Chapter 80
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Show of Force
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Leonora's eyes widened as if they were about to roll back in her head.
If the strawberry flavor had been the sprightly dance of a tangy fairy, the chocolate was a massive club swung by a giant.
An overwhelming sweetness. The bitter cacao notes crushed and conquered every single taste bud on her tongue.
The sticky, rich chocolate melted in the heat of her mouth, sliding down her throat. A thrilling shiver raced from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes.
"Haaang...!"
A lewd moan escaped Leonora's lips. She clutched her cheeks with both hands, twisting her body.
"It's too good... I'm losing my mind... This is poison... Sweet, sweet poison..."
The flavor was so stimulating it brought tears to her eyes. In an instant, her stress, the heat, her irritation—all vanished. A dopamine party erupted in her brain.
Cheonwi pulled out the empty spoon with a sly smile.
"What do you think? Feeling like reconsidering that deal?"
The battle was already over. Now that she'd tasted the chocolate, Leonora was firmly in Cheonwi's palm. She was no longer a princess. She was a slave to gelato.
Leonora grabbed fistfuls of Cheonwi's robes. Her eyes burned with near-madness.
"Fine... fine! Wish voucher, whatever—you can have it all!"
"Your Highness! No!"
Hilda squeezed out her last shred of reason to protest, but Leonora ignored her.
"Shut it, Hilda! You don't get it! No, if you tried it, you'd understand! This is more important than the fate of the nation!"
Leonora looked up at Cheonwi, pleading desperately.
"Blank check? I'll sign ten! I'll sell my soul for it! Just tell me how to make this! Let me eat it every day! Hand over that tub right now!"
A perfect declaration of surrender.
Cheonwi nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Contract sealed, then. We'll have Captain Hilda as our witness."
Cheonwi drew a pre-prepared parchment contract from his robes. Leonora snatched the quill without even reading it and scrawled her signature. Her gaze was locked solely on the chocolate gelato tub atop the table.
"Here! Done! Now give it to me!"
Leonora flung the signed paper at Cheonwi like a frisbee and reached for the tub.
Cheonwi tucked the contract away carefully, then slid the remaining tub toward her.
"Enjoy, my generous 'patron'."
Leonora hugged the tub without a shred of dignity and plunged her spoon in deep.
"Mmm! Hmm~!"
Her blissful moans filled the guest pavilion. The princess, her mouth smeared with chocolate as she shoveled it in greedily, looked far from noble—but happier than ever.
Cheonwi gazed down at her, then suddenly reached out.
"Hold on a moment."
His thumb brushed her lip. A thick streak of chocolate smeared from the corner of her mouth transferred to his finger.
Caught off guard by the sudden touch, Leonora froze with her spoon midway, staring up at him blankly.
"You had some on your face."
Cheonwi casually licked the chocolate from his finger. It was a wicked gesture, laced with subtle eroticism.
"Look forward to it. My wish... will be something very special."
His eyes darkened profoundly.
Leonora, the princess who had succumbed to sweet temptation and handed over what amounted to a blank check. But she didn't yet know. Cheonwi wasn't after mere diplomatic gains or wealth—he was after her.
Thud.
A heavy sound echoed through the guest pavilion's corridor.
The moment Cheonwi closed the reception room door behind him, the sweet gelato scent dissipated into the cooled air. Leonora's humming from inside faded behind the thick oak door.
He paused, hand still on the doorknob. The sly merchant's grin faded from his lips. In its place settled the cold, expressionless stare of a predator eyeing its prey's nape.
'Contract secured.'
The crinkling parchment in his inner breast pocket felt immensely satisfying. A blank proxy from the Great Jin Empire's princess. This alone could stir up quite the ripples in the empire's political waters.
Cheonwi straightened his robes and took a step forward.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh—
A faint burst of air. Not mere wind. It was the precursor pressure from a massive object hurtling at high speed.
Before his senses could scream a warning, darkness engulfed his vision.
Bang!
A deafening roar split his ears as the wall before him shuddered. No—the wall hadn't shaken. Something had embedded itself in the wall.
Cheonwi didn't so much as blink. He slowly raised his gaze.
Right before his nose—close enough for his bridge to graze it—a gleaming silver steel gauntlet pinned the wall. The sheer brute force had spiderwebbed fine cracks across the brick wall of the guest pavilion.
Following that arm upward, a solid wall of silver glared down at him.
Hilda, captain of the Great Jin princess's White Silver Knight Order.
Her full-body plate armor, shining silver without a single gap, made her look less like a human and more like a 'walking fortress'.
It was the classic 'kabedon'.
The only issue was that the one delivering it wasn't some slender beauty, but a steel-clad warrior who could probably smash a chariot barehanded.
"Hold it right there, eunuch."
Hilda's voice rumbled low. Her helmet was off, but the aura she exuded masked her emotions more solidly than any helm could. Golden strands fluttered in the corridor's breeze, but the blue eyes beneath burned with icy coldness.
Cheonwi shrugged with feigned surprise.
"Oh? Escorting me out? I'm honored. The captain of the Great Jin knights seeing me off at the door herself."
"Don't play games."
Hilda growled. Her face thrust close to his. Near enough for their breaths to mingle. Her scent wasn't perfume. It was well-oiled steel, leather, and the faint metallic tang of the battlefield.
"Back in that reception room."
Hilda's eyes narrowed.
"When you shoved that contract at Her Highness, your eyes weren't on her."
Her gaze bored into his like a drill, brimming with killing intent that promised to sever his head at the first lie.
"They were on my chest... no, the gap in my armor."
Spot on.
Cheonwi clicked his tongue inwardly. Battlefield veterans were no joke. She hadn't missed that fleeting glance.
But he kept his smile steady.
"A misunderstanding, Captain. I was merely admiring your splendid armor. It's a style we don't see much in the empire."
"Lies."
Hilda was resolute. She didn't even pretend to hear his excuse.
"My instincts never fail. Ever heard of battlefield senses? You reek of it. Pretending to be some fawning eunuch with your tail between your legs, but..."
Her eyes raked down his lower body. Mockery, contempt, and wariness swirled in her gaze.
"At your core, you're a starving wolf. A sly, lecherous one."
Hilda clearly didn't buy that he was a eunuch. Or rather, even if he was physically neutered, her instincts screamed he was more dangerous than any intact male.
"I don't know what you have planned for Her Highness, but not while I draw breath."
Her right hand left the wall, reaching for his collar. With that iron-gloved grip, his slender neck would snap like a twig.
A threat.
A blatant show of force.
Any normal official would have collapsed in terror or begged for mercy. That was Hilda's aim—to strip away this suspicious man's mask and expose his groveling true nature.
But.
Tap.
Hilda's eyes flew wide.
Her wrist halted midair. Cheonwi hadn't grabbed it. He'd merely deflected it lightly with the back of his hand—so softly.
Yet in that instant of contact, Hilda felt it.
A bizarre rebound, like slamming into an immense boulder.
Cheonwi didn't dodge. He didn't even flinch. Far from frightened, his eyes gleamed with amusement, savoring the moment.
'What the hell is this guy?'
As Hilda faltered, Cheonwi's gaze swept her armor again. This time, without hiding it.
A blue glint flashed in his eyes. Data on her armor flooded his mind like a waterfall.
- Target: Great Jin Royal Guard Standard Plate Armor (Custom)
- Main Materials: High-Carbon Steel 85%, Mithril Alloy 15%
- Insulators: Leather (Neck, Armpits, Kneepit areas)
- Weight: Approx. 32.5kg (Estimated)
- Notes: Superior mana conductivity. Superior thermal conductivity.
- Conclusion: Excellent conductor.
To Cheonwi, Hilda wasn't a woman. Or more precisely, before 'woman', she was an intricate 'machine'—a subject for engineering study.
To move so nimbly in over 30kg of steel. He wondered about the joint gears. How was the mana circuit engraved? What about the interior? Sweat ventilation?
His past life's engineering doctorate curiosity ignited, and his gaze grew more obsessive, clingier.
"Captain."
Cheonwi lightly grasped her deflected wrist. Cold steel met his fingertips.
"Your armor's impeccably maintained. Perfectly oiled, leather joints in top condition. As expected of the Great Jin's top sword."
"L-Let go!"
Hilda yanked her arm in panic. But Cheonwi held firm. He even stepped closer. Now their lips nearly touched.
"But..."
His voice wrapped stickily around her ear.
"Isn't it too heavy? In this sweltering heat, trapped in this sealed steel shell."
His finger traced the gauntlet seam, brushing her bare wrist skin ever so slightly.
"Don't you ever... want to take it off?"
For a moment, the corridor's air froze.
'Take it off.'
The words dripped with double entendre. It could mean shedding the armor for comfort—or a brazen invitation to glimpse the woman beneath. Cheonwi's expression and tone screamed the latter.
Hilda's face flushed crimson in an instant. Even her exposed neck burned red. Shame, and rage at this unprecedented lewd harassment.
"Y-You bastard...!"
Hilda leaped back. Her hand flew reflexively to her sword hilt.
Clang!
A sharp metallic ring echoed from the scabbard.
"You want to die! Daring to tell a sacred knight captain to 'strip'! I'll rip out that filthy tongue of yours!"
Killing intent swirled through the corridor. Hilda wasn't joking. She meant to cleave him.
But Cheonwi remained utterly relaxed. He raised both hands in mock surrender, pretending to cower.
"Whoa, calm down. It's a deep misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding? You calling my ears rotten?!"
"I just felt bad seeing you suffer in this heat. You'd be much cooler in something more breathable."
"Shut your mouth!"
Hilda half-drew her sword. The keen blade flashed under the fluorescent lights.
"Training grounds. Tomorrow."
Cheonwi tossed out the words casually.