Being Spoiled (1)
Acting Spoiled (1)
Being Spoiled (1)
I needed to be stabbed by Baek A-rin's spear.
To be precise, I needed an attack that poured an Authority directly into me. If I wanted to save Baek A-rin safely, that extra "follow-up" step was necessary.
The plan was meticulously laid, and it played out exactly as intended. The outcome was good, too.
'Ugh... I was supposed to see her right away...!'
I never thought the plan was flawless.
It had been effective. There was no more certain way to save Baek A-rin.
But I failed to consider Baek A-rin's heart.
I could make the excuse that there was no other way, but that wouldn't heal a wounded heart. That was why I had wanted to meet her as soon as possible. And yet...
'That son of a bitch snake.'
The plan had gone so far off track.
Waking up in Taesan's territory was my own oversight, but the critical blow was the Tower Master of the Dead.
How much time had the invasion and its aftermath devoured?
Gritting my teeth, I activated an Authority.
The Spatial Isolation had long since crumbled. Unhindered, the Authority of Space coiled around my body and dispatched me to the designated coordinates.
- Tap
"...I have been waiting for you."
A guide already stood at the leap point I had informed them of in advance.
Kim Yu-yeon, the head steward of the Changhae family.
"...?"
Her gaze had been fixed straight ahead. She blinked, then lowered her eyes and finally spotted me, bowing deeply at the waist.
Her manner was exceedingly courteous and reverent. The weight of it made me uncomfortable, and I shook my head slightly.
- You didn't need to come all the way out here to greet me...
"How could I possibly offer a meager welcome to the benefactor of my family and my child?"
Murmuring that, Kim Yu-yeon lifted her head.
Her complexion was not well, to put it kindly. Her face was steeped in fatigue and worry, and my conscience took a sharp stab.
The air against my skin was frigid. The lingering effect of the Tower of Bitter Cold's descent and the rampage of the Tower Master of Bitter Cold's Incarnation.
Only such a subtle trace remained because I had resolved it in one stroke.
That, combined with the earlier subjugation of Aupreut, made me a benefactor of the family.
As for being a benefactor of her child... that came from freeing Baek A-rin of her curse.
But the process and the aftermath were nothing I could feel proud of in front of Baek A-rin's mother...
"I know this is discourteous, but may I escort you to her immediately?"
- Yes, yes... I'd actually be the one asking that of you.
At my reply, Kim Yu-yeon quickly turned around. I followed her silent guidance, noting how visibly anxious she was.
Our steps carried us into a white castle.
A pure-white castle, like snow.
The main house of the Changhae family, where the family head and other key figures resided.
- Clank
As I observed the castle's structure, a clanking sound came from beside me.
A weighty sound, keeping pace next to me.
White armor covering from head to toe. Behind her back, five-colored wings formed of mana were folded neatly.
- It's safe here. You really didn't have to follow me...
- What kingdom sends its king off to another region without a guard?
- That's true, but... how's the armor? It's better than what you wore during the war, isn't it?
The identity of the imposing knight clad in that splendid armor was Seo-yul.
I had hurriedly made that armor for her.
- Dad, the armor I wore back then was very good armor, too.
- It was woefully insufficient for you to wear, Seo-yul.
It had satisfied the bare minimum functionality, but its performance fell vastly short of my hopes.
Later, I intended to pour my heart and soul into making her a proper set of armor.
Fortunately, some excellent materials had just come into my possession.
That soul-wrestling match (a real one) with the Tower Master of the Dead.
In the process, the Earth Dragon's blood and flesh had spilled out everywhere... and the spirits had tidily collected the scales in particular for me.
They all kept doing only endearing things. I was so proud of them that I showered them with kisses as a reward.
'If I build it around that dragon bastard's scales, it should turn out well.'
Having thought that far, I closed my hand. The fingers I wriggled trembled slightly.
I had tried thinking about work to escape my anxiety, but it didn't go as I wanted.
"This is the place."
The moment we arrived at the door where Baek A-rin was, my anxiety surged a hundredfold.
"As I mentioned, she has been resting and stabilizing inside her room since that day. There were no concerning emergencies, but psychologically, she is in a fragile state."
- Yes...
"After contact was cut off midway last time... it was dangerous, but thankfully, her condition has improved ever since she was able to reach you again."
But she still wouldn't be completely well.
At the words Kim Yu-yeon left unspoken, my shoulders shrank inward.
My anxiety kept rearing its head.
Now freed from the curse of Bitter Cold, would Baek A-rin still love me?
Or would she be disappointed that I had manipulated her actions, making her stab the spear with her own hand? Would she find it repulsive?
Either way, it was a hypothesis I didn't want to imagine.
- Hah, haah...
But I couldn't just stand here shifting my weight from foot to foot after coming all the way to her door. I let out a long breath and nodded. Kim Yu-yeon stepped aside, next to the door.
- Seo-yul, I'll be back.
Seo-yul bowed her head with crisp formality.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
- Hmph... Come back soon.
Her spoken words and her sound transmission carried two different emotions.
With an awkward smile, I placed my hand on the door handle.
The door opened without a single creak. I stepped inside and quietly closed it behind me.
The room was so spacious you could call it a building in its own right.
It was filled with luxurious furniture and artwork, yet it felt clean and uncluttered, without the slightest sense of busyness.
Having observed that much, I opened my eyes.
In the middle of my blurred vision, I saw Baek A-rin leaning back against the headboard of the bed, bathed in sunlight.
The Baek A-rin I knew. A white, fluttery, comfortable set of pajamas and a blanket lightly covering her body.
But the atmosphere was vastly different.
The Mask that had blocked my perception was gone.
Her bare face, etched with pallor, openly revealed the emotions wavering there. A gloomy atmosphere streamed out, unfiltered.
"...Ah..."
Baek A-rin, who had been crumpling the blanket, parted her lips slightly.
Her dull blue eyes flew wide open, and my figure was reflected in them. Soon, a single tear streaked down her cheek.
"Ah, A-rin..."
At that sight, tears welled up in my own eyes. An unconstrained voice escaped my open mouth. Baek A-rin's eyes, which had been shedding tears in heavy drops, wavered.
Unable to hold back my surging emotions, I dashed forward—then froze, my leg poised over the bed, as my earlier anxiety came rushing back.
"Ha... Ha-yul..."
Baek A-rin's hand slowly reached out to me and cupped my face.
She gently stroked my cheek, carefully lifted me, and pulled me into a tight embrace.
Her hands roamed over my head and back.
As if she were convincing herself of my existence, a fine tremor ran through her shoulders, and she drew me deeper into her arms.
Every petty doubt vanished entirely in that embrace.
"I-I... I thought you were dead, Ha-yul..."
"I'm not dead... sniff... I told you I'd be okay..."
"The spear... you stabbed yourself, froze... collapsed... hic... the video suddenly... cut off... the invasion... heuk... they said a war... broke out... heuk..."
"The one who started the war is dead. I killed him. I burned the bastard who messed with you, too, and I'm going to hunt him down and finish him personally later. So now... I'm really okay."
I wrapped my arms tightly around Baek A-rin's waist as well. Responding to her touch, I nestled further into her embrace.
Through her clothes and the blanket, Baek A-rin's soft skin pressed against me.
Within it, I no longer felt the chill that had once been there.
A faint but definite warmth was slowly blooming.
- Thump... Thump... Thump...
Through her chest where I had buried myself, the sound of a heart reached me.
The whole, true sound of Baek A-rin's heart.
Baek A-rin no longer bore any curse.
Not a single parasite remained to toy with my Baek A-rin as it pleased.
A satisfied smile spread at the free, vivid vibrations.
.
.
.
For a while I stayed wrapped tight in Baek A-rin's embrace.
The arms pressing and stroking my head and back held strength.
But the moment she pulled me closer or held me directly, she was so careful, as though handling glasswork.
'Happiness...'
Happiness welled up from deep in my chest.
Smiling goofily, I buried my face in her full chest.
The warmth rising from her skin seeped into my cheeks.
That wasn't the only change.
Now that I'd finally kissed Baek A-rin, I could look at her and really take her in with my eyes.
And when I rubbed my nose to her skin... I could breathe in Baek A-rin's scent all I wanted.
The senses I'd longed for so much. I couldn't even guess how long I'd waited for today.
When this day came, I'd sworn I would cling to Baek A-rin all day and leave my mark on her.
'...But...'
A lot of the plan had gone off track.
"A-rin, please have some of this."
I stopped nuzzling into her revealed cleavage, raised myself a little, and pulled a bowl from subspace that I'd brought along.
Seafood porridge I'd made before coming. I'd made it myself after Kim Yu-yeon told me A-rin still wasn't feeling well inside.
"Here... ah..."
Using Calamity Flame to keep the porridge at just the right warmth, I scooped some up on a spoon and held it out.
"You made this yourself, Ha-yul..."
"Yep, take a bite and tell me how it tastes."
"Ahaha... there's no way it could be bad."
Before she'd even tasted it, Baek A-rin's eyes filled with tears as she opened her mouth.
"Really... really... thank you..."
After a few careful chews, Baek A-rin pulled me back into a hug.
"...I'm sorry..."
This was how it went.
Even as warm feelings kept pouring out,
a dark expression would surface, brimming with bitterness and guilt.
It felt like gravel had settled in my chest.
Thankfully, Baek A-rin didn't hold any ill will toward me.
But the guilt stayed.
In the way she looked at me, in the hands that stroked me... guilt and a sense of indebtedness dripped from everything she did.
It was better than being hated, but I absolutely couldn't bear to see Baek A-rin—the one I'd thrown my body away to save—in pain.
There wasn't a neat solution, though.
Wounds of the heart are always like that.
I planned to stick close to Baek A-rin for a few days, but I couldn't be sure those few days would bring any real improvement.
'...Mmm...'
A lightbulb flickered in my head while I considered what to do.
Soon after, a question mark joined it.
Is this right? I had no idea if it would work; if it didn't, I might die of embarrassment.
But Baek A-rin was hurting, so what did my own shame matter?
Even if it wasn't the answer, I had to try everything I could.
"A-rin, just a moment..."
"Wh-What? H-Huh? Wait, where are you going...?"
"I'm absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not going anywhere. I'll be right back... within three minutes."
I managed to calm Baek A-rin as her eyes grew dark and clouded, then slipped out the door.
I made sure to meet her eyes one last time to reassure her before I went.
* * *
The human heart cannot be precisely defined.
The heart is capricious; its judgments shift randomly with the moment and the situation.
Everyone knows that.
But Baek A-rin was feeling the truth of it for the first time in a very long while.
The Curse of Bitter Cold.
The restraint that had been sealing away her freedom, senses, and emotions since childhood had burned away.
She was no longer forced into a future. Her frozen, numbed senses had awakened. Her suppressed emotions had swelled, rich and abundant.
'It hurts.'
Baek A-rin stared at the door Lee Ha-yul had left through and bit her lip.
How long had it been? Five seconds? Ten? A few breaths, that was all, yet her heart shook unsteadily.
The warmth and presence that had filled her arms vanished. Her stomach churned, and her breath caught tight.
As her senses and emotions came back to life, the pain in her body and heart revived along with them.
For Baek A-rin, who had felt nothing but limited stimuli ever since she was very young, it was an unbearably intense sensation.
'...It hurts...'
Had it been thirty seconds? Her clenched hands trembled faintly.
Looking at Lee Ha-yul made her happy. The scent reaching her nose, the warmth and presence of Lee Ha-yul held in her arms, filled her with happiness.
...And seeing Lee Ha-yul nestled so perfectly in her arms made her heart ache like it was being torn apart.
The memory surfaced: the chill of the spear she'd gripped, its tip tearing skin and muscle, scraping bone, piercing the heart.
"Ugh... urp..."
Her shoulders heaved with a violent surge of nausea. Baek A-rin clapped a hand over her mouth.
Vivid and stimulating... self-loathing crushed her mind into a miserable mess.
- Creeak...
At that exact moment, the door opened with a sound that had no business being there.
- Peek!
Still covering her mouth, Baek A-rin turned her head. Lee Ha-yul had poked his head through the gap in the door.
That lovable face and action stirred both guilt and self-loathing at once.
Just as the two conflicting emotions were about to crash together inside Baek A-rin's head—
- Peek!
"...Huh?"
Lee Ha-yul had poked his head in. Not that he'd drawn it back and stuck it out again.
Beside the original Lee Ha-yul... another Lee Ha-yul poked his head in.
'A doppelganger...?'
No, it felt different from the Incarnation technique clones Lee Ha-yul had used before.
The two Lee Ha-yuls, who'd been gauging her reaction, scurried over and hopped lightly onto the bed.
"Ha-yul...?"
The two Lee Ha-yuls crawled toward her on their knees, inching closer.
"...P-... pet me."
"Huh...? Ah..."
As Baek A-rin blinked blankly, the two Lee Ha-yuls seemed to hesitate for a moment, then squeezed their eyes shut and abruptly latched onto her.
Eyes round, Baek A-rin held both Lee Ha-yuls in her arms.
One hand wrapped around a waist; the other stroked a Lee Ha-yul's head.
The Lee Ha-yul getting his head stroked broke into a wide, loose expression.
At that adorable sight, Baek A-rin's face relaxed too, only to begin growing damp once more—
"Me too... pet me too..."
"Ah."
The Lee Ha-yul who hadn't been petted rubbed his head against her chest. Baek A-rin lifted the hand that had been around his waist and stroked his head.
"Mm... me, me too..."
"Ah... hold on..."
The moment her attention scattered even a little, the Lee Ha-yul who'd originally been getting his head stroked whined and burrowed deeper into her embrace.
"Why aren't you petting me... hurry up..."
If she paid attention to the left Lee Ha-yul, the right Lee Ha-yul—
"Hug me quick... hmph, hurryyy...!"
If she paid attention to the right Lee Ha-yul, the left Lee Ha-yul—
"Nooo... hug me tighter...!"
"I don't wanna let go... hug me harder...!"
"W-Wait..."
If she tried to tend to both at once, the two of them whined together.
In a daze, Baek A-rin took in the two Lee Ha-yuls' whining and soothed them, coaxing them.
Their spoiled demands were so fierce that she didn't even have a single corner of her heart left to feel guilt.
* * *
