t be coming from the wastelands.

__

Well, the Elven Crown Prince would’ve loved to say he had a proper plan.

Unfortunately, even his ancestors would probably know he was simply gambling at this point.

Then again, failing here was practically a death sentence not only for him, but for all their people as well, so what difference would it really make?

At the very least, this approach succeeded in getting the Dragon Lord to actually look in his direction.

Though Rowan wasn’t foolish enough not to acknowledge the blatant provocation he’d just committed, either.

After all, his earlier comment had very obviously been a dig at his own failure. He really just couldn’t stop that last bit of immaturity from slipping through.

"I was simply desperate," Rowan admitted at last, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I’m sorry."

Just a small confession from someone who realized far too late that he’d missed the opportunity to pursue an exceptionally good partner.

"And I’d also like to apologize for placing you in a difficult position," Rowan continued sincerely while looking toward Riley. "But please know that I’m not insane enough to pursue someone who has already made it clear they’re uninterested."

Internally, the prince thought that he especially wouldn’t do so when the loss of that chance had been entirely his own fault to begin with.

Thankfully, Riley remained exactly as levelheaded as Rowan had hoped he would be.

And because of that, the Elven Crown Prince managed to avoid what would’ve otherwise been certain death through the famous aide’s mercy alone.

Then again, it wasn’t as though Rowan had come here for some demented form of entertainment.

No one in their right mind would willingly crawl toward another territory while effectively powerless unless the situation had already become truly dire.

"Speak."

Kael’s voice finally cut through the room.

The golden dragon lord still looked thoroughly displeased, his expression carrying the very clear warning to get to the point before he decided Rowan had overstayed his welcome.

The prince inhaled quietly before finally forcing himself to say the words that had been repeating endlessly in his mind ever since arriving.

"I’m here in an official capacity to request a temporary unsealing in exchange for joining forces with the Dragon Lord."

Even Rowan himself hated how vulnerable that sounded.

It was impossible not to tense after finally saying it aloud.

To think that someone of his stature would eventually be reduced to a position where survival depended entirely on another person’s response.

Then again...

Living day after day as a mortal had taught him things he’d never properly understood before.

And now Rowan understood that this, too, was part of responsibility.

Sometimes rulers had to bow.

Sometimes they had to endure humiliation if it meant their people survived.

The silence afterward was agonizing.

Actually, Rowan briefly wondered whether the silence itself might kill him first.

But there was no helping it.

Much of Silvara was effectively landlocked, especially when the nearest ocean might as well have belonged entirely to the Merfolk. There was absolutely no way he could return empty-handed when everyone already understood that something catastrophic was coming.

Even King Arlen had acknowledged the possibility of failure before Rowan left.

The Elven King had already prepared to negotiate under severely unfair terms if necessary.

And so, while trying to remember the additional offers prepared in case things deteriorated further, Rowan continued thinking through every remaining possibility available to him.

Unbeknownst to the already frazzled prince, the only reason he was still breathing after provoking the golden dragon lord was because Riley had already anticipated a similar scenario beforehand. Well, minus the greeting so outrageous it practically warranted death.

After all, Silvara’s geographical position was both its greatest strength and greatest weakness.

As the only territory connected to all the surrounding nations, the elves prospered tremendously during times of peace. Trade, diplomacy, and leyline routes naturally converged through their lands.

But during times of unrest?

Silvara would immediately become the most logical territory to seize control over.

Normally, the prideful elves would’ve attempted to stand independently.

Unfortunately, that strategy became far less realistic when many of the strongest members of their race had been sealed into weakened mortal forms.

And while the elves approached this situation with their survival hanging in the balance, Kael and Riley also understood how strategically important Silvara truly was.

Because whether they liked it or not, the elven territory served as the first major defensive line against what would almost certainly become a pincer attack from both Wyrmfall and Thalassyn.

Sure, the elves had caused problems before.

Actually, "sabotage" would’ve been putting it lightly, as the Queen probably wished Riley dead at one point, so yep, there was that.

But in the face of a far greater threat, Riley found himself caring more about geographical advantages and vulnerabilities than the deranged attempt on his own life.

And frankly speaking, they simply had to choose the lesser evil. Not to mention all those kids they saved before. He already knew their faces, so how could he pretend they didn’t exist?

And as for the merfolk of Thalassyn?

Oh, several of them would undoubtedly deny any involvement.

Some would probably even crawl toward the MBE later while putting on pitiful displays of solidarity and cooperation.

Unfortunately for them, the deeper the Dravaryns dug into Malrik’s crimes, the more they kept uncovering grubby merfolk hands and fins hidden behind everything.

The evidence just kept piling up.

Backstabbing. Manipulation. Logistical cooperation.

They even trafficked their own people!

Riley already thought they were insane, but at this point, those guys were already far too entangled in the matter to simply walk away.

So, allying with them would basically amount to serving their own heads on a silver platter.

So the better choice for the meantime would really be the very same elves they just sealed.

Still, because the elves had come forward first, the MBE could simply put off the punishment for when all of this was over instead of writing it off entirely.

Yes.

Over.

Riley was probably sounding unbelievably arrogant right now, and his ancestors would likely be gasping at the sheer audacity of it all, but the last black dragon who had already survived countless all-or-nothing situations simply refused to die at the hands of some lunatics.

Moreover, if there was one thing he excelled at, it was surviving, even if he had to fight tooth and nail for every breath.

And one of the most important things for survival right now was determining exactly who could still be considered friend or foe.

Though really...

Rowan could’ve done without pissing off Kael, as it was now going to be harder to have a meeting without someone continuously releasing killing intent.

Ugh.