* * *

Tata was surprised.

Because Ainsha had suddenly crossed space to appear before her, despite not being the Blue Dragon Princess? Because she was dressed so indecently and cradled in a man's arms? Because of the faint blush on her otherwise expressionless face?

Those were certainly part of the reason.

But what truly caught her off guard was that Limon and Ainsha had already caught up with her. She had foreseen that the combat units she left behind to hold them up would not buy much time, but getting caught at this point was not in the schedule.

That was why Tata openly voiced her puzzlement.

"This is unexpected. How did you discover that Tata was here so quickly?"

"Enough chatter. Present your neck at once. Then, painlessly..."

"Ainsha, wait a moment."

"... I will wait a moment."

Ainsha had stepped forward eagerly, only to retreat with slumped shoulders at a single word from Limon. Watching her, Tata once again wore an odd expression. Limon quietly asked her a question.

"There's a complicated answer and a simple one. Which would you like to hear?"

"The complicated one, please."

"That's a very uncharacteristic answer for a member of the White Dragon Clan."

Her answer was unexpected in one sense, and exactly what he had expected in another. Limon gazed steadily at Tata for a moment, then let out a wry chuckle and obligingly answered.

"Well, it wasn't anything impressive. I just followed the clues you left behind."

"I don't recall leaving any breadcrumbs."

"You left much clearer clues instead. Like the fact that you're a traitor."

"... That counts as a clue?"

"Of course it does."

Limon nodded at once, as though it were obvious, then continued with a mischievous look.

"A traitor has to do something that constitutes betrayal. But there's only so much you people can actually do, isn't there?"

Had they been in the Holy Alliance, Tata would have had plenty of options. With help from the Liberation Brigade or other factions within the Holy Alliance, she might even have overturned the White Dragon Clan, depending on her luck.

But in this country?

Even with the help of the ten great guilds, let alone the Liberation Brigade, there was little she could do. Ainsha and Li Qingyu were here, and above all, so was Limon.

Fighting two princesses of the Seven Dragons Society and humanity's last Sword Master head-on was suicide.

That meant Tata's act of betrayal had to be some covert maneuver unrelated to all-out war—and something she could still carry out after openly declaring herself a traitor.

Slipping away in secret. Leaking internal secrets. Stirring up conflict with another faction.

Or...

"Indiscriminate attacks on facilities or civilians, for instance."

"Even so, suggesting that a traitor would suddenly become a terrorist seems like quite a leap."

"Of course it is."

Limon readily conceded the point. Normally, even he would have considered it fairly unlikely. It was the sort of thing an enemy spy would do, rather than a traitor.

But he had grounds to consider that possibility quite seriously.

"If your princess hadn't seen a future in which I kill you, that is."

"..."

Despite hearing of her own death, Tata was neither surprised nor shaken. She calmly let the remark pass.

As though he had expected no less, Limon continued with a cold smile.

"If the White Dragon Princess saw that prophecy, it means there will be a reason I absolutely must kill you. Starting from that premise, this was the best fit."

If Tata merely did something harmful to the Seven Dragons Society, he would not have been particularly concerned. Whether she lived or died was for Ainsha, the White Dragon Princess, to decide.

Even if the damage extended to the Black Dragon Clan, Li Qingyu might intervene, but Limon would not necessarily have to act.

Turn that around, then: what would require Limon himself to intervene?

The answer became simple. Something he could never tolerate.

In other words, he only had to work from the premise that Tata would kill or hurt innocent people.

"Once I got that far, finding this place was easy. I just had to consider why you contacted that bastard Moon Cheon-yeop."

"Moon Cheon-yeop... Is that the name of the man who handed Tata the briefcase?"

"Yes."

"That's strange. He shouldn't have known anything about what Tata would do, or where."

"Well, I'm sure he didn't. You probably only met through the Liberation Brigade's criminal services in the first place."

Initially, Limon had considered the possibility that Tata had joined forces with the Liberation Brigade. But as he tracked her, that suspicion had all but disappeared.

An alliance between a criminal organization of players and an elder of the Seven Dragons Society was unlikely to begin with. Even if they had formed one, it made little sense to expose a traitor they ought to keep carefully concealed so easily.

And once he ruled out the Liberation Brigade's involvement, things became even simpler.

Tata had used their criminal services to obtain something she needed, and her interests had aligned with Moon Cheon-yeop's there.

"And I happened to know who that fucker had a grudge against."

Limon chuckled.

Moon Cheon-yeop would have used the Liberation Brigade's business card to find someone who would take revenge for him. Tata would have "coincidentally" fit the bill, and in return, she would have obtained information from him.

Through Yeon-hwa, WIM's guild master, Limon had been able to learn roughly what materials Moon Cheon-yeop had stolen.

"That's how I realized it. You were targeting this very show, [Music Challenge]."

The place where Ainsha had first met Limon. Behind the audience seating, still packed with people, staff members were busily running around to prepare for the broadcast.

The Music Challenge studio.

Standing high above it in the ceiling, shrouded in darkness by the very lights illuminating the studio below, Tata murmured coldly.

"... You did well to figure it out."

"I have more connections than you might think."

Across from her, up in the ceiling, Limon smiled coldly.

It was then that Ainsha, who had been listening silently to his explanation, spoke with an expressionless face.

"I do not understand."

"What don't you understand?"

"I do not understand why Tata targeted a mere television show like this."

"Ah, I couldn't understand that either."

Limon nodded. Though his relentless pursuit and instincts had allowed him to piece together most of the puzzle, he still could not work out why Tata was targeting Music Challenge.

But that very fact had made one truth easy to infer. He voiced it quietly.

"And that's what made me realize it. Your nanny betrayed you solely to ruin this one show."

"... That makes no sense. It is an absurd argument. Complete nonsense."

Ainsha objected reflexively. It was only natural for her.

The Seven Dragons Society never tolerated betrayal. And given its worldwide influence, Tata and the other traitors were already as good as dead. Even if they were lucky enough to escape, they would have to spend the rest of their lives hiding and running.

Yet the nanny who had served her all her life had taken that risk just to target a television show?

It was as senseless and idiotic as a general declaring a coup only to occupy a single convenience store.

"Normally, it would make no sense. But you're members of the White Dragon Clan."

"The White Dragon Clan has nothing to do with this."

"No, it has everything to do with it."

Limon casually shut down Ainsha's objection. Instead of meeting her steady, unconvinced gaze, he turned to Tata, who had remained silent.

"It's why people call you White Dragon Clan members fools."

"..."

"With that in mind, let me ask you: what future are you trying to bring about with this 'foolishness' of yours?"

Ainsha had mixed poison in front of him and tried to make him drink it to change the future.

This woman had committed, was committing, and intended to commit foolish acts just like hers... No, even greater ones.

At Limon's question, Tata smiled.

It seemed resigned to something, yet also deeply happy, and somehow wistful.

Wearing a smile so complicated that it felt almost empty, Tata spoke in a peaceful voice.

"A future in which Her Highness ends up with you."

* * *

After receiving the Black Dragon Princess's letter, Ainsha had said she had foreseen meeting her destined partner. Tata had been genuinely delighted.

It was something she had wished for all her life, a dream that had become her dearest wish after serving three generations of princesses.

The fact that Ainsha had traveled the world solely to find someone to make her consort was due in part to growing up under Tata's instruction.

But the moment she actually saw Ainsha meet Limon in this studio, Tata realized something.

As things stood, the two could never be together. She had foreseen a future in which this broadcast brought Ainsha's relationship with the destined partner she had finally found to a disastrous end.

It was an outcome she could never accept.

Fortunately, amid that misfortune, Tata had foreseen more than one future.

She had also seen a future in which destroying this television show would create the possibility of Limon and Ainsha ending up together.

Though that future also included her own death as a traitor in the process.

Which of those two futures should she choose?

From the moment she saw Ainsha shed tears while listening to Limon play, Tata's choice had been made.

"Fortunately, the other clan members saw the same future as Tata and made the same choice. That made the preparations easy."

The girl listened to her story with an expressionless face. Only after a long while did Ainsha speak in a blunt voice.

"... Let me summarize. You betrayed me for my sake. That is a contradiction."

"There is no contradiction. It is simply that our future is fixed: we will ruin this show and die as traitors to the White Dragon Clan."

Tata spoke as though it were perfectly natural. Then she looked straight at Ainsha and smiled faintly.

"Isn't that why you could not foresee any other future either, Your Highness?"

"..."

It was only natural that Ainsha alone had not seen the future the others had witnessed.

She was the White Dragon Princess, the greatest prophet of her age, who saw only "futures that could come to pass." What they had seen was "a future that would ultimately never come to pass."

As Tata herself had said, this outcome had been fixed from the moment they saw those two futures.

"I cannot understand."

Ainsha shook her head. As the White Dragon Princess, she could sympathize with the actions of Tata and the clan members. Following the future was only natural.

What she could not understand was why they had chosen that future.

"My marriage is a minor matter. There are many men in the world. There is no reason for Tata to throw away her life."

However much she liked Limon, it was not enough to weigh against the lives of Tata and the others in her clan.

That was precisely why Ainsha had tried to change the future even if it meant killing Limon. She simply could not understand their choice.

"No. That is reason enough for Tata to give her life."

Tata stated it firmly. The smile she had worn until now vanished, and she continued, looking at Ainsha with a flat, impassive expression.

"If it will prevent you from dying because you never met your destined partner, as the princesses before you did, Your Highness."