Chapter 55
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Cleared of the Frame-Up?
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Historic Prank Show... The Entire Nation Stunned by Blue House Announcement That the "Blue House Raid" Was Part of Emergency Response Training.
National Peace Party Floor Leader: "No Matter the Reason, We Cannot Tolerate Toying with the Public."
Why Did Infinite Monarch Lee Cheongi Step Up as Blue House Spokesperson?
As expected.
The newspapers were plastered with one single topic.
Lee Cheongi's press conference had that kind of impact.
The world was already buzzing from the Blue House raid, but that conference turned it into a runaway dungeon, flipping everything upside down.
[This is a conspiracy!]
[What do you mean?]
[Think about it! Does it make sense to blow up the entire Blue House just for one training exercise? This is the current regime's scheme to boost approval ratings!]
[Nah, that's a stretch. Look at the recent crime rates among high-level players...]
Current affairs talk shows claiming wild conspiracies or laying out reasons why such emergency training was necessary.
[What the f***. I sold all my stocks thinking civil war was breaking out, and now this national scam on April Fool's? No, it's not even April Fool's!]
[Total ★Black★Out]
[You believed some Sword Master geezer—not even a Monarch—flipped the Blue House solo? LOL]
[Sword MasterXXX, All Talk MasterOOO.]
[Too much killing intent for a play.]
Internet forums already treating it all like old news, laughing, chatting, and spewing curses.
[Blue House Crumbling in This Era! Special Discounts on Products for You!]
[Yes, this item is an officially licensed illusion-type from Infinity Guild. It was even used in staging this Blue House incident...]
Home shopping channels, ad agencies, companies of all stripes—everyone trying to cash in on the event like ants swarming honey.
Chewing over, swallowing, and regurgitating Lee Cheongi's press conference.
Their angles varied wildly, even within the same outlet, swinging from one extreme to another.
But there was one thing.
One universal constant, no exceptions anywhere.
"No one actually believes the Sword Duke really committed treason, huh?"
The girl in the Eastern-style dress murmured in wonder.
Li Chingwei's words drew a light scoff from Rimon.
"Would they? I warned that idiot not to spout off anything he couldn't back up."
"There's always someone who keeps yapping no matter what."
"Depends on the situation."
Rimon set down the newspaper.
He tilted his head at Li Chingwei's puzzled look and continued.
"The loudmouths at times like this are just bandwagoners. With all their attention glued to that moron, who's gonna waste breath on a has-been like me?"
It hit the nail on the head.
Right now, every conversation buzzing around focused solely on the current government and Lee Cheongi.
No one placed Rimon at the center of it.
Not even the conspiracy nuts calling it fishy bothered considering his actual treason potential.
It was only natural.
If Rimon were a real traitor?
Then the Blue House falling.
The president taken hostage.
All of it would have to be accepted as fact.
At the hands of one ordinary guy—no high-level player, no constellation contract.
To this era's folks who saw Sword Masters as relics of a bygone age, it was flat-out impossible by common sense.
"People end up believing what they want to believe."
"Common sense trumps logic every time."
Fans kill if you sleep with them on.
Your soul gets stolen in photos.
The sun orbits the Earth.
Absurd logic, straight-up superstition on reflection.
Yet entire eras bought it without question—not because they were fools.
Because it was common sense.
Lee Cheongi's conference was brilliant in that regard.
It handed a convenient peg to people desperately trying to fit the chaos into their worldview.
No matter how ridiculous that peg was.
"To hold a press conference like that after calculating this far... The Infinite Monarch's quite the schemer."
"Schemer my ass."
True to her Black Dragon Clan roots.
Li Chingwei nodded in admiration at the ploy.
Rimon shot her an exasperated look and sneered.
"Mark my words—that guy's just too lazy to clean up piecemeal, so he flipped the whole board."
"No calculations at all?"
"Nope."
Li Chingwei's eyes went wide.
To pull off a mad press conference on a whim?
For the Black Dragon Clan, where schemes were instinct, it was beyond imagination.
But Rimon nodded without hesitation.
And laid out his reasoning.
"I've done it before."
"...That's awfully convincing."
Rimon had once been an absolute being himself.
So he knew full well.
Scheming was a hassle; better to crush with raw power and authority—that was the absolute way.
What'd be reckless bravado for most became the perfect solution solely because an absolute wielded it.
That's what an absolute was.
The "show" explanation gaining traction? Solely because Lee Cheongi said it.
Anyone else, and it wouldn't have flown so easily.
"Should've seen it coming when he said he'd handle the aftermath... I'm the idiot for trusting a punk like that."
"At least you're cleared of the charges now?"
"That's why I ain't calling you a sucker."
"Uh, um. Is there that big a difference between idiot and sucker?"
"As big as premature and impotent."
"Huge gap..."
Clear as day, that analogy.
She murmured, impressed, for a moment.
Then Li Chingwei suddenly asked.
"Aren't you disappointed, though?"
"Hell yeah. Should've beaten that punk a few more times if I'd known."
"Not that—the chance to reclaim your fame by announcing you beat the Infinite Monarch."
"Fame? What fame? Bragging about flattening a bread shuttle like him?"
The conference wiped the treason charge—but buried the fact he toppled Lee Cheongi too.
Others would've choked back tears of injustice.
Not him.
He just shrugged indifferently.
"Besides, who'd believe it even if I shouted it? Half the world that saw it would gouge their eyes out denying."
"Fair point."
Li Chingwei agreed readily.
How ironclad blind faith in common sense was.
People's reactions to the conference proved it.
She herself had spent decades crafting that "common sense" to topple him, after all.
"Above all, thinking of the fly swarms it'd draw... Better off pretending it never happened."
She blinked once.
Then grasped it late, a faint smile tugging her lips.
"You don't want to play convenient sword-for-hire, huh."
"Gotta taste shit to know it from bean paste."
Rimon replied calmly.
If people bought he beat Lee Cheongi, fame would follow.
But so would users.
Even this era's absolute, Lee Cheongi, had a leech like Park Hyeon-gun.
With no faction or ties, plenty would see Rimon as easy pickings.
Sure, they could be useful if handled right.
But with constellations to juggle—and his aversion to overusing power—it was pure hassle.
"Anyway, thanks to it, I win the bet. Gotta be satisfied with that."
"Bet?"
"Yeah. Bet with some dead-fish eyes on whether I'd shake the frame-up."
Remembering Sia, stunned like the sky was falling at Lee Cheongi's conference, he chuckled briefly.
Rimon sank deeper into the sofa.
Eyeing Li Chingwei with intrigued curiosity.
"So, does this make it easier to get the elders' blessing for our marriage?"
As if it were someone else's business.
Asking about their wedding.
Ironic, but Li Chingwei didn't flinch.
Just smiled softly.
"Already got it."
"...Already?"
"Yeah. A few conditions, but nothing tough. Basically unconditional approval."
"If they'd greenlight it that easy, they wouldn't have opposed to begin with."
"The elders know the Sword Duke's power well. They opposed at first, then couldn't resist wanting you."
Rimon's expression turned subtle at her casual reply.
He knew how stubborn old fogeys could be, age giving him perspective.
Yet if they folded this quick, someone must've cornered them hard.
"Tch. Got excited over clearing my name for nothing."
"Don't be bummed. You shaking the frame-up gained us plenty."
"Now they can use me openly as their sword?"
"No—now we can have a public, unashamed wedding."
"Can't deny that. Kinda depressing."
Rimon chuckled wryly.
For him—who could raze this country with a few sword swings—or her—who could crash the economy with orders.
Treason charges were worth jack shit.
"So, we just do the ceremony now?"
"After a few procedures."
"Procedures?"
"I'm a princess of the Seven Dragon Society, after all. Booking the venue, guests—tons to prep."
"Hmm, fair enough..."
Rimon nodded.
Even normal couples took months to years prepping weddings.
Much less the Seven Dragon Society heiress and Seven Dragon Group owner.
Couldn't whip it up overnight.
"Well, if you need help, just say. I got time to burn."
"For real?"
"Yeah. Most things, I'll handle."
Rimon nodded plainly.
Li Chingwei gazed at him with sparkling eyes.
"Then, can you spare time tomorrow?"
"No issue... Why?"
"Got something to handle soon, and I really need the Sword Duke's help."
"Someone to kill?"
"No."
"Something to smash?"
"Not that either."
Pondering briefly what she might need, Rimon's utterly swordman-like guess made Li Chingwei giggle.
She flashed a meaningful smile.
"If anything... It's the other side that needs it."