Ch. 16
Chapter 16: Evil-Breaking Force—Dispelling the Curse!
There was a candelabra with a human face twisting its body and flailing about—which, by rights, should have been rather unsettling.
But its endearing appearance meant it came across as anything but eerie or frightening—it actually looked rather adorable!
Good—selling this candelabra to wealthy nobles could fetch the equivalent of a 100-man elite cavalry unit……
But just as Li Kainan gripped the candelabra in his hand, something suddenly struck him.
He could actually sense an evil power lurking inside the candelabra's body?
While Li Kainan pondered this, the rest of the pots and pans all swarmed over as well.
"Let go of Lumia!"
"We won't let you keep hurting His Highness the Prince!"
"We'll stop him—Cogsworth, you go rescue His Highness!"
"……"
……
The pots and pans had not obeyed the unfortunate prince's order to flee—instead, they summoned their courage and fought back.
A bearded clock was now leading a walking wardrobe and a broom, making every effort to pry their unfortunate prince down from the wall.
The rest of the pots and pans planted themselves in front of Li Kainan, fully resolved to buy time for their prince even at the cost of their own lives……
What could he say—the way these pots and pans were throwing themselves into it with such fierce loyalty made Li Kainan feel like he was the villain!
Truthfully, he felt no ill will toward these pots and pans whatsoever.
By this point Li Kainan was certain—all these pots and pans were the castle's attendants and servants.
Simply because their unfortunate prince had made an enemy of a witch, the entire castle had been cursed and every one of them transformed into non-human objects.
And yet these attendants and servants harbored no resentment in their hearts, remaining this loyal……
Loyal people are always worthy of admiration!
Belle, who had been hiding in her room this whole time, now poked her head out through the doorway.
This girl was calm and sharp-minded—but also genuinely kind-hearted.
Seeing the pots and pans throw themselves in front of Li Kainan with the resolve to fight to the last, she hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but speak up to plead for them:
"They aren't bad people……Spare them—let's just leave this place!"
She had been forcibly kept in the castle against her will and had been given quite a fright.
The Beast Prince in particular had been constantly roaring and threatening her.
But the candelabra butler, the wardrobe lady, and the teapot—they had all been kind and friendly toward her, and she couldn't quite bring herself to stand by and see them harmed!
Hearing Belle's words, the candelabra named "Lumia" gripped in Li Kainan's hand seemed to see a ray of hope.
It quickly composed itself and shifted to explaining instead:
"Good sir, we have no intention of harming Miss Belle!"
"His Highness the Prince and all of us were placed under a witch's curse—that is what reduced us all to this state."
"We only hoped that a beautiful lady might fall truly in love with our Prince, and thereby help to break this wicked curse……"
True love breaking a curse?
Hmm—this plot setup had a strangely familiar ring to it too, like he'd heard it somewhere before.
Li Kainan blinked, then continued staring at the candelabra named "Lumia" in his hand, his expression turning thoughtful.
So the evil power he'd sensed within its body was the witch's curse!
Hmm—he might actually be able to break it……
The Trait【Evil-Breaking Force】he had obtained earlier possessed the power to break all curses!
Right—why not use them as test subjects and give it a try?
The thought crossed Li Kainan's mind, and the【Evil-Breaking Force】within him immediately activated.
The next moment, a pure, immaculate white radiance lit up from Li Kainan's hand.
The light was not blinding—if anything, it carried a warmth that put the heart at ease, imbued with a sacred power capable of dispelling all curses!
Bathed in this sacred white light, the candelabra Lumia's body began to expand directly.
Li Kainan released it—the candelabra tumbled from his hand, then transformed into a tall, thin middle-aged man dressed in court attendant's attire who collapsed sitting on the floor.
Having been denied a human body for so many years, Lumia still struggled on the ground for a moment before he managed to reacquaint himself with the human form that now felt so unfamiliar to him!
At first Lumia hadn't quite registered what had happened—he sat there blankly for a long while before looking down at his human body, and then his whole frame began to tremble uncontrollably.
"I-I've actually, actually had the curse broken!" he cried out in overwhelmed joy.
Seeing Lumia return to human form, the pots and pans who had all been prepared to fight to the death froze in stunned unison.
Not a single one of them had distinct facial features—yet somehow, each and every one wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Even the unfortunate prince, who had been knocked flying by Li Kainan's hammer and was still embedded in the wall, suddenly snapped his eyes wide open and began struggling with his hands and feet, desperate to get himself down.
The curse—had actually been broken just like that?
And at this moment, Li Kainan looked at Lumia restored to human form—and felt a faint twinge of regret.
They always say rarity commands value—two-legged humans were everywhere, but a talking candelabra was genuinely rare.
Now that he'd turned back into a person, he wasn't nearly as valuable. What a pity……
……
The unfortunate prince, still lodged in the wall, pushed through the pain of his injuries and struggled to get himself down.
But he was wedged in too firmly—his efforts ultimately failed.
In the end, the unfortunate prince could only give up and resign himself to speaking from his undignified position embedded in the wall:
"Gold, jewels, titles, territories……What would it take for you to forgive our rudeness today and help us break this wretched curse?"
Li Kainan, who had just been feeling rather sorry about the candelabra losing its novelty value by turning back into a person, heard these words—and his eyes immediately lit up.
It sounded like this unfortunate prince could offer quite a generous compensation?
Makes sense—apparently, not long after inheriting his father the prince's estate, he had made an enemy of a witch and been cursed.
He'd probably been unable to squander his wealth even if he'd wanted to over these 10 years. The family fortune must be substantial!
And most importantly—he could grant noble titles and territories?
This unfortunate prince before him was called a "prince," but his actual rank was that of a royal prince of the blood.
Under the laws of the Kingdom of Cape, he genuinely had the authority to confer noble titles……
……
Drawing on his extensive gaming experience, Li Kainan knew that to conquer the realm you first had to build up your power base—and in the early stages, a noble title with territory was absolutely essential.
When he had been working out his conquest plan before, he had already been planning to first join one of the factions within the Kingdom of Cape, then earn a title and territory through military merit on the battlefield.
Now that this unfortunate prince could confer titles directly, it would save Li Kainan quite a bit of early development time.
When he calculated it out, even without being able to pack up all the pots and pans to take with him, it was still no loss at all……
A friendly smile spread across Li Kainan's face, and he said warmly:
"Forgiveness? There's nothing to forgive—it's a trivial matter. I've always had a soft spot for doing the right thing……"
To show his sincerity, Li Kainan quickly stepped forward and, with as much care as he could manage, pried the unfortunate prince down from the wall.
Right—negotiating terms with someone wedged in the wall wasn't exactly appropriate……
……