MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 1062: Cost

"Sigh... Royal affairs are forever exhausting; even with such vast power at their disposal, it never feels sufficient. Everyone plots for greater gains, be it in plain sight or from the darkness," Bryan remarked, propping his head on one hand, his voice carrying subtle weariness and open contempt he made no effort to conceal.

"Damn, Tiara, that’s ice-cold. After five years of constant affection, your heart didn’t budge even slightly—you’ve got nerves of pure iron," Anthony remarked, unable to hold back his words.

Most people would have crumbled and fallen for it after receiving such relentless care and focus for five full years, yet Tiara’s emotions stayed rock-solid, untouched by time or endless pursuit.

"I’ve got to hand it to her; if I were her, I’d probably have jumped into his bed without a second thought," Rider chimed in, shaking his head with clear amusement, obviously delighted by Tiara’s superhuman emotional fortress.

Anthony recalled something Tiara had mentioned before, so he asked, "What about all those daily gifts he sent for five years straight, never skipping a day—what did you do with them?" His curiosity was real. Given Tiara’s nature, he figured she’d tossed them aside or ignored them completely.

"I checked the blood carefully before drinking it, and I accepted every gift he gave without fail," Tiara answered without pause or regret, her voice steady and utterly unashamed.

Silence once more gripped the control room as all eyes fixed on her in faint shock; even Anthony, seldom caught off guard, stood briefly stunned by her direct, no-nonsense reply.

"Why the surprise, everyone? I despise the man, not his presents. Plus, that blood boosted my cultivation progress daily. Without it, could I have kept pace with you three Royalties and your bottomless resources? No way—I’m not dumb enough to reject anything that builds my power," she clarified, laying out her position without ambiguity.

She wouldn’t chase after resources unless freely offered by her so-called fiancé, but if they came her way, she’d take them all. Greater strength meant quicker freedom from this ridiculous, choking engagement, and nothing mattered more than that drive.

"Anthony called you cold; I’d say he’s off—you’re just brutally practical," Rider whistled in admiration, obviously struck by her cunning, strategic approach.

"And this fellow kept sending resources every day without pause or gripe—it looks like we pegged him wrong as some villain. He must truly love you," Bryan noted, dripping with sarcasm in his delivery.

Anthony just shook his head silently, saying nothing.

"There’s nothing at all wrong with my actions," Tiara declared flatly, her eyes free of remorse, almost challenging anyone to dispute her logic.

"From a woman’s view, perhaps not, but from a guy’s, it’s shady. Your guy might just be an ultimate simp," Rider tossed in with a head shake, a touch of humor lightening his tone.

Bringer, who’d stayed unusually silent so far, piped up suddenly: "But what if the Blood Queen plans to harvest or extract the blood from the child Tiara bears? That could skyrocket her talent and power big time, right?" He pondered aloud, his face unusually grave.

Tiara, Anthony, Rider, and Bryan gawked at Bringer in stunned surprise, caught off guard by his chillingly logical and devious theory.

"Don’t stare like that—I’ve always been sharp; you four are just too average to grasp it," he said with an easy grin, reveling in his own clever insight.

"Though my twin bro’s smarts usually vanish, they pop up now and then," Rider quipped with a chuckle. Bringer could only tsk in irritation and shoot Rider a fake glare of fury.

"Truth is, we’ve got no solid facts. We might be overanalyzing, and Tiara’s fiancé could just be a decent fellow after all," Bryan pointed out, cautioning that their guesses lacked proof and they risked misjudging without evidence.

"Sigh... it doesn’t matter. The very fact that I’m in this engagement means they aren’t innocent," Tiara declared while crossing one leg over the other, her voice steady and determined. "Now that you’ve all heard my problem and dilemma, does anyone truly have a solution?" she questioned, harboring no hopes at all, fully expecting their powerlessness.

All the boys managed was a shake of their heads. How could they possibly stand up to the Blood Queen? They remained far too feeble by contrast. Destroying even a Domain lay beyond their reach, much less a Planet, while the Blood Queen reigned at the Planetary level—a single glance from her could obliterate them utterly, as if they had never graced existence.

"Thought as much," Tiara remarked with a sigh, shutting her eyes as disappointment flickered across her face, though it came as no surprise whatsoever.

"I could help you," Anthony declared abruptly, a subtle smile gradually forming on his once stoic features.

Tiara’s eyes flew open the instant those words reached her, her crimson gaze fixing intently on Anthony’s sky-blue eyes, filled with sharp concentration and blatant curiosity.

"How?" she demanded right away, refusing to doubt his capabilities or challenge his skill; she held no such folly, particularly when a viable fix—no matter its severity—loomed right in front of her.

"That depends on how badly you want to leave, and whether you are willing to make a significant sacrifice," Anthony replied, his smile persisting, but now infused with a gravity that lent his statement far greater depth.

Bryan, Rider, and Bringer observed quietly without interrupting, every one of them feeling that Anthony’s impending offer promised complexity and heavy repercussions.

Tiara narrowed her eyes to thin lines and inquired swiftly, "What do you need?"

"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 explained, his tone laced with a wicked edge, each word chosen with precision and intent.

His declaration detonated like thunderbolts in their ears upon full comprehension, the proposal’s immense burden slamming down simultaneously. All eyes turned to Tiara, a unified query searing through their thoughts: Would she commit to such a sacrifice? Could she abandon the bloodline that shaped her essence, or would she bear the engagement across years, decades, centuries ahead?

Much hinged on her burning craving for freedom, which demanded an enormous toll—a cost capable of forever transforming her path and redefining her very self.

A price that might seal her doom... or, perchance by fate’s grace, ignite the dawn of something wholly unprecedented.

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