Pride

As Lucas arrived with Sylv and her mother at the throne room, luxurious with white and gold, he saw an elf with regal appearance. The elf had long blond hair and deep blue eyes, next to him a younger version of the elf, with much shorter hair.

They were Michael and Raphael Velariah.

Both were standing in front of the throne, gazing at Lucas, while Sylv and her mother stood at the right side and a bunch of royal guards were next to the sides of the throne, awaiting the king's orders.

"So you are the one who saved my daughter's life, huh?" The king said as he gazed at the white-haired 'human' in front of him.

While the prince, a little behind, looked worriedly at his little sister to see if she was okay.

"That is correct. It was my mission after all," Lucas said, looking directly into the eyes of the king and speaking in a neutral tone.

The king was surprised; normally, someone at Lucas's age would never dare to meet him in the eyes with his back straight and not even an ounce of fear in him.

"Then, as a father and king of Eldrath, I would like to convey my thanks to you. I will allow you to pick one skill book in the royal treasury," the king offered, causing everyone to widen in shock, the guards instantly protesting.

"My king, you can't allow a human to enter the royal treasury!"

'Wow, how fearless, to object to their own king's words… Still, looks like a lot of elves don't really like humans, huh? Even if they don't show it, they still feel like humans are disgusting creatures. Well, that is normal, I suppose…' Lucas thought, sighing inwardly. He knew all too well how cruel and disgusting humans could be...

"Yes my king! You shou-"

"Silence," the king spoke, making the atmosphere in the room freeze and become extremely more tense than it already was.

"So, you say I shouldn't reward the person who saved my daughter's life? The life of the princess of the elven domain?" He said with cold words, making the guards shrink back in fear.

"P-please forgive us, your majesty. We didn't think about that," the guards said, bowing their heads, realizing their mistakes.

Ignoring the guards, the king gazed back at the human who didn't show any sort of emotion.

"Before meeting you, I did a little research. It was said that a famous adventurer called 'Noctis, The White Devil' was supposed to be protecting Sylviette and escorting her to the elven domain. That is you, correct?"

This time, everyone except Sylv, the king, and Lucas was surprised. Even if elves are a traditional race, they still kept up with most things, and Noctis, the White Devil, was a hot topic if one was interested in adventuring, so it wasn't a stretch to say that most people had heard of his name. The mysterious adventurer who no one knows anything about.

"Mm, that is right. I am known as Noctis, The White Devil, though I was planning to retire after the escort mission as an adventurer for a while," Lucas responded calmly. He knew that the king probably would find out about him being the White Devil, but honestly, he didn't care.

"I see," the king said while closing his eyes, after thinking for a few seconds, making almost everyone tense, even Raphael, who was a little behind his father. The king opened his eyes.

"Lucas Nightstar. Son of Alexander and Violet Nightstar. Known as Noctis the White Devil and possibly the strongest in your generation."

Hearing the last words of the king made almost everyone again gasp in surprise. Everything happened so fast that they forgot a few small details. Sylviette Velariah was supposed to be the strongest champion. Yet, someone her own age saved her and defeated an enemy she couldn't face without seriously risking her life.

So then, how strong is Lucas Nightstar? It isn't impossible to fight someone of a higher star level if the right conditions are met, like environment, skill, mana, stamina, artifacts, and more. It is possible to win, but that didn't mean it would make it less impressive. For someone their age that shouldn't have a lot of experience yet to win is absurd, to say the least.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" The king spoke, making everyone snap out of their thoughts and look at him. Sylv and her mother looked worried as well.

"Huh? Intentions with your daughter?" Lucas furrowed his brows, even he was confused at the weird question he didn't expect from the king.

"Hmm, you see, nothing is really known about you, Lucas Nightstar. Almost every noble child has made a few appearances in certain events. Yet, you have never attended any events in your life, making everything about you unknown. The time you finally revealed yourself to Myrniel... if one looked at the famous video, its purpose was to instill fear instead of joy."

"Then, after that, you became this 'Noctis, the White Devil' for the next two years. You were spotted across various places in the human domain, and most of the time picking combat-related missions."

"It is also said that you defeated a demon. Why did that demon even appear in a C-rank dungeon? The dungeon wasn't anything special from the reports, if I recall, so it would only go there if it was looking for something or 'someone'." the king said, looking at Lucas with searching eyes, trying to discern something from his neutral expression.

He saved his daughter, so before he returned, he ordered his people to gather everything about him. But almost everything about him was unknown.

The king felt suspicious of Lucas Nightstar. He didn't know why, but he felt that this human was different from all the other humans. He was in the saint stage, so he could easily tell more, unlike his wife, who was in the grandmaster stage as both had their aura supressed. The mana in the air was subtly drawn towards Lucas, elves naturally loved by mana, it gathered to them more easily without them doing anything. This didn't happen to humans—or so the king thought, as he observed Lucas Nightstar.

'Is he even human? What are his goals? Did he use my daughter to get close to the royal family? He is just as mysterious as his entire family is... no, he is much more different than his parents that I had met,' the king thought, his mind spinning with questions.

"The reason for the demon appearing in the dungeon I have no idea, nor did I care, so I killed him. The reason I became Noctis, the White Devil, was because my status and my appearance to the world wouldn't have let me become a normal adventurer. The reason I was spotted throughout a lot of places in the human domain and almost always picking combat-related missions was because I wanted to explore more of the world while becoming stronger."

"And the reason why I saved your daughter is because it was my mission. I have no intentions or any fucking interest in you or the rest of the elves, except for your daughter, since I consider her as a 'friend' of mine. Besides, I had no clue your daughter was the princess of the elven race until after I saved her life while 'risking' mine," Lucas responded, his words sharp and laced with venom.

Lucas's words were cold and borderline disrespectful to the king, making everyone freeze in surprise. Even the king was stunned for a second; he didn't expect him to become so angry. He was the king of elves, after all, and didn't he say that his daughter is his friend? Doesn't that make you naturally more kind to your friend's father?

The reason Lucas was angry right now and disrespectful was simple: pride. He didn't like how the king was treating him with his stupid mind games. He didn't like how he suspected him of using such fucking lowly tactics to get close to the royal family. His pride was, after all, that of a dragon in the end. There is only so much he could hold back.

Even if he was awkward around people, not knowing how to talk or start conversations, that didn't mean he would allow the king to disrespect and push him when he considered that king's daughter a friend.

"YOU! DISGUSTING HUMAN! YOU DARE SPEAK LIKE THAT TO THE KIN—"

Before the guard could even continue, he and all the other guards felt a massive pressure descending upon their shoulders, making the ground around them crack.

Suddenly, they heard a voice as cold as ice, making them shiver.

"Hey."

"Speak another word and—"

Before he was done finishing, the guards, shivering and trying not to fall from the pressure, looked towards where Lucas was, but instead, all they saw was Lucas, his face not visible, surrounded by black and red energy as his red eyes glowed brightly. Black and red energy surrounded his whole body as he pointed his fingers to the guards, who were pale with fear.

"—I'll kill you."