The Third Prince Of Darkness

"I was waiting for you," she said, her face expressionless.

"Why were you waiting for me?" I replied, already knowing the answer to my question.

Ellera's lips curled slightly, and a small smile formed—one that could never be seen without careful observation... Or maybe I was just imagining it in my head.

"I was going to ask if you would accept to be my partner.... again" she said with that emotionless gaze that seemed to be an unchangeable part of her. Since Ellera was shorter than me, she had to lift her head slightly to look at me, which would normally make any girl look cute. However, even now, Ellera somehow conveyed a sense of danger.

The tip of her long white tail bent down as it returned to its usual position behind her.

"Have I mentioned that my chances of accepting decrease every time you ask me the same question?" I said to Ellera. Afterward, I began to walk toward the corridor leading to the other side, passing through the wooden door made of an oak tree on my right.

Of course, Ellera followed me, her hands clasped together on her waist just above her tails as she walked alongside me.

"Are you aware that you are rejecting one of the richest women across the six continents? If you agree to be with me, I will accept to share everything I have with you," Ellera said in her usual velvety yet emotionless voice.

As Ellera had said, she was indeed one of the richest women across all continents. Perhaps that was why she was interested in me. After all, I had opened some new industries that had never been considered before, even on other continents, and within less than two years, my companies had already begun to dominate every corner of the continent, except for the Southern Empire.

In fact, my tobacco company had even started spreading in Drakoria, located across the sea to the south of the human continent.

Drakoria was the continent where Ellera's tribe lived, and it was said to be twenty times larger than the Human continent. Ellera's snow fox tribe resided in the snowy lands in the southernmost part of this continent. However, Ellera's wealth was something widely known throughout the entire continent. Moreover, I had seen with my own eyes how powerful Ellera's snow fox form was.

In the Drakoria continent, which lies south of the Human continent, only animal tribes or semi-human species connected to animals resided. The tribes living there usually had animals they were connected to or considered sacred, and the most distinguished members of that tribe could transform into the animal they regarded as sacred.

For example, Ellera's tribe was the snow fox tribe, and Ellera was one of the three living beings with a snow fox form, possessing the greatest potential among the three. The remaining tribe members had little more than ears and tails connecting them to snow foxes.

Of course, this could vary from tribe to tribe. There were hundreds of tribes living in the southern continent, and there was no central power that governed them all, or rather, there was no effective central power. There would be only one emperor of Drakoria, elected unanimously by all the tribal leaders, but the emperor would never be very powerful.

The sole duty of this emperor was to unite and govern the entire continent when there was an attack from outside Drakoria. In other words, they could only gain power when an invasion that concerned the entire continent occurred.

Being wealthy in such a complex system was an extremely difficult task. However, Ellera's situation was different. In fact, it was rumored that she had killed her father to earn slightly less than half of her current fortune. Of course, she never spoke about her father, and I didn't concern myself with it either.

All I needed was a reliable team, and I decided to help them only when they needed assistance. I wasn't particularly interested in what they had experienced in their lives or what kind of traumas they had.

For example, when Jofmaon was young, he killed his mother with his own hands. Of course, I knew why Jofmaon had killed his mother, but there was no difference between them for me. As far as I knew, Jofmaon's master had left one day during training, saying he had some work, but before leaving, he suspiciously gave Jofmaon extra tasks.

Jofmaon, sensing something strange about his lion-like nose, returned home early, but when he entered, he heard odd noises. When he entered his mother's room, he caught his master mating with his mother, and Jofmaon succumbed to his rage. With the long and sharp axe in his hand, he killed both his master and his mother, who had just mated in bed, and he chopped their bodies into pieces with his axe.

Moreover, since the punishment for infidelity in the lion tribe was already death, Jofmaon received no punishment and was even rewarded. However, of course, he became known in Drakoria and at the Dragon Academy as "Axe-Wielding Jofmaon."

"Ellera, why are you so stubbornly pursuing me? And don't tell me it's because I'm strong. There are stronger men than me in the academy," I said, turning to Ellera as I paused.

These tribes, which have animal characteristics, have their own culture, like that of humans. One of these was that a strong woman or a strong man could only have strong partners. In fact, this was more of an instinct than a culture.

"Perhaps I sense that you are hiding your power just like you are hiding your identity?" Ellera replied, her slight smile still present.

"... You really are clever, aren't you? It's true that I'm hiding my true power... But that can't be the only reason you want to be with me so much," I said to Ellera.

Sometimes I felt different around Ellera. It was as if I felt... much safer, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say I felt "whole." I didn't know why, and frankly, it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, so I didn't dwell on it much. I thought I felt this way simply because she had the most impressive eyes I had ever seen, but perhaps there was more to it.

Even now, I could feel this intriguing sensation. Sometimes, as now, this feeling can turn into desire.

"... You really are clever, aren't you?" Ellera said, mimicking me directly, her smile now a bit wider than before. Still, you had to look closely to notice this smile.

"Oh? I'm seeing you joke for the first time? Or maybe you even risked making a joke to change the subject?"

The bright white rings in Ellera's eyes began to spin slowly like wheels again.

"Okay, fine. It's true that I don't want you just because you are strong... It's because you make me feel emotions I've never felt before....I don't know why I feel this way but...I want you so much — .... Hah Whatever, forget it," Ellera said, cutting her sentence short and beginning to walk down the corridor without me.

I was a bit surprised by what she said, but thinking that we weren't in the right place to discuss it, I followed Ellera.

When Ellera passed through the double doors at the end of the corridor, I was a few steps behind her, and after entering through the dark oak double doors, I closed the door behind me. Inside was a long, thin table around which five people were seated, along with Ellera. They were the elite five of the Black Wolf Unity.

Unlike the other chairs set aside for me, I sat in a larger and more spacious one. Right behind me, the flag of the unity, which was white with a black wolf with red eyes in the center, hung prominently, marking me as the leader.

Once I settled into my seat, Roxanne was on my right and Ellera was on my left. The others took their seats in turn. The silence created between Ellera and the other four seemed to carry an almost tangible weight. The elite members of the Black Wolves Unity were as silent as always, but I could sense that something was different.

"I know we have some important matters to discuss today, but first I want to inform all of you about something significant" I began, taking a deep breath as I gauged the room with my eyes before continuing.

"As you know, there will soon be a tournament on an academy-wide scale. And I plan to participate in this tournament myself. But before that, I want to reveal something to you, my closest allies in this academy..."

I noticed that everyone was listening to me attentively and quietly. After glancing first at Roxanne and then at Ellera, I continued

"Some of you may have already noticed this, but most people here do not know this truth. My name is not Arthur Connan... This is my false name. You are currently hearing my altered voice and seeing my disguised form... However, I plan to reveal my true identity at the Academy tournament."