Chapter 126
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: A Wicked Sort
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Exquisite food.
Expensive accessories.
Luxurious garments.
After ‘that day,’ these were things she could obtain with ease.
Her adoptive fathers, in particular, never spared any expense, making such luxuries a familiar, everyday part of her life. But… some things had become foreign.
The warmth of another person.
The direct touch of bare skin.
Even a simple, ordinary gaze.
The very things that even a mere commoner could take for granted were now beyond her reach.
*Rustle.*
That was why.
In this very moment.
She couldn't hide her bewilderment.
“How is it? Is it palatable?”
“It is more than palatable; I must say, it is rather sweet and delicious.”
“Glad to hear it. I thought it might be a bit bitter with just the medicine, so I mixed in some of the honey tea you brewed, Pandora.”
“I am grateful for the consideration, but…”
He had laid her down on the bed.
Then, he added this and that to a kettle on the brazier, bringing it to a rolling boil to create a strange medicinal brew.
He was not only several times faster and more adept than her when she prepared tea.
Dion had even used incantations in the process, elevating his medicine to a level that could almost be called an elixir or a potion.
Just a single sip was enough to feel energy returning to her languid body.
Nevertheless, the reason Pandora felt more consternation than admiration or gratitude was simple.
“...There is no need for you to go so far as to feed me.”
“Come on, don't refuse.”
She was no child, but a grown maiden, being fed medicine with a spoon by a young nobleman of her own age.
It was truly an embarrassing, even shameful, situation.
Even for Pandora, who could typically handle most things with composure, it was enough to make her flustered.
“You can barely move anyway, Pandora.”
“...What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t play dumb. You can’t even feel your hands and feet properly right now, can you? You’ve probably been dropping things a lot lately, too.”
As calm and composed as ever, yet with a sharpness that struck right at the heart of the matter, he silenced Pandora.
Dion continued, a faint smile on his face.
“Well, it’s understandable.”
“…”
“You’ve been out on the battlefield almost every day. It’s only natural for fatigue to build up, right?”
Pandora did not refute Dion’s point. No, she couldn’t.
She knew it as well.
Her diminished appetite.
The heaviness in her head.
Her unusually weak limbs.
The fact that she could eat less than half her usual amount and the spoon she had accidentally dropped were no coincidences.
They were the aftereffects of exhaustion.
It was unavoidable.
It had been days since she first stepped onto the battlefield, pushing the front line forward.
Each time, she had stood at the forefront, overwhelming the Dogwiryeon, and the fatigue was bound to accumulate.
Even more so because she had used the power of her curse daily—a power that not only high-ranking Awakened Ones but even most transcendent ones feared to confront.
“But don’t worry too much. A good ten days of rest should clear that fatigue right up.”
“...Ten whole days, you say?”
“Shouldn’t you say ‘only ten days’ instead of ‘ten whole days’?”
“…”
“This is why you shouldn’t have pushed yourself so hard.”
“You reap what you sow,” he said leisurely, offering the spoon again.
After she finished the medicine, he wasn't content with just peeling fruit for her; he even placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
Gazing blankly at the boy, who was even more brazen than the mask covering his face.
Pandora found herself asking.
“Are you not afraid of me, Gongja?”
For her.
It was a natural question.
And also a mystery.
Since she had accepted the curse, there had never been anyone who did not fear her.
Yet from the moment they first met until now.
Dion’s attitude—approaching her so casually, never once showing a hint of fear—was so peculiar it was downright strange.
But…
“Afraid? Why?”
“You are aware that I am cursed.”
“So what?”
“…”
“If I were the type to fear you for a trivial reason like that, I wouldn’t have participated in your groom selection contest in the first place.”
“...Many who feared me still participated in the contest.”
“That’s because they were just chaff, overflowing with greed and arrogance without having the ability to become your husband.”
Why should he be scared of her just because she was cursed?
He had seen her power, yet he spoke so nonchalantly, like some clueless fool who knew nothing.
Dion spoke to the silent Pandora with a gentle smile.
“You can look at me like I’m strange, but to be honest, I find you more fascinating, Pandora.”
“...Are you referring to my curse?”
“No, not that. Your actions.”
“...?”
“For example, that time you came all the way to our estate to warn us about the bandits.”
The moment she heard those words.
Pandora froze.
Yes, that was when she hadn’t known Dion for long.
It was when the dark elves had migrated, and she had visited the Waryong Estate to offer her greetings.
Dion, having received her advice, had strengthened his security using slave soldiers, capturing the bandits who came to the estate and earning renown.
However…
“That was actually a warning about the Dogwiryeon, wasn't it?”
“...Is that what you believe?”
“Yes. In the first place, the reason those bandits attacked was that Mr. Orc spread rumors to provoke the Dogwiryeon.”
The White-Masked Young Master, known to be from one of the Hundred Great Families, but whose identity was still suspect at the time.
It would be fortunate if he could pressure the Dogwiryeon by making them clash, and if things went wrong, a mere swindler's death would allow him to reclaim the Waryong Estate.
A good outcome no matter how it played out.
It was a scheme befitting the ambitious yet cunning old monster, Urk.
“In that sense, a warning about bandits might have been one thing, but your advice to run away couldn’t possibly have been Mr. Orc’s intention.”
“…”
“That was your own decision, wasn’t it?”
Lying in bed.
After a brief silence.
Pandora finally nodded.
“That is correct.”
“You admit it so readily?”
“I felt you would not believe me even if I denied it.”
“No, I was planning on believing you. It’s a husband’s duty to pretend not to know, even when he knows his wife is lying.”
“...I am neither the Gongja’s wife nor his fiancée.”
“Ah, right. Not yet.”
“…”
“Anyway, what I find fascinating is your reason for giving such advice.”
Defying Urk was something even the blood relatives of the Cortel family feared.
So for Pandora, an adopted daughter with not a single drop of shared blood, to do something that went against Urk's orders—something that was not just a burden but potentially dangerous—what was her reason?
To Dion, who asked for that reason.
Pandora answered softly.
“The reason I gave that advice was because if you fled, Gongja, I could have solidified my ownership of the Waryong Estate.”
“Mr. Orc isn’t foolish enough to covet your estate, Pandora.”
“But my father has many blood relatives.”
Most of the seven manors attached to Nangnang Castle were spoils of war Urk had obtained by overthrowing the previous lord.
But two estates, the Waryong Estate and the Mungnim Garden, belonged to Pandora.
They had been hers from the start.
To be precise, they were an inheritance from her previous adoptive fathers.
And while Urk had acknowledged Pandora’s ownership of the estates, he couldn’t stop his blood relatives from coveting them.
Survival of the fittest was the iron rule of Odobaekryeong.
No matter how absolute his power as the family head was.
He couldn't simply ignore the clan's assertion that even an adopted daughter, as a member of the family, should naturally offer her lands to the head.
Yet he couldn't let the friction between Pandora and the clan escalate either.
It was a headache for Urk.
“So that’s why you put your estate up in the groom selection contest? If you gave it as a dowry, they wouldn't be able to complain.”
“There were other reasons as well.”
“Using the losers of the contest as a source of funds or troops, and using the winner, like me, as a spearhead in the fight against the Dogwiryeon?”
“...My father did not expect a performance on the level of yours, Gongja.”
“Still, you were aiming for three birds with one stone. He really is something else, that Mr. Orc.”
Bring in an external force.
Settle internal turmoil.
And build strength for war.
To not just overcome a crisis but turn it into an opportunity.
Even if some of those strategies were Pandora's proposals, Urk’s willingness to offer up the estate was truly befitting of a cunning warlord.
However…
“So you wanted to chase me away? That way, you could protect the Waryong Estate without having to get married?”
“That is correct.”
“No other reason?”
“Is another reason necessary?”
“Hmm…”
When one could avoid an unwanted marriage and reclaim their own estate, what more reason was needed?
Hearing Pandora's response, which was perfectly rational and therefore felt all the more cold.
Dion smiled faintly.
“Pandora, shall I give you a piece of advice?”
“What advice might that be?”
To the puzzled Pandora.
Dion did not answer immediately.
He simply lowered his head slightly.
And so, to the girl who always exuded an ominous and unsettling aura due to the blindfold over her eyes, her black dress, and her somber voice.
But who was now nothing more than a patient, he brought his lips close to her ear and whispered.
“It’s your choice to feign wickedness, but it’s best to be selective about who you pretend to be bad for.”
“Pretend to be bad…?”
What did he mean by that?
Pandora couldn't finish her question.
The voice seeping deep into her mind and the warm breath tickling the inside of her ear.
Above all, the bewitching red eyes that seemed to see through to the bottom of her heart, unstoppable even by a mask and a blindfold.
Face to face with the stiffly frozen Pandora, Dion wore a faint smile.
A smile as innocent as a child’s.
As captivating as a siren’s call.
And as wicked as a tempting serpent.
A smile that could only be described as fiendishly wicked.
“—Because there are men in this world who prefer a bad woman.”
“...!!!”
*Flinch.*
Instinct was what moved Pandora.
Like a crow fleeing a bird of prey, she unknowingly tried to back away, to put distance between herself and the boy.
But in the next moment.
Pandora realized.
No matter how wide, on the limited space of a bed, putting distance between them was futile, and…
“In that sense, Pandora.”
*Grip.*
…even if it weren't a bed, it would have been impossible for her to shake off this boy and escape.
The hand that had already grasped her shoulder.
And his eyes told her.
This boy was a predator, a hunter who would never let go of prey once caught.
As Pandora, like a baby bird with its wing caught by a beast, was at a loss, she froze at Dion’s next words.
“Should I run away with you?”
“...?”
“You heard me right, so don’t make that face.”
“But, to run away, what do you mean by that…?”
“I’m asking if you’d like to just ditch this whole war and elope with me.”
“...???”
This must be what a pigeon hit by a slingshot feels like.
Already confused, and now hearing something utterly unimaginable, Pandora wore a dazed expression as Dion chuckled.
But the answer to his question came from an entirely unexpected place.
“Kuhuhu. A fascinating jest, Gongja.”
“...!?!?!?”
*Swoosh.*
Seeing the large, old orc who appeared, parting the tent flaps, there was only one thing Pandora could do.
Like most daughters caught in a secret rendezvous with a lover in their bedroom by their father, she could only panic with all her might.