Chapter 31
Stand tall, Queen of Kaien. Yet in my quarters, she was little more than a massive brown housecat—or perhaps like a daughter figure, just beginning to awaken to human emotions after shedding her deep-seated paranoia. But today, Mirien's expression was the chilling, predatory one I'd first seen back in Kaien.
"Mirien, she was just a customer. Nothing happened. Nothing at all."
"What kind of customer gazes at you with eyes half-melted in desire? It was a look like she could've mated with you right then and there."
My eyes widened at her words. "You didn't... watch us, did you?"
"I watched through the highest-grade spirit mark etched on your body. Thinking I wouldn't know would be the real surprise."
Mirien's voice was calm. A faint smile played on her lips. But for some reason, she looked utterly furious—and deeply confused at the same time.
"You seem awfully popular. Well, given your abilities, it'd be stranger if women didn't flock to you. If you plan to drag one into your bedchamber, just tell me. I won't visit that night."
"No, nothing like that. She was just a customer who'd doused herself in perfume, that's all. Mirien, I don't have a girlfriend. I haven't given my heart to anyone."
And strangely, at those words, Mirien flashed an even angrier smile.
"No one you've given your heart to?"
"Yes."
"Then what am I to you? Am I just some nuisance who comes every night begging to be held and touched? Is that it?"
I gazed silently at the fuming Mirien. Still...
[The target's future and your future are closely intertwined.]
[Queen Mirien's future cannot be read.]
Her future was invisible to me. I let out a sigh and spread my arms toward Mirien.
"Come here, Mirien."
"I won't. Do you think I'm some pet who comes when you call and leaves when you say go?"
"I'll stroke your hair. Come on, just for a bit."
At my words, Mirien huffed for a long moment before cautiously approaching and leaning into my embrace. As I patted her back and stroked her hair, her ragged breathing gradually steadied.
"Mirien... are you jealous? Right now?"
She gently pushed me away. "I don't know. I don't even understand my own feelings. But seeing you with another woman... it doesn't sit well with me."
Mirien looked up at me slowly. Her eyes were deadly serious.
"Let me ask you one thing, Aiden."
"Yes."
"What am I to you? A tiresome visitor who shows up every night? Or some pitiful wretch you care for out of sympathy? Tell me—how do you see me?"
It was a tough question. A really tough one.
Romance? In my past life or this one, I'd never had the luxury. Back in my previous life in Korea, I'd grown up in a world of nothing but men—Mom's doing. The reason?
"You've got a strong peach blossom fate, kid."
"Peach blossom fate?"
"Women will flock to you. Lots of women. Best to keep your distance when your blood's running hot."
I didn't fully buy the whole "peach blossom" thing, but I'd never regretted following Mom's advice. Then, after she passed and I used her inheritance to finally attend university—right when I thought I might date someone—a drunk driver sent me reincarnating into this world.
Life in Yurtel after that? Busy. Busy. And busier still. Romance? Forget it—I was slinging plates at the restaurant just to eat, then running the fortune shop after my Divine Descent.
In short, neither Mirien nor I were strangers to virginity. We'd never had to answer questions like this before—and never needed to.
"I... don't really know."
Knowing it sounded frustrating, that was still the only answer I could give. Mirien let out a wry chuckle.
"You're just like me. You reek of a man who's never even held a woman's hand."
"Can't deny that."
And with that, the conversation ended.
"Enough. It was foolish of me to act out. Put me to bed."
Mirien acted as usual, and so did I. But that night, my mind was a whirlwind. Mirien and I—what were we? How should I treat her from now on...?
For the first time since my Divine Descent, a problem with no clear answer loomed before me.
In the service industry, troublesome customers are inevitable. Of course, most who came via the regional currency lottery system were pre-vetted, so real pains were rare. And even those few...
"Wh-what are you guys? Why... uwaaack!"
"This way, please. Sir."
...were swiftly dragged off by my waiting knight escorts for a mystical soup-up-the-nose experience, so they never became big issues.
The real headaches were the high-rankers dropping hundreds of thousands of runes on tickets to see me. Force wasn't an option. Instead, the problems came from them being too nice—or overly obsessed.
"Couldn't you meet my daughter just once, Great Sage? She's a wonderful girl, if I do say so myself."
"Thank you, but Countess, I'm not thinking about that yet."
The ones endlessly nagging for a daughter-meetup.
"Won't you come to my territory? I promise the best treatment."
"I'm content with my current situation. Sorry, Director."
"Come on... name your price. Anything you want. Please, Great Sage."
The desperate scouts with eyes bulging like mad dogs.
"Without a session with you, Great Sage, my anxiety won't fade. What should I do? I want to stay by your side all day. Hire me as staff? I'll clean if you say so."
One marchioness with depression even begged to be my cleaning lady.
These types couldn't get the nose-soup treatment, so I had no choice but to soothe them patiently and send them off.
And the pinnacle of such nuisances was the one right in front of me now.
"Lady White of Higarden."
"No. Call me by my name, like I told you last time. White."
Her sticky gaze was suffocating. She gently took my hand from the tarot cards.
"I came wondering if there's a chance for us today, Great Sage. Spent a fortune—Daddy was in tears."
"Thank you for visiting again."
"Money's nothing when it's to see your face. So? My future? Do we end up together? How many kids? You know, all that. Hoho!"
Lady White of Higarden wore her lovesick expression shamelessly. I had to scoot my chair back slightly as her foot slyly brushed my calf.
"I don't see a future where we marry."
"Eh, figures. I don't really believe in futures anyway. They change based on what you do now, right? So, what about me? Am I your type, Great Sage?"
To put it kindly, Lady White was innocent. Harshly? Brainless. No thoughts meant she could push like this relentlessly. I didn't want to hurt her—and knowing the fortune she'd spent to get here—I usually spun positive tales to ease her out. But today, she was crossing lines.
She giggled, brazenly lifting her skirt to flash her panties.
"Did you get the ones I sent last time? They arrived nice and wet, right? How were they?"
I sighed shortly, hardening my expression. I hadn't forgotten Chairman Boyer's advice. Wield power once you have it.
"Lady White of Higarden. I read people's pasts and futures to offer needed advice. This behavior is highly inappropriate."
My stern face and tone made hers stiffen.
"Why so serious, Great Sage? I'm your biggest fan."
"Don't visit like this. And stop with the burdensome gifts. If this continues, I'll have to blacklist you and your entire house from ticket auctions."
My harsh words froze her—then she started sniffling.
"...Even you think I'm ugly, don't you, Great Sage? Guys in society ignore me."
"You're beautiful. And in a way, pure. Your lack of popularity isn't looks—it's this behavior. Throwing yourself at men you like makes you seem cheap. Lady White."
I handed her a tissue.
"Be more dignified. You'll gain fans. No more aggressive pursuits. No easy tears. That'll solve your issues."
Her eyes widened. "Thank you, Great Sage."
"I really don't want visits like this. Don't come for this purpose again. Heed my warning."
Her joyful glow faded to gloom in an instant. So... transparent, inside and out.
"Still, thanks! I'll spread good word to my friends!"
With a final bright smile, Lady White left my consultation room. I slumped in my chair, drained.
"Well done, Great Sage."
"That's the last for today, right?"
"Yes."
"I need a break. Thanks for your hard work, knights."
"No trouble."
I closed the shop, rode the elevator to my quarters, soaked in the open-air bath, had room service for dinner, then sprawled on the bed. Pure bliss.
Mirien was especially late tonight. Maybe Kaien affairs kept her. A queen couldn't sneak out nightly without effort.
"Guess I'll enjoy sleeping alone for once."
As I pulled up the covers...
"I've given it thought."
Mirien's voice echoed from a dark corner. I threw off the half-covers.
"Mirien? You're late tonight."
Despite my sleepy grin, her face remained stiff.
"You once told me this: you hate physical relations without heart. You want a lover whose souls align."
She approached slowly. I nodded.
"Yes, I did."
Mirien quietly pushed my chest, laying me back on the bed. Shadows cloaked the room in an instant. And then...
"M-Mirien...?"
I realized things were veering into strange territory.
"But there's a problem with that. I know nothing of love. Nor do you. How would two clueless fools ever confirm aligned hearts? Even if we felt it, we might not recognize it as love."
She straddled me. No plea for head pats. No purring song request. Predator. Mirien wore the face of a beast eyeing prey.
"Confirming if our hearts match would take far too long. I found that frustrating. Unbearable."
"What are you doing right now?"
My voice trembled unwittingly. She caressed my cheek tenderly—yet her eyes grew fiercer.
"That Higarden chit—White or whatever—wagged her tail at you today. I saw it from the throne, consulting with the chiefs. An unfamiliar rage scorched my mind. A bit more, and I'd have unleashed your spirit mark to sever that vixen's hand."
"I handled it fine, Mirien. Haha. Ease up that glare—I'm getting scared."
To my awkward laugh, she tentatively touched my lips.
"I pondered deeply. The source of this rage. Why seeing you look at another woman enraged me so. Why I wanted to rip apart anyone you whispered sweetly to with these lips."
A growl seemed to rumble from her throat.
"It seems... I love you, Aiden."
The world's most terrifying love confession, delivered with a murderous glare, rang in my ears.
"I won't let another woman take you. Better to seize you now than dither and worry about when our feelings will match, only to lose you to someone else."
"Mirien, don't do this. W-what are you trying to do!"
Watching Mirien's hand slowly trace down my lips, past my chin, and further down, I cried out in surprise. Mirien did not stop her hand. Shadows slowly grabbed the back of my head, forcing me to meet her gaze.
There are only three times Dark Elves lock eyes. When listening to a prophecy. When fighting. And...
"Aiden. Do you love me?"
It sounded like a tiger that had starved for three days growling with a rabbit right in front of it.
"I-I don't really kno—"
"Let us do this. Here and now, I will take you."
"Pardon?"
"But I won't force you. If you don't want to, touch the crest of the sex slave carved into your forearm. And command me to step back. Then I will disappear from your sight. I will remove the slave crest and cleanly sort out my feelings for you. However..."
Finally, Mirien's hand, which had been traveling further and further down, reached a place too embarrassing to say out loud.
"If you have even the slightest bit of feelings for me. If you thought of me as a woman even the slightest bit. Stay still. Then I will take care of the rest."
My hands weren't bound. At any time, I could touch the slave crest carved on my forearm and issue a command. To step back. To ask what kind of obscene act she was doing. I could shout and scream at her never to seek me out again.
But was I overwhelmed by Mirien's gaze? Or was I feeling an unconscious love for Mirien too?
I couldn't move an inch.
Mirien smiled. Slowly, she stuck out her tongue and licked her own lips. And I felt the sensation of her cold hand touching my hot place.
"How cute."
Mirien's hand was cold, but her lips were hot. Mirien lightly bit my neck and earlobe, tugging on them.
"Make it stand."
It wasn't that the guy was following her command. It was moving completely independent of my will in the first place.