Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: Realizing Feelings
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Engagement.
A promise to marry in the future.
Krash reaffirmed the meaning of the word as he stared ahead.
"With Haring?"
Just to be sure, he asked again.
"I won't take no for an answer."
The Poison King, Hauran, reaffirmed it once more.
Krash felt a faint headache.
Because he understood why Hauran was saying such things.
"Chit, chit?!"
Suddenly, the corpse rat of Evelask in his pocket let out a shriek.
"W-Wait, just a moment!"
Perhaps because the conversation was proceeding without input from the person involved.
Haring pushed between the two men with an unusually loud voice.
"Father, engagement? What are you talking about out of the blue?"
Haring scolded Hauran, demanding at least a proper explanation.
Hauran let out a short sigh and looked at Haring.
"Daughter, the empire right now is like the calm before the storm."
Hauran's eyes were filled with worry for Haring.
"With the emperor's generation change upon us, countless nobles are secretly pointing blades at each other."
The moment the throne changes hands, a bloody storm would follow.
The new emperor wouldn't leave noble factions who didn't support him unscathed.
"On top of that, there have been suspicious incidents within the imperial palace."
That must refer to the Poison Blood War that the Mad Emperor had stolen.
Krash also vaguely suspected that Ixion had joined hands with the imperial palace.
Hauran must have caught wind of it too.
"In such a situation, Lagren has been ousted from his central noble position, one way or another. His future treatment is uncertain."
Haring's eyes trembled faintly.
"That's... because I stepped forward, isn't it?"
She knew it now.
That Lagren had ended up like this because of her unilateral actions.
"This is my responsibility. I'll go to the empire and accept my punishment."
Rather than let her family suffer such treatment, Haring cried out that she would step up.
"Daughter, don't even think of such a thing."
Hauran shook his head at his daughter, who was willing to sacrifice herself for the family.
"I respect your choice. What is our family motto? We repay debts twofold and grudges tenfold. You handled it splendidly in line with that."
Hauran patted his chest.
His severe injury was there, so he winced slightly, but he curled up the corners of his mouth.
"You defeated our family's lifelong enemy with your own hands."
Haring's eyes widened hugely.
"I'm proud of you."
Hauran's eyes held the tenderness of a father.
He never reproached his daughter's choice; instead, he took pride in the outcome of it.
Haring's eyes reddened.
Because Hauran truly took pride in her.
"And from the start, this isn't something to hold you accountable for."
In that moment, the gentle father's face vanished.
What emerged was a face like a wrathful demon.
"Isn't this all because of the guy who tempted you by your side?"
His gaze fell on none other than Krash.
"That's why I'm proposing the engagement. It's like taking responsibility, isn't it?"
"If she gets engaged to Valheim, she won't need to stay in the unstable empire; she can remain in Staron. That's what you're saying."
Krash pierced through Hauran's intentions and let out a short sigh.
As Hauran said, it was indeed something to take responsibility for.
Haring was currently out of favor with the empire.
So, rather than making her a target within the empire, sending her abroad was the better judgment.
Especially to Valheim.
As the wife of a direct Valheim line, no one could ignore her, even if she was from the empire.
It was the best position for her to live without trouble in Staron.
But Hauran had overlooked one thing.
"Father, Krash already has a fiancée."
Before Krash could speak, Haring shook her head and stated the fact.
As she said, Krash had a fiancée.
Bianca Hardenharts.
The girl who had just turned fourteen this year.
Hauran surely knew that fact as well.
Yet he snorted derisively.
"Lagren is a family that produced one of the Ten Supremes Under Heaven. Even if pushed out of the empire, our bloodline won't be inferior anywhere. Valheim would welcome an engagement proposal with open arms."
Krash couldn't deny it.
However, those words made his nerves stand on end.
"You're saying you'll use force to cancel the engagement with the Hardenharts family and force through one with Lagren?"
Hauran caught Krash's displeasure.
"You seem close with your current fiancée?"
He had also seen through the relationship between him and Bianca.
If it were just a marriage of convenience, Krash wouldn't react like this.
"This is a threat."
But Hauran had no intention of backing down.
"I'll visit Valheim in person soon to make the engagement happen."
Her daughter's future was at stake.
If she couldn't stay in the empire, he intended to place her in the highest position outside it.
"Your job is to climb to the top of your family for my daughter's sake and become the family head."
It was truly a one-sided declaration.
The father, mad for his daughter, cared nothing for propriety.
A thick, cold ruthlessness flowed from Krash's eyes.
"I won't deny the responsibility."
At the same time, the killing intent emanating from Krash's body began to fill the room.
He had felt it earlier, but Hauran's eyebrows twitched at the aura that couldn't be called that of a late adolescent.
"But if, by any chance, for this reckless engagement..."
Whoosh—
Following the heat from Krash's body, black flames flickered.
"...you lay a hand on my fiancée, Bianca Hardenharts, I'll smash Lagren to pieces—not to mention the entire empire."
Krash warned that he would burn everything in his grasp to ashes.
Facing that warning, Hauran's eyes hardened fiercely.
A mere kid of fifteen was daring to threaten him to his face.
"You've got some guts."
Hauran hadn't liked Krash from the start.
He had helped with revenge, but he had twisted Haring's life.
If that were all, Hauran might not have disliked Krash so much.
Because he knew well what had bound his daughter all her life.
Since he had helped her vent her lifelong resentment, Krash deserved praise.
But the reason Hauran disliked Krash was different.
It was because he had read fragments of her emotions in the letters his daughter sent in her reports.
She might not realize it herself yet, but Haring had feelings for Krash.
The letters were full of stories about him, just like his wife's habits when she fell in love.
Anyone could see it was more than mere gratitude.
For a doting father like Hauran, it was enough to make his eyes roll back.
Some punk had swooped in and stolen his one and only daughter's heart.
Grind!
Hauran ground his teeth, barely holding back the urge to shed bloody tears.
Yet he loved his daughter more than anyone.
The Lagren family had one trait passed down through generations.
Once they took someone into their heart, they cherished that one person for life.
For those who lived by poison, love was poison itself.
This trait, almost like a curse, Haring could not escape either.
No matter how much he tore her away from Krash, she would carry him in her heart forever.
So, he changed his mind.
Even if recklessly, for her sake, he would bind them together.
He absolutely hated handing his daughter to some punk, but he hated even more seeing her pine away.
Thus, Hauran had no intention of yielding.
"If that's your worry, break off the current engagement and accept this one. Then no harm will come to Hardenharts either."
Killing intent dripped from Hauran's eyes as well.
Opposing even the offer of his precious daughter only fueled his rage further.
"Stop, stop it!"
At that moment, Haring shouted.
Both men's gazes turned to her.
She clenched her fists tightly and whipped around to face Hauran.
"Father, I decide my own path. This is my chosen responsibility, not Krash's fault. Why are you holding him accountable?"
"That's..."
Hauran flinched at Haring's sharp reaction.
It was the first time he'd seen his daughter angry, leaving him flustered.
"No engagements or responsibilities. Don't make things hard for Krash. And don't pull any dirty tricks behind his back either."
If he dared try anything like that, she wouldn't stand for it—Haring fumed.
Her eyes, just like her father's, were fiercely intimidating.
Facing that glare, Hauran looked abashed.
Haring, who had been glaring at him, soon turned to Krash.
"Krash, sorry. My father acted on his own. F-Forget this talk. I won't let you get hurt."
The eyes Haring turned on Krash were endlessly gentle.
Seeing her attitude, the complete opposite of how she treated him, Hauran's anger flared again, but he swallowed it alone.
Instead, pitying Haring, he asked one last time.
"...You really won't consider the engagement? It's a chance to stay by that punk—no, Krash Valheim—for life."
As Hauran asked, Haring turned to her father.
She couldn't understand why he was pushing this far.
Hauran had seen through her true feelings, but Haring hadn't realized her own heart.
Perhaps that's why she now imagined an engagement with Krash right there.
An engagement was a promise made before marriage.
In other words, if they got engaged now, she would become Krash's wife.
Haring pictured herself as Krash's wife.
First came the image of the curt but kind Krash calling her name by her side.
Then, his large hand slowly stroking her hair.
Twitch—
Haring's shoulders reacted instinctively.
Her face flushed slightly.
At bedtime, she often did this.
Because Krash's smile as he looked at her after defeating the Mad Emperor always surfaced just before sleep.
That's why she spent entire days thinking only of Krash.
She was happier attending his martial arts classes to see him than returning to the dorm for rest.
As she gradually recalled those memories.
Right there, she realized it.
Who her heart was truly directed toward.
'Ah.'
Haring's gaze turned to Krash.
And the moment she read the troubled expression on his face, her heart squeezed tightly.
Her momentary greed vanished the instant she saw his face.
Krash had a fiancée.
And Haring knew he cherished her deeply.
It felt like a knife slicing through a corner of her heart.
And she understood why her father had pushed for the engagement so hard.
He had seen through her feelings.
"...Yes, I won't get engaged."
Though it pained her now that she knew her own heart, she answered.
"Because Krash has a fiancée."
A sad smile appeared on Haring's face as she spoke.
Hauran stared at it quietly, then bowed his head and turned away.
"Alright, if that's your will, I understand."
Hauran turned his back.
He didn't want to see his daughter in pain any longer.
"Let's talk for a moment. I won't force the engagement issue."
With that, he gestured for Krash to follow.
Krash glanced at Haring, then turned and followed him out.
In the place they emerged.
Hauran rummaged in his bosom and pulled something out.
It was a single book.
And Krash knew what it was.
"The Poison Blood War."
The secret poison arts manual of the Lagren family.
The very book the Mad Emperor had stolen.
As Krash eyed it curiously, Lagren handed it to him.
"Take it."
"Pardon?"
"You defeated our family's enemy. And you saved my daughter from peril time and again. No reward could ever repay that."
Hauran's words were unexpected.
"So, I've brought the greatest recompense Lagren can offer now. From Haring's stories, you obsess over strength. This will help."
Of course it would help.
Krash was already using poison and curses to craft momentary enhancement elixirs.
With the Poison Blood War, he could do it far more efficiently.
At the unexpected reward, Krash accepted it, and Hauran let out a quiet sigh.
Then, his hand firmly gripped Krash's shoulder.
"Use the Poison Blood War to grow even stronger."
Hauran had looked into Krash.
At fifteen, he was already piling up absurd achievements.
Such people all shared one trait.
They were destined to challenge the pinnacle.
And today, he had seen Krash with his own eyes.
This kid would go far.
He definitely would.
He might surpass the Ten Supremes Under Heaven to reach the Four Celestial Powers—or beyond.
The venom in his eyes was proof.
"Keep growing stronger until no one in the world can look down on you."
Krash wore a puzzled expression.
But Hauran's eyes were sincere.
"And when that time comes, take my daughter."
"...Wasn't that settled? I told you I have a fiancée."
"Capable men having multiple wives is common."
Just look at King Posseuss.
No one would bat an eye at a capable man with several wives.
Krash stared at Hauran in disbelief.
He could see the man's ironclad resolve to bind Haring to him, no matter what.
"So grow strong. If you don't, I'll come find you myself and forcibly remake you into something powerful."
Hauran left those frightening words behind and departed.
Left alone, Krash watched his back with an incredulous look.
Then he glanced down at the Poison Blood War and rubbed the back of his neck.
"This has been the most exhausting day this year."
For once, Crimson Garden was quiet that day.