Chapter 551 – #114_Love And War (4)
#551
1.
Lürie sat there blankly, leaving Siwoo, who was snoring away in a state of shock.
The tension and anticipation she had felt just an hour or two ago were gone, replaced by a sense of relief bordering on defeat, filling the gaping hole.
Honestly, she couldn’t believe it.
He had confessed with hot, sweet words, and even proposed sleeping together, yet he didn’t even care.
He fell asleep and started snoring within a minute of lying down.
Moreover, he had shown her his bare skin in the sauna, and he was still acting like nothing happened?
Did her seduction strategy not work at all?
He couldn’t be impotent…
“He should have pounced on me like a beast in heat… No, at the very least, he should have tried to get a little closer,” she thought.
The sound of smacking lips that penetrated Lürie’s bewildered ears reminded her that the series of events was real.
Lürie felt her energy draining away, having made such a fuss only to be left unattended.
She crawled clumsily on the bed and moved closer to him for no particular reason.
“…….”
She poked his cheek, sleeping so peacefully.
She even pinched him lightly, half out of spite.
But he only tossed and turned for a moment, not paying any attention to Lürie as he wandered in dreamland.
Could it be that he wasn’t as interested in Lürie as she thought?
Why else would Italian men always spout smooth words to women?
Perhaps his passionate confession of love was just a way to avoid responsibility, or a one-time flattery…
Lürie was briefly disheartened.
“That can’t be. There is no man who wouldn’t be captivated by a woman as beautiful as I am.”
However, Lürie, who was second to none in self-esteem, quickly shook off the sting of failure.
“Gasp!”
As she was observing Siwoo’s sleeping face without much thought, a jolt of electricity ran down Lürie’s back.
It was the electricity of realization.
“Could it be…!”
Lürie formed a hypothesis and reviewed the situation.
‘What if Siwoo had seen through Lürie’s intentions?’
If he had realized that Lürie’s offer to sleep together was not sincere, but merely a means to trap him, then this situation could be explained.
He was displaying superhuman patience, pretending to sleep in the face of subtle seduction.
By doing so, he was avoiding the trap and at the same time, signaling, ‘I’m not desperate, so you should be the one to chase me.’
Lürie’s body trembled as if she had discovered an adult toy set.
“He’s a truly terrifying man… To see through my scheme in such a short moment. And to have such self-control.”
Come to think of it, he had said he had a lover on Earth.
He even said he had more than one.
This ‘push and pull’ was new to Lürie, but it was probably an everyday occurrence for him.
“Even if I am exceptional, I have no experience, so I had no choice but to be defeated…!”
Lürie finally understood the reason for her defeat in this battle.
Finding a clear answer made her feel rather relieved.
Of course, she had no intention of remaining a loser.
She would make a new plan and be a little more daring.
Lürie pondered what method would be best.
“Come to think of it…”
Recalling the time he had recklessly pounced on her, something suddenly clicked.
He had once made up a ridiculous lie about getting excited by the scent of her hair.
If that was true, wouldn’t it be enough to just bring the top of her head near his nose?
She tilted her head, considering letting him smell her, but soon stopped.
“Nah, who in the world would be like that.”
It seemed that the disappointment of her failed plan was quite significant.
She was even considering such a ridiculous lie.
“Oh…!”
Then, another realization flashed through Lürie’s mind.
His compliments about her hair, the way he had reached out and stroked her today.
And his lie about getting excited by the smell of her hair.
She found a connection in the series of events.
There is no lie without a reason.
Even if it was a lie made up as a last resort, it would still contain some truth.
There are strange fetishes in the world where people get excited by specific parts of the body, not just the genitals or breasts.
For example, hands, armpits, or feet.
To summarize and synthesize, Shin Siwoo had a hair fetish.
“I found it…!”
The key to this battle and his weakness.
With this, Shin Siwoo was as good as in Lürie’s grasp.
2.
The next morning.
Perhaps it was because she had slept in a comfortable bed for the first time in a while.
She opened her eyes, feeling that the quality of her sleep was exceptionally high.
“Are you awake?”
She was startled by the voice she heard right next to her.
She lifted her still-sleepy eyes and saw Lürie sitting in an armchair, reading a book.
She had a rather smug expression.
“Did you cough?”
“Yes.”
Lürie, who used to wear uniform-like clothes or dark-toned dresses that reached her ankles.
But as she closed her book and stood up, she looked very radiant.
It was the same dark-colored dress, but the fabric had silver threads mixed in, and the edges were decorated with small, blue jewels.
It was like a dress where phytoplankton glowed in the dark, black sea.
With a small tiara on her head and her beautifully combed dark blue-black hair.
It was the kind of outfit that made you think, ‘Of course, that’s what she would wear’ when you first heard the nickname ‘The Witch of the Deep Sea.’
“You’re… very dressed up?”
“Do you think so? It’s not much different from usual. This is just my normal everyday wear.”
Lürie answered, dramatically flipping her hair.
Her reaction to the compliment was so like her that it made him laugh.
“Is that all?”
“No, I was just momentarily speechless by your Majesty’s beauty.”
“Then praise my beauty more.”
They exchanged light compliments until they went to the dining room for breakfast.
3.
Lürie was satisfied.
His reaction was that of a man in love.
Indeed, this outfit was Lürie’s ultimate costume, reserved for special occasions.
It was a top-quality silk dress that could not be washed by conventional methods and had to be discarded after being worn once.
And she had gone to the bathroom while he was sleeping and brushed and washed her hair several times.
There was no way he wouldn’t be obsessed with her hair, which was shinier than freshly cooked rice.
“Your Majesty, I have something to say.”
“Speak freely.”
So, what kind of strategy should she use to continue her war with him today?
As Lürie was lost in happy thoughts, a thunderbolt struck her ears.
“What did you just say?”
Her voice was so stiff that even she could tell.
“I said I wanted to… contact the outside world.”
“The outside world? Contact? Why?”
“Thanks to your Majesty’s grace, I’m spending each day gratefully. But my friends and lovers who don’t know I’m doing well must be worried about me outside.”
It felt like being hit on the head with a hammer, but without the pain.
Lürie stammered and asked Siwoo.
“…Is that so important?”
Contact with the outside world.
It was an event that Lürie wanted to avoid at all costs.
Hadn’t her teacher warned her before? About the possibility of Lürie’s existence and whereabouts being revealed to the outside world, as she had not been the successor for long.
The only reason she had met the True Ancestor Witch was because of the ‘covenant.’ Otherwise, she would never have gone out into the world.
“It’s important to me.”
But in fact, this didn’t matter.
The biggest shock to Lürie was the request itself, that he wanted to contact the outside world.
“What do you intend to do by contacting the outside world?”
“First, I want to reassure them that I’m doing well.”
“…First?”
What did that mean?
If contacting them was first, what was next?
And she thought about something she hadn’t considered carefully until now.
Lürie was everything to Siwoo.
She was almost like his only friend.
But he had other people besides Lürie.
In the spreading unease, Lürie asked a disturbing question that made her spine feel like it was freezing just by uttering it.
“Are you… planning to leave me?”
The moment she uttered the vague question, she felt like the sky was falling.
Recently, she had been having the most enjoyable days of her life.
It was surprising how much joy she felt just by having one person stay in Akula. Each day was fulfilling, and each day was a new wave of joy.
So, did that mean he didn’t feel the same way?
Is that why he could talk about ‘lovers’ and say such outrageous things about leaving someday?
“No, I’m not saying I’m leaving right away.”
“That means you will leave someday.”
Siwoo was silent, as if he hadn’t expected such an answer.
“…….”
The emotions she felt as she looked at him were…
Betrayal.
Disappointment.
A fierce rejection of something she hated.
The pink-tinged heart, which had been unguarded, was crushed beyond recognition in the mixture of dark emotions.
“I forbid it.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Didn’t I say I forbid it!”
Lürie’s shout echoed sharply in the dining room.
The unexpected agitation didn’t stop there, and it turned into anger.
“You’ve been playing with me all this time, haven’t you? Did you think I would fall for it?”
So, she deliberately sneered.
Half of it was because of the intense betrayal, and half of it was to block his request at its source.
“I thought you were suspicious all along. Come to think of it, you’re from Gehenna, aren’t you? My teacher has repeatedly told me how deceitful the witches who live there are.”
“Your Majesty…”
“You were planning to lure me out of the water by contacting the outside world!”
In fact, she knew.
That he was absolutely not the kind of person who would do such a thing.
But the moment she granted his request, she was afraid and hated the thought of him disappearing.
What he had taught her was not only the joy of being together, but also the loneliness of being left alone.
She could not tolerate it even more.
“I don’t want to hear it! Get out! You should be grateful that I’m not beheading you right here!”
Lürie threw the water glass forcefully and turned her back on Siwoo.
