Chapter 67
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 67
Dokyun took a deep breath, forced a smile onto his face, and offered a greeting. He didn’t bother with formalities. After everything she’d already seen, there was no point.
“Long time no see?”
At his words, Eun-ji, who had been hiding behind the hallway wall with only her head peeking out, narrowed her eyes and shot back another insult.
“Loser.”
Can’t I just smack her once? The thought was fleeting, but he didn’t act on it.
‘Be the adult.’
He had to handle this like an adult. Her mental age was that of a preschooler. He calmed himself with that thought.
Dokyun plastered another smile on his face and asked in a gentle, friendly tone, “So, are you ready to go?”
“Hmph!”
With a snort, she finally emerged into the living room. She was bundled up from head to toe in a thick, long padded coat that reached below her knees.
Should he be relieved? He had been worried about what he’d do if she insisted on her usual unconventional fashion. If that little brat had tried to go out in that bright red frilly dress like before, he would have died of secondhand embarrassment.
As he was sighing in relief, she suddenly sat down on the sofa right next to him, turned her back to him, and spoke.
“Princess hair.”
“…”
A moment of silence descended.
Dokyun stared blankly at the back of her head, wondering what she meant. Eun-ji let out a heavy sigh, turned her head to glare at him, and elaborated.
“You have to do my princess hair! It’s common sense for a princess to get ready before she goes out!”
Squeeze—.
Veins bulged on his clenched fist.
“Ah, aha…?”
“Sigh. I worry about how someone so stupid is going to serve a princess properly.”
Her grumbling sigh sent his blood pressure soaring.
‘Patience. I have to be patient.’
Dokyun suppressed his anger, reigning in his emotions once more.
‘This is a 20-million-won job. This is a 20-million-won job…’
He felt a little calmer. Right. This one job was worth 20 million won.
With 20 million won, you could perform necromancy twenty times. With 20 million won, you could become a Lich King. Thinking this, Dokyun managed to crack a smile. He gathered the long hair that flowed down her back and asked.
“Sorry, I was being dense. How would you like your hair done?”
“Braid it.”
Her taste was certainly firm. Dokyun nodded at her answer and was about to start braiding her messy hair when he froze.
‘Wait, how do you braid hair?’
Should he just grab the hair with both hands and twist it? He tried waving his hands around and twisting the strands, but they just fell loose the moment he let go.
Panic began to set in. Just as he was about to grab her hair again, Eun-ji’s voice cut through.
“Are you an idiot? You can’t even braid hair properly? Ugh, you’re making the princess dizzy.”
She brought a hand to her forehead as she fired off the words.
He was filled with the urge to flick her on the head, but he suppressed it one more time and answered through gritted teeth.
“Could you just wait a moment?”
“Hurry up. A princess hates waiting more than anything.”
“Alriiight…!”
The sound came out muffled through his clenched jaw.
Damned brat. She was incapable of saying a single nice thing.
Dokyun let out a sigh—Hoo—and took his smartphone out of his pocket.
He might not know the answer, but this fruit of civilization certainly did. A bitter smile touched his lips as he typed [how to braid hair] into the search bar and hit enter.
The screen changed, displaying a list of results.
Dokyun clicked the top link and read through the explanation.
After scanning the attached photos and getting the general idea, he nodded and began to move his hands.
First, comb the hair to straighten it out, then divide it into three strands. Alternately cross the left and right strands over the middle one.
As he focused all his concentration on braiding, a proper shape began to form.
A short while later, after he had braided all the hair and tidied the end, the result was at least recognizable as a braid.
‘Hmm…’
Dokyun took a moment to admire his handiwork.
The top was a bit sloppy since he hadn’t gotten the hang of it at first, but it became neater and prettier as it went down.
He felt that if he did it one more time, it would come out much better. He was about to undo it and start over when she spoke.
“That’s enough.”
Eun-ji said in a prim voice, pulling the braid over her shoulder to hug it.
“Huh?”
“I said that’s enough. The princess wants to go out now.”
She fiddled with the braid she was holding as she answered. He felt a slight twinge of disappointment, but as the brat said, they couldn't spend all day playing with her hair. Dokyun nodded and stood up.
As he rose to his full height and looked down at her, he caught a glimpse of her face, which had been turned away.
The corners of her mouth were twitching as she toyed with her hair.
‘Looks like she likes it.’
A crooked smile formed on his lips. Sure, the beginning was a little messy, but his dexterity wasn't actually that bad. For a first try, producing something the client was satisfied with could be considered a sign of talent.
As he was preening, she stood up, the smile vanishing from her face as she spoke.
“Well, you did a bad job, but the princess is generous, so I’ll let it slide.”
She finished with a prim “Hmph.”
Squeeze—.
His fists clenched again. Feeling his blood pressure rise, Dokyun forced a smile and replied.
“Thaaanks~ so much!”
“Hmph!”
The brat whipped her head away.
‘Ugh…!’
Every single thing she did was infuriating. He let out a deep sigh. Just as he was thinking they should finally head out, he remembered what Eun-seol had asked of him.
‘Ah, the present.’
She had told him to give her a present.
Remembering this, Dokyun glanced at Eun-ji, who still had her back to him as she fiddled with her hair, and then spoke.
“Hey, kid.”
“I’m not a kid, I’m a princess! Can’t you even call me by my proper name?” she snapped, her face contorting as if she were having a seizure.
At that, Dokyun thought:
‘Maybe I just shouldn’t give it to her.’
But he quickly let out a sigh, raised a hand, and pointed to a box under the tree behind him.
“Isn’t that yours?”
“Huh?”
Blink, blink. Eun-ji blinked, then followed his gaze down. Spotting the gift box, her cheeks flushed red as she scurried over to pick it up.
“Th-that’s right! It’s the princess’s present!”
She snatched the box with both hands, her voice brimming with joy.
She stomped her feet, not knowing what to do with herself, then examined the box from all angles before whipping her head back toward him.
“Santa gave the princess a present because she didn’t cry!”
Her eyes sparkled as she overflowed with happiness. She looked exactly like a little kid. A small chuckle escaped Dokyun’s lips. He patted Eun-ji on the shoulder and said, “Yeah, looks like you got a present for being a good girl. Congratulations.”
“Yep!”
Eun-ji nodded, hugging the box tightly to her chest. Then she puffed out her chest and said proudly, “Don’t be too sad. If you stop crying and be a good boy from now on, maybe you’ll get one next year.”
Was it just his imagination, or did the way she was comforting him with that wide smirk feel exactly like she was teasing him?
‘The urge to flick her on the head is strong.’
A flicker of anger rose, but thinking what good it would do, Dokyun let out a weary laugh and spoke to her again.
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
“In a little bit.”
Eun-ji giggled, then glanced at him with a look that made him want to smack her.
“Why? You want to see? Are you jealous that only the princess got one? Well, what can you do? If you wanted one, you shouldn’t have cried, right?”
He clenched his teeth again.
Every single word she spoke was designed to get under his skin. If that was a type of talent, it was truly a marvelous one.
“Right. I’ll try my best.”
Ah, that 20 million won was probably going to end up paying for dental work.
Losing the will to continue the conversation, Dokyun sighed and said, “Let’s go now. Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“Huh?”
She answered his question with a question. After standing there blankly for a moment, she continued with a brazen look on her face.
“Isn’t it common sense for the servant to have that figured out already? Does the princess have to think of such things, too?”
Grit.
“Oh, right? I forgot…!”
He wasn’t sure which country’s common sense she was referring to, but it certainly wasn’t one he knew. Anger, pure rage, began to boil inside him. He wanted to unleash it somewhere, anywhere, but the image of Eun-seol’s pleading face flashed in his mind, and he couldn’t bring himself to curse at her.
What could he do? He had no choice but to endure.
What was that saying, fight fire with fire? Dokyun tried to conquer his current rage by recalling the angriest moment of his life.
Three years ago, when his younger cousin Yeon-ji had visited for the holidays and used his treasured hardcover novel as a coloring book. Compared to that, this was still tolerable.
Hoo—.
Exhaling, Dokyun calmed himself once more, put a smile on his face, and said, “...Shall we go, then?”
“Fine. Lead the way.”
She answered with a prim look on her face.
The desperate urge to flick her on the head returned, but Dokyun suppressed it and walked out the front door one step ahead of Eun-ji.
*
When he opened the garage door, Eun-ji, who had been trailing behind him, peeked her head in and looked at the cars. When Dokyun glanced at her, he saw her eyes sparkling with a curiosity that was impossible to miss.
‘She said she’s never been outside, right?’
Then this must be her first time seeing cars up close. He nodded in understanding.
“Is there a car you want to ride in?”
They weren’t his cars, but he was the one driving, so he asked.
“The princess wants this one.”
Eun-ji stretched out her hand and pointed to a large sedan in the middle of the garage.
Dokyun’s gaze followed her finger to the sedan. A Steroyce. The one Go Eun-sam had nicknamed ‘Changsik.’ Living up to her ‘princess’ title, she had picked the chairman’s car.
Nodding at her choice, Dokyun took the Steroyce key from the key holder by the garage entrance and started the engine.
He adjusted the seat and rearview mirror, then turned his head to see Eun-ji naturally settling into the seat of honor in the back.
“…You’re not going to sit up front?” Dokyun asked with a disbelieving laugh.
“Why would a princess do that?” came the reply.
His insides boiled for a moment. As he mulled over how to deal with her, how to get her to sit in the front, he suddenly remembered the phrase the little brat used like a verbal tic.
—It’s common sense!
Common sense. Yes, this was a matter of ‘common sense.’
When someone is driving you, sitting in the passenger seat instead of the back is clear ‘common sense.’
And then another thought surfaced.
‘She’s never been outside.’
That was it.
“Hoo—.”
A breath escaped him. He had to act cool, and magnanimous. The little brat was simply lacking in ‘common sense.’
As an adult, as someone who knew more ‘common sense,’ he had a duty to teach this little kid the ‘common sense’ of the world.
Having made up his mind, Dokyun raised his right hand to cover his mouth and turned to look at her, making his eyes tremble.
“Wh-what is it!”
She looked flustered by his strange behavior.
To which Dokyun replied.
“Oh, it’s just…”
He trailed off, then added in a hesitant tone, “W-when you get in a car, it’s ‘common sense’ to sit in the passenger seat, but…”
He paused for a beat, then tilted his head slightly and finished.
“Don’t you… know that?”
Flinch.
Her body trembled, and an immediate reaction followed.
“O-of course I know that! The princess was just playing a joke!”
She huffed, her body puffing up with indignation. Then, she opened the car door, moved to the passenger seat next to him, and turned to him with a hardened expression.
“Got it? It was a joke! Even a princess knows that much ‘common sense’!”
“R-right? Of course. You scared me for a second…”
As he feigned relief, she puffed up her chest again, the corners of her mouth lifting in a smirk.
Seeing that, he felt a pleasant, triumphant sensation rising from deep within.
‘Ah.’
This was going to be a very interesting day.