Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 3115: Eternal Servitude

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Lil’ Red Storm Realm

“Eternal Servitude. Can you pay that?” Dalia answered Thalorien’s offer with a question of her own.

The words were simple. The weight behind them was not. Thalorien’s pupils contracted slightly. For the briefest instant, genuine shock appeared in his eyes before he quickly concealed it. He had expected demands involving his research, his knowledge, perhaps even his service for a limited period. But, he hadn’t expected Eternal Servitude.

Dalia noticed the cunning glint hidden behind his stunned expression and immediately understood that the Snow Elven Crown Prince was already calculating.

“If you lie, there will be no going back,” she warned, her tone losing its playful edge. “So choose your next words wisely.”

She wasn’t threatening him for the sake of intimidation. She was making the rules clear.

Dalia had no intention of allowing Thalorien to make a false promise simply to escape his current predicament. If he accepted, then his submission would have to be genuine.

She also wasn’t beating around the bush. Her younger brother had originally wanted Thalorien turned into a Calamity Daughter’s Gem. Dalia, however, had decided to go one step further.

If she could turn such a powerful existence into one of their Bloodkin instead, why settle for a gem?

They could always use another powerful Bloodkin, and Thalorien’s strength alone made him worth recruiting. His enormous Frost Rule Stream was proof that he had accumulated an extraordinary foundation over a lifetime. His knowledge, experience, bloodline, and understanding of the Frost Rule made him even more valuable.

More importantly, recruiting him alive would be a much better result than simply killing him. It would also be a perfect opportunity for Dalia to prove something to her younger brother. He had trusted her with this matter. She intended to show him that his elder sister could be relied upon.

Dalia’s confidence came from the fact that Thalorien had already surrendered. He was bound by her roots, his Frost Rule Stream was being devoured, his clone army had been devastated, and his strongest transformation had failed to overcome her. There was no longer any meaningful avenue through which he could force his way out.

She had all the leverage. And Thalorien knew it. But Dalia’s confidence wasn’t based solely on having overwhelming strength. She had also accepted a very simple principle long ago: When strength decides the outcome, the side with greater strength gets to decide what is reasonable. She had the strength. Thalorien had the choice. But it was a choice made inside a cage.

“Your Highness, I would be honored to offer my eternal servitude to His Highness,” Thalorien said without hesitation. “However, I fear for my race. They have just lost their Empyrean, my father. If his heir, I, were to leave them now as well, they would be like a body without a head, left without direction while the powers around them tear them apart.”

He paused deliberately, allowing his words to settle.

“I believe I cannot serve His Highness wholeheartedly while carrying that concern in the back of my mind. If Your Highness is willing to allow me to make suitable arrangements for the Snow Elves, I will be able to devote myself to His Highness without reservation.”

He had neither rejected Dalia’s offer nor accepted it outright. Instead, he had placed his first condition on the table.

Thalorien knew he was walking on a razor’s edge. He had surrendered his greatest advantage, but that didn’t mean he had to surrender every bargaining chip he possessed. If Dalia truly wanted his eternal servitude, then his loyalty was the only thing he could still negotiate with.

Dalia stared at him for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, I heard about that,” she said. “But I have trouble believing someone who committed patricide actually cares about anyone else.”

Her words were blunt enough to cut. And from the looks of Thalorien’s solidified expression they did.

“Since you were willing to kill your own blood, why should I believe you suddenly care so deeply about your race?”

Thalorien’s expression remained composed, but the roots around his body tightened slightly as his muscles instinctively tensed.

Dalia wasn’t merely questioning his sincerity. She was attacking the very foundation of his argument. He claimed that the Snow Elves were his reason for negotiating, but his recent actions said otherwise. Killing his father, kidnapping and experimenting on his own kind, these were not things someone who loved his race did.

“Your Highness, I did what I believed was in the best interest of my race at that moment, and I will continue to do so,” Thalorien replied calmly. He no longer bothered hiding his demand behind layers of elegant wording. “Therefore, as long as you can guarantee the posterity of the Snow Elven race, I will serve His Highness with my full loyalty.”

There was no hesitation in his voice this time. Thalorien had already realized that Dalia wasn’t someone he could manipulate with carefully constructed rhetoric. She was too direct, too powerful, and far too confident in her position.

So he gave it to her straight. He could surrender, his freedom, his pride, etc had a price and it was property of the Snow Elven race.

Their Empyrean was dead. Their strongest pillar had fallen, and Thalorien had played a direct role in that death. Whatever his reasons had been, the consequences remained. If he disappeared immediately afterward, the Snow Elven race would be left leaderless at precisely the moment when countless powers would be watching for weakness. If his eternal servitude could purchase their survival, then he was willing to pay that price.

Dalia stared at him. For several seconds, there was complete silence. Then her expression changed. “Wait.”

Her voice was dangerously calm. “You’re saying that to obtain your eternal servitude, we have to guarantee the prosperity of the Snow Elven race?”

Thalorien’s eyes flickered. Dalia’s voice suddenly thundered across the realm, “How dare you?”

The ground beneath them trembled. Thalorien’s expression stiffened as the roots binding him tightened instinctively, though Dalia herself hadn’t consciously commanded them to move.

“You’re asking my brother to work his entire life for your entire race just so you will be willing to serve him?” Dalia demanded, glaring at him. “Don’t overestimate yourself?”

To Dalia, Thalorien had just taken an offer of eternal servitude and somehow turned it into a lifelong employment contract with her younger brother, with responsibilities of managing an entire race.

Guaranteeing the posterity of the Snow Elves wasn’t some trivial promise. It meant ensuring that the Snow Elves survived, developed, reproduced, and continued to thrive for as long as they existed. It meant accepting responsibility for their future.

And Thalorien had presented that responsibility as though it were merely the reasonable price for obtaining his loyalty.

Dalia’s eyes narrowed, scowling at him, “You really are shameless.”

Thalorien remained surprisingly composed despite her fury. He knew exactly what he had asked for. And he also knew exactly why he had asked. The future of the Snow Elven race was something he could not simply gamble away. Therefore, even in face of Dalia’s anger his expression didn’t change and the resolve in his eyes grew stronger.