181 – Rumors (1)
“Phew…”
In fact, up until now, Charles had felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction just from returning to Lartania and becoming Kim Hyun-woo’s hero.
And it made sense, because Charles’s dream had been to leave Kim Hyun-woo and then return as his hero like she had been 10 years ago.
…Of course, that wasn’t to say she didn’t dream of more than that, but the reason she was able to be satisfied with this state of affairs was because she had already come to a definite conclusion about one sad fact.
The idea that ‘a broken relationship can never be fixed.’
At least in Charles’s opinion, once a relationship had been broken, it could never return to the way it had been before.
No matter how much the two of them tried to return to the way they had been before, a relationship that had been twisted once would bind the relationship with negative things like shackles, and it would affect the people trying to continue the relationship in some way.
That was why Charles didn’t dare to hope for more than that.
When she had heard the news that Merilda had slept with Kim Hyun-woo, she had felt a brief pang of jealousy, but it had quickly subsided.
After that, when she had heard the news that Lynn had spent a night with him, she had felt something a little more serious stirring in her heart than she had when it had been Merilda, but she had endured it even then.
No, to say that she had endured it was funny.
It was just that, even though Charles had seen with her own two eyes that the situation was working out very well for the two heroes, completely opposite to what she had thought, she had simply been too afraid to do anything.
…In fact, she had made up her mind to some extent while watching the two heroes do well, but at least Charles planned to move much more slowly than the others.
That is, if she hadn’t heard about the engagement ring.
“Phew…”
Charles let out a sigh.
In fact, the reason she had suddenly made up her mind to stop hesitating and move forward with her relationship with Kim Hyun-woo was because she had heard about the ring.
More precisely, she had heard that Kim Hyun-woo was planning to use the ring, which didn’t have much time left before it expired.
Of course, it wasn’t that she didn’t have any affection for him.
She had simply been hiding it out of fear up until now, but she could confidently say that her affection for him was second to none in Lartania.
After all, she had originally gone to the Demon Realm alone to meet Kim Hyun-woo.
That was why she had decided to tell Kim Hyun-woo how she felt.
Even if he didn’t choose her, which was a depressing thought just to think about, she wanted to at least be one of the many choices Kim Hyun-woo had.
…At least for now, Charles wanted to create a chance, no matter how small.
‘So I made up my mind, but…’
Charles made a complicated expression.
‘What should I do first?’
She said that, but in fact, there wasn’t a single person around Charles who could help her.
Merilda and Lynn, who she could talk to, weren’t people who she could have a conversation with that was too deep, but when it came to Kim Hyun-woo, they were definitely people who wouldn’t help her.
And she wasn’t particularly close to the other heroes, so Charles was trying to prepare by first using all the knowledge she had.
‘This doesn’t seem right…’
Charles made a strange expression as she looked at the things in front of her.
Right now, there were various interior items in front of her, along with incense that gave off a sweet scent when burned.
Of course, there was also a very old-fashioned adult negligee in the center that you could tell was expensive just by looking at it.
However, Charles instinctively felt it.
The fact that this was far from enough.
That was why Charles, who had been thinking for a while,
‘Ah…’
Suddenly had an idea.
She thought about the cheap cosplay costume that Lynn had said she had worn last time…
“Ugh…”
Charles’s face turned red.
Even though she was a demon, she was an elf.
And she was an elf who had been taught very proper ideas about chastity.
…However, Charles’s body was already moving on its own.
Her desire to become the Lord’s possible choice was that great.
####
A week had passed since Adria and Elena had spent their first night with Kim Hyun-woo.Nothing major had happened during that time, and even the issue with Adria, which had been his biggest concern, had gradually faded into the background with the passage of time, as if it had seeped into the ground.
‘…I don’t know how he resolved the issue with Rien, though.’
…In fact, it was only possible for the issue to fade into the background because he had barely been in contact with Adria lately, so Kim Hyun-woo had not heard any stories about Rien recently.
‘Should I consider no news to be good news?’
Knock, knock—
Just as Kim Hyun-woo was having those thoughts, a knock sounded.
Elena entered with a brief permission.
“My lord, I have a report to give.”
“…Is there something to report today? And business hours are over.”
He said, looking at the sun as it slowly set.
“Yes. I think it’s better to deal with things as they come up.”
Kim Hyun-woo nodded awkwardly at Elena’s cheerful smile and began to listen to her report.
…If there was one thing that had changed recently, it was that the other heroes, including Elena, had become more aggressive in approaching Kim Hyun-woo.
For example, Elena, who used to report once a day, had increased her visits to as many as five times a day.
And that wasn’t all.
“I’m done with the unusual report… but you look very tired, my lord.”
“Really? I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“I see. You might not be able to sleep at all if you’re with me.”
“…”
She had started to s*xually harass him recently.
Of course, the s*xual harassment wasn’t severe if you only looked at the flow of the conversation, but Elena’s subtle smile and flushed face made it clear to anyone that she was trying to s*xually harass him.
In addition, Lynn often came to his office these days and offered to give him a massage.
Merilda didn’t visit him that often, but she had once asked him if she could try an experiment, saying that animals feel secure when they are under their owner’s feet.
…And after that, Kim Hyun-woo was unable to get out of his desk for about three hours.
‘That was a close call.’
Kim Hyun-woo broke out in a cold sweat as he recalled the time when Merilda was in his desk and Elena and Aria, the commander of the Blue Forest, had come in one after the other to report and play with him.
Fortunately, he had managed to hold his breath and pretend to be calm, so he hadn’t been caught, but he still broke out in a cold sweat when he thought about it, wondering if Merilda had wanted to get caught because the stimulation had been a bit too strong.
“Oh, and by the way, my lord, have you heard about the strange rumor that’s been going around lately?”
Elena said, interrupting his thoughts.
“A rumor? Is it a rumor about the inside of Lartania?”
“No, it’s a rumor from outside, and I think it’s a little too serious to ignore.”
“A rumor that’s too serious to ignore?”
Kim Hyun-woo tilted his head, and Elena continued.
“Yes, I heard that the great tribe in the north has been destroyed.”
“…The great tribe in the north?”
Of course, Kim Hyun-woo didn’t have any particular feelings about the great tribe in the north, since it hadn’t existed when he played Arteill, but he knew that the great tribe had a certain amount of power.
“…Did they get destroyed in a fight with another country?”
“No, they were defeated by the ‘black thing.’”
“…The black thing?”
“Yes, I heard it’s a monster-type monster, but the problem is that the things that destroyed the great tribe in the north have been gradually moving south, destroying the nobles’ territories one by one.”
“That’s definitely… a strange event.”
“Yes, and since there are already three territories that have been destroyed, the rumor has been spreading a lot among the mercenaries lately.”
“…”
Kim Hyun-woo nodded thoughtfully at Elena’s words.
Ding—
“…Huh?”
[The mysterious merchant has been detained.]
He looked at the notification window that suddenly appeared in front of him.
####
While Kim Hyun-woo was reading the notification window that had appeared in front of him.
In the office of the Lartania branch of the Magic Tower, River and Shadra, the current heroes of Lartania who had become close when Merilda first spent her first night with Kim Hyun-woo, were gathered.Originally, Elena should have been here, but she hasn’t come out since a week ago.
She has already achieved her goal.
However, Shadra and River knew that they were in no position to blame her.
After all, they were the ones who started meeting her in secret first.
…In the end, they tried to proceed with the work without Elena, but they ended up in a laughable situation where she took the lead. However, they naturally did not give up.
No, rather, they took a long time to thoroughly complete the plan.
And.
“…When is the execution date?”
“Let’s do it in three days.”
“Okay.”
The execution date was set.