Korgan steps closer. "You're in debt?"
"Severely." The word tastes like ash. "I applied for this show because the prize money would save my business. And because the publicity might help me rebuild."
"So youarehere for money."
The confirmation hits harder coming from him. From someone whose respect I've begun to crave more than I should admit.
"Yes." My voice comes out small and defeated. "I'm here for money. I'm desperate and broke and stupid enough to think reality TV could solve my problems."
The film crew circles like vultures, capturing every moment of my humiliation. I can already see how they'll edit this—the greedy human using the noble orc for financial gain. The exact narrative I've been trying to avoid.
"Trinity—" Korgan begins.
"Don't." I back away from him, from the cameras, from everything. "Just don't. They're right, okay? I'm a fraud. I'mnot here for love or adventure or any of the romantic bullshit this show sells. I'm here because my business is failing and I thought maybe, just maybe, I could salvage something from the wreckage."
Tears threaten, which will make perfect television. The crying contestant, caught in her own web of deception.
"I work ninety hours a week and I can barely afford rent. I eat day-old pastries for dinner because I give away the fresh ones to build customer loyalty. I haven't bought new clothes in two years because every penny goes back into flour and sugar and the hope that tomorrow might be better."
My voice rises, three months of suppressed panic finally breaking free.
"So yes, I'm here for money! Yes, I'm desperate! And yes, I thought maybe if I could just get enough publicity, enough prize money, I could stop lying awake at night calculating how many weeks I have left before I lose everything my mentor told me to build!"
The confession hangs in the air like smoke. Final and damning.
Marcus looks delighted. The camera operators adjust their angles to capture maximum emotional impact. Even the sound technicians lean in, ensuring they miss nothing.
But Korgan just stands there, studying me with those amber eyes that see too much.
"Is that what you think this makes you?" he asks quietly. "Desperate circumstances seeking practical solutions?"
"It makes me a liar."
"No." He is absolutely certain. "It makes you a warrior fighting for what matters."
I blink, certain I misheard.
"In orc culture, we have a concept:grath'mor. Battle-honor earned through defending what you've built with your ownhands. You could have sold your bakery, taken an easier path, accepted defeat. Instead, you chose to fight."
He turns to address the cameras directly, his posture shifting into something formal and commanding.
"The human commentators mock Trinity Lewis for seeking money to save her business. They call her desperate, as if desperation invalidates courage. But I see a craftsperson who recognized that her skills deserve a platform, her work deserves recognition, and her dreams deserve defending."
Marcus tries to interrupt. "Korgan, we should discuss?—"
"No." The single word carries enough menace to silence the entire crew. "Trinity entered this competition honestly. She stated her goals clearly to anyone who asked. The fact that those goals include practical concerns does not diminish her character."
He steps closer to the main camera, his presence filling the frame.
"I have watched Trinity work. She measures ingredients with precision, manages stress with grace, and treats every person on this set with courtesy regardless of their position. These are not the behaviors of someone driven purely by greed."
Is he... defending me?
"Furthermore," Korgan continues, "the violation of her privacy that enabled this attack shows far more about her accusers than about Trinity herself. Honorable opponents face their rivals directly. They do not steal personal documents to create public shame."
The cameras capture every word, but for once the manipulation feels like it's working in my favor instead of against me.
"Trinity Lewis bakes bread that smells like home and tastes like hope. She makes food that nourishes both body and spirit. If she seeks money to continue this work, to expand her abilityto feed her community, then she seeks money for the most honorable purpose possible."
