The silence in the Grand Dining Hall wasn't just heavy. It was dangerous.
Duke Reinhard's crimson eyes bored into Rias. The sheer weight of his Destructive Aura pressed down on the room like a landslide.
The crystal glass trembled. The magical lamps flickered, their flames suppressed by the killing intent of the strongest man in the Empire.
It was an aura that had broken enemy generals and shattered hardened knights.
Yet, the fifteen-year-old boy standing at the foot of the table simply looked back.
Rias didn't tremble. He didn't look away. He didn't drop to his knees to beg for mercy.
He synchronised his breathing with the ambient mana in the room.
The mana of the room flowed into his lungs, negate the opposite force and bring the internal mana to the equilibrium, It seamlessly neutralized the crushing pressure before it could even touch his internal organs.
A complicated silence settled over the siblings.
Caspian also stopped his silent intimidation. His hand drifted toward his sword. He sensed something completely foreign coming from his garbage brother—a profound, unnatural stillness.
Kael's stared at Rias with wide, irritated eyes.
Even Duchess Melisa's perfectly still fingers twitched against her chair.
"You did not stutter," Duke Reinhard finally rumbled. His voice was deep and entirely cold.
"And you are standing on your own two feet. It seems the healers did not completely waste their potions on you."
"I am perfectly healthy, Father," Rias replied smoothly.
He didn't use the formal title of 'Your Grace'. He used 'Father'.
It was a tiny test. He wanted to see if the Duke's view of him had shifted at all.
The Duke's eyes narrowed just a fraction. He didn't scold the boy for the informal title. Instead, he leaned back in his massive chair. The destructive pressure receded just enough to let the room breathe.
"Good," the Duke stated coldly.
"Because you are leaving the estate by the end of the week."
Rias blinked. His flawless facade broke for a split second.
'Leaving?...'
"You are going to the Velmer Empire," Duke Reinhard continued, dropping the words like a blade.
"You are to be engaged to Amyra Celestia, the youngest daughter of the Velmer Imperial Family. The treaties are signed. The carriage arrives in four days."
The dining hall plunged into absolute silence.
For the first time since waking up in this world, Rias felt a genuine spike of shock.
'The Velmer Empire? Amyra Celestia?!'
His mind raced, desperately flipping through the lore of his own novel. Suddenly, the pieces snapped together.
The Velmer Empire wasn't just a neighboring country. It was the undisputed superpower of the continent.
And more importantly, they were Solaria's bitterest enemies.
Five years ago, a brutal border war had erupted. Solaria was pushed to the brink of annihilation. They were losing on every front to Velmer's superior mages.
The only reason Solaria still existed was the monster sitting at the head of this very table.
Duke Reinhard had been deployed to the north.
In three months, he slaughtered three of Velmer's highest-ranking generals.
He shattered their armies and generals.
He turned the blood-soaked plains into a graveyard of ash using his Power.
He did so much damage that the Velmer Emperor was forced to call for a ceasefire.
'A peace treaty,' Rias realized.
'But treaties between enemies are just paper. Velmer wouldn't just walk away after taking that much damage.'
They needed a guarantee.
They needed a chain around Duke Reinhard's neck to ensure he wouldn't attack again.
They needed a hostage of his direct bloodline.
Rias's crimson eyes flicked across the faces of his family.
Caspian. Lucien. Kael. Elisa.
Every single one of them was a terrifying prodigy. The Duke was a ruthless, pragmatic monster. He would never hand his prized lions over to the enemy.
But he couldn't refuse the Velmer Emperor's demand either. If he refused, the war would restart.
So, what was the solution?
Send the trash.
Send the crippled, useless bastard son who had no talent and no future. Slap the title of "Fiancé to the Imperial Princess" on him and ship him off to buy ten years of peace.
Rias stared at the Duke. A profound sense of absurdity washed over him.
'They are using me as a fake hostage,' Rias thought, almost wanting to laugh out loud.
What was he even worth?
A hostage was leverage. If Velmer threatened to execute the hostage, the Duke was supposed to back down.
But if Velmer put a blade to Rias's throat tomorrow, Duke Reinhard wouldn't even blink. He might even send a thank-you note.
The Velmer Empire thought they were getting a leash on the mighty Duke. In reality, they were being handed a completely worthless bargaining chip.
"A grand opportunity, isn't it?"
The honey-sweet voice of Duchess Melisa broke into Rias's thoughts.
She smiled, though her eyes were filled with freezing contempt.
"An illegitimate mistake gets to marry into the greatest Imperial Family on the continent. You should be crying with gratitude, Rias. Your pathetic existence finally has a purpose: to be a shield for your betters."
Lucien swirled his wine glass, a cruel smirk on his lips.
"Do try to survive the journey, little brother. I hear the Velmer Imperial Court does not tolerate weakness. It would be a shame if you accidentally tripped on a sword before the wedding."
Kael snorted loudly.
"He's going to die in a week! They hate us! The moment he steps into Velmer territory, they're going to skin him alive!"
Elisa, the beautiful ice-princess, didn't say a word. She merely took a delicate sip of her water, completely indifferent to her half-brother's execution sentence.
They all expected a reaction.
They wanted him to fall to his knees, to cry, to beg the Duke not to send him away. They wanted to relish his despair.
Rias stood in the center of their collective malice.
And then, very slowly, a breathtakingly calm smile spread across his face.
The smile was so genuine, so devoid of fear, that the cruel laughter at the table died instantly.
Duchess Melisa's smirk faltered.
Lucien's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
Even Duke Reinhard shifted in his massive chair, his brow furrowing in deep suspicion.
'Fools,' Rias thought. Pure joy sang in his purified veins.
This wasn't an execution sentence.
This was a golden ticket.
His biggest obstacle right now was this very house.
He was trapped in an estate surrounded by terrifying people. He had a celestial-tier talent, but he couldn't use it. If he suddenly showed off miraculous magic, Caspian would interrogate him, the Duchess would assassinate him, and the Duke would dissect him.
He needed to grind EXP. He needed to clear dungeons. He needed freedom.
And now? The Duke was literally handing him a one-way ticket out of this prison.
He was being sent to the biggest, wealthiest empire in the world. As the "fiancé" of a Princess, he would have access to resources the Leonhart estate deliberately kept from him.
Sure, the Velmer court would hate him. Sure, there would be assassins.
But a hidden knife in the dark was far easier to deal with than the constant pressure of Duke Reinhard's daily gaze.
Rias placed his right hand over his chest and executed a flawless, deeply respectful bow.
"I understand, Father," Rias said. His voice rang with unshakable clarity.
"It is the greatest honor of my life to serve the Leonhart name in this capacity. I accept this duty with a glad heart."
Dead silence.
If Rias had suddenly sprouted wings, the family could not have been more shocked.
Kael's jaw literally dropped.
Lucien gripped his wine glass so hard the crystal whined.
Duchess Melisa's eyes widened in sheer disbelief, her illusionary aura rippling out of control.
Even Duke Reinhard was taken aback. He stared at the boy, searching for any hint of sarcasm or hidden madness in those crimson eyes.
He found nothing but absolute calm.
"You... accept?" the Duke asked. His voice was thick with suspicion.
"Of course," Rias replied, standing upright.
"As the Duchess so eloquently stated, my existence has finally found its purpose. I will pack my belongings immediately."
Rias didn't wait to be dismissed. He didn't ask for guards.
He simply turned on his heel and walked out, leaving the most powerful family in the Empire sitting in baffled, uncomfortable silence.
As the heavy iron doors shut behind him, cutting off the suffocating pressure of the room, Rias finally let out a long breath.
His lips curled into a sharp, grin in the dark corridor.
[Ding!]
[System Notification: Major Narrative Shift Detected!]
[The Host has accepted a path that deviates entirely from the predetermined fate of this vessel...]
[Main Quest Initiated: The Wolf in the Lion's Skin]
[Objective 1: Survive the journey to the Velmer Empire.]
[Objective 2: Establish a foothold in the Imperial Court.]
[Objective 3: Survive your first encounter with your betrothed, the 'Blood Princess' Amyra Celestia.]
[Quest Reward: 10,000 EXP, Unlocking of the System Shop, 1x Random Mythic-Tier Weapon.]
[Failure Condition: Death.]
Rias stared at the glowing blue text.
Ten thousand EXP. That was enough to instantly shatter the Bronze tier and level up him directly into the upper ranks of Silver, maybe even Gold.
And the target of his engagement... Amyra Celestia.
He remembered her perfectly. She was a major villainess in the later half of the novel. A terrifying, genius prodigy who executed her enemies without a second thought. She despised the Solaria Empire.
She was going to try and kill him the moment they met.
"A fake hostage and a bloodthirsty princess," Rias chuckled softly. The sound echoed in the cold stone corridor.
"Well then. Let's see who ends up holding the leash."