Chapter 397: Daily Drama
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 397: Daily Drama
“Who are you calling ‘Mother’?”
A heavy air filled the room. Panic spread across Wanhee’s face. It was only natural. I’d managed to get through my own introductions somehow, but she could never have imagined things would go sour so quickly. An attack that struck before she could even finish introducing herself. The color drained from Wanhee and Ratga’s faces.
“Th-That is…”
I could see her panic. If I had to compare this conversation to a fight, it was as if she’d taken a heavy punch before the bell even rang. She might be a clever child, but she was still just a child, barely a year old. It would have been strange if she weren’t flustered. Seeing the tears slowly welling up in her eyes, her composure was on the verge of shattering. No, she was more cunning than I thought.
‘Acting.’
She wasn’t that shocked. I couldn’t tell if it was instinct or not, but the tears welling in her eyes were definitely fake. The way she subtly glanced at Ratga for his reaction was the real masterpiece. I realized then that Wanhee was far more shrewd than I had given her credit for.
‘This fight… this is no ordinary fight. It’s definitely going to drag on.’
I didn’t know if Jang Ye Ri had noticed this or not, but it seemed an unavoidable truth that Ratga, caught in the middle, was going to suffer. I could tell just by the way he was anxiously glancing between Jang Ye Ri and Wanhee.
“I have never had a daughter like you.”
As Jang Ye Ri slowly began to sit, her aura was that of a tigress confronting a beast that had invaded her family’s peaceful den. But Wanhee was no beast. No, at least in Ratga’s eyes, she must have looked like a pitiful herbivore.
“M-Mother…”
“Ratga. Your mother heard something very interesting from your father. I trust it isn’t true, but… I came here just in case.”
“…”
“Do you remember what I told you when I sent you to the Eastern Continent with your father?”
“Y-You told me to watch and learn. You said not to worry about other things and to just watch and feel what Father has accomplished…”
“That’s right. That is exactly what I said. You remember well.”
The atmosphere was ominous. I wasn’t one for watching dramas back on Earth, but this seemed far more intense than any show I’d ever seen. I felt terribly sorry for Ratga, who was like a frog before a snake, but it pained me that I couldn’t offer any help. Jang Ye Ri let out a sigh before speaking again.
“However…”
“…”
“However, it seems you did not do so. It seems you did not. Your mother is very disappointed, Ratga. I never imagined that you, who always walked the righteous path, would already be so taken with a woman as to neglect your duties. Of course, I suppose this could all be a misunderstanding on my part… No, surely I must have misheard. I want to hear from your own lips that I am wrong. Don’t feel pressured.”
This was absolutely not a situation where he could avoid feeling pressured. The seat Ratga was in right now felt heavier than the seat of the Great Tribe Leader. Even I would have run away.
The air in the room grew even heavier. I had a feeling I knew what Jang Ye Ri wanted. She wanted to hear Ratga deny his relationship with Wanhee with his own mouth. I already knew Jang Ye Ri didn’t have the nicest personality, but…
‘How malicious…’
Truly malicious. Ratga’s face was contorted. It was only natural for him to react that way. His lips must have felt bone dry. Right now, Ratga was at a crossroads.
He was at a crossroads: return to his mother’s embrace, or forge a new path with Wanhee. For him, it must have been an incredibly serious dilemma. But the very fact that he was hesitating meant he had already been caught in Jang Ye Ri’s web. I found myself swallowing hard as I looked around.
Wanhee’s anxious gaze—she was surely thinking about what would happen if Ratga cast her aside. But the worst-case scenario she was imagining probably wouldn’t happen. Because under the table, hidden from his mother Jang Ye Ri’s eyes, I could see Ratga’s hand tightly gripping the hand of the girl he loved.
It was slick with cold sweat, but he held Wanhee’s hand as if to say he wasn’t afraid.
‘My son… he’s a man.’
Just as I muttered that to myself, Ratga slowly opened his mouth.
“It’s embarrassing, but everything you know is true, Mother. I think of Wanhee, who is beside me, as my partner for life.”
His confident voice echoed through the spacious dining hall. A hint of surprise flickered across Jang Ye Ri’s face, while joy bloomed on Wanhee’s. With a single sentence, the tables had turned.
“Do you have any idea what you’re saying? I told you that bad friends…”
“Wanhee is not a bad friend, Mother. I truly think of her as my spouse. This isn’t some childish act committed on a whim, nor am I acting without thinking. I love Wanhee.”
A heavy fastball struck Jang Ye Ri right in the chest. She might have been shocked, but her expression didn’t change. If anything, his declaration seemed to have cooled her boiling anger.
“I will say it again, right here and now, straight to the point. Father. Mother. I hope you will help me so that I can spend my future with Wanhee.”
He spoke confidently, but of course, no answer came.
‘My son…’
In that strange silence… I swallowed hard. Jang Ye Ri let out a sigh and spoke again.
“Our Ratga has grown up so much.”
“Th-Thank you.”
Seeing the sudden change in Jang Ye Ri’s expression, Ratga’s face also relaxed. But this was just a build-up. She was just taking a step back to gain momentum.
“You’ve grown up so much that you now defy your own mother’s words. I look around, but I can’t find the good Ratga from before. It’s gotten to the point where I doubt if the person before me is truly my son.”
“M-Mother…”
“This is why I told you not to make bad friends. You are a Green Skin, but you also live as a human, Ratga. You are the heir who will rule the great city of Garia and all the humans of the East, and you are in a position where you might one day inherit the Blood Dagger Clan in the Brother’s Land.”
“…”
“One could say you are in a position to do anything, but that certainly does not mean you can decide everything as you please.”
“M-Mother.”
“It is the nature of those in high positions to attract insects.”
That was a heavy blow. So much so that I couldn’t help but swallow.
“You have no idea how many insects have swarmed around you since the day you were born. From the daughters of great guild masters to the administrators of small and large cities, I have personally rejected dozens of marriage proposals. That is how complex human society is.”
“Th-That’s…”
“There are many who wish to climb aboard the carriage of the powerful and take the easy road. All humans have a lust for power. Though I was born a Green Skin, I was raised among humans, so I understand this. That child is likely no different.”
“B-But you too, Mother…”
“Of course, I have ambitions as well. And I have seen many others who are just as ambitious. On the face of the partner you claim to love, it is faint, but I can see it clearly. It is filled with greed.”
‘Hah…’
The classic evil mother-in-law.
‘Vicious.’
I couldn’t help but think so. I turned my head to look at Choi Eunju, and she was desperately avoiding eye contact, as if she couldn’t adapt to this atmosphere. She started needlessly cutting into the food that was beginning to arrive, one dish at a time. It was almost pitiful to watch.
Wanhee looked a little flustered, but not as much as Ratga. In the end, Ratga began to raise his voice.
“Mother!”
“How dare you raise your voice before your mother.”
“I-I’m not.”
‘I want to run away.’
It was fascinating, but I really couldn’t get used to this kind of atmosphere.
“You said your name was Wanhee.”
“Yes. Moth— No, Your Majesty.”
“This child should understand what I’m saying. She looks like a clever child, after all. Besides…”
“…”
“This child is a succubus.”
“A succubus?”
“It means she is no ordinary demon, Ratga. A race with negligible combat abilities, but one that can survive by feeding on the dreams of others.”
“I will become stronger, so you d-don’t have to worry, Mother.”
“I am not so wicked as to look down on someone for being weak. I simply wish to explain a little more about succubi, Ratga.”
“Y-Yes…”
“Besides what I just explained, succubi commonly possess one other trait. The ability to gain the favor of the opposite sex. Ratga.”
“Th-That’s…”
“It is because you are still young, Ratga. Others are not swayed by that child’s demonic charm, but from what I can see, you seem to be under its influence.”
I didn’t know why this heavy silence kept falling over the room. It wasn’t a secret of birth, but with the secret of her race now revealed, the dining hall was in utter chaos. I found myself cutting a large piece of meat from my plate and stuffing it into my mouth; I felt like I couldn’t endure it without doing something.
‘The secret of her race.’
I saw Ratga’s shocked expression and Wanhee’s anxious one. Wanhee couldn’t control her power yet, but what Jang Ye Ri said wasn’t entirely false. In my case—no, for anyone with even a little magic resistance—her demonic charm wasn’t strong enough to be irresistible.
I thought someone at Ratga’s level could resist it easily enough, but with prolonged exposure, it was natural to be affected. Whether Wanhee did it intentionally or not, it was an undeniable fact that she was exuding her charm. She seemed flustered because she knew this herself.
“W-Wanhee.”
“I-It’s true, Young Master. B-But it was never intentional, and I don’t think it had any effect on you.”
The situation was escalating toward its climax. Even Wanhee, who had hidden her expression so well until now, couldn’t conceal her panic.
“Can you guarantee that it had no effect? If you spent a lot of time together, you must have been influenced, whether you realized it or not. Ratga, your feelings are undoubtedly being influenced by her.”
“That can’t be… That can’t be true, Mother.”
“You two have probably never been apart for long since you met. You may have thought nothing of it, but there must have been physical contact as well.”
“…”
Ratga didn’t answer. He was affirming Jang Ye Ri’s words. To affect Ratga, who had high magic resistance, she would have needed to be with him for a long time. It was highly likely that Wanhee knew this instinctively and didn’t want to be apart from him.
They had been stuck together 24/7.
As if something was bothering him, Ratga began to stare at Wanhee, his face pale.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Young Master. It’s definitely… a misunderstanding.”
Finally, the classic line made its appearance. It’s a misunderstanding. Now that this line had been spoken, it was clear this melodrama wasn’t going to end anytime soon. Jang Ye Ri’s harsh gaze, Ratga’s anxious one, and me, watching it all. This place was already a battlefield.
“E-Even if that’s true…”
“Young Master?”
“I don’t believe my feelings are a lie, Mother.”
A gaze filled with sincerity. Wanhee’s face began to light up, while Jang Ye Ri’s grew a shade heavier.