Chapter 324
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 324
Chapter Title: The Cunning Princess
After Yeonma was subdued and the smoke over Ragren cleared.
The Poison King immediately assembled a team and headed for the Forbidden Zone—the Final Ark.
This time, it was true that the Ixion bastards had deliberately triggered the outbreak.
But the Forbidden Zone had always been prone to outbreaks by nature.
That was why the families tasked with managing Forbidden Zones across the lands knew exactly how to handle outbreaks like this.
Ragren was no exception.
So the Poison King had swiftly gathered his people to deal with the rampaging Forbidden Zone.
'We can leave this to the Poison King.'
The problem wasn't just Ragren.
Ixion was simultaneously shaking up every Forbidden Zone under imperial management.
Ragren had the Poison King, one of the Ten Supremes of the world, so they could handle a delay.
But there were sure to be some major families that simply left management to other clans and guarded the entrances.
'Forbidden Zones don't outbreak all at once.'
The Empire was vast.
So were the Forbidden Zones they had to manage.
But in reality, the number of families capable of handling them was limited.
The Empire's solution had been to assign multiple Forbidden Zones to powerful major families who could manage them.
Patrolling and checking them regularly was no burden for those clans anyway.
For the Empire, it minimized wasteful deployment of forces. For the clans, they earned privileges from the Imperial Family proportional to their management duties. A win-win.
But now, that system was backfiring spectacularly.
No matter how skilled the major families were, they couldn't handle multiple outbreaks simultaneously.
Normally, they'd request temporary aid from other clans if their zones went haywire all at once.
But with outbreaks everywhere in the Empire, no one was free to help.
So certain Forbidden Zones were bound to be abandoned.
Or, weighing the diplomatic fallout, they'd beg aid from neighboring kingdoms later.
"Sizli!"
Aware of the crisis, Krash sought her out first, ignoring his exhaustion.
The Poison King could contact the Emperor directly about defending the Final Ark, but only Sizli could do it from here.
Krash opened the door to her room.
Sera, Sizli's guard waiting at the entrance, bowed her head upon seeing him.
Krash glanced inside. Sizli was communicating via magic orb with someone.
Her eyes met his, and she pressed a finger to her lips—wait a moment.
Krash realized who she was talking to.
The Emperor of the Empire, Sirius Epania.
She was speaking with him.
"Then I'll take that as your approval."
Sizli ended the call there.
She turned to Krash right away.
"I've gotten permission for support from Staron."
Krash froze at her words.
Because that's exactly why he'd come—to get that permission himself.
Staron had the Valheim family.
And Valheim had experts on World Erosion.
Plus, Staron wasn't far from the Empire, and with Raheln Academy's teleportation, they could arrive even faster.
Krash held all the authority for that.
The right to contact Dean Durandal directly. The right to summon Valheim.
And as the only Staron figure who could defend the Empire without backlash.
The Imperial Family had publicly declared him a hero who aided the Empire with their own words.
In the Empire, the Imperial Family's word was absolute.
From that moment, no matter that he was Valheim of Staron, the entire Empire had no choice but to react favorably to him.
On top of that, he'd been openly announced as the princess's fiancé.
Even if she was the fourth princess with scant claim to the throne.
The word "fiancé" meant he was practically Empire already.
The Empire likely saw themselves far superior to Staron.
So it wasn't Sizli marrying in—it was Krash coming as the son-in-law.
Thus, even if Krash called in Valheim reinforcements.
The Empire could easily frame it as the future groom bringing aid, not invasion.
Of course, Valheim and Staron had no reason to object either.
It was a chance to indebt the world's strongest empire to them.
Good for sister, good for brother-in-law.
But Krash hadn't orchestrated any of this.
"Sizli, did you plan this from the start?"
The one who'd made it all happen was right in front of him.
Sizli Epania.
He'd been puzzled why she'd followed all the way to Ragren, spy suspicions or not.
Now he was certain she had this separate scheme.
Sizli flashed a sly smile at his question.
"Don't take it the wrong way. Isn't this the perfect setup for you to meddle in Empire affairs with other nations?"
Sizli had seen through Krash's ambitions to expand across the world.
He had goals.
But plenty of obstacles in his path.
Especially between Empire and Staron—getting a foothold in the Empire was toughest for him.
Sizli had spotted that and swiftly removed one massive barrier.
But she'd done it unilaterally, without telling him.
A bit apologetic about that, she watched as Krash snorted shortly.
"I'm not childish enough to get offended over something like that."
Even as a kid, when adults shoved "good things" at him that weren't what he wanted, he'd rejected them.
Krash hadn't wasted his life like that.
When survival meant swallowing bitter, sweet, or sour without picky eating.
No reason to spit out a lump of honey shoved right in his mouth.
"You did well, actually. Your judgment was spot on. This makes things way easier."
To save the world from ruin, Krash chose means over scruples.
And he knew his own shortcomings all too well.
Krash wasn't some prodigy.
Now others called him a monster, but that was from relentless grit and lucky breaks piling up.
He still had plenty of gaps.
So in fields like this, better for geniuses to handle autonomously than him micromanaging.
He couldn't save the world alone.
That's why he'd grown with the Generation of the Sky so far.
From Haring today to Sizli now.
Krash was glad his efforts hadn't been in vain.
"...I didn't expect you'd accept it so easily."
Sizli's eyes widened, watching him.
It felt like glimpsing a new side.
Then Krash, who'd approached unnoticed, ruffled her hair wildly.
"Eek!"
As Sizli yelped at her messed-up hair, Krash grinned.
"Thanks. Having a reliable friend like you cuts my workload."
A somehow pure, innocent smile.
Sizli realized it came from true trust in her.
She stared at him blankly for a moment.
From their first meeting in childhood, she'd been stubbornly tangled with Krash.
At first, half curiosity, half prank.
He stood out among kids his age.
Talking with him was fun.
Whatever joke she threw, he'd counter right back on the same wavelength.
It was hardly fitting for a princess.
But she'd never seen it as insolent.
Because it was just his natural self.
Maybe because she'd approached with playfulness, not seriousness.
Even if fun, she hadn't taken their bond deeply.
Perhaps it was her nature.
Her brilliant mind from young meant always wearing masks around people.
That was survival as a princess.
And those masks had worn on too long.
Before she knew it, she'd forgotten how to drop them.
Smart as she was, to ease the strain of switching masks, she'd made them her own.
But the cost: forgetting genuine human connection without them.
Her actions were sly.
Playful, unserious, sometimes rolling over those around her.
Even charging for the Empire looked like a prank to some.
Her demeanor seemed lighter than anyone's.
So she figured no one would trust her deeply.
She couldn't trust such a flighty person herself.
Same with Krash.
Despite all their entanglements leading to fiancé status, she'd assumed he didn't take her seriously.
So for this, she'd braced for "Who are you to do all this?"
But instead: thanks.
Totally unexpected.
'I see.'
Sizli realized one truth.
Krash didn't take their bond lightly.
He trusted her as a comrade who'd come this far, cherished her enough to truly step up if she were in danger.
And she'd probably known this subconsciously for a while.
'That's why I've moved so much for Krash lately, when I'd just watched before.'
She'd sensed his genuine trust and wanted to repay it.
It was her first real bond, untainted even by family in the Imperial Family.
'To think I believed it was just curiosity. What an idiot.'
Realizing it late, Sizli let out a wry chuckle.
At her sudden laugh, Krash smoothed her disheveled hair.
"Why the creepy grin? Mad I messed up your hair?"
This was it.
Beyond her princess status, he treated her warmly, humanly.
It made her forget her position and crave living like a normal person.
And Sizli didn't hate this change, this greed in her.
Greed meant desire.
She realized the Imperial Family trait had awakened in her too.
"Sizli score: 935 points."
"Huh?"
Before Krash could react, Sizli snapped her head up.
Caught off guard while fixing her hair, Krash fell to her attack.
He felt soft lips on his.
A citrus scent wafted by, then Sizli pulled back with her usual sly smile.
Krash froze in place.
Sera shook her head at the sight.
"Looks like I'm the type who has to marry my dear husband after all."
The greedy princess had no intention of letting go of her one and only desire.