Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Unwavering
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Isabelle, who had been waiting for Lee Si-woo in the Magic Tower’s coffee shop, set down her coffee cup with a grim expression.
‘Damn it, what? I have to work under Lee Si-woo? And follow his orders?’
Unable to contain the surge of emotion welling up in her chest, Isabelle hurled the coffee cup.
Startled by the sound of shattering glass, the other customers in the shop shot her uneasy glances, but upon recognizing the rude patron as Isabelle, they immediately lowered their gazes.
Still fuming, her face flushed as she seethed, a rather bold goblin sat down in front of her.
“It’s been a while, my lady.”
Recognizing the goblin dressed in a stylish semi-formal suit, Isabelle frowned and muttered.
“Weebl?”
Weebl. He was the heir to Gobelinus, a distribution company that provided various convenient facilities within the Magic Tower, and a leading figure among pro-Magic Tower corporations.
“You remember me. Hmm, that’s a relief. This should be quick.”
“Quick? What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing major, but I’d like to establish a connection with Mr. Lee Si-woo through you, my lady.”
Was he trying to add fuel to the fire? He wanted to connect with Si-woo?
Isabelle, who was already boiling with rage, managed to suppress her anger and spoke.
“…A connection with Si-woo?”
“Yes. You and Mr. Lee Si-woo share a special relationship, after all.”
Chewing on her lower lip, Isabelle spoke, her face clearly showing her displeasure.
“Why would you try to connect with Si-woo? You can just deal with me, can’t you? Don’t you know I’m his sponsor?”
Weebl spoke with a sly grin characteristic of goblins.
“My lady. You must be joking.”
“What the hell are you on about? What would I gain from joking around with the likes of you?”
As Isabelle cursed him out—an heir to a corporation who carried himself with considerable pride—Weebl’s face twisted into an awkward expression, a mix of a forced smile and displeasure.
“My lady. Mr. Lee Si-woo is no longer in a position to be sponsored by anyone.”
“What is this brain-dead bastard talking about?”
At Isabelle’s repeated insults, Weebl’s expression hardened as he spoke.
“After rescuing Elder Allen, Mr. Lee Si-woo’s prestige has skyrocketed. It’s because rumors have spread that he has not only your favor, my lady, but also the goodwill of Elder Allen. A human mage who has won the hearts of the two next-generation successors of the Magic Tower. And a hot new talent in the Budget Department…”
The more Weebl gilded Lee Si-woo’s image, the more Isabelle’s expression contorted.
But Weebl’s praise for Si-woo didn’t end there.
“Is that all? A genius who shows unprecedented growth despite being a root-based mage. A supernova who sank even a Ranker with his innate combat sense. To be frank, every notable figure in the Magic Tower has their eye on Mr. Lee Si-woo. Compared to him, Lady Isabelle is…”
As Weebl trailed off, blatantly twisting his lips into a sneer, Isabelle’s face turned scarlet with humiliation.
Perhaps if she had been a bit more prudent and thoughtful, she might have considered why Weebl was so openly provoking her, but her temper was far too fiery for that.
Isabelle slapped Weebl across the cheek.
“This son of a bitch is really getting on my nerves. Do I look like a pushover to you? Huh? Unlike Si-woo, do I look easy!”
Was it due to her agitation, or was it the jealousy that had become a habit because of Allen?
The inferiority complex that had been kept in check thanks to Si-woo lately seemed to be rearing its head once more.
No, this time it was even worse.
Allen was an elf like her, but Si-woo was a human she had considered less than the dirt on the soles of her feet.
‘I… I lost to a human? And all the influential figures in the Magic Tower think so?’
But what confused her amidst all this was the faint feeling of affection for Si-woo that lingered at the root of her inferiority complex.
Perhaps this feeling stemmed from the bond of sharing the secret of the Faceless Lord with Si-woo.
And, it seemed to have originated from her own weakness, from unknowingly relying on Si-woo’s competence to solve all her problems.
Only then did she finally realize it.
She had, at some point, come to trust and depend on Lee Si-woo.
‘Screw that, Isabelle. You stupid bitch. Even if there are no other prodigies around you, how could you… with a lowly human…’
She deliberately tried to denigrate Si-woo, but there was no way she could cast aside her feelings for him with such a base method when even her fiery inferiority complex couldn’t erase them.
And then, at the worst possible moment, he appeared.
“Weebl. You know one thing, but not the other.”
How long had he been there?
Startled by the words of Si-woo, who had approached their table without a sound, Weebl, who had been caressing his stinging cheek, shot to his feet.
“M-Mr. Lee Si-woo.”
“It’s true that my circumstances have improved recently, just as you said. However, everything I enjoy now would have been impossible without Lady Isabelle’s grace.”
Realizing that Si-woo had heard every thoughtless word he’d uttered, Weebl stammered.
“I-I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn without realizing…”
Si-woo cut Weebl off mercilessly.
“The reason I can function as a person in this Magic Tower? It’s thanks to Lady Isabelle. The reason I, a human, am treated with respect by you all? It’s thanks to Lady Isabelle. The Budget Department? I wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting in if it weren’t for Lady Isabelle.”
Si-woo grabbed Weebl by the collar and shot him a cold glare.
“Without Lady Isabelle, I could not have reached this position. Therefore, everything I have achieved and accomplished is something that Lady Isabelle, not I, rightfully deserves to enjoy. And yet… not only did you displease Lady Isabelle, you tried to drive a wedge between us. Hmm, Weebl. What do you think I’m going to do now?”
His face deathly pale, Weebl dropped to his knees before Si-woo.
He knew that if Si-woo, who was in the Budget Department and backed by both Allen and Isabelle, decided to exert his power, a businessman like him would have no place left in the Senior Magic Tower.
“Mr. Lee Si-woo. I’m sorry. I-I made a mistake.”
Si-woo grabbed Weebl’s chin with his hand, forcing him to face Isabelle, and spoke in a voice as cold as frost.
“Weebl. I believe you’re asking for forgiveness from the wrong person.”
Understanding what Si-woo meant, Weebl roughly pressed his forehead to the ground before Isabelle.
Isabelle’s expression seemed strangely bitter as she watched Weebl, who was silently begging for forgiveness with his actions.
Was it because of Weebl’s attitude, which had changed as drastically as heaven and earth the moment Si-woo appeared, or was she troubled by Si-woo’s gesture of attributing all achievements and merits to her?
Isabelle spoke in a subdued voice.
“That’s enough, so get lost. I think I’m going to puke if I have to look at your face for one more second.”
As if he had been waiting for those words, Weebl scrambled away like a colt with its tail on fire.
Si-woo sat down across from Isabelle and smiled gently.
His eyes crinkled into crescents, and a warmth emanated from the corners of his mouth.
His smile, which could put one’s mind at ease as if welcoming spring, felt burdensome to Isabelle, who subtly averted her gaze and spoke.
“What time was our appointment? Why are you so late? Can’t you move a little faster, you slowpoke?”
“Lady Isabelle. Thank you.”
“…For what?”
“For allowing me to rise to a position beyond my station.”
Why was it?
With just one cheesy line from this man, the foulness in her heart vanished as if washed away.
Feeling her inferiority complex fade like a foul stench carried away by the wind, Isabelle was bewildered by her own emotions.
She felt awkward, her heart swaying at another person’s words.
“Whatever. Hey, you’ve gotten pretty big, haven’t you? My father said so. That I should work under you?”
“I specifically requested it.”
“Why? Because I’m an easy target?”
“No. Because the only person I can trust in this Magic Tower is you, Lady Isabelle.”
Covering the bridge of her nose, which was tinged with a faint peachy hue, with her palm, Isabelle snapped.
“Y-You crazy bastard, stop giving me goosebumps. Hey, are you trying to hit on me right now?”
Si-woo chuckled.
“And if I were, would you fall for me?”
“Hmph, not a chance. A mere human like you.”
“Not even a chance? Well, that stings a little. But it’s fine. I’ve received so much from you, Lady Isabelle. Ah, but more importantly… I’m sorry.”
“…Sorry for what?”
“For being unreasonable and asking the Tower Master to place you under my command.”
“Hmph, it’s fine. Between us, something like that is…”
Isabelle, who was in the middle of her sentence, seemed to find the phrase ‘between us’ particularly uncomfortable and corrected herself.
“Don’t worry about it. You think I’d get bent out of shape over something like that with a fellow colleague serving the Faceless Lord?”
“Of course, that’s not something you’d do, Lady Isabelle. So… we’re good, right?”
Good? They almost weren’t.
Just a moment ago.
But now they were. All because of a few of that damn guy’s smooth lines.
“We’re good, you punk. So? What is it you want to do, making me your subordinate?”
By now, even Isabelle had to admit it to a certain extent.
He was the only person she had grown close to in a world she thought was full of vermin and insects.
Lee Si-woo had, at some point, become a rather special existence to her.
Of course, this wasn’t a feeling between a man and a woman.
The wall of race was far too great for her to see him as a man.
So, if she had to define it, the two were closer to colleagues, or perhaps friends.
Yes, at least for now.
Si-woo smiled brightly and said.
“Do you think I would have recruited you for just any trivial matter, Lady Isabelle? There’s a place we need to go together tomorrow.”
“Where?”
Si-woo replied while typing a text message to someone on his smartphone.
“The Wilderness Magic Tower.”
*Ding.*
- Excellent work, Weebl. Thanks to you, things went smoothly. Oh, and about that large supermarket to be built on the Granada site owned by the Senior Magic Tower we discussed earlier… I’ll submit a proposal to the Budget Department suggesting that Gobelinus would be a good fit to handle it.
“Are you crazy? Why are we going there?”
“Why else? We’re going to kill the Wilderness Tower Master.”
As Isabelle’s dumbfounded gaze, as if she’d just heard the most absurd thing in the world, fixed on Si-woo, a reply came from Weebl.
- Don’t mention it. It wasn’t a difficult task. What’s a few slaps and a few bows to a goblin? And thank you for the supermarket matter. If it’s confirmed, I’ll visit you personally to show my gratitude.
After finalizing his deal with Weebl, Si-woo looked at Isabelle with the brightest face in the world.
Was his gaze too much for her?
Isabelle pouted and turned her head away.
Si-woo liked Isabelle.
He liked that her inside matched her outside; she might be openly hostile, but she wasn’t the type to betray someone in secret. He also liked the special connection they had formed through Barathrum.
And was that all? She was also the legitimate heir of the Senior Magic Tower, the most rightful successor.
‘Isabelle on my left, Allen on my right… Yes. Being the number two who wields influence from the shadows is better in many ways than being the number one who becomes an open target.’
A number two who was like a number one.
It was quite a coveted title.
If he rose to a position where he could sway an entire Magic Tower, finding a way back to Earth would also become much easier.
Perhaps it was because he’d had a long conversation with a woman for the first time in a while, even if she wasn't human.
He missed Yun.
Some say that as distance grows, the heart grows distant, and that with the passage of time, feelings fade.
But why was it that the more time passed, the more he missed her, to the point of aching?
Yes, sometimes to the point where he felt like he would go insane.
* * *
*Smack!*
A woman who was slapped across the face collapsed to the floor.
As the glasses that tumbled from her face slid across the floor, a beautiful noblewoman with hair as red as blood stepped on them with her foot.
“Ah…”
Amir, the youngest daughter of the Vampir family and the seventh in line for succession, spoke.
“Yun. My dress is in tatters. You’ve been working here for months, and you still can’t even do laundry properly?”
As Amir held out the dress with its ruined decorations, Ha-yun, her vision blurry without her glasses, fumbled to find the noblewoman’s face and said.
“I’m sorry. I’m still new to this…”
“Hah, if you’re new, then you need to learn. Yun, as I’ve told you time and time again, you are a maid of the Vampir family. So stop acting like some incompetent employee from a lesser house and show some more responsibility. Don’t just slack off because you have my brother’s favor.”
“…I’ll work harder.”
Amir scrutinized Ha-yun’s face, which could hardly be called beautiful even in the most generous light, with a sullen gaze.
She couldn’t understand why her brother, Adrian, cared so much for such an unattractive woman.
Ugly, incompetent, and timid.
Feeling a sense of disgust for the woman who had no redeeming qualities, Amir turned her back coldly and snapped.
“Have my room cleaned by this evening. Meticulously and spotlessly.”
“Understood.”
Once Amir and her attending maids left, Ha-yun, left alone in the magnificent hallway filled with marble and gold carvings, weakly stood up.
Perhaps because she had no glasses, she staggered like a leaf fluttering in the wind and missed her step.
As she fell helplessly, a forearm as hard as a log supported her back.
The scent of blood, a mixture of sweetness and a metallic tang.
Realizing this bloody scent was someone’s body odor, Ha-yun spoke in a barely audible voice.
“Thank you. But I’m fine now. Please let me go.”
Adrian, the silver-haired, red-eyed man in a suit who held her in his arms, whispered.
“Why do you insist on suffering like this? Just accept my offer. Yun.”
“…As I told you then, I’m fine. So you don’t need to worry about me.”
Adrian gently swept the bangs covering Ha-yun’s face back with his index finger.
“Why do you choose the difficult path over the easy one? If only you would allow it, if only you would choose it, you could enjoy wealth and prosperity for all eternity in this Vampir family, starting tomorrow.”
Adrian stared at the nape of Ha-yun’s pale white neck with red eyes filled with a strange desire.
Feeling a violent aura, as if he might devour her whole at any moment, Ha-yun pushed Adrian’s hand away and stood up.
“I’m human, my lord. Not a vampire.”
“You can become beautiful, and you can stop aging. You can become strong, and you will no longer have to be looked down upon in this world as a human.”
At Adrian’s subtle temptation, wanting her to become his kin and his mate, Ha-yun slowly shook her head.
“I’m sorry, my lord. I’m not interested.”
Angered by her repeated rejections, Adrian growled, baring his sharp, white fangs. Perhaps due to his heightened emotions, he lashed out without thinking.
“Why don’t you adorn yourself? Why don’t you wear makeup? Why do you reveal those hideous freckles in front of me, and why don’t you try to look better for me? Every blade of grass in this estate tries to look good for me… but why don’t you?”
As Adrian pinned her against the wall, Ha-yun’s long eyelashes trembled.
“Because he told me to. To only dress up in front of him. He said he only wanted me to look good for him. He said he didn’t like other people seeing me as pretty…”
“…Is he the one you’re waiting for?”
“Yes.”
Watching Yun, who, despite trembling like a frightened chick, stubbornly said everything she needed to say, Adrian looked at her with a cold gaze before turning away with a faint scoff.
“Yun. I will not give up on you. And you… will soon have no need to wait for him. Because I will make it so.”
Paying no mind to Ha-yun, who slumped to the corridor floor as her legs gave out, Adrian strode down the hall with angry steps.
The servants, sensing his foul mood from his clenched jaw, parted to either side to make way, lest they get caught in the crossfire.
Adrian, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white, flashed his red eyes.
‘Jin. You left me with a truly wicked gift. A… filthy gift. So wherever you are, you’d better come back soon. Before I… get serious.’