The Poison King's Terrifying Affection
Dokgo Rin’s “Rin-ah♡” rang out, and the sight of a terrifyingly ugly old man with bulging muscles spreading both arms wide and charging forward was pure horror. Right after, Tang Ho-chang scooped up Dokgo Rin’s small frame in a crushing bear hug and lifted her clean off the ground. To anyone who didn’t know better, it would have looked highly suspicious, but in reality it was nothing more than a doting grandfather greeting his beloved granddaughter.
“It’s been a while, Grandfather.”
In contrast, Dokgo Rin seemed perfectly used to this kind of enthusiastic welcome; she answered with a perfectly calm face.
“You’ve grown so much since I last saw you. You’re old enough to get married now.”
Tang Ho-chang gazed at Dokgo Rin with eyes dripping with affection. Tang Soso watched the pair with an expression that screamed this is ridiculous. Well, they were both his granddaughters, so of course she’d react that way when the treatment was so blatantly different.
When I looked at Tang Soso with a slightly pitying gaze, she snapped, “Don’t look at me like that!” and hurriedly stepped back.
“By the way, what brings you here so late? And why do you both look so filthy?”
“It’s a long story. Would it be all right if we eat first and talk afterward?”
“Oh dear, this old man completely forgot it was already dinner time. Let’s eat first and talk later.”
With that, Tang Ho-chang began picking up the outer robe he had discarded earlier and putting it back on. Watching him, Tang Soso asked in surprise, “Grandfather, have you already finished today’s training?”
“It’s a bit early, but we have welcome guests. What else can I do?”
From Tang Soso’s reaction, it seemed that Tang Ho-chang skipping training was an extremely rare occurrence. In other words, he normally never missed a single day. Once the decision to eat first was made, Tang Ho-chang finally set Dokgo Rin back down on the ground. He was about to leave the training ground, saying we should move to another location, when he finally noticed me. He asked with a puzzled face, “By the way, Rin-ah, who is that boy who came with you? From his clothes, he doesn’t look like a servant.”
Dokgo Rin answered immediately. “Ah, he is my betrothed. His name is Chilbok.”
“…….”
The moment he heard her words, Tang Ho-chang glared at me with an incredibly ferocious expression. Of course he would. To him, it must have looked like his still-young granddaughter had suddenly brought a boyfriend home. Still, since Dokgo Rin had already introduced me, I couldn’t just stand there. I greeted him with the most polite attitude I could muster.
“Hello. My name is Lee Chilbok.”
“…I am Tang Ho-chang.”
As he spoke, Tang Ho-chang extended his right hand. It seemed he wanted to shake hands, but I had a bad feeling about it, so I used a little trick.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t wash my hands on the way here. It would be bad if I got something dirty on you, so would it be all right to shake hands next time?”
Tang Ho-chang raised one eyebrow. “Are you saying you don’t want to shake hands with me?”
“No, I do want to shake hands, but right now it’s difficult.”
When I answered with an innocent “ahaha” and the most harmless smile I could manage, Tang Ho-chang gave me a strange look before saying he understood and lowering his hand.
“Then I’ll tell the servants to prepare the meal. You two go wash up first. Eating with all that dust on your bodies would ruin your appetite, wouldn’t it?”
“Understood, Grandfather.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
As I bowed deeply, I suddenly felt killing intent above my head and quickly straightened up. Tang Ho-chang had his palm spread wide as if he were about to smack my back; he flinched and asked, “Do young people these days greet others so sloppily?”
“Well… yeah.”
No matter how I thought about it, this grandfather was dangerous. I couldn’t afford to show any openings. With that in mind, I forced a smile.
Since Tang Ho-chang left first, saying he would prepare dinner, the person who guided me and Dokgo Rin to our rooms was Tang Soso. The room she showed us was a neat and tidy guest room. Given how enormous the mansion was, even a simple guest room was quite large, and as a dirt-poor commoner I couldn’t help but feel intimidated.
“I already had warm water brought in, so just wash up however you like. I’ll come get you in one meal’s time, so relax until then.”
“Thanks.”
When I expressed my gratitude, Tang Soso looked at me with a sullen face and asked, “You said you’re Dokgo Rin’s betrothed, right?”
“That’s right.”
“How on earth did you end up liking that girl? Was it her face?”
It was a rather difficult question, so I scratched my cheek and asked why she wanted to know.
“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”
“Just… it’s strange that you already have a betrothed when I don’t yet?”
“You sure find a lot of things strange.”
I thought about the reason I had come to like Dokgo Rin. Sure, her beauty was part of it, but the biggest reason was probably that she had told me she liked me first. And the fact that those feelings weren’t fleeting but constant was another reason I had fallen for her.
When Tang Soso heard my answer, she looked shocked. “Dokgo Rin confessed to you first?”
“Yeah.”
“No way! What could she possibly be lacking?!”
“The person herself is standing right here and you say that so easily.”
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“…Well, compared to Rin, I do have a lot of shortcomings.”
Aside from the fact that her love was a little heavy, she didn’t really have any major flaws. Besides, yanderes could evolve into mega-deres depending on the situation. In other words, it was all up to me.
After chatting with me a little longer, Tang Soso told me to let her know if I needed anything else and left the room. Left alone, I began stripping off my clothes to wash up.
Tang Soso returned exactly one meal’s time later.
“Mm, you look much better now that you’re clean.”
She stared at my face with an interested expression.
“I am pretty handsome, aren’t I?”
When I joked like that, Tang Soso looked dumbfounded. “You’re not embarrassed saying that about yourself?”
“It’s the truth, so what’s the problem?”
“But why have you been speaking casually to me since earlier? You use polite speech with Dokgo Rin.”
“From the looks of it, we’re about the same age. Using polite speech from the start would feel awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“Who decided that? It’s not up to you, it’s up to me.”
“What does it matter who decides? As long as it’s comfortable, that’s all that counts.”
“Hmph. Do whatever you want.”
She turned her head away with a huff. If she really hated it, she would have forbidden it outright, so the fact that she was letting me speak casually probably meant she didn’t mind. As I followed her toward the dining hall, I asked, “By the way, why does your grandfather only show favoritism toward Rin? You’re his granddaughter too.”
Tang Soso snorted. “Grandfather used to adore his youngest daughter, Tang Mi-ryeong. But because she married a man around the same age as him, he suffered a lot emotionally. Then a granddaughter who looks exactly like that daughter was born, so of course he thinks she’s adorable to death.”
“Rin’s mother is your aunt, right? Why do you call her by name?”
“That’s my business.”
The fact that she didn’t back down even once showed that she really was a member of the Tang family, famous for their ruthlessness. Anyway, most of my questions had been answered, so I decided to keep my mouth shut until we reached the dining hall.
Since the person who had been chatting with her suddenly went silent, Tang Soso glanced at me nervously and asked, “Are you sulking?”
“No.”
“Then why did you suddenly stop talking?”
“I just don’t have anything to say. We’re not even acquaintances, and we only met today.”
Apparently finding that reasonable, Tang Soso thought for a moment before asking me, “Do you have any favorite foods?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“I need to know your tastes so I can recommend restaurants. There are tons of great places to eat in Chengdu.”
I hadn’t expected the conversation to turn to food, but it was still a safe topic, so I decided to repay her kindness. While we walked and chatted casually about food, we soon arrived in front of the dining hall. I carefully opened the door and stepped inside. Warm, freshly prepared dishes that looked like they had just been set out greeted me.
“Welcome, Chilbok.”
Dokgo Rin, seated at the head of the table, waved at me with a bright smile. At first I thought it was just a greeting, but on closer look she was signaling me to sit beside her. I started walking toward her to follow her wish, but Tang Ho-chang, who was also sitting at the head, cleared his throat loudly.
“Sorry, but your seat is over here.”
He pointed to the seat directly opposite Dokgo Rin. Faced with two completely opposing positions, I looked back and forth between them with a bewildered expression. Of course, there was no easy solution. After a moment of hesitation, I chose the most peaceful option.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
I sat down right next to Dokgo Rin. As long as she was right in front of me, Tang Ho-chang wouldn’t be able to pull any dirty tricks.