## Chapter 149 – Peculiarity of the Scramble (1)
Before I could even be surprised by Hyeryeong’s sudden visit, she launched into a barrage of shocking statements, completely at her own pace.
Carla, the person directly involved, was of course taken aback, but even Yui, who was with us, seemed overwhelmed by her force, her complexion turning dark.
“So…!! What… what do you want me to help you with…!!
Speak properly so I can understand you!!”
Hyeryeong had barged in suddenly, making a ‘proposal’ that didn’t make any sense.
Carla started by focusing on that, and Hyeryeong responded with a slight snort.
“Make your brother fall for me.
How about that? It’s unbelievably easy, right?”
“Huh…?”
For a moment, a silence colder than ice filled the room.
“I need to clarify something…
What’s your relationship with my brother…?”
“Oh, we’re at the stage where I’m dying to convey my burning heart to him, you know?”
“And… my brother is…?”
“Me. I’m sure if I convey this feeling, he’ll respond with a burning heart too.
Ah… I can’t wait for that day…!!
So, our little missy needs to work hard for me, got it?”
Yui let out a helpless sigh, and Carla, dumbfounded, slowly raised her hand, letting go of the bedsheets.
And as her hand gently touched Hyeryeong’s neck, Hyeryeong, who had been wearing a rotten smile, looked down, and then her head started shaking back and forth wildly.
“You haven’t even talked to my brother about it yet!?
Then what’s with the marriage talk!! Why am I ‘missy’!!
I was so surprised thinking my brother was getting married without saying anything!!
You… you…!! You bad woman!!”
“Agh agh agh agh gyaaaack!!”
Carla grabbed Hyeryeong by the collar and shook her back and forth. Yui, startled, tried to stop Carla, but despite the difference in size, Yui was the one being overpowered.
“Carla…!! Calm down…!!”
“Yui!! Let go!! What about my brother?!
Husband and wife, my foot, you’re just a delusional stalker!!
We need to catch and report dangerous women like this!!
Don’t stop me!!”
Eventually, the long struggle subsided when the rain briefly stopped and clear skies appeared.
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“So… you like my brother…?”
At a newly opened café on a street where the fresh air after the rain was palpable.
Sitting at a table outside the café facing the main street, Carla took a sip of her tea and asked Hyeryeong, who was still wearing that rotten smile without a single dimple changing.
“That’s right. He and I would make a very good couple.
I’ve already planned out our future.
We’ll have two children, one to follow the Tang family’s path of pharmacy, and the other to walk the path of alchemy in his family. Of course, it’s not just about the children. First, the dowry will include a bio-protein assembly and binding machine, two Myungdang wood sofas, ten modified bio-furniture pieces, and all sorts of household goods and 50 servants, as well as all the expenses to build our honeymoon home wherever we want. And on top of that…”
“No… that… that’s enough…
That’s not what I meant…!!
Why do you like my brother!!
There must be a reason if you want to marry him!!”
“The Tang family is quite optimistic about the prospects of alchemy, you see.
Right now, it’s being pushed back by core technologies like forging and precision assembly…
But if we form an alliance with your family and achieve technological cooperation…
It will definitely have power comparable to other fields.
We daughters are bridges to connect families, aren’t we?”
“Isn’t that… a bit of a materialistic reason…?
Is that why you want to marry my brother…?”
“Or so I would have said? At first, that was part of the reason.
In the sense of building a bridge with a prestigious alchemy family.
But I have no intention of giving my body to a man I don’t like.
My family made me the best, raised me as the ultimate woman.
So, I too must give my body and heart to the best man to make it worthwhile, right?
As long as I satisfy what the family wants, there’s no reason not to match my tastes and pride.”
“Uh… so that’s my brother…?”
Carla’s expression grew increasingly sour at Hyeryeong’s narcissistic self-introduction, and she eventually lost her words.
As her voice faded, Hyeryeong, as if she was having so much fun, chattered on, mixing all sorts of exclamations and expressions of praise.
“Ah… that sharp nose…
Thick eyebrows and piercing… mmm~
Hazel eyes that exude insight…
Even his hair, which shines as if he applies flower oil every day… it’s the best…
That’s right. Your brother is truly the best…!! He’s absolutely perfect!!”
“That… doesn’t that seem like an evaluation that excludes his personality…?”
“They say couples grow to fit each other, right?
My great aunt, my little aunt, my maternal aunt, and even my great-grandmother all said that personality is easier to match than you think.
Anyway, even if you only consider his specs, there’s no other man like him, right?
He double-majored in Forging and Alchemy at Saint Flaness Academy, what more do you need?
We can just whip him to create more specs after that.
So, I only need to find a perfect physical specimen.”
“In other words, you fell in love at first sight… sigh…”
Clutching her forehead and letting out a soft sigh, Carla slowly raised her head and glanced at Hyeryeong.
Honestly, she didn’t like that smile, but it was true that Hyeryeong was also an exceptionally talented woman.
The same age as her, now a rising sophomore.
Even though her brother had already graduated, if you only considered age, it was definitely a great age difference that they didn’t even bother to consider compatibility for.
And as a pharmacy student, she seemed skilled in using various drugs, and even though most pharmacy students were thought to be in research, she had solid basic martial arts and stamina, as seen when dealing with Arachnella.
Hyeryeong, who seemed to know too much already for someone who was a freshman until recently, couldn’t help but be thought of as a genius.
‘And… hmm…’
Although her origins were from Chaoxing, her appearance was Eastern, but as they always did, thanks to manipulated genes, her appearance was as outstanding as Yui’s.
A slim face, a jawline so sharp it seemed like it could cut, and dimples that naturally indented inward when she smiled.
“Hmm… I heard they just opened this place… but the tea isn’t very good…
I almost want to pass on my family’s tea ceremony skills…”
Her naturally large eyes, half-closed to give a mysterious feel, like black pearls, and the long, thick, feminine eyelashes that covered them.
And her small, sharp nose, which balanced the overall proportions of her face like the golden ratio, even though she was so different from herself, she wondered how she could look so beautiful.
And if you went into her figure, it wasn’t hard to imagine that most of the women in the world would be completely defeated.
‘So that’s why she wears clothes like that…?’
Unlike Yui’s (kimono), which felt a bit loose, her form-fitting traditional dress (cheongsam) seemed to reveal her figure as it was, showing a silhouette that must have confused many men.
A slender physique that seemed to reveal what was hidden inside the clothes.
And the appropriate fullness of her childbearing hips and chest, harmonizing to the point where it didn’t feel excessive.
The smooth thighs that were visible through the slit in the traditional dress seemed to show that this was the clothes and body that killed virginity.
Although it was frustrating, Hyeryeong’s words that ‘the Tang family made her perfect’ seemed to be absolutely correct.
‘Why does someone like her like my brother…
No, it’s because it’s my brother that he’s seducing weird women like this…!!
Everyone from our hometown chases after my brother!!’
“B-but I can’t allow it!!
I won’t give you my brother!! Ugh!!
I’m against it no matter what!!”
Of course, even if she opposed it like this, if the marriage talks really came up, the family probably wouldn’t reject it.
Of course, in most families in the three countries, including Barmhausen, Groden, and Chaoxing, marriages were mostly between nobles of their own country.
But there were always exceptions, and there were many cases where they formed exchanges with nobles who exerted influence in other countries to supplement their lacking areas.
Similarly, the Sterben family wouldn’t want to miss out on this opportunity of the meeting of alchemy and biology, and the blood ties with one of Chaoxing’s most influential families.
Basically, her mother and father, who loved their children, wanted them to find and live their own happy lives, but if they could contribute to the family while living a happy life, it would be the icing on the cake, wouldn’t it?
And if Antonio happened to find Hyeryeong attractive, the problem would become even more serious.
‘What if he runs away from home to oppose the marriage…?
What if they elope…?’
She was only now realizing that the saying that love knows no borders or barriers was such a scary saying.
‘But I can’t let a stalker like that marry my brother…!!
She’ll definitely poison all the people around him from some point on to have my brother all to herself!!
I know it all!! Do you think I’ll fall for it!!’
“I’ve also perfectly mastered the art of lovemaking for this day.
He’ll definitely fall for me too.
So, if you just do well…!!”
“Hiiiik!!”
But at that moment, as a chilling wind blew with a whooshing sound from the air, Carla, startled, squeezed her eyes shut, felt something grabbing her shoulder, and slowly opened her eyes.
The unique sound of mechanical devices, sometimes clicking, sometimes rubbing against each other.
The flower of forging and precision engineering, where countless parts meshed together to move a single part, like a life made of machines.
“Huh…? Why is he… why is he here…?”
As the mechanical eagle, glittering with golden feathers, tilted its head towards Carla and started chirping happily as if it recognized her, Carla’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Carla…? I was wondering where Regulus had gone, so you were here?”
“Brother…? Why are you here…?”
As if he had just run into her while walking down the street, Antonio smiled and greeted her from outside the small fence surrounding the café. Carla was gaping, denying reality.
But, oblivious to Carla’s flustered appearance.
Antonio, simply happy, excitedly explained the whole story, and even greeted Yui and Hyeryeong, who were with Carla, as if he knew them.
“I was going to surprise you under the dormitory.
You see, I decided to work as an assistant for a few years.
It would normally take a few months to return, but I sent the unnecessary luggage and came back in the middle.
It’s also a chance to take care of you and do some more research.
Ah, you were Carla’s friend, Lady Yui.
And Lady Hyeryeong from before is here too.
I’m glad to see you again, ladies.”
‘Brother…!! Ah… no…!!’
But with a gaze that seemed to shout ‘no!!’, putting pressure on Carla with a stinging gaze from her black eyes, Carla could only grab Antonio’s sleeve with a puppy-like expression.
“B-brother… es…”
“Huh…? What did you say…?”
“Run away!! Quickly!! Get out of here!!
No, go back to our hometown right now!!
Here… it’s dangerous outside the blanket!!”
The battle between a younger sister trying to protect her brother and a woman aiming for a man.
It was starting like this at Saint Flaness Academy, where coincidence and necessity were intertwined.
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