Chapter 92: The Main Wife
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 92: The Main Wife
8
As dawn broke, chasing away the last vestiges of the night, Ha-chan was fast asleep in the room Seol-hyang had prepared for him.
He was pleasantly tipsy, and he had exhausted his mind worrying over the day's events, so he had drifted off quickly.
While Ha-chan slept, Ahyu and Si-ho were, for some reason, perched on a bed together, waiting for someone.
A moment later, the door opened and a person walked in. It was none other than Seol-hyang.
“Did Domi-oppa fall asleep?”
“Yes, he fell asleep as soon as I showed him to his room.”
Seol-hyang nodded in response to Ahyu’s question.
Seeing this, Ahyu narrowed her eyes slightly.
“You didn’t try anything funny in that time, did you?”
“What do you take me for?”
“A thousand-year-old serpent.”
Completely unfazed by the remark, Seol-hyang brought a chair and sat down in front of them.
Watching her, Si-ho dangled her feet, swinging them up and down slightly as she asked, “So, why did you call Si-ho and Shin So-ra unni here separately?”
That was right.
The reason Si-ho and Ahyu were in this room was because Seol-hyang had summoned them.
Both had their suspicions as to why, but they didn't voice them and simply answered her call.
“I thought the three of us needed to talk.”
“It’s about Domi-oppa, isn’t it.”
As expected, Seol-hyang nodded.
“Well, if you’re going to say something like, ‘I like Domi-oppa, so back off,’ I’m leaving right now.”
“And what will you do after you leave?”
As was typical for the two, who had never gotten along, they glared at each other until Si-ho raised a hand as if to stop them.
“Si-ho has to go home soon, so please just tell us. And if you’re going to say something like that, Si-ho will leave right away, too.”
“Fine. First of all, I confessed to Ha-chan.”
In that instant, both Ahyu and Si-ho froze.
A confession—it was the same as asking someone to be in a relationship.
Ahyu and Si-ho had openly shown their feelings for Ha-chan, but they had never directly confessed.
So it was only natural that Seol-hyang’s words would make them freeze.
“…His answer was…”
“It’s ongoing.”
As Seol-hyang said this, Ahyu began to clench her fists.
Si-ho, too, bit her lip, feeling anxious.
The two had recently started to vaguely realize that Ha-chan was becoming aware of their feelings.
It made sense, as Ha-chan’s attitude toward them had slowly begun to change.
They had thought that alone was a huge step forward, but now, in this room, they both realized how naive that thought had been.
“‘Ongoing’ means he could still reject you. So, did you come here to declare war?”
Ahyu snapped bluntly, and Seol-hyang let out a small sigh.
“Heavenly Demon, I didn’t come here to do something so trivial.”
“Then what is it? Stop being frustrating and just say it.”
Anxious that Seol-hyang had made the first move, Ahyu pressed, and Seol-hyang answered her question.
“The truth is, Ha-chan probably isn’t in the right mindset to date anyone right now. To be precise, he doesn’t have the luxury.”
“Is it because of that person, Mari-unni?”
Si-ho, who knew a certain amount, seemed to have guessed.
“That’s right. It’s partly because of Mari-unni, and I suspect there’s more to it. You both know, right? That possessed returnee Ha-chan mentioned is by his side.”
“You mean that suspicious returnee.”
They were taking Ha-chan at his word, but both Ahyu and Seol-hyang had known for a while that he was hiding something.
And that this person had likely influenced Ha-chan’s recent actions.
“There have been a lot of returnees around Ha-chan lately. Heavenly Demon, you must know what this kind of suspicious feeling means.”
“Yeah. It means something unknown is at play.”
Ahyu clicked her tongue, her eyes sharpening.
The reason she had recently started working with returnees again was also because of Ha-chan.
She had judged the abnormal flow of returnees gathering around him to be dangerous and had started to take action.
“That’s why I’m saying this. I can’t imagine living without Ha-chan.”
“You think you’re the only one?”
“Si-ho too.”
“Yes, I thought you’d say that. And that’s the problem.”
Seol-hyang looked at the two with a sigh.
“What would you two do if Ha-chan started dating someone else?”
“That’s…”
Ahyu and Si-ho both fell silent.
But there wasn’t a hint of surrender in their eyes.
This was a common trait among the powerful.
Because they have power and know how to wield it, they believe they can have anything.
That’s why they have a tendency to never give up on what they truly desire.
What would happen if they couldn’t have it?
The answer was simple.
“You remember what happened with Kwak Sa-yeon, don’t you?”
All three of them knew what Kwak Sa-yeon had done.
The power wielded by Kwak Sa-yeon, merely the wealthy daughter of a company chairman, was that destructive.
Cheon Hong-ryeon, the Heavenly Demon, the Strongest Under Heaven, who is undefeated in single combat.
Ha Si-ho, an S-rank hunter and the foremost spatial ability user, even including returnees.
Baek Seol-hyang, chairperson of the World Returnee Association, who stands at the pinnacle of global wealth and power, possessing a power called the “Crown” that even the Heavenly Demon is wary of.
These three were individuals who each possessed the absolute power to destroy the world.
All three could say with certainty:
The moment even one of them went on a rampage like Kwak Sa-yeon, the world would be thrown off its axis.
Because they were all powerful, they could gauge the extent of each other’s strength.
“The three of us have become important people to Ha-chan.”
Ha-chan had an obsession with saving others that could be called a “Salvation Madness.”
It was a way of resolving the trauma caused by his sister, and it had become his very nature.
And of course, if even one of the three went on a rampage because of him, there was no way Ha-chan could bear it.
“So, even if one of us were to ma-rry, ahem, Ha-chan, we can predict that the marriage wouldn’t be a very happy one.”
“Don’t blush and start fantasizing while you say the word ‘marriage’.”
“Don’t pick on every little thing.”
Ahyu chided her, but she couldn’t easily deny the truth in her words.
It was obvious that Ha-chan would feel guilty and suffer because of whoever went on a rampage.
“…Si-ho doesn’t want Manager-nim to suffer.”
For all three of them, Ha-chan was the top priority.
No matter how important their own love was, the pain of the person they loved was a bigger problem.
That’s why Si-ho looked at the other two as if to say she couldn’t stand that possibility, and Seol-hyang nodded.
“I’m glad you understand. If you didn’t, I was planning to show you the door.”
“So what is it? Are you saying that if one of us starts dating Domi-oppa, the others should cheer her on instead of hating her? I can’t do that.”
“Si-ho can’t either.”
“The same goes for me.”
The three looked at each other.
Why did all three of them have to be so talented and beautiful, leading to this mess?
If it were anyone else, they could have just crushed them with force.
“That’s why I want to make a final proposal here, in advance—one that can only be used as a last, last resort.”
Seol-hyang said this, then mumbled with her lips as if she truly hated the idea, before finally sighing.
“If Ha-chan is okay with it… we, we-ll, sigh, I mean, haa, the four of us could live together.”
“So you’re proposing polygamy?”
Surprisingly, Ahyu’s expression seemed unfazed.
Seol-hyang looked at her with surprise.
“That’s unexpected. Heavenly Demon, I thought you would hate the idea.”
“The previous Heavenly Demon had twenty-three wives. Most were treated as nothing more than broodmares, though. I don’t have any particular aversion to polygamy itself. It’s just…”
Ahyu’s eyes sharpened.
“I know very well just how important the position of the first wife is.”
She didn’t care if there was a second wife.
But as if to declare she had no intention of ever giving up the position of the first wife, her hair and eyes began to revert to their original red color.
Even under that pressure, Seol-hyang remained composed.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that. It’s a relief, actually. It means you’re at least thinking about it.”
“I’m more surprised that you’re the one making such a proposal.”
“Of course, I never wanted to even mention such a proposal. I want Ha-chan all to myself.”
Even so, Seol-hyang stroked her hair with a sigh.
But no matter how she thought about it, she wanted to avoid Ha-chan’s suffering at all costs.
She absolutely did not want to see the person she loved become worn down and miserable.
And she didn’t want to be the cause of it.
If that was the case, she was willing to curb her own greed as much as necessary.
“But just as I feel that way, I know you two love Ha-chan as well, which makes me even more worried about what you might do.”
“I see. You’ve always been the type who hates leaving any variables to chance.”
Ahyu also understood why Seol-hyang had gone so far as to make this proposal.
She was always the type to resolve any points of uncertainty before proceeding with her plans.
This time was just another reflection of that personality.
Just then, the two realized that one person was being unusually quiet.
These two had experienced other dimensions through dimensional shifts.
They knew how worthless an Earth-bound, narrow-minded way of thinking was, so they could accept the idea.
However, for a minor who had been born and raised only on Earth, it wasn’t an easy topic to accept.
As their gazes turned to Si-ho, she stared at the floor, lost in deep thought, not looking at them.
Then, as if an idea had struck her, Si-ho gently wrapped both hands around her stomach.
“Then the person who has Manager-nim’s baby first is the winner.”
And the moment those completely unexpected, thunderous words left her lips, both Ahyu and Seol-hyang froze solid.
As the two stood there, unable to even move their lips, Si-ho cupped her own cheeks.
“Si-ho would be fine with twins, too.”
“Y-y-you, how can a little kid say something like that so easily!”
“Shin So-ra unni, you don’t want Manager-nim’s baby?”
“Wh-what? I, I…”
Ahyu’s face turned beet red, looking as if steam were about to pour from her head.
Then, not knowing what to do, she covered her eyes with her hands.
“…I want one so much.”
“What do you mean, you’d love one! Miss Ha Si-ho, this is a conversation about an absolute last resort. And besides, do you even know how babies are made?”
Si-ho looked at the two, tilted her head slightly, and began to slowly twirl a lock of her hair with her index finger.
And as soon as they saw that gesture, they knew.
This kid knows.
In detail.
And seeing that, all three of them had the same thought.
They could concede a hundred other things, but the position of first wife had to be theirs.
“Fuck, Kang Ha-chan, I knew it would come to this.”
Baeksan, who had arrived earlier and had been watching the scene unfold, slapped his forehead and lamented his life.
He was deeply contemplating whether it might be better for a world like this to just end again.