Chapter 160
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: I Saw the Future
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Rimon had lived a long life.
And he had just as much experience to show for it.
Even the number of times he'd faced assassination attempts disguised as honey traps was too high to count on two hands.
But what Aynsha was doing right now left even him stunned for a moment.
An assassination attempt so bold and innovative that it involved slipping poison directly into his drink during a date? It was a first for him.
"You should drink it quickly. The tea's getting cold. The poison will lose its potency."
Aynsha urged him on with a blank expression.
That was why Rimon didn't snap at her or flip the table. Instead, he just pressed his fingers to his temple.
"...Just to confirm, didn't you say you were going to propose to me?"
"Yes."
"And that's why we're on a date?"
"Of course."
"So why are you poisoning me?"
"To send Ri to the grave."
As if wondering why he was asking something so obvious.
Aynsha answered with a straight face.
Thanks to that, Rimon suppressed his rising headache and asked calmly,
"What I mean is, why are you trying to kill me? What's the reason?"
He could understand if she'd figured out his identity and was coming for him.
Rimon was the Seven Dragon Society's sworn enemy.
Even the White Dragon Clan, who always led the charge, had plenty of grudges against him.
But that wasn't it.
If she'd known he was Rimon, she wouldn't have tried something as half-baked as poison.
Come to think of it, the intent behind poisoning him right in front of his eyes was questionable from the start, even if he were some ordinary guy.
Anyone truly serious about killing wouldn't pull something this foolish...
Foolish?
In that instant,
Rimon's eyes widened.
There was exactly one reason why Aynsha would pull something like this out of nowhere.
And the blunt words she uttered next turned his suspicion into certainty.
"I have to kill you. So I am. That's the only reason."
It sounded like the perfect words of a psycho at face value, but Rimon didn't panic.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes at her and asked point-blank,
"What did you see?"
"...A secret."
"Fine. Let me rephrase."
Rimon spoke to the tight-lipped Aynsha in a cold voice.
"What future are you so desperate to change that you'd try to kill me for it?"
Her body flinched and trembled.
Her pupils shook like there was an earthquake.
Her gaze even darted away slightly.
Rimon clicked his tongue at Aynsha's blatantly obvious reaction, which shattered her perfect poker face.
His hunch had been right, but that only made it more absurd.
"The White Dragon Clan of all people—or rather, the White Dragon Princess—trying to change the future? Unbelievable..."
"I didn't say I was changing the future. That's Ri's misunderstanding."
"Then what about seeing a future where we go to the movies? If I drop dead from this poison right now, that future vanishes."
"......"
"Or at least tell me why you have to kill me."
"......"
Aynsha clammed up instantly.
Li Chingwei would've fabricated half a dozen excuses on the spot, even if there were none.
True to the White Dragon Clan, Rimon snorted at the girl so vulnerable to lies.
"Whatever. I can guess even if you don't say. You probably saw a future where I do something unforgivable."
A flinch.
"Since you even prepared for a date, the proposal itself must've been sincere enough. So something happens after this."
Trembling.
"It must be rare for a clan princess to want to protect someone enough to kill the man she chose as her consort."
"Reading my mind is cheating. It's cowardly. Something the Black Dragon Clan would do."
"Hm. Sounds like my guesses all hit the mark."
"......"
"Still not talking? Say it or don't—I plan to dig to the bottom of this either way."
She sweated bullets like a true culprit being interrogated by a cop with Lie Detection, but soon enough,
Aynsha's shoulders slumped.
And in her usual blunt tone, now laced with a hint of resignation, she spoke.
"Tata."
"What's a Tata?"
"My nanny. And my guard. Also my attendant and elder."
Her one and only family figure—blunt yet brazen in a way unbefitting the White Dragon Clan, and just as clever.
As she named the woman, Aynsha confessed why she had to kill him.
"I saw a future where Ri kills Tata."
It was a common story.
Knowing a loved one dies in the future.
And trying to change it.
But suppose the killer is her fated love at first sight, so she has to kill him.
Then it becomes a rarer, more tragic romance or a thriller with a twist.
But what if the protagonist is the White Dragon Princess?
Rimon could declare it with certainty.
It'd be a comedy.
Because he was chuckling right now.
"You tried to poison me to save your nanny?"
"Yes. It's clean. Minimal consideration."
"Forget what consideration has to do with poisoning—didn't it occur to you I might not drink it if you poison it right in front of me?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I saw a future where Ri drinks the tea. So you'll definitely drink it."
"You know your logic is full of contradictions, right?"
"...?"
"...Yeah, you don't."
Aynsha tilted her head, puzzled as if she had no idea what the problem was.
Rimon sighed, feeling like he was dealing with a three-year-old.
A child would've been better.
A White Dragon Princess dead-set on changing what she saw most clearly? She was a walking bomb.
That was why Rimon furrowed his brow.
Prophecy... What a hassle.
Those who know the future are enslaved by it.
He knew that well, so Rimon avoided prophets unless he had to. Especially a White Dragon Princess.
But now that he'd heard it, pretending ignorance was too late.
Even if he knew nothing, this hyper-active idiot princess probably wouldn't have left him alone anyway.
Lost in thought for a moment,
Rimon spoke up casually.
"You'd do anything to stop that Tata from dying?"
"Of course. Tata is precious."
"Even staking your life?"
"No."
"...Such a straightforward answer."
Rimon looked dumbfounded at Aynsha, who shook her head after nodding moments ago.
She replied bluntly,
"I'm the White Dragon Princess. I have to continue the line. I can't die until then."
"Yeah, fair enough."
For a Seven Dragon Society princess, continuing the bloodline was the ultimate duty and instinct.
No matter how much Aynsha cherished Tata, risking the dragon bloodline's extinction was impossible, even if she wanted to.
In that sense, her answer matched expectations, and Rimon nodded.
Then he asked again.
"What if changing the future meant handing over the entire White Dragon Clan?"
"No. I'd die. Tata would kill me."
"So you're not that stupid... Then how about full cooperation from the Black Dragon Clan to capture the Liberation Brigade instead?"
"That's the price for helping with my proposal."
"Killing me flies that proposal—and any price—out the window, doesn't it? Why hold back now?"
"...You're right."
As if struck by a revelation,
She nodded once,
thought it over deeply,
and finally spoke with a blank face.
"That much is possible. Or I can make it so."
"Hmm, really?"
He drummed his fingers on the table, staring at her intently for a moment.
Then Rimon grabbed the hot green tea and downed it in one go.
He set the empty cup down with a clink and said,
"Don't forget you said that."
Aynsha blinked.
Once, twice, three times.
As if she'd seen something bizarre,
she alternated between the empty teacup and Rimon before finally asking bluntly,
"...This is weird. You drank the poison. But you're not dying."
"No big deal. I've ingested so much of this stuff over the years that I'm immune to most poisons."
He chuckled, recalling the agony of consuming the Green Dragon Clan's infamous toxins raw.
Then Rimon stood up.
"Alright, let's do this properly."
"I want to know what 'properly' means."
"What else? We're here for a date, so let's date."
"...???"
"But the date course will differ from what you saw."
He'd answered clearly,
yet Aynsha looked even more blankly confused than before.
Rimon chuckled at her.
Then he pulled out his smartphone with a meaningful smile.
"On that note, do you like puzzles?"
"You're wondering why we call the White Dragon Clan idiots?"
[Yes. Team Leader makes sense, but even Princess Sis accepts it like it's normal. There must be a reason.]
Yuna Kyung asked with a curious look.
It wasn't just because she was bored without Rimon, who had gone on his date.
She couldn't understand why the White Dragon Clan—one of the Seven Dragon Society's pillars, who unlike the fallen Black Dragon Clan had kept their full power—was treated like fools.
Understanding her doubt, Li Chingwei replied calmly.
"There are many reasons, but... it boils down to them being born with precognition."
[Why? Isn't precognition a good thing?]
Yuna Kyung looked even more baffled.
Precognition to read the future was a cheat ability.
Just look at how prophecy-skill players were treated like top-tier everywhere.
Seeing her confusion, Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
"You'd be happy if someone threw you a surprise party on your birthday, right?"
[Obviously.]
"What if you knew exactly when and how that surprise party would happen?"
[Hm... A party's a party. I'd still be happy?]
"What if you went through the exact same party yesterday? Same food, same people, same jokes?"
[...That'd be tiring more than happy.]
"Right. Now, if someone knows the party will flop like yesterday but repeats every boring action to make it succeed anyway—what do you call that?"
[An idiot?]
"And if they know it'll fail, so they smash their face into the cake to liven things up—what's that?"
[...Idiotic?]
"That's why the White Dragon Clan are called idiots."
[Huh?]
Li Chingwei didn't elaborate further to the tilting head of confusion.
She just gave a wry smile and continued softly.
"It's also why, among us seven princesses, the White Dragon Princess is the most unfortunate."
[...?]
Li Chingwei's pager buzzed just as Yuna Kyung groaned, trying to decipher the cryptic words.
"Sword Duke? Something up during your date?"
"Of course, go ahead."
Li Chingwei answered the sudden call calmly.
But her expression shifted oddly right after.
"Yes, yes."
"Yes...?"
"...What do you plan to do?"