Chapter 179: Victory (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 179: Victory (3)
She must be testing me.
There was no way Cheon Yeo-wool could know for sure if I was awake.
“Who’s awake?”
I asked back, pretending I didn’t know anything.
I forced myself to look away from her, staring up at the stark white ceiling of the hospital room.
“Hmm… I guess not.”
I heard Cheon Yeo-wool’s languid laugh.
She seemed to be resting her chin on my chest, looking up at me.
Her soft hair tickled my cheek.
“And what do you think you’re doing? I’m a patient…”
I protested, trying to sound as pitiful as possible.
“Yes, that’s why I’m here. Because you’re a patient.”
As she spoke, Cheon Yeo-wool pressed her soft body even more firmly against mine.
The feel of her full breasts, smooth stomach, and thighs began to imprint their shape perfectly onto my body.
This was the first time we’d been pressed together so completely, without a single layer of cloth between us. Perhaps that’s why I was so flustered.
It was completely different from before, when my body hadn’t fully woken up and my sense of touch was numb.
“Cure.”
Cheon Yeo-wool opened her mouth and chanted the spell.
Fwaaah—
Once again, a pure white light burst forth from her body.
A warm, sacred energy seeped into me.
“It’s almost finished… I don’t have to do much today.”
She whispered affectionately in my ear.
“I’ve been doing this the whole time. I wanted you to get better even a little bit faster.”
Cheon Yeo-wool’s healing must have helped a lot.
In truth, my body was almost fully recovered, but there was no harm in receiving more treatment.
I silently accepted her healing.
But it wasn’t long before I was struck with shock.
‘This is…’
This wasn’t a normal Holy Method healing spell.
It was fundamentally different from healing that used Divine Power.
“This… this is Life Law…”
Life Law, different from the Holy Method.
It was a type of Holy Method, but it didn’t use Divine Power.
It was a Secret Art that used only the caster’s own life force as fuel.
While it didn’t directly shorten one’s lifespan, using this Secret Art would leave the caster completely drained of energy, their body limp and weak.
Of course, they could recover with rest, but it meant the art placed a significant burden on the user.
I had wondered if I was recovering a little too quickly…
There was a reason for it all.
“Yep. I put some effort into it.”
Cheon Yeo-wool answered nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.
I grabbed her hand, which was resting on my body and emitting light.
“!”
I heard Cheon Yeo-wool’s startled gasp.
“Don’t.”
I slowly lifted her hand from my body.
I was incredibly grateful, but I never wanted her to heal me by burning through her own vitality.
The brilliant white light that had been blazing from her hand slowly faded.
I didn’t let go of her hand.
Instead, feeling the warmth from it, I offered my thanks.
“…Thank you.”
Then I turned my head to look at her face.
I tried my best not to look down.
“It’s… It’s nothing…”
Just as Cheon Yeo-wool, embarrassed, tried to pull away slightly, I put strength into my arm and pulled her closer by the neck.
“And actually…”
I whispered softly in her ear.
“I’ve been awake this whole time.”
Hearing that, Cheon Yeo-wool’s face turned red.
Her body, held in my arms, went rigid.
A deep blush started to spread from her face to the nape of her neck.
“Ah, well, to be precise, I wasn’t fully awake… but anyway… I could see.”
Cheon Yeo-wool slowly lifted her head to look up at me.
“You… saw everything…?”
She asked me, her voice trembling.
“My body…”
“No, I didn’t see everything…”
But Cheon Yeo-wool cut me off.
“Then… will you… take responsibility?”
This was probably Cheon Yeo-wool’s last-ditch effort to salvage the situation.
She must have expected me to get flustered, change the subject, or make some clumsy excuse.
But I didn’t.
“Yes.”
I answered firmly.
With all my heart.
“Huh?”
It was Cheon Yeo-wool who was taken aback by my answer.
Her wavering eyes froze.
I gently cupped her cheek.
“I’ll take full responsibility.”
From the very beginning until now, my mind had never changed, in any sense of the word.
Whether as a character in the story, or simply as the person Cheon Yeo-wool.
It was the same for the other girls, too.
I intend to take responsibility for all of them.
I will never let them die, and if I can just resolve this issue with the Evil God…
I truly intend to ‘take responsibility’.
Having lived in this world for so long, the concept of polygamy wasn’t that foreign to me.
Of course, only if they wanted it…
I held her gaze, not letting her look away, and whispered in her ear.
“For life.”
“Hk…”
Her shoulders trembled faintly.
Watching her, I let out a small chuckle and added, “Don’t you like it?”
My playful question made her face turn bright red.
“…I like it.”
She buried her face in my chest.
Cling.
“I like it so much…”
Just as the moment seemed to be settling into a nice atmosphere…
Chomp.
“Ack!”
I felt a slight pain in my shoulder.
Cheon Yeo-wool had bitten my shoulder.
“What was that for!”
I reflexively tried to push her away.
At that, she lifted her head from my chest.
“But why aren’t you doing it?”
It was a rather absurd thing to say.
I could understand what she wanted from the context.
Was this really the Saintess of the Arcadia Foundation, respected by all?
I let out a dry laugh and said to her, “I’m a patient, Saintess.”
A smile bloomed on Cheon Yeo-wool’s face at my words.
“Then what about when you’re not a patient anymore?”
Her fingers slipped through a gap in my hospital gown and caressed my bare skin.
When I’m not a patient anymore, huh…
I thought about it.
Would it really be okay?
But I came to a conclusion.
Last time, Cheon Yeo-wool awakened her Fragment, and this time, Yu Hana awakened hers.
From that point on, I began to perceive them clearly as women.
Until then, there had been… what should I call it? A final shred of conscience?
In any case, there was still some kind of line I felt I shouldn’t cross.
But now, after awakening my second Expanded Authority, I realized.
That line is gone now.
I looked at Cheon Yeo-wool, who had bitten my shoulder and was now huffing at me.
“…It’s okayyy, I was just sayinggg…”
Thinking I was struggling to answer, Cheon Yeo-wool tried to soothe me instead.
Her hand gently stroked my chest.
However.
I grabbed her hand.
And pulled her toward me.
“When that time comes, you’d better be prepared.”
“Huh?”
I met her trembling blue eyes head-on, not looking away.
“You.”
I was serious.
“Huh?”
Cheon Yeo-wool’s face froze.
The same smile she’d had while soothing me was still on her lips.
All movement ceased.
With that expression still frozen on her face, she rose from the bed as slowly and stiffly as a robot.
She picked up her clothes from the floor and began to put them on, fumbling.
“Huh??”
Even after she was fully dressed, she slowly backed away from me, her expression still frozen.
“Huh???”
Creeak.
She opened the door and bolted out into the hallway.
I was left alone in the empty hospital room.
Feeling the warmth she’d left behind, I let out a small laugh.
*
“What do I do… What do I do…”
Cheon Yeo-wool ran down the empty hallway and into the Gaon penthouse.
She immediately threw herself onto the bed.
‘You’d better be prepared.’
The words Jung Hae-in had whispered echoed in her ears the entire time she was running.
There was no way Cheon Yeo-wool didn’t understand what he meant.
She’d almost fainted on the spot.
She had never imagined Hae-in would say something like that in such a low voice.
She thought that, like always, he would push her away with a regretful smile.
Or that he would just tease her with a kiss and make her wait for the next time.
But that wasn’t what happened.
Instead, she felt a sense of being completely overwhelmed.
Thump… thump… thump…
Cheon Yeo-wool’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst.
His deep voice kept ringing in her ears, refusing to leave.
It seemed she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
“…”
Lying on her bed, Cheon Yeo-wool panted for a long while.
Then, as if she’d made a decision, she carefully got up and turned off the lights in her room.
She lifted the covers and slipped into the cool sheets.
“…Hh.”
And then.
In the quiet room, a small gasp escaped her lips.