Chapter 50 - Because I'm Cunning

When he first heard her say it, Limon thought he must have misheard. Li Qingyu's smile was so bright and pure that she hardly looked like someone who had just given him a negative answer.

"You don't know when we're getting married?"

"That's right."

"... Why?"

It was one thing for him, the groom marrying into her family, not to know. But if even Li Qingyu, the bride, didn't know, who did? How were they supposed to get married? Why didn't she know? Limon compressed all those questions into a single word, and her answer was simple.

"Because getting married right now would be difficult for us."

Limon blinked again at her beaming face. Then he set down his glass, scratched the back of his head, and asked uneasily.

"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 the memory had come back to her, Li Qingyu's cheeks flushed and her eyes stole toward Limon's lips. Anyone could see a girl in love, a bride-to-be looking forward to her wedding. That only made her words harder for Limon to understand.

"Then why are you saying we can't get married now?"

"What? I never said we couldn't."

"...???"

She looked startled by his question, as though he'd said something utterly absurd. For a moment, Limon could only stare at her in confusion. Then he folded his arms and tapped a finger against his upper arm, turning her words over before speaking quietly.

"Not impossible, just difficult?"

"Yes."

"We can get married, but we'd have to force it through? Like some young couple marrying against both families' wishes?"

"Exactly."

CLAP CLAP CLAP

Li Qingyu even applauded, as though impressed by his brilliant insight. Limon wasn't pleased. If anything, he frowned. Understanding her a little better had only given him more questions.

"I hadn't heard there were a father-in-law and mother-in-law to object."

"That's because my parents died long ago."

"Then who's objecting?"

"Almost everyone."

"... Everyone?"

"Yes. The elders and the prominent families, of course, but even the rank and file and my own close aides. You could say ninety-nine out of every hundred members of the Black Dragon Clan oppose it."

Limon's expression grew complicated at her frank answer. He could understand it. He had been the Seven Dragons Society's enemy from the start, and knew better than anyone that this marriage would not be blessed. He had even warned Li Qingyu himself. Yet there was a reason her answer still troubled him.

"Isn't choosing a husband entirely up to you princesses?"

Just as Monarchs were the absolute beings who ruled the Iron Age, the seven princesses were the absolute rulers of the Seven Dragons Society. Within their own clans, at least, they wielded overwhelming power. The right to choose a husband belonged to the princesses alone; in the Society's history of more than several centuries, no one had ever encroached on it.

For everyone to unite against a princess's chosen husband was unusual by the Society's customs. So was the princess taking their objections seriously. Li Qingyu gave a simple explanation for why she could not ignore them.

"No princess before me has ever run her clan into the ground like this."

"Well, that's true..."

Limon sighed despite himself.

A princess who had sold off half her clan's assets and was practically giving away the other half to marry Limon? However absolute a princess's authority was in the Seven Dragons Society, there was bound to be resistance to that—especially from a clan Li Qingyu had brought to ruin. The Society's unusual structure was the only reason the opposition had stopped at objections. In an ordinary religion, company, or organization, dismissal or even rebellion would have been no surprise.

"Honestly, I didn't expect this much resistance either. I thought the elders, at least, would welcome it."

"Why would they, unless they'd all taken something and gone out of their minds...?"

"But in terms of gains and losses, it's clearly a gain."

Li Qingyu tilted her head.

Whatever anyone said, Limon was an absolute being. The power he had used to defeat Lee Cheon-gi, the Infinite Monarch, was worth more than money could measure. To her, half the Black Dragon Clan was a bargain for winning over the Seven Dragons Society's old nemesis. She understood their reaction even less because the elders were the ones objecting most fiercely.

"Surely the elders know how powerful you are, Sword Lord."

She sounded genuinely puzzled that elders normally so shrewd about their interests would reject such a profitable offer. Limon sighed.

"... Princess. The reason they know my power so well is that I've beaten the hell out of them with it."

It was only natural. Not just anyone could become an elder of the Seven Dragons Society. Apart from the seven princesses, who inherited their positions by blood, the elders stood at its effective pinnacle. The office was reserved for master-level experts who had mastered at least one of the Seventy-Two Martial Schools and distinguished themselves through outstanding service.

Things might have been different after the Iron Age began, but in the past, earning distinction in the Society had been practically synonymous with fighting Limon. Whatever the Society plotted, he had always led the charge to smash it. In other words, every elder had nearly died at his hands at least a few times. They had lost plenty of colleagues, subordinates, and superiors alongside them.

And now they were supposed to make Limon their princess's husband and bring him into the clan? Limon summed up how the elders must have felt when they heard.

"Would you be happy if a tiger moved into your house and declared itself your master?"

"I would."

"That's because you're strange..."

Her answer had come without even a tenth of a second's hesitation. Limon groaned, and Li Qingyu smiled at him.

"Still, it's better than leaving the tiger loose, isn't it?"

"If you don't have to tear out the house's foundations to pay for it, sure."

Limon had a point. If he had agreed to marry Li Qingyu without conditions, the elders might at least have been torn. But with a 49% stake in the Leviathan Hotel at stake as her dowry, there was no room for negotiation. What they wanted from Limon was a sword they could wield at will, not a new master with a claim to control the Seven Dragons Society.

"Well, at least I understand why marrying right away would be difficult," Limon said, picking up his glass again.

Li Qingyu looked disappointed. "If you truly wanted to, Sword Lord, we could force the marriage through. But..."

"Then the stake I'm supposed to receive would be worthless, and instead of taking over the Seven Dragons Society, I'd be driven out before I could even lay a hand on it."

"Yes. That's why I said it would be difficult."

Li Qingyu had not forgotten Limon's declaration that he would take her as his bride and swallow the Seven Dragons Society whole. To do that, he needed his stake in the Leviathan Hotel. Nearly half had already been taken by the other clans, but without the remaining half, he could not even begin a struggle for control.

This is a headache, all right...

Limon fiddled with his paper cup for a moment, then drained the remaining soju in one gulp. As he refilled it, he asked casually, "So what are you planning?"

"How did you know I was planning something?"

"How could I not?"

Li Qingyu blinked in apparent surprise. Limon chuckled at her question, then looked at her with calm golden eyes and said flatly, "A little opposition isn't going to make you give up that easily."

She had sold off half her clan, preserved world peace, and reshaped the economy, all for the single-minded purpose of making him hers. Limon was certain Li Qingyu would not give up on him over this. She smiled at his words.

"You know me well."

"I am your future husband, after all. At least in name."

"I think you can leave out 'in name.'"

"I'll decide that after I hear your plan."

Limon smiled without a care. Li Qingyu gave him a wistful look, let out a soft sigh, and began.

"The full explanation is complicated, but for now, I plan to try persuading the elders."

However much the others resented her actions, very few besides the elders could stop Li Qingyu, their princess. Looked at another way, once she secured the elders' agreement, she would no longer need to worry about the opposition. In that sense, her plan was the best available.

"They won't listen if you just talk to them."

If a few words could persuade them, Limon pointed out bluntly, they would never have opposed her in the first place. Li Qingyu did not deny it.

"No, words won't be enough. But with other methods, I should be able to get them to cooperate."

"How?"

"I've secretly gathered compromising information on a few elders, just in case I ever needed it."

"Oh, have you? Then that should help to some exte...?"

Limon had begun nodding at her perfectly matter-of-fact answer when he suddenly trailed off. He gave her an uneasy look.

"Didn't you say you didn't expect the elders to oppose you?"

"I did."

"Then why did you dig up dirt on them?"

It would have made sense if she had expected them to object, but Li Qingyu had originally counted the elders as supporters. She had gathered leverage against her own allies. With her position already precarious, why waste scarce manpower on that? Limon asked, dumbfounded. She tilted her head at him.

"What? If I ever need to replace all the elders, I have to prepare grounds for it in advance, don't I?"

"You were planning on replacing them someday?!"

"I can't say there aren't elders who believe getting rid of me quickly would be best for the clan."

If Limon had ultimately refused her proposal, the elders would eventually have tried to sell Li Qingyu off to another clan. Breaking with tradition would have been far better than losing the rest of the clan's assets.

"... So you prepared to get rid of the elders before they could sell you off?"

"Exactly."

Li Qingyu nodded readily.

The elders had probably never imagined she was preparing to move against them. Throughout the Seven Dragons Society's history, the elders had always been a princess's staunchest supporters, and custom held that even a princess would yield somewhat when they united in their views. Actually removing them would have thrown the already ruined Black Dragon Clan into even greater chaos. But Li Qingyu did not care in the slightest.

Elders or anyone else—she would tolerate no one who stood in her way. Smiling as always, she added, almost proudly, "As you said, Sword Lord, I'm cunning."