WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 50: Because I’m Cunning
──────
The moment he first heard those words, Rimon wondered if he had misheard.
Li Qing-yu’s smile was so bright and pure that she did not look like someone who had just given a negative answer.
“You don’t know when we’re getting married?”
“Yes.”
“...Why?”
Rimon being unaware was one thing, since he was the live-in son-in-law. But if even Li Qing-yu, the bride, did not know, then who did?
How were they supposed to get married like this?
Why did she not know?
Li Qing-yu gave a simple answer to the question that condensed all those questions into one.
“Because it would be difficult for us to get married right now.”
Rimon blinked again at Li Qing-yu, who said that with a sweet smile.
Then he set down his drink.
After scratching the back of his head, he asked uncertainly,
“Hey, didn’t you propose to me?”
“Of course I did.”
“And I agreed to marry you.”
“It was an unforgettable proposal.”
As though recalling something, Li Qing-yu’s cheeks reddened slightly as she stole a glance at Rimon’s lips.
She looked, by any measure, like a girl in love.
Like a bride-to-be looking forward to her wedding.
Which was why Rimon understood her words even less.
“Then why are you suddenly saying we can’t get married?”
“Pardon? I never said we couldn’t.”
“...???”
Li Qing-yu looked startled, as though he had said something utterly absurd.
For a moment, question marks floated above Rimon’s head. Then he folded his arms. After tapping his finger against his arm as he reconsidered her words, he spoke quietly.
“So it is not impossible, but it would be difficult?”
“Yes.”
“We can get married, but we would have to force it through? Like a young couple marrying despite opposition from both families?”
“Exactly.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Li Qing-yu even applauded, as though impressed by his excellent insight.
Rimon was not pleased in the slightest.
If anything, he frowned.
The more he understood her explanation, the more questions it raised.
“I never heard that I had a father-in-law and mother-in-law who would oppose it.”
“My parents passed away long ago.”
“Then who is opposing it?”
“Nearly everyone.”
“...Everyone?”
“Yes. The elders and the prestigious clans, of course, but even the lower ranks and my close attendants. You may assume that ninety-nine out of a hundred members of the Black Dragon Clan oppose it.”
Rimon’s expression became complicated at Li Qing-yu’s frank answer.
It was not incomprehensible.
Rimon had been the Seven Dragons Society’s archenemy from the beginning.
He knew better than anyone that this marriage would not receive their blessing, which was why he had warned Li Qing-yu first.
Still, there was a reason he could not help feeling uneasy.
“Choosing a prince consort is an exclusive right of you princesses, isn’t it?”
Just as Monarchs were absolute beings who ruled the Iron Age.
The Seven Princesses were absolute beings who ruled the Seven Dragons Society.
At least within their clans, they possessed overwhelming authority.
In particular, the right to choose their own husbands belonged to the princesses alone. In the Seven Dragons Society’s history of more than several centuries, that authority had never been infringed upon.
In that sense, it was unusual for everyone to unite in opposing a prince consort chosen by a princess.
It was equally unusual for the princess to concern herself with that opposition.
Yet Li Qing-yu simply explained why she could not ignore them.
“Because no princess before me has run her clan into the ground.”
“Well...”
Rimon let out a sigh without realizing it.
A princess who had sold off half her clan’s assets, then practically offered up the remaining half to marry him.
No matter how absolute the princesses’ authority was within the Seven Dragons Society, there was no way that would not provoke resistance.
Especially in Li Qing-yu’s case, after she had brought the Black Dragon Clan to ruin.
The fact that it had ended with mere opposition was only possible because of the Seven Dragons Society’s unusual structure.
Had it been an ordinary religion, corporation, or organization, it would not have been strange for her to be dismissed or even for a rebellion to break out.
“To be honest, I did not expect such fierce resistance either. At the very least, I thought the elders would welcome it.”
“Unless they all took drugs and lost their minds, why would they welcome it...?”
“If you weigh the pros and cons, it is clearly beneficial to them.”
Li Qing-yu tilted her head.
No matter what anyone said, Rimon was an absolute being.
His power alone, which had defeated the Infinite Monarch Lee Cheon-gi, was worth more than money could measure.
To Li Qing-yu, who believed that half the Black Dragon Clan was a bargain for winning over the Seven Dragons Society’s old enemy, the situation made no sense.
It was especially strange because the elders were the ones reacting most wildly.
“If they are elders, they cannot be unaware of the Sword Duke’s strength.”
Li Qing-yu said she truly did not understand why elders who normally cared so much about profit and loss would reject such a beneficial proposal.
Rimon sighed as he looked at her.
“...Princess. The fact that they know my strength so well means they have been utterly wrecked by me before.”
It was only natural.
Not just anyone could become an elder of the Seven Dragons Society.
Aside from the Seven Princesses, whose positions were inherited by bloodline, they were effectively at the Society’s pinnacle.
Only grandmaster-level experts who had fully mastered one of the Seventy-Two Martial Arts Schools, and who had performed distinguished service among them, could rise to that position.
And before the Iron Age began, rendering service to the Seven Dragons Society was practically synonymous with fighting Rimon.
No matter what the Seven Dragons Society plotted, Rimon had always taken the lead in destroying it.
In short, every elder of the Seven Dragons Society had nearly been killed by Rimon at least several times.
That was on top of losing countless comrades, subordinates, and superiors who had worked alongside them.
And now they were supposed to make Rimon the princess’s live-in son-in-law?
Rimon clearly explained how the elders must have felt upon hearing that.
“Would you like it if a tiger entered your house and announced that it would become your master?”
“I would.”
“That is because you are strange...”
Rimon groaned at her immediate answer, given without even a tenth of a second’s hesitation.
Li Qing-yu smiled at him.
“Still, I think it is better than letting the tiger roam free.”
“It would be, if you did not have to tear out the foundations of your house to pay for that tiger.”
Rimon’s point was correct.
If he had agreed to marry Li Qing-yu with no conditions, the elders might have hesitated a little.
But once she put up 49 percent of the Leviathan Hotel shares as a dowry, there was no room for negotiation.
What they wanted from Rimon was a blade they could wield as they pleased, not a new master holding control of the Seven Dragons Society.
“Well, I understand why getting married immediately would be difficult.”
Rimon spoke as he picked up his cup again.
Li Qing-yu looked regretful upon hearing that.
“If the Sword Duke truly wishes it, we could force the marriage through. But...”
“Then the shares I receive would become useless, and instead of swallowing the Seven Dragons Society, I would be chased out before I could even lay a hand on it.”
“Yes. That is why I said it would be difficult.”
Li Qing-yu had not forgotten Rimon’s declaration that he would take her as his bride and swallow the Seven Dragons Society whole.
In that sense, the Leviathan Hotel shares were essential to Rimon.
Nearly half had already been taken by the other clans. Without even the remaining half, it would be impossible to wage a struggle for control in the first place.
This really is a troublesome situation...
Rimon fiddled with his paper cup for a moment.
Then he drained the remaining soju in one gulp, refilled the empty cup, and casually asked,
“So what are you planning?”
“How did you know I was planning something?”
“How could I not?”
Li Qing-yu blinked as though surprised.
Rimon snickered at her question.
Then, staring at Li Qing-yu with his quietly settled golden eyes, he stated flatly,
“You would not give up so easily just because of a little opposition.”
Li Qing-yu had sold off half her clan solely to obtain him, while protecting world peace and changing the economic structure of the world.
Rimon spoke with absolute certainty that she would never give up on him over something like this.
Li Qing-yu smiled softly at his words.
“You know me well.”
“I am your fiancé, at least in name.”
“I think you can leave out the ‘at least in name’ part.”
“That depends on what I hear about your plan.”
Rimon smiled leisurely.
Li Qing-yu watched him with regretful eyes for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh and spoke.
“It would become complicated if I explained it in detail, but for now, I intend to persuade the elders.”
No matter how much they disliked and resented her, only a very small number of people besides the elders could stop Princess Li Qing-yu’s actions.
Put differently?
If she could obtain the elders’ agreement, she would no longer need to care about the opposition.
In that sense, Li Qing-yu’s plan was the best possible approach.
“They will not listen just because you talk to them.”
Rimon coldly pointed out that if a few words could persuade them, they would not have opposed her in the first place.
Li Qing-yu did not deny it.
“Yes, words alone will not be enough. But if I use other methods, I should at least be able to secure their cooperation.”
“How?”
“There are several elders whose weaknesses I secretly gathered for just such an occasion.”
“Oh, really? Then I suppose you can certainly get some of them to...?”
Rimon nodded along at her exceedingly natural answer before trailing off.
Then he looked at Li Qing-yu uneasily.
“Didn’t you say you never expected the elders to oppose you?”
“I did.”
“Then why did you gather their weaknesses?”
It would have made sense if Li Qing-yu had expected their opposition from the beginning. But she had originally considered the elders supporters.
In other words, she had been holding leverage over her own allies.
Why had she divided her already limited resources to waste them like that when her own position was precarious?
Rimon stared at her in disbelief.
Li Qing-yu tilted her head at him.
“Pardon? If I ever need to replace all the elders, I have to prepare pretexts in advance, do I not?”
“You were assuming you would replace them someday?!”
“I cannot say that there are no elders who believe they must get rid of me quickly for the sake of the clan.”
If Rimon had ultimately refused her proposal, the elders would eventually have tried to sell Li Qing-yu off to another clan.
Breaking tradition would have been far preferable to losing all the clan’s remaining assets.
“...So you prepared to remove the elders before you could be sold off?”
“Exactly.”
Li Qing-yu readily nodded.
The elders probably had never imagined that she had prepared to strike them.
Throughout the Seven Dragons Society’s history, elders had always been the princesses’ strongest supporters. When the elders united behind an opinion, it was customary for even the princesses to compromise to a degree.
And if she had actually removed the elders, the already ruined Black Dragon Clan would have become an even bigger shitshow.
But Li Qing-yu did not care in the slightest.
Elders or whatever else.
As though she would tolerate no one who stood in her way, she merely smiled as usual and added, almost proudly,
“As the Sword Duke said, I am cunning.”
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
