Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Sister?
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“Eat your fill of waffles.”
Jahwa-yeon let out a laugh, mocking Seol Yu-wol’s clumsy order.
“I’ll have the same.”
She then placed the exact same order as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
No one could tell if she had finally accepted the harsh reality that there were no brownies, or if she’d never known how to order in the first place.
The atmosphere between them was far from ordinary.
Even the staff in the commercial district inside the isolation facility had to be assigned at least C-rank hunters to prepare for any contingencies.
After all, no one knew what harm the otherworlders residing within might cause.
That was why the waffle shop part-timer could sense it.
The aura flowing between the two unrealistically beautiful women standing before him was anything but normal.
In the end, the only thing the poor part-timer could do was sweat bullets as he piled on the cream.
“Have a good one…!”
He’d worried they might skip out without paying, but thankfully, both women settled up properly before leaving.
Seol Yu-wol whipped her head around and plopped down on a bench as far from Jahwa-yeon as possible.
She stared at the waffle in her hand.
Thick white cream, soft as tofu.
There was someone irritatingly present right in front of her eyes.
But right now, she just wanted to think about the Physician.
However, at that moment…
“Well now… compared to what the Physician made, this is downright crude.”
Jahwa-yeon took a bite of her waffle, furrowed her brow, and spoke.
Then, as if it were the most obvious thing, she plopped down right next to Seol Yu-wol.
Seol bristled warily, puffing up like a cat and hunching her body, but Jahwa-yeon paid it no mind.
“Next time, I’ll have to order the Physician to make it himself. He’s been wandering outside far too much lately.”
Of course, Jahwa-yeon would never actually say such a thing.
She’d never once treated the Physician as her subordinate, after all. She was only saying it.
Munch, munch.
She muttered to herself like that, her face full of dissatisfaction as she continued eating her waffle.
But those final words struck a nerve with Seol Yu-wol.
‘Wandering outside?’
And ordering him around, no less?
Seol Yu-wol’s blue eyes grew ice-cold.
Whoever the Physician met or wherever he went was entirely his freedom.
Yet this woman spoke as if he were her underling.
It had been bothering her all along.
The very first sight she’d witnessed upon arriving in this world.
The Physician and the Heavenly Demon. And another woman who seemed like some kind of mysterious beast.
After their honest conversation resolved the issue…
Though the existence of… no, of Jahwa-yeon had lingered in her mind, she’d tried her best to ignore it.
From her perspective, raised in the Central Plains, that was how it was.
A man doing his work in the outside world might meet any number of women, right?
The stronger and more capable the man, the more women followed him—it was only natural.
That was something to envy, not to be jealous of.
Yes. A man’s women weren’t supposed to envy each other… they were supposed to generously embrace it all, supporting their husband so he could focus solely on his outer duties. That was the virtue she’d heard.
Of course, Seol Yu-wol’s mother hadn’t thought that way.
She’d taught her daughter to stand tall her whole life without bowing to any man, relying on her own strength…
Seol Yu-wol had thirsted for her kind father’s warmth her entire life.
Behind her mother’s back—always sharp-edged, shouldering every responsibility herself—she’d dreamed of the opposite.
A normal, warm family brimming with affection.
Thus, a woman had to respect all of a man’s actions.
Seol Yu-wol could not tolerate Jahwa-yeon’s intrusion.
“He…”
Seol Yu-wol set down her waffle and opened her mouth in a cold voice.
“…is not someone you can order around.”
At her sudden counterattack, Jahwa-yeon paused mid-chew and turned her head.
A spark of interest lit up in Jahwa-yeon’s eyes.
“Oh ho.”
A smile curled at the corners of Jahwa-yeon’s mouth.
“So now you can speak up.”
From Jahwa-yeon’s perspective, it was only natural to be surprised.
Ever since that day, Seol Yu-wol hadn’t spoken a word to her.
In the past.
Before being transferred to this world.
There had been a time when she wandered the martial world not as the lord of the Demonic Cult, but as the disciple of a hidden eccentric.
The previous Heavenly Demon had ordered her to gain as much experience as possible before ascending to the throne.
‘The Righteous Factions are weak.’
That was her first conclusion upon venturing into the world.
Hypocrisy and empty pretenses of grand justice. Their swords were dull, their eyes clouded.
Dragon-Phoenix Assembly.
In that childish playground where the Righteous Factions’ young talents vied for supremacy, Jahwa-yeon thought there was nothing to gain.
Until she met one person.
Seol Yu-wol.
Every warrior’s sword carries emotion.
Anger, joy, mercy, or… murderous intent.
But there was no emotion whatsoever in Seol Yu-wol’s strikes.
It was utterly empty.
Thus, Jahwa-yeon couldn’t read it.
Couldn’t read her sword.
That indifferent blade sliced through Jahwa-yeon’s arrogance.
It was a shocking defeat.
Afterward, Jahwa-yeon took an interest in Seol Yu-wol.
She began following her.
To uncover the source of that incomprehensible strength.
But what Jahwa-yeon discovered was the emptiness hidden behind that wondrous talent.
Seol Yu-wol was merely living without will, under her mother’s shadow.
Yes.
Like a wooden puppet.
The reason no emotion rode her sword was that she had none.
The source of her strength was ignoring everything but her mother’s teachings.
‘She can grow strong like this, but she’ll never break through the wall.’
So Jahwa-yeon thought.
Blindly following orders would never let one transcend.
And indeed, it was so.
At some point, Seol Yu-wol could no longer keep pace with Jahwa-yeon’s growth.
Normally, the old Jahwa-yeon would have lost interest and left…
Yet they became close friends.
Seol Yu-wol followed her, calling her “Yeon unnie,” and Jahwa-yeon didn’t dislike the relationship.
For one who had always reigned as an absolute, Seol Yu-wol was a novel existence.
A strange new emotion she felt for the first time.
But it all shattered to pieces when Jahwa-yeon revealed her true identity and prepared to return to the Demonic Cult.
That day was a full moon night.
As always, Jahwa-yeon waited for Seol Yu-wol’s training to end.
And then… bid farewell.
“I must return now.”
“…Return where?”
Anxiety mixed into Seol Yu-wol’s voice.
That day, Jahwa-yeon revealed her true self.
Her sword-black demonic qi dyed her pristine Daoist robes black.
“Nothing changes. You’re my little sister, and I’m your big sister, aren’t I?”
“……”
Seol Yu-wol fell silent, gripped by profound betrayal.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand.
Jahwa-yeon simply didn’t care.
Being the lord of the Demonic Cult and being friends with Seol Yu-wol were entirely separate matters, in her mind.
Lately in the Central Plains, mysterious disappearances were rampant, and relations between the Righteous Factions and Demonic Cult shifted by the moment.
The old era of baring blades at each other was fading.
Of course, if Seol Yu-wol herself chose to distance herself, Jahwa-yeon would have accepted it.
A relationship started on lies from the beginning.
If she lacked the will to rebuild it herself, there was no helping it.
For the last time, Jahwa-yeon extended her hand to her one and only friend.
But Seol Yu-wol did not take it.
She hesitated for a long while before finally speaking.
“I’ll… report to Mother.”
And so their bond was severed.
However, that choice had never truly been Seol Yu-wol’s.
She had merely followed her mother’s words, not her own will.
‘Relations may be changing, but stay away from their filthy blood.’
Her mother Yi Seo-ryeong’s command was absolute to Seol Yu-wol.
In the end, Seol Yu-wol turned her back on Jahwa-yeon, her one true friend.
Their bond ended in emptiness.
And yet now…
That wooden puppet…
Was trying to lecture her of her own volition.
“Why not call me ‘Yeon unnie’ like back then?”
Jahwa-yeon asked, her lips curling upward.
Normally, Seol Yu-wol would have clamped her mouth shut, but she had changed too.
“I hold no grudge against you anymore. But that doesn’t mean I have any fondness either.”
Seol Yu-wol’s blue eyes met Jahwa-yeon’s squarely.
‘Changed.’
So Jahwa-yeon thought.
It certainly seemed so.
Even back when she trailed after her, calling her “Yeon unnie,” this girl had never once met her eyes properly.
Jahwa-yeon found the change intriguing.
“Have you decided where you’re going?”
“I have deci… no, that’s not it. The Physician isn’t someone you can treat so casually.”
Seol Yu-wol started to answer before stubbornly voicing her opinion.
“I know.”
“……”
What?
With the arrogantly infamous Heavenly Demon agreeing so readily, she had nothing to say.
“……”
“If you haven’t, how about coming under me?”
Jahwa-yeon continued, setting down her waffle with the cream neatly picked out.
“It’d be far more fun than under your mother…”
“No.”
Seol Yu-wol whipped her head away.
“I will serve the Physician.”
She’d take a position at the Association to guard his safety.
After that horrific kidnapping incident.
Seol Yu-wol had felt her own powerlessness.
Unable to do anything but watch as the Physician fell into danger.
The helplessness and terror she’d felt then. And the relief when she finally saw him again.
In that moment, Seol Yu-wol realized.
It was time to repay the salvation she’d received.
“I see. How commendable, vowing to serve my consort.”
“?”
Jahwa-yeon chuckled as she said it.
Seol Yu-wol furrowed her brow in thought.
Consort?
Consort meant…
The husband of a princess…
Seol Yu-wol’s head, which had turned away, creaked back toward Jahwa-yeon like rusty metal.
“Sis, what did you just say?”
It was her first use of informal speech.