Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Our regal maid

Chapter 181 – Our regal maid

At the same exact time Aphasia was battling her sister, her other sisters were fighting too.

One of them—Sophie—was locked in a stare-off with none other than Antares, the Elf King.

He looked like Nephis. Same pale skin. Same silver hair and silver eyes.

But his eyes… they were just silver, cold, empty and ordinary. Not the starlit glow Nephis had in hers.

Still, that didn’t make him any less terrifying.

After all, he was no ordinary elf.

He was a king.

“How long are you going to keep this farce up?” Antares said, voice cold, sharp like it was forged in ice.

“You’ll either come to me—or I’ll come to you, little child.”

Little child.

Sophie twitched. Just slightly. But it was there.

It had been a long time since anyone dared speak to her like that. Long enough that the insult almost triggered an automatic attack.

But she held back.

“You’re Aphasia’s father. I don’t want to fight you,” she said, steady and calm. “It’d be better if we just stayed like this and let this farce of a war end.”

At the mention of Aphasia, Antares’s face shifted like he’d just tasted something rotten.

“What’s your relationship with her?” he asked immediately, eyes narrowing.

Sophie tilted her head, unbothered. “She’s my sister, in a way. We share the same man.”

Silence.

Then—

BAAAM—!

Antares’s hand came for her face in a blur, the air itself howling at the sheer force behind it.

But Sophie caught it.

Fingers locking fingers. Palm against palm. The impact cracked the ground beneath them.

Yes, that’s right—he had tried to slap her.

Like she was a child needing to be corrected.

Like she wasn’t Sophie Castria Vaelgrim.

“You’re fast,” Antares said his voice indifferent, gaze unchanging. “Little girl.”

Sophie didn’t reply immediately. She was still shocked—not by his strength—but by his arrogance.

The sheer daring of him.

Then she smiled.

Softly.

But her eyes?

Her eyes said murder.

“You want a fight, King Antares?”

She took a step back.

“Then you’ll have it.”

The moment the words left her mouth—

CRACK!

A bolt of red lightning struck from the sky like divine wrath, slamming into Antares before he could even blink.

He hadn’t moved.

He couldn’t.

Her grip had locked him in place.

Sophie stepped back, releasing him.

Dust exploded outward from the blast zone.

But when it cleared—

Antares was still standing. Untouched.

His silver hair flowed in the wind like a king out of myth, his eyes glimmering with ancient authority.

“Not bad,” he said as he dusted off his shoulder with infuriating calm.

“But if that’s all, you should run.”

He stared into Sophie’s lightning-red eyes without flinching.

“You don’t understand the difference in rank,” he said slowly. “Especially once you reach the S-tiers… the gap becomes divine.”

“I am SS Rank. You’re just S Rank. How do you expect to match what I’ve earned over centuries—what I’ve perfected through blood, through experimentation, through sacrifice?”

The pressure around her suddenly started to spike. The air became heavy, dense.

Crushing.

“Tell me, little girl. How can you match me?”

“You can’t.”

“So lower your head when you speak to your elders.”

And like the hand of a god, the pressure slammed down on her.

Her head lowered and her knees bent slightly.

From the outside, it looked like submission.

But inside?

Inside, Sophie was boiling.

She wasn’t ashamed she bowed as an empress. She wasn’t ashamed she bowed on the battlefield.

No, not at all.

She was ashamed that she—Sophie Castria Vaelgrim, wife of Noah Vaelgrim—had bowed her head to anyone else other than her husband.

And that shame, that anger, lit a fire so violent it nearly tore her body apart.

Her head rose.

And when it did, her eyes weren’t just red anymore.

They were lightning.

Crimson, raw, crackling and furious.

The air exploded around her.

“You…”

Her voice shook the battlefield.

“You’re dead.”

RUMBLE—!

The sky darkened. Thunder growled across the heavens.

“I…am Crimson.”

CRACKLE—!

Red lightning rained from above.

“I…am Lightning.”

BOOOOOOM—!

A colossal bolt slammed into her body—and she changed.

Sophie became lightning incarnate. Arcs danced across her skin, wrapped around her limbs. Her hair sparked and floated and her eyes were twin storms of red lightning.

But she wasn’t done.

Not even close.

Her voice cracked the sky itself.

“Elysiari’s Apex Form.”

And this time—

Antares shuddered.

The king realized he wasn’t speaking to a little girl anymore.

The battle had just changed.

…

And while Sophie and Aphasia were pushed to the edge—

Selene sat on her throne of ice, unbothered.

In front of her knelt a dark-skinned elf woman with curves, grace, and eyes full of quiet strength. Her hair and eyes were deep black.

Sonomi Elfborn.

The mother of Nephis and Aphasia.

She was beautiful, regal and like any random elf…she was proud.

But right now?

She was chained.

Ice wrapped around her limbs. Frost clung to her skin. Her breath misted in the air.

Selene tilted her head.

“You really do look like Aphasia,” she said. “Only difference are the hair and the eyes.”

Her voice was calm and controlled. Like she wasn’t surrounded by a battlefield soaked in blood.

And truly,

This was the only ending that could’ve happened.

Selene was a SSS Rank being. A walking storm of cold divinity.

Sonomi never stood a chance.

Still, she didn’t scream and didn’t curse.

“What do you want?” she asked softly, though there was a tremble hidden beneath.

Selene smiled gently.

“What makes you think I want something?”

“I was queen for decades. I know that look,” Sonomi replied. “You want something.”

Selene chuckled softly.

“Sharp huh! I like that.”

She leaned forward slightly.

“Indeed, I want something or other, I have a request.”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into me but I’ve been having this strange urge lately… to spoil my dear son. And I have asked…what can make him happy?”

“I thought about winning this war for him. Killing everyone who looked at him wrong. But honestly?” She shrugged nonchalantly. “He doesn’t need that. He can handle all of you on his own.”

“So can you guess what can make my son happy?”

She asked as her smile turned sweet.

Too sweet even.

Sonomi’s expression shifted.

“No…I…I do not know.” she said, her voice was small and shaky as if suddenly afraid.

A pause.

Then Selene spoke softly.

“Well, I will tell you.”

“Women. My dear baby likes women.”

Selene’s smile stretched wider. Obsessive.

And twisted.

“So, dear Queen of Elves…”

“What do you think of becoming my son’s maid?”

Yes.

Selene was definitely losing her damn mind.

And truthfully?

She was loving this too much.

—End of Chapter 181—

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