Chapter 184: Chaos of Eren with Seraphina’s army

"Who in the world is this Violet girl anyway?"

Inside the private chamber of the outpost, Seraphina sat sideways on an upholstered stool, one leg crossed over the other as she rested her chin in her palm

Across the room, Aria unclasped the stained sapphire bodice of her couture gown, letting the ruined fabric fall to the carpet.

She glanced over her bare shoulder with a faint, knowing smirk at the silver-haired princess. "Oh, Violet? Lady Violet of House Lavenza. A count’s daughter."

Reaching down, Aria slid the voluminous skirts past her hips and stepped out of them. She stood unbothered in the center of the dressing room, clad only in a set of delicate, midnight-black underwear that clung to her breathtaking, hourglass figure.

Seraphina didn’t flinch. As lifelong besties who had shared every moment with her, the sight of her was nothing new.

...Though her blood-red eyes undeniably lingered for a couple of seconds on the dizzying flare of Aria’s hips. Imperial decency had its limits.

"Lavenza...?" Seraphina replied, tilting her head as she forced her gaze back to the topic.

"That girl believed she had a curse that people would end up fainting three feet around her," Aria said smoothly, picking up the gown provided by the princess. "But the poor girl was never cursed. Her mana was leaking an absurd amount. And Eren has no natural mana, so his body literally absorbs her mana spillover."

Seraphina let out a low whistle, shaking her head. "How utterly convenient for him."

She rested her cheek against her knuckles, her red eyes narrowing into a slit. "So... she’s one of his lovers?"

Aria stepped into the fresh skirts, pulling the corset snug against her ribs. She couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the assumption.

"No, actually," Aria murmured, with tender, affectionate warmth. "Violet is essentially an adorable little purple cat. She’s like a younger sister for me. But that girl possesses a terrifying, cataclysmic ocean of raw mana. If The Substance enters her system... it wouldn’t just kill her, Sera. It would turn her into an uncontrollable, continent-level disaster."

Seraphina watched her friend for a quiet moment, then pushed herself up from the stool with a sigh.

Stepping behind the blue-haired villainess, the princess reached out with practiced, familiar ease, gathering the laces of Aria’s corset and pulling them taut.

"You’re defending him again," Seraphina muttered, tying off the satin cords. "Aria, I gave you this same lecture back when you were obsessed with Reinhardt. Men who put on a dazzling, noble display of caring are the most dangerous. They show you a glimpse of heroic devotion, make you feel like the center of the universe, and the second a prettier flower blooms, you realize they’re all fundamentally the same."

She smoothed the fabric over Aria’s shoulders, her voice dropping into a quiet, protective cadence. "He hoards women like rare grimoires, Aria. And he literally tried to hit on my mother minutes after entering the royal gates. Don’t let yourself get hollowed out again."

Aria turned around in the circle of the princess’s arms, her golden eyes meeting Seraphina’s red gaze with unwavering, razor-sharp clarity.

She reached up, resting her manicured hands gently over Seraphina’s wrists.

Aria let out a soft chuckle, leaning in close to Seraphina’s face.

"My, my, Princess... aren’t you being just a tiny bit too overprotective of your humble friend?" Aria teased with amusement.

Seraphina snapped her head to the side, her cheeks rose in colour. She aggressively cleared her throat with imperial stiffness. "I am merely expressing concern for my closest political anchor. That is all."

"Naturally, Your Highness," Aria giggled, entirely unfazed by the icy royal facade. She hooked her arm smoothly through the princess’s elbow, tugging her toward the exit. "Come along. We need to head back to your private annex and plan the fate of Baron Kiliyan."

Leaving the damp cells behind, the two high-born ladies ascended toward the sunlit open courtyards of Seraphina’s personal residence.

Yet the moment they stepped to the annex perimeters, the usual aristocratic serenity of the royal wing was nowhere to be found.

A roar of cheering, whistling, and rhythmic boot-stomping reverberated through the garden.

"SLAM HIM! TAKE THE FLANK!"

"FIVE COINS ON THE YOUNG LORD!"

"LOOK AT THOSE DELTOIDS! SMITE HIM WITH YOUR HIPS!"

Seraphina blinked, completely lost. Her private military training ground was practically vibrating. A dense crowd of off-duty vanguard knights, royal guards, scullery attendants, and even several blushing parlor maids in ruffled aprons were packed shoulder-to-shoulder around the chalked perimeter ring, shrieking at the top of their lungs.

Curious, the two noblewomen stepped onto the viewing platform and both of their jaws dropped in unison.

Inside the dusty ring was shirtless Eren.

Sunlight gleamed across his pale, sculpted body, highlighting a lean, devastatingly athletic frame corded with dense muscle while a thin sheen of sweat turned his broad chest and abs into an absolute visual trouble for the maids, clutching their chests like fainting maidens at a southern revival, screaming his name without a shred of shame.

Standing in a low, loose grappling stance, Eren flashed a blinding grin.

"Come on, sir!" Eren cheered, completely unbothered. "There’s an entire month of scullery wages riding on my shoulders here! Can’t disappoint them!"

Opposite him was a hulking bald man. The veteran’s skin was filled with scars, his biceps easily the width of tree trunks. The brute sneered, cracking his thick neck from side to side.

"Don’t worry about the copper coins, lad!" the bald giant barked with a rough, booming laugh. "I’ll make sure your face hits the dirt soft enough that your noble title doesn’t crack!"

With a bellow, the veteran charged forward, massive, calloused arms lunging for a crushing bear hug.

The moment the soldier closed the distance, Eren dropped, sliding inside the giant’s guard with terrifying, fluid speed. His hands caught the man’s wrist and inner thigh simultaneously, using the veteran’s own thundering momentum against him. Pivoting on his heel, Eren hoisted the heavy combatant clean over his shoulders in a devastating, perfect hip toss.

THUD!

The bald titan met the packed earth that knocked the air clean out of his lungs. Before the veteran could even roll, Eren dropped down, locking his knee into the man’s sternum and securing a shoulder lock, grinning down at his opponent.

"Tap or snap, chief?"