The Counterattack Plan of A Villain With Ten Thousand Fans - Chapter 53 (Patreon)

Chapter 53

Ed Lintle safely left the palace and encountered the Crown Prince, Digar Karu Lan, riding his peculiar beast on the road just outside the palace gates. 

Crown Prince Ed Lintle was renowned throughout the Lan Empire as a playboy who entertained both men and women without discrimination. He was a typical socialite among the nobility, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with an unmarried fiancée, the princess of a neighboring country. Rumor had it that she had golden hair and beautiful blue eyes, making her the most beautiful woman in the neighboring country. 

However, following the usual tropes of this genre, the beautiful princess naturally fell in love with the flawless male protagonist. So, in the plot, the Crown Prince also became a cannon fodder character who ultimately met his demise at the hands of the male lead. Moreover, he tragically witnessed his fiancée being embraced by the male lead, without receiving a single glance from her from start to finish. Ed Lintle couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him.

"Third Prince," the Crown Prince greeted Ed Lintle as he pulled the reins of his strange beast, causing it to stop. He seemed slightly out of breath. "Long time no see."

Ed Lintle lifted the curtain of his carriage and peered outside. "Big brother."

Glancing at the nearby palace and then at Andre, who was about to take Ed Lintle back to the academy, the Crown Prince lowered his voice. "I'll come to see you tomorrow."

Although Andre was the captain of the royal guard, he had long been under the Crown Prince's influence. If it weren't for the sudden emergence of the male lead later on, the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne would have been almost certain. Ed Lintle evidently had a favorable impression of this big brother, the only one in the original work who had never harmed the original owner. He nodded in agreement.

"Then I'll go back to the palace now. See you later, Third Brother." The Crown Prince's gaze paused on the carriage behind Ed Lintle for a moment, but he didn't inquire further. He turned his horse and headed back to the palace.

Ed Lintle entered the carriage and glanced at his pitiful dragon, which was looking at him expectantly. When it tried to approach him, he stretched out his hand, but ultimately didn't pat it. 

Feeling encouraged, the dragon became even more presumptuous, immediately casting a silencing spell around them before shamelessly slipping its hand into Ed Lintle's clothes.

098: "..."

With outsiders present, Monashus couldn't reveal himself. They didn't go all the way, but when they got off the carriage, Andre looked at Ed Lintle's slightly flushed face. "Is the Third Prince feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing. Thank you for taking me back. Goodbye." Ed Lintle's voice was still hoarse.

"Okay." Andre politely took his leave.

As soon as they returned to the dormitory, the dragon couldn't wait to transform into human form and pull Ed Lintle into its arms.

The next day, before Ed Lintle woke up, the Crown Prince, who had promised to visit, knocked on the door. 098 tried to wake up its host, but after calling for a long time without receiving a response, it got a warning look from the dragon.

098 was startled. It could see it?! Just as it was about to observe carefully, the man had already tucked Ed Lintle into the bed, opened the door, and gone downstairs.

After much thought, 098 still couldn't find an answer. Although it had indirectly interacted with this man for several worlds, other than appearing by his host's side in each world, it couldn't see anything particularly special about him. However, if he could really see it, then it was simply... 098 shuddered and silently began to report its findings to its superiors, forgetting to wake up its host.

When Ed Lintle woke up, it was already afternoon. He had just opened his eyes when he received a kiss. Subconsciously, he hugged the man's neck and responded. Just as 098 thought the two would continue their harmonious life, Ed Lintle finally woke up and pushed the dragon away. "Has my brother left?"

"He has." Monashus's voice was deep. He pulled Ed Lintle out of bed and handed him some clothes. "I've already talked to him."

"Hmm?" Ed Lintle glanced at him sideways. "What did you say?"

"Ahem." The dragon cleared his throat lightly, seeming somewhat embarrassed. "I told him that you want to support him to ascend the throne."

"Okay." Ed Lintle nodded.

098: "..."

Although it had known about the tacit understanding between these two since the first world, Ed Lintle had never said anything to the man about wanting to support the Crown Prince! At most, he had mentioned the Crown Prince in passing a couple of times, but it was just casual mention. How could this dragon know what Ed Lintle was thinking?

"098, not everyone has the same IQ as you." Ed Lintle's voice suddenly came into 098's ears.

Monashus served his beloved, helping him dress, then kissed him on the lips. "Baby, I'll go prepare lunch for you."

"Wait." Ed Lintle sat on the edge of the bed, his voice calm.

The dragon's body stiffened suddenly, then quickly relaxed, turning back to Ed Lintle with a gentle smile. "What's wrong, darling?"

Ed Lintle looked the dragon up and down, then asked, "What were the terms of the deal you offered him?"

The dragon's expression suddenly became somewhat guilty, looking around nervously as if searching for something to point at.

Ed Lintle didn't interrupt the dragon, just gazed at him expressionlessly, creating an atmosphere of interrogation, serious and solemn.

Even 098 couldn't help but become serious. Were they having an argument? In so many worlds, they had never argued before, which made it feel somewhat novel.

After a long while, the dragon tentatively spoke, "Darling, please don't be angry."

"Go on," Ed Lintle said calmly, his gaze plain.

This uncertainty made the dragon, who had been arrogant since childhood, even more uncertain. He subconsciously stepped forward to embrace Ed Lintle, but hesitated, fearing his anger. He stood there anxiously and said, "I... I just asked him to marry you to me after he ascended to the throne."

Ed Lintle didn't react much, just replied with an "Oh," and said to 098, "As expected, no one is serious." 

Expecting some earth-shattering news, 098 was left breathless and feeling uncomfortable.

The dragon, however, was so scared by Ed Lintle's reaction that he rushed to embrace him, saying, "Darling, please don't be angry. I just want to be with you forever. If you're not happy, I'll go cancel the promise with the Crown Prince."

Clearly terrified, Ed Lintle could even feel the man's hands trembling slightly. He turned back and hugged him, saying, "If you want to marry me, why didn't you just say so?"

The man seemed a bit slow to react, hesitating for a moment before saying, "Dar... Darling? Are you saying you agree to marry me?"

"Why shouldn't it be you marrying me?"

"Alright, alright, I'll marry you, darling!" The man was ecstatic, almost wanting to fly Ed Lintle around in his arms, his face filled with a silly smile.

098, who had received a response from the higher-ups at last, was informed that it was highly unlikely for ordinary people to see the system. The feeling it had earlier was probably just its own illusion.

"...", it felt even worse.

After confirming the Crown Prince's succession and holding the wedding, the dragon couldn't wait to slap the current king to death and let the Crown Prince ascend immediately. However, Ed Lintle apparently knew what he was thinking and stopped him as soon as he had the idea.

Two months might not seem long, but what pleased Ed Lintle was that the male lead and the second prince hadn't appeared before him at all.

According to 098, they must be plotting something. However, clearly, all schemes were futile in the face of absolute strength. Ed Lintle was now a level eleven mage, invincible among humans, capable of even fighting against the formidable dragon race, which was almost akin to mythical creatures. How could he be afraid of the male lead, who was still just a level six magic warrior?

The Imperial Academy competition was mandatory for students in the fifth year and above, with hundreds of students in each grade, totaling nearly three thousand students from the fifth to eighth grades.

Therefore, the competition was scheduled for a month.

The purpose of the competition was naturally to select talents for the empire. The top one hundred students would have the opportunity to go to the frontlines for training, experiencing the baptism of blood and fire. They could then be directly incorporated into the Royal Guard, a goal that most commoner students pursued for life.

Ed Lintle's genius reputation had long been renowned throughout the empire, so almost every student who faced him chose to concede defeat. There were few who dared to fight him, so he won his battles effortlessly before entering the top one hundred.

The competition then moved into the ranking matches.

All those who entered the top one hundred were proud and arrogant individuals.

Ed Lintle's first opponent after entering the top one hundred was a tall seventh-year student named Ogude, who was also a renowned genius in the academy. At just twenty years old, he was already a level seven swordsman, on par with Ed Lintle in terms of level. However, in an arena like this, with limited space and a flat surface, Ed Lintle's chances of winning were almost negligible.

At this time, someone among the students had started a gambling pool, and almost everyone bet on Ogude's victory, with very few betting on Ed Lintle.

Bru, who came to support Ed Lintle, looked displeased. "Third Prince, these people are underestimating you too much!"

Ed Lintle glanced with interest at the gambling pool not far away and asked, "What are the odds?"

"I heard it's 1:1 for Ogude and 20:1 for you," Bru said indignantly. "It's outrageous!" He had even seen many mentors secretly betting on Ogude to win. Did they look down on the Third Prince just because that man was two years older?

Compared to Bru, 098 clearly understood its host better. It asked, "Host, what do you want to do?"

Ed Lintle didn't answer directly, just touched the storage ring on his finger, took out a level ten magic beast core, and handed it to Karu. "This is the core of a Wind Kite Beast, worth a million gold coins. Take it and bet on me to win. If I win, I'll give you twenty percent."

Twenty million gold coins! This was going to bankrupt the behind-the-scenes player! 098 sighed, feeling that its host was too ruthless. Then it suddenly remembered, wasn't the mastermind behind this gambling pool the male lead?

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