"Oh, do watch what you say. A man who's soon to marry Her Highness shouldn't make such discriminatory remarks about her clan."

["Why is that discrimination?"]

It sounded like a sneer, but Limon asked calmly, as though he genuinely didn't understand why.

["I thought you lot took pride in setting people up, deceiving and betraying them, then playing innocent afterward. Whoever they are."]

"That's true enough, but image matters in business. If our clan gets a reputation like that, it'll hurt sales, won't it?"

["So it comes down to money?"]

"Don't fault me for being mercenary. A family head has a great many things to look after."

["I'm not faulting you. If anything, I appreciate your honesty."]

Limon gave a faint chuckle. He understood why Wang Gi-neung was being so brazen: it wasn't merely to avenge his younger cousin or his clan. He was looking after his family's interests.

The more gruesomely they killed the culprit, and the more information they wrung out of him, the better the Wang family of Shanghai could restore its damaged honor, shore up its position, and even profit from the affair.

In the end, it was little different from when Wang had offered Limon a deal to let his family catch the culprits. There was just one difference: where he'd tried to negotiate with Limon before, this time he'd decided to ignore him outright.

Last time had proved there was no point trying to get on Limon's good side, while making an enemy of a man whose standing had hit rock bottom would cost him little. Never mind that the decisive blow to Limon's reputation had been leaving the pursuit of the culprits to Wang. It was a cold calculation worthy of the head of a distinguished Black Dragon Clan family.

["Just so we're clear: what will you do if I insist on killing that son of a bitch right now?"]

"Do you need me to answer?"

["I do."]

"Something unfortunate would happen."

["Is that so?"]

Though he wasn't there, Limon seemed to see Wang's expression and the intent behind his words perfectly clearly. He accepted the answer calmly.

["Then that's settled. Take him away and boil him or roast him, as you please."]

"I knew you were a wise man, Sword Lord."

["I'd rather not turn a matter this trivial into one that requires me to take your head."]

"..."

His voice was flat, almost bored. That was precisely why Wang knew he meant every word and fell silent.

Limon spoke to him quietly. ["Since we're on the subject, I'll tell you now: be careful if you're taking that bastard with you. He's a poisoned apple."]

"Thank you for the advice."

Just as he had when Limon stepped aside in the hunt for the Black Dragon Construction killers and gave him a lead, Wang smiled and thanked him for advice that came at no cost. Limon snorted.

["Don't get me wrong. That wasn't advice. It was a warning."]

Behind his courtesy and smooth flattery, Wang had mocked Limon for being too foolish to look after his own interests. Now Limon gave Wang a cold, scornful laugh for being so blinded by immediate gain that he'd swallowed an obvious disaster.

["Because if that son of a bitch causes trouble, you'll be responsible, Head Wang."]

"You needn't worry about that."

Wang had spurned Limon's consideration out of greed. If trouble followed, the losses would be his alone, and regretting it then would do him no good. Wang answered Limon's cold warning without a trace of concern.

"As you said yourself, Sword Lord, we're the Black Dragon Clan."

They might deceive others, but they would never be deceived themselves. That was the pride and strength of the Black Dragon Clan, something an outsider like Limon could never understand. Wang asserted it without a shred of doubt, and Limon saw no need to point out his arrogance.

He simply said, with dry sincerity, ["Good luck."]

* * *

After Limon and Wang Gi-neung concluded their negotiation-that-wasn't-a-negotiation over the narrow-eyed young man's fate, and the Wang family of Shanghai's warriors took him away under guard, Wei Ling left Heavenly Flower Department Store.

She had intervened because it was an emergency, but the department store still had no contract with Guardian. Cleaning up afterward was Xue Rong's job as its current chief of security.

Whether Xue Rong, badly wounded and with most of his men dead, could deal with all those bodies and bring the situation under control was another question. Wei Ling didn't concern herself with it. There was something else she wanted to ask.

"Why did you do that?"

["Do what?"]

"Why did you hand the killer over to Head Wang so readily?"

["What else should I have done? Killed him?"]

"Didn't you believe that was what you should do?"

["I did."] Limon readily agreed.

He had never seen the narrow-eyed young man in person, but the traces left on the bodies he'd killed and his behavior today told Limon enough. That son of a bitch was dangerous.

His strength wasn't the problem. He had even managed to beat Wei Ling, after all. But in Limon's experience, leaving a bastard like that alive inevitably came back to haunt you.

The reason Limon had handed the young man over to Wang was simple. ["If I'd killed him, that Wang bastard would have done everything he could to make a scandal of it. He'd have said I killed the man because I didn't want to share the credit."]

"That's absurd."

["Why do you say that?"]

"Even leaving aside the fact that Head Wang would gain nothing from it, wouldn't that be terribly ungrateful?"

Wei Ling objected without thinking. Limon had endured all manner of criticism and stepped back from the hunt solely to give Wang the chance to take revenge himself. For Wang, the beneficiary of that concession, to plot against him would be shameless beyond belief.

["... Are you pretending not to know, or do you really not know?"]

"What do you mean?"

["Never mind. I think I'm beginning to understand why the princess is so fond of you."]

"..."

Wei Ling frowned. It sounded like a compliment, yet somehow she had the unpleasant feeling he was calling her an idiot.

["For a start, you're wrong about him gaining nothing. Head Wang would gain something."]

"What?"

["Sympathy, and allies who see me as their enemy."]

Wei Ling's expression turned cold at his words, whose meaning she couldn't grasp. "You mean he'd deliberately ruin your reputation, then side with the clansmen who disapprove of you?"

["If he looks only at what he stands to gain, that's the most effective course."]

"..."

["What? Still think that's too ungrateful?"]

Her silence was answer enough. Limon chuckled and went on.

["Listen, you clever fool. If you ever want to rise high in the Black Dragon Clan, remember this: that's what your clan is like."]

Wang was not unusually cunning or shameless. The Black Dragon Clan had always been that way. His voice held a hint of laughter, but Wei Ling heard the sincerity beneath it and finally understood.

She understood why Wang's brazen behavior hadn't particularly angered Limon, and why he'd merely shrugged off his declining reputation among the clan.

"You... don't expect anything from our clan?"

["No, I do."]

Their inborn deviousness. The schemes and cunning honed over generations. Their influence over the world's wealth. Limon listed what he expected from the Black Dragon Clan, then added one more thing.

["I simply don't trust you."]

He had never expected trustworthiness, loyalty, conscience, or gratitude from the Black Dragon Clan in the first place, so they couldn't disappoint him. At his calm words, Wei Ling found herself asking:

"Not even Her Highness?"

["Why 'even'? Your princess is the one I can trust least of all."]

"Then why did you accept her proposal?"

Li Qingyu had given everything to become engaged to Limon. Wei Ling's expression hardened at hearing him say he still didn't trust the princess she revered. His answer was simple.

["I don't trust your princess, but I've decided to put my faith in her word."]

"What kind of word game is that?"

["I'm sorry if it sounds like one. It's the best agreement your princess could get from me, and she staked her life on it."]

"An uneasy arrangement where you don't trust her, but you won't suspect her either?"

["That's what it means to be enemies in the same boat."]

Limon gave a faint chuckle. When he accepted the proposal, he had sworn on his sword that so long as Li Qingyu did not turn against him, he would not abandon her.

It wasn't a promise to trust and protect her unconditionally. If anything, it was closer to a threat: betray him, and she would pay with her life. But Li Qingyu had accepted it. She knew it was the best Limon could offer, and that it was only natural for him to distrust the Black Dragon Clan at least as much as they distrusted him.

Betrothed out of necessity, bound by suspicion instead of trust, with blades pointed at each other instead of flowers offered. That was the relationship between them.

["I'm no Romeo or Prince Hodong, and your princess is no Juliet or Princess Nakrang."]

Enemies falling in love at first sight was something that happened only in stories. Limon knew that when real enemies entered a political marriage, they were a match made in heaven if they managed not to poison each other. There was even less reason for him to trust any other member of the Black Dragon Clan.

["Still, don't take it too badly. So long as you don't try anything underhanded, I have no intention of shutting you out for the sake of it."]

"... Even Head Wang?"

["Yes, even that Wang bastard."] Limon agreed calmly.

Wang had stabbed him in the back, but that was just the Seven Dragons Society being the Seven Dragons Society. Limon had endured every sort of trick from them since the days when they were called the Demonic Cult. This was hardly worth getting angry over.

["I won't go out of my way to help him, though."] Not that he was pleased about it, either.

Hearing the implication, Wei Ling asked quietly, "Are you certain that man will cause trouble for Head Wang?"

["I'm not a prophet. How could I be certain?"]

A hunch was only a hunch, never a prophecy. If Limon could learn everything by intuition alone, he would have found the killers and beaten them senseless long ago.

So he told her that if Wang proceeded carefully, whatever the young man had prepared might come to nothing. Wang might even extract genuinely useful information from him.

["But you should tell the princess in advance. She'll need to make preparations."]

"Is that really necessary?"

["Yes. If something does go wrong, it won't end with just a few deaths."]

Even without being certain the narrow-eyed young man would cause trouble, Limon felt obliged to warn her. It was the least he could do as Li Qingyu's fiancé and the head of Guardian, which was responsible for the Black Dragon Clan's security. But there was another hunch, too, prompted by someone acting entirely in pursuit of his own gain.

["With a mad dog, you only have to watch out for its bite. A pig blinded by greed, though, will always reach for too much and cause a disaster."]