Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: There's No Way I Can Be Happy
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Three days had already passed since I began living together with Princess Kurumi.
It felt like the calm before the storm.
During that time, the mansion had been extraordinarily peaceful.
From meals onward, whenever there was even the slightest bothersome task, the servants seemed to know somehow and took care of everything for me.
And I was just a mere 'guest' at that.
'At this rate, it feels like I'm just on vacation at a Japanese ryokan...'
It was so comfortable that I could hardly tell if I was here to work or just enjoying a holiday.
Still, there was one thing I never forgot to do every morning upon waking.
"Sophia. You're here?"
"Yeah. Shin-woo, you're really 'suffering' a lot today too."
"Haha..."
It was exchanging morning greetings with Sophia, who arrived early for work.
She had been extremely sulky about me living with the princess.
On the first day, worried, I secretly checked on her.
I saw Sophia standing guard all day with her cheeks puffed out like a blowfish.
"Sh-She was that mad?!"
Judging the situation serious, I'd started these meetings to soothe her pouting heart.
"You probably haven't eaten breakfast yet. Come on in and eat."
"Huh? No, I don't usually eat breakfast anyway."
"?! How can you say that? Breakfast is so important! Never mind, just go eat with that princess already!"
"Ah, okay..."
Even amid all this, Sophia fussed over my physical condition terribly.
"See you before you clock out this evening, then."
"Yeah. Sure."
With that, I headed back into the mansion and politely greeted Princess Kurumi, who had just woken up.
Then, as usual, we sat facing each other in the tatami room dining area and ate breakfast.
"For some reason, I feel like drinking today."
It was a sudden 'incident.'
"Drinking... you mean alcohol?"
"Yes. Sake."
Hearing the word 'sake' from the princess's mouth.
Of course, she was an adult well past drinking age, perfectly entitled to it. Still, it felt utterly unfamiliar.
Because people from prestigious hunter families, with their noble images, never uttered words laced with desires like alcohol, women, or gambling in front of others.
'To hear such words from a princess of a hunter family... one of the world's top ten, no less...'
In the original story, even just sharing a drink with a hunter family member required hundreds of hours of persistent playtime and luck.
'Does this mean she trusts me that much?'
The princess, who only made a brief cameo as a set-dressing character in the original.
Seeing her openly reveal her desires to me filled me with a strange pride as an original story veteran.
Then came the princess's follow-up.
"It's a full moon tonight, after all."
"Is it? That sounds beautiful."
"Yes. So, I want to wet my lips with sake, using the moon as an appetizer."
Drinking sake with the moon as an appetizer.
It sounded cool, like a scene from a wuxia film.
In that case, I should eat dinner alone tonight so I don't disturb her drinking.
Nodding with that thought—
"That's why, Shin-woo."
"Yes, Princess."
"Drinking alone would be too lonely. Could you keep me company?"
"......Pardon?"
I'd suddenly been invited to join the princess's drinking session.
Alcohol holds a mysterious power.
People call that power alcohol, and even knowing it only brings harmful effects once absorbed into the body, the reason they drink is simple.
It grants 'courage' in exchange for 'health.'
"...Gulp."
As the weather forecast predicted, a bright full moon shone in Korea's night sky.
With the sliding doors to the garden wide open for the view, Princess Kurumi sat facing Shin-woo at a table laden with lavish appetizers.
She poured sake into his cup first, using both hands.
"This is sake, quite popular even in Japan. I heard it's available in Korea too, so I had the servants fetch some."
"Oh... sake."
"Do you like alcohol?"
"Yes?! Ah, well... I'm not the type who hates it."
"I see..."
The way to drink sake might seem similar to Korean soju at a glance, but there were subtle differences.
For instance, the two facing each other didn't clink glasses but merely raised them in a light toast before sipping.
Gulp.
"?! This sake has a pretty high proof..."
"Hehe. Yes. The stronger the alcohol, the stronger the flavor."
"I see..."
Sake's average proof is 15%.
The one Princess Kurumi brought was a premium 25% variety.
Thus—
"Here, have another."
"Ah, yes..."
Gulp.
"One more..."
"Again?! Ah, yes..."
Gulp. Gulp.
"Here's one."
"Y-Yes..."
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
Unable to refuse a cup from the princess.
As per her plan, while she sipped one, Shin-woo downed three or four, his face quickly flushing red.
"Ugh... uh..."
"Shin-woo?"
"Mm... Yes... Princess..."
"......"
Confirming his near-dazed state, the slightly tipsy Princess Kurumi rose quietly.
"Mind if I sit next to you for a bit?"
"Mm... Sure..."
She sidled up beside him, their shoulders brushing.
Thump thump.
A brief silence.
Glancing at Shin-woo, she saw he was on the verge of sleep.
Putting him to sleep was the final plan, but he was still awake.
She didn't want to waste this moment when alcohol had loosened his tongue.
So, steeling herself, she asked questions she'd never dare otherwise.
"Um, Shin-woo... what do you think of me?"
"What do I... think...?"
"Exactly that. What do you think of me, Kurumi the kitsune?"
A troublesome woman.
A woman I have to put up with.
A woman who can't even hold a proper conversation.
Or a pitiful woman.
Maybe he saw her that way.
Regretting her question the moment after, unsure of the answer—
"...A good person."
"......Pardon?"
"Kind... pretty... actually lonely a lot... someone I want to take care of..."
"...!"
The unexpectedly positive response made her feel drunk without another sip.
Gathering courage, her next question.
"Then... if you could do whatever you wanted with a woman like me... what would you do?"
"Princess Kurumi... whatever I want...?"
"Yes! I mean... if you could make a woman like me obey you completely..."
"Well... such a pretty woman... becoming mine... as a man... of course I'd... fuck her senseless..."
"F-Fuck?!"
Hic!
The blunt, straightforward answer—no dates or fluff—shocked her into a hiccup.
Her face burned redder than Shin-woo's, like a ripe tomato.
Staggering.
Shin-woo now truly on the brink of passing out.
Watching him, about to sleep, she swallowed dryly with trembling heart.
Swish.
Undoing the top of her tightly wrapped kimono in anticipation, she asked the half-asleep him one last time.
"Shin-woo, so then..."
Gulp.
"Do you want to... have 'sex' with me?"
Already asleep, Shin-woo didn't answer.
Instead, instinctually, his head plunged straight into her ample cleavage.
"Eek?! Sh-Shin-woo..."
Calling him got no response; he was out.
Confirming he was fully asleep, she had the servants clear the drinking setup.
With the room empty, she turned off the lights, laid him on her futon, and straddled him.
It resembled the woman-on-top position from sex ed.
"Shin-woo, I'm ovulating today."
"ZZZ..."
"Tonight, just receive from the baby-making. Next time, I'll serve you properly while awake."
"ZZZ......"
No response from the sleeping Shin-woo.
Princess Kurumi gently pressed her ear to his firm, trained chest.
Thump thump.
A beastly heartbeat pounding fiercely.
The thick, musky scent rising from his body.
She licked the sweat trickling from his neck with her long tongue.
Like a puppy finding a bone, she became not a princess but a bitch in heat, her hips twitching vulgarly as if wagging a tail.
'Delicious... I love it... so good... Shin-woo...'
Then, she felt something below poking her crotch.
Time for the 'deed.'
"Shin-woo... I love you..."
So much she'd die for it.
No—even after death.
She had just over a year left to live.
But pregnancy lasts about ten months.
Enough time to make and birth one even in her remaining year.
A child of her and Shin-woo.
How wonderful, lovable, admirable, beautiful it would be.
The most precious gift in the world.
When that child grew old enough to speak, what babbles would it make?
Losing its mother months after birth, scorned as a bastard by the family, made without consent—what would it say first at her grave?
She, in a similar position, knew all too well.
"Mother..."
"Mommy..."
Thud.
Realizing this, her tongue halted midway to his lips.
What she planned wasn't love-filled 'sex.'
It was mere one-sided 'rape' for her pleasure.
What sin did Shin-woo and her child have to suffer after her death?
With that thought, Princess Kurumi slid off him.
"Sob... Hic..."
She could only shed endless tears.
In this lamentable situation.
Unable to even hold the child of her beloved.
Born unwanted, doomed to lose lifespan to a monster until death, never reclaimable.
Kurumi, seeking happiness, returned to cold reality—like fluid trickling ignored between her legs.
The next day.
"Shin-woo, you've done enough. I'm much better now."
"Princess Kurumi...?"
"So, please leave my mansion now."
Fearing more happiness, she cast out her final joy herself.