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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Because I'm Cunning
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The moment he first heard those words,
Rimon wondered if he'd misheard something.
Li Chingwei's smile was so bright and pure—it was impossible to imagine it belonged to someone delivering a negative answer.
"You don't know when we'll get married?"
"Yes."
"...Why?"
Even if he, the prospective son-in-law, was in the dark, if the bride herself didn't know either, then who would?
How were they supposed to get married like this?
Why didn't she know?
Condensing all those questions into a single one, Rimon's query drew a straightforward response from Li Chingwei.
"Because getting married right now would be too much of a stretch for us."
Watching her say it with that beaming smile, Rimon blinked several more times.
Then he set down his glass.
Scratched the back of his head, and asked awkwardly,
"Hey, didn't you propose to me?"
"Of course."
"And I agreed to marry you."
"It was a proposal I'll never forget."
As if recalling that moment at his words, Li Chingwei blushed faintly and stole a glance at his lips.
To anyone watching, she looked every bit the lovestruck girl.
The face of a bride eagerly awaiting her wedding.
Which made it all the harder for Rimon to understand her words.
"So why are you saying now that we can't get married?"
"Pardon? I didn't say we can't."
"...???"
As if he'd said something utterly absurd,
Li Chingwei startled, her expression shocked as she shot back.
A question mark practically floated above Rimon's head for a moment.
Then he crossed his arms. Tapping his bicep with his fingers, he replayed her words and finally spoke in a low voice.
"Not that we can't, but it's a stretch?"
"Yes."
"We could get married, but it'd be like forcing it—overriding both families' objections, like some rookie couple?"
"Exactly."
Clap, clap, clap.
She even applauded, as if impressed by his sharp insight, affirming it fully.
But Rimon wasn't pleased at all.
On the contrary, he furrowed his brow.
Now that he understood her point to some degree, the unknowns had only multiplied.
"I never heard anything about your parents objecting."
"Well, my parents passed away long ago."
"Then who's objecting?"
"Pretty much everyone."
"...Everyone?"
"Yes. The elders, the prestigious families, even the rank-and-file and my own retainers. You can assume ninety-nine out of a hundred in the Black Dragon Clan are against it."
Rimon's expression turned subtly complicated at her frank answer.
It wasn't incomprehensible.
From the start, he was the Seven Dragon Society's sworn enemy.
He knew better than anyone that this marriage wouldn't be blessed—and that's why he'd warned her first.
Still, there was a reason he couldn't help feeling awkward.
"Isn't choosing a consort the princesses' sole prerogative?"
Just as the monarchs were absolute rulers dominating the Iron Age,
the seven princesses were absolute rulers over the Seven Dragon Society.
At least within the clan, their power was overwhelming.
Especially the right to choose their husbands—it was theirs alone, and in the Seven Dragon Society's centuries-long history, that authority had never been infringed upon.
In that sense, for everyone to unanimously oppose a princess's chosen consort,
and for the princess to even care about that opposition,
went against Seven Dragon Society customs. It was unprecedented.
Yet Li Chingwei explained simply why she couldn't ignore it.
"No princess has ever wrecked the clan like I have."
"Well... true."
Rimon let out an involuntary sigh.
Not content with selling off half the clan's assets, she'd practically handed over the other half just to marry him.
No matter how absolute a princess's power was in the Seven Dragon Society, there was no way this wouldn't spark backlash.
Especially for Li Chingwei, who'd driven the Black Dragon Clan to ruin.
The fact that it had only amounted to opposition was thanks to the Seven Dragon Society's unique structure.
If it were a typical religion, corporation, or organization, dismissal would be the least of it—rebellion wouldn't be surprising.
"Honestly, I didn't expect the backlash to be this intense. I figured the elders would at least welcome it."
"Unless they'd all lost their minds from some mass poisoning, why would they?"
"But if they weighed the pros and cons, it's a clear win, isn't it?"
Li Chingwei tilted her head.
No matter what anyone said, Rimon was an absolute being.
Just the power that toppled Infinite Monarch Lee Cheongi was invaluable, beyond any price.
For her, who believed that half the Black Dragon Clan's assets were a bargain to win him over—their longtime foe—it was baffling.
Especially since the elders, of all people, were flipping out the hardest.
"The elders know the Sword Duke's power better than anyone."
She couldn't fathom why the usually pragmatic elders would reject such a profitable deal.
She said it like she was genuinely puzzled.
Sighing as he looked at her, Rimon explained.
"...Princess. Them knowing my power well means they've been thoroughly smashed by me enough times to get sick of it."
It was obvious.
Seven Dragon Society elders weren't just anyone.
Excluding the seven princesses, who inherited their positions by blood, they were the clan's true pinnacle.
At minimum, masters who'd achieved great success in one of the Seventy-Two Martial Arts—and only those with monumental achievements could ascend to the role.
In the era before the Iron Age opened, establishing merit for the Seven Dragon Society meant fighting Rimon.
Whatever schemes they cooked up, he'd always been at the forefront, smashing them.
In short, every elder had nearly died at Rimon's hands at least a few times.
They'd lost countless colleagues, subordinates, and superiors in the process.
And now they were supposed to welcome him as the princess's live-in son-in-law?
Rimon explained precisely what the elders must have felt upon hearing that.
"Would you like it if a tiger waltzed into your house and declared itself the master?"
"I'd love that."
"That's because you're weird..."
Rimon groaned at her instantaneous reply, without a 0.1-second hesitation.
Li Chingwei grinned at him.
"Anyway, it's still better than letting the tiger roam free."
"Only if you don't have to rip out the house's foundation pillars to pay for it."
Rimon's point was spot-on.
If he'd agreed to marry her without conditions, the elders might have wavered a bit.
But with 49% of Hotel Leviathan's shares as her dowry, negotiation was off the table.
What they wanted from him was a blade they could wield freely—not a new master seizing the Seven Dragon Society's control.
"Well, anyway, I get why marrying right now is a stretch."
Rimon said, lifting his glass again.
Li Chingwei looked disappointed at his words.
"If the Sword Duke really wants it, we could force the marriage. But..."
"Then the shares I'd get would be worthless, and instead of taking over the Seven Dragon Society, I'd be booted out without touching it."
"Yes, that's why I said it's too much."
Li Chingwei hadn't forgotten.
His declaration that he'd swallow the entire Seven Dragon Society by taking her as his bride.
In that context, he absolutely needed those Hotel Leviathan shares.
Even if they'd already lost nearly half to other clans, without the remaining half, vying for control would be impossible.
'It is a headache, for sure...'
Fiddling with his paper cup for a moment,
Rimon downed the remaining soju in one gulp, refilled the empty cup, and asked bluntly,
"So, what's your plan?"
"How did you know I had one?"
"As if I wouldn't."
Li Chingwei blinked in surprise.
Rimon smirked at her retort.
Fixing her with his serene golden eyes, he stated flatly,
"You're not the type to back down just because of some opposition."
The woman who'd sold off half her clan for the sole purpose of claiming him,
who protected world peace and reshaped the global economy.
Rimon said with conviction that she wouldn't give up on him so easily.
At his words, Li Chingwei smiled softly.
"You know me well."
"I'm your fiancé, after all."
"You could drop the 'after all' part."
"I'll decide that after hearing your plan."
Rimon chuckled leisurely.
Li Chingwei gazed at him wistfully, then let out a soft sigh and spoke.
"Explaining in detail would get complicated, but for now, I plan to persuade the elders."
No matter how much resentment or dissatisfaction they harbored, only a tiny few besides the elders could block a princess's actions.
Flip that around?
Secure the elders' agreement, and she'd never need to worry about opposition again.
In that sense, her plan was the best option.
"They're not gonna listen to words alone."
Rimon pointed out coolly—if sweet talk would work, they wouldn't have opposed in the first place.
Li Chingwei didn't deny it.
"Yes, words alone won't cut it. But with other methods, I can wring some cooperation out of them."
"How?"
"I've secretly gathered dirt on a few elders for times like this."
"Oh, really? Then yeah, that could work to some extent...?"
He nodded along unconsciously to her all-too-natural reply—but only for a moment.
Rimon trailed off.
Then asked her awkwardly,
"Didn't you say you didn't expect the elders to oppose?"
"I did."
"So why grab leverage on them?"
If she'd anticipated opposition from the start, fine—but she'd originally seen them as allies.
In other words, she'd been holding dirt on her own side.
With her position already shaky and manpower short, why waste effort on that?
Rimon asked, baffled.
Tilting her head at him, she replied,
"Well, if I ever need to sweep out the elders all at once, I have to prepare excuses in advance, right?"
"Sweeping them out is a given?!"
"I can't say there aren't elders who believe the clan needs to get rid of me quickly for its own good."
If Rimon had ultimately rejected her proposal, the elders would have tried selling her off to another clan.
Breaking tradition was far preferable to losing the remaining clan assets entirely.
"...So you prepared to take out the elders before they could sell you off?"
"Exactly as you said."
Li Chingwei nodded readily.
The elders probably never imagined she'd prepared to strike at them.
In Seven Dragon Society history, elders had always been the princesses' staunchest supporters, and princesses yielded somewhat when elders united.
Actually purging them would have turned the already crumbling Black Dragon Clan into total chaos.
But Li Chingwei didn't care a whit.
Elders or not,
if they got in her way, she wouldn't tolerate anyone.
Just like always, she smiled brightly and added proudly, as if boasting,
"As the Sword Duke said, I'm cunning, after all."
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