Chapter 218
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Because It's Only Natural
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"……."
Rose fell deep into thought.
The Seven Dragons had originally wielded psionics as naturally as they breathed.
They had merely created the Seventy-Two Dragon Martial Styles to pass that power on to humans.
And if one placed Rimon on the same level as the dragons, it wasn't impossible that he had unconsciously grasped the essence of psionics.
It even made sense why playing the violin had been the trigger.
In the form of swordsmanship or martial arts, the principles of the Dragon Slayer Sword might clash with dragon psionics.
Moreover, if the violin of the Black Heart had awakened his dragon psionics, then playing it would have been the most effective way to wield them.
In other words, it was the optimal solution that the Sword Master's instincts had uncovered.
"Of course, this is all just my speculation."
It was merely the conclusion she'd reached after pondering alone why Rimon possessed dragon psionics.
There was no concrete evidence for it.
Rose stared intently at Li Chingwei, who spoke with a beaming smile, and finally let out a sigh.
"……I'll admit it's the most logically plausible hypothesis."
That dragon psionics had been latent in Rimon for nearly a thousand years, only awakening now due to a confluence of coincidences.
It was an absurd notion, but there was no other way to explain this reality.
At least, it was more convincing than the idea that Rimon had suddenly acquired dragon psionics out of nowhere.
"But Li Chingwei, that doesn't prove your innocence."
There were two problems.
One was that there was no guarantee she hadn't known about it from the beginning.
Especially considering she'd sold off nearly half her shares in Leviathan while maintaining the World Peace Plan—it seemed more plausible that she'd known everything and orchestrated it all along.
And the other was…….
"Regardless, it's a fact that you've been hiding the existence of the eighth dragon psionic all this time, isn't it?"
Rose pressed Li Chingwei again with a stern expression.
The eighth dragon psionic was tied to the deepest aspiration of the entire Seven Dragon Society.
By rights, the moment it was discovered, she should have convened the Seven Dragon Council and informed all the princesses to discuss future policy on how to handle it.
But if she'd concealed it?
It would be an unforgivable betrayal.
Even if she was a princess of the Seven Dragon Society…… No, especially because she was.
"Indeed, there's no excuse for that."
"Why did you hide it?"
"Well, why do you think?"
Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
And in a playful tone, she asked once more.
"Why don't you tell me, Rose? What reason could I have had for hiding it?"
A blade was pressed to her throat.
Yet gazing at the utterly composed Li Chingwei, who seemed oblivious even to its presence, Rose furrowed her delicate brows.
Not because she was astounded by the audacity to joke at a time like this, but because it was that important an issue.
The Gold Dragon Princess might have gotten away with it, perhaps.
But if the cunningest of the Seven Dragon Society's princesses, Li Chingwei, had risked her clan's annihilation to pull this off, there had to be a compelling reason.
And Rose had her suspicions about what that reason was.
"……Were you worried about greed?"
"That's part of it."
She nodded once.
Then Li Chingwei continued in a calm voice.
"The Sword Duke is the first holder of dragon psionics discovered outside of us seven. He might even be the last."
"There's no guarantee of that."
"Is there really not?"
"……."
Rose fell silent.
The Seven Dragon Society had labored for nearly a thousand years to create an eighth dragon psionic.
Yet not a single genius from a prestigious clan, nor any high master thick with dragon blood, had even come close to the essence of psionics.
And if Li Chingwei's hypothesis was correct, that was only natural.
"If the essence of psionics can only be obtained through the progenitor's true blood, then in a thousand years, aside from us, only three have ever achieved it."
"The three Sword Masters who fought the progenitor, right?"
"Yes. But the other two passed away long ago."
The first Sword Master, Sword Emperor, who led his two disciples against the seven dragons and, in the final Dragon Sword Great War, slew three before breathing his last.
Sword Demon, the Sword Emperor's direct disciple and history's worst Sword Master, who massacred a tenth of humanity and plunged the world into terror.
With those two gone, the only one left alive after being bathed in dragon true blood was the Sword Duke.
Even if they searched for another thousand years, no other human would attain the essence of psionics.
Li Chingwei added one question to her matter-of-fact statement.
"If we knew no more holders of dragon psionics would ever appear, could we still discuss it amicably then?"
The seven princesses of the Seven Dragon Society.
Before they were heads of the world's top conglomerates, they led the world's largest criminal organizations—seven distinct clans.
As one of them, Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
"Or would we fight tooth and nail over the last item on the shelf?"
It was no mere worry.
Though bound together as the Seven Dragon Society, they were originally separate entities, perfectly capable of clashing depending on the circumstances.
Especially with the eighth dragon psionic at stake—no need to elaborate.
Yet Rose didn't hesitate in her response.
"That won't happen."
"Why not?"
Li Chingwei tilted her head quizzically.
"Because I'll stop any conflict in the Seven Dragon Society."
"Is that even possible?"
"Even if it's not, I'll make it so."
Li Chingwei's expression grew peculiar at Rose's resolute words.
It was a reckless, absurd claim that even the Gold Dragon Princess couldn't make lightly.
But in the end, she nodded.
"Rose, you just might pull it off."
The Blue Dragon Clan was the conscience of the Seven Dragon Society.
Due to their righteous nature and unyielding character, they often clashed with the other clans, but they had earned even deeper trust in return.
If their princess, Rose, stepped in as mediator, the worst outcomes might be averted.
But Li Chingwei added one condition.
"Provided the other princesses are as mistaken about the eighth dragon psionic as you are right now."
"……What misunderstanding?"
"It's simple."
Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
And to Rose, who eyed her suspiciously, she casually dropped a hint.
"Among our Seven Dragon Society's seven progenitors, the one the Sword Emperor challenged first and defeated single-handedly was the Earth White Dragon Sage Lord."
"……?"
Rose wondered why she was bringing up such an obvious fact.
But that bewilderment lasted only a moment.
Her face hardened.
A strange sense of dissonance washed over her.
The nagging feeling that she'd overlooked something crucially important.
Replaying Li Chingwei's earlier words from the beginning to pinpoint it, Rose suddenly felt as if she'd been struck by lightning.
"……!!!"
"You've realized it now, haven't you?"
Shock.
Disbelief.
Thrill.
Terror.
Excitement.
Li Chingwei chuckled as she watched Rose freeze, her face a tangle of indescribable emotions.
Staring straight into Rose's lake-blue eyes, she asked.
"Rose, can you still claim with confidence that you could persuade the other princesses?"
It was Rose holding the sword to Li Chingwei's throat.
Yet it was as if an invisible blade had pierced her heart—Rose's face paled, her lips trembling before she bit them hard.
She had finally realized.
If Rimon's secret got out, conflict between the princesses was inevitable.
No—conflict would be fortunate.
In the worst case, the Seven Dragon Society could shatter, devolving into a fratricidal bloodbath.
"So…… that's why you hid the Sword Duke's dragon psionics? To prevent the Seven Dragon Society from tearing itself apart?"
"It's not the main reason."
"What's a more important reason than that?"
"It's because of the one who would suffer the most if the truth about the essence of psionics came out."
Rose fell silent again, this time for a different reason.
She knew exactly who she meant the moment she heard it.
Of course, he was strong.
Strong enough to battle the Seven Dragon Society for centuries and always come out on top.
But that was when they fought fairly.
If the entire Seven Dragon Society disregarded their clans' survival and cooperated with utter abandon?
He might win, but he wouldn't emerge unscathed.
Especially in this modern world where money and power reigned supreme.
"Rose, can you reveal the truth knowing all that?"
"……."
The old Rose would have answered decisively, no matter what.
Nothing took precedence over the Seven Dragon Society's long-cherished wish; the real question wasn't whether to hide it, but how to prevent discord.
But now?
Her expression complicated, Rose glanced down suddenly.
She stared at her own right hand gripping the sword—or rather, the back of it—before speaking in a stiff voice.
"……I'm the only one who realized it was dragon psionics. But everyone in the high master clan members in London felt his psionics."
"As expected."
"I've ordered my clan to keep quiet, but you know as well as I do that's pointless."
"It is."
Li Chingwei nodded.
It was something she'd anticipated.
Back when Rimon had used the violin of the Black Heart to 'predict' the Liberation Brigade's wraiths' attack.
Youin, who had been there, had sensed Rimon's psionics and been stunned.
If he'd realized it was the essence of psionics, he might have suffered a heart attack or fallen into qi deviation.
And London was the heart of the British Empire.
A key stronghold where each clan had dispatched high masters, meaning fragments of information about the violinist Rimon—who wielded psionics in a way utterly unlike the Seventy-Two Dragon Martial Styles—had likely reached the other princesses.
That alone was reason enough for the Seven Dragon Society's princesses to show their greed.
"It's only a matter of time."
"I know."
"And you know what will happen when the other princesses learn the truth."
To the stony-faced Rose, Li Chingwei smiled faintly and said.
"They'll try to tear me apart."
"……At least they won't do it while you're still breathing."
"Will they not?"
Rose couldn't bring herself to reply.
The other princesses wouldn't believe her. They'd think she'd known everything from the start and deceived them.
Because she was the Black Dragon Princess.
Rose knew all too well how berserk they'd go if that happened.
Because…….
"At least you looked like you wanted to."
"……What do you mean?"
"Be honest, Rose."
Li Chingwei raised her hand.
As if caressing a fine work of art.
Her fingers glided lightly over the blade of Rose's sword pressed to her throat, and she asked quietly.
"Did you never, not even for a single moment, think about slashing me with this sword?"
"……."
"Wasn't part of the reason you came here alone the hope that you might 'deal with' me without anyone knowing?"
It was an outrageous accusation. An insult the honor-bound Blue Dragon Princess couldn't tolerate.
Yet Rose couldn't muster a single rebuttal.
The moment she realized Rimon's true nature,
The instant she sensed his dragon psionics.
The first thing she'd done was one.
—Suppress the impulse to tear Li Chingwei apart right then and there.
"No need to be ashamed. It's only natural for a princess of the Seven Dragon Society."
Rose's sword trembled faintly, nicking the finger tracing its edge.
But Li Chingwei didn't flinch.
She merely curved her lips at the sight of her own blood trickling along the blade.
"That you feel jealousy toward me."