Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1210: Greedy Old Fucker

The king’s smirk grew as he heard the reluctant admittance. ”Interesting.”

He reclined further, clearly savoring the feeling of control. For the first time in this entire exchange, he had Quinlan exactly where he wanted him. ”You’re a slippery one, Quinlan Elysiar. But I’m no fool. We both want something from the other, but I have the upper hand.”

His smile widened, glinting with victory. ”Add my legendary artifact to the deal. The [Veil of Aetherius]. You have it, don’t you?”

For the first time that evening, Quinlan’s expression went completely unreadable.

In the throne room, the Aegis officers stood with rapidly beating hearts. They felt greatly distressed about the call that had been going on up until now, but finally, things were going as they should.

Alexios was relishing the moment, that slow, swelling satisfaction of finally winning against the ever-composed rude bastard on the other end of the line.

He had no idea.

Far away, two faces were beginning to shift.

Rosie’s lips parted first, the corners of her mouth curling upward with quiet, wicked delight. Beside her, Quinlan’s expression matched hers perfectly, growing devilish.

The king thought he had cornered the predator.

He hadn’t noticed the two wolves smiling back.

Quinlan’s expression darkened. His fist clenched so tight the veins bulged across his knuckles, and then it slammed down onto the armrest of the chair. The impact cracked the wood, making a dull thud echo through the chamber.

”You old fucker... you’re too greedy!” he barked. The words spilled out between clenched teeth.

Alexios only chuckled in return. ”You knew from the start the terms wouldn’t be fair. There are no free meals.”

”That might be the case, but this is too much! I can’t accept this.”

”If you want those Geim Roots processed, you’ll need royal alchemists. And, well...” His tone turned mocking. ”They’re all under royal protection now, wards included. Your teleportation tricks won’t reach them easily.”

Quinlan’s glare sharpened.

”Unless,” Alexios added, ”you plan to rely on that Naomi and Gideon pair. I hear they’ve got potential.”

Quinlan cursed under his breath, the sound of which was low and venomous. ”Should’ve known. I showed too much of my damn powers.”

He exhaled through his nose, forcing his frustration down. Then, after a pause, his tone steadied. ”Fine. I’m willing to trade the artifact. But I’m not giving it out.”

”Oh?” Alexios hummed, intrigued. ”I suppose I could open my treasury so long as you’re reasonable.”

”Fifty thousand gold.”

A beat of silence. Then...

”Done.”

Legendary-tier artifacts were often treated as national treasures. To Alexios, these were legacies of his lineage. Thus, for a man swimming in money, the trade was immensely valuable.

Quinlan sighed, defeated. ”... Prepare the coins and the pair, old man. Call again when you’re ready to make the trade.”

And just like that, the link severed.

For a moment, the room was silent. Then Quinlan leaned back in his chair and burst out laughing.

The dryad on his lap felt his large hand ruffle through her leafy hair with wild enthusiasm. He tousled it so much that the once-tidy strands stuck out in every direction.

Rosie giggled, closing her eyes as his laughter filled the chamber. ”We got him!” she cheered, her voice bright and triumphant.

Quinlan grinned widely, still chuckling. ”Damn right we did.”

The trap they set for the king was simple.

Rosie and Quinlan revealed just enough to mislead the king. He thought they needed the Geim Roots to be processed, and that to do so, they needed the help of the alchemist pair who had the recipe.

However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Geim Roots had already been processed long ago by the pair’s daughter, Aurora.

As Rosie kept detailing her awesome mothers before the king’s acutely listening ears, Aurora’s name was deliberately kept out of the conversation.

The king did not know she was here, probably didn’t even know she existed. She was too small scale to even be captured alongside her parents. The authorities did not know that she was greatly trusted by her alchemist parents despite her youthful age and had no official alchemist certificate.

And they did not know that she had remembered the recipe to make the true [Mystical Elixir of Awakening], the potion that needed the [Geim Root] to awaken adults to the wizard class.

The Geim was dead, there was no way for Alexios to guess that it gave Quinlan its seeds. Thus, all that remained of the tree creature were the few roots the king assumed Quinlan took with him.

To the king, a those couple roots held little value. He must’ve had more in his treasury, and while the end product was extremely good, he mostly used them to give away to his loyal soldiers as a reward for their service.

As evidenced by Felicity, Alexios preferred his children to consume the incomplete elixir, giving them the greatest choice over their path.

Lastly, and most importantly, if Alexios knew he had the parents of one of Quinlan’s wives, he could’ve demanded a lot more for it, perhaps even the return of Felicity.

After all, he had two prisoners while Quinlan only had one.

That’s why Aurora’s existence had to remain hidden.

They let Alexios think he was having the upper hand when all was going according to plan.

Yes, the artifact included.

Truth be told, it was just sitting, useless.

Quinlan used it to veil his stronghold, but was it really needed now?

Rosie was a level 70 tree spirit whose roots encompassed far, far beyond where the veil reached. She could sense enemies coming from incredibly far away.

And if that wasn’t enough, Yoruha’s mighty illusions also hid the stronghold.

It was already greatly protected.

And now, more and more mighty people were even making it their home.

With Black Fang and Yoruha present, not even the king could just drop in here and expect flawless victory.

Quinlan knew that he would soon become immensely powerful; thus, the king was racing against the clock if he wanted to collar him.

In a bit, he might even become powerful enough to just waltz into the palace and demand the artifact back.

That’s why he’d much rather let the king have a small victory, satiating his animosity. It will give Quinlan time.

At the same time, gold was always needed. He would be able to use it to invest in raw materials so he and Kaelira can craft better gear, or spend it however the situation demanded.

In fact... ”Yes...” he just got one great idea.

’Alexios... I hope you kick the bucket so you won’t have to see your kingdom burn to the ground.’

”You just outplayed my father, didn’t you?”