Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: 12. It's Not Over Until It's Over (11)
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#13 Their Circumstances: Atia Nel Caruan's Circumstances
Watching Iris and Ast fight.
There was no hope like this.
Dodging that silver club was the limit for Iris.
Holding out against an unreasonable weapon that inflicted pain just from the sword grazing it was impressive enough.
If it were any other time, I might have praised her even in defeat, but not this time.
It was Ast.
I'd waited ten years, prepared for ten years.
And yet, the Ast I'd missed without even catching a glimpse was right in front of my eyes.
I could reach out and grab him.
My hand could touch him if I just extended it... So why wouldn't it reach?
From childhood, I'd gotten everything I wanted.
The Karan Empire was one of the continent's great powers, and even my father, the emperor and the empire's foremost figure, never refused me.
But then, something appeared that defied my words.
At first, it was intriguing.
His actions were all those of a petty small-timer, yet when it came to dealing with me, he was the epitome of magnanimity.
He wasn't a genius.
But he wasn't a fool or some run-of-the-mill ordinary person either.
Sometimes he seemed like an idiot who didn't know the obvious, but other times he came up with solutions I hadn't even considered.
The old saying that geniuses and fools are separated by a mere sheet of paper—I understood it perfectly watching Ast.
That's why it was fun.
He was the only one who could meet me as an equal, looking eye to eye.
Unlike those who bowed their heads simply because I was imperial royalty.
There was no awe or fear in Ast's eyes.
Instead... well, mostly looks of annoyance, like "What crazy scheme are you plotting now?"
He never gave me that look of staring at a monster because he knew my fate, or the pitying gaze of sympathy.
Instead, he shot me looks like "Is there really a woman this insane?" or "Don't drag me into your nonsense."
'...Feels like I'm being treated pretty poorly, but nah, must be my imagination.'
Remembering the past almost brought a small laugh, but I clamped my mouth shut to barely hold it back.
Ast was always like that.
Unlike others, he approached me like Lea, who seemed to know everything.
But he kept a certain distance, maintaining that subtle gap without getting too close or too awkward.
Was it because of that distance?
I'd always contemplated death, planning to die alone, but when it actually came knocking and I heard Ast's voice, a small whim overtook my usual thoughts.
If I asked Ast to die with me, would he really go that far for his master?
The answer came the moment I thought of the question.
No way in hell.
That's why I could say it with a faint smile.
That I was in my room, so come in.
And in my mind, I thought:
Dying together with you... the road to the afterlife wouldn't be boring.
But Ast entering my room that day turned my fate upside down.
The death that came calling was taken away by Ast.
He solved what the entire empire couldn't, even throwing everything at it.
Suddenly thrust into life, I was flustered at first, but good things were good, so I started enjoying it moderately.
Spending days with Lea and Ast, and that didn't change even after the great war broke out.
Teasing Lea competitively, laughing at Ast's mad antics and joining in, playing around like that a few times only to find the neighboring country destroyed. So we'd pick a new target and start another war.
Then, in the midst of it all, Ast vanished.
At first, I thought he'd gone mad and was sleeping in during wartime.
When he wasn't found in his bedroom, I figured he was plotting some weird stunt again.
And when I found the letter saying he was leaving the imperial palace, I even worried—uncharacteristically—that maybe an enemy nation had kidnapped him.
Then, learning he was originally a spy infiltrating from that organization called Howling, I flew into the greatest rage of my life.
Betrayal from using me? No.
It was fury that he'd chosen Howling—those parasitic scum leeching off the empire—over me, the empire's princess.
To lose to something as pathetic as Howling? The humiliation was unbearable.
"Bring him here, bring him now!"
Right in the heart of the war, I gathered my subordinates and started throwing a tantrum.
The empire's hidden darkness? We left the trash alone because it was easier to manage than letting it respawn endlessly.
Trash we could sweep away anytime if we wanted—and to think my possession was among it? Unforgivable.
But we were in the middle of a war.
Even with the upper hand, you never knew what variables might arise, so creating internal ones wasn't allowed. All I could do was grit my teeth and end the war quickly.
Calming my inner fury while sipping Lea's amateurishly brewed tea.
"Your Highness... seems to like Sir Ast quite a bit."
Lea said it with a wry smile, and I dropped my teacup.
Like him? Me? Ast?
Ignoring Lea's fluster, I pondered deeply.
Why was I so angry?
Why did his absence alone make everything feel so suffocating?
Why was I openly showing how much I wanted to see Ast?
"I see."
I like Ast.
It took a full two days to reach that answer.
And that conclusion at the end of those two days of agonizing filled me with joy.
I'd never imagined loving someone, but thanks to Ast, I gained something new!
Then I halted all efforts to find Ast.
He'd flee in horror from my joking marriage threats.
And his escape skills were downright terrifying.
He slipped out undetected from the heavily guarded heart of the warzone.
Poking at a guy like that would just give him a chance to bolt.
So I needed a perfect encirclement, a situation where escape was impossible.
To create that, I pushed through and ended the war.
I even backed my sibling in the imperial succession struggle to ensure their victory.
I fabricated excuses to purge nobles linked to Howling, gathered talents to infiltrate it secretly.
I even swayed the disciples he'd raised in Howling and tracked his every movement.
And when everything seemed perfect, I eradicated Howling.
But... I missed Ast.
Everything was for capturing Ast, yet the main prize slipped away.
How much I regretted it then.
If only I'd moved personally... the outcome might have been different.
That's why, despite opposition from countless palace officials, I took matters into my own hands.
Wandering every nation on the continent, sometimes coaxing, sometimes intimidating.
Searching human realms and even异種族 kingdoms, only to learn Ast had been in the capital all along—how overjoyed I was!
All variables eliminated, waiting in the perfect spot for my plan to succeed!
I even dared hope Ast was waiting for me!
It was the ideal scenario unfolding.
'Though it's fallen apart now...'
How much time had passed?
In a flash like a life's highlight reel, all past memories revived—it felt so surreal.
I'd said focusing on the future was more efficient than the past, but with Ast, those "memories" kept resurfacing.
"This time for sure."
I'll catch him.
No more letting go.
I'm not the idiot who misses chances right in front of her.
Not telling even my allies about Ast to block info leaks backfired because of his weird popularity with troublesome women, but I can handle that.
Mana suppression device? It just disrupts and freezes mana flow in the space.
Meaning mana doesn't vanish; it's just the flow going haywire, making it hard to use.
That's all.
Match the flow, redirect the mana, and it works.
An average person might call it impossible, but am I average?
I'm of the Karan Empire.
Among those inheriting the Karan imperial blood—called human-dragon hybrids—the one with the strongest dragon heritage.
Descendants of dragons, masters of magic and rulers of mana—no way I can't handle this!
"Got it, now..."
As Iris began to collapse not far away.
"Got it, now..."
I'd nearly perfectly grasped the flow's direction too.
I never expected the knights to beat Ast without mana.
Even if it was full of bullshit, he'd broken Sword Heaven with a sword.
Sword Heaven himself admitted his pure swordsmanship wasn't superior.
Their role was to hold out until I fully understood the flow.
That's why I didn't interfere with their pointless chatter, only issuing orders sparingly to avoid suspicion.
And as a result, silver sword aura began gathering on my blade again.
"Huh?"
Ast whirled around, searching for the voice that echoed his own words, then widened his eyes at the sword aura on my blade.
His blatantly flustered expression... was pretty cute, but that's my little secret.
"Crazy bitch?"
Unbelievable words that'd get anyone executed without trial, even to imperial royalty—but hearing them, I could only smile faintly.
"It's over."
The sword danced to my will.
The completed technique: one of the imperial secret sword arts.
Inspired by a blue dragon's rage in the sea.
Dragon King Sword, Azure Chapter.
"Thousand-Mile Endless Waves."
Silver waves filled the small cave.
Unfamiliar flow, yet precisely targeting Ast's lower body while sparing the knights—tricky.
But it all worked out, and the sword aura finally lunged at Ast's legs.
"You're really gonna cut me?!"
He deflected the first wave with his silver weapon, but Thousand-Mile Endless Waves unleashed countless sword aura waves.
Watching Ast scream, I didn't even wipe the sweat dripping down my forehead, shouting at him with joy in my voice.
"It's fine, Ast! I won't hate you just for losing your legs!"
Yeah, a mere handicap like that wouldn't diminish my love for Ast.
No, it'd be perfect—keeps weirdos away, and he can't run.
"That's not love, that's obsession!"
Screaming like a banshee, Ast leaped into the air.
"Obsession's fine too."
Gripping the hilt, I manipulated the sword aura's flow.
Controlling aura after releasing it is incredibly hard.
Let alone in a mana suppression field—impossible.
But right now, I surpass the impossible.
"Hoo."
A small breath, and the sword aura waves surged up.
Ast bit his lip, looking down at them.
"It's do or die!"
"What are you—!"
Shifting his center midair, he thrust his upper body into the waves.
"If you want a corpse, come get it!"
That's a bluff.
Would a guy who valued his own safety above all stake his life?
No way Ast would pull that stunt.
'But...'
Midair, in that stance—is there a way to dodge?
Without magic, impossible.
And this freakish guy can't even keep buffs from others, let alone use magic himself.
"Damn... it... all!"
In the end, I'm the desperate one.
I want a living Ast, not a dead body.
"Haaaaah!"
One second too late, and Ast becomes mincemeat.
I twisted every mana direction with all my power.
Boom!
"Haa. Haa. Haa."
Barely grazing Ast, the sword aura smashed the wall and ended.
"Ast, now it's really..."
"Opening!"
"Even in this situation!"
I'd sweated buckets because of him, and he attacks now?!
"But."
This time, truly over.
Ast's attack was throwing his only weapon, the iron bat.
Even I couldn't guarantee survival if hit, but I'm not so exhausted I can't dodge.
And the moment I do, victory's mine.
Weaponless—no bat, wooden or iron—Ast can't beat a swordmaster.
Perfectly dodging the flying iron bat, I smiled like a victor at Ast.
"Now it's really..."
'Smiling?'
But before I finished.
Seeing Ast's eerie grin, I realized something was wrong.
"Fatal... Ar Punch☆"
A voice from behind, and the world turned white.