Chapter 40. A Nine-Tailed Fox Wearing the Mask of the Saint...?
Chapter 40. A Nine-Tailed Fox Wearing the Mask of the Saint...?
Laila and Geum Hye-jeong, having gone out to buy snacks, were taking a walk together in the night breeze.
"Daughter, shall we grab a cup of coffee together?"
"I'd like that!"
The moment the café door opened, all eyes instantly fixed on them. Even during the holiday season, no one wore a hanbok these days. But because she had distinctly foreign features, people simply assumed, "She's a foreigner—that's why," and accepted it.
"Laila."
Geum Hye-jeong usually called her 'daughter,' but on rare occasions she used her name. Laila, who understood the weight of that, immediately stiffened.
"Fufu, there's no need to be so tense. I'm just a little curious about something."
"About what...?"
Geum Hye-jeong took a sip of her Americano and looked directly at Laila.
"Do you, by any chance, like my son?"
"...!"
Laila's pupils wavered instantly, and she couldn't meet Geum Hye-jeong's eyes. Her gaze dropped to the floor, and her face began to flush. But soon after, she looked back at Geum Hye-jeong with clear, bright eyes.
"Yes. I love the Hero!"
"Puhaha... Seriously, why are you so cute?"
"E-Even if... even if Mother opposes it...!"
Geum Hye-jeong gently took Laila's hand resting on the table. Then she shook her head with a warm smile.
"That's not it. It's just... I thought I'd give my daughter, who's suffering from a one-sided love, some advice."
"A-Advice...?"
"Yes."
"B-But... is it that obvious?"
Her face burning up, Laila cupped her own cheeks with her palms. Geum Hye-jeong looked at her affectionately, as if she found her utterly adorable.
"I, too, am a woman before I am someone's mother."
"You gave up everything in a homeland you can't return to and chased after a man. Wouldn't it be strange for me not to notice?"
At Geum Hye-jeong's words, Laila's eyebrows momentarily drooped into a sad slant. Then, like a little child throwing a tantrum, she started chattering complaints to Geum Hye-jeong.
"Mother! But Hero has no idea...!"
"The men of this household have always been like that."
"Ugh...!"
"But what can you do? The person who's in love has to be the one to endure it."
Laila fidgeted with her fingers, unsure of what to say. At that moment, Geum Hye-jeong's eyes flared open and she squeezed Laila's hand tightly.
"Laila, just push straight forward."
"Y-Yes...!?"
Geum Hye-jeong began to recount the story of her own journey from dating to marriage. Throughout the process, Laila listened intently, her ears pricked up.
"My son takes after his father in that regard, you see..."
"Really..."
"I think it'd be so wonderful to have a grandchild who looks like our Laila?"
"Ah... is that okay?"
"It's my dream to go shopping at a department store with my grandson or granddaughter before I get too old, you know?"
"I-I'll do my best!!!"
Geum Hye-jeong finished the rest of her coffee and rose from her seat.
---
"Well then, we'll head inside first..."
"Alright, go carefully."
Thanks to the adults' consideration, Song Hoon and Laila headed home first. In the process, Laila was stuck to Song Hoon to an excessive (?) degree.
"Ugh... I need to detox with magic..."
"Yo, Hero!"
"Hmm?"
"How about we just go home, wash up quickly, and get a good night's sleep!?"
"I guess..."
They returned home together, and Song Hoon quickly washed his face and lay down on the bed to sleep. Once she pressed her ear to the door and heard Song Hoon's soft snoring, Laila hurriedly slipped into the bathroom.
'Every nook and cranny...!'
Laila began to wash, taking much longer than her usual showers. She used body wash and even a feminine cleanser, and once she finished showering, she applied body oil and sprayed a perfume with a subtle scent.
'What kind of clothes should I wear?'
She began trying on various outfits in front of the full-length mirror.
'Ugh... Would he think this outfit was too perverted?'
She agonized for a while, then remembered the events before they had turned on the stream. He clearly hadn't been able to take his eyes off her when she was wearing her hanbok.
'Right... since it's a couple's(?) first night(?)...! I'll go with the vibe of a new bride!'
She quickly made the hanbok neat and sprayed a bit of perfume onto the clothes. And she slightly loosened the front opening.
'Mother gave her permission(?) too... so this was my chance...!'
She had indeed given her permission. Though, surely even Geum Hye-jeong hadn't expected Laila to act on it this quickly...
'I'll just detox Hero enough so he's tipsy... and afterwards, Hero would wake up, see my beautiful self, and roughly tear my clothes open... Haah!'
Imagining what was to come, Laila's face turned red and her heart began to pound.
'I-I needed to calm down...'
— Knock, knock...
"Hero... are you ashweep!?"
She was so tense that she even bit her tongue. Even so, when she pressed her ear to the door, she could hear Song Hoon snoring, which anyone would assume meant he was fast asleep.
— Creeeak...
"Hero, are you sleeping...?"
Laila crept over and waved her hand over Song Hoon's face. Confirming he was deeply asleep, various pervy (?) fantasies began to unfold in Laila's mind.
"Haa..."
Laila placed her hands on the bed and stealthily climbed on top.
— Squeak.
"!!!"
Even the sound of the bed frame, which she would normally never have noticed, now felt like a thunderclap. She glanced at Song Hoon's face and saw he was completely out of it, asleep.
She already understood. Since long ago, unless there was an ambush, Song Hoon fell so deeply asleep that he wouldn't notice if someone carried him away. When she'd used the excuse of being scared to crawl into his sleeping bag, he hadn't woken up even once.
'F-First, before I detox him...!'
Laila very carefully buried her face in his chest.
"Snniff..."
She lay in Song Hoon's arms for a while, greedily satisfying her pervy desires. Then, she placed her hand on his chest and felt his body heat.
'Goddess, a Saintess shouldn't do this sort of thing... but this was all Hero's fault!!'
This was a Saintess who, rather than apologizing to the Goddess who chose her, rationalized her own actions.
'Just a tiny bit...'
She recited an incantation and placed her index finger on Song Hoon's forehead, and a very faint light began to glow.
"Mmm..."
As she slightly detoxified the alcohol, Hero's face relaxed a little, and he let out a sigh. Laila gently stroked the sleeping Song Hoon's cheek, her eyes taking on a slightly dangerous gleam. Then, letting out an excited breath, she whispered softly into his ear.
"Fufu, this is all because Hero is bad...♥"
It was a universal rule that a sleeping Hero (?) was woken by a Saintess's kiss. Or so they say.
Closing her eyes, Laila's lips slowly drew closer.
"Mmmgh..."
"Eek!"
Song Hoon turned his body over in his sleep, and Laila, who had been poised over him, lost her balance. As a result, Song Hoon ended up on his side, pulling Laila into an embrace.
'Gasp! Yo, Hero...! Could it be he woke up...!? There's no way...!'
She lifted her head slightly and saw Song Hoon's face, still peacefully asleep. Relieved by his appearance, Laila resolved to try and carry out her grand undertaking once more. However...
'Hero's arms... were so warm...'
"Mmm..."
— Squeeze...!
Whatever dream Song Hoon was having, he hugged Laila tightly. At his action, Laila let out a strange moan, and her eyes gradually began to glaze over.
'Ugh... This was cheating...!'
As an unfamiliar physical reaction (?) rose within her, Laila instinctively touched her lower stomach with her hand.
'Hut! What if Hero thought I was a pervert...?'
But even as she thought that, Laila's body was honest (?). Bathed in the snug and warm feeling, Laila's eyes began to droop closed.
'I couldn't... I needed to have a baby with the Hero...'
Laila had eagerly gulped down the alcohol the adults gave her. Even a Saintess who didn't actively purge her built-up intoxication with magic was no match for alcohol. Just like that, Laila's eyelids slowly shut.
— Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Hut!"
The moment she heard the sound of the door lock being pressed from outside, Laila's eyes flew open instantly.
'Ugh...! It was the perfect chance, and I fell asleep there...!'
Regardless of whether her mother had given her permission, this was not a disgraceful side she could reveal. Laila nimbly slipped out of Hero's arms, straightened her disheveled clothes, and ducked into her own room.
'Haa, seriously...!'
The sounds of her mother and father entering the house and tidying their shoes drifted in. Laila clutched the blanket tightly and swore she would never make this kind of mistake again. Looking at the clock, she saw that three whole hours had passed since she and Hero had returned home.
'Next time, no matter what, I absolutely would...!'
---
That night, Song Hoon, asleep, was having a nightmare (?). A dream in which he was being preyed upon by a gumiho who wore Laila's face and a neatly tailored hanbok. She smiled a bewitching smile and crept slowly onto the bed where he lay.
'Laila!? W-Wait a moment...!'
The gumiho disguised (?) as Laila licked her lips and gently stroked Song Hoon's cheek. Before he knew it, Song Hoon's gaze had locked onto the cleavage of the gumiho, whose hanbok had fallen open.
'I was fine doing it (?) with you too, but let's follow a bit of order...!'
Laila's touch moved downward, and she began pulling down his pants. And the gumiho (?) whispered something into Song Hoon's ear, but since it was a dream, he couldn't remember what it was.
"Hwaaaah!!!"
Song Hoon shot bolt upright in bed and looked out the window, but it was already morning and the sun was up.
"Ah, shit! No way!?"
He urgently reached a hand inside the blanket.
"Thank god..."
If he, at his age, had a wet dream, he wouldn't have been able to bear the shame and would've thrown his blanket into the middle of the ocean.
"What is this..."
Well, it had been quite a long time since he'd been unable to relieve himself at home because of Laila. He reasoned that a healthy adult male could certainly have an erotic dream.
'Shit! But why did it have to be Laila...!'