Chapter 40: Yes? are you married?

Do you know the saying, ‘Seeing is desiring’?

It means that even if you had no intention of wanting something, seeing it in person can make you desire it.

The important thing here is the fact that ‘I had no such intention’!

“So, I’m not bad.”

I finished my rationalization, slipping the gold piece I had secretly taken into my pocket so Luna wouldn’t see it.

“Sihyun… what are you doing…?”

“Hahaha, it’s nothing.

More importantly, I’m about to get ready for work, so what should our princess do?”

At that, Luna scurried over and began rummaging through a drawer.

*Rustle rustle.*

*Pat pat pat.*

Finding a comb in the drawer, Luna naturally settled herself between my legs.

“Sihyun, comb my hair…”

“Today, I’ll make it especially beautiful for you.”

*Swish swish.*

As I caressed her silver-shining hair, Luna’s scent diffused throughout the room.

A cozy scent, neither heavy nor light.

It felt like a scent that wouldn’t easily be forgotten, even with time.

‘Do all beautiful girls smell this good?’

I wouldn’t know, since Luna is the only beautiful girl around.

Oh, I did meet one recently.

‘Victoria… was it?’

‘They call that style a ‘mesugaki’ these days.’

‘She says she’s in her twenties, but she really looks like a child.’

Still, seeing her use polite speech after losing the match, she didn’t seem entirely rude.

Although it felt very much like she was forcing herself to use it.

“Sihyun… what are you thinking…?”

“Ah, I was just thinking, ‘Luna’s hair always feels so nice to touch~’”

“Really…?”

Luna stared at me, her golden eyes sparkling.

‘Ugh, when she looks at me with such innocent eyes, my conscience acts up.’

‘I need to change the subject quickly.’

“By the way, Luna, I’ve noticed this from the start, but you’re always so well-behaved when I comb your hair, aren’t you?”

“Somehow… it feels familiar…”

Perhaps it’s because the memory of her subordinates grooming her, back when Luna was a princess, has become ingrained in her.

“You too, Luna? I kind of feel that way too.”

Strangely, combing Luna’s hair felt familiar to me as well.

As if I had done it many times before.

‘Did I also lose my memory like Luna? Haha.’

As I continued combing Luna’s hair, even making silly jokes, I unconsciously started humming a tune.

“Luna’s~♫ ♪ hair is silver and pretty~ ♬ Her eyes are golden, like the gold piece I found~𝅘𝅥𝅯”

“Sihyun…?”

Oh, right.

Lately, whenever I was doing something trivial, I’d unconsciously start humming strange melodies.

One of the typical characteristics of an ‘ahjussi’ (middle-aged man).

‘I’ll be thirty the day after tomorrow.’

‘Is this the ‘ahjussi instinct’ I’ve only heard about?’

Getting older is unavoidable for humans, but I really wanted to prevent turning 30 as a ‘mossol’ (never had a relationship)…

I’m afraid I’ll become a virgin wizard at this rate.

I vowed and re-vowed from my early twenties that I would never become one!

‘In just two more years, I’ll really be changing professions to a wizard.’

I casually muttered as I clipped a hairpin into Luna’s hair.

“I wonder if I’ll get married when the time comes…”

As soon as those words left my mouth, Luna stared intently at me, her golden eyes shining.

“Sihyun… what is marriage…?”

“Ah, marriage is written as ‘gyeolhon’ (結魂) in Chinese characters, and simply put, it’s a ceremony where people who love each other promise to only look at each other for life? Something like that.”

I later realized that I had misunderstood the Chinese character.

Normally, the ‘hon’ in the Chinese character for marriage should be ‘hon’ (婚) meaning ‘to marry’, but I, like an idiot, used ‘hon’ (魂) meaning ‘soul’ when talking to Luna.

And because of this mistake, Luna gained a slightly different understanding of marriage.

“A ceremony… that binds souls together…?”

“Hmm, if you only look at the Chinese characters, is that it?”

“I just realized now that it has such a heavy meaning.”

Of course.

Because I had misunderstood the Chinese character!

But even then, I didn’t know what the problem was.

As soon as Luna heard the explanation about marriage, her golden eyes began to sparkle.

The silver-haired girl sat on the floor, gazing up at me intently.

Her gaze somehow held an expectant look.

“Sihyun… do you want to get married…?”

“It’s not that I absolutely have to, but if I find someone precious, I’d want to.”

Even in this era where people easily die due to ghost stories, humanity still loves, marries, and bears children.

They say children are born even during wartime, right?

And currently, most countries allow polygamy.

‘That’s because too many people are dying from ghost stories.’

My country is also one of those that permit it.

‘I barely stopped Gaeun from trying to storm the National Assembly when that bill passed.’

‘I still don’t know why she suddenly got so worked up.’

But looking at my current situation, it’s obvious I’ll die without even getting married to one woman, let alone practicing polygamy.

“Meet a girl → Start flirting → Confess and date → Propose → Marry → Happy Ending”

‘But the problem is, I can’t even get past the very first step, meeting a girl!!’

I haven’t passed the first stage for 28 years!

I just want to cuddle and be sweet with a girlfriend just once!

Why! Can’t I be happy!

‘If things keep going like this, I’ll really become a wizard who can cast Meteor…’

“Haa…”

Thinking about ending my life as a lonely old man, I suddenly felt depressed.

Then, Luna carefully took my hand and asked a question.

“Sihyun… do you have… someone precious?”

Someone precious?

Of course I do.

Right in front of my eyes.

“Haha, now that you mention it, I do have someone precious.”

“Who… who…?”

Suddenly, I felt Luna’s hand trembling.

Her golden eyes, mirroring the tremor, widened.

Luna was probably worried that I might have someone else besides her.

‘If it were before, I might have joked around by naming someone else here.’

I shouldn’t do it now.

I do have some sense.

I can distinguish between jokes I can make with Luna and ones I absolutely shouldn’t.

I deliberately smiled brightly and held Luna’s hand tightly.

“My precious person and the one I like.

Her name is Luna, as beautiful as moonlight.”

“……!”

Luna’s eyes widened more than I had ever seen them before.

‘Luna, your eyes are huge.’

‘How do all your eyes, nose, and mouth fit into that small face?’

I admired Luna’s features once again.

“Then, Sihyun… will you marry… me?”

“Marriage?”

“Yes, Sihyun said… it’s what you do… with someone precious…”

Uh-oh, wait, hold on.

Of course, living with an ultimate beautiful girl like Luna would be wonderfully happy, but marriage is a different dimension altogether.

Luna is clearly a young girl.

If I were to marry such a girl…?

‘This time, I’d not only undeniably become a lolicon, but I’d also be handcuffed immediately!’

But wait, Luna is a ghost story, so her appearance shouldn’t matter, right?

And anyway, Luna will grow up quickly in a few years, so wouldn’t it be okay?

As I was confused by these various thoughts, Luna gradually approached me as if demanding an answer.

“Marry… me…?”

“Haha, Luna, well… of course, you are precious to me, but I can’t get married yet—”

“Can’t…?”

*Tremble tremble tremble.*

Suddenly, not only Luna’s hands and pupils, but her entire body began to tremble.

If even a hint of dark red aura were added here, it would be a direct route to a bad ending.

‘The moment I say ‘no,’ my life might truly be in danger?’

I must exert my maximum ability.

My ability to improvise!

“—Of course not!”

“But Luna, there’s something you absolutely must do before marriage.”

“You have to get engaged first!”

“Engagement…?”

“It’s a promise that ‘we will be married in the future~’ You know, like I said before? A pinky promise.

It’s similar to that.”

I continued speaking, stroking Luna’s head to help her calm down a little faster.

“And engagement is very important, just like marriage.”

“If you just casually say ‘we’re engaged,’ it doesn’t set the mood, does it?”

“You have to exchange meaningful items and make the promise in a special atmosphere.”

“Sihyun and I… don’t have anything like that…”

Her golden eyes still didn’t seem to have completely shaken off the anxiety.

‘Is there nothing?’

‘Something to make Luna feel more at ease… Ah! There was that.’

What caught my eye was the crescent moon hairpin nestled among her beautiful silver hair.

“Luna, have you already forgotten?”

“You wear it every day.”

“The hairpin.”

“This…?”

“Did you think I just gave that to you?”

“I gifted it to you in advance precisely for this moment.”

“From that time… you thought about… marrying me…?”

“Of course!”

“Now, once we make the promise, it’ll be as good as being engaged to you, Luna, but the atmosphere isn’t right now, so let’s do it tonight when the moon is beautiful.”

Even I was surprised by the brazen lie that came as easily as breathing.

‘Did I originally have a talent for this?’

Only after hearing my last words did Luna seem to relax, burying her face in my embrace.

“Engaged to Sihyun… good…”

“You like it that much, Luna?”

“My heart feels… fluffy…”

‘Fluffy,’ she says? Luna is starting to understand what true emotions are now.

I gently stroked the back of Luna, who was nestled in my arms.

‘It seems my skill at twisting words is only getting better and better.’

For now, Luna has calmed down, and the situation was handled well… so, I guess that’s fine.

Children grow up quickly.

And they have the characteristic of getting bored quickly and forgetting things quickly.

‘Because the world is full of new stimuli.’

Everyone probably played house and got ‘married’ as children at some point, but as time passes, they forget who they played with.

‘Luna will forget quickly once she grows up too.’

I resolved to play house diligently with Luna until that day came.

****

Sihyun had said.

That marriage was a vow that bound the souls of precious people.

A promise to be together in life, and even when life ends.

It seemed like too heavy a promise.

Words that should never be spoken lightly…

– “My precious person and the one I like. Her name is Luna, as beautiful as moonlight.”

His appearance, speaking with a bright smile, was dazzling.

‘Ah… Sihyun, from that time… with me…’

On the day they went to the amusement park.

Sihyun spoke his true feelings for the first time.

– “I think I’d feel empty without Luna.”

And the crescent moon hairpin he put in her hair, calling it a gift.

The girl initially couldn’t understand the connection between his words and the hairpin.

But only today did she realize the feelings he had shyly hidden.

‘Sihyun was… preparing to marry me…’

He was carefully expressing his feelings with the hairpin.

He wasn’t a man who only said ‘precious’ and ‘like’ with words.

From the very beginning, he had been thinking seriously about the girl.

Her, who held destruction.

A man who said he wanted to live with a ghost story, possessing a power everyone feared.

“Sihyun…”

Again, her heart felt fluffy.

A gradually warming sensation.

Thinking of the man who gently embraced her always gave her a strange feeling.

She didn’t know what ‘this feeling’, different from joy, was at first.

She thought it might just be a little more joy.

She thought that was enough, but not anymore.

‘Tonight… when Sihyun returns…’

The girl decided to confess her feelings at the moment she would promise marriage with Sihyun, bathed in moonlight.

I can’t be without you anymore.

You can’t be without me either, can you…?

Luna’s golden eyes, nestled in Sihyun’s embrace, shone with a somehow dangerous glint.

He slowly pulled the girl away and said, stroking her head.

“I usually come home early, but today I’ll have to come even faster.”

“To get engaged to Luna, haha.”

“Okay… Sihyun, come back quickly…”

– *Click.*

The room became quiet again.

The girl didn’t wait by the entrance as usual but walked straight to the bed.

“I want to smell… Sihyun’s scent.”

Luna gently lay down on the bed where she slept with him every night.

“If I’m like this… it feels like Sihyun is hugging me…”

The girl closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

She wished for the night, when the sun sets and the moon rises, to come quickly.

“If I close my eyes and open them… Sihyun… will be here.”

Luna closed her eyes, clutching the hairpin, the token of their engagement, precious in both hands.

Anticipating the moment she would promise eternity with Sihyun.

****

“Let’s see… today, all I have to do is submit the report to the team leader and make the PPT, so there’s not much else to do, is there?”

Checking my schedule, there were indeed no special appointments or call reservations today.

I was worried that Murphy’s Law, where something always goes wrong on important days, might apply.

“Hehe.

Such a thing cannot happen to me today.”

Although it’s part of playing house, I have an important engagement tonight.

‘If that makes Luna feel at ease, I can do it a hundred times over.’

I resolved to leave work on time and entered the guild building.

*Beep—*

An announcement broadcast immediately rang out as I clocked in.

[All personnel clocked in: The guild will now be closed for 24 hours.]

“What? Is this a dream?”

*Bang.*

*Clank clank.*

As soon as the broadcast ended, the reinforced steel doors and locks simultaneously began to block the entrance.

“Ah, seriously, don’t mess with me.”

What kind of bullshit is this now, goddammit.

I really have to go home early today!