Chapter 479
Chapter 479
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 479
Chapter Title: Housewarming (5)
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Sharon and Amelia.
The two no longer sipped their black tea.
It might look like a truly childish squabble from the sidelines, but they were dead serious.
The burning question in each of their minds was how to decisively crush the other's pride.
A formidable rival, Sharon Evergreen.
She was beautiful.
Her lush dark green hair brimmed with vitality, paired with those unique mint-green eyes that sparkled.
Her facial features carried the haughty elegance of a pedigreed cat that tolerated no touch but its owner's.
And that curvaceous figure, incomparable to Amelia's—victory wasn't something she could easily claim.
Amelia, who had never once given thought to her own sexual appeal throughout her life, was suddenly made aware of it by Sharon's provocations.
Those breasts are asymmetric warfare.
Still, she had no intention of surrendering easily.
Besides, simply bowing out due to innate physical differences felt like a stinging blow to her pride.
"Miss Sharon, there's a saying: excess is as bad as deficiency."
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
"Just being overly large isn't always better. Outward vulgarity matters less than having a modest silhouette and elegant lines."
"Wear something even slightly loose, and you look sluggish... Wouldn't it be better not to have them at all?"
Amelia spoke in a gentle murmur, recalling Sophia's complaints.
Sophia had often grumbled about how hard it was to find pretty dresses that fit, or how even slightly baggy clothes made her look fat.
Back then, Amelia had only thought, Why are you telling me this? and found it annoying—but who knew those gripes would come in handy like this...
"Ah, yes, picking clothes does take extra care."
But Sharon, eyeing her with a look that said let's hear it, flashed a refreshingly unscathed smile. No damage whatsoever.
"Right?"
"But... the outfit Si-woo likes most is awfully embarrassing... nakedness. I've never really worried about it. Thank you for your concern."
Sharon brushed off Amelia's attack like it was nothing.
She even landed a cross-counter.
"Besides, Si-woo praised me plenty. I don't care how others see me."
Amelia stared at Sharon with wide-eyed shock, as if she'd been punched right on the nose.
This wouldn't do. She was just getting pushed back.
She needed a powerful blow.
Even if it meant sacrificing her own dignity.
"You're right. Being loved only for what's visible is fleeting indeed."
"Exactly, exactly."
"What truly matters is the depth of your love. How much you can devote yourself to the one you love, right?"
"Well said."
Amelia swallowed hard and opened her mouth.
"I... told Si-woo I'd even become his slave. N-night service... was part of that too."
Spilling bedroom details was an embarrassing confession.
But it was also the surest proof that she'd cast aside pride and dignity to offer everything for Si-woo.
"I told him... to do whatever he wants with my body..."
Blushing furiously, Amelia stared straight at Sharon, declaring her masterstroke.
But at the end of that statement, the flustered one turned out to be Amelia, not Sharon.
Sharon smiled brightly, utterly unfazed.
"We see eye to eye there. I'd do anything for Si-woo too."
"Sometimes acting cute like a cat, sometimes cradling him like a big sister, and other times... things too embarrassing to even mention."
"I'm such a fool. I should know when to say no, or Si-woo might get spoiled..."
"Ugh...!"
No matter how much Amelia stepped up, Sharon had spent far more time with Si-woo.
The depth of experience and variety of plays were on another level.
Sharon pressed her merciless follow-up on the stunned Amelia.
"One time, we locked eyes in an alley, ended up drenched in night dew, and I cried out in longing."
"An... alley...?"
"Oh, come to think of it, Si-woo seems to secretly like doing it outdoors. Just the other day, in a store changing room too..."
"Ch-changing room...?"
"Yes, we had to hold our breaths the whole time."
Only then did Amelia recall her exchange with Sophia.
'On the bed, right?'
'Usually, yeah.'
'And if not?'
'Anywhere eyes don't reach.'
Until then, Amelia had assumed Sophia's "anywhere" meant indoors.
Like the bathroom, the sofa, the kitchen.
But no.
Literally anywhere.
Even in a changing room—that was the heat of man and woman.
Though she'd shed much of her old rigid mindset, Amelia still condemned Sharon's behavior.
"...That's too shameless. Not like some stray dog or alley cat..."
"So Lady Amelia won't allow Si-woo that far?"
"......"
"Then that's as far as it goes for you."
Amelia bristled at Sharon's sly, smiling glance.
What did she mean "as far as it goes"?
If she had time to prepare mentally, and if Si-woo truly wanted it, Amelia would oblige.
"I can do it too."
"Didn't you just call it shameless stray-dog alley-cat behavior?"
"I-I mean, if Si-woo wants it, I would."
"Easy to say."
"I mean it."
"Even so, it looks like I'm still ahead right now?"
The two continued their relentless verbal duel for another ten minutes or so.
It looked polite on the surface, but felt like hair-pulling catfight. In the end, Amelia sensed it.
Her already weak hand had run out completely.
Amelia showed impatience first, while Sharon handled every attack with fluid grace.
Unlike Amelia, who strained to keep her composure, Sharon smiled sweetly throughout.
Whether that smile was a mask or not, who could say.
"......"
"So, anything else?"
"...It was a pleasant conversation, Miss Sharon."
"Likewise, Lady Amelia. See you at dinner."
"Yes."
They were set to meet again at the banquet anyway—and more than that, Amelia, unable to take any more, rose as if fleeing. That ended the talk.
-Click.
Amelia, who quietly closed the door behind her, had her lips pursed like a child holding back tears.
A utter rout. No need to count the score.
Amelia had never once beaten Sharon.
Frustration and grievance sprouted deep in her heart.
She clenched her teeth to hold back tears, on the verge of bursting if she let her guard down even slightly. Crying like a child now would be utterly mortifying.
Though she hadn't claimed victory, she'd stood her ground against Sharon Evergreen, one of Si-woo's lovers, and made her will known.
Sharon seemed unfazed, but surely she was pondering it deeply inside, just like Amelia.
Anyway, she'd faced such a strong opponent head-on, not scampering away.
Amelia clenched her fist.
"Still... it was a fine fight..."
Vowing to wage an even finer battle next time, using today's defeat as nourishment, she set off to find the next person.
Meanwhile, Sharon peeked out from the classroom door, realizing Amelia had already gone far away.
She'd meant to apologize or comfort her.
"Ah... Did I go too far?"
Even before fully savoring her victory in this skirmish,
Sharon realized she'd overreacted a bit.
Even the tomboy twins bickered fiercely with her—how much more so for Amelia, with her years of experience and beauty?
Her first impression had been so striking that Sharon had pegged her battle power at dragon-level and gone all out.
She'd braced for sharp barbs and cold rebukes, planning to resist with all her might...
"She's more delicate than I thought..."
Amelia fretted over every little word, and above all, she was terrible at verbal jabs.
Like she didn't know how to get under someone's skin.
Now, replaying the clash, all Sharon remembered was her own villainous self gleefully kicking around a rabbit-level opponent.
Had she become such a bully from constant spats with the twins?
Honestly, from midway on, the thrill of massacring civilians had been so fun she couldn't stop. She couldn't deny that.
"I should apologize later."
Sharon let out a bittersweet sigh over her hollow victory.
3.
"What in the world..."
Amelia had left first, saying she had some business.
As Si-woo wandered the mansion thinking of seeing the twins, he ran into Deneb Jemernai—and now soothed his shin where she'd kicked it.
Deneb had greeted him then abruptly lashed out with her shoe toe before leaving.
Si-woo's tempered spirit body wouldn't be fazed by that much impact.
Less pain than bewilderment.
"Must be about that time..."
As he vaguely pieced it together, he spotted Amelia—who he'd just parted from—approaching from afar.
"Lady Amelia."
"Si-woo...!"
Her face was a touch teary, nose tip red. Spotting him, she came running.
She looked exactly like a daughter who'd been mugged in an alley and just found her dad.
Si-woo startled and grabbed her shoulders, asking,
"Did something happen?"
"......"
Amelia shook her head vigorously, then buried herself in his arms.
Just a short separation, and she already missed him that much?
In warm delusion, Si-woo stroked her hair.
Then Amelia suddenly asked,
"Si-woo, out of the blue, but... can I ask you one thing?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Do you... like women's breasts?"
"Pardon?"
It was truly abrupt.
But after sharing intimacy with Amelia just this dawn, it wasn't odd for her to wonder about such things.
A bit embarrassed, he answered honestly anyway.
"I like them."
Amelia's reaction was shock.
Her expression barely changed, but Si-woo easily read her feelings.
Was it that surprising?
"H-how much?"
"Just like them. What man doesn't?"
Si-woo had simply answered yes or no.
But to Amelia, hyper-aware of breasts after her talk with Sharon, it hit like a thunderbolt.
Meaning she was sorely lacking in a part Si-woo liked, after all.
"S-Si-woo... one more thing, then..."
"Sure, but why these questions all of a sudden..."
"Doing naughty things... outside... do you like that?"
"Pardon...?"
Who had planted these ideas in Amelia's head?
Wondering if it was Sophia again,
he saw Amelia purse her lips resolutely.
"Give me a moment."
She grabbed the gaping, speechless Si-woo's wrist and dragged him to a corridor corner.