Will I take responsibility for you?

“Dragon-Slaying Guards—you’re all just well-fed lapdogs of the Empire!”

Black Dragon snarled,having used Shadow Step to escape the explosion unharmed.

But he wasn’t calm in the slightest.

He whirled on the rest of the Draconic Parliament, voice sharp with urgency:

“Move! Stick to the plan!”

“Take the potion—jump into the sea!

Use the dragon blood to mask your scent!”

As he spoke, he yanked a vial of black liquid from his coat and downed it in one gulp.

The others immediately followed suit.

This was the Parliament’s custom-made Concealment Elixir—once ingested, it temporarily nullified spiritual fluctuations,allowing the user to blend seamlessly into their surroundings.

Without hesitation, Black Dragon dove into the churning sea.

Red Dragon and White Dragon plunged in right after him.

They were desperate—because that explosion would have caught the Hodyr’s attention.

Pascal and the others would notice the anomaly.

And right now,facing sea dragons was far safer than facing Pascal.

Just as Black Dragon feared,the golden blast from the captain’s self-detonationlit up the night sky like a beacon over the waves.

On the distant Hodyr,Pascal—having just cleaved through several Augupugu Sea Dragonsand rescued a dozen crewmen—suddenly looked up, his eyes narrowing.

That sudden surge and collapse of spiritual energy—a clear sign of a high-tier warrior’s suicidal explosion—and it came straight from the vanguard ship.

“Trouble on the vanguard?”

Pascal’s expression darkened.

That ship’s defenses were formidable—not something even a Dragon Tide could easily overrun.

And more importantly—

Princess Alice had boarded it for inspection today.

No hesitation.

He vanished in a blur,reappearing on the vanguard’s deck in mere breaths.

The moment he landed,the carnage hit him like a physical blow.

Bodies of guards and sailors littered the deck.

Blood pooled in every crevice.

A charred crater marked where the captain had fallen.

Even Pascal, hardened by decades of battle, felt a pang of shock.

His gaze swept the scene—and instantly locked onto Azure Dragon and Indigo Dragon,just about to leap into the sea.

From their black uniforms,everything became horrifyingly clear.

“You kill my people—and think you can just run?”

Fury blazed in Pascal’s eyes.

He flicked his hand.

An invisible force seized the two mid-air,pinning them like insects in glass.

“Pascal?!”

Azure and Indigo paled.

They hadn’t expected reinforcements so fast—let alone Pascal himself, a Dragon-tier expert!

Their eyes met—a silent agreement passing between them.

They began channeling spiritual energy,preparing to self-destruct.

But Pascal had already anticipated it.

With a thought, he shattered their cores,dispersing their energy before it could ignite.

“Pascal! A few others already jumped into the sea!”

At that, Pascal’s senses flared outward over the water.

But underwater perception was severely limited—and the lingering dragon blood further distorted his readings.

All he sensed were swarms of sea dragons—not a single human trace.

He stared at the calm surface,knowing the assassins had slipped away—and his rage burned hotter.

His palm glowed with deep blue energy.

“If I can’t have you…then rot with the sea dragons!”

He hurled the orb into the ocean.

BOOM!

A colossal explosion erupted beneath the waves—a ten-meter tidal wave crashing skyward.

Dozens of sea dragons were blown apart,their corpses bobbing to the surface.

Still—no sign of the assassins.

“This concealment method…must be the Draconic Parliament’s work.”

As Second Chair of the Dragon-Slaying Guard,

Pascal had clashed with them before.

Seeing those black-clad figures,the Parliament was the only group bold enough.

He glanced coldly at the captured Azure and Indigo,then tossed them aside like trash.

He’d interrogate them once the tide was handled.

Right now, something far more urgent demanded his attention.

“Where is Her Highness?” he demanded, voice low and sharp.

A surviving squad leader rushed forward, trembling:

“Before the explosion, Captain Hoern held off the assassins with his life—giving the princess time to escape into the safe room.

She should be secure there.”

Relief washed over Pascal.

“Pascal! Captain Hoern was the one who self-detonated!

Please—make them pay!”

The other guards clenched their jaws, glaring at the prisoners.

“So it was Hoern…”

Pascal’s chest tightened.

That old captain—loyal, skilled, utterly devoted to the Empire.

The crown gave him purpose;he gave it his life in return.

No time for grief.

He had to confirm Alice’s safety himself.

“Tend to the wounded. Clear the deck,” he ordered.

“I’ll retrieve the princess.”

With that, he strode toward the cabin,casually beheading a lingering sea dragon as he passed.

Inside the safe room.

Time had lost meaning.

The air hung thick with the musky scent of sweat, salt, and something unspoken.

Perhaps the toxin’s effects were fading.

Perhaps their bodies had simply reached their limit.

In the suffocating dark,only their ragged breathing remained—loud, intimate… and deeply shameful.

Black stirred first,dragging himself upright through sheer exhaustion.

He looked up—and met Alice’s gaze.

Cold. Calm. Terrifying.

“Alice…”

“Shut up.”

Her voice was ice.

In one fluid motion, she seized his throat—her eyes blazing with murderous intent,the same cruel princess from the story’s beginning.

She could crush his windpipe in an instant.

But then her eyes flickered to the fresh scar on his abdomen—the wound he’d taken for her.

Her hand trembled.

The fury melted into something fragile.

She let go and shrank back into the corner,curling in on herself like a wounded animal.

Black’s eyes fell to the blanket—to the faint crimson stains.

The memory of their frantic, desperate coupling crashed over him.

By any measure, Alice was a vision—one of the Empire’s most beautiful women,a princess of imperial blood.

He’d just claimed something no man ever had.

He should’ve felt triumphant.

Instead, only bitter regret filled him.

Everything’s ruined. My plan… my escape… all gone.

Alice sat silently,dressing herself with stiff, mechanical movements.

Her skin—especially her neck and chest—was marred with bruises and bite marks,testaments to the violence of their joining.

Neither dared look at the other.

The silence pressed in,heavy with unsaid words and shattered boundaries.

Black opened his mouth—wanted to say something—but the words died in his throat.

What could he possibly say?

“Alice… I’ll take responsibility for you?”