Chapter 564
Chapter 564
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 564
Chapter Title: Trouble (4)
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1.
Lurye practically dragged Siwoo out of the Malt Bar.
Her momentum was quite fierce.
It had to be that way.
His tone and gaze were like he was interrogating her.
Siwoo's words and actions were in no way suitable for a guest.
To Lurye, who was already upset over issues related to the trials, Siwoo's attitude was no different from tossing a cigarette butt onto firewood soaked in oil.
Once they were far enough that their conversation voices wouldn't carry, Lurye immediately pinned Siwoo against the wall.
"What in the world is wrong with you? What's got you so dissatisfied? Why are you acting like some ill-mannered child?"
Lurye unleashed a barrage of complaints like a shotgun blast.
She stood on tiptoe and pinched Siwoo's cheeks, stretching them out.
Did he even realize this was a light punishment meant to let the whole thing blow over after she'd held back, held back, and held back some more?
If he cracked a wry smile here and apologized, she planned to brush off the series of rudeness as drunken banter.
"......"
Yet, despite Lurye giving him a rare chance to apologize and explain himself, he kept his mouth shut, saying nothing.
Seeing that, Lurye felt anger in two ways.
"You are my envoy to the kingdom and my dear friend. How shameful. I won't even demand aristocratic manners from you. But shouldn't you at least keep to basic decency?"
This was the most obvious source of her anger.
No matter how aggrieved she felt toward Siwoo, he was the Nukelavi Kingdom's envoy and her lover.
She'd already subtly bragged about him to Dorothy.
Just like a woman proud of her boyfriend, she wanted to show off his cool side to Dorothy, her only other friend.
"I'm sorry."
Lurye learned for the first time that when she's truly, truly furious, her tone actually calms down.
Even watching him bow his head in apology didn't soothe her heart at all.
There was the reason above, but the real source of Lurye's displeasure lay deeper—the second reason.
The previous Nukelavi had been an exile.
Within the rules that Gehenna's cowards had arbitrarily created, her predecessor had been thoroughly ostracized, treated like a public enemy.
Moreover, she'd suffered a major injury from an attack by Gehenna's leader, the Kether Duke.
Thanks to the help of an ancient witch, her life was spared, but Lurye had grown up watching her noble sea mother and kind teacher suffer night after night from the battle's aftereffects, vomiting blood and sweating like rain.
Those sights had planted enmity toward Gehenna in Lurye's heart.
No matter how heinous the crimes of public enemies, Lurye psychologically sided more with the exiles and public enemies.
At least they hadn't discriminated against or harmed her teacher in any way.
"Tell me your reason."
After hesitating for a long while, Siwoo finally spoke heavily.
"I don't trust public enemies."
And his answer touched exactly on Lurye's hidden anger, as expected.
She knew where Siwoo's attitude stemmed from.
He was from Gehenna while also having a Gehenna witch as his lover.
She hadn't paid it much mind until now, but his outright rejection of Dorothy overlapped in her mind with the hypocrites who had made her teacher's life lonely and difficult.
"Dorothy is not only my close friend but also had a deep bond with my predecessor. Are you saying you reject her just because she's a public enemy?"
"Yes."
-Slap!
A dry sound rang out as Lurye's sharply swung palm struck Siwoo's cheek.
Lurye herself was startled by the pain in her hand and the loud noise, more than she'd expected.
Seeing Siwoo's head turned slightly, her heart ached and her nose stung, but her dissatisfaction and resentment toward him surged even stronger.
She didn't know exactly how bad public enemies were or how bad exiles were.
But seeing his behavior—like he couldn't wait to return to Gehenna—and his attitude toward Dorothy suddenly sparked anxiety.
Anxiety about how Siwoo was looking at Lurye herself.
"Your Majesty, I've met three public enemies so far."
As Lurye was on the verge of tears, Siwoo calmly opened his mouth.
Lurye lifted her head to look at him.
"Except for one, they were all completely unhinged women. It was only natural I'd nearly die, and I went through a lot of awful stuff."
"I don't want to hear it."
Tears finally trickled down Lurye's cheeks.
In truth, Siwoo didn't know why Lurye was reacting so intensely.
He knew she harbored resentment toward Gehenna witches, but he hadn't heard the details.
Still, seeing her so aggrieved with tears streaming down, he didn't think it was a light matter.
"No matter how close she is to Your Majesty, once I heard she was a public enemy, it was hard to trust her."
As he slightly spread his arms, Lurye hugged his waist as if she'd been waiting.
She started mumbling while clinging tightly.
"Dorothy isn't a bad witch. Didn't I trust you unconditionally once we became friends?"
"Yes, I'm truly grateful for that."
"Then can't you trust Dorothy too? We haven't met since I inherited, but we've been friends since our apprentice days."
Listening to her complaints, he patted her back soothingly.
With just that, she seemed to regain some composure, her breathing evening out.
"I understand why Your Majesty feels hurt. But right now, I have some doubts. Could I talk to her alone?"
"Talk?"
"Talking might clear up misunderstandings, or we might even get along."
Lurye's eyes widened in her blank stare at Siwoo, then lit up with delight.
She clearly hadn't expected him to say that.
"Does it have to be just the two of you? No, do as you wish."
Lurye went from puzzled to jumping with joy.
Dorothy was someone utterly untrustworthy just for being a public enemy, but seeing how happy Lurye was, a conversation seemed fine.
"Then, if you could give us about 30 minutes, I'd appreciate it."
"Sure, sure. She's surprisingly humorous, so use this chance to get close."
"I'll head in."
As he bowed and turned to leave, his clothes were suddenly tugged.
"Siwoo."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I'm sorry for slapping your cheek. You seemed to not understand my feelings at all, so I lost my temper. I promise never to lay a hand on you again."
He gently stroked the head of the fidgeting, apologizing Lurye.
"It's fine. I spank your butt plenty too."
"H-How impertinent!"
With a light joke tossed at Lurye whose face was turning apple-red, he returned to the Malt Bar.
2.
Well then.
Time for a one-on-one with this disgustingly uncomfortable opponent.
He'd glossed over it somewhat since Lurye was so upset, but he still had zero trust in Dorothy.
Lurye was innocently naive and trusted people easily.
As she herself said, she hadn't lavished gifts on Siwoo despite no real connection.
So for Lurye's sake, he had to make up for her lack of wariness.
"You're alone? Where'd the queen go?"
Dorothy, elbow on the Malt Bar counter, was spinning her glass idly.
Through her languidly drooping eyes, pale silver irises turned toward Siwoo.
Unlike the filthy glares from Bianca and Ea, she had a slick, refined impression.
Aside from the nun's habit, she'd pass for a Hollywood actress anywhere.
Her acting might be wooden, but she'd be the pretty face popping up in movies everywhere.
And that voluptuous figure not even those baggy clothes could hide.
Her breasts, half-plopped on the table, rivaled Sophia's in size.
"The queen went to watch a movie. She asked me to give us some time to talk."
He pulled a chair over, placed it beside her, and plopped down.
She gave a curious smile as if surprised, then propped her chin on her hand.
It was a pose and angle straight out of American dramas.
"I thought you hated me as much as a tobacco company CEO~?"
"I was ordered to get along."
With her still in that pose, she flicked an on-the-rocks glass with her fingertip; it slid along the long bar counter right to Siwoo.
"I put some really lethal poison in it~"
She tossed it out like a joke, but it felt off-putting.
"You're suddenly speaking casually."
"I~ never use polite speech anyway. To get close, why not drop the formalities?"
"No thanks."
It probably wasn't actually poisoned, so he wet his lips with it and cut straight to the chase.
"What's your relationship with Her Majesty?"
"Boring~ Straight to interrogation?"
"Call it getting to know each other."
"She's a friend's daughter. I played with her a lot back then~ too."
Judging purely from Lurye's reactions, Dorothy really had treated her well.
"How'd you end up here? I thought Her Majesty had been in hiding since inheriting."
The previous Nukelavi had made many arrangements for Lurye.
Beyond the trials, she'd moved the location of their existing workshop—that massive cruise ship—hidden it with magic, and issued directives to avoid outside contact until Lurye completed the trials.
"I was leisurely vacationing on the cruiser for a bit~, when one of Aquila's crew goes missing, what do you know?"
Crew?
Not long ago, Lurye had sent the deckhand to a nearby beach to send Siwoo's message to the present world.
It was a slim chance, but if they'd met then, it made sense.
"Did you track the crew member here?"
"That guy~ hadn't contacted me in a while. Long time~ no see, wanted to check on him. I suspected, but didn't expect him to inherit without a word."
"Guess you didn't earn much trust."
Though he nodded inwardly, the casual jab—if Lurye had heard—would've earned a scolding.
It was a snide remark implying she hadn't told him because it was obvious he'd target the newly inherited Lurye.
Dorothy covered her mouth and giggled.
"You think that'll expose my evil nature~?"
Her response was so nonchalant it bordered on brazen.
Her utterly unperturbed attitude, hiding nothing, left him feeling awkward.
"Gehenna folks are different, but hiding a witch who inherited in the present world is basic of basics~, so I wasn't particularly hurt by Shalith~"
"......"
"Still, one of my few friends is gone."
Dorothy showed a lonely profile as she refilled her glass.
"Shall we toast? To the friend who fulfilled her duty and departed."
Siwoo hesitated, but bluntly refusing even that felt uncomfortable.
What's so hard about a toast?
As he lightly clinked glasses, Dorothy smirked and downed her drink.