Chapter 299
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 299
Chapter Title: Explain Yourself
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"Sword Duke, I have a favor to ask."
"Want me to swing my sword for you?"
"No, just watch over this one for me."
"...There are at least three princesses whose eyes have rolled back in rage, and you're saying you'll handle it yourself?"
"This is Seven Dragon Society business."
"Sounds like you have a plan."
"Yes."
"Fine, if you're that confident, I'll stand back for now."
"'For now' isn't good enough. If you trust me, please stay out of this completely."
"Don't worry. Unless it's a situation where I absolutely have to step in, I'll just watch."
Aynsha froze.
Intruders into the Seven Dragon Council?
It wasn't just because this was an unprecedented event in the society's history spanning hundreds—no, over a thousand years from the Bronze Age onward.
It was because the intruder was Rimon.
And the dizzyingly vivid dragon psionic aura emanating from him.
Even she, always expressionless, swallowed dryly and couldn't tear her eyes away from him.
'...I didn't foresee this.'
It wasn't just Aynsha.
Hasneti and Ekaterina, of course.
Even Rose and Maya, who had already met Rimon before, couldn't look away from him.
The eighth dragon psionic.
Normally suppressed by Rimon's sword intent and leaking out only faintly, it now resonated with the seven princesses' psionics, spreading even more intensely.
Like a flower drawing in bees and butterflies with its sweet scent.
"Yeah, eavesdropping like this is pretty underhanded, isn't it?"
Amid the entranced, frozen princesses, one of the two exceptions who hadn't stiffened up.
Staring straight at the smiling golden princess, Rimon drawled lazily.
"Not as much as you all, though."
"Do we look underhanded to you?"
"Don't you?"
Rimon smirked.
Then, blocking the black-haired princess like a shield, he countered coldly.
"Since when was threatening a perfectly healthy fiancée to hand over her groom considered honorable?"
"...I suppose it does sound a bit petty when you put it that way."
Charlotte laughed.
Calling her petty.
It was the first insult she'd ever heard in her life.
Yet instead of feeling offended or angry—perhaps because of the intoxicating scent?
Or because the man was worthy of it?
She didn't bother pondering the answer.
She simply lifted the hand propping her chin and looked straight at Rimon as she continued.
"But this concerns the Seven Dragon Society's long-cherished wish. Only we can decide if our actions are petty or just."
No matter what others said.
The Seven Dragon Society was fundamentally a religion.
And every religion has doctrines and faiths that transcend laws and morals.
Not even the seven princesses were exceptions.
On the contrary, as direct descendants of dragon blood, they had principles they absolutely had to uphold.
Since Li Chingwei had violated those principles, they had both the right and duty to tear her apart.
Charlotte declared without hesitation.
"So, Sword Duke, wait quietly for our decision."
They would decide what to do with the eighth dragon psionic wielder after settling Li Chingwei's punishment.
Utterly arrogant.
Yet natural.
And thus, even more noble.
Rimon didn't get angry or scoff at Charlotte's kingly command.
As if he'd expected it.
He simply asked calmly.
"And if I refuse?"
Charlotte didn't flinch or get upset at the rejection of her order, either.
Like looking at a sulking concubine.
She just gazed at Rimon with amused eyes and replied.
"You'll learn that there are things in this world you must do, even if you hate them."
"Going to try forcing me?"
"If necessary."
Rumble rumble rumble!
The moment her languid reply reached them, the Underground Dragon Palace began to shake.
The psionic flowing from Charlotte was shaking the vast space like an earthquake.
And the changes didn't stop there.
The dress she wore suddenly crumbled into powder and reconstituted into a bizarre battle suit that clung tightly to her body.
Nor was Charlotte the only one reacting to Rimon's question.
Whoosh.
As if finally snapping out of their rigidity.
Centered on Hasneti, who lit the cigarette in her mouth, the temperature in the Underground Dragon Palace skyrocketed.
Ekaterina's playfully smiling face cooled, and the dust falling from the vibrations froze in place around her.
Huanglong Corps, Guanglong Corps, Yanlong Corps began resonating with their respective princesses' psionics.
What they created was an intangible torrent.
A storm of tremendous momentum comparable to the psionic that had swept through all of the Amazon.
Pressure that would suffocate ordinary people and even give mid-level players heart attacks.
But even facing it alone, Rimon showed no agitation.
He simply looked at Charlotte, then Hasneti, then Ekaterina in turn.
Finally, gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist, he wore a cold smile.
"If you can, then do it."
Rimon Asfelder, the last Sword Master who had blocked the Seven Dragon Society for over hundreds of years.
Charlotte G. Rothschild, heir to the Golden Dragon Princess who had repelled sword waves and proven herself equal to a Sword Master.
Ekaterina Khan, the Silver Dragon Princess who alone rivaled the Golden Dragon Princess in the society.
Hasneti III, the Red Dragon Princess who surpassed even Charlotte in real combat experience and destructive power.
The tense air flowing around those four swelled rapidly, making even the other princesses sense crisis.
Rose bit her lip.
Aynsha swallowed hard.
Maya's expression turned icy.
Just as they were about to draw up their own psionics.
"Everyone, stop."
Echoing through the air was one calm voice.
The black-haired girl who, uniquely, hadn't reacted at all amid everyone's battle readiness.
Li Chingwei opened her eyes, which she'd kept gently closed since Rimon's intrusion.
She slowly raised her head.
And directed her gaze at Rimon.
"Sword Duke, Charlotte is right."
Perhaps because it was so unexpected.
Not just the other princesses.
Even Charlotte herself.
All looked at Li Chingwei with disbelief, surprise, or intrigued eyes.
Rimon asked with the most incredulous expression of them all.
"Princess, do you not remember what that one just said to you?"
"Of course I remember."
"And you're going along with it?"
"I didn't agree with what she said."
Li Chingwei shook her head.
Then, looking straight at Rimon with her obsidian-dark eyes, she continued.
"I just agreed that this is ultimately a Seven Dragon Society internal matter to be discussed among ourselves."
"So outsiders like me should butt out?"
"You're my fiancé, Sword Duke, not yet my husband. Even if you became my husband, you still shouldn't interfere."
This was the Seven Dragon Council.
A place where only princesses could speak.
For Rimon to insert himself was as absurd as meddling in another country's internal affairs.
And as rude as a man barging into a women-only space.
Aynsha's eyes shook expressionlessly at how bluntly she put it.
Then Li Chingwei made her request.
"So please withdraw for now."
"...You mean that?"
"Yes."
Her usual calm voice.
But with a serious face devoid of her usual smile, unlike before.
Rimon gazed at her intently for a moment.
Then finally nodded.
"Alright. If my fiancée asks that earnestly, it's only proper for the fiancé to comply."
He released the sword hilt.
And settled his raised sword intent.
"Continue your discussion."
His calm demeanor made the earlier bloodlust seem like a lie.
Rimon turned around.
And finally, looking at Charlotte, he said lowly.
"But don't think for a second that whatever armchair debate you have here lets you do whatever you want with me."
With that.
Rimon vanished like evaporating mist.
What remained were the shattered remnants of the round table and the Underground Dragon Palace turned into a mess by the psionic torrent.
And the gazes fixed on her.
But Li Chingwei ignored all those varied stares.
As if hesitating over something.
Or feeling bitter.
She stared fixedly at the spot where Rimon had disappeared, only turning to Charlotte after a long while.
"We might need some cleaning up, so how about we call it for today and continue tomorrow?"
Glancing at her with intrigued eyes for a moment.
Charlotte reverted her battle suit to dress form and nodded with a smirk, like an executioner granting a condemned prisoner time for last rites.
"Very well. You'll need time to think as well."
With that, the Seven Dragon Council adjourned.
Li Chingwei left immediately with her Mokryong Corps upon hearing it.
But the other princesses lingered long after.
Some because they didn't grasp the situation.
Some lost in thought.
Some calming racing hearts.
Some leisurely relaxing.
Some amused.
As each princess stayed for different reasons.
The green-haired woman, Maya, who alone watched the empty seat where Li Chingwei had vanished, sneered coldly.
'Indeed, is this your choice, Li Chingwei?'
After leaving the Underground Dragon Palace.
Li Chingwei headed straight to one place.
She hadn't specifically ordered her clan to search.
She simply followed her instincts, tracking the faint scent lingering in the air.
But that's why, without any tracking skills, she found what she sought faster and more accurately than anyone.
The top-floor penthouse.
A little higher still.
The rooftop of Leviathan, where fierce winds howled.
There, perched with a bottle of whiskey beside him, glass in hand.
A white-haired man gazed at the sunset sky.
"You're faster than I expected."
"I figured you'd be waiting."
"As you see, I was just having a drink. No need to cut the Seven Dragon Council short for me."
Rimon smirked, raising his glass with sloshing whiskey.
She sat demurely beside him and picked up a separate glass next to the whiskey bottle, tasting it.
"...Macallan '88?"
"It caught my eye."
He didn't explain why he'd chosen this out of the many liquors in the penthouse.
She didn't ask.
Instead, uncharacteristically fiddling with her glass, she finally spoke after a long pause.
"I remember you promised to just watch unless you absolutely had to step in."
"I did."
"You don't trust me?"
"I do."
To her question in a slightly subdued voice.
Came an immediate, unhesitating reply.
"I still do."
"Then why barge into the Seven Dragon Council?"
"Because that was the last chance to stop you."
Rimon turned his head.
His usual serene eyes.
But filled with unmistakable bitterness as he looked at the black-haired girl.
He asked.
"Why are you accepting the Golden Dragon Princess's proposal?"
"I wasn't planning to accept it outright. I was just looking for a compromise."
"One where you become the public enemy and take all the blame, while I get safety and freedom?"
Li Chingwei's hand on the glass froze.
After a silence, she countered.
"How did you know?"
"Just a hunch."
"...I might start hating people with good hunches."
She hadn't told anyone.
Pretending to upend the board to provoke Charlotte.
Drawing out the other princesses' unconscious reactions.
Balancing on a tightrope right up to the brink of civil war in the council.
It was her ultimate goal all along.
At Rimon's words that he'd figured it out on a mere hunch, Li Chingwei could only give a wry smile.
"Want an explanation?"
"No need. That's exactly it."
"Then explain it to me. I can't accept it."
I can understand.
But I can't agree.
So convince me.
To Rimon's calm demand, Li Chingwei slowly nodded.
"It's not some grand reason."
She brought the glass to her lips.
Tilted it slightly, swallowed a sip of the rich whiskey, and continued softly.
"It's the only way to stop the Seven Dragon Society from splitting and starting a world war."