## Chapter 122 – 122. The Magic Tower (3)
#122. The Magic Tower (3)
The gazes of most of the students, faculty, and staff in Ambrosia Hall were focused on me.
To be precise, the attention was directed towards Choi Hyena, me, and Lumina.
“I’ve texted you dozens of times to have lunch together, and you completely ignored them, only to come to the cafeteria with another girl on your first day. I’d like an explanation, please?”
Choi Hyena, unfazed by the hundreds of eyes and the attention, glared at me, radiating murderous intent. Occasionally, her gaze shifted to Lumina, but I shielded her with my body.
“…What are you doing right now?”
Perhaps that was the trigger, as Choi Hyena’s face instantly contorted. It was an obvious love triangle, and the students around us started squealing.
Especially intense were the reactions of about ten girls who seemed to be Choi Hyena’s followers. They looked like they were about to kill me.
“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that, so calm down.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Faced with her stubborn attitude, I had no choice but to back down. Lumina, who was standing behind me, was still trembling.
“Do you not know who she is?”
“…”
Choi Hyena examined Lumina closely, and only then did she seem to recognize her, her pupils visibly trembling with a flustered expression.
“I didn’t ignore your texts on purpose; I really didn’t see them. It was my first day, and I was a mess. And Lumina was just showing me around the cafeteria.”
Choi Hyena remained silent. After looking around for a moment, she suddenly walked towards Lumina. I worried she might slap her like in a drama, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Lumina. I misunderstood and caused you trouble.”
“Oh, no, it’s okay…”
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“…Yes.”
“I was grateful back then. It was my first time getting my fortune read, so I found it fascinating.”
After chatting with Lumina for a while, Choi Hyena unleashed her magic towards the surroundings. It was a silent warning to mind their own business and disappear.
It wasn’t just students here; there were also a few professors mixed in. It wouldn’t have been strange if it was considered rude, but that didn’t apply to her.
Choi Hyena was the sole heir to the Seongbuk Choi family, one of the three major magical lineages. No ordinary professor could possibly voice their dissatisfaction.
The onlookers surrounding us soon dispersed.
No matter how strong a magician’s pride might be, they were also a group that valued practical benefits.
Everyone here was an elite who had completed the training institute. They knew how irrational it would be to assert their pride against Choi Hyena.
With the incident settled, Choi Hyena, Lumina, and I decided to have lunch together.
“Ah, so is Ms. Marna abroad right now?”
“Yes, she said there was an emergency patient.”
Throughout the meal, Choi Hyena didn’t speak to me or even glance in my direction. It seemed like she was venting her anger for not receiving my calls.
I knew I wouldn’t gain anything by talking to her here, so I silently continued eating. Today’s lunch menu was steak. As expected, the meat was tender and juicy.
‘…But she talks just fine when she’s talking to Choi Hyena?’
Once the attention and gazes disappeared, and Choi Hyena actively led the conversation, Lumina engaged in the conversation with a bright expression.
When I talked to her, she was like a student getting extorted by a thug, but now it felt like she had just enjoyed a glass of wine, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
Moreover, the girls sitting at the table next to us were still glaring at me like they wanted to kill me. They were the group of Choi Hyena’s followers I mentioned earlier.
Especially the girl with pigtails had an intense gaze. She looked at me like I was her mortal enemy.
Occasionally, when her gaze turned to Choi Hyena, honey dripped from her eyes. It wasn’t admiration. It was the same emotion that Iris or Chun Yeohwa showed when they looked at me.
‘I didn’t expect there to be actual lesbians, is it because the Magic Tower is mostly female?’
It was interesting, but it wasn’t strange in this day and age, so I ignored it and cut my steak. As the victor who took Choi Hyena’s virginity, I was willing to show some generosity.
‘Keep glaring all you want, it’s not like Choi Hyena’s virginity will come back.’
Thanks to that, my appetite returned. As expected, there’s no seasoning as sweet as being a show-off.
***
Despite the commotion, my first lunch at the Magic Tower ended without incident.
After parting ways with Lumina, Choi Hyena and I headed to her personal workshop.
You might ask why a student, not a professor, would have a workshop, but apparently, scholarship students are given a personal workshop along with their scholarship.
“…You said you had something to say?”
For the record, I was the one who suggested we talk alone. Seeing Choi Hyena’s behavior today, it seemed necessary to proceed with the plan before it was too late.
“It’s nothing much, just about the pregnancy.”
“…”
Gulp. As soon as the word “pregnancy” came out, the sound of dry saliva being swallowed could be heard in the private workshop.
“I heard that pregnancy can limit what you can eat due to morning sickness, and today’s menu was steak. Is your stomach okay?”
“…It’s okay. Maybe it’s because it’s still early, but I don’t have morning sickness.”
“That’s a relief.”
She was trying to answer calmly, but unlike her usual self, she kept avoiding eye contact, and her pupils were trembling.
“Did you tell Grandma Choi Yeongok?”
“…Not yet. I’m planning to tell her soon.”
“Yeah, well… I’m sure you have your reasons. But wouldn’t it be better to tell her before your belly gets too big? It might lessen the shock a little.”
“…”
I stared at Choi Hyena, who didn’t respond, for a moment before slowly approaching her.
“W-wait a minute…!”
“Just stay still.”
I gently massaged her pelvis and tailbone area. It was a pregnancy massage I had studied by watching NewTube.
“If you’re having a hard time, tell me anytime. There might not be much I can do, but it’s better than suffering alone.”
After massaging her for about ten minutes, I gently stroked Choi Hyena’s smooth belly and spent some time before leaving the workshop.
Until the very end, Choi Hyena seemed to be deep in thought.
I didn’t particularly intend to play with her. I just wanted to show her what happens when you tell lies you can’t handle.
***
Choi Hyena stared blankly at the firmly closed workshop door.
A sense of impatience, which she had forgotten for a while, seemed to be growing in a corner of her heart.
“…What should I do?”
She collapsed into a nearby chair. She tried to clear her complicated mind by even using magic, but her thoughts were like a film with broken frames, impossible to connect.
Her vision went white as if her brain had been paralyzed.
Only after gulping down cold water and focusing on meditation for a while was she able to think properly.
To find a solution, she recalled the circumstances that led her to lie.
A few weeks ago, she had slept with Kang Hyunwoo due to an unforeseen accident during a disaster called the Isolated Gate. Born as the only heir to the Seongbuk Choi family, it was a fatal accident for her, who had to protect her virginity until marriage.
Of course, she didn’t resent Kang Hyunwoo for it. After all, if it weren’t for him, she would be a cold corpse buried in the snow by now.
That’s why she demanded an engagement with him on the premise of marriage. At first glance, it seemed like she was holding him responsible, but it was actually a form of compensation.
If he married her, the heir to the Seongbuk Choi family, and became a member of the family, he would gain immense profits from over a dozen businesses, as well as the power and prestige that spread like a spider web throughout South Korea.
Moreover, a promising and beautiful wife like herself, any man with a proper sense of values would welcome it with open arms.
But he said something absurd about whether it would be okay since he had another woman.
She was angry and even felt betrayed.
But on the other hand, she envied and was jealous of his unknown woman.
That’s why she even made up the ridiculous lie that she was pregnant.
“Why did I do that…”
From the moment she uttered the false pregnancy in front of Kang Hyunwoo until now, there hasn’t been a single moment she didn’t regret it.
No matter how she thought about it, it was too impulsive of a statement.
There are lies you can handle and lies you can’t. Her lie clearly belonged to the latter.
In fact, there was one solution.
She could tell him she had a miscarriage.
“Ugh…!”
But just thinking about the word “miscarriage” made her feel sick and even gave her a severe headache.
It was a premonitory sign of a typical magic shock symptom.
She had never been pregnant, but the thought of the child between Kang Hyunwoo and herself having to close its eyes without seeing the light of the world was so shocking that it caused her magic circuits to reverse.
Without realizing it, she clutched her stomach and collapsed into a seat. It was ridiculous since there was no one to protect, but she couldn’t bear it otherwise.
But she couldn’t bear it without doing so.
“What should I do…?”
She held her head and pondered for a long time, but that didn’t lead to a clear answer.
Even when she was doing magic research, she had never felt so lost, and an unbearable pressure overwhelmed her.
Wendigo, who was watching Choi Hyena, quietly sighed.
-Foolish.
Even Wendigo, who knew nothing about human physiology, knew the answer to this situation.
Tell Kang Hyunwoo the truth and ask for forgiveness.
Choi Hyena also knew this, but she didn’t have the courage to tell the truth and ask for forgiveness.
Wendigo watched the foolish contractor with frustration, but also with pity for her clumsiness in everything.
The contract with a spirit is not just a paper contract. It is a contract of existence where soul and soul are connected, a relationship that shares emotions to a slight degree.
Wendigo had been able to glimpse Choi Hyena’s emotions to some extent since the day they contracted, so he knew how precarious a human she was.
Like a hedgehog with its quills raised, her inner self was too soft and fragile, a vulnerable human who could collapse at any moment.
Choi Hyena was so consumed by the thought that Kang Hyunwoo might coldly leave her that she couldn’t even think of telling the truth and asking for forgiveness.
Of course, she might be able to do it if he gave her a little push. But if he did that, Choi Hyena would not be able to grow mentally.
Wendigo quietly turned his gaze out the window.
It was the kind of weather that looked like it would rain at any moment.
***
Afternoon arrived at the Magic Tower.
Unlike the morning, when we took common classes in our respective classes, the afternoon was a time to apply for and take desired classes like in college.
For the record, I applied for a class called “Basics and Operation of Summoning Magic.” It was a course to learn the basic concepts of summoning magic and how to control summoned creatures.
I waited for the professor in a place like a lecture hall, slightly different from a classroom.
There were quite a few students taking the class besides me. And they were all looking at me. Glancing was the least of it. Most of them were staring openly.
But no one spoke to me first. The freshmen probably heard that I was involved with Han Seoah, and the rest seemed to be worried about Choi Hyena.
I felt like an animal in a zoo cage, and I wondered if I should use magic to warn them, but I didn’t want to cause more trouble on my first day.
I ignored them and spent some time, and then the classroom door opened and someone I had seen somewhere before came in.
Short black bobbed hair and blue eyes, listless eyes that seemed to have no interest in anything, tapped the podium and said.
“I’m Shin Minha, and I’ll be in charge of the Basics and Operation of Summoning Magic course.”
