Xintu's troubled voice was quickly followed by Seol’s dissatisfied tone.

"We can’t take three people. If it were men, I could carry two on my back, but both of them are women. Yeongryeon isn’t strong enough to carry two people while running."

"I don’t want to ride on her back anyway! I’d rather just walk."

"I—I’m sorry! But I already apologized, didn’t I?"

"Does saying sorry just erase everything!?"

Even after another round of apologies, Seol’s anger hadn’t subsided.

The humiliation of having her pressure points sealed and her clothes stolen still weighed heavily on her.

Technically, there wasn’t much difference between her original outfit and being stripped, at least in terms of fabric coverage, but psychologically, it was an entirely different story.

"But no one else saw you, right?"

"What!? You saw me!"

"I—I’m sorry!"

With tensions still high, finalizing who would be traveling to the Martial Alliance was turning into a mess.

The final traveling party included:

* Me (to explain the poison situation).

* Seol (who had to bring both the Tang Clan’s recommendation letter and her adoptive father’s formal request for alliance membership).

* Hwa-eun (representing the Tang Clan as a proper delegate).

Neither Grandfather (Mandok Shingun) nor Father-in-law (Tang Cheolsan) could go, not for lack of ability—but because it would look ridiculous.

The only way to travel in three days was riding on Xintu and Yeongryeon’s backs.

But that meant…

* No elder could ride on a young woman’s back.

* No elder could ride on Xintu’s back, either.

Thus, Hwa-eun had to go in their place.

I also couldn't refuse the offer—Seol and Bini might lay their eggs while I was gone, but I’d have enough time to return before that.

Still, there was one major issue:

There were only two available "taxis."

Martial world express rides were one-seaters, and right now, only two vehicles were in operation.

That meant one of us had to stay behind.

"Then… should Hwa-eun be left out?"

"If Hwa-eun stays, then So-ryong will be going in without knowledge of proper etiquette. The Beast Palace's application to the Martial Alliance is a formal matter, and he needs to be properly prepared."@@novelbin@@

"That’s right, Father."

Grandfather was correct. Neither Seol nor I knew proper martial world diplomacy.

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