Chapter 435
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 435
Chapter Title: Running Away Won't Help
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"If Oppa holds both me and Ainsha together, no one has to fight over who goes first or feel jealous about getting stolen away by someone else, right?"
"……."
"I wanted to watch Ainsha's first night anyway, but now that I think about it, this seems even better."
Like that swordsman who proclaimed that to bring peace to the world, one just needed to conquer all nations and erase the borders.
Rimon felt a vein bulge on his forehead as he watched Ekaterina grin and boast about her genius idea.
Pfing!
"Huh?"
Pfwoong!
"Kkuwek?!"
Right after he snatched Rimon's wine cup and hurled it at Ekaterina.
A pure white figure that had somehow slipped past Rimon kicked her squarely in the solar plexus with the Spiral Submersion Leg Flow, sending her flying out of the ger.
"Ow ow... Kicking a poor sister when she's down is too much."
"Ekaterina. If you open this door, I'll never speak to you again."
"What?"
Her face was expressionless as always.
Her voice was as curt and blunt as ever.
And yet, for some reason, it felt chillingly cold as she issued the warning. Then Ainsha shut the door and locked it tight.
Bang bang bang!
"W-Wait. Fine, I'll just watch from outside!"
"Save your sleep-talking for bedtime."
"If you don't want me coming in, at least crack the door so I can peek! Come on?"
"Request denied."
"Argh, you're so mean! I'll even pay admission—49% of Bahamut shares! Heck, let me join in and it's 100%! So...!"
"Make any more noise, and you'll never see my face again."
"Ughhh."
Perhaps because she knew it was no bluff.
Ekaterina finally stopped pounding on the door and sniffled pitifully outside, as if she'd lost her kingdom.
Ainsha trotted back to her spot undeterred.
She held out the empty cup that had been hers to Rimon and declared proudly.
"Here, Rimon. Taking back my cup."
As if nothing had happened.
Or as if she intended to make it as if nothing had.
Rimon eyed the white-haired girl offering the cup with a blank face and muttered awkwardly.
"Union wine is traditionally meaningful because you share the same drink from each other's cups, you know?"
"……!"
"Well, no need to go picking up the one that got thrown. It's all ceremonial anyway, and I get your intent."
"No. The more important the ritual, the more the form matters—form is half the heart. Slack on form, and the heart slacks too."
"Hm, is that so?"
Maybe it was because she was a priestess.
Or perhaps she just regretted not getting his cup.
Whatever the case, watching Ainsha act like she was ready to go beat Ekaterina senseless and reclaim it, Rimon chuckled.
"Then this should do it."
"……?"
He picked up the pitcher again.
Poured into the cup she'd offered.
Took it and downed it in one go. Ainsha blinked at him.
She couldn't fathom why he'd drink alone the wine meant to be shared with her.
Rimon didn't bother explaining.
He simply pulled her gently closer.
Ainsha tilted her head at the sudden move, but then her eyes widened round as realization dawned belatedly.
Gulp.
Over her pink lips.
Their firmly pressed lips met.
And the drug that turned people into fools flowed down her throat.
Gulp.
Across East and West, through the ages.
Wine was indispensable to sacrifices,
the noblest libation offered to the gods.
In the Bronze Age, humans were even forbidden from drinking it casually, reserving it solely as tribute to the Seven Dragons.
In that sense, Ainsha was quite familiar with alcohol.
She was a priestess of the Divine Alliance,
a girl who dealt daily with gods who guzzled it like water, mediating their affairs.
Gulp.
Still, Ainsha had never particularly enjoyed drinking.
Most liquors couldn't even intoxicate her, and she couldn't grasp why their bitterness was supposed to taste good.
Even palatable fruit wines? She preferred straight juice.
Gulp.
But in this moment.
Ainsha finally understood why the gods threw fits whenever a feast lacked booze.
The sweetness seeping from her tongue squeezed her brain stickily.
The silk-smooth liquid teased her throat ever so gently.
The warmth soaking into her belly heated her body toasty-warm.
With each swallow, euphoria filled her head, and she forgot everything.
Like a baby bird fed by its mother,
clinging to Rimon.
Lips locked deep.
Focused solely on receiving and swallowing the wine he poured in.
Regrettably, the wine in his mouth wasn't infinite, and eventually, she could only smack her lips emptily.
As if sensing her desperate longing,
Rimon pulled his lips away slightly.
Refilled the cup from the pitcher, pressed it to her lips, and whispered in her ear.
"Now it's your turn."
"……?"
She blinked, uncomprehending,
and emptied the cup without thinking.
A bland, bitter taste utterly unlike before.
The stark difference left her unable to swallow; she held it in her mouth.
Slurp.
Their lips met again.
His tongue slipped in.
And the wine's flavor exploded.
A rapturous bouquet that permeated not just her tongue, but nose, membranes, skin—like no mere alcohol, but a drug.
A poison impossible to forget once tasted, even unto death; an aphrodisiac that addled the mind with scent alone and drowned one in instinct.
To savor even a drop more of that elixir, Ainsha worked her tongue furiously.
He traced her teeth, sucked her tongue, guiding her clumsy motions with expert ease.
Like an adult teaching a naughty prank.
And like a child learning her first prank, Ainsha followed his lead, slowly but surely, plunging deep into adult play.
Slurp, smack. Gulp.
Each time their lips parted, they'd tip the cup in turns, sucking the wine from each other's mouths.
Until wine dribbling from their lips beaded down chins and soaked their chests.
The endless naughty game ended only when the pitcher ran dry.
"Haa..."
But even after the wine was gone, Ainsha couldn't detach from Rimon.
Eyes unfocused.
Cheeks flushed pink.
Breath sweet-scented.
She kept seeking his lips.
Rimon didn't indulge the girl clinging with an expression unimaginable on her usual stoic face.
"Think we've got the formalities covered now."
"……?"
Union wine ritual complete, he murmured softly.
He scooped up her slight frame effortlessly.
Carried her slowly to the ger's depths, laying her on the vast bed piled high with furs.
Slurp.
"Ri...?"
He removed the veil from her head as she murmured his name in a daze, then kissed her forehead.
Was it the feverish heat?
Or instinct sensing what was coming?
Even intoxicated, she flinched instinctively, trying to shrink away.
But Rimon held her fast.
He gripped her slender shoulders to prevent escape, kissed her earring, and whispered.
"Running away won't help."
"……."
"From now on, even if you wanted to discard your feelings for me, you won't be able to."
Body, heart, emotions.
All of Ainsha was already his.
So he'd etch his mark into her flesh and soul, ensuring she could never forget it eternally.
She stared blankly at the man declaring what no tyrant ever would, as if it were the most natural thing.
Then Ainsha smiled quietly.
"That's what I desire."
She uncurled her body.
With a pure smile.
The Seven Dragon Society's most innocent princess thus kissed the lover to whom she'd offer everything.
"A Demon God...?"
"Yes. The Moscow branch report confirms it."
The urgent dispatch from Russia.
They'd cross-verified with other intel, of course,
and checked Demon God War records too. The situation matched Paris pre-fall eerily with current Moscow.
Youin reported gravely.
"Honestly, this one's beyond expectations."
Li Chingwei sighed.
She'd known something ominous brewed since Ainsha's prophecy of disaster.
But a Demon God's resurrection?
Even she, the Black Dragon Princess who grinned through most catastrophes, couldn't laugh this off.
"How are the other clans reacting?"
"The Azure Dragon Clan seems to be seriously considering deploying troops. But..."
"Even Rose would struggle to move in this scenario."
The Azure Dragons knew the Demon Gods' power best.
Thus, they'd hesitate most to act rashly.
If a Demon God struck the Great British Empire while Rose and the main force were away, it'd replay the Demon God War's horrors.
If even space-manipulating Azure Dragons balked, the others needed no mention.
Great Britain, Brazil, Egypt, etc.
Clans still recovering from damages against the Ten Great Guilds were especially vulnerable.
Li Chingwei was no exception.
If anything, she was in the worst spot.
Unlike others guarding single territories, she oversaw the Zhonghua Federation and the Divine Alliance.
Ironic: moving to avert disaster left her immobile when it struck.
'...Fate truly is unknowable.'
The vaunted chief strategist of the Seven Dragons inwardly grumbled at the empty title.
Then again, maybe it was inevitable.
Fate was what even prophets who knew the future couldn't change, only be swept by.
The more you thought you knew, the more unknowns piled up; you saw only what you knew, not what you should, so knowledge only bred subjugation.
In that light, efforts to avert disaster might be futile vanities.
'But...'
Li Chingwei closed her eyes.
The future was just the future.
No decree yet that disaster was set.
Besides, the man she loved would cleave any calamity with a single sword, forging his desired fate.
Composing herself, Li Chingwei spoke quietly.
"Put all Black Dragon Palace and Leviathan branches on defense alert. Mobilize the armed forces, and warn the Divine Alliance."
"No dispatch of reinforcements?"
"Aid's already en route."
Li Chingwei recalled Syr heading to Russia with Yuna Kyung's escort.
Her raw power might pale against the princesses or most monarchs, but she was the legendary grand witch regardless.
In wisdom and abilities beyond brute force, she rivaled a heavenly host alone.
Ekaterina alone? Maybe.
But with fate-bending Rimon and future-seeing Ainsha there, the worst wouldn't unfold.
So trust them.
She smiled faintly, then gazed west and murmured.
"Surely, Sword Duke is giving his all alongside Ainsha to stop the Demon God."