Chapter 108: Ha-eun and the Queen (3)
“Isabella…?”
Ohjin’s pupils shook.
‘Why is Isabella here? Shouldn’t she be busy taking over the Marco family’s extra spot?’’
In addition, she was operating dozens of centers on the surface in order to maintain her fake identity as a Saintess.
There was no way she had the spare time to come see him.
“Why are you…”
“Hehe. I came here because I wanted to see you so badly.”
“…”
‘No way, did she throw aside all her duties to come here?’
Cold sweat ran down Ohjin’s back.
“Hm? Have you met each other before?”
Han Taeho alternated looking at Ohjin and Isabella with a surprised look.
Isabella put on a bright smile.
“Ohjin protected me back when I was going through a lot of trouble with the assassination attempts.”
“Ah, I’ve heard about it on the news before. So there was such an incident…”
Han Taeho clicked his tongue.
“Trying to assassinate Rome’s Saintess… I guess that country is abundant with malicious beings, as well.”
Rome’s Saintess’s warm benevolence was also famous overseas.
—The Saintess who saved the lives of tens of thousands of people.
Trying to assassinate that kind of woman? It could only be said that they were a disgrace to mankind.
“How did you know about that before you went to Italy?”
“I didn’t know about it at the time. I went to Italy because I had some investigations to conduct and happened to come across her being chased by assassins.”
“Wow. What a lucky coincidence.”
“No,” said Isabella as she shook her head.
She looked at Ohjin with a gentle smile and placed her hands on her chest.
“I believe that my encounter with Ohjin wasn’t a coincidence… but destiny.”
—Cheeks that reddened up like beets.
With her two hands gathered up courteously, she looked at him with a heated gaze like that of a maiden who had fallen in love.
“Uh, um.”
Unable to imagine that kind of reaction, Han Taeho had a stumped look on his face.
But soon after—
“Haha! To receive such passionate attention from the esteemed daughter of the Colagrande House… you must’ve been gifted with great talent.”
—He bursted out into hearty laughter as he patted Ohjin’s shoulder.
“…”
Unlike Han Taeho, who had a broad smile, Ohjin’s expression wasn’t that bright.
‘Rome’s Saintess…’
—The woman with a warm heart who gave homes to the ones who had nowhere to go and meals to the starving.
—A person who wasn’t known by only their beautiful looks and personality, but also as an Awakener with exceptional skill.
‘I’m not sure how she pretended to be an Awakener of Aries…’
As a super rookie who had become a 6-Star Awakener of Aries in just a year, she was often compared with Ohjin.
‘However…’
Ohjin’s eyes narrowed.
“Ohjin?”
—Innocent eyes.
—A gentle smile that emitted a vibe softer than an autumn breeze.
Isabella was a woman who made people smile with just her appearance.
‘But it’s all a scam.’
Ohjin knew her identity.
He was the only one that knew.
‘The Queen of Leeches.’
—The 3rd ranking Executor of the Black Star Organization and a monster who crushed a 9-Star Awakener with a single hand movement.
—A witch thirsty for blood.
That was Isabella’s true identity.
‘I mustn’t get caught.’
Ohjin needed to hide the fact that he had taken a peek at her true face laid behind the mask of ‘saintess’, no matter what.
“Ah… forgive me. I didn’t imagine that you would come to Korea.”
“Did I cause you any trouble?”
“No. Of course not.”
He shook his head and smiled broadly.
“It’s an honor to be able to meet you again.”
“An honor… please don’t say stuff like that.”
Isabella took a big step forward and held his hand.
“Didn’t you tell me to keep staying by your side last time?”
“That’s…”
‘I certainly did say that, but fuck, I wouldn’t have if I knew things would turn out like this.’
Ohjin’s eyes trembled.
“Fufu. I haven’t forgotten about your words for a single moment ever since that day, you know?”
“…”
‘Fuck.’
“Moreover, you really are too mean.”
Isabella pouted her lips cutely.
“I even gave you my contact, but you didn’t send me a single message or call…”
Flinch—
Ohjin smiled awkwardly and avoided her gaze.
“I’m sorry. There were just too many things to take care.”
It was a lame excuse, but it was true that there were a lot of matters to take care of after returning to Korea.
“Hoho. I’ve also heard the news from the Association chairman that you made significant contributions.”
Isabella smiled brightly and stuck her body close.
“You were busy saving people, weren’t you? Just like how you saved me.”
Her eyes sparkled.
“…I’m not the one who saved you.”
“Hey, don’t say that.”
Isabella shook her head and held Ohjin’s hand tight with both her hands.
“Ohjin, you are the savior of my life.”
“…”
“By the way, was it the Black Star Organization? They… they really are disgusting humans.”
She furrowed her brow like she didn’t even want to speak their name with her mouth and expressed her displeasure.
Though the way she reacted was shocking to Ohjin, who knew her real identity.
“You’re right. I didn’t imagine that such a horrible organization existed in Korea, as well.”
At the end of the day, he couldn’t bring up her identity. He continued the conversation smoothly and exhaled a deep breath.
“…There are also recent rumors of an active group named the Black Star Organization in Italy.”
Isabella’s expression turned dark.
“The Colagrande House is also in the middle of tracking them, but we haven’t been able to catch their tail.”
Of course they couldn’t.
After all, the owner of the tail they were tracking was themself.
“I see.”
“Anyways! It’s a relief that Ohjin is safe and sound!”
Isabella smiled like a fully-bloomed flower and tried to pull Ohjin’s hand to her voluptuous chest.
At that moment…
“—Ohjin?”
Slap!—
Ha-eun roughly slapped Isabella’s hand away and pushed her body in between them.
“Who’s this girl?”
“…You are?”
Isabella’s and Ha-eun’s eyes clashed.
Bzzt!—
Even though he wasn’t using the stigma of Lyra, it seemed like blue sparks were manifesting in the air.
‘Oh, shit.’
An ominous feeling ran down Ohjin’s spine.
He nervously looked at Ha-eun.
‘No!! That woman isn’t sane!’
His heart wanted to scream.
Recalling how Isabella brutally crushed hundreds of Awakeners from the Marco Family, he urgently caught Ha-eun’s arm.
“Ha-eun. This is Isabella, the one I mentioned before.”
“…You look quite closer to each other than what you’ve told me.”
Ha-eun narrowed her eyes and glanced up and down Isabella.
“Hmm. Are you Ohjin’s sibling?”
“Nope~ Can’t you tell by my hair ?”
Ha-eun tauntingly shook her maroon hair in front of Isabella.
“…Oh, my. If you aren’t siblings…”
A frightening red appeared in Isabella’s eyes for an instant.
“By any chance, are you Ohjin’s lover… or something like that?”
“Well, you could say it’s similar.”
Ha-eun shrugged as she raised the tip of her nose.
“Ha-eun!”
Ohjin urgently pulled back Ha-eun once again.
He normally wouldn’t mind telling others that he and Ha-eun were lovers, but…
‘Not right now…!’
Isabella seemed to be strangely obsessed with Ohjin.
He couldn’t predict what kind of abrupt move she would make if he introduced Ha-eun as his lover.
“Wh-What?”
“Ha-eun is someone who I’ve grown up with ever since my orphanage days.”
“Ah! Then are you something like childhood friends?”
Isabella clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
“…that’s not it.”
Ha-eun pouted as the answer wasn’t to her liking, but she didn’t say much as she noticed that Ohjin’s reactions were different than usual.
‘Phew.’
Ohjin rest assured and nodded his head.
“Well, yeah.”
“I’m jealous of your relationship. I didn’t have many friends when I was young.”
With a gentle smile, Isabella alternated looking at Ohjin and Ha-eun like she was sincerely jealous.
* * *
“Khm.”
Han Taeho, who had taken his foot out of the conversation, cleared his throat.
“In any case, it’s great that you two have met before. Ohjin, can you show Isabella around Seoul? The Association will provide you with anything you need.”
The Colagrande House was renowned not just in Italy and had extremely high authority and influence in Europe.
From the Association’s position, they wouldn’t want anything more than for the esteemed daughter of the Colagrande House to get close to the Lightning Wolf.
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
It seemed that she wouldn’t go away even if he refused, anyway.
‘There’s also something I want to confirm.’
There was a need to confirm if the reason she came to Korea was simply to meet him.
“Then I’ll leave Isabella in your hands.”
“Thank you for taking such good care of me.”
Isabella politely bowed her head to Han Taeho and then followed Ohjin.
Ohjin took Isabella and Ha-eun outside of the Association.
“Is there anywhere you want to go in particular?”
“Hm… there is one place.”
Isabella continued as her eyes shone.
“I want to visit your house.”
“…Pardon?”
‘My house?’
“Fufu. I’m curious as to how the savior of my life is living.”
“Umm.”
Ohjin scratched his head with a perplexed look.
He didn’t expect his house to be the place she wanted to go.
“Hmpf. House? Isn’t it fine to just take people from overseas to Myeong-dong or around N Seoul Tower?”
Ha-eun narrowed her eyes and shot a fierce glance at Isabella.
“H-Hik!”
Isabella’s body flinched as she avoided Ha-eun and hid behind Ohjin’s body.
Peek—
She slightly stuck her head outside his shoulder and opened her mouth with a cautious voice.
“I-I’m sorry, have I done anything wrong…?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve looked like you were a-angry at me since a while ago.”
“Th-That’s…”
Ha-eun got flustered.
Isabella’s eyes watered up as she yelled out.
“Please tell me if I did anything wrong!”
“U-Uhm. So, about that…”
“If I was unknowingly impolite, I’ll apologize!”
Bow—
Isabella deeply bowed down from her hips.
“Arghhh!”
Ha-eun pulled on her hair in frustration.
It would’ve been easier if she had rather asked for a fight; she had nothing to say with the way Isabella acted.
“…Damn it.”
Ha-eun glared at Isabella once more and turned around as she sighed deeply.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“…Huh?”
“You said that you want to go to Ohjin’s house, right? Then, let’s go!”
“Ah! Really?”
A bright smile was placed on Isabella’s face.
The pent-up tears on her watering eyes faded like they were never there in the first place.
‘How sly.’
Ohjin was astonished by how Isabella talked Ha-eun into doing as she pleased.
‘Indeed, I shouldn’t let my guard down around her.’
They headed to Ohjin’s home while he was having those thoughts.
Bang, Drrrrrrr!—
The loud noises from the construction site were still ringing out.
“Oh, right! I nearly forgot!”
Remembering something, Isabella clapped her hands.
“A present! I prepared a present for you, Ohjin!”
‘Present?’
“What present?”
“Hehe. I prepared a nice present for you to repay for how you saved me last time.”
Ohjin tilted his head and looked at Isabella.
Although she said that she had prepared a present, there was nothing in her hands.
‘Isabella isn’t going to say ‘the present is me’, or something old-fashioned like that, is she?’
He pictured Isabella smiling lewdly with red ribbons covering her body for a moment but soon shook his head.
There was no way such a nonsensical thing would happen—reality wasn’t an out-of-date romcom comic.
“I really hope that it’ll be to your liking.”
“But where is the present?”
“Hm? It’s right in front of you. Over there.”
“Pardon?”
‘What’s she talking about?’
Ohjin furrowed his brow and looked around.
Her hands were completely empty, and she hadn’t brought any bag or luggage.
The only thing that was there was—
“…Wait.”
Ohjin’s eyes headed to the apartment that was in the middle of construction.
—A mixed-use apartment building that had an exterior so gorgeous that you would mistake it for a 5-star hotel.
“Ehehe.”
Isabella twisted and turned her body and played around with her finger like she was embarrassed.
“After researching what Korean males liked most, it turned out to be houses! I also heard that they save up money for their whole life to secure one house.”
‘Uh, she isn’t wrong, but…’
“So I prepared a moderate house as a present!”
“…”
‘That luxurious mixed-use apartment is a ‘moderate’ house?’
“…H-How many square meters is the unit you bought?”
“Hm? How many square meters?”
“…?”
‘Do foreigners use other measurements?’
“I bought the entire apartment building.”
“What?”
‘What the fuck?’
“Y-You bought that whole apartment?!”
‘Not a unit, but the whole apartment building? And she’s giving that to me as a present?’
“That’s right. Hehe. It wasn’t that expensive.’
Nonsense.
When just one 100-square-meter apartment unit in the middle of Seoul easily exceeded $1,500,000, he couldn’t even imagine the astronomical amount of money it would take to buy an entire apartment building.
‘Holy shit.’
That was the financial power of the Colagrande House, one of the most influential in Europe.
Gulp—
Ohjin swallowed nervously and looked at Isabella with heated eyes.
An irresistible impulse shoved his back.
“Uhm… Isabella.”
He approached Isabella and held her hand tight.
Their faces stuck close enough for their noses to make contact.
“O-Ohjin…?”
Isabella’s cheeks heated up.
“If you don’t mind, could you buy ice cream for me?”
“…pardon?”
T/N: Last bit is a meme in Korea
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