"Father, you can't possibly entertain this nonsense," Eli whispered in a livid tone, feeling incensed that the old bastard Lauden was coming up with such shameless arguments.
She was afraid her father might give in to such arguments and put Azu in more trouble. If he can't even use his bloodline to battle, how would he fight someone like Draven? This was like telling somebody that they can't use their hands to fight.
But to her disappointment, her father simply waved his hand to tell her to maintain silence as he addressed Lauden's argument, "Commander Lauden, you are right. It is forbidden for a traitor or an exile to use our bloodline as they wish. If caught, they would be awarded severe punishment. Just being born with our bloodline isn't permission enough."
Draven's face lit up, feeling that the Frost King was really rooting for him to support him like this.
However, the Frost King wasn't finished as he added, "But right now this challenge is taking place in the arena of the royal palace where we all are sitting here as witnesses. So if you had such concerns about an exile using our Frozenblood bloodline against one of our own, why didn't you speak up before?"
Lauden's expression became slightly stiff, and he couldn't tell if the Frost King was really trying to be fair here or if he had some ulterior motives. But logically, he shouldn't even remotely support this half-blood dog, especially considering his infamous background.
However, right at that moment, Elder Tobias spoke up, "Your Majesty, how could Lauden have spoken up if he had no idea this half-blood exile was going to use our bloodline to battle? It all happened in a moment. None of us had any idea this would happen. And this is ignoring the fact that our sacred bloodline is mixed with the bloodline of our mortal enemies. His abominable existence is a disgrace to our race, but since we are all already here, I suggest that Your Majesty order a rematch with fair rules," Saying so, Tobias laid back on his seat while subtly glancing at Lauden.
Azu flexed his fingers in annoyance, feeling helpless at the unfair treatment he was getting, despite showing everyone here that he was capable enough. He was used to such treatments, but he thought that it might change if he was strong enough. But even now, they were even trying to make it a sin for trying to use the power of his own blood. He had never felt so insulted since he inherited the Frozenblood bloodline from his mother.
"This is so unfair…" Eli mumbled as she clenched her fists, feeling irritated by how conniving these people were.
"Mother, please convince father to ignore them," Eli pleaded to her mother as she grabbed her hand.
Rubella sighed as she said, "You know how your father is. Not even I can influence his decisions in matters like these."
"But what is the problem here? The point here was to show that Azu was worthy enough, and he did prove that. So that is enough, right?" Eli asked with a tight expression.
Rubella shook her head softly as she answered in a low voice, "That itself is the problem. Look at the eyes of these people…Look at the way they are looking at your friend."
Eli turned her head as her eyes scanned the people sitting around the arena. As she observed them, her mother whispered in her ear, "Look beyond the hostility in their eyes, and you will see something surprising. So…what do you see?"
Eli blinked her eyes as her lips parted, "I…I see fear? But…But why?"
"You barely spend your time mingling with these kinds of people, so you never come to realize that these people feel threatened right now when faced with situations like these. Even I was shocked when I saw your friend suppress Draven's blood as if it was nothing. All he did was simply look at him. Only your father could suppress him like that, and this means that the others understood how dangerous Azu can be for them. If Azu was to come up in power, they might lose their position and influence. It seems like Lauden has more people on his bed than we thought," Rubella mumbled with furrowed brows.
Eli felt a very bad feeling upon hearing her mother's words and became even warier of Lauden. She always knew he was a cunning old fox, but now she was seeing him as a threat.
"As for the royal elders, they don't want Azu to win since it would mean that they would have to acknowledge his father's bloodline as well, and you know how we are still at war with his father's tribe and other werewolf tribes as well. Never in their life would they want to see someone stomp their sacred values," Rubella added to let her daughter understand how difficult things were for Azu.
"Azu…" Eli became even more worried since she couldn't see how Azu could come out of such a difficult situation where everybody in power was against him.
The Frost King momentarily closed his eyes before saying, "Hmm, like Elder Tobias suggested, let there be a rematch. But this time, the exile won't be able to use our bloodline. Is that understood?"
"Father…" Eli bitterly looked at her father before looking at Azu, shaking her head to tell him to not accept it since, without using his bloodline, it would be considered suicide to go up against Draven. It would be an unfair and handicapped situation for Azu.
However, her expression froze when Azu softly smiled at her, his eyes still brimming with determination and confidence. It seemed that he wouldn't leave without getting what he came here for.
"Yes. I understand. I won't use my Frozenblood bloodline," Azu said as he stressed the last few words, much to the displeasure of others since Azu made it sound as if the Frozenblood bloodline belonged to him as well.
