Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 484 Nightmare
People should have the freedom to choose.

"But the traitors did not."

Rean did not stop Dania's "Great Purge Plan" because he also felt those guys were worth it.

When Princess Dania arrived in Radiant City with a few people, none of the city's old nobles took her seriously.

Even if she had the city lord's support, what could a princess who was useless and could not be helped be considered anything?

In reality, if there truly is another line of fate, that trajectory once watched by the snake, without anyone's interference, then that would be her destiny.
"I had a dream, or rather, I've had the same nightmare many times, more and more frequently, making it impossible for me to sleep."

The tired girl never showed weakness in the past because she knew no one would pity her.

They would only mock her weakness and immaturity, or worse, take advantage of her overly naive emotions.
In that dream, I also came to this city, but I didn't meet you.

The dragon of destiny has set an unpredictable future; even though she was born because of him, he may still not be here.

The princess, alone, remained incredibly lonely even amidst a prosperous city.

Exhausted from the endless meetings, the girl lay on the lap of the knight with whom she had a complicated relationship.

Some words and some emotions cannot be expressed. She cherishes the only person she can give affection to, the relationship between them that is too subtle to be judged, and the massage skills she has been trained in by Sallyman!
"We didn't meet? This must be a dream. I'm right here." While massaging the girl's forehead to relax her, Rean, who knew everything, didn't want to put too much pressure on her.

But he also realized that this so-called dream was probably not so simple.

"In that dream, the only people I could trust were Suliman and a few close confidants, and soon Suliman fell ill."

She appears to have a mental illness that causes a gradual decline in mental capacity.

It's said that she was also scammed, which exacerbated her condition, and eventually she locked herself in her house, refusing to see anyone.

This was something Rean truly hadn't expected.

If she hadn't met Rean, Suliman's fate might not have been good either. But thinking about it, it seems to make sense. A former spy who was completely tied to the princess, even without schizophrenia, would still be hunted down by those wolves for simply losing her strength and abilities.

"My situation is also terrible. Even though I've tried very hard to establish my authority, I don't have any truly strong subordinates."

Without Rean, the Queen's support for her princess would likely be quite limited, and she didn't have high expectations for Dania.

Furthermore, if the new and old capitals were embroiled in the war of the "Owls," they would naturally have no time to attend to Radiant City. Even if the Queen wanted to, she would have no choice but to let Dania perish on her own.

A princess without wings can only win over a very limited number of powerful individuals by virtue of her title.

All factions are drawn to strength. To be precise, no one wants to board a sinking ship.

Political struggles can be incredibly brutal and ruthless. Choosing the wrong side is a tragic end. Even if there are so-called loyalists, they will still side with the "king" who is likely to win. Dania will be facing a situation far worse than what she is in now.

If you're ostracized at the start, you'll likely be ostracized all the way through; no one welcomes an "outsider" trying to seize power.

Perhaps only the Knights will be loyal to her.
"The old city lord will soon retire, and his children only show me basic respect. The Knights are also gradually becoming disillusioned with me."

There was no one, no reliable fighting force to join them, and more importantly, no opportunity to gain fame and establish authority.

What's even more frustrating is that she has opponents everywhere, countless opponents, both overt and covert, making it impossible to distinguish between friend and foe.
"The Beast Order is causing trouble everywhere. Neither of the two noble factions can be trusted, especially those scoundrels from the new noble families. They've caused me trouble in public several times."

If trouble is caused, His Highness will have to clean it up. If it is not handled well, the prestige of the royal family will naturally be damaged.

Those seemingly insignificant clashes, and one heinous incident after another, could all escalate into clashes between powerful figures later on.

The lack of capable subordinates and trustworthy high-level combatants means that when Her Highness's position becomes unstable, she will have to retreat once, and then no one will believe in her or pledge allegiance to her anymore.

"The old city lord is still in good health. Even if he retires, his words should still be useful." "He was ambushed by that archmage, an infiltrator of the Beast Order. He was injured and completely withdrew from the political scene of Radiant City."

Dania opened her eyes with a mixture of confusion and fear. The only person she trusted had been injured and retired, and her successor despised her, seeing her as the reason for her adoptive father's injury.

"The local knights didn't listen to orders, and most importantly, I made a wrong decision."

In times of doomsday, there are always prophets and cultists.

But at this time, as the temporary ruler, Dania made the wrong choice.

She tried to suppress public opinion to prevent the unrest from escalating in the context of political instability, which would give her more room to maneuver. However, she overlooked one problem.

"The apocalypse came too quickly. Soon, my efforts to reassure the public became lies that the citizens laughed at, and no one trusted my words."

It's hard to say whether this was a setup or not, because if Rean's actions hadn't exposed those lurkers, some powerful nobles and the Order of the Beasts would actually be two sides of the same coin.

If she were to publicly deny the existence of the beasts, and then allow them to appear, Dania's authority would likely be completely destroyed.

The days that followed need little further explanation.
"I gradually became a nobody, someone everyone disliked."

She didn't have time to start over. As a princess, she should have had many opportunities to try, and could even bring in strong individuals from other regions.
"The beast has emerged! The pure white nightmare has just appeared, bringing with it countless deaths."

The once-mighty city of Radiance was utterly destroyed, a state of utter disarray.

Without Rean's guidance, the Dark Elves remained the enemy from beginning to end, and the Underworld gradually became a sealed-off forbidden zone, preventing the transmission of much intelligence.

The mages lived in their own world, wasting several years without realizing it, and even investing their energy in the upcoming war against the demonic tide.

But disasters don't disappear just because you ignore them; they only accumulate and eventually erupt.

"The white beast is so beautiful, so beautiful."

When the boundless "white deer" appeared on the horizon, most people even thought it was just a rumor.

Then came the upheaval of heaven and earth, the despairing tide brought by gravity and the swamp, and everything was submerged in it.

Most of the nobles who ostracized His Highness died in this disaster.
"I survived, but I became a sinner in the eyes of the people."

The fall of Radiant City and the resurgence of the beasts also signify the complete collapse of the kingdom.

The runaway princess naturally became a sacrifice.
"The rest of the days will be true hell."

Endless pain and self-blame accompanied her for the rest of her life. If she were a self-reliant person, she probably would have found a way to escape such a life.

Unfortunately, she was very responsible and took the destruction of Radiant City and even the kingdom as her own sin.
"For me in my nightmares, death is merely a release. But the me in my dreams dares not die; I can only suffer in the purgatory of living."

As Dania recounted her nightmare, her eyes glazed over, she gradually drifted off to sleep.

Is this a nightmare? Is it a recurring nightmare stemming from her fear of the future? Dania doesn't know; sometimes she'd rather not sleep. As time goes by, the nightmares become more and more frequent.

"Was it my influence that caused her to awaken the talent for observing the lines of fate? Or was it that Dania was so filled with regret that she passed on her resentment?"

Looking at the girl sleeping soundly on his lap, who finally showed a calm smile befitting her age, Rean breathed a sigh of relief.

He wouldn't tell her the truth; fate had been too cruel to her.
"Fortunately, I came. I will change this doomed fate."

(End of this chapter)