The Thirteenth Princess's mansion.
Su Changge really wanted to report this to the authorities.
He wanted to grab Qian Renxue, who was disguised as Xue Qinghe, and ask her what on earth she was trying to do.
But when he remembered that the entire empire bore the surname Xue, and that a Titled Douluo was standing behind him, Su Changge dropped to his knees again.
"Your Highness, I'm not messing with you. You're the one messing with me!"
"Just tell me, what exactly do you want?"
"But no matter what you want, a mere Soul Grandmaster like me can't help you. I might even mean well and end up ruining your grand plans..."
"I'm begging you, just let me go, please?"
Su Changge no longer cared about a man's dignity.
Staying alive was what mattered most.
Besides, none of his acquaintances were around, so he didn't feel the sort of mortifying embarrassment that came with dying of shame in public.
Seeing how smoothly Su Changge dropped to his knees, Xue Qinghe finally felt her anger ease.
That was right! This was how it should be.
If only he'd always been this sensible.
"Su Changge, you're just a nobody from an earl's territory, yet you dared to seek out the Thirteenth Princess, who doesn't have a single supporter or lackey. Before you came, you must have already thought of a way to persuade Her Highness Rose."
"If you can convince Her Highness Rose to take part in the battle for the throne, I can let you off this time. How about it?"
Xue Qinghe didn't give Su Changge a chance to object. After making her terms clear, she went straight back to her seat.
The Thirteenth Princess, meanwhile, immediately met Su Changge's gaze.
"Um... Lord Changge, although Rose sympathizes with you, I can't agree."
"Something like fighting for the throne isn't for me."
Rose waved her hands, the waves before her chest rising and falling.
But Su Changge clearly wasn't in the mood to admire the scenery just then!
"Your Highness Rose, I understand what you mean."
"For a beauty like you, kind-hearted and compassionate, it's only natural that you don't want to take part in the bloody, filthy struggle for the throne."
"But as a princess, there are some things you can't simply avoid by not wanting to do them!"
"The battle for the throne is a great millstone. Whether you want it or not, you'll be swept into it."
Su Changge looked at Rose's innocent gaze and sighed, his expression taking on a touch of pity for all the world's suffering.
"Your Highness Rose, the battle for the throne is a reshuffling of power within the kingdom and royal family. The victor wins everything, while the losers... either become dogs at the victor's heel, have their value squeezed to the utmost, or... vanish from this world altogether."
"Then, Your Highness Rose, which of these fates do you think awaits you?"
Su Changge's voice was low and mournful. A heavy pressure swept over them, and the Thirteenth Princess's face instantly turned deathly pale.
"N-no, that won't happen. Whether it's Eldest Royal Brother, Third Royal Brother, or Seventh Royal Sister who takes the throne, even if they're cruel, they wouldn't hurt their own blood relatives. And even if things really came to that, someone would surely..."
The Thirteenth Princess's voice abruptly died away. If things really came to that, who would dare step forward?
The answer was no one!
"Ahem, Your Highness Rose, don't scare yourself just yet."
Seeing the Thirteenth Princess trembling like a leaf, Su Changge stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders.
Soft as boneless flesh. They felt pretty nice.
Better than Murong Ruyan and Yaxin Gullier, too.
But Su Changge failed to notice that, just as he reached out with those wandering hands, Xue Qinghe's gaze suddenly turned much sharper.
"Your Highness Rose, in my humble opinion, a peerless beauty like you wouldn't be killed!"
"But neither would the new king take you in as a dog. After all, apart from your beauty, you have nothing that could help the new king."
"So... in my humble opinion, your fate is likely to be used by the new king as a marriage pawn to win over the kingdom's nobles."
"Although I've only been in the kingdom for a few years, I've heard plenty of its rumors. No noble could resist a peerless beauty like you, as lovely as a porcelain doll."
"After all, the words 'princess' stir a man's desire to conquer by themselves, driving his lust to its absolute peak!"
"Judging by the ages of the many powerful noble families in the kingdom, your future marriage partner is very likely to be some old geezer in his seventies or eighties..."
"No!!! No, please, don't say any more. Don't say any more!"
The Thirteenth Princess let out a piercing wail. In her mind, she could already see herself being handed over as a marriage pawn to those disgusting, hideous old nobles, then toyed with, humiliated, and abused in every way they could devise!
Until she lost every shred of dignity and became nothing but an outlet for their desires and a tool for bearing children.
"Your Highness Rose..."
Hearing the Thirteenth Princess's wail, the mansion's maids and guards immediately rushed over. But before they could even show their faces, a terrifying burst of Soul Power knocked them all unconscious.
Feeling that terrifying wave of Soul Power flash past behind him, Su Changge's legs... went weak again.
"Lord Changge, since you saw through all this and came to Rose, you must have thought of a way to solve it, right?"
"Please, please save Rose! Whatever you want, Rose can give you!"
In the midst of her boundless panic, the Thirteenth Princess clung tightly to Su Changge's leg, tears in her eyes, placing all her hopes on him.
At that moment, Su Changge could even clearly feel the soft movement of the area before her chest as it rose and fell with her breathing.
"Your Highness Rose, you've got one thing wrong. The one who can save you... has never been an outsider. It's you!"
"If you want to take control of your own fate and turn around that pitiful, laughable ending, then fight for the throne."
"Once you sit on that throne, no one in the entire kingdom will be able to bully or abuse you anymore!!!"
Su Changge's words echoed in the Thirteenth Princess's ears like a demon's whisper.
Her delicate, flawless body went limp for a moment, then finally tensed.
At that moment!
The Thirteenth Princess, Rose, decided to change that damned "fate."
"Lord Changge, I understand what you mean."
The Thirteenth Princess used Su Changge to slowly get back to her feet, then turned to face Xue Qinghe.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, please lend Rose your support!"
"Once Rose takes the throne, the entire Haagen-Dazs Kingdom will follow Your Highness's lead."
Seeing how the Thirteenth Princess had changed her mind after just a few words from Su Changge, Xue Qinghe looked at him with a hint of curiosity.
His grasp of people and human nature was already near-perfect.
Even if he never became a high-ranked Soul Master, he would never fade into obscurity.
"Rest assured, Your Highness Rose. With my support, the throne is yours."
"Ahem... Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness Rose, now that you've reached an agreement, there's nothing left for me to do here."
"I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave for now."
Seeing Xue Qinghe and the Thirteenth Princess getting along so well, Su Changge decided to hurry away and escape this den of trouble.
At worst, he could abandon his earldom.
He could move somewhere else and start a new map.
But Su Changge had clearly overestimated Xue Qinghe's generosity.
"Lord Su, now that you know of my plot with Her Highness Rose, how could I let you leave just like that?"
"Either stay and serve Her Highness Rose and me, or... die!"
"Choose! It's time to decide your fate, Lord Su!"
The tactics Su Changge had used to manipulate the Thirteenth Princess now came back like a boomerang and struck him.