Chapter 519: Wouldn't You Like to Be an Idol?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 519: Wouldn't You Like to Be an Idol?
The moment I opened the door and stepped inside, my eyes met with a woman with pure white hair sitting on the bed.
It was a familiar face.
Anastasia Danilova.
She was the White Tower Lord's only daughter, and the victim of the curse I had to resolve, one way or another.
‘Hmm… Maybe it’s because they aren’t blood-related, but she doesn’t really look like the Tower Lord.’
While she had been the spitting image of the Tower Lord when asleep, her entire impression changed the moment she opened her eyes.
Unlike the Tower Lord, who always gave off the vibe of a cold, aloof beauty, Anastasia looked like a kind-hearted princess straight out of a fairy tale, with strikingly innocent eyes.
Moreover, based on looks alone, the Tower Lord appeared to be in her late twenties, while Anastasia looked to be in her early twenties.
In fact, she could even pass for a teenager.
“Um… who are you…?”
Just as I was unwittingly lost in a dangerous thought, a voice as clear and lovely as rolling jade beads reached my ears.
Anastasia was staring at me intently with wary eyes.
She looked like she was about to call for the Tower Lord at any moment, so I quickly put on a friendly smile.
“My apologies for the late introduction. I am Kang Hyun-woo, a 2nd Grade Elementalist from the Gray Magic Tower.”
Screech—
I pulled a nearby chair over and sat down beside the bed.
A large, strange man had not only barged into her bedroom unannounced, but was now sitting right beside her, looking down at her?
For someone who could barely even sit up on her own, the situation was bound to feel threatening.
“Ah…”
When I met her gaze and offered a gentle smile, Anastasia's face flushed slightly.
Seen up close, her skin was incredibly clear and translucent.
Although it was a little pale from the effects of the curse.
“I’ve come to lift the curse that has been placed upon you, Lady Anastasia.”
“Lift the curse…”
Her expression darkened noticeably at my words.
“…Thank you for the offer, but His Holiness the Pope has already said it's impossible to lift it.”
“I am aware. However, I asked the Tower Lord for this opportunity out of a desire to be of help, however small.”
“…Even with His Holiness's divine power and the holy relics from the Vatican, the most they could do was slow the curse's progression. More importantly, the curse on me affects those around me. Thankfully, my mother and His Holiness were fine, but for a mage like you, there's a chance something could happen…”
“I'll be fine.”
I wore a confident expression.
“There is nothing for you to worry about, Lady Anastasia. After all, it's the doctor who worries about the patient, not the other way around, wouldn't you agree?”
“…”
“Of course, compared to the Tower Lord, I'm just a novice who's barely taken his first steps, so I can certainly empathize with your concerns, Lady Anastasia.”
“N-no, that's not what I meant…”
“But at the very least, I don't disguise my own incompetence with the word 'impossible'.”
“?!”
In that moment, Anastasia's face hardened.
It was a perfectly natural reaction, as I had just indirectly called the Pope incompetent.
If an inquisitor from the Vatican had been here, they would have tried to behead me on the spot for impiety and blasphemy.
“It was a joke. I volunteered because I have my reasons to be confident. If you would trust me, Lady Anastasia, I will do my utmost to break the curse.”
Russia is a country where the church's influence is as strong as anywhere in Europe. How many people in a place like that would dare criticize the Pope?
It might be safer to curse the dictator in the Kremlin.
It wouldn't have been strange at all if Anastasia had thrown me out right then and there, but instead, she slowly nodded with a look of determination in her eyes.
Was her faith not that deep, or was her desire to break the curse simply more desperate?
“Um… so, are we starting the treatment now…?”
Anastasia was clearly nervous.
I gave a faint smile and shook my head.
“Unfortunately, I'm not quite ready yet. I was looking around the mansion today when I heard the bell, so I took the liberty of stopping by to see what was happening. I heard you're only awake for thirty minutes a day, so I suppose I was lucky.”
That part was sincere.
Even I was reluctant to just start treating a person who was asleep because of a curse.
I wanted to speak with her in person, even if just for a little while.
Besides, if Anastasia refused my offer, the Tower Lord might not cooperate with this matter either.
In the worst-case scenario, I'd be kicked out of the mansion without even getting to try lifting the curse.
‘I should build some rapport with her before that happens.’
Some might ask why I'm being so deferential when they're the ones in a hurry.
That's half right and half wrong.
Because I was in a hurry, too.
As I've said repeatedly, if I fail to lift the curse, a monster beyond common sense—an Archmage—will join Belmoras's side.
And she, with her soul stolen by a demon, would end up attacking humanity.
I had too much to protect to handle a variable of that magnitude.
My top priority right now was to succeed in lifting the curse, no matter what, to prevent such a situation from occurring.
“Um, Sir Mage…?”
“You don't need to use honorifics. Please, call me whatever you're comfortable with.”
“…Then, would it be all right to call you Hyun-woo?”
“Of course.”
I smiled gently to create as comfortable an atmosphere as possible for our conversation.
But Anastasia just whipped her head away.
It seemed she was the type to be very shy around strangers.
‘…Should I have brought some dessert?’
Normally, I keep my inventory stocked with all sorts of food—Korean, Japanese, Western, and even after-meal desserts—but because Sister Serin and Wi Ryeong-ah love sweets so much, my dessert stock was completely empty.
I was planning to restock soon, but the timing was unfortunate.
“Th-then… could you also call me casually, Hyun-woo…?”
“Pardon?”
Anastasia fidgeted with her fingers as she looked at me.
“When you use honorifics, it makes me feel like there's a big age gap between us… Other people call me Ana.”
“…But for a mere quasi-noble like myself to address you so informally, Lady Anastasia, could be problematic in many ways.”
They may be a fallen house now, as you can see, but the Danilova family was once one of the most renowned and respected count families in Russia.
Although the class system was abolished when the dictatorial regime came to power, nobles were still respected in society, whether openly or not.
Above all, given the Tower Lord's personality, she wouldn't welcome me getting friendlier than necessary with her daughter.
So it would be better to restrain myself as much as possible…
“Would it be so wrong…?”
“…Lady Ana.”
“Ah…! Yes!”
But I couldn't turn away from Anastasia, who was looking at me with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.
‘…I'll just have to endure a bit of nagging later.’
Besides, when I thought about it carefully, this was also an opportunity.
The friendlier I became with Anastasia, the less she would resist me, and the more likely she would be to accept my proposal.
“Since you're from the Gray Magic Tower, does that mean you're from Korea?”
“Yes, as you can see, I'm a native Korean through and through.”
“Wow… I've actually never seen a pure-blooded human before.”
“Mixed blood is common in the West. Still, there are quite a few in Korea.”
Perhaps due to the influence of Confucian culture, relationships and marriages between different races aren't common in Korea.
Of course, the younger generation doesn't seem to care much these days, but even in my parents' generation, there was a strong perception that humans should be with humans, and beast-kin with beast-kin.
The West, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.
It was perfectly natural for different races to date, form families, and have children.
Nobles, however, were the exception.
They still preferred to marry within their own kind.
For the sake of preserving the purity of their bloodline.
“So humans really don't have horns or tails? And no scales, it seems…”
“To people who don't know, you would look human too, Lady Ana. I only realized the Tower Lord was of a different race after I heard about the existence of a species called ice fairies.”
Many people speculated that the Tower Lord was a long-lived race of mixed blood, but since she had no distinct physical characteristics, her exact race was unknown.
The ice fairy race probably hasn't been properly studied either.
But that wasn't particularly surprising.
There were surprisingly many races still unknown to people.
“Still, I think I now know a characteristic unique to ice fairies.”
“There is…?”
“Yes.”
I nodded with a determined expression.
The pure white hair and the translucent skin were certainly distinct features, but there was something even more important.
“You're beautiful.”
“…Pardon?”
Anastasia's eyes, which had been looking at me with anticipation, widened slightly.
“Wh-what do you mean…”
Her face instantly turned as red as a ripe persimmon.
“I was on the fence when I met the Tower Lord, but after meeting you, Lady Ana, I'm now certain.”
If the Tower Lord had the definite look of an actress, Anastasia was truly a once-in-a-millennium idol.
She could go on stage right now without any makeup.
“If I were the CEO of an entertainment agency, I would have scouted you immediately, Lady Ana. Within three years of your debut, you could not only break into the American market but also easily get your face on the electronic billboards at Piccadilly Circus in London, a place known as a wasteland for idols.”
Of course, I might have hesitated a little.
Because if she debuted in a group, Anastasia would clearly monopolize all the public's attention.
The other members would just become background dancers.
But to debut her as a solo artist… as I just said, she has the face of an idol.
“This is my favorite girl group. Would it be okay if I showed you one of their music videos? I'm sure you'll fall for them once you see it, Lady Ana—”
“Who said you could come in here without permission?”
Shiver—
A cold voice from right behind me sent shivers down my entire spine.
I couldn't bring myself to continue speaking or even turn around.
Crack- crackle—
Hearing the ominous sound by my ear, I carefully lowered my gaze.
Just as I'd expected, transparent ice was creeping up my ankles, trapping me.
I calmly collected my breath and opened my mouth.
“…I was in the middle of a preliminary examination for a smooth treatment proce—”
FWOOSH—!!!!!
Before I could even finish my sentence, cold ice completely covered my vision.