Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Jealous Heart (1)
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The Magical Girl lounge on the sixth floor of the Magical Girl Management Bureau building.
- *Slurp*...
Athena sat on the lounge sofa, letting out a deep sigh as she sucked noisily on the straw of her iced Americano in a plastic cup.
"Haa..."
Ever since returning from the vacation at the private villa with Flora and Jae-hyun, Athena had been spending more time here instead of going back to the office.
Her mind had started feeling unsettled on the first evening of the trip.
Flora had been in poor condition since the afternoon and was resting in her room at the villa. Jae-hyun had gone in alone to take care of her.
The problem was the lewd moans that came from the room after Jae-hyun entered.
Athena had been using the room right next to Flora's throughout the vacation, so every one of those suggestive, needy sounds reached her ears clearly.
'Those two... they seemed even closer than usual somehow.'
They didn't seem to have a bad relationship by any means—just the usual bickering and sniping that you'd call a love-hate dynamic.
But starting from the second day of the vacation, not only had Flora's condition improved, but her attitude toward Jae-hyun had changed noticeably.
Athena could recall several moments just from memory.
Flora, who had always been cold and sharp-tongued toward him, had softened her speech a bit. Jae-hyun, who used to brush her off indifferently, had started smiling.
Every time such memories surfaced, Athena felt a strange sensation creeping in.
"Nyaha! Athena, you're here all alone again today?"
"Eek...!?"
As Athena pondered the nature of this odd emotion, a bright, cheerful voice—like that of a child—rang out from behind her.
"I thought I recognized that voice... it's Lady Koneko."
"Nyahaha! I startled you, didn't I?"
The owner of the voice that surprised Athena was none other than the magical girl Koneko.
Just as her name suggested, she was a petite girl with a cute, cat-like appearance, known for casually tossing out exclamations like "nyaha" or "unyaa."
She had joined around the same time as Athena, and since their offices were on the same floor, they ran into each other often and were on friendly terms.
"Not going to the office again today? Hanging out here?"
"Well... yeah, something like that..."
Anyone seeing her sigh with her gaze fixed downward would naturally ask if something was bothering her.
"Unyaa!"
"Kyaa?!"
And Koneko, true to her cat-like nature, was incredibly curious. If she spotted something intriguing, she couldn't resist poking at it.
"Could it be... you got a boyfriend or something...?"
She lunged from behind and wrapped her arms around Athena tightly, prodding her cheeks and sides playfully while asking the teasing question.
"N-No, it's not like that!"
"Unyaa?! No need to snap at me!"
Athena, who never got annoyed with anyone, suddenly raising her voice made Koneko jump back in surprise, her tail practically standing on end.
"Sorry... my head's been a mess lately, so I just..."
No matter how kind and polite she was, days without any resolution would fray anyone's nerves.
"If it's not a boyfriend, then what? Some other worry?"
"It's... kind of embarrassing to talk about."
Even though they were close colleagues as fellow magical girls, Athena couldn't just come out and say what happened on vacation was bothering her.
"What is it? What? I won't tell a soul, so spill it."
With her ears perked up and eyes sparkling like that, there was no way Athena could hold back.
"A few days ago, the temporary manager, the girl he's assigned to, and I went on a vacation together—just the three of us."
Too embarrassed to mention hearing the moans, Athena only shared how their attitudes had suddenly changed.
"If you went on vacation together... then it's not like there's any distance between you guys, right?"
Athena had felt a bit of distance at first, watching Flora and Jae-hyun interact.
Of course, the two of them had been working together much longer, while Athena had only known them for a few hours by comparison.
But after becoming friends with Flora and opening up to Jae-hyun, she thought that distance had vanished long ago.
"And... that's how it turned out."
Koneko listened to the whole story, twitching her ears thoughtfully for a moment before her lips curved into a mischievous grin.
"Nyaha! Don't tell me... Athena, you're into that manager, aren't you?"
"What?! L-Like him?"
"If you didn't have feelings for the manager, there'd be no reason to feel weird seeing him get close with someone else."
In truth, it was just Athena refusing to see it that way, but anyone else would hear jealousy toward Flora plain and clear.
"I just think the manager's a good person, that's all..."
Athena insisted it was mere fondness and closeness, not romantic love.
"Then... you wouldn't be agonizing over it like this."
If she saw Jae-hyun as just a coworker or a friendly big brother figure, Athena couldn't possibly feel jealous of Flora.
In conclusion, she simply couldn't admit her feelings for Jae-hyun.
"Instead of moping here alone for days, why not approach Manager oppa confidently and make a move?"
"How... exactly?"
"Like... wearing something that shows a bit more skin, or casually getting touchy and clingy."
Koneko listed off things that would typically make a guy's heart race.
"That stuff's too embarrassing..."
But hearing constant pushback like that was starting to frustrate Koneko.
'Why does she have to be so unnecessarily proper...'
She wanted to tell Athena to just confess outright, but knowing that wasn't her style only made it more exasperating.
- *Ring ring ring*—
"Unyaa?! It's the manager again!"
The alert rang out as they were sharing Athena's troubles to help solve them. It came from the smartphone tucked into Koneko's cleavage.
"Telling me to stop wandering off and come back quick..."
"Looks like you didn't just pop in for a break—you ran away."
Koneko was curious and bubbly, which made her noisy and scatterbrained; she could never sit still.
She was always darting around inside and outside the building like playing tag, so her manager constantly had to call or text to track her location.
"If I don't go, it'll be another lecture... Guess I should head out first?"
After Koneko bolted out at her manager's irritated summons, Athena left the lounge too, heading to the office where Jae-hyun was waiting.
'Do I really like the manager...?'
She still wasn't sure about her feelings for him.
Maybe it was just that his kind, gentle demeanor felt comfortable.
But doing nothing and staying put like this... she had a feeling her magical girl duties wouldn't get done properly with these thoughts nagging at her.
'Ugh... I don't know.'
Her mind grew more tangled by the minute, her mental state on the brink of collapse. Before she knew it, her feet had carried her to the office door.
- *Whirr*—
"Lady Athena, you're here. Took a quick break, I see?"
As soon as the office door opened, Jae-hyun greeted her. He had paused his work momentarily, rotating his wrists to rest.
"Eek...?! Y-Yeah."
Seeing his face made her heart thump suddenly.
"Why so startled? Is there something weird on my face?"
"No! Just... tired, hehe."
She forced a casual act, scratching her head awkwardly.
'Seeing the manager... made my heart race all of a sudden.'
Only then did Koneko's words start making sense to Athena.
If her heart pounded at the sight of him, that meant she really did have feelings. And that connected straight to her jealousy over Flora and Jae-hyun's closeness.
'I'm... just temporarily under his care, though. Is it really okay to act on what Koneko said...?'
Their relationship was constrained by that "temporary" status—who knew when it might end and they'd drift apart again.
Plus, it felt like a betrayal to Flora.
Like she, the loose stone that rolled in, was trying to pry out the firmly embedded one. And if she got assigned her own manager and left, taking responsibility would be impossible.
- *Thump...♥ Thump...♥*
But trying to close her eyes and give up... her heart kept racing like this, sweat beading on her forehead.
"Huu...♥"
In truth, the root of Athena's turmoil and this state was the "Mana Injection" she'd received from Jae-hyun.
Just as Flora's body had grown thirstier and achier after receiving the Mark of Enslavement, the effects were now slowly creeping into Athena too.
'I shouldn't think about this...♥'
Memories of receiving mana injection into her pussy, the taste and scent of his enormous penis gripped tight as she swallowed his semen.
Memories she tried to forget, but they relentlessly eroded her self-control.