Chapter 204
Chapter 204
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: Interlude – A New Hope (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“…Ah.”
A short gasp escaped Isabella’s lips.
She looked at Oh-jin with trembling eyes.
Oh-jin, his lips firmly sealed.
His gaze held no trace of pity for her.
It was as if he wanted to tell her, ‘I didn’t kill Paolo because of you.’
He simply looked at her calmly.
“Oh-jin…”
But how could she not know?
That he had killed Paolo with his own hands, for her sake.
That he had taken up his spear in her place, for her, who was terrified of losing the hope she had cherished in her heart.
“…Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me.”
Oh-jin released his arm from around Isabella, putting a little distance between them.
“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for myself.”
“……”
Isabella’s eyes wavered.
Why was it?
His flimsy lie—that he had killed Paolo for his own sake—somehow managed to calm her heart, which had been filled with anxiety.
“…Hic.”
Tears began to flow again.
She hadn’t shed a single tear even when tormented by the horrific craving for blood.
‘How did I become such a crybaby?’
She herself didn’t know.
Why her heart grew so lax whenever she was with Oh-jin.
Isabella looked down at Paolo’s corpse, lying there with its head severed.
Memories from a time now only a vague image, barely remembered, flashed through her mind.
A kind father, a gentle mother, and the sister she had loved more than anyone.
‘Now.’
Memories of a time that would never return.
They floated in her mind like a lingering fragrance.
“Oh-jin… what do I do?”
Isabella moved closer to Oh-jin, resting her forehead against his chest.
“The hope I’ve been dreaming of has vanished.”
Her sister was missing, and her father and mother were dead.
Even if she were to miraculously find her sister’s whereabouts, she could never return to the past she had longed for.
“…It’s your fault, Oh-jin.”
Isabella let out a hollow laugh, finding her own words a bit absurd.
To say her hope had vanished because of Oh-jin.
She knew better than anyone how ridiculous that sounded.
“Right. It’s my fault.”
Oh-jin nodded with a calm expression.
He was the one who had killed Paolo, completely trampling the tiny hope she had held deep in her heart.
Isabella looked at Oh-jin with trembling eyes.
*Thump, thump.*
Her heart pounded wildly, as if it had broken, even though the craving for blood wasn’t surging.
“Then, since it’s your responsibility, Oh-jin.”
Isabella lowered her head as if to hide her flushed cheeks and gently wrapped her arms around Oh-jin’s waist.
“…Please become my new hope.”
She said it as if throwing a tantrum.
She knew she was being childish and unreasonable.
“Alright.”
Oh-jin stroked Isabella’s hair as she rested her head against his chest.
Her curly, platinum-blonde hair flowed softly through his fingers.
“Hic… sob.”
Isabella’s shoulders shook.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
As if letting out all her pent-up emotions.
She cried her heart out like a child in Oh-jin’s arms.
Oh-jin silently patted her back.
So that she could let go of her cherished hope, mixed with the flowing tears.
“Hic, sob.”
A few minutes passed like that.
Isabella lifted her head, her eyes red and swollen.
“Will I… be able to forget?”
She wouldn’t be able to.
This incident would remain embedded in her memory like a thorn, tormenting her for the rest of her life.
Oh-jin wrapped an arm around her pitifully trembling shoulders and spoke in a low voice.
“Yes. You’ll be able to forget.”
He whispered a sweet lie.
“Everything… will be okay.”
It didn’t matter if it wasn’t the truth.
Sometimes, a single lie is more comforting than a thousand truths.
* * *
The news that Demian Salvatore, ‘The Sword of Justice’ and a member of the Seven Stars, was dead spread like wildfire, not just through Italy, but across the entire world.
According to the testimony of Isabella Colagrande, the next head—no, now the head—of the Colagrande family, who was at the scene, the summary of the incident was as follows:
1. The ‘Leech Faction,’ one of the factions within the Black Star Society, had set its sights on the Colagrande family, who held arguably the most power in Italy.
2. Paolo Colagrande detected the Leech Faction’s movements and invited Demian Salvatore to the estate to ask for help.
3. However, the Leech Faction, having already infiltrated deep within the family, took Paolo and Isabella hostage and attacked Demian. Demian fought fiercely but met a valiant end.
This was the truth of the incident as revealed by Isabella’s testimony.
It was shocking news that was hard to believe, but because it came from Isabella, who held absolute recognition within Italy, and was corroborated by the testimony of the Lightning Wolf, who had also been invited to the estate at the time, not many people doubted the story.
The world was shocked by the news that the Black Star Society possessed enough power to kill one of the Seven Stars, and public opinion quickly formed that they needed to be tracked down and apprehended as soon as possible.
As memorials for ‘The Sword of Justice’ continued around the world, all eyes were on what moves the other members of the Seven Stars would make.
“Haaaah! It’s been so long since I’ve been home!”
Ha-eun kicked off her shoes haphazardly and ran into the house.
It had been a month, no, almost two months since she’d been home.
Though not to the same extent as Isabella and Oh-jin, she too had been called in as a key witness in the incident and had to endure a hectic schedule.
“Hehehe. Nothing beats our home.”
After the Colagrande estate was destroyed, they had stayed at a five-star hotel owned by the Colagrande family in downtown Rome.
But there was no place as comforting as one’s own home.
“Hehehe. It’s been so long since I’ve been in my own bed.”
Ha-eun flopped onto the bed and wriggled her body like a bug.
Oh-jin neatly arranged the shoes Ha-eun had kicked off and came inside.
“You like it that much?”
“What? Oh-jinnie, are you saying you liked that Isabella girl’s hotel more?”
“Of course not.”
Befitting a five-star hotel, the facilities and room conditions had been nothing short of luxurious.
“Still, our home is the best.”
“Right?”
Oh-jin sat next to Ha-eun on the bed and gently stroked her hair.
“Hehe. It’s nice with just the two of us.”
Ha-eun rubbed her cheek against Oh-jin’s palm like a cat seeking affection.
She smiled a meltingly sweet smile and pulled Oh-jin toward the bed.
Just as Oh-jin was about to give in and let her pull him down.
*Fzzt!*
A blue spark flashed between the two of them.
[‘Just the two of you’? Have you forgotten that I am here?]
Vega, who had been sitting on Oh-jin’s head, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
Ha-eun looked up at Vega and snorted.
“Hmph, you were too small to see.”
[What did you say?]
Vega zipped up into the air and slapped Ha-eun’s forehead with her tiny palm.
Though her palm was the size of a coin, the power it contained was quite heavy.
“Aack! Why’d you hit me?!”
[Hmph. I have merely injected the proper courtesy toward a Constellation directly into your head.]
“You’re tiny but you sure pack a punch.”
[T-T-Tiny…!]
Vega’s body trembled as she slapped Ha-eun’s forehead again and again.
[You insolent thing!]
“Ack! Stop! Stop!”
It was a familiar scene by now.
Oh-jin watched the two bickering with a faint smile.
“I’ll go clean up a bit then. Call me when you’re done.”
“Sheesh! I’ve let it slide, but this is too much!”
[Hoh. Are you trying to rebel against my lesson in manners?]
It seemed neither of them heard him.
Oh-jin let out a chuckle and left the room.
“Hoo.”
After a quick clean-up of the living room, he entered the empty room they used for storage.
‘Alright then.’
He slowly raised his hand and focused his mind.
*Vwoooom!*
A brilliant aura of light formed in his palm.
It was the light created by the Stigma of Libra, which he had absorbed from Demian.
“Now, how can I use this to its full potential?”
Oh-jin stared at the brightly burning aura of light, lost in thought.
The light produced by the Stigma of Libra had the power to harden and crystallize a Stigma’s magic.
‘The problem is, it’s too conspicuous.’
Since the ability to crystallize magic was unique to the Stigma of Libra, it was difficult to use it freely in front of others.
‘The magic crystallization ability seems like something I can only use when Vega isn’t looking.’
But if it was simply an ‘ability to manipulate light,’ there were plenty of other ways to utilize it.
‘And in a very overpowered way, at that.’
Oh-jin focused his mind and manipulated the light gathered in his palm.
*Vwoooom!*
The light emanating from his palm gradually took shape, forming an exact replica of Oh-jin.
‘An illusion.’
Since it was an ability to manipulate light, as long as he could control the light with enough precision, he could create an illusion made of light, like a hologram.
“I can definitely use this.”
It was an ability with endless applications.
Especially for Oh-jin, who had a natural talent for deceiving others.
“Well… it seems I’ll need some practice to get used to it, though.”
When he reached out his hand toward his mirror image, his hand passed right through its body.
Ripples spread through the light like a stone thrown onto the surface of water, and then Oh-jin’s illusion scattered like smoke.
Creating an illusion by manipulating light required such fine control that he wasn’t yet skilled enough to maintain its form.
‘Still, with practice, I’ll be able to use it effectively.’
Oh-jin wore a satisfied smile, pleased with the new Stigma he had acquired.
“But why didn’t that bastard Demian use this amazing ability?”
Sight is the most important sensory organ for humans.
If one could properly utilize illusions to deceive the eyes, the entire dynamic of a battle could change 180 degrees.
“Ah, don’t tell me.”
Oh-jin changed the color of the light shining on his palm into various hues.
The light shifted through every imaginable color, as if he were fiddling with the dye section of a game’s character customization screen.
Only then did Oh-jin realize why Demian hadn’t used the overpowered ability of ‘illusions.’
‘It wasn’t that he didn’t use it.’
Demian didn’t have an ability like Oh-jin’s ‘Transformation’ to adjust the wavelength of light and change its color, so he couldn’t use illusions.
‘Come to think of it, that Demian guy was a one-trick pony with the color white.’
If that’s the case.
“Does that mean this illusion ability is something only I can use?”
Oh-jin’s eyes gleamed as he once again created an illusion of himself.
His own image, holding the jet-black spear with a threatening look in his eyes.
“Damn, this guy’s handsome.”
Oh-jin muttered something that would have made Ha-eun keel over with laughter if she’d heard it, and then dispelled the illusion.
If he had his way, he would practice creating illusions right now.
But since they had just returned home after a long time, it was unlikely Ha-eun would leave him alone.
“Oh-jinnie! Let’s order some delivery to celebrate being back home!”
Speak of the devil.
Just as he had that thought, Ha-eun burst open the door and entered the room.
Vega was perched snugly on her head, as if they had never fought.
[Delivery? You are ordering food instead of making it yourselves?]
“Yup! Let’s order jokbal, and pizza, and chicken, and everything!”
[Ooh! A fine idea, unlike your usual ones!]
“Huh?”
Ha-eun scowled and was about to reach for Vega on her head when.
*Ding-dong.*
The clear sound of the doorbell echoed through the house.
“Did you order already?”
“Huh? No, I haven’t ordered yet…”
Oh-jin tilted his head in confusion and opened the front door.
*Click.*
“Hello, Oh-jin.”
Isabella waved with a beautiful smile in her eyes.
Behind her, a line of bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses, all with burly physiques, stood holding large trunks.
“…What is this?”
Ha-eun asked, pointing at the large trunks.
“My moving luggage.”
“…Moving luggage?”
“Yes. I’m sure there was one spare room in your house, right, Oh-jin?”
Isabella’s eyes sparkled as she stepped inside.
“Hey, hey, wait a minute! Who said you could just move in?!”
“Oh my, did Oh-jin not tell you?”
She gracefully lifted the hem of her dress and gave a polite bow in Oh-jin’s direction.
“I am Isabella Colagrande, appointed as of today to be Oh-jin’s exclusive personal maid.”
“…What?”
*Appointed as my exclusive personal maid?*
*By whom?*
“Wh-Who appointed you?!”
“Fufu. Who do you think? Oh-jin appointed me himself.”
*Huh?*
*I did?*
*…When?*