**Stalker Duchess Episode 20**
**Stalker Duchess Episode 20**
Given that this little Elf Child was over 200 years old, the elderly elf was probably over a thousand.
I tried to bow politely in respect, but the old elf alternated glances between me and the Crown Prince behind me before dropping the wooden stick he'd been leaning on instead of a staff, his face filled with shock as he spoke.
"You rascal! How could you bring a dragon here! Oh no, our village is doomed now! It'll all be destroyed!"
"......"
The old elf collapsed to the ground as if crumbling, pounding the earth and wailing, "Our village is finished."
I subtly glanced at the Crown Prince, who averted his eyes looking troubled.
His expression was so funny that I barely suppressed a laugh.
The being known as the Elf God, now before my eyes, didn't exude the divinity I'd imagined.
"What? Kid, stop summoning me all the time. You're still a thousand years short."
Goddess...? No, don't jump to conclusions. The voice was male. After the incident with the Elf Child, I hesitated to guess the gender.
It seemed even after coming of age, their gender remained ambiguous.
For some reason, I approached the so-called Elf God, who was smoking a familiar modern cigarette.
The Crown Prince panicked and tried to grab my arm, but I was already close, opening my mouth to speak.
"Why won't you recognize this child as an adult? It's caused the heteroraces to rampage, disrupting the order of the mortal world. If there's no special reason, please grant them adulthood."
"That's up to me. Who are you to tell me what to do? And who are you anyway?"
"I am......"
I paused, pondering. My only claim was my status as the Duke's Daughter, but before a god, nobility meant nothing.
Besides, the god seemed to be asking about my relationship with the Elf Child, not my identity.
"I am this elf's fiancée."
"You, still spouting that nonsense......!"
The Crown Prince yelled indignantly upon hearing me.
Of course, my engagement to the elf was a lie. I had no reason to marry the elf now.
I'd simply fabricated a justification to get involved.
Despite it being obviously false, the Crown Prince seemed to take my words at face value.
He usually saw through such lies easily, but for some reason, his judgment seemed clouded.
The Elf Child had already caught on and stayed silent.
The Crown Prince shot me a frustrated look, as if asking if I still didn't get it after all that.
Who was the one not getting it here......
Regardless, the so-called Elf God sneered at my words.
"So what if you're that half-baked elf's fiancée? It's no big deal. I thought you were something special since I couldn't read your mind—like my equal or whatever—but I have zero intention of recognizing them. Go home."
Outraged by the god's firm words, I schooled my expression and threatened in my coldest voice.
"I won't let that slide. Whether you're the Elf God or whatever, I don't care. I'll stake everything to drag you to ruin."
The Elf God looked flustered at my words.
I wondered if I'd gone too far, but I wanted to resolve this quickly and go home.
Spending time with the Crown Prince was stressful, even if I tried not to show it.
A gulping sound came from him, tense at my words that seemed ready to go beyond a thread into several.
"Serabi......"
The Crown Prince stared at me in shock, while the Elf Child gazed at me with moved, sparkling eyes.
"—is what this person said."
I subtly pushed the Crown Prince's back.
"......"
"......"
Hearing me, the Crown Prince clutched his head as if it hurt.
Then he let out a low sigh.
The Elf God glared at us with fury-filled eyes.
"Oh? You wanna go at it with me? A mere human daring to challenge a god's domain?"
I brushed off the god's killing intent and urged the Crown Prince.
"Come on, turn your eyes red already. Hurry. No time to slack off. They seem like a low-rank god, but since it's still a god, we need to go all out from the start."
I forcibly pushed the Crown Prince's back as I spoke.
At my "low-rank god" remark, the Elf God's face twisted viciously.
The Crown Prince looked flustered and said,
"It's not something I can just do at will......!"
"Then are you planning to just sell me off to a heterorace like this?"
"......"
"If we can't persuade them here, I'll have no choice but to marry someone I don't want for the empire's peace......"
I made the most pitiful face possible, firing sympathetic eyes.
In this world, only the munchkin Crown Prince could oppose a god.
And he probably wouldn't abandon one of his citizens so futilely.
He mustn't.
After staring into my purple eyes wordlessly for a long time, the Crown Prince sighed, spat a curse, and bowed his head.
"Haa...... Damn it!"
Meeting his eyes again, they brimmed with red energy.
I'd just told him to get serious, but the effect was tremendous.
As expected of the one who'd later be called a sage king.
With such love for his people, the empire's future held no worries.
But were Dragon Eyes something he could control freely?
Did my words actually make him angry?
......Anyway, I'd achieved my goal for now.
As the Crown Prince approached the god with a complete shift in demeanor, the god flinched upon meeting his blood-red eyes.
"Just approve the coming-of-age ceremony now. Our Raven is the strongest on earth!"
Officially, the Crown Prince was the world's strongest, so it wasn't wrong.
But unaware, his face flushed red as he said,
"S-stop that. It's embarrassing if you praise me so blatantly."
He scolded me but scratched his slightly reddened cheek awkwardly and added,
"Ahem. The strongest on earth...... I had no idea you thought of me that way."
Finishing, as he turned to the Elf God, a strange aura began emanating from his entire body.
Ho.
The aura, usable only by those at a profound level, changed in size and color based on the caster's emotions.
The blue aura behind the Crown Prince rippled large and flashy, as if boasting.
He addressed the god in a cold voice. A final warning.
"I dislike fighting. Can't you yield even now?"
"N-no. Why should I?"
At the god's defiant reply, the Crown Prince lowered his gaze regretfully and said,
"I see. No room for negotiation, then. Since it's a god, I'll go in earnest."
His red eyes glanced at me and said,
"......I can't show a pathetic side before someone who believes I'm the strongest on earth."
His red pupils began glowing strangely. The god flinched, tense, upon meeting the Dragon Eyes.
The outcome came surprisingly simply. As the Crown Prince closed in instantly to behead the god—
"Aaaah! I surrender!"
A tremendous scream burst from the Elf God's mouth.
His pathetic sight crushed what little faith I'd had.
The Elf Child wore a similarly disappointed expression, muttering, "Over something like that......" Maybe we didn't need to provoke the Crown Prince after all......
Fortunately, the Crown Prince retained enough reason to halt his attack just before the god's surrender.
But it wasn't over yet. Having finished his task, he slowly turned toward us. His hand poised to sever the god's neck had stopped, but his eyes remained red.
I stared straight into those red eyes. Sensing the Crown Prince's ferocious aura, the Elf Child hid behind me in fear.
The child clutched my clothes so tightly their fingers whitened. They felt it too. The killing intent. Directed at whom?
"......"
Meeting my eyes, the Crown Prince's red pupils dilated sharply.
His eyes were serene, yet madness prickled my back with chills.
I'd overlooked the aftermath. Once Dragon Magic Power rampaged, it wouldn't stop until everything was destroyed.
A strange premonition hung in the air from his gaze meeting mine.
I knew this familiar sensation well. Killing intent.
Far beyond what he'd shown the Elf God moments ago.
He'd seemed rational until just now, but......
The trigger shattering his reason seemed to be me.
I asked the Crown Prince, glaring with hatred, as calmly as possible.
"......Do you want to kill me? Do you hate me that much?"
No human could fully control Dragon Magic Power.
Now, his reason was dominated by the dragon's power.
Only the instincts of the strongest earthly being to destroy everything remained.
The moment I finished, he rushed at me, seizing my throat.
Up close, his eyes were purely those of a beast of prey.
My heart pounded wildly, yet my voice emerged colder than ever.
"You can kill me. If it makes you feel better, by all means."
I abandoned resistance, relaxing my body. Closing my eyes, I hoped for a swift, painless death.
Then, the hand gripping my throat suddenly loosened.
Opening my eyes slightly, I saw his usual soft golden eyes.
The Crown Prince spoke in a low voice.
"......Sorry."
"It's fine."
