He Who Covets the Abandoned Bride (10 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 5
“He devised a way to follow His Majesty the Emperor’s intentions without spilling blood.”
“If it’s His Majesty the Emperor’s will, then…”
Rilvan, who had no idea what Adrian truly thought, carefully chewed over the flimsy excuse Adrian had carelessly tossed out. Feeling slightly guilty for deceiving him, Adrian added an explanation.
“His Majesty wishes for the unification of the Dambernant continent. But our continent holds far too many dangers. There’s no need to stain the land with blood by waging war against small nations.”
The Dambernant continent, located in the southwest of the world, was the largest of the four great continents. Blessed abundantly by nature, it possessed rich resources and plentiful food, making most of its nations quite prosperous.
Yet, just as light breeds shadow, it held one fatal trait unlike any other continent.
The very lands most hospitable to humans teemed with dangerous beasts and monsters.
In fact, the number of monsters inhabiting Dambernant was estimated to be over ten times greater than those on any other continent.
Thus, monster waves frequently erupted across various corners of the continent.
Consequently, defensive strength naturally became synonymous with national power in Dambernant, and a few nations with exceptional might had divided most of the continent among themselves.
The nations that succeeded in their defense shared one common trait: their ruling classes possessed so-called supernatural abilities—abilities far beyond the ordinary level.
The Harkin Empire, too, passed down formidable psychokinesis through its imperial bloodline.
Adrian Pinter Rains.
As the 27th Crown Prince of the Rains Imperial Family, he himself was a psychokinetic, and had been dispatched to the front lines since childhood thanks to his unprecedentedly powerful ability, resolving countless monster waves.
Given these circumstances, regardless of his earlier half-hearted excuse, it was undeniably true that he was utterly weary of battlefields.
“Once land is devastated, it’s hard to restore.”
As he muttered this, Rilvan stared at him intently. Feeling that steady gaze, Adrian met his eyes and raised an eyebrow—meaning, *If you have something to say, just say it.*
“Then, what do you intend to do about the Princess of Wessex?”
It was a piercing question, as if Rilvan had looked straight into Adrian’s heart. Adrian replied, striving not to let any flicker of disturbance show.
“Didn’t I already say I don’t care at all?”
Perhaps his nerves had frayed, making his tone sharper than intended. But Rilvan, seemingly oblivious, lowered his voice and continued earnestly.
“Your Highness, the current situation in Wessex is far from ordinary. You must have heard that Fitzroy has planted spies within their royal court.”
The Kingdom of Fitzroy was the second-largest nation on the Dambernant continent after Harkin. Though it had recently given Adrian a headache, their enmity was nothing new.
“Yes, I’ve heard. But that has nothing to do with Laila Wessex for now.”
“It might not be that simple.”
“Is there something new that I’m unaware of?”
“They say Princess Isabella of Fitzroy is plotting to usurp the throne.”
Isabella of Fitzroy. Hearing that familiar name, Adrian raised an eyebrow.
She was precisely the reason he found Fitzroy so exasperating. He never understood why she insisted on following and harassing him, constantly obstructing everything he tried to do.
Just recently, when he’d gone to resolve a monster wave at a neighboring kingdom that had requested aid, she’d beaten him to it and claimed the reward for herself.
The problem was, that very reward was something Adrian desperately needed.
He could still recall her words, spoken with a sly smile when he arrived too late:
“If you want it, come find me in Fitzroy. I might just use it myself if you’re too slow.”
Just thinking about it exhausted him, and Adrian narrowed his eyes with a sigh.
“So Isabella has finally… I knew she’d do something like this someday. She overestimates her own abilities.”
“The issue is, they say she’s planning to abduct Prince Cedric of Wessex.”
Abduction?
Caught off guard by the unexpected word from Rilvan’s lips, Adrian furrowed his brow.
Cedric was the name of Wessex’s youngest prince. The last time Adrian had seen him—before Wessex split from the Empire—he’d been a boy of about five. He couldn’t be much older now.
“Tell me more.”
“It’s rumored Prince Cedric possesses the finest tuning ability. Moreover, Princess Isabella reportedly suffered severe injuries while suppressing a monster wave in northern Fitzroy.”
“I’m already aware of that much. But how does that lead to a kidnapping plot?”
“It seems the King of Wessex has promised his daughter to Fitzroy’s First Prince.”
“…Ha.”
Adrian let out an involuntary scoff.
*That hopeless fool.*
The current King of Wessex was such a pathetic man that Adrian hardly felt like granting him the title “king.”
Over a decade ago, he’d betrayed the Harkin Empire under smooth-tongued deception and founded a new kingdom—but he hardly seemed the stuff of legends.
On the contrary, his womanizing ways made Adrian wonder if he’d deliberately fathered so many children just to sell them off. Indeed, he had numerous illegitimate offspring, though he never formally acknowledged them—only to suddenly adopt them as heirs out of nowhere.
He’d sired nearly twenty children in this manner. Most of Wessex’s princesses had already been married off to foreign nations.
Thus, the King of Wessex treated other nations casually while remaining distinctly unfriendly toward Harkin.
The Emperor of Harkin surely knew this. Naturally, he’d repeatedly raged about reclaiming and reabsorbing Wessex—efforts that Adrian, as Crown Prince, had blocked for years.
People were deeply puzzled as to why Adrian so staunchly defended Wessex. Of course, Adrian had his own private reasons—ones he couldn’t reveal publicly…
But now, hearing that *that* King of Wessex was again trying to trade away his daughter, Adrian was utterly speechless.
Moreover, Fitzroy’s First Princess and First Prince were locked in a struggle for the throne. Offering his daughter to the First Prince was tantamount to meddling in Fitzroy’s internal affairs.
Whether the King intended it or not remained unclear.
“So Isabella’s stance is that since Wessex won’t willingly hand over a tuner, she’ll take one by force?”
“It seems so.”
Isabella’s judgment might, in truth, be understandable.
So-called “Ability Users” always required a “Tuner.” Their supernatural powers were strong enough to be called divine blessings, yet sadly, they couldn’t be used indefinitely.
Without a Tuner’s aid, the ability would inevitably deplete—and if used too recklessly, it could vanish in an instant.
Sometimes, the loss of power even claimed the user’s life, which was why everyone coveted the tuning ability passed down exclusively through the bloodline of House Wessex.
The problem was, although this ability manifested in females of the Wessex line, it wasn’t maternally inherited.
Thus, everyone clung desperately to the name “Wessex”—and that was precisely why the Duke of Wessex, once loyal to Harkin, had coveted a kingdom of his own.
“However.”
Adrian cut off his train of thought with cold finality.
“That still has nothing to do with Laila Wessex here.”
But then, another unexpected statement reached him from beside.
“Your Highness, what if that plan also includes an assassination plot against the King of Wessex?”
Only then did Adrian’s violet eyes betray a flicker of seriousness.
*Am I really hearing this nonsense?*
“You don’t mean the First Princess plans to conquer Wessex entirely?”
“That scenario appears to be included as well.”
“…”
At Rilvan’s words, Adrian fell silent, lost in thought.
Wessex wasn’t exactly friendly toward Harkin—but letting it fall completely into Fitzroy’s hands was another matter entirely.
Yet… right now, stationed in the Kingdom of Pilmer, he couldn’t act immediately. He hadn’t yet achieved his purpose here.
“If that happens, Princess Isabella’s position will become even more secure. Can you really stand by and watch?”
Rilvan’s words were a clear urging: he needed to return to the Empire as soon as possible.
Though Wessex was a thorn in Harkin’s side, ironically, protecting it was also critically important.
As Adrian’s mind grew tangled, he pressed a finger to his temple—only to feel a sudden, dizzying spin despite sitting still.
“Ugh…”
He instinctively groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, prompting Rilvan to quickly check his expression in alarm.
“Your Highness, could it be dizziness again…?”
Adrian shook his head hastily. After shaking off the headache that soon followed, he firmly denied it.
“It’s nothing like that.”
But his hand, still pressed to his temple, trembled faintly.
Ever since he’d exterminated a massive horde of monsters recently, his physical condition had sharply deteriorated.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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