Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Saintess of Rome (9)
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“Kneel.”
A low voice echoed.
The old man named Roberto scrambled to prostrate himself on the floor.
‘Fuck. What the hell is this?’
Oh-jin, peeking at Isabella through slitted eyes, felt his jaw drop.
‘That bastard Marco… wasn’t he supposed to be a high-ranking Awakened?’
He was sure he’d heard on TV that Marco was a 9-star Awakened.
But he had died as pathetically as a 1-star Awakened stepping into his first gate.
‘And *this* is the number three Executor?’
He’d suspected their power was absurd ever since Cheon Do-yoon single-handedly wiped out the Valhalla Guild, but this was something else.
This was strength beyond reason.
‘Insane.’
A chilling thrill ran down his spine.
Gulp.
He swallowed dryly.
‘She can’t find out.’
She didn’t seem to have any intention of killing him right now, but if she discovered he wasn’t actually unconscious, there was no telling when that might change.
‘Keep my breathing shallow.’
He closed his eyes and let his body go limp.
Playing the part of a critically injured man on the verge of death, he strained to hear Isabella and Roberto's conversation.
“Please kill me, my Queen!!”
“Oh? Really?”
“Keok! Krrk!”
Fucking hell.
‘This is terrifying.’
Watching her dig her fingers into her subordinate's neck without a hint of hesitation, the title ‘witch’—screamed by the Marco Family members—seemed to fit her perfectly.
‘So… Isabella is the one who destroys Italy in two years?’
His thoughts felt like a tangled mess.
‘But Lee Shin-hyeok said the Satellite Sect was the one that took over Italy.’
Did that mean the current Black Star Society would become the Satellite Sect in two years?
If so, it would make sense that no one knew about the Satellite Sect yet, but—
‘Damn it.’
It felt like forcing a mismatched puzzle piece into place.
The unpleasant feeling of the pieces not fitting together perfectly poked at his mind.
‘I’ll worry about that later.’
For now, he had to focus on their conversation.
“To be honest, it was quite dangerous this time.”
Dangerous, huh.
‘The Stigma of Leech is supposed to get several times stronger at night.’
In other words.
Her desperate escape from the Marco Family during the day hadn’t been an act.
‘Then if I hadn’t stepped in…’
In the world where Lee Shin-hyeok hadn’t regressed.
What kind of life had she lived in the first timeline?
“……”
It wasn’t hard to imagine what would have happened to her if she’d been caught by the Marco Family.
“Heehee. In that sense, you could say Mr. Oh-jin is my savior.”
Savior, huh.
If she really thought that.
‘At least it doesn’t look like I’m going to die here.’
A sigh of relief escaped him.
‘I have to avoid getting involved with Isabella from now on.’
Whether she was the culprit behind the massacre in two years or not.
Having seen Isabella’s absurd power firsthand, he wanted to avoid getting any more involved with her.
‘Well, once this is over, I won’t see her again anyway.’
He was Korean, and she was Italian.
Unless she came specifically to meet him like this time, he wouldn’t run into her for a while.
‘Right.’
Once this job was done, his connection with Isabella would naturally be severed—
“Haaa! This sweet scent…! It’s the best!”
Huh?
“Aahh! Hah… Nngh!!!”
What the fuck.
‘This… isn’t happening, right? Right?’
Don’t tell me I’ve caught the eye of that woman who’s a little… no, a lot unhinged?
‘Nah, that can’t be it.’
No matter how crazy she was, she wouldn’t follow someone around just because their blood tasted good.
Right.
This was just a one-time thing.
Just a passing incident.
‘Besides, Isabella is an Executor of the Black Star Society, isn’t she?’
He didn’t know how that organization operated, but…
She was leading a massive organization with thousands of members. She couldn’t have time to be chasing someone around.
‘Of course, of course!’
Don’t you worry, everyone!
I am so~~~ not screwed!
“I’ll never— let you go.”
What do I do.
I’m so screwed.
* * *
“Ah, ugh.”
He opened his eyes with a low groan.
He turned his head with hazy eyes, like someone who had just regained consciousness.
“Oh, Mr. Oh-jin!!!!”
Whoosh!
Isabella threw her arms around him, her eyes welling with tears.
“Do you have any idea how worried I was when you didn’t wake up for days?!”
Yeah, right.
Do you have any idea how on edge I’ve been with you stuck to my side for days?
“You’re okay, right…?”
Isabella looked up at him with eyes full of worry.
If he didn’t know her true identity, he might have been quite moved.
‘Fuck.’
But now that he knew the truth, it just felt creepy.
‘Even knowing everything, it’s hard to tell it’s an act.’
Her teary-eyed appearance even seemed lovely at a glance.
Truly, an astounding display of acting.
‘But.’
When it came to acting, he was no slouch either.
“Where… am I?”
“It’s a hospital run by the Colagrande family.”
“What happened to the assassins?”
Oh-jin asked, furrowing his brow as if he had no memory at all.
“After you passed out, Mr. Oh-jin, people from my family came as backup. The assassins fled as soon as they saw the reinforcements arriving.”
“…I see.”
Even though he knew that wasn’t the case.
He looked at her with a relieved expression.
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Mr. Oh-jin.”
“No. I…”
He bit down on his lip, his shoulders trembling.
“In the end… I failed to protect you, Miss Isabella.”
“That’s not true! If it weren’t for you, Mr. Oh-jin, I…”
“No. I just pathetically passed out. It wasn’t me who saved you, Miss Isabella, but the Colagrande family.”
“……”
Therefore.
“I’m too ashamed to face you again, Miss Isabella.”
He let his shoulders slump helplessly and turned his head away from her.
‘Good.’
It’s not too late!
Cut and run as fast as possible!
“What— do you mean by that?”
In that moment.
Isabella’s voice turned cold.
An eerie aura filled the room.
‘Huh?’
Fuck?
“You definitely said it, didn’t you, Mr. Oh-jin? That you’d stay by my side from now on.”
“Well.”
“You did… say that, didn’t you? Right? You’re going to stay with me here in Italy from now on, right?”
Hahaha.
Fucking hell, my life.
So this is how it snowballs, huh?
“I did. But in the end, I failed to protect you, Miss Isabella. The right to have you by my side… I don’t have it.”
Save me.
“Don’t say that! Mr. Oh-jin… you’re my he-hero!!”
Is that why you were staring at me while drooling?
“…Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease a little.”
Oh-jin gave a faint smile and gently took her hand.
“But even if you say it’s okay, Miss Isabella, I’m not okay with it.”
“Mr. Oh-jin…”
“Could you just… just give me a little time?”
His voice trembled faintly.
He gazed at her with desperation in his eyes.
“First, I’ll return to Korea. When I feel I’m strong enough to stand by your side, Miss Isabella, I will definitely return to Italy. I promise.”
Yep.
I’m never coming back.
“……”
Isabella stared at Oh-jin intently with narrowed eyes.
Gulp.
The tension was palpable.
And then,
“A promise…?”
Isabella held out her pinky finger.
‘Yes!’
At least he had managed to avoid the captivity and breeding ending.
“Yes. When that time comes, I’d like to go sightseeing around Rome with you, Miss Isabella.”
“Heehee. Leave it to me! Rome is full of sights to see!”
Smiling brightly like a flower in a field, she linked her pinky with his.
“Even when you go to Korea, please contact me often!”
“Of course.”
Instant block.
No, wait, if I do that, will she chase me all the way to Korea?
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Shit.
“By the way, you must be hungry, Mr. Oh-jin?”
Isabella continued, her eyes sparkling.
“I’ll make you something delicious!”
The main ingredient for that dish isn’t me, is it?
“Please wait just a moment!”
Scurry.
Isabella rushed out of the hospital room.
“…Haaa.”
Having finally gotten a moment to himself, Oh-jin let out a deep sigh.
He flopped down on the bed and tried to sort out his thoughts about her.
‘First, she has no intention of killing me right now.’
Prey or whatever she called him.
If she had just planned to devour him, there would have been no reason to use an Elixir to heal his wounds.
‘Judging by her reaction, my blood must be insanely delicious to her.’
If her only goal was purely his ‘blood’, she could have just tied him to some medieval torture device and drained him dry.
‘But.’
She didn’t do that.
She even accepted his wish to return to Korea, though she was clearly reluctant.
“…What in the world is she thinking?”
It wasn’t easy to guess what she truly wanted.
‘In any case, I have to avoid getting involved with Isabella from now on.’
This was a woman who called him top-grade prey.
Nothing good could come from being involved with her.
‘Well, I’ll have to face her eventually.’
She was the culprit behind the massacre that would happen in Italy in two years.
He couldn’t just let it happen.
Of course.
‘That’s a story for later.’
Right now, the gap between them was like that between a gnat and a toad.
Unless he could fly away and escape to a safe distance, there was no way to survive.
‘The only silver lining is that she doesn’t know that I know her true identity.’
He knew.
She didn’t.
This would be a significant advantage that would allow him to hold the upper hand in their future relationship.
“Haaa…”
He heaved another deep sigh.
‘Ha-eun.’
I fucking miss you.
Just as he was spending about twenty minutes picturing Ha-eun's face in his mind,
“Time to eat, Mr. Oh-jin~”
Isabella entered the hospital room carrying a tray.
On the tray was a steaming plate of pasta.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Aah! I’ll feed you!”
Isabella snatched the fork from Oh-jin, twirled some tomato pasta onto it, and held it out.
“Here, say ‘ahh’~, Mr. Oh-jin!”
Seeing her bright smile, he doubted if she was really the same blood-starved witch from before.
‘…This is an act, right?’
Even though he knew her true nature.
Her figure, holding out the fork with a smile like a wildflower, made her look just like a girl in love.
‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d be fooled. But when you know it’s an act, you can usually see the cracks.’
No matter how outstanding her acting skills were.
Since he knew this was all a facade, he should be able to see through it.
“Hehet. Is it good? It’s been a while since I last cooked, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out.”
For some reason.
Her shy smile right now didn’t feel like an act.
‘Get a grip, you bastard.’
Hadn’t he seen her wipe out hundreds of Awakened in a single blow and lick their blood?
The image she was showing now was nothing more than an elaborate mask.
Her true nature was a witch mad for blood.
The Black Star Society's number three Executor, the Leech Queen.
“It’s delicious.”
“Really? Haaa… that’s a relief. I was worried our tastes might be different since you’re Korean.”
Isabella patted her chest with a look of deep relief.
Bounce.
Something with destructive weight asserted its presence.
“……”
One Ha-eun.
Two Ha-euns.
Three Ha-euns.
Okay, I’m calm now.
“That was delicious.”
“There’s still more! Eat up, eat up!”
He had already finished three bowls, but new plates of pasta kept appearing from who knows where.
“Here, ahhh~!”
What is this.
Is she fattening up her prey to eat later?
“Nom nom.”
After finally finishing a fifth bowl.
Oh-jin got up from the bed.
“Well then, I should get going.”
“But your body is still…”
“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
Of course I’m fine, I drank an Elixir.
‘But now that I think about it, what a fucking waste of an Elixir.’
The injuries he had back then were the kind that would heal just by taking a dip in the river.
If Ha-eun had drunk the Elixir instead of him.
‘…her legs would have completely regenerated.’
It was a lingering regret, but.
‘Well, someday I’ll just make one for her myself.’
Wasn’t that why he had obtained the Stigma of Aquarius?
“I’ll see you to the Sanctuary.”
“There’s no need for that.”
“I’ll see. You. Out.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
It’s an honor, my Queen.
* * *
“…When will you be back?”
Isabella asked cautiously, looking at the downpour in front of the Sanctuary.
“I’ll return when I become strong enough to stand by your side, Miss Isabella.”
He answered vaguely, to avoid giving her anything to hold against him.
“…You have to come back soon, okay?”
Isabella said, her eyes welling with tears.
If he didn’t know her true identity, he might have felt like he was watching a puppy seeing its owner off.
‘Not a puppy, but a bloodthirsty beast.’
Oh-jin swallowed dryly and turned away.
—Just then.
“Mr. Oh-jin.”
Tap.
Isabella grabbed his shoulder.
“……!”
Fuck?
‘Did I mess something up?’
Flinching, his heart pounding, he turned his head, and—
Peck.
Isabella stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
“Hehe. Th-then I’ll call you later!”
She waved her hands energetically and ran off into the distance.
“……”
The soft sensation lingered on his cheek like a fragrance.
“This really is… an act, right?”
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, completely bewildered, and stepped into the Sanctuary.