* * *

Despite a perilously close call, Music Challenge’s second broadcast ultimately succeeded. Considering the chaos that had erupted during the live broadcast, that result defied all common sense. Yet not a single person found it strange. Whatever mishaps had occurred, a music program featuring Ainsha simply could not fail.

She was a world-class diva everyone knew. The songs and fame of The Singing Whiteness carried that much power.

But above all, Music Challenge succeeded because Limon and Ainsha’s performance had been so stunning. Even Ainsha’s fans, who had watched her perform countless times, were spellbound and replayed the broadcast endlessly.

“I don’t know. I’m telling you, I don’t know!”

“What? Could I invite Lady Ainsha? Why are you asking me?”

“Uh, I don’t speak English... I’m sorry?”

That was why interest had exploded in Lee, the violinist who had performed with Ainsha. Anyone with ears could tell how extraordinary his playing had been.

Of course, no amount of digging into Lee—an identity that had never truly existed—would turn up anything. As a result, Kim Seung-jun was besieged with calls, whether about Limon or Ainsha.

Meanwhile, one of the very people responsible for keeping him frantically busy was peacefully sipping tea.

“This is good tea.”

“I’m glad you like it. It bothered me that I couldn’t even offer you a cup the last time you visited.”

“That was my fault for refusing it. Not yours, Li Qingyu.”

Ainsha shook her head expressionlessly as she looked at the smiling, black-haired girl, Li Qingyu. Then she set down her teacup and spoke.

“I caused the Black Dragon Clan considerable trouble this time.”

“Trouble? Please don’t worry about it. I only did what was natural as a member of another clan in the Seven Dragons Society.”

“No. Trouble is trouble.”

Her delivery was so blunt that it sounded awkward as either an apology or an expression of thanks. But Li Qingyu knew she meant it. Li Qingyu herself might offer an insincere apology, but the White Dragon Clan’s princess, who knew nothing of empty courtesies, never would.

Besides, Ainsha’s apology did not end with words.

“So I will repay you.”

“Repay me?”

“I will help capture the Liberation Brigade.”

“... That is a far more generous repayment than I expected.”

“It is not only repayment to the Black Dragon Clan. It is repayment to Lee.”

“To the Sword Lord?”

“Yes. Lee helped me when he did not need to. He taught me many things, too,” Ainsha said expressionlessly.

From Limon’s perspective alone, he could simply have stood by. If Tata had succeeded in carrying out her terrorist attack, he could have held the White Dragon Clan responsible and forced them to cooperate.

Nevertheless, he had gone to all that trouble to change the future for her. Even if his primary reason had been to prevent innocent casualties, the help she had received was enormous.

He had prevented Tata’s death, taught Ainsha so much, and helped her understand her own emotions. He had helped her in so many ways.

“Above all, I told Lee I would cooperate fully with the Black Dragon Clan if he changed the future. So I will keep my promise.”

“I see.”

‘That would be unthinkable in our clan.’

Li Qingyu smiled wryly.

To the Black Dragon Clan, where breaking a promise whenever possible was common sense, the decision was incomprehensible. Then again, perhaps that was only natural. The White Dragon Clan, which always charged straight toward the future, and the Black Dragon Clan, which schemed and plotted behind the scenes, were fundamentally incompatible. In a sense, they were natural enemies.

It was ironic that the White Dragon Clan was the first clan in the Seven Dragons Society whose cooperation she had secured. Still, turning such difficult potential recruits into allies was a satisfying result.

“Li Qingyu, there is one thing I would like to confirm.”

“Please, ask me anything.”

That was why Li Qingyu readily nodded. Answering a few questions was the least she could do for Ainsha after she had so willingly promised her cooperation. Or so she thought—until she heard Ainsha’s question.

“Did you know about ‘it’?”

“Pardon?”

Li Qingyu tilted her head in puzzlement. It was a perfectly natural reaction to an abrupt question with no subject or context, only a pronoun.

But Ainsha was not fooled. Her face remained as expressionless as ever as she repeated herself, her voice now cold rather than merely blunt.

“Do not play innocent. Do not lie, either. I already know your answer.”

“...”

“I will ask again. Did you know about Lee’s ‘it’?”

She was not asking to hear the answer. She was merely going through the process of asking to confirm the answer she had already heard in the future. Faced with such a quintessentially White Dragon Clan interrogation, Li Qingyu slowly straightened her tilted head. Then she smiled and asked in return.

“So you noticed after all?”

Her smile looked a little troubled, perhaps sheepish, or even discomfited. Yet despite that smiling face, there was not a trace of amusement in her eyes.

Hearing that answer—which was, above all, as good as an admission—Ainsha stared steadily at Li Qingyu with an expressionless face. Only after a long silence did she speak quietly.

“Li Qingyu, are you insane?”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“If not insane, then mad. No sane person would do this.”

Even between fellow princesses, those merciless insults went too far. Yet Li Qingyu neither grew angry nor offered a single objection. More precisely, she could not. The secret she had been hiding was that grave. Even here, with only the two of them present, Ainsha had to call it ‘it’ for fear that someone might overhear.

“I learned about Lee’s ‘it’ when I heard that performance. If I could learn it, the other princesses can, too.”

“You can’t be quite so certain of that. Not everyone is as perceptive as you, Ainsha.”

“The possibility is still considerable.”

Of course, Ainsha had only been able to recognize ‘it’ from the performance because of her profound knowledge of music. Even then, she might never have realized it if Limon had not happened to play the Violin of Deepest Black right before her eyes.

But she could not assume that the other princesses would be incapable of it. In particular, if any princess felt the ‘resonance’ Ainsha had experienced the moment she sang along with Limon’s playing, she would immediately realize the truth.

That was how Ainsha understood why Tata had foreseen a future in which she had to ruin Music Challenge. If Limon eventually performed on the show himself and ‘it’ became known as a result, everything would have fallen apart.

“If the other princesses find out, they will never let it pass.”

“Probably not.”

“Not probably.”

Ainsha’s reply was categorical. Then she described the worst future she had foreseen that could unfold if the other princesses learned the truth.

“You will die, Li Qingyu. Torn to pieces.”

“Hmm. That is still a gentler death than I expected.”

“And the Seven Dragons Society will go to war. The Black Dragon Clan will be nearly exterminated. Not merely crippled beyond recovery. Finished.”

“That is so entirely in line with my expectations that I have nothing to say.”

“... I do not understand why you are so calm.”

The greatest prophet of their age had just foretold her death and her clan’s destruction. As Ainsha bluntly questioned her, unable to understand her composure, Li Qingyu answered with a smile.

“Because the fact that you’re telling me this means you have no intention of revealing it yourself.”

“...”

“That is why you deliberately used Dragon Throat Singing Style when you performed with the Sword Lord, isn’t it?”

Li Qingyu asked with the familiarity of someone addressing an accomplice, and Ainsha could only remain silent. It might have been different if she had pretended to know nothing at all. But now that she had helped conceal ‘it,’ she clearly could no longer easily escape responsibility.

“I did not do it for you. I did it for Lee.”

“All the more reason to thank you. Honestly, I never expected you to shoulder such a risk for the Sword Lord.”

Fully cooperating in the capture of the Liberation Brigade and helping conceal Limon’s secret were on entirely different levels. The former only required lending some precognition and combat units. The latter was a perilous undertaking that could drag her entire clan into the disaster.

But Ainsha did not seek any credit. She merely replied bluntly, as though she had only done what she ought to.

“It is for my consort. You do not need to thank me.”

“I see. In that case, I understand...”

It was because she sounded so natural that Li Qingyu almost nodded and let it pass without a thought. Only a beat later did she blink.

“Ainsha, have you already found another consort?”

“No.”

“Then why do you say it is for your consort?”

“Lee is my consort. Naturally, I will help him.”

“... In case you have forgotten, the Sword Lord is my husband-to-be.”

“I know.”

Ainsha answered decisively, as though to say she was no fool who would forget something so important. Then she corrected Li Qingyu’s misunderstanding.

“I will marry Lee. You can marry the Sword Lord. There is no problem.”

“...”

This must have been what it meant to be speechless. Li Qingyu stared blankly at Ainsha—a most uncharacteristic expression for her—and only after a moment did she speak, sounding distinctly uneasy.

“Are you claiming that the Sword Lord’s two identities are different people?”

“Not the Sword Lord. Lee.”

“Whatever you say, that sounds like nothing but sophistry.”

“It is not.”

Regardless of Li Qingyu’s incredulity, Ainsha spoke confidently.

“Lee went on a date with me. You also said you would help me marry Lee. That means you agreed to my proposing to him.”

“That was...”

“If Lee and the Sword Lord are the same person, you defrauded me. I will be furious. I will wage war.”

Li Qingyu was at a loss for words. Contrary to what she said, Ainsha did not look angry in the slightest. Still, Li Qingyu had indeed been the first to deceive her into believing Limon and Lee were different people.

In the end, she decided to respond in true Black Dragon Clan fashion.

“... That and this are different matters. Above all, my cooperation was conditional on payment.”

That was that, and this was this. Besides, now that she had already secured a promise of help against the Liberation Brigade, she had no reason to assist Ainsha’s romantic endeavors. Her brazen delivery truly made her a model member of the Black Dragon Clan.

But Ainsha was unmoved. She merely replied bluntly, as though she had expected precisely this.

“I know. So I prepared an alternative payment.”

“An alternative payment?”

“You do not have to help me propose. If you simply do not interfere, I will return the White Dragon Clan’s seven-percent stake in Leviathan.”

Li Qingyu’s eyes widened. Ainsha delivered the finishing blow.

“And if Lee marries me, I will give him a forty-nine-percent stake in our Tiamat as my dowry.”

“...”

“Deal or war. Choose.”

Like a certain Sword Master who had cried out for peace or death, Ainsha delivered that absurd ultimatum with an expressionless face. Li Qingyu fell silent. The offer to return the stake in Leviathan was astonishing enough. To put shares in Tiamat, the White Dragon Clan’s holding company, on the table as well was truly beyond imagination.

That was why it took Li Qingyu a long time to speak quietly.

“Ainsha, you have changed.”

“Yes. The old me and the current me are different. I am New Ainsha.”

This was not the sort of compliment about her having ‘grown’ that Li Qingyu had offered when they greeted each other before. Coming without Tata, this extreme carrot-and-stick approach, that intense gaze in an expressionless face—she had changed beyond recognition in just a few days. Li Qingyu had merely voiced what she realized upon seeing her, and Ainsha answered bluntly.

“Lee taught me. The future is not fixed. You create it and seize it yourself.”

Even a future she had believed predetermined could be changed through effort. Recounting what she had learned from Limon, Ainsha declared confidently,

“So I will win my love myself, too.”

“... I see.”

Only then did Li Qingyu understand. Ainsha had never intended to negotiate with her in the first place. This offer was effectively a challenge and a declaration of war. Nor was her strangely enthusiastic cooperation born of simple goodwill. And so Li Qingyu said,

“Ainsha, I’m afraid I won’t be able to like you anymore.”

“That is unfortunate. I was only just beginning to like you.”

It was as though the adorable kitten that had bristled with wariness at the mere sight of her had suddenly grown into a leopard. Looking at Ainsha’s expressionless face, Li Qingyu let out a soft sigh.

And she thought that, after all, she should have gone with the marriage-scam plan from the start.