Death… And Me

Chapter 4067: Give It a Try

Zanbril looked at Fruadixa, narrowing his eyes. If Rean was right and compatibility was necessary, then he still had another four princesses who got to the last test.

"That’s not fair!" Werxia complained. "I was the selected one! Why would I have to lose? I just don’t need to put on the collar, that’s all!"

However, Zanbril shook his head in response. "But without the collar, your win isn’t of much use."

Rean intervened. "Zanbril, I only said that there is a compatibility issue, but even I might be wrong. Maybe it is something else. Still, you might want to reconsider how you take the results of the last test. It will sound weird coming from me, as Xixie’s supporter, but I also think Werxia won fair and square. Well, she had a Celestial to help her, so I can’t say it was truly fair, but she did not break any rules. Everyone would have brought Celestial Advisors if they had the means to do it."

Hoblio couldn’t help but send him a Divine Sense message. ’What are you doing?! Xixie could have another chance if you didn’t say anything!’

Rean snorted. ’I won’t go against my beliefs just because of that. Regardless of the reason, Werxia didn’t break any rules, so one must know how to accept loss.’

Hoblio narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t say anything out loud. He obviously didn’t care about the rules, but he couldn’t make Rean think the same.

Werxia and Hombar were surprised to hear Rean’s words. Of course, Werxia was also happy. "Thank you. It is good someone else agrees that I deserved this."

Rean wouldn’t go as far as saying she ’100% deserved’ that victory, but she definitely should be the one to be the next wife.

Zanbril pondered a bit, looking at Werxia. Perhaps he should give up this collar thing. However, at that moment, a man entered the room, catching everyone’s attention. Zanbril immediately recognized him. "B-Brother Zuey. Why are you here?"

Zuey was one of the oldest children of the emperor, third in line to inherit the throne and a Celestial Realm Expert himself. He wasn’t the third child, though. To inherit the Zentian Empire Throne, you would need to become a Celestial Realm Expert first, so there were actually more people older than Zuey. It’s just that ahead of him, only another two were also Celestials.

Zuey walked to the stage, taking the collar from Zanbril’s hand and taking a look at it. Then, he looked at the tattoos around Zanbril’s neck. "Sigh... seems like I was too late. You were allowed to select a wife through these weird tests of yours, but father tasked me to keep an eye on you to make sure things would work properly. However, you probably heard how busy someone like me is, so I could only arrive now. I should have come before you merged with your collar."

Then, he looked at Rean. "You said the collar also checks some kind of compatibility, right?"

"Yes?" Rean nodded. "As I mentioned, it requires some compatibility, but I can’t guarantee that to you. Also, I have no idea what kind of compatibility. That’s something above my skills at the moment."

Zuey faintly smiled. "Your skills are already more than what I would expect from a Divinity Realm Expert. You are right, it needs compatibility. To be more specific, a compatibility of emotions."

Rean was the one surprised now. "Could sir perhaps..."

Zanbril cut in. "My Zentian Empire has only two Legendary Level Formations Masters, and Big Brother Zuey is one of them. I would never expect him to come and take a look at the collar himself, though."

Zuey didn’t want to come either. "I shouldn’t have. I wasn’t interested in this marriage at all. We probably haven’t talked to each other more than two or three times in these meager thirty or so years of your life. For me, it is like you were born yesterday, such is the difference in our age. However, I can’t ignore a request from father."

"I heard how you were an oddball. Still, to think you would go to the treasure room and take this thing. Sigh... I guess I should have put a warning all those years ago, but I didn’t expect anyone to really have an interest in these collars. I was expecting someone to destroy them and use the materials at some point."

His expression turned serious. "Zanbril, there is another problem. As you already know, this collar requires someone else to wear and merge with it as the pair of the collar you merged with. If you don’t find a partner within a week after merging with yours, the collar’s power will auto-destruct. Simply put, you will die. However, that’s not the main point."

"This!" Zanbril was taken aback. How could that not be the main point? "What’s the main point?"

"In the Celestial Plane, they are called The Lovers’ Link," Zuey explained. "I’ll be honest, even up there, it isn’t easy for just anyone to put their hands on these. Anyway, the main point is that these collars were made to prevent betrayal. Once two beings wear them as a pair, they will not be allowed to have any love relationship with anyone else other than their partners ever again. That’s why if one dies, the other dies too. This death effect is just a byproduct of these lovers’ link’s rules. In fact, if a betrayal occurs, both sides will still die as a result."

Zuey then looked at Werxia. "From the Zentian Empire’s point of view, the formation was correct to choose you. You had the empire’s interest in mind and were willing to grow with Zanbril, even force him if necessary. However, the collar judged that there would never be any feelings between the two of you. Thus, you will never be able to wear it. Forcing the issue will only get you and Zanbril killed."

"I..." Werxia dropped her head. "But after everything..."

"The empire will compensate you, don’t worry," Zuey assured. Then, he turned to Zanbril again. "Zanbril, this has nothing to do with your tests anymore. Your main priority is to find someone compatible as fast as possible."

Zanbril already considered himself dead. "Then I’m fucked. I don’t really love any of these princesses. I don’t really love anyone at the moment at all. I put on my collar earlier today, so I have a week. Still, to find love in a week? When I don’t even know what love feels like? That’s just too much..."

"It’s not necessarily love," Zuey passed the collar back to Zanbril. "Just someone whose emotions are compatible with yours. The very notion of love is just too ’abstract’ to start with. That’s why compatibility of emotions is what these collars really judge. It is as close to the concept of love as it gets, and usually lovers who wear them do indeed match each other emotionally."

Zanbril’s found some hope again. "Find a match, uh? That should be easier."

Finally, he turned to all the princesses who were still alive, not only the four from earlier. "Who wants to give it a try?"