Chapter 552 – #114_Love And War (5)
#552
1.
After breakfast, Luelie spent the entire day avoiding Siwoo.
If her feelings were to be expressed in a single sentence, it would be something like this:
‘Playing with you is the most precious and best thing, so why do you have someone else besides me?’
It was truly an infantile and childish emotion, and she was aware of it.
She had dragged him here after he killed the Kraken, and since she couldn’t contact him, she knew his acquaintances or lovers would be worried.
Having heard the explanation, there was no way she wouldn’t consider this.
That’s why she was trying not to start a conversation at all.
If she were to listen to his explanation in earnest, she would have to be unreasonable.
She would only end up dwelling on the betrayal she felt from him.
Maybe she would even have to let him go.
She considered not facing that situation itself as the best option.
“I thought we would be together forever….”
Even though she said she was so deeply in love, even though she seemed happy when they were together.
Even when they watched movies together or did fun things, was he thinking about someone else in the back of his mind?
Was he planning to leave someday?
Jealousy and betrayal surged within her.
She wanted to go and argue and get angry right away, but she couldn’t because she knew it was an absurd act of violence.
Conversely, being alone like this was also frustrating to the point of madness. She wanted to talk about anything.
Caught in this push-and-pull of emotions, Luelie sat at the bar and poured herself a drink alone for the first time in a while.
“……”
The loneliness that came over her felt even greater, making her feel depressed.
Recently, even when she drank, it was with Shin Siwoo.
The stories of the present world that he would ramble on about were the perfect accompaniment to her drinks.
Now that she was wallowing alone, it felt like he had disappeared and she was experiencing a beta version of the future.
One glass, two glasses.
Luelie, who was downing high-proof whiskey almost as fast as water, slammed her glass down.
With a voice slurred from the alcohol and a half-twisted tongue, she muttered complaints that no one could hear.
“How impious! To have a relationship with me, the Queen of Nukelavi, and yet not be able to forget someone else!”
Her voice was half-sobbing.
After all she had done for him, shouldn’t he naturally serve the kingdom forever?
Eventually, Luelie, her shoulders slumped, bit her lip and lowered her head.
“Huk…huk….”
Tears dripped onto her clenched fist on her thigh, following the sobs that couldn’t become a sound.
As a queen, it was truly a pathetic tantrum.
At this rate, she was no different from a foolish woman hung up on a man.
No, the reason this situation came about in the first place was because of Shin Siwoo.
As she floundered in self-reproach, blame, betrayal, and disappointment, Luelie quietly raised her head.
“Huh…?”
An inspiration flashed through her mind, which had been clouded by alcohol and despair.
It was the Luelie Inspiration that had always guided her to the right answer in confusing situations.
Come to think of it, Shin Siwoo and Luelie were still engaged in a fierce struggle.
Not a barbaric struggle involving shouts, curses, and violence, but a noble struggle of ‘who will seduce whom first?’
Luelie felt the alcohol wear off.
The thought that ‘what if his declaration was an extension of the struggle?’ suddenly struck her.
In the first place, Shin Siwoo had brushed off Luelie, who was skillfully seducing him in the bedroom, with the tactic of falling asleep.
If Shin Siwoo, who was well-versed in the war of love, had received a blow, he would surely try to retaliate with an even stronger blow.
In other words, all the series of events and remarks were a high-stakes move to make Luelie the one who was ‘desperate’.
It was possible that it was a so-called jealousy-inducing operation.
If that was the case, then conversely, it meant that he absolutely had no intention of leaving Luelie.
Because Shin Siwoo’s statement that he wanted to contact the outside world was itself one of the deceptive tactics to induce Luelie’s anxiety and agitation.
Luelie, who had managed to calm her anxiety with an effort at positive situation assessment.
She forcibly pushed down the anxiety in one corner of her heart that ‘he wouldn’t be so cruel.’
Shin Siwoo was definitely deeply in love with Luelie, and he was clearly bluffing to take the initiative, and if Luelie pretended to lose and granted his request, he wouldn’t leave.
She decided to believe it firmly.
2.
“I’m screwed.”
He sighed deeply, for what felt like the umpteenth time today, and scratched his head roughly.
It was a problem he had somewhat anticipated.
Luelie was surprisingly friendly to Siwoo, and even though she acted authoritatively, she treated him like a close friend.
No, even the word ‘like a friend’ was inappropriate.
For Luelie, who had been alone for a long time and was planning to remain so until she completed her trial, Siwoo’s sudden appearance was a precious friend in itself.
Being fully aware of the situation, he had long been concerned that if he showed any sign of wanting to return, it could be met with stiff resistance.
But he didn’t expect to encounter this level of resistance just from a ‘contact’ declaration, even after explaining the situation sufficiently.
No matter how large the closed submersible was, it wasn’t difficult to find Luelie hiding in every corner.
The problem was that Luelie ran away like a scalded cat when she met Siwoo, not even giving him a chance to start a conversation.
And that was all day long.
Siwoo, faced with her attitude as if telling him not to even bring it up, had given up for the time being and was holed up alone in his room.
“It’s not like I said I was leaving right away.”
He understood.
In the witch society, ‘banishment’ was a very big penalty, and a young witch with low combat ability compared to her rank was a tempting prey.
No matter how powerful a 23rd-level Archmage she was, if several conspiring enemies ganged up on her, there was no hope.
Perhaps because of that, her teacher, Shalit Nukelavi, had instilled caution in Luelie.
Despite her strong curiosity, Luelie’s behavior pattern itself was extremely closed off.
This could be seen from the fact that even though she was so curious about the present world, she had never once set foot on land.
Therefore, for Luelie, the ‘outside’ was an extremely unsettling place, and she tried to avoid any connection with the outside in any way.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
Perhaps, judging from her reaction, it seemed that she was worried about the possibility of Siwoo leaving, rather than just being anxious about the outside.
Siwoo had also grown very fond of Luelie.
He had no intention of leaving her without saying goodbye.
After letting them know he was safe through contact, he planned to fully cooperate so that Luelie could overcome her trial and travel around.
And also, to power up through the trial.
“Since the person in question is like that…. I can’t even bring it up….”
It seemed that the only option was to wait for Luelie to calm down.
3.
“Hmm….”
He opened his eyes, hearing his own voice stirring in his sleep.
What time is it?
With his eyes half-closed, he tried to reach for the alarm clock on the desk, but.
“Huh?”
Something was strange.
The bed in the guest room where Siwoo was staying was quite narrow, so if he stretched his arm out while lying down, his arm would fall off the bed.
But no matter how hard he stretched his arm, his elbow felt soft.
It was resting very stably on the bed.
Only then did Siwoo, who had opened his eyes, realize that he was on Luelie’s bed.
The semi-transparent ceiling that offered a panoramic view of the sea was looking down at Siwoo.
“…What is this.”
Was he misremembering something? He tried to rewind his memories.
Luelie was sulking, so he didn’t feel like going to the trial alone.
In the end, he must have fallen asleep in his room while doing magic research, waiting for her to come.
Unless he was a sleepwalker, there was no way he would have come all the way here in his sleep….
This was probably….
“Have you awakened.”
When he turned his head, Luelie, who seemed to be the suspect in the incident, was sitting on her knees on the bed.
“Huh?”
Siwoo made a strange sound and was very surprised.
There were two surprising points for Luelie right now.
That was, apart from the fact that she had put Siwoo, who was sleeping soundly, on her bed.
First.
Even if there was no one to acknowledge it, Luelie had a strong pride in being a queen.
Therefore, she never knelt.
Especially not in such a neat posture, with her knees neatly together and her thighs pressed tightly together.
The second was a bit more direct.
It was Luelie’s attire.
Usually, she went to bed wearing a light, short-sleeved dress.
But now, she was in her underwear, wearing black lace lingerie that subtly revealed her surprisingly ample cleavage and even her areolas.
It was such a shocking development that his mind couldn’t keep up.
“Have you woken up?”
“Yes, as you can see…. But, what’s going on?”
“……”
Luelie couldn’t answer immediately.
She was so embarrassed that her head was spinning.
The action she was about to take was the result of her defeat to him.
No matter how much she rehearsed and prepared, the embarrassment wouldn’t go away.
The fact that she had to act coquettish and fawn over him hadn’t changed.
But capturing him was more important than saving face for a moment.
With that, Luelie steeled her heart once again and opened her mouth.
“You have won.”
“…Huh?”
“There’s no need to play dumb. It went according to your plan. It is my defeat.”
“No, I really don’t understand?”
Luelie was furious.
She was admitting defeat so readily for once, and yet he was still pretending not to know.
It was obvious that he was doing this to extract more from the surrender negotiations.
Just how greedy of a man was he?
“I already told you! You won! You’re very good! You’re amazing!”
“Does that mean you’ll let me contact them?”
“…Stop with the obvious acting.”
Luelie bit her lip tightly.
She threw something in front of him, who was still acting clueless.
“Th-this… where did you get this?”
It was the black bag containing the comprehensive adult toy set that he had hidden in his room to use on Luelie someday.
“I know your hobbies very well. Not only did you covet my body, but you also want to reign over my head. It’s an act that I would never tolerate under normal circumstances.”
Shin Siwoo even pretended to be startled.
“I will appoint you as my Royal Consort, from Minister of Internal Affairs. I will allow all of your filthy desires.”
Luelie took a deep breath and threw him the switch, which had become lukewarm from being held too tightly in her palm.
He would know what this was for, and where the toy that paired with this was currently inserted.
This was not just a declaration of defeat.
It was an act of declaring defeat, showing her belly, and fawning over him.
But she had no intention of doing it half-heartedly.
If he were to say that he was just going to leave, she felt like she really wouldn’t be able to bear it.
“You may rejoice. You are the first man to make me kneel.”
She felt disgusted by her own cheap behavior, like a prostitute, and her face flushed.
So, Luelie deliberately threw out a curt voice.
“Therefore, I command you. Do not go anywhere, and stay by my side.”
