Chapter 301
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 301
Chapter Title: Shall I Be Honest With You?
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Rimon, who had been holding his glass in silence, finally opened his mouth after a moment.
“...Annulment?”
“Yes.”
“You want to break off our engagement?”
“It was a marriage of convenience driven by necessity, after all.”
That was true.
From the start, theirs wasn't some romantic bond forged in passionate love.
Rimon sought to seize control of the Seven Dragon Society for wealth and power.
Li Chingwei needed an ally to stand against the constellations.
For mutual gain.
After thoroughly weighing the rationality.
They had simply chosen engagement as the most reliable means of alliance.
“But now that the truth about the eighth Dragon Saionic has come out, my engagement to you would only be a hindrance to you, Sword Duke.”
The more Rimon protected Li Chingwei,
the more the other princesses would pressure and attack her and the Black Dragon Clan from all sides. In the worst case, it could spark a war.
And no matter who emerged victorious,
once war broke out, it would all be over.
No matter how much he forced them with his power, the Seven Dragon Society would never submit to Rimon. Even if they did, it would already be shattered by the war.
If it escalated to a world war, even those remnants would vanish.
Rimon's goal of claiming the Seven Dragon Society and Li Chingwei's plan to prepare against the constellations would both fail.
“Holding onto a political marriage that brings no gain—only harm—is pointless.”
“...So you're saying we should pretend our contract never existed?”
“No, I'm saying we should take the best course of action.”
Li Chingwei shook her head.
And to prepare for any contingency,
she revealed the optimal solution she had prepared ever since the Dragon Saionic secret was exposed.
“The other princesses' anger, starting with Charlotte, is directed at me.”
It was only natural.
During the meeting, she had avoided mentioning Rimon directly.
She had referred to him only as the 'eighth Dragon Saionic' or 'it.'
She had even subtly deployed telepathy to steer the princesses' thoughts toward herself as much as possible.
“Even if you and I annul our engagement, they'll keep me in check.”
“But their wariness toward me, the one trying to devour the Seven Dragon Society, will fade?”
“Yes, exactly.”
From the beginning, the princesses' anger was emotional.
If Li Chingwei shouldered it all alone, they could approach Rimon more calmly.
Or perhaps the opposite.
“Most importantly, this annulment gives you, Sword Duke, a new choice.”
“...What do you mean by that?”
“It's simple.”
She tilted her glass,
moistening her red lips with whiskey,
exhaling a breath laced with the scent of alcohol in a soft sigh.
Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
“It means you can choose which of the remaining six princesses to take as your new fiancée.”
“...”
“Of course, if all the princesses united to suppress you, Sword Duke, it would be different... but I doubt that'll happen.”
“...”
“At the very least, Aynsha and Rose won't stand by and watch.”
They hadn't stepped forward only because Li Chingwei's fault was so blatant.
If she took full responsibility, they could freely aid Rimon.
Maia wouldn't cooperate willingly either.
In that case, Charlotte, Hasneti, and Ekaterina would find it hard to resort to hardline measures.
If Rimon chose another princess as his fiancée, they'd end up like dogs chasing chickens.
Of course, they wouldn't give up easily.
But then they'd have to face Rimon alongside the other clans, putting them at a disadvantage.
Unlike Li Chingwei, who had lost her justification by deceiving everyone and incurred their collective wrath, cooperating with other clans would be difficult now.
Put another way?
Most princesses would move to gain the upper hand by becoming engaged to Rimon.
“Pit them against each other and reap the benefits in the chaos.”
“...You want me to play the field?”
“If I had to use a metaphor, it'd be taming wild beasts.”
A player doesn't die unless they drown, but a beast tamer gets devoured the moment they slip.
And the Seven Dragon Society's princesses were beasts that could tear off even a Sword Master's throat if he let his guard down.
Even Aynsha or Rose.
But to claim the Seven Dragon Society, such risks were necessary, Li Chingwei stated coldly.
Rimon asked quietly,
“And in the end, I pick one of the other princesses and marry her?”
“Yes.”
For a comfortable partner, Aynsha.
For a trustworthy companion, Rose.
For a lover to cherish passionately, Maia.
For a business partner or stakeholder, Hasneti or Ekaterina.
Like a matchmaker introducing options, she calmly explained the benefits of marrying each princess.
Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
“Of course, you don't have to choose just one.”
“Whether it's a political arrangement or a true lover or wife.”
“The deeper your ties with more princesses, the easier it'll be to dominate the Seven Dragon Society.”
Perhaps because the suggestion was so outrageous,
even as Rimon fell silent, Li Chingwei didn't hesitate.
As a strategist before a princess,
she had merely proposed the best strategy.
“In that vein, the one I recommend is Charlotte.”
“She's the only princess who can unite us all.”
The Seven Dragon Society's seven clans were equals in principle, but only in principle.
Through wealth and power,
or personal ability,
Gold Dragon Princesses had always dominated the others and led the society as its head.
“She's a formidable opponent, but if you secure Charlotte's cooperation, you've effectively claimed half the Seven Dragon Society.”
“The other princesses would grudgingly accept her as the principal wife, and you'd have someone to rely on, Sword Duke.”
“That's the best plan I've come up with.”
Long,
simple,
and shocking.
Even after Li Chingwei's explanation ended, Rimon couldn't speak for a long while.
He had lived a long life and weathered countless trials,
but he had never imagined a day would come when he'd be told to seduce the princesses and devour the Seven Dragon Society.
Let alone hearing it from his fiancée.
“I have so much I want to say, I don't know where to start... but first, let me ask this.”
He drained his glass in one gulp.
Gazing at Li Chingwei as she quietly tried to refill it,
Rimon asked softly,
“Princess, why do you keep doing this?”
“What do you mean?”
“You're supposed to be my fiancée, yet you keep pushing other women on me. Why?”
“...”
As if struck to the core,
Li Chingwei paused while pouring.
Whiskey overflowed onto her hand, but Rimon paid it no mind.
He simply continued, gazing at her steadily.
“When the White Dragon Princess proposed to me, you asked if I intended to accept.”
Even before Aynsha knew Rimon's identity,
and after learning about the Dragon Saionic and proposing,
Li Chingwei hadn't blocked it—she had watched or even encouraged it.
“You allowed the Blue Dragon Princess to come to me anytime.”
She had deliberately shaken and drawn in Rose, who would have backed off cleanly otherwise, ensuring continued contact with Rimon.
“You even let the Green Dragon Princess use the Scales' compulsion to pounce on me.”
She, who would normally have hidden herself to protect Rimon and Maia from such a crisis,
had merely watched silently as she kissed him.
Even someone as perceptive as Rimon, a Sword Master with instincts honed beyond the old masters', could sense it now.
“I let it slide before. We were enemies at heart, and you might want out. Fair enough.”
“...”
“But if you're truly in love with me, proposed sincerely, and want to monopolize me, your actions are full of contradictions.”
“...”
“What's the reason?”
Like someone caught off guard,
the silent Li Chingwei quietly set down the bottle.
She looked up at the sky, where sunset had given way to night.
“There are three reasons.”
“Tell me.”
As if ready to hear a thousand reasons,
Rimon nodded,
and Li Chingwei spoke softly.
“First, I owe the other princesses debts. I can't explain what, though.”
If she were an ordinary woman, Li Chingwei wouldn't back down so easily.
But not to the other princesses.
The debts she owed were that immense.
...Immense enough that even her life couldn't repay them.
“Second, someone like me, who has committed grave sins against you, Sword Duke, has no right to be your fiancée to begin with.”
Including the world peace plan,
Li Chingwei had sinned greatly against Rimon.
Such enormous wrongs that she had pretended not to notice, sins too heavy to even mention now.
“The final third reason is that you, Sword Duke, must claim the intact Seven Dragon Society no matter what.”
“To stop the constellations?”
“Yes.”
“And you can't explain why you're so fixated on guarding against and preparing for them?”
“Not yet, at least.”
Despite stating three reasons,
each one unexplainable, Rimon neither panicked nor showed disappointment.
He simply asked calmly,
“You think I'll accept that explanation?”
“No, you won't.”
Still, there was no choice.
Now that the eighth Dragon Saionic was exposed, this was the best way for Rimon to claim the Seven Dragon Society.
As Li Chingwei spoke calmly, Rimon gazed at her intently for a moment before asking bluntly,
“Then what about you, Princess?”
“What about me?”
“Do you accept the words you just said to me?”
Slowly,
he reached out.
He brushed back her jet-black hair tied in a single strand,
trailing whiskey-dampened fingers from her round earlobe along her soft cheek and jaw to her slender neck,
feeling the texture of her skin while imprinting her faint scent.
Finally, Rimon grasped Li Chingwei's shoulder and gently pulled her toward him.
Then, whispering in her ear,
he said,
“If some bastard blabbered about making my fiancée his wife, I'd beat him half to death.”
“...”
“So, can you accept me getting engaged to another woman?”
That it meant doing something even worse than that.
Could she watch with a smile and accept it satisfactorily?
Rimon asked,
and Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
“Shall I be honest with you?”
Soft and serene, as always.
But unlike her usual inscrutable self,
her eyes revealed a brooding, sunken emotion.
“No, I absolutely cannot.”
Burying her face in Rimon's shoulder like a lover,
the Seven Dragon Society's most dangerous and cunning princess said coldly,
“Aynsha, Rose, Maia, Charlotte—all of them. I'd kill them all if it meant monopolizing you, Sword Duke.”