The Lioness's Claim
EP 4 The Blacksmith Hides His Identity
Wi Seol-ah strode forward in her skin-tight tracksuit, radiating an imposing presence. Her fellow female bodyguards stared at her expression in bewilderment. The man who had looked half-dead moments ago now walked with such confidence that they wondered if he had undergone some kind of awakening inside.
“Hey, Seol-ah. What’s with you? What happened in there?”
Wi Seol-ah smiled contentedly and glanced sideways at Yoo Ji-tae. Her gaze overflowed with possessiveness and satisfaction, as if declaring, This is my man.
“From today onward, I have decided to live as this person’s lioness.”
The bodyguards were shocked. A lioness—that was the beast of the devoted wife. In a pride, the male lion ruled as the leader while the lionesses handled childcare, hunting, satisfying his desires, bearing his children, and supporting him in every way. Becoming someone’s lioness was no different from becoming his wife.
Words of praise for Yoo Ji-tae flowed from Wi Seol-ah’s lips. The first technique of the devoted wife: boosting her husband’s ego.
Lee Se-rin came running in a panic.
“Ah, no way! You’re bringing in a woman who looks like she doesn’t even wash her hands after using the bathroom?!”
“D-don’t joke around!!! Lord Hermes, this is slander! I always maintain perfect hygiene!!”
“Shut up! You reek of sweat! I bet you threatened Lord Hermes inside by waving those vulgar, sweaty breasts around!”
“.......”
“Why are you silent on that part!!! Lord Hermes…?”
Yoo Ji-tae avoided Lee Se-rin’s tearful gaze. This is burdensome.
“…It’s not what you’re thinking.”
After giving a vague reply, Yoo Ji-tae sat across from Llywelyn. Her hostility remained unchanged. Llywelyn didn’t help me.Still, she at least gave me a clue. Maybe I should express some gratitude for that.
While Yoo Ji-tae hesitated, Llywelyn spoke first.
“It seems things went well in your own way. You don’t look completely useless after all.”
As Karno’s top disciple, Llywelyn had learned many things—including the proper attitude before battle. Presence. Fighting spirit. Using them to overwhelm the opponent.
“But to take this long,”
Her tone shifted with anger, another lesson from her training.
“How disappointing. Well, I suppose that’s to be expected from someone in the Refined Realm.”
It was Llywelyn-style provocation—scratching at the other person’s nerves with an insolent attitude while keeping them thoroughly in check.
“What? That pathetic face you made earlier, like you were about to cry and beg, was somewhat tolerable. It was cute, I guess?”
Among people, it was also called Llywelyn’s First Technique, or Professor L’s First Technique.
“Why don’t you try crying again? If you beg while crying, who knows? I might just let it slide.”
Yoo Ji-tae cheered inwardly. So crying works.
For Yoo Ji-tae, tears were more familiar than three meals a day. With just three seconds to spare, shedding tears was nothing.
“Um, Lady Llywelyn?”
Lee Se-rin stepped beside them, interrupting the conversation. Han Ye-jin tugged at her arm from behind, but she paid no attention. With a bright smile, Lee Se-rin swayed her body side to side like a metronome.
“What is it? My target is Hermes. You’re outside my interest.”
“Um, excuse me, but Lady Llywelyn, do you perhaps not have a mother?”
“What?”
“Or are you on your period right now? You’ve been bleeding so much since earlier.”
Clasping her hands together, Lee Se-rin continued without pause.
“You came in out of nowhere yelling about killing people and throwing tantrums, so I wondered if you received your family education through correspondence courses. Ah, or maybe you have two moms? Not that you lack a mom and dad, but that you grew up under mom and mom?”
The second technique of the devoted wife: picking fights on her husband’s behalf.
“Aha! So you’re the miraculous genetic byproduct of two lesbians rubbing together? Then I accept it!”
She winked and raised her finger, elevating the level of her sarcasm. The audacity to stand against even a Heaven and Earth Realm mage. Lee Se-rin had staked her life on being a devoted wife.
Faced with the continuing provocation, Llywelyn’s face flushed red.
“You… how dare you, you bitch.”
Llywelyn reflexively clenched her fist.
“So you’re admitting you’re going to use violence.”
“What?”
Llywelyn was at a loss for words.
“Because my words are right. Because you can’t deny them with words alone. So you’re trying to shut my mouth with violence. If you use your fist here, Lady Llywelyn, you’ll be admitting that you’re a cripple, an attention-seeker, someone with Asperger’s, and an orphan with no proper upbringing. Do you admit it? Admit it? Admit it?”
The bodyguards who had been reading the atmosphere quickly sided with Lee Se-rin and pressed Llywelyn.
“Those words are exactly right.”
“A splendid logic.”
“A clean deduction without any unnecessary parts.”
“...Grrr.”
Llywelyn trembled, fists clenched. Her face burned crimson. Mana fluctuated around her as if she would lash out at the slightest provocation. The only thing holding back her violence was her last shred of pride. She simply couldn’t bring herself to throw a punch, fearing it would look like she was throwing a tantrum after losing an argument.
It was fortunate for Lee Se-rin that the broadcast was still running. She glanced back at Yoo Ji-tae. Master Yoo Ji-tae is watching me.
Han Ye-jin, who could read the situation, quietly slipped backward.
“Ji-tae oppa… let’s leave big sis behind and run away together…”
She whispered into Yoo Ji-tae’s ear.
The situation had descended into complete chaos. Amid the madness, Yoo Ji-tae entered the kitchen.
“Lord Hermes?!”
“Where are you going! Hermes! Come back!”
Yoo Ji-tae replied quietly as he stepped inside.
“Just a moment.”
In times like this, the only thing he could rely on was his skill. As Yoo Ji-tae wished for it, a fitting recipe appeared.
[Western-Style Grilled Cod (F)]
[Cod grilled golden in butter. It delights the eater’s mood, soothes anger, and fills them with nothing but joy.]
[Required Ingredients: 1 cod (1/1), 1 stick of butter (1/1), peperoncino (1/1)]
Yoo Ji-tae entered the kitchen, and a delicious aroma soon drifted out.
“!”
The savory scent of fish cooking in melted butter. The fish, perfectly grilled over high heat, boasted a fragrance and flavor beyond mere meat. Yoo Ji-tae carried out the grilled cod on a plate. Western-style grilled cod—seared in a buttered pan, finished with peperoncino and a few spices. He placed the dish in front of Llywelyn and scratched his head.
“Lunch. You’ll eat it, right?”
“......”
Llywelyn alternated her gaze between the cod and Lee Se-rin before sighing and picking up her fork.
“...I’ll eat it out of respect for your sincerity.”
With a still-flushed face, she removed a piece of the cod and brought it to her mouth. The fork slipped from her fingers.
*****
When Llywelyn was young, she lived in an apartment. Her mother was too busy with work to cook for her. So Llywelyn always ate cup ramen or toast bought from nearby stores at home. During those lonely days, only books were her friends. Gaining knowledge was her sole joy. She even thought that being lonely was acceptable.
Then one day, her father visited the house for the first time. Llywelyn was overjoyed. She ran to the father she was seeing for the first time, acted spoiled, and hugged him tightly, overwhelmed with happiness. I have a father too.
Her father asked if she was always alone at home. Llywelyn answered yes. Her father made a troubled expression for a moment before buying cod and grilling it for her. It was the first home-cooked meal Llywelyn had ever eaten.
Though Llywelyn never met her father again after that, that memory remained etched in her heart. The grilled cod her father, whom she had met only once in her life, had made for her. A taste she could never forget. Even now, Llywelyn sometimes went to restaurants for cod, but she was always disappointed by the taste that somehow felt different from back then. Something was different. Maybe the one who had changed was herself. In any case, she had believed she would never taste that flavor again.
And now, Llywelyn was experiencing that taste once more. Yes. This was the taste.
*****
Llywelyn opened her eyes. The eight-year-old child had returned to being an adult, and the apartment from that day had transformed into a restaurant. Her flushed face quickly regained its vitality. Starlight shimmered in her eyes. Tears welled up and streamed down.
There was no anger there. Only the leisure and joy of one savoring exquisite cuisine, along with longing.
“......”
“How about we eat first, then continue?”
Llywelyn looked at the man grinning in front of her before lowering her head.
“Mm… Pa…”
“...Pa?”
Llywelyn covered her mouth.
“...Never mind. Do as you please.”
+ She almost called him Papa… (40 points)
Such a message appeared in Yoo Ji-tae’s vision.
*****
Yoo Sun-ah judged that Llywelyn could be used. Llywelyn had been saying she would kill Hermes all along. The woman, whose finances were already poor, had also lost the Nobel Prize money. She was practically drowning in debt now. So Yoo Sun-ah had somewhat expected Llywelyn to cause a commotion inside.
“Why are they eating together so amicably?”
At first, she thought it was a trap. But seeing them sitting and chatting while eating made them look genuinely close. She knew Llywelyn was a soft-hearted, clumsy person. But I never expected her to be of no help at all.
“In that case, there’s no choice but to destroy the building.”
The plan to demolish the building with corpse soldiers had failed. She had thought it was just an ordinary commercial building, but it was a sturdy magical structure built with high-grade techniques. No matter how much she pounded on the building, she could only damage the outer walls. The magical rebar and magical concrete inside remained completely unscathed.
“...I have no choice but to use a Sacred Lotus Realm mage.”
Yoo Sun-ah raised a corpse from the morgue. The corpse walked out obediently and grew in size outside the hospital. Enlargement magic. A twenty-meter giant appeared. It would take only five minutes to reach the target. The woman began to move.
While eating, Llywelyn pulled a ball from her bag. A soccer ball? No. A black iron sphere?
Llywelyn climbed onto the table and kicked the iron sphere. Like a soccer ball, it flew through the window, traveling parallel to the ground. Yoo Sun-ah instinctively leaped down from the building.
BOOM!!!
The upper body of the enlarged woman was completely torn away. The iron sphere that had pierced through accelerated further toward the hospital roof.
CRASH!!!
More than half of the hospital roof was ripped off. Yoo Sun-ah landed on the ground and stared at the roof in shock.
“...What the. Insane.”
The roof had been targeted. In other words, it was a strike aimed solely at her.
“.......”
A Heaven and Earth Realm mage has recognized me as an enemy…?
A possibility surfaced in Yoo Sun-ah’s mind. Hermes. Did he turn Llywelyn into his ally in that short time?
As she stared at the roof, Yoo Sun-ah’s gaze followed the iron sphere. The sphere continued flying without losing speed. And its direction was…
“...Huh?”
*****
With the former mayor’s death, Daejeon Metropolitan City was holding a by-election. The Republican Party had pushed Han Mi-ryeo, but she was being overwhelmingly defeated by the Democratic Party candidate, Wolgeuk Seongun Yoo Sun-ah. While the Republican Party was racking their brains for a new candidate, a promising talent suddenly appeared. The new Deity Realm mage, Taeheo Singun Heo Shin-ah. Since she was one rank above Yoo Sun-ah, the Republican Party leadership judged her far more useful than Han Mi-ryeo. Thus, Heo Shin-ah had been at the Republican Party’s Daejeon City office, planning election strategy with aides provided by the party—until an iron sphere suddenly flew in and destroyed the ceiling.
“...Are you alright, Singun-nim?”
“Ah, yes.”
Casually tossing aside a hundred-kilogram chunk of concrete debris, Heo Shin-ah walked toward the gaping hole in the party office. The roof of Wolgeuk General Hospital had been torn off, and in front of it stood a giant whose upper body had been roughly blown away. Moreover, glancing at the location, the giant was heading toward the commercial building belonging to Yoo Ji-tae—the one she had tailed earlier.
“Those damn bastards!!!”
Heo Shin-ah immediately contacted Secretary Yoo Hyun-ah.
-“This humble one dares to greet Taeheo Singun-nim! This is Yoo Hyun-ah, Secretary of the Male Management Department. What is the matter?!”
“Tell me in detail… what terrible thing is happening to my husband right now…!”
*****
Thud. Thud.
Watching the giant approaching from afar, Llywelyn slung her bag over her shoulder.
“Hey, Hermes. It looks like we need to deal with that soon. Follow me to the roof. Well, I’ll help you.”
As she uttered the last sentence, Llywelyn averted her gaze in embarrassment.