Chương 183: Chapter : 183

He did not project an aura of overt, screaming malice. Instead, he radiated a cold, unyielding, absolute determination to completely crush anyone who dared to stand between him and the Imperial throne. He was a perfectionist, and he walked with the quiet, deadly confidence of a man who already believed he had won the war. Princess Iris stopped walking. She signaled for her team to halt. She stood perfectly still, maintaining her regal posture as her younger brother approached.

"Brother Hades," Princess Iris greeted him, her voice polite but incredibly guarded. Hades stopped exactly five feet away from her. His elite servants stood silently behind him, completely mirroring his stoic, expressionless demeanor. They looked like a row of perfectly carved statues.

"Sister Iris," Hades replied smoothly. His voice was quiet, incredibly calm, and totally devoid of any warmth.

"It is a rare occasion to see you wandering the halls of the Upper Council. I assume you are here to finalize the paperwork for our scheduled match tomorrow?"

"We are," Iris answered, her violet eyes meeting his cold gaze without flinching.

"All the necessary documents have been approved. My team is fully prepared to face yours in the arena."

"Excellent," Hades said softly, offering a very small, incredibly tense nod.

"I prefer my opponents to be fully prepared. An easy victory offers very little useful data, and I find unorganized matches to be quite tedious." Ken, standing just a few feet behind Iris, let out a loud, dramatic yawn that totally shattered the tense, intimidating atmosphere. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and slouched his shoulders.

"Man, this guy is a total joy at parties, isn't he?" Ken whispered loudly to Naomi, completely ignoring the fact that the Prince could definitely hear him.

"He talks like a textbook. Do you think he ever smiles, or would his face just crack in half if he tried?" Naomi's eyes widened in sheer panic. She quickly stepped on Ken's toe again, giving him a furious, terrified look.

"Shut up, Ken!" she hissed desperately. Hades did not yell. He did not demand an apology for the insult. He didn't even look at Ken. His piercing, cold green eyes simply slid right past the messy, untucked boy, totally dismissing him as an utterly irrelevant, useless background character. But as Hades's gaze swept across the rest of the 13th Unit's vanguard, his eyes suddenly stopped moving. His piercing stare locked directly onto the girl standing on the far right side of the formation.

He saw the spotless white and gold uniform. He saw the perfectly styled blonde curls and the twin silver swords hanging at her hips. He saw Elma. For the very first time since he had walked down the corridor, the flawless, stoic mask on Hades's pale face actually slipped. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. It was only for a fraction of a second, but it was undeniable. His eyes widened a millimeter. The muscles in his sharp jaw clenched tightly.

A look of genuine, deep suspicion and total confusion flashed across his perfectly controlled features. Hades had spent the entire night running complex calculations. He had studied the 13th Unit's files. He knew Iris only had eight active servants. He had fully anticipated that she would either forfeit the match or struggle desperately to find a low-level replacement.

He never, in a million years, expected to see one of Princess Hestia's most elite, highly prized fighters standing casually among Iris's messy, chaotic team.

"Princess Hestia's vanguard," Hades murmured, his voice losing just a tiny bit of its usual smooth rhythm. He stared intensely at Elma, analyzing the situation with rapid, frantic speed.

"I must admit, Iris. I find this development... highly unexpected." Princess Iris kept her expression completely neutral.

"We utilized the mercenary substitution clause. It is entirely within the legal bounds of the tournament rules."

"I am fully aware of the legalities, sister," Hades replied, his tone turning incredibly sharp and calculating. He took a slow step forward, his pale green eyes darting back and forth between Iris and Elma.

"What I am struggling to comprehend is the motivation. I can hardly believe that Hestia—a woman entirely consumed by her own pride—would ever willingly part with one of her elite vanguards to assist a rival unit." He fell silent for a moment. His brilliant, paranoid mind was racing. Hades did not believe in kindness, and he certainly did not believe in random acts of generosity between Royal siblings. In his strict, logical worldview, everything was a calculated maneuver. Everything was a trap.

He openly admitted his concerns, not caring who heard him.

"I find this entire arrangement incredibly strange," Hades stated coldly, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

"It is tactically unsettling. Hestia despises you, Iris. For her to offer you a lifeline... it implies a coordinated effort. A hidden agreement between the two of you." Sayma pushed her glasses up, keeping her face polite but guarded. She could see exactly what the 15th Prince was thinking. He thought the two sisters had formed a massive, secret conspiracy specifically designed to humiliate him in the arena.

"There is no hidden agreement, Prince Hades," Sayma offered smoothly.

"It was a simple, transactional business deal to complete our roster. Nothing more." Hades did not believe her for a single second. He slowly straightened his collar, his pale fingers moving with precise, deliberate care. He forced his stoic, emotionless mask firmly back onto his face, completely hiding the paranoid calculations spinning wildly inside his brain.

"We shall see," Hades murmured softly, his cold gaze sweeping over the 13th Unit one last time. He offered Princess Iris a polite, incredibly tense bow of his head.

"I wish you good luck in the arena tomorrow, sister," Hades said, though the words sounded more like a chilling promise than a friendly greeting.

"I assure you, I will be adjusting my strategies accordingly to accommodate your new addition." Without waiting for a response, Hades turned sharply on his heel. His long, dark coat swished elegantly behind him as he strode away down the pristine white corridor, his silent, statue-like servants following perfectly in his wake. His mind was clearly racing, furiously trying to calculate exactly what kind of devious, political trap his two sisters were secretly plotting against him.

The 13th Unit stood quietly in the hallway, watching the dark figure of the 15th Prince disappear into the bustling crowd. The heavy, suffocating tension that had gripped the corridor slowly evaporated, leaving the girls feeling incredibly uneasy.

"Well, that was terrifying," Laxmi muttered, rubbing her arms as if she had just stepped out of a freezer.

"He didn't even raise his voice, but I feel like he was mentally dissecting us. He is definitely going to overthink this entire match."

"Let him overthink it," Naomi said fiercely, her green eyes full of competitive fire. She looked at Elma, offering the blonde girl a determined nod.

"If he thinks this is a giant trap, it means he is going to be second-guessing himself the entire time we are fighting. We can use that hesitation against him."