Tristan could see that the elf king was much stronger than him, but even so, Tristan refused to let anyone, much less him, dictate his life. Never!

Right now, he is in a good enough position to argue against him. He has the backing of the Vanyar elf, and being married to the princess should have its advantages, does it?

In fact, now that he could be considered the 'son' of the Vanyar ruler, while the half elf was only a nephew, there was grounds to argue that he outranked the annoying king now.

With a newfound confidence, Tristan gave the most sincere smile he could, and said.

"Thank you for the invitation, but as of now, Your Majesty, I much prefer staying here."

Tristan's answer made the king's flat expression change into a surprise for a brief moment. Noticing the expression, Tristan merely smiled in his mind and continued.

"You see, Your Majesty, I am currently in a very delicate situation," Tristan walked closer to Serene, looked at her intently, and continued. "My new bride here has needs to attend, and it would be remiss for me to go with you now."

Deliberately, he spoke to grab the attention of both the king and the princess. Serena's once neutral expression shifted back to a frown.

Tristan turned back to look at the king, as if challenging him without words, and said.

"But yes, of course, I will come to see you, perhaps in a month or two…"

The king looked at him with a serious glare and replied.

"You seem to mistake my words as a request." To emphasize his point, the king gripped the handle of the massive sword stabbed on the floor.

Tristan bowed in accordance to the elven tradition he just studied to emphasize that he is now a Vanyar elf "My apologies, Your Majesty, as now I am part of the Vanyar kingdom, I would follow only if my queen agreed to it."

The queen looked at Tristan with a smile

This was Tristan's plan from the beginning. The main reason he followed through with the marriage was to hide behind the elven queen's authority. Now that he was officially married, he needed to test how much power does the queen really have over the Arcadian king.

He had worked hard to earn his place here, especially the last few days.

But, to his surprise, the queen said.

"Tristan, me, and Callan had discussed about this. For now, it will be best for all of us for you to follow the King's wishes."

"Dammit!" Tristan started to curse in his mind

He really was counting on the queen to be able to shield him from this.

The king gave him a wicked smile and said. "There, you have your answer, now hurry up and prepare."

The more Tristan saw the half elf king's behavior, the more annoyed he felt. He has no intention to follow him, but for now, defying that man was not a wise thing, as his strength far outranked his. In addition, outright defiance against a king with elven heritage might come back to bite him in the back later on.

Now that the queen refused to help, he could only depend on his other talent.

Tristan looked at the queen and said. "My queen, I was not planning to disobey you, I just need more time to learn 'the ways of the elf'. Give me a few more weeks, and afterwards, I will follow him."

Even though the queen seemed to dismiss him before, Tristan could see her hesitation, indicating that him being taken away by the half-elf king was against her wishes.

He took the time to bask in this small victory. He just needed more time to increase his own strength, and if he managed to buy a few weeks here, be it from gathering more blood, finding an elven secret that could help him, or finding more of those sacred divine stage animals that could increase his power, he might just be able to increase his chances at beating the Arcadian king later.

Just a few more weeks, and he's sure that even if he can't get as strong as that king, he could better resist against becoming his plaything.

"What do you think of, Callan?"

The queen spoke, and Tristan grinned discreetly.

"No!, I can't accept it, Leena. You have had your time to do your test, now it is my turn."

With just that one sentence, the queen's heart was changed yet again. Even if she hasn't said anything, that was clear from her expression.

Those two people really are… Tristan hated not knowing anything. What do they want with him? What kind of test?

"Tests…? No more of it! I'm fed up with whatever it is you think I am…!" Tristan finally snapped.

The king merely grinned at his outburst and said. "Alright then, I will give you an easier test. This will be fast and easy…"

The king pulled out his sword from the ground, leaving no doubt as to what the true nature of the test is.

"Fight me, here and now. Defeat me, and I will leave you alone." The king declared.

Tristan chuckled upon hearing the king's challenge. It was blatant that the king merely wanted to give him the illusion of a chance.

"Your Majesty, you know as well as I do that I am no match for you." Tristan said.

"Then, let me make it simple for you, Tristan." The king pointed his massive sword at him and said. If you can make me bleed even one drop of blood, I will leave you alone. Surely, the monarch of the prophecy could afford to do this much!"

Tristan took out his new sword, and took a fighting stance.

"One drop of blood from you," Tristan gritted his teeth. "and in exchange, you will leave me and my sister alone!"

"Deal!"

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,