Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: Roman Holiday (4)
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Holding the bottle of oil Isabella had handed him, Oh-jin’s expression stiffened.
'No way.'
Isabella, having untied her bikini strings, lay sensuously on her stomach on the sunbed.
Her skin was as white as a snowfield. The smooth line of her waist flowed from her back down to her hips.
Her pressed chest spilled out to the sides, its powerful presence undeniable even as she lay facedown.
"You want me... to put oil on you?"
Me?
Personally?
"Hehe. Yes."
"..."
It felt as if his thoughts had ground to a halt.
He swallowed hard, his throat dry.
To think he had to slather oil on his hands and rub that breathtakingly alluring back.
'This isn't some outdated rom-com manga.'
He'd always scoffed at protagonists who blushed and acted like idiots whenever these kinds of events happened.
Now, he was starting to understand how they felt.
Just touching the bare back of a woman as absurdly charming as Isabella was a test of endurance he could barely handle.
'Nunna.'
He glanced back at Ha-eun, who was happily laughing and chatting with Vega, completely unaware of what was happening over here.
For her sake, he knew he shouldn't accept this offer.
'But if I refuse and Isabella suddenly snaps...'
Isabella's mental state was so erratic that even Oh-jin couldn't predict it.
Right now, she was as gentle as a lamb.
But her true identity was the Black Star Organization's 3rd Executor, the Leech Queen.
Considering every Black Star Organization Executor he'd met so far had a screw or two loose, it was safer to assume she wasn't entirely stable either.
That meant she could go berserk at any unexpected moment.
And in the current situation, the only one who could stop a rampaging Isabella was Vega herself, manifested.
'Dammit.'
Oh-jin gulped, his conflicted gaze falling upon her snow-white back.
"Mr. Oh-jin?"
"Ah, yeah. Okay."
"Hehe. Please be thorough and cover every nook and cranny, won't you?"
Isabella smiled deeply, kicking her pale legs like she was splashing in water while lying on her stomach.
With the movement of her legs, her voluptuous buttocks twitched.
'I'm losing my mind.'
Oh-jin squeezed his eyes shut and squirted a large amount of oil into his hands.
*Slap.*
His oiled hands left their mark on the white snowfield.
"Hah..."
A sensual moan echoed from across the white snowfield.
Oh-jin bit his lip and mechanically spread the oil over Isabella's back.
The soft texture transmitted through his palms.
He had to finish before that drug-like sensation devoured his reason completely.
"Mr. Oh-jin... a little slower."
Isabella gently turned her head and requested he slow down, but if he did, he felt like he would truly lose his mind.
Oh-jin subtly drew on his mana and sped up.
"Hah...! M-Mr. Oh-jin!"
"All done."
It had taken a mere ten seconds to spread the oil all over Isabella's back.
Before the last thread of his reason could be buried in the white snowfield, Oh-jin had quickly finished the task.
"Hmm... already?"
Isabella wiggled her toes with a look of disappointment.
"Then..."
Unable to hide her disappointment, her eyes sparkled as she looked at Oh-jin.
Isabella retied her bikini strings, turned over onto her back, and extended her slender legs toward Oh-jin.
"Could you... do my legs as well?"
A sweet temptation, dripping with honey.
Not many men would argue that she could apply it to her own legs in this situation.
"...Your legs too?"
Was this what it felt like to barely defeat a boss, only for it to revive with full health and start phase two?
Oh-jin stood there, mouth agape and dumbfounded.
Isabella's eyes gleamed like a predator that had spotted its prey, and the corners of her mouth lifted.
"Yes. My legs too, plea—"
Just as she was about to present her slender legs as if showing them off.
"Ugh...!"
Isabella suddenly clutched her chest and frowned.
Her face turned pale as she gasped for breath, her shoulders trembling.
"Isabella?"
"Ah... I-I'm sorry."
Isabella forced an awkward smile and sat up on the sunbed.
"It seems I'm not feeling very well."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. It's just a bit of anemia. I'm fine now."
She smiled brightly and hopped up to show she was alright.
"Still, just in case, I'll go rest in the van first. You should go soak in the sea a little longer, Mr. Oh-jin."
"...But."
"You said the Sanctuary's healing effect on internal injuries won't work unless you're in the water, so go have a good soak."
"Hmm. Alright."
"Then I'll head in first."
Isabella turned with somewhat hurried steps and walked toward the van parked in the distance.
Oh-jin watched her back for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly.
'Something's strange.'
The 3rd Executor of the Black Star Organization, one with abilities related to 'blood', was suffering from anemia?
No matter how he thought about it, it didn't make sense.
Watching Isabella's retreating figure, Oh-jin strode toward where she had disappeared.
'A hidden agenda.'
A black cloud of smoke enveloped him, erasing his presence.
***
"Hah, hah!"
Passing the van parked on the road, Isabella ducked into a narrow, dark alley, gasping for breath and clutching her chest.
"Ah, ugh."
Crying out in pain, she bent over like a bow.
"...Are you alright, my Queen?"
From the other end of the alley, an old man in a neat butler's uniform appeared.
Roberto.
The second-in-command of the Leech faction and Isabella's most loyal subordinate.
"Hah, hah. I'm fine."
"Here is the blood."
Roberto handed her a blood pack he had prepared in advance.
Isabella tore open the blood pack and gulped down the blood inside.
"Hoo."
Isabella let out a short breath, her condition seeming to stabilize.
But she hadn't fully recovered; cold sweat matted her hair to her forehead.
"...Being near the Sanctuary seems to have amplified the effects of the 'curse'."
"I know."
Isabella gently bit her lip and placed a hand over her left breast.
*Vwong.*
The cross-shaped necklace around her neck began to glow, and the Stigma of Aries on her left breast faded, revealing the Stigma of the Leech.
The revealed Stigma of the Leech was faint in places, as if rubbed with an eraser.
"..."
The 'Curse of the Purple Palace' she had been afflicted with before.
The curse, which she thought had disappeared, had secretly latched onto her Stigma, growing like a parasite.
"My Queen."
Roberto approached her, his face filled with concern.
He looked at the empty blood pack and continued.
"As I thought, you need blood with higher mana purity. If you would permit the hunting of Awakeners, I will personally..."
"I believe I made it clear that is not an option."
Isabella stared at him with cold eyes.
"I told you, didn't I? We are only to use blood obtained through donations, not hunting."
"B-but."
"Get a grip, Roberto."
Isabella's expression turned fierce.
"If we start obtaining blood through hunting, the Leech's vampiric urges will run rampant."
If that happens, she would degenerate into something no different from a monster, no longer human.
"The blood must only come from donations. Why do you think I've been taking care of the gypsies?"
The blood she had just drunk came from the voluntary donations of gypsies to whom the Colagrande family provided food and shelter.
Of course, they donated to help their less fortunate brethren who couldn't receive proper medical care.
But Isabella was siphoning off a portion of it to satisfy the bloodlust of the Leech Awakeners.
She was essentially using the gypsies as a 'farm' to supply blood.
That was the true purpose behind her using the Colagrande family to run dozens of charitable organizations.
"But at this rate...!"
Roberto looked at Isabella, his face fraught with worry.
While blood from donations could curb the vampiric urges, curing the 'Curse of the Purple Palace' that was eating away at her required the blood of an Awakener with high-purity mana.
The blood of a high-ranking Awakener, at the very least.
But there was no way to obtain such blood through 'donations' rather than 'hunting'.
"It's alright, Roberto. Who do you think I am?"
Isabella lightly brushed back the platinum blonde hair stuck to her forehead and smirked.
Seeing her brimming with confidence, Roberto's expression relaxed a little.
"You are our Queen, more beautiful and wise than anyone."
"Hehe. As long as you know."
Her condition having improved significantly, Isabella gave a deep smile and leisurely crossed her arms.
"More importantly, did you see that? Mr. Oh-jin completely fell for my charms!"
Isabella recalled Oh-jin's flustered, blushing face before he applied the oil.
She continued smugly, her nose held high.
"This was all possible thanks to my meticulous calculations and preparations!"
This whole vacation plan was based on thorough calculations.
With an excited expression, Isabella boastfully laid out her strategy.
"First, imprint my capabilities on Mr. Oh-jin!"
The magnificent mansion built on a cliff.
Dozens of servants and luxurious meals.
To Oh-jin, who grew up in an orphanage and had a destitute childhood, this world of the truly 'rich' must have felt like stepping into another dimension.
And the master of that world was none other than Isabella herself.
It wasn't hard to imagine how 'special' she must have appeared in Oh-jin's eyes.
"And then, I showed him the gap between myself and Ms. Ha-eun."
First, the physical gap revealed by our swimsuits.
Then, by having men swarm to me like bees the moment we arrived at the beach, I imprinted upon him how different our levels of recognition were.
Looks, wealth, and power.
Proving that she can't compare to me in any of those aspects!
"And finally, reducing the psychological distance through physical contact!"
Even she had to admit, it was a near-'perfect' plan!
"What do you think? Even you must agree it's a perfect plan, right, Roberto?"
"..."
Roberto forced an awkward smile as he looked at the utterly excited Isabella.
The elderly butler scratched his wrinkled cheek and opened his mouth.
"Um... instead of all that, why don't you just confess to him?"
"W-what did you say?"
Isabella's eyes went wide like a rabbit's, her expression asking what kind of nonsense he was spouting.
Confess directly to Oh-jin?
"W-what if he rejects me?!"
Isabella, her cheeks blushing like apples, kicked Roberto hard in the shin.