Chapter 197
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: Overprotection (1)
It was pure coincidence. I just happened to notice the ring on Seo Yu-ju's finger.
'Ah...'
Come to think of it, I'd only sent the rescue signal through the ring at the very beginning. I hadn't used it since.
Sending a signal through the ring might snap her back to her senses.
'Damn it, please come to your senses.'
Shooo...
As I channeled mana into the ring, the one on Seo Yu-ju's finger began to glow.
At first, there was no reaction from her. But as she kept swinging her spear with those unfocused eyes, a spark of life suddenly flickered in her gaze.
"Huh?"
Of course, she could clearly see her own ring lighting up. And the rings we both wore were bound items.
In other words, the only person alive who could send a signal to her ring was me.
'How could I have forgotten about this like an idiot.'
If I'd thought of the ring sooner, I could've prevented her from losing her mind in the first place.
No one to blame but myself for taking so long to remember it.
I held up my ringed hand to her, now regaining her senses, making sure she could see it clearly.
"Ahh..."
Seo Yu-ju finally seemed to come back to herself. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at me.
'...This guilt is hitting me hard.'
I'm human too, after all. Seeing her like this, how could I not feel guilty?
To be fair, it was my deception that had driven her to this point.
'She must have been through hell mentally.'
"Yu-ju."
The others realized she'd come back to her senses, letting out sighs of relief as they sheathed their weapons.
"Y-Yun-seong...!"
She'd always called me "Yun-seong-ssi" around others before, but her emotions were too overwhelming now to care.
'...Well, can't blame her.'
I caught her as she threw herself into my arms, patting her back gently.
"Hic... You're alive... Thank God... Thank you... Ahh..."
'...Damn it.'
Her tears were soaking my clothes, but that was the least of it. Her reaction was stabbing at my conscience.
"I thought... I thought you were dead. I... I thought you died, Yun-seong..."
...The stares from around us prickled, but right now, comforting her came first.
"I'm not dead. Why would I die? See? I'm fine. So cut it out."
'Shit.'
Lee Jae-hyo watched the scene with a pleased smile, but the problem was the other two women.
Yun Yeon and Ha Yu-ri were eyeing Seo Yu-ju and me with strange looks.
'...Ha.'
Ha Yu-ri's gaze made sense after what she'd said to me last time, but Yun Yeon's was bothering me.
Her eyes stung in a peculiar way.
"Hic... Yun-seong... Yun-seong..."
"I'm fine, okay? No injuries, perfectly healthy. So calm down."
"Yeah... Call my name... Call my name..."
"......"
'Ah, this...'
She'd always been oddly fixated on me saying her name.
With everyone watching, I hesitated, and she looked up at me with teary eyes.
"Please... call my name..."
'Ha...'
"...Seo Yu-ju."
At the sound of her name from me, she smiled through her brimming tears.
'...She's pretty, no denying it.'
I had to admit it. Her tear-streaked smile directed at me was stunningly beautiful.
The kidnapping incident at the Execution Sanctuary had come to a close.
In the end, three of their executives were dead, their lawless underlings nearly wiped out, Woo Seo-hyun had fled solo, and so had their leader and the archer woman.
Woo Seo-hyun might not be catchable right away, but she was now wanted across the entire continent.
She'd become a superstar celebrity in Eras now.
'She's probably cursing me out as we speak.'
Life on the run isn't easy. Must be pretty stressful.
The reason we didn't put out warrants for Jeon Myeong-cheon and Yang So-wol was simple.
'It'd be weird if I knew their identities.'
The only way I'd learned who they were was through my ability.
Unless I revealed that, we couldn't issue warrants for them. Woo Seo-hyun was fair game since she'd been a spy in Eternity.
And finally, we'd even captured Gwi-chang, who was aligned with the Execution Sanctuary.
Pretty flashy results, if I do say so. No, even objectively, it was an incredible feat.
'No one had ever pulled this off before.'
The notorious Execution Sanctuary was effectively gone, and we'd nabbed a traitor like Gwi-chang to boot.
News spread across the continent in no time. With this, Eternity, Myth, and Ma-dan Clans' reputations were now unmatched by any national clan.
Naturally, since the Execution Sanctuary's atrocities weren't limited to Baronia, reactions poured in from everywhere.
'Seo Yu-ju... seems okay for now.'
I explained the same thing to her once she'd fully recovered: that I'd swapped with a clone midway and escaped.
'The biggest issue was whether she'd buy it...'
She didn't disbelieve me—in fact, quite the opposite. She seemed almost relieved to the point of unease.
No matter the details, she was just fixated on the fact that I was alive.
Her single-minded worry for my safety made my conscience ache all over again.
It left me desperately scrambling for excuses, thoroughly flustered.
'And worst of all, her obsession's gotten even worse.'
There was the rational kind, sure, but what I meant was something else entirely.
'She's become obsessively fixated on my safety.'
At first, she just insisted on reports whenever I went anywhere, which was exhausting enough.
'If that was all, I'd count my blessings, damn it...'
Lately, though... it felt like she was trying to keep me from leaving the clan house at all.
Not figuratively—she literally didn't want me going out, telling me I didn't need to handle work and dumping my tasks on others.
She'd summon me to her office to spend the whole day there, or if she couldn't come herself, she'd order Wi Ho-yeon to watch me.
No leaving the clan house without her permission, period.
'This is straight-up house arrest, damn it.'
I'd thought Wi Ho-yeon might side with me at first, but she was fully on board, starting 24/7 close surveillance.
'Not sleeping is going too far.'
Absurdly, she meditated in some breathing exercise pose right outside my door all night.
"Ha..."
Daytime under watch by Seo Yu-ju and Wi Ho-yeon, nighttime by Wi Ho-yeon alone.
And after this incident, something had changed in Seo Yu-ju—whatever it was, she started sneaking to my room late at night, away from the other clan members.
...Even with Wi Ho-yeon guarding outside.
'This is rough.'
And there was no way her late-night visits were innocent. She had ulterior motives, obviously.
I couldn't just turn her away either.
The shock from this whole thing had amplified her need for affection to extremes.
Honestly, since I was the reason she'd ended up like this, I couldn't bring myself to outright refuse her nighttime visits.
Her condition lately was basically extreme dependency.
If I was out of her sight even briefly, or vanished from the clan house for a moment, her face would go pale as she searched everywhere frantically.
'Her dependency on me is way too much.'
I suddenly recalled a post back on Earth from a guy whose wife had severe husband dependency issues. I could really relate now.
And even with Wi Ho-yeon on guard duty, Seo Yu-ju still came at night, so I had to mind her.
The rooms had soundproofing magic, so nothing leaked out, but still—doing that with Wi Ho-yeon right outside the wall was my daily routine now.
'Shit...'
The crazy part? Wi Ho-yeon's attitude was completely nonchalant.
As if she saw and heard nothing, she showed zero reaction to me and Seo Yu-ju's relationship.
'Her face flushes a bit sometimes, though...'
And because she reacted like that, Seo Yu-ju grew even bolder.
'Why the hell is she asking if she feels good...'
Alone with Seo Yu-ju, fine—but with Wi Ho-yeon right outside, whispering that stuff during sex? It even gave me a weird thrill of taboo.
Lately, her tastes had twisted somehow; she was demanding increasingly intense things, leaving me flustered.
...To the point where even I was thrown off.
'No matter how I look at it, I messed up this time. Shouldn't have planned it this sloppily.'
Wi Ho-yeon's rapid growth was great, but the cost was steep.
Not material loss—hell, I'd laugh that off.
The real damage was my near-imprisonment. Zero freedom.
I even contacted Lusca, but she wasn't on my side either.
- It's only natural, Master. If I were Seo Yu-ju or the Sword Empress, I'd do the same—practically lock you up.
"......"
- Honestly, I like this outcome. You need to prioritize your own safety more.
'Damn it...'
- It won't last forever over there. Just be patient; it'll get better with time.
'I know that.'
Of course time would ease things. The problem was suffocating right now.
'No, more than that—it's just weird.'
One of the two women I've slept with guards outside, while I sleep with the other separated by a single wall. Abnormal as hell.
I even asked Wi Ho-yeon directly if this treatment bothered her.
Her response was something else.
"I'm fine, Lee Yun-seong-ssi. As I told you before, you don't need to worry about me at all. Please, just ignore me and do as you please."
She practically encouraged me to indulge my desires without regard for her, which made me chuckle bitterly.
'These... crazy women...'
Made me wonder if they'd all eaten rat poison together.
"Ho-yeon-ssi, aren't you tired? Instead of that breathing exercise, you could rest comfortably in your room..."
"I'm fine. Not tired at all. Looking back, things were abnormal before. As your guard, I'll protect you safely even while you sleep from now on."
'Shit...'
I subtly probed if nighttime duty was tough, but it bounced right off.
"So please rest well tonight. Or... do you need nighttime service?"
"Pardon?"
'What?'
Frozen at "nighttime service," she nodded slightly and continued.
"...I've been foolish. Forgive this inadequate guard for failing to read her lord's intentions. Tonight, not the Clan Master—I'll serve you."
The conversation veered so suddenly I couldn't respond. I couldn't fathom how she'd jumped to that conclusion.
And then she grabbed me and shoved me toward the room.
"W-Wait...!"
"No need to refuse. I'll make you feel good."
Ignoring me, she forced her way in. I resisted, but my lower stats made it pointless.