Princess: ......
She was at a loss for words. Though every word he said sounded harsh, one statent in particular had blocked all her possible escape routes.
—What if gods don't keep their promises?
Whatever controlled the fate of this world—whether gods or so powerful beings—why would they keep promises to insignificant ants like them?
"Perhaps... perhaps what you're saying won't happen......"
The princess lowered her head, murmuring to herself. Her ntal state was already fragile, drowning in her own despair with no way out.
But Arrogance clearly lacked the ability to empathize, continuing bluntly:
"In this world, only what you can control yourself counts. Promises from others an nothing."
The princess sighed deeply, shaking her head before finally looking up to face the golden mask she'd been avoiding.
"But what's the point of knowing this?"
"The weak sotis have no choice."
"If your options are: obey and possibly die, or disobey and certainly die—which would you choose?"
Lu Ce needed no ti to ponder such questions, his golden mask glinting as he replied:
"That dilemma doesn't exist for . My choices are always about who else dies, not whether I die."
"Heh."
The princess actually laughed. It seed people could still laugh in absolute despair.
"I'm starting to admire you now."
"In so ways, you truly are strong—at least ntally."
Lu Ce's golden mask imdiately flashed with disdain as he corrected:
"Actually, I'm strong in terms of pure power too!"
"...Fine," the princess conceded helplessly.
Lu Ce seed to have a rare mont of consideration, looking at the princess as if struck by conscience.
"But to return to the point—if you truly face that situation, what you described is actually a false dilemma."
"If resistance ans certain death, then obedience also ans certain death. History has proven this repeatedly."
"So... these consequences don't actually require consideration. Since death is certain either way, you might as well......"
He left the thought unfinished, his golden mask radiating an intimidating glow as he stared fixedly at the princess.
The princess looked stunned, hesitating before asking:
"Are you suggesting... I should die now?"
Lu Ce: ......
Xie Antong nearby nearly lost her composure. She genuinely pitied the princess—under continuous pressure, the princess's mind seed to be breaking.
It made sense. Between likely divine brainwashing, mory alterations, and madness, maintaining basic logic was probably impossible.
Arrogance's mask displayed an utterly expressionless look: (￣_，￣).
"Your words possess a certain beauty completely untainted by intellect."
The princess suddenly flopped onto the bed as if giving up, her lips curling into a resigned, self-abandoned smile as she spoke with crazed laughter:
"What's the point of saying all this? You're the king—you've never faced problems you couldn't solve. I'm weak, pinning hopes on illusions. I admit it!"
"At this point, what choice do I have? If my death could change everything, I'd kill myself right now—no problem!"
"No paths before , no opportunities—what can I do? What choices do I have?!"
Xie Antong frowned, repeatedly wanting to interject. She felt further conversation with the princess was aningless now.
And...
She glanced sideways at "Sin."
Had he truly never encountered unsolvable problems?
More likely he'd faced countless challenges but always believed he could overco them, fighting desperately with no retreat.
Perhaps in his eyes, death was just death—no afterlife to confirm his failures.
Just as she was about to speak, Lu Ce suddenly said:
"Who said you have no opportunities?"
"What opportunities?!" The princess jerked her head up, bewildered, pointing at Xie Antong. "Like she said, I don't even know if my mories are real or my thoughts are my own!"
"I don't know what I'm facing, nor what to resist—only that sothing bad is happening. What opportunities?"
"But I ca. You saw ." Lu Ce said with abnormal calm. "You could have tried to use ."
Princess: ?
In an instant, she froze, staring at Lu Ce with disbelief.
Ignoring her reaction, Lu Ce turned to observe the thing sealed in the giant stone:
"After my arrival, you realized I'm a variable—my strength, my timing, all variables."
"You could have used to kill your so-called marriage partner outright, to see what would happen. But you refused."
"You could have used to keep her guessing possible reasons, making this place shake violently enough to free that weapon from the stone. But you didn't."
"You could have redirected disaster—shifted calamities you couldn't handle onto . Instead, you wallowed in self-pity."
The princess sat up, her brow furrowed in confusion. She couldn't fathom how soone could so calmly say "you could have used ."
Shouldn't he be angry at being used? Why was it the opposite for him?!
It was as if he wasn't talking about himself!
"What... do you an?"
"Nothing much." The gaze from the golden mask grew increasingly sharp. "I'm saying your heart has already submitted."
"You've lost that spirit—to seize every possible variable, every glimr of hope, always ready to fight back."
"If this nation's fate rests with you... don't bother. It's already dood."
anwhile, Xie Antong lowered her head slightly, her helt concealing trembling eyes.
Emotions surged within her like springwater about to overflow.
Were these words sothing "Arrogance" should say?
While listeners would hear only condescension and harshness, she detected frustration at wasted potential... and compassion.
Beneath the mask.
It was him!
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