Chapter 1062: Cost
"Sigh... matters of Royalty are always tiring; despite possessing such immense power, it somehow never seems to be enough. Everyone schemes for more, one way or another, whether openly or in the shadows," Bryan stated as he rested his head on his palm, his tone laced with quiet exhaustion and a hint of disdain that he didn’t bother to hide.
"But damn, Tiara, you are cold. Five years of someone showering you with love, and your feelings didn’t even change by one percent, you truly have a heart of steel," Anthony couldn’t help but comment.
Many would have broken and eventually fallen in love when they were given such unbroken attention and care for five years straight, but Tiara’s heart and emotions remained completely unchanged, unshaken by time or persistence.
"I honestly applaud her on that; if I were in her shoes, I might already be in bed with the man without even thinking twice," Rider couldn’t help but comment as he shook his head in amusement, clearly entertained by the situation and Tiara’s almost inhuman level of emotional resistance.
Anthony suddenly remembered something Tiara had spoken about earlier, so he proceeded to ask, "what of the gifts he gave you every day for five years without missing a single day, what exactly did you do with them?" He was genuinely curious. Judging by Tiara’s temperament, she probably threw the gifts away or outright ignored them without sparing them a second glance.
"I drank the blood after thoroughly checking it, and I took every single gift he offered without exception," Tiara replied without any form of hesitation or shame, her tone calm and completely unapologetic.
The control room fell into yet another stretch of silence as everyone stared at her with mild disbelief; even Anthony, who was rarely surprised, found himself momentarily speechless at her blunt and pragmatic response.
"Why are all of you so surprised? I hate the guy, not the gifts. Besides, the blood he gave me increased my cultivation speed every single day. Without them, do you think I would have caught up to you three, who are Royalty with access to endless resources? Please, I’m not foolish enough to turn down anything that could aid my strength," she explained, making her stance perfectly clear.
While she wouldn’t go out of her way to request resources that weren’t willingly given to her by her so-called soon-to-be husband, if any came her way, she would never decline them. The stronger she became, the faster she could escape this absurd and suffocating trap called engagement, and that singular goal outweighed everything else in her mind.
"Anthony said you were cold; I think he might be mistaken, you are simply ruthless," Rider couldn’t help but whistle as he spoke in amazement, clearly impressed by her sharp and calculated mindset.
"And to think this guy continued to offer these resources daily without hesitation or complaint, it seems as though we might have misunderstood him for a bad person. Surely, he is genuinely in love with you," Bryan couldn’t help but comment, his tone sarcastic in every sense of the word.
Anthony simply shook his head, not offering any words.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with what I did," Tiara spoke in a flat tone, her gaze devoid of any guilt, as though daring anyone to challenge her reasoning.
"From a woman’s perspective, maybe, but from a man’s, that’s definitely questionable. Maybe your man is simply too much of a simp," Rider added with a shake of his head, though there was a faint trace of humor in his voice.
Bringer, who had been unusually quiet until now, suddenly spoke, "but what if the Blood Queen’s plan is to refine or drain the blood of the baby that Tiara eventually gives birth to? That could certainly increase her talent and perhaps even boost her power significantly, no?" he asked as he fell into his thoughts, his expression unusually serious for once.
Tiara, Anthony, Rider, and Bryan all stared at Bringer with shocked expressions, clearly surprised that he could come up with such a disturbingly plausible and calculated idea.
"Don’t look at me that way, I’ve always been intelligent; you four are simply too ordinary to fully understand me," he stated with a relaxed smile on his face, as though basking in the brilliance of his own thought process.
"Although my twin brother’s IQ is usually nowhere to be found, it seems it shines once in a while," Rider commented with a small laugh. Bringer could only click his tongue in annoyance and glare at Rider with mock hatred.
"Well, we certainly don’t know anything for sure. For all we know, we could all be overthinking this, and Tiara’s soon-to-be husband might simply be a genuinely good person," Bryan stated, reminding them that their assumptions might be unfounded and that they could be unfairly judging someone without concrete evidence.
"Sigh... it doesn’t matter. The very fact that I’m in this engagement means they aren’t innocent," Tiara stated as she crossed one leg over the other, her tone firm and resolute, "now that you’ve all heard my problem and dilemma, do any of you actually have a solution?" she asked with zero expectations, already anticipating their inability to help.
The boys could only shake their heads. What could they possibly do against the Blood Queen? They were simply too weak in comparison. They couldn’t even destroy a Domain yet, let alone a Planet, and the Blood Queen was at the Planetary level, a mere blink from her could erase them from existence as though they had never existed in the first place.
"Thought as much," Tiara stated as she sighed and closed her eyes, her disappointment present but not unexpected in the slightest.
"I could help you," Anthony suddenly stated, his previously expressionless face slowly turning into a faint smile.
The moment Tiara heard those words, her eyes snapped open instantly, her crimson eyes locking onto Anthony’s sky-blue ones with intense focus and undisguised interest.
"How?" she asked without hesitation, not doubting him or questioning his competence; she wasn’t foolish enough to do that, especially not when a potential solution, no matter how extreme, presented itself before her.
"That depends on how badly you want to leave, and whether you are willing to make a significant sacrifice," Anthony stated, his smile ever-present, yet now carrying a weight that made his words feel heavier than they sounded.
Bryan, Rider, and Bringer simply watched in silence, not daring to interrupt, as they all sensed that whatever Anthony was about to propose would not be something simple or without consequence.
Tiara’s eyes narrowed into slits as she spoke, "what do you need?" she asked without hesitation.
"The root of the problem is the grade of your bloodline, Royalty. If your bloodline were to drop to the level just below Royal grade, which is the Noble grade, then surely the Blood Queen and her two-faced son would call off the engagement, effectively setting you free," Anthony stated with a devilish undertone, his words deliberate and calculated.
His words exploded like missiles within everyone’s ears as they registered fully, the sheer weight of the suggestion crashing into them all at once. Their eyes snapped toward Tiara as a single thought burned in their minds, would Tiara truly make this sacrifice? Was she willing to part with the bloodline that defined her very existence, or would she endure the engagement for years, decades, and even centuries to come?
It all depended on how desperately she desired her freedom, and that freedom came with a colossal cost, a price that could alter her future irrevocably and reshape her identity entirely.
A cost that could very well mark her downfall... or perhaps, if fate allowed it, the beginning of something entirely new.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: I don’t know how y’all are seeing these slice of life Chapters, or should I call them laid-back Chapters. Sighs, sorry if they’re boring.