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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The girl with the impassive face, Ainsha, was troubled. She was supposed to be at the movie theater, according to her precognition. But Limon had led her elsewhere.
This was problematic, not just because her perfect plan of subtly stabbing him in the heart while he slept in the theater was ruined, but because of the location itself.
“Lee, I have a question.”
“What?”
“I’d like to know why we’re here.”
“Why else would we be at a clothing store? To buy clothes, of course.”
“…I have plenty of clothes. I don’t need to buy any. Especially not here.”
“You may not, but I do.”
Limon brushed off her protest. He looked around the shabby clothing store they had stumbled upon in the market and asked,
“Owner, I’d like to know which clothes are the cheapest here.”
“Just pick whatever. Everything’s 5,000 won.”
“That’s surprisingly cheap.”
“They’re made by students as a hobby. They don’t have any tailoring skills or anything. They asked me to sell them for whatever I could get, so I’m selling them for cheap.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Limon nodded at the toothless old woman watching a dusty TV in the back of the store. He started rummaging through the clothes piled haphazardly in baskets, instead of being neatly hung on racks.
The problem was that he started holding up the clothes against Ainsha.
“This is too pretty.”
“This is cuter than I expected.”
“This is too flashy…”
“Okay, this is decent. Try this on.”
“…I don’t understand. I don’t get it.”
“Just do as I say. The fitting room is this way.”
Ainsha, her arms full of clothes, was pushed towards the fitting room. While she was inside, Limon also picked out a shirt, jacket, and pants for himself. They were only 5,000 won each, and being hobby projects, they were quite ordinary. But they were a significant improvement over Limon’s shabby tracksuit.
The problem was Ainsha.
“Why are you wearing it like that?”
“No Tata. Difficult to change.”
“Oh, right. You need someone to dress you, don’t you?”
Limon clicked his tongue at the princess, who seemed to have little experience dressing herself.
He followed her into the fitting room and helped her change. He crossed his arms as he looked at the result.
“You still stand out… Is it because you’re naturally beautiful?”
She wore shorts that revealed her legs, a slightly oversized shirt, and a cardigan that exposed her shoulders. It was much more casual than her previous flowing robes, but she still attracted attention.
Limon shrugged.
“It can’t be helped. Let’s go.”
“…Confused. Disoriented. A complete mess.”
Unlike Limon, who seemed somewhat satisfied, Ainsha muttered like a broken doll. She didn’t understand why this was happening, what she was doing here, or what Limon was trying to achieve.
She had simply tried to change the future by killing him, and now she was being dressed like a doll. Limon chuckled at her dazed expression. He put a beanie and oversized sunglasses on her and said mischievously,
“Why are you thinking so hard? I told you, this is a date.”
“…Understood.”
She didn’t understand at all. But Ainsha decided to go with the flow. What mattered wasn’t what they did on the date, but how she could change the future. She focused on seeing the future.
And she blinked. She saw something, but she couldn’t understand what it was. Before she could figure it out, the future came to them.
Screech-!
“Hey, Brainiac, are you here?”
“How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Wei-ling, not Brainiac.”
As Limon and Ainsha stepped out of the market, a car stopped in front of them as if on cue.
Wei-ling, dressed in a suit, stepped out of the driver’s seat and retorted at Limon before bowing politely to Ainsha.
“Wei-ling of the Black Dragon Clan greets the descendant of the Wise White Dragon.”
“…I’m Ainsha. Nice to meet you.”
“Then please, allow me to escort you.”
“Understood. I’ll be escorted…?”
Ainsha, accustomed to being served, got into the car without a second thought. By the time she realized something was amiss, the car, with Wei-ling and Limon, was already moving.
“Location? Confirmed?”
“Yes, the Shanghai Royal Family’s intelligence unit is on them.”
“Why are you talking like they’re strangers? They’re part of Guardian’s intelligence division now.”
“…”
Wei-ling looked uncomfortable.
Limon chuckled, then leaned back in his seat, using his arm as a pillow.
“I’m going to take a nap, so put something on for the kid. Wake me up when we arrive.”
True to his word, Limon fell asleep.
Wei-ling activated the screen on the back of the seat and asked Ainsha politely,
“Princess Ainsha, we have TV, music, and movies available. Which would you prefer?”
“…Anything is fine.”
And so, Ainsha watched a movie on the screen, her face impassive, until the car stopped, Limon woke up, and they got out.
“Please enjoy your time.”
“Yeah, tell the princess thanks for the arrangements. And tell the intelligence unit to back off.”
Wei-ling handed something to Limon and drove away.
Ainsha finally spoke.
“Question. I don’t understand what Lee is trying to do.”
“Why? Don’t you like the date course?”
“I don’t. No opportunity to kill you. Troublesome.”
[T/N: btw if any of yall are wondering why she talks weird idfk its just how its written in the raws lol]
“Is that so? Then I’ll make it more to your liking.”
Limon chuckled and grabbed her wrist, leading her in a certain direction. Ainsha didn’t resist.
She didn’t see a future where she avoided his hand. Besides, her mind was already overloaded from the recent events.
‘This is strange. My precognition is delayed. I don’t understand.’
She should have been able to read all possible futures by now.
Why was her precognition so slow today… or rather, ever since she started acting with this man?
As she pondered the reason, she flinched.
She finally saw the future, the future where she saw something at the end of the street they were approaching.
Limon said meaningfully,
“What do you think? Don’t you think the date is about to get interesting?”
“…Not interesting. Stop.”
“No, it will be interesting.”
Limon led her to the end of the street. He looked at the back of a woman walking ahead, a woman Ainsha knew very well.
“It’s not every day you get the chance to follow your nanny.”
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“Stalking is a crime. Turn yourself in. Tata will forgive you, even now.”
Ainsha tried to stop Limon from following Tata. She tried her best, she really did. But he ignored her.
“This isn’t stalking. It’s tailing.”
“I don’t understand the difference.”
“Stalking is always a crime, but tailing is acceptable depending on the situation.”
“Sophistry. Cowardly excuse. Stop it.”
“Are you sure? Then you won’t be able to change the future.”
“…I don’t understand how that’s related to tailing.”
“Of course it’s related.”
Limon said calmly to Ainsha, who tightened her grip on his hand as if sensing a threat in his words.
“You said you saw a future where I kill Tata.”
“That is correct.”
“That means there’s a reason why I have to kill your nanny.”
Limon pointed out coldly.
He wasn’t a crazed murderer. He was the Sword Saint, who didn’t draw his sword without a reason.
Why would he kill the White Dragon Princess’s attendant, risking a war with the White Dragon Clan? It was unthinkable.
Therefore, Limon concluded that unless Ainsha’s precognition was wrong, Tata had, or would have, a reason to provoke such an extreme reaction.
“That’s why I’m trying to find out the reason. If we don’t know the reason, we can’t change the future where your nanny dies.”
“We can change it, we just need to kill you.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“Please, do it anyway.”
Ainsha pleaded with a completely serious, impassive face, as if she were a door-to-door salesperson.
Limon was speechless.
“Do you really think everything will be a happy ending if I die?”
“Not a happy ending. My destined partner will die. Tragic. Like a heartbroken protagonist.”
“What if, even after I die, you see a future where your nanny dies? What will you do then?”
“…I don’t understand the question.”
Limon was the one who killed Tata. If Limon died, that wouldn’t happen.
So why would Tata die?
Ainsha tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
Limon sighed.
“White Dragon Princess, this is why your clan is called fools.”
“Tata said that’s a rumor. A false accusation born from the jealousy of those who can’t see the future.”
“You’re free to believe what you want, but if you can’t kill me right here and now, just follow me quietly. I have no intention of dying for your nanny.”
“…”
Ainsha had no choice but to follow him. She didn’t see a future where she successfully killed Limon, no matter what she did. They followed Tata discreetly, until she entered a shabby bar in a secluded alley.
Ainsha, who had been reluctantly following Limon, tilted her head.
“…This is strange.”
“What is?”
“Tata doesn’t drink. I don’t understand why she’s at a bar.”
“Is that so?”
Limon narrowed his eyes.
If someone who didn’t drink went to a bar, it was usually to meet someone. The important thing was who that someone was. If Tata, Ainsha’s close confidante, had to meet someone alone in a secluded place like this, it couldn’t be an ordinary person.
‘This might be easier than I thought… wait, what?’
Limon’s eyebrow shot up.
As he was debating whether to enter the bar, a man appeared from the opposite alley. His hesitant steps, his wary glances, the briefcase he clutched… he practically screamed “suspicious.”
Limon’s expression turned strange. It wasn’t because of the man’s suspicious behavior, but because he recognized him.
“…Why is he here?”
The former power behind WIM, the man who had lost his position because of Limon’s schemes.
Moon Cheon-yeop hurried into the bar.
Limon was speechless.
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