Chapter 338
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 338
Chapter Title: Is That All?
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Her demeanor was composed.
Her smile was as gentle as ever.
Even her declaration of killing him felt like a joke.
But unlike her smiling face, Rose could tell from Li Chingwei's coldly chilled eyes.
That if she couldn't provide a satisfactory explanation, she would truly stop at nothing to kill him.
Nevertheless, Rose remained silent.
He knew that not stopping Hasneti from taking her away...
Would make any words from him nothing more than excuses, no matter what.
At that moment, as Li Chingwei's gaze seemed to deepen and darken even further in response to Rose's silence...
"Of course, that's not likely at all."
Pat pat.
With a light, wry chuckle.
A cup was extended toward him.
Rose stared silently at the coffee cup, steaming warmly, which Li Chingwei had poured herself.
After a moment, she slowly reached out, took the cup, and quietly spoke.
"......Why do you think I wouldn't have sold out the Sword Duke?"
"If you had really done something like that, you wouldn't have come to see me alone like this."
Not right after Rimon was kidnapped.
But days later, now that some time had passed, she must know he'd be under suspicion.
Yet Rose had come without even a single guard. That action alone proved her innocence.
Rose wore a complicated expression as she looked at Li Chingwei, who spoke calmly.
"You're going to trust me based on something that flimsy?"
"It's not exactly that."
Li Chingwei shook her head slightly.
She was the Black Dragon Princess.
As skilled as anyone at deceiving and manipulating others, she was a liar who suspected everything.
Even Rose, who could be called the conscience of the Seven Dragon Society, was no exception.
But there was one person.
Someone Li Chingwei never doubted.
"It means I trust the Sword Duke, who chose to travel with you."
"......"
"Above all, the Sword Duke isn't someone who gets sold out to others."
Rimon wasn't the kind of man who could be kidnapped or subdued by anyone.
Which meant that following Hasneti had been her own choice, so there was no reason to blame Rose for it.
Li Chingwei said calmly.
Then, watching Rose silently fix her gaze on the coffee cup, she smiled faintly.
"Now, can I hear your answer to my question?"
To dispel any possible misunderstanding, she politely asked him to explain in as much detail as possible how Rimon had become Hasneti's consort.
Rose stared at Li Chingwei for a moment.
Then she quietly closed her eyes.
And began his story.
Getting caught in a war the moment they arrived in Africa.
After conquering the Lumuka tribe, establishing martial law.
Attending Utopia Guild's banquet to find the Seven-Colored Bird, only to get swept up in Hasneti's attack.
Up to the point where, to prevent the massacre she planned while hiding her identity, Rimon volunteered to become her "consort"—a prisoner in name only.
The entire tale up to now.
"......I see. So that's what happened."
Africa was a continent beyond the reach of the Black Dragon Clan.
Moreover, with the Egyptian branch of Leviathan sealed off, Li Chingwei could only get information from newspapers. She nodded slowly upon hearing the circumstances.
Then, fiddling with her now-empty coffee cup, she quietly spoke.
"I have a general idea why the Sword Duke did that."
"Because of the Seven-Colored Bird?"
"Searching around Hasneti would be difficult for even the Sword Duke. He must have decided to use this opportunity instead."
Li Chingwei said calmly.
Since Branga had gifted the Seven-Colored Bird to her, the clue lay in searching Hasneti's surroundings.
But infiltration from outside carried too great a risk of detection.
Rose wouldn't allow it, for starters.
In that sense, this was the first and last chance for Rimon to naturally approach Hasneti.
"To catch a dragon, you must enter its lair."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
From long ago.
Recalling the Sword Emperor's words, Li Chingwei thought.
It was a good thing she'd gone to the trouble of preparing an Egyptian noble identity for Rimon.
If it hadn't been the highest-ranking noble with royal blood mixed in, Hasneti wouldn't have accepted his approach so easily.
Though she hadn't expected that identity to be used this way.
"To catch a dragon, you must enter its lair......"
Rose repeated the words once.
Then she lifted her head.
And looked straight at Li Chingwei before quietly asking.
"Is that all?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking if you have no other guesses for why the Sword Duke went with Hasneti."
Li Chingwei didn't falter at Rose's sudden question, out of the blue as it was.
She simply answered calmly.
"Unfortunately, I can't answer that one."
"You can't tell me?"
"No, it means I don't know either."
Li Chingwei shook her head.
From the start, she hadn't planned much for this search.
And what little plan she had fell apart the moment they got caught in the war between the two tribes.
Even the world's greatest prophet, Ainsha, couldn't foresee such an absurd situation. There was no way Li Chingwei could have predicted it.
"I could share baseless speculation......"
"......"
"But there's no need for that."
Distinct dark circles under her eyes.
Fatigue she couldn't hide.
Even clothes marked with clear wrinkles.
Seeing Rose, who plainly showed signs of sleepless nights for days, Li Chingwei smiled faintly.
"If it's an answer I can guess, you already know it too, Rose."
Rose fell silent at her words.
He knew from the start that asking her wouldn't help.
Yet why had he come to Li Chingwei specifically to ask this?
Staring mutely at the coffee cup that had gone cold without a single sip, lost in thought, Rose let out a sigh.
Then she rose from her seat.
"Sorry for visiting so late at night."
"Don't worry about it. This much is nothing between friends."
Rose paused at the unexpected words.
"......Were we friends?"
"At least to me."
Ever since the old days, when Rose had come to her, pressed a sword to her throat, and interrogated her.
And even after learning all the truths, she kept Rimon's secret without demanding anything in return. From then on, she had considered her her friend.
Rose stared at Li Chingwei, who spoke with a beaming smile.
After a moment, she suddenly spoke.
"Then, as a friend, can I ask one more thing?"
"Of course."
She nodded readily, saying she'd answer as long as it wasn't more valuable than their friendship. Rose quietly asked.
"If Charlotte or another princess gains the Sword Duke's approval to become her bride and monopolizes her heart, pushing you away from her side."
"......"
"Could you accept that?"
Li Chingwei paused.
As if startled by the unexpected question.
Or perhaps having imagined that scenario.
After a moment of lowering her gaze in silence, she finally looked up to meet Rose's eyes.
And smiled faintly as she countered.
"Does that really need an answer?"
Rose stared at Li Chingwei, who wore her usual inscrutable smile.
After a moment, she shook her head.
"No, I don't think it does."
He knew the time it took for her to form that smile was the answer itself, so Rose didn't hesitate further.
He simply picked up the cold coffee cup from the table, took a sip, and quietly spoke.
"Next time, I'll bring some good black tea."
Pajing.
Without waiting for a reply.
Without bidding farewell.
Leaving only those perfunctory words.
Rose vanished through space.
Li Chingwei stared at the now-empty air for a moment.
Then she let out a soft sigh.
"......The Sword Duke always exceeds my predictions."
Was it admiration?
Or lament?
Muttering to herself in a way no one else could know, Li Chingwei fell into thought.
'Hasneti was unexpected too.'
She could understand Hasneti taking Rimon.
A fragment imbued with dragon psyonic stimulated a dragon's instincts.
Show the fragment and promise a thousand tributes, and any princess would naturally try to take him.
Even accounting for that, making him her consort outright in these times was truly unforeseen.
'Because of the dragon psyonic?'
She might not have pierced Rimon's disguise that interfered with perception itself, but perhaps she unconsciously sensed the dragon psyonic he possessed.
If so, Hasneti's actions weren't entirely incomprehensible......
'It's troubling.'
Li Chingwei sighed.
Red Dragon Princesses throughout history were like flames themselves.
Seemingly transparent as fire, yet liable to spark anywhere if you looked away for a second—most were dangerously unpredictable.
Hasneti, taciturn and hard to read, was even more so.
Just the thought of her and Rimon entangled gave Li Chingwei a headache.
'Well, not as bad as Rose, though.'
Like a misty lake.
Infinitely deep and blue, yet lacking its usual clear gleam—recalling Rose's eyes, she gave a wry smile for a moment.
Then Li Chingwei suddenly muttered.
"At any rate, good thing I made my move in advance."
No matter how capable Rimon was, wandering the Egyptian palace alone in search of the Seven-Colored Bird would be problematic.
In that sense, her gift would be quite helpful.
"......Though I'll need to change the delivery address a bit."
It should be arriving in Africa soon anyway, so to alter the address in time, she'd need to move quickly now.
The princess, facing yet another late night, prepared another cup of coffee with a peculiar smile.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"......"
Even when he accepted becoming Hasneti's consort, Rimon had a slight headache but didn't worry too seriously.
It was just a nominal consort position anyway.
In reality, he'd be treated like a prisoner.
Even if he luckily got recognized as a noble, a penniless, powerless one would be ignored.
So he'd use that disregard to slip away, secure a position to freely act as a sculptor, and find the Seven-Colored Bird.
That was Rimon's plan.
The problem was that the plan had gone awry from the very start.
"Is everything to your satisfaction, Lord Rimor?"
"Nothing in particular."
Twenty slaves attending him?
This was nothing much.
Egypt's palace overflowed with slaves anyway; it was just surplus ones assigned to him.
"Today's recommended menu includes roast pork glazed with acacia honey, Torci made with truffles, and 16 other dishes. Shall I serve them as is?"
"Well, if that's the recommendation."
Mountains of delicacies at every meal?
This too could be taken as royal pretense for face.
"Pharaoh has sent gifts again today."
"What is it this time?"
"Five pairs of earrings, three necklaces, four pairs of bracelets, one pair of anklets, and......"
"Enough. I have no more room anyway, so thank her grace but say it's too much."
"Pharaoh anticipated as much and gifted a warehouse along with a gold storage chest."
"Isn't this the third warehouse already?"
"Rest assured. The palace has plenty of warehouses anyway."
But with treasures from gifts alone filling three warehouses to bursting, even Rimon was at a loss for words.
Especially since the slaves insisted on applying perfumes and makeup every bath time.
And when they brought utterly ridiculous clothes sometimes, it was even worse.
"......Is this clothing?"
"Yes."
"It shows everything underneath, though?"
"That's why it was made that way."
"......"
"Of course, there's a matching set of undergarments."
They insisted this was only natural to maintain Pharaoh's favor.
Faced with undergarments even more absurd than the clothes, the boy with centuries-old golden tan could only break out in cold sweat.