Chapter 33
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33
Surrounded by a scene of carnage, Oscar muttered in disbelief, an unwilling spectator to the Outsider’s market tour.
“She asks how much five hundred million Kerte a week is, then spends the entire day buying things for a few thousand, maybe tens of thousands of Kerte?”
He could picture it perfectly: the woman, told to look around, timidly walking in a circle. Now she was wandering the market in that same hesitant manner, constantly glancing at Abel for approval. A laugh escaped him like a dry cough.
“She goes to bed this early?”
His mumbled chuckle was louder this time. Unable to contain his curiosity, Simon stealthily took one of Abel’s report pages. He tilted his head, took another to read, and the handsome, ever-composed man’s face furrowed slightly.
“I don’t understand. It seems he’s being led around by the nose by the target.”
Behind them, the screams of those being slaughtered filled the air. Beneath their feet, crimson blood and chunks of flesh were scattered about. Even the laughter clawing its way up Oscar’s throat was tinged with the stench of blood, but still, he couldn’t suppress it. Hiding his face with Abel’s report, Oscar laughed for a long while.
Heh, heh heh. The sound echoed down the blood-soaked corridor, making not only Simon but also the high-ranking Wolves ordering their subordinates to clean up the bodies stop and turn to their master. The sight of their lord, shoulders shaking as he buried his face in a report, was an unfamiliar one even to those who had served him for years. It was like seeing snow in midsummer.
* * *
There was, however, one person who did not find this situation the least bit amusing.
In the dim light of the pre-dawn morning.
“Sir.”
The first thing Abel thought upon opening his eyes made him sound like some pathetic fool who couldn’t get over his ex.
I used to be asleep at this hour. I’d get luxury gifts whenever I was bored and have sex until I was sick of it with women who were crazy for my face and body…
“The target is awake.”
Abel pressed his hands firmly against his eyes.
Just how fucking shitty will today be?
“Sir.”
“I know, you idiot. I know.”
Taking his frustration out on his innocent subordinate, Abel swung himself out of bed and headed for the bathroom. As he washed his face and opened his wardrobe, he was hit with the smell of the market.
“……”
The jumble of scents had seeped deep into the expensive cashmere, and it refused to come out. It felt like it never would.
It had been exactly six days.
It was no exaggeration to say they were the longest six days of his life. It had taken less than twenty-four hours for the target he’d thought would be the easiest to become the greatest challenge of his career.
For the past six days, Abel had drawn on all his professional expertise and tried everything he could. And the woman had blocked every single attempt.
What truly bruised his pride—to the point of it rotting away—was that the naive Outsider was thwarting his ploys without even realizing it.
It went without saying that she deflected his advances—his looks, his body, his smoldering gaze—as if they were bouncing off a mirror. Forget sex; she even managed to block his subtle attempts at physical contact in the densest crowds with absurd ease. Why was it absurd? Because the woman navigated the crowds better than Abel himself. Judging by her pale face, she seemed to dislike crowded places, yet she tore through the market as if her life depended on it.
“I’ll take the lead and clear a path, so please follow me closely.”
“……”
If you hate it so much, why even come? I don’t get her.
Naturally, she foiled all his efforts to subtly guide her to a place with a good view and atmosphere. To pick just one of his many attempts, he’d even tried a cheesy move, buying her a bouquet of flowers.
“I bought these wondering what a flower holding a flower would look like, and it’s just as I imagined.”
A man so handsome he might be born once a century was presenting flowers in the middle of a crowd, and the people around them went wild. But the woman who actually received the flowers…
“A flower holding a flower…”
After mulling over the words she should have understood instantly, she finally had a look of realization and said:
“So, the ‘flower’ used as the subject is a metaphorical expression referring to me?”
How could she not understand a simple phrase, yet know words like ‘subject’ and ‘metaphorical’ that even native speakers rarely used?
“You’re quite a good poet.”
What was even funnier was that, as a gift in return, she’d given him a cheap handkerchief and said:
“I’m not very skilled at composing poetry… I’m always grateful for your hard work.”
The story had been passed from the Backup Team to the Wolves stationed inside the manor, where it became a running joke they’d tease him about for ages.
“Abel Sting, the great poet! Hope you succeed today!”
“You know His Excellency is coming today, right?”
“Your stories are the most interesting thing in my life right now.”
“Shut your fucking traps before I rip them apart, you sons of bitches.”
The refined speech and gentle demeanor he had painstakingly acquired to mingle with noble ladies were crumbling like a sandcastle in less than a week.
Grinding his teeth, Abel left the annex.
And there, at the entrance to the garden in the bluish light of early morning, he came face to face with the target who had become the greatest challenge of his life.
She had definitely seemed pretty at first, but now he wasn’t so sure.
The woman, clutching the cheap bag she’d bought at the market with both hands, turned to him and smiled faintly. Her white face, bathed in the dawn light, looked so innocent that it made him feel like an even bigger fool.
“Good morning. …Did you sleep well?”
What the hell do I have to do to win her over?
Seriously, why are you doing this to me? Huh?
* * *
Her grandfather, watching the merchants who traveled from place to place, once told her that no animal adapts to its environment as well as a human. Migratory birds fly tens of thousands of miles with the seasons, and bears hibernate to survive the winter, but people mold themselves to fit their circumstances.
It had been a week since she started living at Oscar’s manor.
Seo-ah was slowly getting used to it.
No one except Lady Barbara and Abel spoke to her or even approached her. Of course, Lady Barbara only said what was necessary; they never had personal conversations. If Seo-ah said she needed money, the woman gave it without a second thought. If she had a question, she received a precise answer.
Lady Barbara seemed to exist on the very edge of the definition of ‘human,’ on the boundary between human and not-quite-human. It sounded complicated, but it was actually a relief.
The only slight difficulty in her relationship with the woman was the food.
For a week, she had eaten breakfast and dinner at the manor, and strangely, the amount of food kept increasing. Yet, after she had painstakingly eaten every last bite, the woman would always ask:
“Was it not enough?”
She had pleaded several times that it was a lot, that she had eaten her fill and it was absolutely not insufficient, but last night, the lady who had always brought the food on a tray started bringing it on a cart.
But that was the only difficulty to speak of; she had no real problems with Lady Barbara. The time they spent face-to-face was short, anyway.
The truly difficult person was someone else.
Abel Sting.
The man Oscar had assigned to her as a guard and monitor hated markets and cafes. She hadn’t noticed at first, too overwhelmed by everything, but as time went on, it became impossible to ignore.
He would glare so fiercely wherever his eyes landed that the back of her head had tingled on more than one occasion. Yesterday, especially, it felt like he was about to burn a hole through it.
She felt both sorry and scared.
Sorry, for obvious reasons. Scared, because after glaring at her as if he wanted to kill her, he would sometimes smile warmly, then glare again, then suddenly buy her flowers and recite poetry.
“I bought these wondering what a flower holding a flower would look like, and it’s just as I imagined.”
When he suddenly presented her with flowers in the middle of the market and recited poetry, it couldn’t have been more unsettling.
She had reflexively praised his poetry, but she couldn’t shake the suspicion that it might be a cursed object.
After returning to the manor, she had rummaged through the bouquet, searching for a hidden talisman, before suddenly being struck with self-reproach.
How could I be so suspicious of someone who has to keep coming to a place he hates because of me?
However, she had no idea how to express her apology.
He seemed to subtly want to take her somewhere, and she wondered if she should follow his lead just once. But the unsettling moments that kept popping up made it impossible, and apologizing outright would also be strange.
All she could do was greet him politely and clear a path for him in crowded places.
“I’ll take the lead and clear a path now, so please follow me closely.”
“……”
Of course, even that was met with a lukewarm response. It was clear that nothing in the market would catch his eye if she tried to buy him something, and frankly, giving a gift with money that wasn’t even hers was ridiculous.
She knew their relationship was deteriorating, not just by the day, but by the hour.
And this morning.
Abel had appeared like a cow being led to the slaughter. As he approached, looking like he would rather die than be here, Seo-ah put on her brightest smile and offered her morning greeting.
“Good morning. …Did you sleep well?”
“……”
The sour silence seemed to say that it was neither a good morning nor had he slept well. She fought to keep the corners of her lips from drooping as a voice thick with exhaustion reached her.
“Are we going to the market again?”
“Yes…”
“Which market.”
“…Pal Pien Market.”
“It’s dirty, cramped, chaotic, and dangerous. It has the most nomads and homeless people, it’s incredibly crowded, the goods are shoddy, and you’re guaranteed to get an upset stomach if you eat anything there.”
“……”
What do I do? He really seems to hate it.
But not a single one of the reasons Abel listed was a reason for her not to go to Pal Pien Market.