Chapter 212
Chapter 212
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: Tilting the Glass (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After exchanging contacts with Champi.
[If something comes up, I'll contact you again then.]
"Yes, I hope nothing happens."
I called Seong Ji-ho to wrap up the conversation I hadn't finished because of Champi.
My job was to guard Cornus during the Forest Guardian Tournament.
That was the official reason, but Seong Ji-ho seemed to just want me there as her friend.
-Click.
The call ended, and I slipped my phone into my back pocket.
I'd learned a lot.
The situation Cornus and Heavenly Peach were in. And their internal circumstances.
"Haa."
As things I didn't know came to light one by one, a sigh escaped first at how much darker they were than I'd imagined.
In front of my house.
I open the door with a hardened face.
-Creak.
"Bbi?"
Through the gap in the door, my eyes met Shiba's, who was wearing a yellow apron.
Our daughter was waiting for Daddy.
"Daddy!"
"Ah, Shiba's daddy!"
Shiba clung to my knee.
I scooped Shiba up and looked toward the kitchen, where Shin Hye-young was whisking something with a frother.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah, hehe. I was making cookies."
Hye-young, with the bright face typical of a kindergarten teacher, innocently showed me the butter in the bowl.
Now that I looked closely, Shiba's cheeks were dusted with flour too.
"Cookies!"
Shiba confidently raised the frother high.
Our Shiba. She's having so much fun even without Daddy now.
A mix of relief, bitterness, and reassurance washed over me.
"Can I help?"
"Would that be okay? Making cookies with your daughter will be a great memory. Ah! Let me take a picture for you."
Hye-young picked up the camera from the corner of the table and smiled brightly.
Shiba had already returned to her spot, mixing butter and egg yolks.
I sat right next to Shiba and held the frother with her.
"Shall we mix together?"
"Bbi!"
Gently, leaving it to Shiba's strength.
As I shook the frother, the excited Shiba started humming.
"Bbi~♪ Bbi~♬"
Maybe she was enjoying it because she rarely had experiences like this.
Shiba wasn't even a year old yet, after all.
Everything she holds must feel new and fun.
Seeing Shiba's happy face made me chuckle too.
I'd be extremely busy soon, so I should make time for things like this.
"Oh, were you already doing it?"
Azalea emerged from the room and giggled upon seeing me and Shiba.
Her hands were full of chocolate.
Me, Azalea, Shiba, and Hye-young, Shiba's nanny—four of us.
"Ah, Shiba! You can't eat that."
"Choco?"
"Yeah, choco. For the cookies. Choco cookies."
Being together like this calmed me down a bit.
I laughed with Hye-young as Azalea snatched the chocolate from Shiba, who was lisping with her tongue-tied speech and putting up a fierce struggle to keep it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Haa... haa."
Overlapping skin and her breath laced with sensuality.
It had been a few weeks since I'd been with Azalea every night.
No way her expression wouldn't soften with affection after pounding her relentlessly without a break.
Maybe it was my imagination, but her hips seemed wider, her body even more erotic.
Just recently, she was a pure virgin, but now she felt like a real pink slut.
Azalea whispered in my ear as she hugged me.
"...You're leaving soon, huh?"
"Yeah."
"I wish I could go too."
The Forest Guardian Tournament.
I'd received the basic info and schedule this morning.
Since I'd neglected training, I got sighs and resigned frowns from the instructor, but he acknowledged my skills and pushed me on without complaint.
-Don't cause any trouble and come back.
-Yes, sir.
-And please show up for training for once.
-I'll keep that in mind.
-...Haa. Fine. Go.
I fly out tomorrow.
The media and newspapers were filled with coverage of the upcoming Forest Guardian Tournament.
Communities were buzzing about it regardless of topic.
My name might spread widely from there.
Azalea looked regretful at not being able to join me.
I comforted her by pressing our lips together.
"It's fine. You've got a lot on your plate too. Doing all that plus the tournament would wear you out."
"You turned me into a pervert who only thinks of you when you're pounding my pussy, and now this?"
"Pervert... Hey."
"You always shoved it in... Even when sleeping... Even when washing."
"I'll come sometimes."
"Not enough."
Azalea pouted and glared at me.
"You'll go and fuck other women wildly."
"Do I seem like that kind of guy?"
-Nod nod nod nod.
Nothing to say to that.
I shut her mouth by thrusting my tongue inside.
"...But I still love it."
After our final kiss, we got dressed.
As I put on my dress shirt and turned my back, Azalea stroked her hair and asked.
"Hey, does braiding it look prettier...? Like the professor."
Azalea gathered her pale pink hair back, exposing her nape.
A stray strand touched the fine hairs on her neck.
Her skin was baby-soft white no matter how many times I saw it.
"What hairstyle do you like?"
"The way it is seems fine."
"Not that... What about long hair? Thinking of growing it out."
Her mid-length pink hair.
It's neat and suits her usual personality best.
Wonder what it'd look like long.
Azalea's large pupils gazed at me.
Long-haired Azalea. Imagining her in spring yellow clothes, smiling.
"It'd look good. Anything suits the original."
"Really? Not just saying that?"
"Yeah."
"Hehehe."
The pleased Azalea approached and hugged me.
Lately, whenever we're alone, she sticks right to me like this.
-Squeeze, squeeze.
Even rubbing her thigh against me teasingly to get me hard.
She's a pro now.
"Contact me if anything happens."
"Got it."
"...Don't get intimidated by the status difference. Even if other nobles look down on you, know you're not lacking at all. It's fine to shout you're my husband. Okay?"
"I'm good. No worries."
"You won't worry if I'm far away?"
What nonsense.
"Of course I will..."
"Then accept it quietly. Tell me if you need money."
She's so worried.
Well, Lee Se-young must have felt the same seeing me.
We went to the kitchen and killed time with idle chatter.
"Drink."
Tea from Azalea. Flower petals floating, sweet with lots of honey, a strong honey scent when brought to the lips.
"...This."
"No more words."
Her smiling eyes were intimidating.
I silently sipped the honey tea.
Azalea's honey scent, thicker than the floral aroma.
I always eat it, but drinking it like this feels different.
"How's the taste?"
"Good."
"I put in tons."
"Y-yeah."
-Slurp.
Still, it was a tasty cup.
"...Shiba has to be without Daddy for a while too."
Sitting at the table chatting, Azalea looked sadly at Shiba's room, her eyebrows forming a V.
"That's why she has Mommy."
"......Hehe."
Azalea beamed goofily at my words. She was proud to be called Shiba's mom.
'Well, the real mom is someone else.'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'World Tree of Purity' puffs out her cheeks. I think Azalea is closer to Shiba's mom than Purity.
Raised parents are more parental than blood ones—that's normal.
No matter how thick the blood, abandoning your child and leaving has no qualification as a mom.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Denial] 'World Tree of Purity' earnestly pecks at you. Then she should've shown her face from the start. I'd like her more.
Affection at 100 from someone like that.
Daddy kidnapped, left alone trembling in fear, and Azalea rushes in first—she's the fairy.
"...What are you thinking?"
"Hm? That I like you."
"W-what's that sudden?"
Her lips curved up.
"Go in. Time for me to head to work."
"...I don't know what you do. Till tonight?"
Yeah.
Flower purges won't stop.
At least until my surroundings are secure. Can't rule out any threat.
"Come back safe. Don't get hurt."
I dressed appropriately and stepped out.
The night sky over the academy was as bright as a big city.
One step from the second-floor complex. I landed smoothly and raised my phone.
Hopefully there's a harvest tonight.
Flower activity had suddenly dropped, making them harder to spot.
'They're preparing too.'
The Forest Guardian Tournament.
They're prepping something big to unleash on that stage.
Everyone sharpening knives, waiting for the same moment, same event.
Still, I'd search just in case.
'Tracking tails ain't easy.'
Dead by my hand, but they were just grunts anyway.
Know nothing about executives.
Met a sub-executive, but not combat-focused. Seemed into drugs.
I sighed and checked unread messages on my phone.
-Ding!
Notification at this hour?
Azalea maybe.
I tapped the message immediately.
💬 Messages — Me: When do you wanna drink? - 1 week ago Cornus: Now A reply to a text from ages ago.
I nearly dropped my phone in shock.
Never imagined Cornus messaging at this hour.
— Me: Now? No reply for a while after I sent mine.
About 10 minutes passed. Then Cornus messaged again.
— Cornus: Now Cornus: Can't? '...Well.'
Right before work.
I scratched my neck, checked the time, and called her.
-Rrring.
Long ringing tone. Then it cut off, and Cornus's voice flowed out.
[...Hello.]
How rough must it have been for that bright girl to sound so lifeless.
Tonight's plan scrapped immediately.
I stopped putting on the mask and said to her.
"Where are you now."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Cornus stared blankly at the pillow with a flushed face like she had a cold.
-Drip drip.
Sweat flowing. Rough, irregular breaths.
Her cold head felt detached from her body.
'...Dizzy.'
Cornus, feeling only pain as stimulation.
Loneliness burrowing into her waist. She'd never felt that before.
No one around her except her secretary and guards. No one to share personal space with.
Even cousins she talked to would vanish somewhere.
'...Why.'
Cornus gazed at her phone in confusion.
(Lee Si-heon) Call ? 2:35 [Where are you now] Why did I suddenly call him?
The doubt deepened.
Cornus said flatly, her face expressionless and emotionless.
"...Home."
[Home? ...Hoo. Permission?]
"No one knows."
[Can you sneak out?]
Cornus looked around.
She concluded it was impossible in her current state and continued.
"It's hard."
[......]
Lee Si-heon at a loss for words.
As expected, too much?
As Cornus thought that.
[Stay put. I'll come there.]
For some reason, a pleasing reply came.