Transmigrated as the Cuck.... WTF!!!-Chapter 277. Dealing...

"Let's not beat around the bush," Kainal said, his voice clipped and firm. "Do you want to shake hands with us or not?"

He leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on the edge of the polished obsidian table, the faint glint of his sapphire ring catching the dim light of the room.

From his side, Naime gave a slow nod. His eyes were sharp and expectant, like a hawk sizing up its prey. Both of them radiated a quiet pressure, the kind that demanded an answer.

I rolled my shoulders back, not bowing to their presence, and let a small shrug slip from me.

"Depends…" My voice carried no tremor, only calm calculation. "It depends on how much—and what—you can actually give me. To be frank, all I care about is resources. That's it. Resources."

I let the word hang there, cold and deliberate, watching the flicker of reaction in their eyes. "It could be anything—information, artifacts, raw materials, political leverage, even obscure knowledge. Whatever pleases me. If you can provide more of that, more consistently and prominently than the Empress herself…"

I tilted my head slightly, as if pondering an obvious equation. "Then why not? Why wouldn't I join you?"

At my response, Kainal's lips curled into a smirk that tried to mask his satisfaction. Naime mirrored the expression, but he carried a subtler edge, like a predator savoring the moment before the strike.

Their smiles, meant to seem confident and victorious, revealed more than they likely intended—a look that said the prey had already walked into their trap.

And yet, they were wrong.

Unfortunately for them, this 'prey' wasn't caught. This 'prey' had teeth.

A slow smile of my own began to stretch across my face—measured, deliberate, almost lazy in its appearance.

"Ah," I said lightly, breaking the silence that had crept in, "and just for the record…" I let the words trail a beat longer than necessary, drawing their attention tighter. "Don't trouble yourselves worrying about Empress Wannre taking my words to heart. She knows my nature better than either of you ever could. She wouldn't so much as blink at your little 'evidence.' In fact, you're welcome to keep it—think of it as a souvenir."

I gestured lazily with one hand, as though handing them an invisible gift. "Maybe it'll soothe your egos. It's not every day you two get to record a human talking like this to you. Treat it as a privilege, if you like—a perk of your positions as 'officials.'"

The room went still for a heartbeat. The air grew heavier, like a taut string ready to snap.

What nonsense was I even spouting?

Apparently, not nonsense at all. Because the moment the words left my mouth, both of them stiffened. Naime's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and Kainal's jaw clenched hard enough that his teeth audibly clicked. Their expressions—those small cracks of genuine surprise—told me everything I needed to know.

They had been recording our conversation.

Of course they had. Subtle, underhanded little trick. Possibly they thought to blackmail me, to corner me, to twist my words into a dagger against me. Perhaps the plan was simple: present evidence of my 'unfilial' attitude to Wannre and force my compliance under threat.

But unfortunately for them, their entire scheme was built on sand.

Wannre already knew. I'd told her to her face long before this little meeting. My nature wasn't a secret—it was a fact. I'd made it plain: all I cared about was resources. If one side offered more than the other, I would take it. Loyalty had no place in that equation.

And even if she didn't know that yet, I was certain of one thing, there was no way she would harm me. The reason was painfully simple, almost laughably so. She was like me. A benefits-seeking predator dressed in human—or rather, merfolk—skin.

Right now, with my fragmented yet potent knowledge of the Astral Plane, I was a far more valuable asset to her than these decorative merfolk courtiers orbiting her like minnows around a shark. I was leverage. I was potential. And predators don't eat what they haven't fully exploited yet.

Naime shifted slightly, adjusting his posture with the deliberate care of someone trying not to spill a secret. His expression was steady but his tone was patient, almost rehearsed.

"I think you're misunderstanding something… we have no intention of framing you."

I flicked my hand lazily, a dismissive wave slicing the water between us.

"Ah! Of course, I know that. I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm merely pointing out a peculiar little fact I stumbled across. Nothing worth losing sleep over, so don't mind it too much."

Naime's composure held. But Kainal… Kainal was a different story entirely. His expression fascinated me. There was a shift in him, a subtle re-arrangement of gears behind his eyes as if he were silently tearing up one set of plans and sketching another.

He exhaled slowly, a small cloud of bubbles escaping his lips, then shrugged. With a sigh that was more thoughtful than weary, he glided closer until the distance between us felt deliberately intimate.

"Considering your nature," he said at last, "I'd like to propose something—several things, actually—for your cooperation. But for this to be genuinely useful, we would need to exchange certain… details about one another. Because blindly granting you favors that turn out meaningless would only sour your mood, and mine."

The corner of my mouth curved up, amused at his careful phrasing.

"You're absolutely right about that," I replied, voice light but tinged with irony. "So why don't we test that theory? Shall we start with something simple—say, a little chit-chat? Better yet, why don't we talk over dinner?"

I spread my arms slightly, as if offering the idea as a gift rather than a bargain. "It'd be a fine way to build some rapport between us. Break the ice before we start haggling. Don't you think so?"

Kainal and Naime shared one look before diverting their gazes at me.

Kainal approached me, raising his right hand. He slowly patted me on my shoulder. "Good... Greate actually. Let's do that... To our great cooperation ahead."