Chapter 40: The Missing Gown

Leaning against the fluffy bed, Seol Yu-wol nibbled on the mooncake he had left for her, taking tiny, bird-like bites.

Nibble, nibble.

A soft sweetness spread through her mouth.

And with that sweetness, the physician’s voice echoed in her mind.

‘Now, Ms. Yu-wol, what is it that you want to do?’

Something I want to do.

For the first time in her life, she seriously mulled over those words.

To become the Martial Alliance Leader?

To repay her mother’s kindness?

Beyond those two options, her mind was a blank sheet of paper.

In Seol Yu-wol’s life, there had never once been something she ‘wanted to do.’

Her day began before dawn, with a sword in her hand.

Thousands of sword dances.

Until her arms went numb.

Hundreds of martial arts manuals.

Until her head throbbed with a splitting pain and the characters blurred into meaningless strokes.

It was the path her mother had set for her, and it was her goal.

There was no feeling of wanting to do it, nor of not wanting to.

There was only the duty that she must.

That didn’t change even after her mother vanished overnight.

She had to fill her mother’s empty place.

The Martial Alliance was busy selecting its next leader, and Seol Yu-wol was naturally among the candidates.

But the name the elders announced was not hers.

‘As the next Martial Alliance Leader, the Council of Elders nominates the Iron-Blooded Sword Emperor!’

She had failed.

She herself believed she had failed.

She considered it all her own fault, a result of her own shortcomings.

From that day on, she shut the door to the world.

It was secluded training.

She frantically recited the passages of the martial arts her mother had left behind, over and over again.

But nothing changed.

No progress in her martial arts, no advancement in her cultivation.

‘What on earth am I supposed to do…?’

A suffocating darkness, so thick she couldn’t see an inch in front of her face.

Without her mother, she could do nothing.

All she could do was endlessly repeat the passages she had been left with.

Months passed like that.

Finally, it was her mind that shattered first.

A Heart Demon had taken hold of her.

Along with excruciating pain, her consciousness faded.

A horrific sensation washed over her, as if all the blood in her body was flowing in reverse.

When she opened her eyes again, she had no idea how much time had passed.

Her throat burning with thirst, she staggered toward the sound of water inside the cave.

And in the darkness, she saw her reflection in a quiet pool of water.

Half of her black hair had turned ashen white, like dead embers.

To Seol Yu-wol, it was a brand of failure.

That horrifying memory once again tightened its grip on her throat.

A sudden, unbearable anxiety washed over her.

The silence of the room felt like the darkness of that cave, threatening to swallow her whole.

Just as her arms began to tremble uncontrollably…

Rustle.

Seol Yu-wol reflexively snatched the bag of mooncakes beside her.

With a trembling hand, she took out the last piece and slowly pushed it into her mouth.

The cool pastry slowly melted on her tongue.

“Ah…”

The sweetness began to wash away the bitter taste that tormented her.

Seol Yu-wol still hadn’t found an answer to the physician’s question.

However.

One desire had formed.

“Will he… come tomorrow…?”

I hope he comes.

I want to see him again.

That was the first thing Seol Yu-wol had ever wanted of her own will.

*

A morning with no alarm.

“Ah…”

Today was Sunday.

Technically, yesterday was Saturday, but I couldn’t rest. I had to work, since it was the day immediately following an Outsider’s appearance.

But it was fine.

The conversation with Seol Yu-wol had ended successfully, and my meeting with Lee Seo-ryeong had also concluded on a decent note.

And today was finally a perfect, official day off.

I pushed myself up from the bed.

Today was a day to be just Yoo Seon-woo, not Counselor Yoo Seon-woo.

I went to the kitchen, poured cereal into a bowl, and added cold milk.

I’d been running myself ragged lately.

I was always short on sleep, and I often stayed up all night researching materials.

I’ve only just become a counselor. It’ll probably get better once I get used to it.

I comforted myself with that thought and brought the spoon to my mouth.

The voice of an announcer drifted from the TV I had just turned on.

—As of yesterday, the Transfer Erosion phenomenon that occurred in the Seoul Forest area has stabilized…

Thankfully, it seemed the erosion from Seol Yu-wol’s arrival had been safely contained.

The Association announced that after a thorough safety inspection, Seoul Forest would be reopened to the public next week.

I chewed my cereal, staring blankly at the news.

The recovery from the incident was fast.

This world had now become completely accustomed to the existence of Outsiders.

Back when I first came here, whenever a Transfer occurred, it was normal for an entire city to be paralyzed as people trembled in fear.

But now, unless it was a massive Transfer, it was just a minor incident.

Citizens evacuate according to the established manual.

The Association swiftly controls the scene.

The hunters silently do their jobs.

And the aftermath that follows… is now my job.

I rinsed my empty bowl under running water.

Again, today is a day off.

So what now?

What else?

Time to study.

A mother and daughter had become my clients at the same time.

Naturally, my study load had doubled as well.

Since I finally had some time, I could leisurely look over the materials without having to pull an all-nighter.

How great is that?

But before that.

“First, the laundry…”

A few days’ worth of chores had piled up.

I picked up the laundry basket and started sorting the clothes.

Towels, underwear, and whites.

But.

Rummage, rummage.

Rummage, rummage.

No matter how much I dug through the laundry pile, I couldn’t find what should have been there.

My gown.

“Wait… it’s not here?”

It wasn’t in the counseling office, so I thought it was at home.

But it wasn’t.

“It’s not at home either.”

Where on earth did it go?

I tilted my head, confused.

*

Sniff, sniff…

“What is thiiis…”

Luna collapsed right in front of the dryer door, which was still radiating warmth.

This was already the third time.

The doctor’s gown she had stolen… no, brought from the counselor’s office yesterday.

To ease her guilt, she had washed it with the best detergent as soon as she got home.

She had even added a generous amount of fragrant fabric softener.

When the first drying cycle finished, she had pulled out the gown with satisfaction.

And then she froze.

The counselor’s pleasant scent remained, ever so faintly.

Well, that made sense, since it was his clothing.

The problem was, when she came to her senses and took a proper sniff…

Another scent was layered thickly over it.

It was definitely not a scent that should be coming from a freshly laundered and dried white gown.

A deep, rich… cloyingly sweet scent unique to beast-folk.

The scent of pheromones.

Because it had just been washed, she couldn’t tell exactly who it belonged to, but it was definitely the scent of pheromones.

‘Don’t tell me I… without even realizing…?’

Luna’s mind went blank. Her body had reacted on its own.

To leave such a strong trace on the counselor’s belongings.

The counselor was a normal human, so he might not notice. But other beast-folk were a different story.

Elice… or another beast-folk from the Union would recognize it instantly…

Just the thought made her face burn as if it would explode.

Luna quickly started a second wash.

She used double the detergent.

Ding-ding-ding~

The chime signaled the end of the cycle.

Sniff, sniff…

“Ah.”

The result was the same.

Ding-ding-ding~

The third time was no different.

The scent just wouldn’t come out.

She couldn’t possibly return it like this.

“Noooo…”

Just as she hung her head in despair…

Click.

Elice opened the laundry room door, yawning.

“Haaah… Sis, what are you doing in here?”

Luna grabbed her younger sister, her face on the verge of tears.

Right, Elice is more mature than me.

“Elice…! It’s a disaster! Do you… do you know how to get rid of pheromones?”

Of course, Elice had no idea either.

“Pheromones? Why would you be giving off pheromones…?”

Elice laughed as if it were absurd and brought her nose to the gown in Luna’s hand.

She took one sniff and her expression immediately hardened.

“Uh…?”

This wasn’t her sister’s scent.

It was incredibly deep and rich.

She couldn’t distinguish it precisely, but…

This was…

‘It’s me, isn’t it?’

Last night, after making sure her sister’s bedroom door was closed, she had snuck into the laundry room. While Luna slept, Elice had spent a long, long time burying her face in the gown, inhaling its scent. Doing so in such a confined space had caused her own scent to soak into the fabric.

She knew her own scent best.

As if in disbelief, Elice once again buried her nose deep in the gown.

This time, much more seriously.

And she confirmed it. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt.

It was her scent.

“What do I do… It’s so strong, right? So obvious, right?”

Beside her, Luna fretted, stomping her feet as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

“……”

But it’s mine.

“I think I’m going crazy lately… my body is acting weird…”

You can say that again.

“……”

Elice couldn’t bring herself to say a word.

Her innocent sister was taking the fall for her own perverted actions.

She quietly opened her mouth.

“Yeah… you should be careful, sis…”

“Uwaah…”

Luna finally slumped to the floor, burying her face in her hands.

Pat, pat.

With a very complicated expression, Elice could only pat her sister’s back.

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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