Her eyes lingered for a moment on her youngest daughter, pride flickering there, then returned to Arthur.

Of course, Eliana was not naive.

The boy standing before her—calm eyes, defiant aura—was no ordinary commoner. She already knew he was Sylvia Evan Imperius’s son. She didn’t know the exact details, but those red eyes and his temperament were impossible to mistake.

She was curious, but she also knew that digging too deep into Imperius matters would do her more harm than good.

Still, one thing was obvious: the reason these two titans—Ravina Crown and Yuichi Takahashi—had come personally and offered such outrageous deals was most likely tied to the boy in front of her.

The profits from these agreements would bring in the funds and resources she desperately needed with war looming so close.

’I have to keep this boy tied to us, no matter what,’ Eliana thought. ’My instincts are screaming that he is far from ordinary. I can’t afford to let this chance slip away.’

As she looked towards Jasmine with a smile.

Eliana shifted her attention back to Arthur.

"Tell me, Arthur," she said, eyes narrowing slightly, "you are a C-rank, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Arthur replied.

"Then how can you be fit to protect my daughter and call yourself her knight," Eliana asked, "when you haven’t even broken into B-rank yet?"

Arthur’s mouth twitched.

’She’s saying it like breaking into B-rank is a piece of cake,’ he thought. ’She’s obviously messing with me.’

Eliana’s lips curled upward, as if she could hear his thoughts.

Evangeline suddenly stood up.

"Mother," she said firmly, "it doesn’t matter if Arthur possesses only meager strength. Strength isn’t everything. He’s very intelligent too, and he can give me valuable advice when it matters."

Eliana smiled, amused.

"Is that so?" she said. "You’re quite confident in him. But who can say if he’s not all talk?"

Arthur’s lips formed a slow smile.

"I can prove it right here and now," he said.

Inside, Eliana thought, ’Got him.’

"If you can prove it," she said aloud, leaning back, "I will give you a very special reward."

As she said that, her gaze slid toward Jasmine.

A chill ran down Jasmine’s spine.

’It can’t be...’ she thought. ’Mother is definitely not thinking that... with this guy of all people...’

She glared at Arthur.

Arthur started walking toward the throne with unhurried steps, glancing casually at the watch on his wrist.

"It’s about time," he murmured.

His eyes flicked to Joan.

The prince was biting his nails, restless, as if he were waiting for something with barely restrained excitement.

’What are those bastards doing? It’s about time,’ Joan thought, heart beating faster.

Arthur continued walking.

The queen’s bodyguards quickly moved to block his path, stepping between him and Eliana.

"What are you doing, boy?" one of them demanded.

Arthur looked at his watch again.

"Tell me," he asked calmly, "do you know how to use Nullify?"

"Are you talking about the spell lost centuries ago?" the guard scoffed.

"Yes, that one," Arthur said.

The guards glanced at each other.

"Of course not," one of them replied. "No one knows how to use that anymore."

Arthur smiled.

"There are only thirty seconds left," he said quietly. "If you don’t move now..."

He raised his eyes to Eliana.

"Her Majesty, Queen Eliana, will die."

The throne room froze.

Everyone shot to their feet, chairs scraping loudly against the floor. They stared at Arthur as if he had grown a second head.

Faces turned pale.

"What the hell did you just say?!" Jasmine shouted, her aura flaring wildly.

Evangeline’s aura burst forth in response, colliding with Jasmine’s in midair, invisible waves of pressure crashing against each other as they fought for dominance.

Joan’s face drained of color.

’How did he find out?’ he thought, heart pounding.

Arthur’s eyes remained calm. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Only fifteen seconds left," he said. "And you won’t be able to stop it in time."

He started counting, voice steady.

"Fourteen... thirteen... twelve... eleven..."

"Let him come," Eliana said suddenly.

Her voice cut through the chaos like a blade.

"Don’t block his way."

The guards hesitated only for a heartbeat, then stepped aside at once.

Arthur surged forward.

He reached the throne and immediately grabbed Eliana, pulling her into a firm hug. The sudden contact surprised her—not many people dared to touch the queen uninvited.

He held her close.

"Ten seconds," Arthur murmured. "It’s coming."

He turned, raising one hand toward the entrance of the throne room while keeping the other arm around Eliana, shielding her.

A massive magic circle flared to life beneath the carpet, lines of light etching themselves into the floor and expanding until they engulfed the entire throne room.

The air hummed with power.

Arthur’s hand glowed with dense mana.

"Nullify," he said.

The word echoed with authority.

In the next second—

Boom.

The magic circle shattered like glass, breaking apart into countless glittering fragments of light that scattered across the room before fading into nothing.

For a moment, everyone thought it was over.

It wasn’t.

White silhouettes began rising from the floor where the circle had been, like mist coalescing into human forms. Dozens of them, surrounding the throne, the queen, and every person in the hall.

At the same time, Arthur’s vampiric vision caught something else—a thin streak cutting through the air, almost invisible to normal eyes.

A sniper bullet, wrapped in antimana, screamed toward Eliana’s head.

Arthur’s eyes flashed red.

He flung out his free hand, mana spiraling around his fingers.

"Nullify," he repeated.

The bullet slowed midair as if hitting an invisible wall, then crumbled into harmless dust that scattered before it could touch anyone.

Everyone’s mouths fell open.

They had just watched a lost spell erase both a massive magic circle and an antimana-coated sniper shot as if they were nothing.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked toward a distant vantage point beyond the throne room walls—where he could faintly make out the figure who had fired the shot.

But before he could move, he shifted his attention back to the present.

Because now, all of them were surrounded by those white silhouettes, closing in from every direction.