Chapter 246
Chapter 246
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 246
Chapter Title: Celebration Party (2)
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Vrooom.
The streets of Seoul, a dense web of interconnected roads.
A luxurious limousine, the kind you'd only see in Hollywood, cruised down the gray asphalt.
“Hm-hm-hmm~♬”
A tune escaped her lips unconsciously.
A warmth and satisfaction greater than the plush leather seats of the multi-million dollar limousine made her shoulders bob with excitement.
“Oh, my apologies, my lady.”
Was it because she was humming and swaying?
The handmaiden sitting beside her, helping with her makeup, fixed the smudged eyeliner with a flustered expression.
“No, no. I’m sorry for moving so suddenly.”
Isabella, who had been humming excitedly like an elementary schooler the day before a picnic, gave the handmaiden a warm smile that made her eyes crinkle.
“You seem to be in a wonderful mood. You’ve been feeling down for the past few weeks.”
The old man driving the limousine, Roberto, asked, glancing into the back seat.
“Well, it’s because I’ve finally dealt with some things I had been putting off.”
When Oh-jin had barely escaped the Demon Realm.
Isabella had felt the need to rebuild the power of the Colagrande family, which she had neglected for some time.
‘He needs a faction that can help him in an emergency.’
For all his exceptional skill, Oh-jin had no real faction to speak of.
While not belonging to any group allowed him to act freely, it also meant he lacked a solid foundation to support him in a crisis.
Of course, there was the Association, but it was ultimately a state-run organization, not a group dedicated solely to Oh-jin.
To create a force that could serve as his arms and legs, Isabella had returned to the Colagrande family she had long ignored.
* * *
It took only a few weeks to gather the family’s forces, which had been scattered after their defeat at the hands of Cheonseonseong Demian Salvatore.
It was the result of focusing on her work without even contacting Oh-jin properly, despite hearing the grave news of his participation in the Seven Stars council.
“Hmm. Is that truly the only reason for your good mood?”
A mischievous smile, unbefitting the face of a dignified old gentleman, appeared.
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Haha, it’s nothing. I was just suddenly reminded of when I first met my wife.”
“Just focus on driving, Roberto.”
Isabella cut short Roberto's long-winded love story, which was about to begin with, “We were so young and fresh back then…”
She gazed out the window, calming her excited heart a little.
“By the way, my lady.”
The handmaiden sitting next to her, Melissa, looked at Isabella with a troubled expression as she helped with her makeup.
Despite the grueling work day after day, Isabella’s beauty was so sublime and noble that it could make another woman catch her breath, but…
“…Are you really sure about that outfit?”
The clothes didn't match her noble appearance.
It was a classic maid outfit, the kind that even handmaidens employed by noble families rarely wore these days.
“Huhu. He reacted quite well to this outfit before.”
Isabella gave a faint smile and leaned back leisurely in her seat.
With a relaxed expression, she stroked the deep cleavage that was slightly visible.
“You see, Oh-jin is completely smitten with me. This is a sort of… service? for a loyal pet.”
“Aha! So you’re giving him a reward!”
“That’s right. The outfit may be this, but in terms of our master-servant relationship, I’m the one who’s closer to being the master, you could say.”
Isabella lifted her chin, as if boasting.
In truth, she was the one who was smitten, not Oh-jin.
She added a slight exaggeration(?) to maintain her dignity as a ‘queen’ in front of her subordinates.
“You’re amazing, Lady Isabella!”
Melissa’s eyes sparkled as she clenched her fists.
Bathed in a gaze full of reverence, Isabella’s nose lifted even higher.
“Huhu. Do you understand, Melissa? The most important thing in love is control. To make the other person love you even more. To make them unable to live a single day without you. That is what we call having the upper hand in love.”
“Then the maid outfit you’re wearing, Lady Isabella…”
“The animal known as man likes to ‘delude’ himself into thinking he has control. In reality, he’s just dancing in the palm of my hand.”
“Wow.”
Melissa let out a short gasp and nodded repeatedly.
Indeed, among all the outfits that could make the other party ‘delude’ themselves into thinking they had control, none was more fitting than a maid’s uniform.
“Then, as for Noerang…”
“Pagunseong.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s not Noerang anymore, he’s Pagunseong. You heard that Oh-jin became a member of the Seven Stars, right, Melissa?”
Isabella said with an excited expression, like a doting wife at a neighborhood meeting bragging about her husband’s promotion for hours.
“Oh-jin beat out all the formidable competitors like Pungshin Namgung Hwi from China’s top family, the Namgung, America’s Jason Hardy, and England’s Orlando Vale, who’s called the Divine Archer, to be chosen as one of the Seven Stars! And that’s while he’s not even a high-rank Awakener yet! You know how incredible that is, right, Melissa?”
“Ah… Yes. Th-That’s right.”
“And there’s a rumor that the title of Pagunseong is given to the most powerful Awakener among the Seven Stars. That’s how many Constellations acknowledge Oh-jin’s skill and talent.”
Overwhelmed by the barrage of bragging about her husband(?), Melissa scooted away with a weary expression.
“Anyway, Pagunseong…”
“Melissa?”
“Yes?”
“You should add ‘-nim’ to his name, shouldn’t you?”
Behind the pretty, smiling eyes were chilling blue pupils.
Melissa flinched and nodded her head like a woodpecker building a nest.
Isabella gave a satisfied smile and patted the head of the nodding Melissa.
“What were you about to say earlier?”
“Then… are you and Pagunseong-nim already lovers?”
“……”
For a moment, Isabella’s face stiffened.
She brushed her hair back, subtly avoiding eye contact.
“O-Of course. You could say we’ve already promised our futures to each other. Well, it was a promise that Oh-jin unilaterally begged me to make, of course.”
She continued, feigning as much composure as she could.
“He’s so into me that he was the one who asked me to suck his blood first, you know?”
Well, it was true that Oh-jin had asked her to suck his blood first.
“Oh, my! H-He even asked you to suck his blood first?”
As an Awakener of the Leech Constellation herself, Melissa knew very well what bloodsucking meant to them.
“Yes. Even knowing that his soul would be subjugated.”
Huhu.
Isabella leisurely crossed her legs and shrugged.
Melissa looked at her with a gaze full of admiration.
“Could I… also become a wonderful woman who can wrap men around her finger like you, Lady Isabella?”
“Oh, of course. You’re very cute, Melissa.”
Isabella smiled brightly and gently caressed Melissa’s cheek.
With shoulder-length chestnut hair and freckles that gave her the look of a simple country girl, Melissa was quite pretty among her handmaidens.
“…Being cute isn’t enough to be like you, Lady Isabella.”
Melissa pouted, her expression sulky.
Isabella let out a light laugh and turned to look out the window.
In the distance, she could see the apartment where Oh-jin lived.
Thump, thump.
Her heart began to pound wildly.
An impulse different from the urge to suck blood heated her head.
“Haaah.”
Just when the limousine, traveling at 80 kilometers per hour, began to feel as frustratingly slow as a turtle.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Good work, Roberto.”
Click.
Isabella stepped out of the door Roberto had opened for her.
The moment the stunning beauty in a maid outfit emerged from the luxurious limousine, all eyes were on her.
Isabella paid no mind to the stares and walked straight toward the apartment building.
“I will escort you to the front door.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go up by myself, so you can head back first.”
“Yes, my lady. I will be waiting at a nearby hotel.”
Roberto bowed deeply and returned to the car.
With excited steps, Isabella got into the elevator.
Standing before the front door, Isabella took a deep breath to calm her trembling heart.
“Ahem.”
After clearing her throat, she took out a hand mirror to check her makeup.
‘Perfect.’
Melissa’s skills were as good as ever.
After checking her makeup, Isabella looked in the mirror and flashed a seductive smile.
“It’s been a while, Oh-jin.”
“Why the maid outfit? Huhu, because I’m your exclusive maid, of course.”
“Or… is a master-servant relationship not enough for you?”
Isabella practiced her lines alone in the middle of the hallway, imagining Oh-jin’s reaction.
If Melissa saw her, she would have stared wide-eyed in astonishment.
‘Alright. Just like this!’
Isabella clenched her fists, her fighting spirit blazing.
Click.
She carefully opened the front door, and what she saw before her was…
“Come on, why not! It’s not like it’ll wear out!”
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting!”
The sight of two people clinging to each other, showing off their affection first thing in the morning.
Of course, from Oh-jin’s perspective, he would have protested that this was hardly a display of affection, but to Isabella’s eyes, the two scantily clad people were just rubbing their relationship in her face.
“……”
Her eyes grew cold.
A chilling killing intent, cold enough to freeze the very air, filled the apartment.
“What… are you two doing right now?”
“Uh…”
“W-Well, you see…”
The two of them froze.
Isabella bit her lip, her expression one of utter injustice.
While she had been working day and night to build a faction to support Oh-jin, enduring the urge to see him…
Ha-eun had been spending happy, lovey-dovey days with him all this time!
“That’s not fair, Ha-eun…!”
Forgetting all the lines she had practiced at the door, Isabella grabbed Ha-eun, who was clinging to Oh-jin, and pulled her away.
“I wanted to be with Oh-jin too!”
Isabella shrieked like a child who had her toy snatched away.
The image of the queen who held men in the palm of her hand was nowhere to be found.
* * *
“Feeling calmer now?”
After the brief scuffle ended.
Oh-jin offered a warm cup of coffee to Isabella, who was squatting on the living room sofa with a sulky expression.
“…Hmph.”
Isabella took a sip of the coffee and narrowed her eyes.
“I guess you didn’t miss me while I was gone, Oh-jin.”
“Of course not.”
Oh-jin shook his head and sat down next to her.
For the first few days, he had enjoyed spending time alone with Ha-eun for a change, but after a week, he found himself missing Isabella’s presence.
‘I feel like a scumbag leading them both on.’
Considering he knew Isabella had feelings for him and still couldn’t push her away, it wasn’t an entirely inaccurate thought.
His flimsy excuse was that he had Ha-eun’s permission to be close to Isabella.
‘But that’s not the only reason.’
Oh-jin looked down at his hands with a bitter expression.
As he thought, he was holding onto too much. Far too much.
“I don’t know.”
Isabella turned her head away sharply, clearly still sulking.
But only for a moment.
After idly scratching the living room floor with her toe, she cautiously turned her head toward Oh-jin.
“…You really did think of me, right?”
“The house felt pretty empty without you.”
“Huhu. I’m happy to hear you say that, even if you don’t mean it.”
A warm smile spread across Isabella’s lips.
Just moments ago, she had been furious, but now, a few simple words made her feel this happy.
‘I can never tell Melissa about this.’
Isabella sighed and stood up.
Clap!
Shaking off her gloomy mood with a loud clap, she spun around to face Oh-jin.
“By the way, Oh-jin!”
“Hm?”
“What are you going to do about the celebration party?”
“Huh?”
What celebration party?
“The party to celebrate you becoming one of the Seven Stars, of course!”
With her eyes sparkling, Isabella looked for all the world like a silly new bride who had just heard about her husband’s promotion.