Chapter 340
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 340
Chapter Title: That's Mine.
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'...Did I expect this chain-smoking princess to make such a face?'
Rimon was a little surprised.
As expressionless as Ainsa usually was...
No, in a certain sense, even more than her—Hasneti, who rarely showed any emotion.
The fact that she was displaying her anger so blatantly was that unexpected.
Crack!
But that surprise was short-lived.
Rimon furrowed his brow at the harsh sound coming from his own wrist.
"I got permission from the Pharaoh's close aide."
"You're saying Nadia let you in here?"
"Yeah."
Whether it was because she didn't like that answer,
or because Rimon's confident attitude displeased her,
Hasneti sharpened her already fierce gaze even more, and Rimon spoke lowly to her.
"Now that you've heard the answer, could you let go of my arm, Pharaoh?"
Only after hearing those words did she seem to realize she was gripping Rimon's wrist.
She glanced down at her own hand, her eyebrows twitching.
But that was it.
Far from releasing him, she tightened her grip on his wrist even further, glaring at Rimon with savage eyes as she spoke in a husky voice.
"Get out of here."
"Leave right now? That's a bit..."
Rimon instinctively started to argue but shut his mouth.
This place had the highest chance of housing the seven-colored bird, so he had planned to hold out as best he could.
But he soon had to abandon that thought.
Her boiling psionics.
The hand firmly twisting his wrist.
Above all, that icy blue glare.
It all told him that if he uttered even a hint of nonsense, Hasneti wouldn't let it slide.
"Fine, I'll go."
No matter how territorial and possessive the princesses of the Seven Dragon Society were, who would have thought she'd get this furious just because he entered her birdcage without permission.
Clicking his tongue inwardly at the unexpected situation, Rimon eventually nodded readily.
Finding the seven-colored bird was important, but he couldn't afford to fight Hasneti right then and there.
"..."
"Pharaoh?"
Yank.
Perhaps because his ready agreement aroused suspicion instead.
Hasneti, who had been glaring at Rimon, pulled his wrist and lifted his small frame right off the ground.
"Pharaoh, I've got legs too, you know?"
Ignoring his awkward protest,
she strode forward for a moment.
Hasneti didn't stop at just getting him out of the birdcage; only after reaching the annex she had given him did she release her hold on Rimon.
Then, she spoke coldly to the slaves who had dropped to their knees in terror at her arrival.
"From now on, no outings for my consort."
"What?"
"Whether it's Nadia, the elders, or anyone else calling for my consort—no one leaves this annex."
"Hold on, what are you talking about?"
"If, in my absence, he takes even a single step outside this annex..."
Regardless of Rimon's dumbfounded reaction.
Hasneti, not even sparing him a glance, fixed her gaze on the slaves and concluded in a voice huskier and more sunken than usual.
"You will pay with your lives."
That was it.
As if she had said all she needed to.
Hasneti turned and left the annex.
"Hey, is there any rule that says you lock someone up just for a quick outing?!"
Rimon shouted in absurdity.
But he couldn't chase after Hasneti.
He knew that if he left the annex now, she really would dispose of the slaves.
"...Don't tell me I've been placed under house arrest?"
Instead of searching for the seven-colored bird, he had somehow incurred the king's wrath and ended up confined like a consort in a tower—Rimon could only stare blankly.
Squeak...?
Of course, it wasn't as bad as Yuna Kyung, who had ended up trapped not just in the annex but in the birdcage itself.
"Uh... Princess, did you call for me?"
Just moments ago,
Nadia had believed she was lucky.
Thanks to Rimon saying he didn't need an escort and sending her away, she had returned to her duties sooner than expected.
But at this moment,
she was convinced she was the most unlucky person alive.
It wasn't just because she had been summoned by Hasneti right upon returning, dooming her to overtime tonight.
The gaze Hasneti fixed on her from the throne—fiercer than ever—made her shrink back.
To such a Nadia, Hasneti asked bluntly,
"Why?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked why you allowed my consort into my birdcage."
Nadia blinked.
It was too absurd a question for such a murderous atmosphere.
"Do I need to ask three times?"
But that hesitation was brief.
At the sight of Hasneti, whose aura had gone from menacing to outright igniting flames, Nadia cried out in panic.
"The bird! The consort said he wanted to see the birds!"
"And for that reason alone—without my permission—you let my consort into my birdcage?"
"Th-that's..."
Nadia broke into a cold sweat.
She knew Hasneti loved her birdcage enough to visit it at least once a day.
That was why she managed it personally.
But she hadn't expected Hasneti to fly into such a rage just for bringing the consort there.
Thus, in desperation, Nadia prostrated herself flat.
"I'm sorry, Princess! The consort insisted on giving you a gift, so I...! I swear it won't happen again!"
Even as she begged forgiveness, Nadia fidgeted anxiously.
She knew Hasneti in such a fury wouldn't let her off easily.
Maybe she should cut off her own arm to atone and beg only to be spared dismissal.
As Nadia agonized,
"...What do you mean, he wanted to give me a gift?"
"Oh. You hadn't visited, and he seemed disappointed. So he wanted to carve a bird you like as a gift."
"..."
For some reason.
Just moments ago, she had been seething like she would roast her alive.
Now, watching Hasneti suddenly cool her rage and fall silent, Nadia felt puzzled.
Then, her red lips parted.
"I'll let it slide this once."
"Pardon?"
Nadia blinked several times.
Only belatedly grasping the meaning, she bowed deeply with a grateful expression.
"Thank you for your mercy, Princess! I swear I won't disappoint you again..."
"Remember this."
But before she could finish her thanks, Nadia froze in her prostrated pose.
"That's mine."
No one could touch what was hers without permission.
The descendant of dragons with fierce possessiveness.
Above all, as the most passionate Red Dragon Princess,
at Hasneti's warning—her blood-red eyes flashing—Nadia could only nod frantically.
"Understood?"
"Yes, yes, Princess."
"If you understand, station a martial force to guard the birdcage. No one enters without my permission from now on."
"Right away."
An entire martial unit just to guard a garden full of rare birds?
It was beyond absurd—utterly unreasonable—but Nadia accepted her command without the slightest hesitation.
Because she understood how seriously Hasneti took this.
"Um, then what about this selection?"
That was why Nadia cautiously asked while gauging Hasneti's mood.
In other times, she might have handled it herself, but right after such an order, she couldn't act on her own.
The result was as expected.
"...I'll handle it personally."
"Yes, Princess!"
"And take measures at the annex too."
"Ah, you mean make sure not even a rat can get in?"
"No."
"Pardon?"
Her bewilderment was brief.
At Hasneti's following instruction, Nadia responded energetically before withdrawing.
There were parts she didn't quite understand, but orders were orders—she just had to follow them.
After Nadia left.
Alone, Hasneti sank into thought.
With such explicit commands, Nadia wouldn't handle it sloppily.
But if something went wrong...
"No helping it."
Hasneti murmured lowly, her eerie blood-red eyes glaring into empty space.
"If need be, I'll burn the entire birdcage to the ground."
"..."
She was lost in thought.
For days already.
Skipping even meals.
Pulling all-nighters.
Her figure, immersed in her own world, was so disheveled that her usual neatness was nowhere to be found.
But she didn't care.
She focused solely on finding the answer.
Truly, like water drops piercing stone.
An effort and concentration that would have solved a mathematician's conundrum or birthed a literary masterpiece.
Yet, paling that focus, no matter how time passed, her deliberations showed no end.
No, they only deepened.
It was doubt.
It was suspicion.
It was torment.
It was delusion.
It was confusion.
It was contemplation.
Like snow blanketing a mountain triggering an avalanche.
The myriad thoughts that had been piling up bit by bit collapsed all at once, forming an endless loop of worry in her mind.
Thus, when she visited Li Chingwei.
She might have held a sliver of hope.
That the chief strategist of the Seven Dragon Society could provide the answer.
But it was vain hope.
The girl who never revealed her true feelings—rather than giving an answer, she plunged her deeper into torment.
No, perhaps that itself was the advice.
That others' words meant nothing, and she had to figure it out herself.
Or...
"..."
In that moment.
She opened her closed eyes.
Having finally realized the answer to the initial question that had sparked this endless worry.
"I see."
She wasn't even sure if that was truly the answer.
If there had been clear evidence from the start, she wouldn't have agonized for so long without finding it.
Yet, she was convinced.
This was the answer she sought.
Because if it was right, it resolved most of her prior doubts.
"So that's how it was."
That was why.
The reason she closed her eyes again
wasn't just lamenting her own dullness for failing to notice something so obvious amid her misguided thoughts.
Even knowing the answer...
No, precisely because she knew it, the deepened delusion and confusion revealed the truth.
That her worries had been meaningless from the outset, and the answer she found, while important, wasn't what was needed.
What was needed was ultimately one thing.
Choice alone.
"..."
It was a problem dozens of times harder than all her prior deliberations.
Considering the consequences it would bring, she might agonize not for days, but years, and still hesitate.
Yet, for some reason,
that difficult choice didn't feel so hard to her.
Because the choice she would make had been decided from the beginning.
Thus, ending that long torment,
and gripping the sword at her side—
she decided.