Chapter 250
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: How About This Reason?
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The blood of the seven princesses was special.
The fact that they possessed dragon psyonic energy was proof itself that the pure blood of seven dragons coursed through their veins.
But among the princesses, the Green Dragon Princess's blood was particularly extraordinary.
Not in the sense that she inherited thicker pure blood or anything like that.
It meant her "blood" was literally special.
Because having the Poison Green Dragon Poison Lord as their progenitor among the seven dragons imparted a certain characteristic to the Green Dragon Princess's blood.
It was her greatest power and curse at once—the very thing that even her fellow Green Dragon clansmen, not to mention the other princesses, shrank from in dread.
'Why?'
That was why Maia was stunned.
The sight of Rimon, utterly unscathed even after her blood splattered on his cheek, with no writhing in agony, made her lose all sense of reality.
"You seem to have trouble speaking, so I'll take the liberty of administering treatment."
Judging that he couldn't expect instructions from her dazed state,
Rimon flipped over a vial and extracted a single elixir pill.
Then he strode toward Maia, smiling brightly as he said,
"Now, say 'ahh.'"
"Wh-what...?"
"I'm going to feed you the medicine, so open wide. You're in no condition to take it yourself anyway."
"Ridiculous... cough! If you have time for this nonsense, withdraw at once!"
Finally snapping back to her senses,
Maia covered her mouth with her hand to stem the spurting blood and issued another order to leave.
She didn't know why he was still unharmed, but she couldn't count on miracles happening repeatedly.
There was no guarantee he'd survive another contact with her blood, and dangers remained beyond just that.
One problem, though.
The man named Rimon was a terribly disobedient slave who ignored his master's words.
"Tch, you're making a simple task so difficult."
Grab.
"What is this... cough!"
Maia was shocked by Rimon's forceful grip on the wrist covering her mouth.
But whether she panicked at the fresh blood splattering onto her hand or not, Rimon paid it no mind.
He simply slipped the elixir pill, pinched between two fingers, right between her lips.
"...!"
Maia's eyes widened.
The sensation of his finger briefly brushing and then leaving her lips as he inserted the pill.
And the sight of Rimon showing no symptoms no matter how long she waited—it hit her like a iron mace to the head.
"Having trouble swallowing? Want some water too?"
After going to the trouble of feeding her the pill, what was she doing holding it in her mouth?
Staring at Rimon, who urged her on kindly with that ever-present smile, her face rigid for a moment.
Gulp.
In the end, Maia swallowed the elixir pill she'd been holding in her mouth.
Thanks to the blood pooled inside, the thumb-sized pill slid smoothly down her throat.
As its effects spread, her raging psyonic energy subsided, and the pain in her chest eased along with the coughing.
But that was it in the end.
Whether because her condition had worsened too far,
Or because she'd taken the pill too late,
Strength didn't return easily to her limp limbs, and a chill still lingered in her body.
"If there's anything you need my help with, just say the word."
"...".
As if seeing right through her condition.
After glaring sharply at Rimon, who calmly demanded orders,
Maia closed her eyes.
And after a long silence, she quietly spoke.
"Help me to the inner chambers."
"As you command."
A voice sharp as ever.
But laced with uncontrollable hesitation and tension.
Even with his superhuman senses as a Sword Master picking up her agitation crystal clear, Rimon didn't let it show.
He simply scooped her up by wrapping his arms around her back and thighs, lifting her to her feet.
That made her stiffen.
She hadn't expected Rimon to commit the outrage of carrying her like a princess.
"...I said to support me, not carry me."
"Well, that's just improvisation."
Absolute rest was basic for patients.
What problem could there be in carrying a princess like a princess? As Rimon brazenly claimed, she furrowed her brow briefly.
But seeing him still perfectly fine even while holding her, she had no choice but to reluctantly wrap her arms around his neck.
Thus cradled in Rimon's arms, she passed through the garden pathway back to her residence and issued the next order.
"Undress me."
"Yes, ma'am."
"...".
Maia was at a loss for words.
Normally, such an abrupt command might make one hesitate or flinch,
But Rimon's actions—setting her down without a hint of reluctance and reaching for her clothes—were absurd.
Aware or not of her bewilderment,
Rimon moved his hands calmly.
Swish, swish.
Gently pulling her arms free while barely gripping the glove tips was just the start.
He untied the waist sash cinching her clothes and deftly removed the five layers of intricate outer garments.
As the shoulder-wrapping outer layer slipped off, the elegant curve from her white neck to her soft shoulders was fully revealed.
The fabric draped lightly over her full breasts, then slid down her slender waist.
By the time the five outer layers and the final thin scrap slipped smoothly between her legs like an eel,
Nothing covered her body anymore.
Only her sleek, flawless nude form was laid bare, her milky skin fully exposed.
"There, all done."
"...".
"Why the long face?"
After removing her hair ornaments last and letting her neatly pinned hair fall loose, Maia replied to Rimon with a cold expression.
"...You undress women quite skillfully."
"This much is basic etiquette."
How could he call himself a slave if he couldn't even attend to his master's attire?
Maia had nothing to say to Rimon, who met her gaze squarely and spoke shamelessly.
If he'd averted his eyes even slightly, or looked at her with overt lust, she might have sneered openly.
But his utterly composed gaze left her unsure how to react.
"Put me in the tub."
In the end, she fell back on the most familiar action.
Issuing a command.
Rimon didn't ask why she wanted to enter the tub or if it was safe in her barely movable state.
Like a good slave, he simply picked her up and placed her inside.
The moment Maia submerged in the liquid filling the tub,
—changes occurred.
Whoosh.
The murky green liquid originally filling the tub drained away, replaced by clear fluid flowing in from the garden's channel.
It was the essence of a hundred flowers.
A divine medicine infused with the energies of countless toxic and medicinal herbs, guaranteeing lifelong health to an ordinary person from a single soak.
But the elixir retained its transparent hue only briefly.
Bubble bubble.
The instant a few bubbles rose from the submerged Maia,
The previously crystal-clear elixir began clouding rapidly.
From transparent to translucent.
Then to murky green.
Finally to pitch-black poison.
In exchange, as the elixir discolored, color rapidly returned to Maia's pale face.
And moments later,
When she rose from the tub,
Her body had nearly returned to normal.
Her characteristically pale face still bore traces of illness, and her body temperature was lower than average, but that was par for the course anyway.
"Towel's right here."
"...".
Unfazed by the dramatic recovery,
Maia didn't take the towel Rimon casually offered from beside the tub.
She simply stared at him before speaking.
"You worked hard attending me."
"Work? A slave serving their master is only natural...".
Splash!
"...What about my service didn't please you?"
Before he could finish,
Rimon tilted his head back to dodge the hand thrusting toward his neck.
Then, watching the towel caught in Maia's grip instead dissolve like foam, he asked awkwardly.
Maia didn't answer his question.
She merely glared at Rimon's face, still pristine despite the black liquid splashing from her hand.
"So it was you after all."
"What do you mean 'after all'?"
"Don't play dumb. Do I look like a fool who hasn't figured out your identity yet?"
Her already sharp eyes narrowed further, exuding a murderous aura as she spoke harshly.
Dodging her sudden Absorbing Star Capturing Flow was something even a sect-level master could manage.
But to shrug off multiple dousings of her blood, direct skin contact, and now concentrated poison essence?
No player or master could do that.
Not even the Monster Lord, who fled in terror.
Her blood was a deadly poison that could intoxicate even legendary Sword Masters.
"Only one being can withstand my blood and psyonic energy."
Blood, hair, even breath.
The one human who could touch her, a living incarnation of poison,
A Sword Master who survived not just bathing in the Poison Green Dragon Poison Lord's blood, but centuries of Green Dragon Clan poisons.
Achieving the impossible immunity to myriad poisons that no Green Dragon Princess had ever attained—a monster.
"Rimon Asfelder."
Spitting the cursed name like bile, Maia glared at Rimon with venomous eyes.
A sweet fragrance spread with immense psyonic energy.
The mere aftereffect dyed the jet-black tub poison purple and sprouted moss and plants on the barren floor—raw biomanipulation.
"Say it with your own mouth."
"Say what?"
A storm of poison and psyonic energy lethal even to top masters,
Yet Rimon innocently demanded explanation amid it all. Maia said coldly,
"After destroying our clan in the past and killing 'me,' do you think there's any reason I should let you live after you deceived us and crawled your way here?"
A voice brimming with hatred.
Eyes filled with grudge.
A fierce psyonic surge.
No mere bluff—she saw him purely as an enemy, fully resolved to kill.
'Yeah.'
Looking at her, Rimon inwardly agreed.
The bone-chilling killing intent prickling his skin, the gaze treating him like an arch-nemesis—it felt familiar.
'That's how a Seven Dragon Society princess should be.'
He hadn't crossed paths since the Iron Age began, and his recent encounters were with Rose and Ainsha of all people.
Especially since the Black Dragon Princess herself had proposed to him, always showing that smiling face.
Unconsciously, he'd thought maybe the Seven Dragon Society had forgotten the past.
He'd seen countless people and groups change in a mere decade or two.
But that was a mistake.
As if presuming their grudge forgotten and feeling disappointed was the ultimate insult,
Maia's seething killing intent reminded him.
That he and the Seven Dragon Society had forged hatred so deep they coined "dragon public enmity."
Among them, next to the Black Dragons, the Green Dragon Clan harbored the deepest grudge, inheriting it most viciously.
So her venomous glare was utterly natural.
Yet that naturalness felt so nostalgic.
Even enjoyable, somehow.
Rimon smiled.
Like when he'd tossed a few silver coins to those who'd approached offering the Green Dragon Clan's old lair location long ago.
With that cold smile, Rimon answered Maia's question.
"How about this reason: Even if you mobilize the entire Green Dragon Clan for a fight to the death with me, the one who dies won't be me?"