WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 34: Don’t Get the Wrong Idea
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Leviathan Hotel.
Despite its reputation as the finest hotel, its entrance was usually quiet.
It was not simply because the hotel was extremely selective about its guests, leaving few visitors in the first place.
Few guests used the entrance at all.
Which was why, at this very moment, it was quite unusual for Leviathan's entrance to stand wide open past midnight.
Especially since a beautiful girl had stood watch there like a statue ever since it had opened.
“...Princess, would you not consider going inside now?”
Perhaps unable to watch any longer, a masked figure in black martial garb emerged from the darkness.
Chao urged her to rest.
It was already deep into the night. Even setting aside the fact that the girl had been out here for more than half a day, it was certainly time for her to rest.
“Thank you for your concern, but I'll pass, Chao.”
“The cold wind is bad for your health.”
“You know as well as I do that something like this will not harm me.”
“...”
The black-haired girl smiled.
Chao fell silent at Li Qing-yu's question.
Agreeing would remove any grounds for urging her to rest, while denying it would mean lying.
Li Qing-yu stifled a laugh at that rigid response for a moment, then asked as though something had just occurred to her.
“Has any information come in yet?”
“I'm sorry, but no.”
“It isn't something you need to apologize for.”
Li Qing-yu lightly shook her head at Chao, who bowed as though ashamed.
“After all, no one can get information from inside the Blue House right now.”
That was no exaggeration.
In fact, getting information had been easy until a few hours ago.
All one had to do was turn on the television to find every channel reporting things like [Live Coverage of the Sword Master's Hostage Situation] and [Why Rimon Aspelder Betrayed the Nation].
But after Lee Cheon-gi stepped in, every scrap of information related to the Blue House was cut off.
Not just reporters, but the Capital Defense Command and support forces from the great guilds as well.
Everyone originally stationed around the Blue House had withdrawn at Lee Cheon-gi's orders, blocking any leaks of information.
It was absurd enough for broadcasters and guilds to obey, but for even the military to follow the orders of a private citizen in an emergency like this...
Yet people accepted it as natural.
In this Iron Age, the authority held by a Monarch far surpassed that of any mere head of state.
“If you permit it, I will send the Dark Silence Squad into the Blue House to gather information.”
“Don't. It would only waste lives.”
Chao could not deny it.
It was not that Chao distrusted the Dark Silence Squad.
Whether it was the treasure vault of a great guild or a critical national facility, the Dark Silence Squad could infiltrate anywhere that was not physically impossible to reach.
But this time, their opponent was too dangerous.
Now that Lee Cheon-gi had entered the Blue House, sending the Dark Silence Squad there would be no different from sending them to die.
A monster who handled thousands of Skills, leaving no openings and making prediction itself impossible.
That was Lee Cheon-gi, the Infinite Monarch.
Even the Black Dragon Clan's Dark Silence Squad, which had once spread terror across the world, would have to risk their lives merely to approach him.
That was why, after hesitating, Chao asked:
“Do you truly believe that man can defeat the Infinite Monarch?”
“Why else would I be here?”
What would be the point of waiting for a corpse?
Chao could not help feeling even more conflicted as Li Qing-yu said it with a smile.
Despite her joking tone, she clearly believed Rimon would definitely return victorious.
“I still do not understand.”
“I understand. There are few bets harder to win than a one-on-one fight.”
“...I mean, why does Your Highness trust that man so much?”
Chao spoke honestly.
The very idea that Rimon could defeat Lee Cheon-gi was difficult to understand.
No matter how strong Rimon had been, that was in the past. Someone who knew nothing but how to swing a sword could not possibly stand against the Infinite Monarch, who wielded thousands of Skills.
That was common sense in this era.
Still, Chao could understand that much.
Perhaps because they had fought him for centuries, the upper ranks of the Seven Dragons Society had a strange tendency to overestimate Rimon.
That was also why Chao distrusted him.
“Wasn't that man our enemy from the start?”
Enemy?
That was actually a greatly softened way to put it.
Rival, hereditary enemy, nemesis, mortal foe, enemy who could not live beneath the same sky. Even gathering every such expression in the world would not have been enough to describe the relationship between Rimon and the Seven Dragons Society.
In fact, their relationship had even given rise to the slang term Dragon-and-Duke Enmity.
It meant ten thousand times the dog-and-monkey enmity of the old saying.
The rift between Rimon and the Seven Dragons Society ran that deep.
That was why Chao could not understand Li Qing-yu's choice.
“He is someone who might harm Your Highness, so why would you...”
“Chao.”
Unease over Rimon, their long-standing enemy.
Concern for the princess Chao revered.
Doubts about her choice.
Chao stopped speaking at once.
Li Qing-yu had cut off Chao's words with that light call, then continued with a gentle smile.
“I am always grateful for your loyalty.”
Even as the Black Dragon Clan's princess, Li Qing-yu was not given absolute loyalty by every member of her clan.
In that sense, Chao was someone she appreciated.
Absolute loyalty was one thing, but people who could honestly express their own opinions like this were always precious.
Especially now, when her position within the Seven Dragons Society had become unstable for many reasons, and she had lost quite a bit of support even within her own clan.
So Li Qing-yu made herself clear.
“However, I will not forgive any further insults toward the man who will become my husband.”
Chao flinched.
It was not only because of Li Qing-yu's serious expression and firm words, which were rare sights.
Her eyes, deep and still as the night, made it clear.
This was a serious warning. Even Chao would not be let off if that warning was crossed.
“...Forgive me for speaking out of turn.”
“You did not speak out of turn. You only crossed the line.”
“I will remember that.”
Be careful not to cross that line.
Chao silently bowed to Li Qing-yu, who spoke with a faint smile, then vanished from sight.
Chao understood that interfering any further would be crossing the line, just as Li Qing-yu had said.
No matter how young she was.
No matter how much support she had lost within the clan.
Li Qing-yu was the Black Dragon Clan's princess.
Now that she had made her decision, Chao's duty was not to complain, but to somehow produce the best possible result.
As Li Qing-yu let out a soft sigh while looking at the spot where Chao had vanished as though melting into the darkness...
Thud, thud.
The starlight vanished from the night sky.
An unfamiliar set of footsteps rang through the empty air.
That should have been impossible.
After learning of the Infinity Guild's ambush, Leviathan Hotel had remained at the highest level of alert.
If someone had come close enough for their footsteps to be heard, the guards should have noticed and reported it long before then.
“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
But Li Qing-yu was not surprised.
She simply gave a light answer to the question from the person who emerged lazily from the darkness as though returning from a stroll.
“Exercising my privilege.”
“What privilege?”
Perhaps because her answer had been so unexpected, the white-haired man looked puzzled.
Li Qing-yu beamed at Rimon.
“Isn't it a bride's privilege to wait for the groom who's gone off to work?”
* * *
“What a shame.”
“What is it this time?”
“I cannot receive my reward from the Sword Duke.”
On the top floor of Leviathan Hotel.
Rimon had taken a quick wash after returning to the luxurious penthouse covered in dust. He frowned at Li Qing-yu's sudden remark.
“...Why would I give you a reward?”
“Well, when a bride does something admirable, her groom is supposed to reward her with a kiss.”
“There is no such law anywhere in the world.”
“What? Why not?”
“How would I know? Maybe lawmakers did not want to kiss their wives.”
Li Qing-yu looked as startled as though such a law obviously ought to exist, and Rimon gave her a careless answer.
Then, as she tilted her head like she could not make sense of it, he abruptly asked:
“More importantly, what about the kids? Are they all asleep?”
“I heard that, aside from one, all the children you brought have already fallen asleep.”
“Who is still awake?”
Rimon frowned.
The fact that a child was still awake at this hour, well past midnight, bothered him in several ways.
But the moment he heard her answer, he completely understood why.
“It is a child named Seong Sia.”
“Ah, that kid with the dead fish eyes?”
“Dead fish eyes?”
“There is a brat who has eyes like she's already dead.”
Rimon clicked his tongue as he remembered the girl from Hanbit Orphanage who had stood out most among the children he had rescued.
Then he looked back at Li Qing-yu.
“Anyway, nothing else happened?”
“Yes. They are all physically well, and they are far more stable emotionally than they were at first.”
“Good. That is enough.”
Rimon nodded in satisfaction.
Then he began drying the remaining moisture from his hair with the towel around his neck.
For a moment, Li Qing-yu watched with sparkling eyes, taking in his damp hair and the firm skin exposed through his rumpled collar.
Then she spoke as though she had just remembered something.
“Come to think of it, did your business go well?”
“Business? Ah, you mean collecting the blood debt?”
“Yes. I heard that you met the Infinite Monarch.”
Li Qing-yu did not hide her curiosity.
No matter how firmly she believed in Rimon's victory, she still wanted to know exactly what had happened between him and the Infinite Monarch.
“I met him.”
Rimon calmly nodded.
Then he added in a low voice.
“But I did not collect the blood debt.”
“...What?”
Li Qing-yu's eyes widened.
It was as though she had heard someone say, “I drank, but I did not drive drunk.”
Her reaction was only natural.
If Rimon had not met his target at all, that would have been one thing.
But as far as she knew, there was no way Rimon Aspelder could meet someone and fail to collect a blood debt from them.
As she blinked blankly, Rimon abruptly asked:
“Do you know what matters most when collecting a blood debt?”
“Having the strength to collect it?”
“Of course that is necessary too. But the most important thing is not mistaking the person you need to collect it from.”
A blood debt was the price of blood.
It was the right to repay death with death, to reclaim blood's price with blood.
That was why failure was possible.
But mistakes must not be made.
Just as forcing an unrelated person to repay a debt and extorting money from them would be robbery, mistaking the person from whom the blood debt must be collected would turn it into nothing more than slaughter.
“At first, I thought the Infinite Monarch was the one I needed to collect the blood debt from.”
It was a natural conclusion.
Lee Cheon-gi was the cause behind this whole affair.
“But when I was about to collect that blood debt from the bastard and be done with it, something did not feel right.”
It was something he had failed to notice before his regression.
But after gaining the ability to see what he could not see, after meeting Lee Cheon-gi himself, fighting him, and speaking with him, Rimon had gradually sensed several inconsistencies.
“So before killing the bastard, I asked him a few questions and found out.”
It should have been no more than a simple instinct.
A feeling even Rimon could not be certain of.
But after living for so long and accumulating countless experiences, Rimon finally reached a conclusion.
“The Infinite Monarch was only a puppet. There is a true mastermind behind this affair.”
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