The crystal cavern became silent.
Dangerously silent.
Uncomfortably silent.
The kind of silence that appeared when a person's entire understanding of reality was being challenged.
The ancient serpent woman sat motionless.
Golden eyes remained fixed upon Kel Rosenfeld.
The young Count sat calmly across from her.
Patient.
Relaxed.
Waiting.
The stone table separated them.
Yet at this moment...
It felt like an entire world separated them.
The blue glow of countless mana crystals illuminated the cavern.
Their light danced across the frozen serpents.
Across the armored knights.
Across the ancient serpent's face.
And for perhaps the first time in centuries...
She didn't know what to think.
No.
That wasn't entirely correct.
She was thinking too much.
Far too much.
Her mind was spinning.
For centuries she had lived alone.
For centuries she had observed humans.
For centuries she had studied them.
And because of that...
She knew humans.
Or at least she thought she did.
Nothing was free.
Nothing.
Every kindness had a price.
Every favor demanded repayment.
Every smile concealed intentions.
Every agreement benefited someone.
That was how the world worked.
Yet the human sitting before her...
Made no sense.
Absolutely no sense.
The serpent woman leaned backward slightly.
Her eyes narrowed.
Analyzing.
Calculating.
Questioning.
Why?
The question repeated endlessly inside her mind.
Why?
Why offer cooperation?
Why offer resources?
Why offer territory?
Why offer protection?
Why offer respect?
Why?
The more she thought...
The more confused she became.
The ancient serpent had faced countless dangers.
Monsters.
Humans.
Cultivators.
Mercenaries.
Adventurers.
Yet none of them confused her as much as Kel Rosenfeld.
Because she could understand greed.
She could understand fear.
She could understand ambition.
She could understand cruelty.
But this?
This was difficult.
The serpent crossed her arms.
Then uncrossed them.
Then crossed them again.
Her tail would have been thrashing if she still possessed one.
Several knights noticed.
One quietly whispered.
"I think she's thinking."
Another nodded.
"Very hard."
A third knight folded his arms.
"If I were her, I'd be thinking too."
A fourth knight sighed dramatically.
"If I were her, I'd already have accepted."
The others looked at him.
"Why?"
The knight pointed toward Kel.
"Because Lord Kel is offering free cultivation resources."
Silence.
"...Fair."
The entire group nodded.
Meanwhile.
The serpent remained completely unaware of the conversation.
Because her thoughts were becoming increasingly chaotic.
Perhaps...
It was a trap.
No.
It didn't feel like a trap.
Kel had opportunities to kill her.
Several.
The battle earlier proved that.
She remembered the sword.
The wounds.
The terrifying precision.
The young Count was far stronger than he appeared.
Much stronger.
If he truly wanted her dead...
She wasn't certain she would have survived.
The realization made her uncomfortable.
Then perhaps...
He wanted to enslave her.
No.
That possibility also felt wrong.
If he desired slavery.
He would have simply forced it.
Humans had done worse for less.
The serpent frowned.
Then another possibility appeared.
Perhaps he wanted influence.
No.
That didn't fully explain it either.
Because he was offering too much.
Far too much.
The serpent's thoughts became increasingly chaotic.
Then unfortunately...
She remembered the knights.
The gossip.
The whispers.
The comments.
Immediately.
Her face became slightly red.
Not from embarrassment.
From frustration.
Mostly frustration.
"...Surely not."
The words escaped unconsciously.
Kel blinked.
"Hm?"
The serpent immediately looked away.
"Nothing."
The young Count tilted his head.
Several knights suddenly became interested.
Very interested.
One knight whispered.
"She definitely thought about it."
Another nodded.
"Absolutely."
A third knight looked proud.
"I knew it."
The serpent heard them.
Unfortunately.
Very clearly.
A vein appeared on her forehead.
The temperature dropped.
The knights immediately looked elsewhere.
They had suddenly become fascinated by geology.
The mana crystals appeared extremely interesting.
Meanwhile.
The serpent woman wanted to bury herself underground.
Because despite herself...
The possibility had crossed her mind.
Only briefly.
Very briefly.
Yet it had happened.
The memory replayed.
"I want you."
The sentence echoed inside her head.
The misunderstanding.
The reaction.
The knights.
The embarrassment.
The woman closed her eyes.
"...Ridiculous."
Kel looked confused.
"What is?"
"Nothing."
The answer came immediately.
Far too immediately.
The young Count narrowed his eyes slightly.
Something suspicious was happening.
He wasn't sure what.
And strangely...
That worried him.
Far beneath Scarder Lake.
Seiren observed everything.
Then laughter erupted.
Ancient.
Merciless.
"She actually considered it."
Kel froze.
"...What?"
"The possibility."
The Guardian sounded delighted.
"The one the knights were gossiping about."
Several seconds passed.
Then realization appeared.
Kel immediately looked away.
For perhaps the first time in years.
The young Count appeared genuinely awkward.
The serpent noticed.
And somehow...
That made things worse.
Much worse.
Because now both of them knew.
Neither wanted to acknowledge it.
Yet both knew.
The atmosphere became strange.
Very strange.
Several knights looked ready to explode from trying not to laugh.
One veteran pinched the bridge of his nose.
"This negotiation has gone completely off the rails."
Another nodded.
"Several chapters ago."
Meanwhile.
The serpent desperately redirected her thoughts.
Focus.
Focus.
The agreement.
The mine.
The future.
Anything except that topic.
Her gaze returned toward Kel.
And immediately she became confused again.
Because there was still one question.
The most important question.
Why?
Why give her a choice?
Humans rarely offered choices.
Humans took.
Conquered.
Demanded.
Forced.
Yet this human...
Was offering.
The serpent slowly looked around the cavern.
The frozen serpents.
The mana crystals.
The knights.
The mine.
Then finally.
Kel.
The young Count sat calmly.
Patiently.
As though he wasn't negotiating with a centuries-old monster.
As though waiting for her answer wasn't difficult.
As though he genuinely respected her decision.
And suddenly...
Something strange happened.
The serpent realized.
He wasn't trying to convince her.
He wasn't pressuring her.
He wasn't manipulating her.
He wasn't rushing her.
He had simply placed an option before her.
Then left the choice in her hands.
The realization struck harder than expected.
Because choice...
True choice...
Was what she had spent centuries seeking.
The ability to decide her own path.
The ability to reject instinct.
The ability to walk forward freely.
The ability to choose.
And now...
After centuries of pursuing freedom...
Someone was respecting it.
The irony nearly made her laugh.
For a very long time.
Neither spoke.
The crystal cavern remained silent.
The frozen serpents remained frozen.
The knights remained waiting.
And at the center of it all.
An ancient serpent sat across from a young Count.
Considering perhaps the most important decision of her entire life.
Because if she accepted...
Everything would change.
The mine.
Her future.
The serpents.
Her cultivation.
Her purpose.
Everything.
And for the first time in centuries...
The road before her had split into two directions.
One path led toward the familiar.
Lonely.
Safe.
Known.
The other led toward uncertainty.
Change.
Risk.
And perhaps...
Purpose.
The serpent slowly closed her eyes.
Her thoughts still spun endlessly.
Yet somewhere deep within her heart...
A tiny feeling had already appeared.
A feeling she had not experienced in centuries.
Expectation.
And that frightened her far more than any battle ever could.