Chapter 687
Chapter 687
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 687
Chapter Title: Grand Success and Misunderstood Affection
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Si-woo's plan achieved a grand success.
Though the result was bones broken in places and now healed over, along with a nosebleed that showed no sign of stopping.
"Agh... this fucking hurts."
Not some moonlit gymnastics, but a spar.
Rinne's venting was fiercer than ever.
On top of blades rushing in from all directions, his ass got kicked at every opportunity. This was no friendly jab between buddies.
Even compared to Rinne's usual spars that mimicked real combat, these blows were far rougher.
The relentless spanking resulted in five fractures each to his tailbone and pelvic bone.
He got a visceral feel for what it meant to shit blood.
Ye-bin, who had been healing his injuries mid-spar as a healer, got summoned by Rinne, leaving Si-woo to return to his room alone.
"Oh, you're back?"
Alice's face drained of color the moment she saw Si-woo, but she forced a casual greeting.
Si-woo had heard the gist from Ye-bin about why Alice was suddenly afraid of him.
The milk cow boy play had gotten too intense, broadcasting the sounds throughout the entire Fragrant Moon Tower, apparently triggering the trauma switch from when Roji tormented Alice.
"Tough day again, huh."
"Gonna be tough for a while."
But Alice was trying to treat Si-woo the same as always, at least on the surface.
Whether that was because she sensed his unfair feelings, or because Si-woo held the escape rights for Alice, Manya, and Malisha and she didn't want to upset him, he couldn't tell.
"Those screams reached all the way here... Something happen?"
"No big issues."
He glossed over it vaguely, as explaining would be awkward and embarrassing.
But honestly, all he wanted was to lie down even for a moment.
Manga or movie protagonists endure broken or severed limbs like champs, but Si-woo wasn't some superhuman.
In reality, even a broken finger brings floods of tears.
Compressing his usual 18-hour bone-crushing spar routine into 6 hours left neither body nor mind with any reserves.
As he flopped onto the bed, he sensed a presence.
Lifting his head, he saw Alice approaching hesitantly.
"Want me to give you a massage?"
"No, ah..."
He just wanted to sleep right now, so as he tried to close his eyes, Si-woo realized Alice's sudden approach wasn't purely out of kindness.
"Got something you want to ask?"
With those gentle words opening the door, Alice's eyes widened as she nodded vigorously.
"You went to Roji's mansion, right?"
"Yeah, yesterday afternoon."
"What about Manya? Malisha? Everyone okay? No way that bitch Roji left them alone... How are they holding up? Where are they locked up? They didn't get hurt while you were there, right? Sniff..."
Alice's questions grew faster and more heated, ending in sobs.
Si-woo swallowed hard at the sight of her clutching his arm, at a loss.
Of course. He'd witnessed Roji's cruelty and sadism firsthand.
And Alice was a direct victim who'd endured that abuse.
With her lovers in the clutches of such a wicked temptress, how could she not be burning up inside?
She'd clearly been bottling it up, trying not to show it, charred black within.
Even Si-woo would have shed bloody tears daily in her shoes.
"Sorry. I couldn't check directly. But... they seem to be Master's possessions for sure."
"Wh-what does that mean?"
"She wasn't handling them as harshly as the other witches, so no need to worry too much. Plus, we're meeting again in three days, so I'll scope things out properly then and definitely rescue them."
He wasn't sure how much comfort that offered, but he explained based on what he'd seen and heard.
He also made clear his plan to win rental rights in a position board revenge match soon.
"I see... Thank you, really, thank you."
For Alice, tormented by guilt over living peacefully alone while her lovers might suffer in that villainess's hands, and helplessness at being unable to do anything, even this uncertain promise felt like significant solace.
"I... I tried to hurt you before... but you..."
"We help each other in tough times. Help me out if I'm in a bind later."
Alice shed pearl-like tears, fidgeting awkwardly.
She knew it too.
Their connection with Si-woo had started with the Alice trio plotting to knock him out and sell him off.
Yet Si-woo had protected Alice, not knowing where she might be sold, under the obvious pretext of collecting a debt.
Not only that, but despite his own precarious situation, he was working to rescue Manya and Malisha too.
Even knowing midway that Alice had tried to spy on him.
That was kindness beyond mere profit and loss.
A priceless favor not measured in goods.
From this, Alice could infer one fact.
"Um, just to check, don't take this the wrong way... Can I say one thing?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Alice wiped her tears with both sleeves and looked up.
Love.
Nothing but love could explain such selfless kindness.
In other words, Si-woo had clearly fallen for Alice at first sight.
"You know this, but I'm in love with Manya and Malisha."
If it were the past, she'd only feel disgust.
For a pure lesbian like Alice, a man's affection was like a straight guy getting confessed to by a gay man.
So, did Alice feel disgust toward Si-woo now?
Surprisingly, not at all.
"But if they return safely, I'll try to convince them properly."
"Pardon?"
Not some plausible gift or sweet talk, but a courtship staking her own safety and life.
That burning passion leaped even the walls of sexual preference.
"I hope you understand. Manya and Malisha have been with me since our apprentice witch days, so even if I accept your feelings, I can't treat them coldly. So from here, I want your permission."
"Permission for what?"
"It's shameless, but if we start dating, I want to keep the same relationship with Manya and Malisha."
Only then did Si-woo grasp the situation, his expression turning awkward—but to Alice's eyes, it looked entirely different.
Like a shy, embarrassed young man whose feelings were exposed.
"You've fallen for me."
"......"
"I swear on my witch's name, I'm not trying to hold your feelings hostage or use them. I'm truly grateful and my heart's racing to receive such passionate courtship."
No lie seeped from Alice's words.
She wasn't the type to scheme that cleverly anyway, from what he'd seen.
"I can prove it's not a lie. Right here, tonight, with no one's coercion."
She, who once stood naked in humiliation before him, was now willingly loosening her clothes.
"My body got hideously altered because of that crazy bitch Roji... but you're actually into this kind of thing, right?"
"Alice, wait..."
He should've caught on and stopped her sooner.
As she bolted upright to strip, he tried to dissuade her...
"......"
Alice, perhaps misunderstanding something, closed her eyes and puckered her lips.
Her tightly shut lashes trembled with tension.
If he just shut his eyes and went for the kiss here, they could spend a pleasant time after.
After downing stamina and arousal potions, getting beaten by Rinne without proper release, denying any temptation would be a lie.
Especially since the woman before him was a witch paling any modern beauty.
"Alice? Hey, Alice. Open your eyes, please."
Si-woo clapped to snap her out of it.
Her puzzled gaze steadied as realization dawned.
"Oh, right. No relations allowed? Sorry, I got ahead of myself in my impatience. Then... how about with my mouth? If I huddle under the covers, no sound'll leak."
"No, that's not it..."
"It's fine, really. No need to refuse. I want to do something because I'm grateful. That way, my words about accepting your feelings will have sincerity."
This was why witches were hard to deal with.
Once fixated on their own thoughts, they tuned out everyone else—total my-pace types.
"Whatever it is, just tell me. I'll match your tastes perfectly."
Moreover, most witches saw men as two-legged, perpetual horn-dogs.
Not hard to understand.
With their nation-toppling beauties, how much male worship had they received?
They could seduce anytime they wanted, or even without trying.
That was most witches' view of men, naturally extending to male witches like Si-woo.
So they figured temptation would work easily.
Thus, the ultimate reward was letting him ravish their bodies.
"Alice, that's not what I wanted."
"Really...? Ah! Should I resist a bit for your taste? Show some reluctance? Can I start now?"
Explaining it wasn't that never worked right away.
Like Alice's current wild assumptions.
Her utterly predictable reaction piled on his existing fatigue.
"Look..."
Si-woo forced his weary eyes open to calmly explain to Alice.
Around the time Alice, refusing to believe despite all explanations, nodded as if reluctantly yielding to her secret admirer's dishonest heart.
"Doctor, you tricked me."
Ye-bin was still in a one-on-one with Rinne, whose anger hadn't subsided.
"Commit seppuku."
"Eek!"
And with Rinne thoroughly drunk, too.