Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 187

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“?”
How in the world am I supposed to read this? Seian threw the invitation card down in frustration. Just then, the door burst open and his younger sister Sera Crowell rushed in.
“Seian! Are you awake?”
You can see that for yourself. Besides, I told you not to shout—my head’s pounding from the hangover—but Sera paid no attention whatsoever.
“Did you get an invitation from Evan? I got one too!”
“How am I supposed to read this thing?”
Judging by the invitation Sera had brought, it seemed she’d managed to decipher the code. Seian asked what Evan was trying to convey, but Sera said something entirely unexpected.
“Isn’t it strange? If Evan’s getting married, naturally I should be the one to sing the wedding song!”
Given all the loyalty and affection they’d shared, she was puzzled why Evan hadn’t reached out to her, the vocalist of Dekarucha, about this.
“Huff, huff—well, it’s already a miracle that you received an invitation at all, Sera!”
Sunbird, who had followed Sera into Seian’s room, was breathing heavily. His lord was truly a kind and righteous person, but he absolutely refused to listen to anyone else’s words.
No matter how much he’d restored the name Mitchell Neftis, how could Evan—who had abandoned his demi-human identity and cast aside the name Evan Laef—possibly want to play at being friends with Evan Mitchell? Sunbird had been saying this all along, but Sera possessed the remarkable talent of hearing everything while pretending to hear nothing.
“That’s one thing, this is another! As long as we don’t lose our heads, we can be friends anytime—that’s politics!”
“But Evan is an emotional person. And thinking rationally, there’s no merit in being close to you. Even if his support base has weakened, it’s strategically advantageous in the long term to attach himself to the great tree that is Cecilia.”
Once Cecilia turns away, it’s over, but Sera would cooperate with Evan whenever he extended his hand. Knowing Sera’s nature, Evan must be acting as a hardline member of the Cecil Faction precisely because of this.
Sunbird knew that Sera was essentially Evan’s insurance policy in the struggle for the throne, which pained him. He could afford to be a bit coy now, but this fool was going around making a fuss about singing the wedding song.
“Hey, Aten Polat! You knew this would happen! Evan said he’d stamp the seal on this political marriage and sell me off to Sungkuk Kingdom!”
“Indeed, Evan is quite clever.”
“You bastard!”
“Aaah!”
The dark-furred ferret-like creature raked its front claws, and Sunbird cried out and collapsed. Sera quickly caught him in her arms, but she didn’t take his side.
“This time, you were in the wrong, Sunbird.”
“But when else would I use Seian like this?”
“I love your thrifty nature, Sunbird!”
Your thrifty nature, your thrifty nature—why do you pretend not to understand?
Seian felt the word “pathetic” rise to his throat, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He had to maintain the dignity of the Royal Family.
“First, please calm down. I’ll contact the Neftis side about the wedding song matter. And Seian, you…”
Apet, Evan’s bride-to-be, had a connection to the Sung King. The Sung King they’d met recently had thrown a terrible tantrum while cursing Evan. Sunbird, who had pieced together various pieces of information with sharp deduction, offered Seian a warm word with a faint smile.
“It seems Evan holds you in great affection. You can rest assured.”
“Huh?”
Seian still didn’t understand the invitation, the marriage, or any of it, but hearing that he was loved made his heart soften and he broke into a broad grin. It seemed to everyone around him that Evan must care for him tremendously. That was a truly wonderful thing.
“I’ll handle everything myself, so neither of you should interfere. Absolutely no contact with Evan! Just stay put!”
“Okay!”
“Got it!”
Watching the two respond so readily, Sunbird’s stomach twisted again. Surely they didn’t answer like that in front of other people. Having experienced much, his anxiety was boundless, but now was the time to act. Balancing the scales was an urgent task not only for Duke Zibenstein but for Sunbird as well.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Margrave Brandenburg! An urgent dispatch!”
As the war with the Dragon Tribe resumed—a conflict where blood washed away blood—Margrave Eugene Brandenburg found himself wrestling with a troubling problem: the morale of his soldiers.
After nearly a year of peace, the territory’s people had grown fond of the dragons, and now they hesitated to take up arms against them. Through their interactions with Dekarucha, everyone had seen the dragons’ faces at least once—exchanged goods at the market, sung songs together—and the thought of facing a familiar dragon on the battlefield filled them with profound unease.
With Dekarucha’s dissolution imminent, the Dragon King would surely come raging down upon them. As Eugene wrestled with this headache, his adjutant arrived bearing a telegram.
“An urgent dispatch? Has Dekarucha reunited?”
Reunification was exactly what everyone desperately wanted. All the officers gathered in the military camp desired Dekarucha’s return—everyone except Eugene himself.
“The rejected Ice Heart is getting married!”
“What?!”
“Say that again!”
“To whom? To the Heart of Void?!”
“Margrave! This is our opportunity! If Ice Heart marries the Heart of Void, we might be able to convince the Dragon King!”
Eugene’s heart surged with hope. If news of Evan’s marriage had arrived at this precise moment, there could be only one possibility. If Evan was marrying Seian Crown Prince, it meant reconciliation between Sera and Evan. Somehow fortune had smiled upon them, and Seian could become a bargaining chip. If House Neftis sided with Sera, the succession war was as good as won.
“Is the groom Seian Crown Prince?”
Eugene asked brightly. But his adjutant’s face darkened rapidly.
“Well, you see…”
“What? Isn’t Ice Heart marrying the Heart of Void?”
“Then who is the groom?”
“Cecilia embraces demi-humans, so is she marrying the Serpent King?”
The Serpent King—absolutely not. That would only deepen the rift between Cecilia and Sera. They’d end up fighting over the throne for ten years while the Emperor’s seat sat empty. Eugene’s palms grew slick with sweat.
Not the Serpent King. Never the Serpent King. Gerth is a good man, but marriage at this moment is absolutely impossible. Whether Eugene’s desperate prayer reached the heavens or not, his adjutant called out a different name.
“Apet! She’s marrying someone named Apet from Zibenstein, the representative of the Charity House!”
“Who is Apet?”
“Is Duke Zibenstein playing both sides so cleverly?”
“Damn bastard.”
Who the hell was Apet? Eugene’s blood boiled, but he forced himself to calm down and think carefully. Even with his head burning hot, if he kept his heart cold and examined the pieces one by one, the answer would emerge.
“Adjutant! Send that telegram to the Dragon King as well!”
“Y-yes, sir?!”
“Hurry!”
This would buy him time to extinguish the immediate crisis. Eugene decided to maintain the standoff with the Dragon Tribe and began packing for the Capital.
“Margrave! The Dragon King is—!”
“Kraaaaaaagh!”
A copper-red dragon roared. That copper-red dragon was incredibly powerful—the strongest among all dragons. It had defeated humans and demons alike. In any case, it roared.
“You pathetic human worms! What about Seian?! What about Seian?! Ice Heart is getting married!”
The Dragon King’s voice thundered from outside the military camp. During Dekarucha’s single release and the launch of their first full album, the Dragon King had undergone some profound spiritual growth. Now, in the form of a fully mature adult, he polymorphed and stood upon the earth with a resounding thud.
“Dragon King! This is not the time for us to fight!”
“Ah, ah yes! That’s right!”
Eugene employed a conversational technique he’d learned from Reina and Evan during his academy days: skillfully dodging the issue. They’d been fighting all this time, and yes, their conflict involved competing interests—but wasn’t the news of the rejected Ice Heart’s marriage far more important than that?
Having muddied the waters of the argument, Eugene picked up his luggage and stood before the Dragon King.
“An invitation arrived for me! We must go and stop Evan’s wedding!”
“That’s right! Evan should marry Seian!”
“We can’t fight without a commander on the battlefield, so let’s pause the battle for now!”
“Agreed! A ceasefire until we return!”
As the Dragon King roared out the ceasefire, cheers erupted from both the dragon and human forces. Eugene felt genuinely grateful to Reina and Evan. He’d learned those deceptive persuasion tactics from them, and now they were proving surprisingly useful.
“Time is of the essence, Dragon King! Remember that straight-line technique you used when heading to the Capital before? Let’s use that!”
“Understood! But you’ll need to wear heat-resistant clothing for this! Or cast a shield spell!”
“Adjutant! Hand me the extension!”
When the Adjutant brought the large-caliber pistol sword favored on the battlefield, Eugene loaded a shield magic bullet and pulled the trigger to activate the spell. Seeing that weapon—a perfect fusion of style and function—the Dragon King’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
“Hey! I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but that thing is so cool!”
“Once we arrive, you can play with it!”
“I’m pumped!”
The Dragon King, now in his dragon form, wagged his tail up, down, left, and right. The Northern Region had regained a brief moment of peace. Both humans and dragons fervently prayed that the Border Earl and the Dragon King would return from the Capital with promises of lasting peace.

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After distributing all the invitations, Evan checked the remaining details. She had originally planned to hire another famous singer for the congratulatory song, but since Sera was being difficult about it, she agreed to let her perform the song herself as long as she didn’t bring a young Sunbird.
The officiant would be the Department Head Professor, and she’d prepared a luxury watch and a suit for him. Duke Neftis had insisted that the Academy Headmaster should be the officiant, and they’d argued for four consecutive days. In the end, Evan won.
Duke Neftis’s younger siblings were plotting something to celebrate the eldest daughter’s wedding, and the Duchess, who had gone on a trip, said she would return by the wedding date.
Everything was proceeding smoothly.
Every day the Sung King would come demanding Apet back, but since Evan had hired mages from Reina Letem and Count Letem as mercenaries, the Sung King and her forces couldn’t even approach Apet and had to retreat.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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