Episode 396. Irene, Alice (2)

‘Indeed, Director Kang Hyorin is a bit strange.’

Irene, on her way home, shook her head back and forth.

For some reason, she felt completely drained whenever she met the Korean Branch Manager. Her unique way of speaking and conversing drained the other person’s energy.

‘Still, she does her job well.’

However, she did her job so impeccably that there was nothing to criticize. She’s the type you find in every workplace, the one who does their job so well you can’t find fault with them.

Irene continued her thoughts as she headed back to Alice’s house.

She had come to Korea on assignment, but there wasn’t really anything for her to do. That was the nature of the assignment in the first place. With regular reports about Pandemic’s growing influence, headquarters couldn’t help but react, so they sent one person as a dispatch.

In fact, even thinking about it now, it was strange that she, the leader of Team 1, was the one sent. It was a task that was far too easy for the leader of Team 1. Because of that, Irene had the leeway to do other things.

‘Lee Hoyeon….’

Irene naturally thought of his face, the one who was in Korea. Now that the academy was on break, there shouldn’t be any contact between Alice and Lee Hoyeon. But why wouldn’t this uneasy feeling go away?

“It should be fine….”

Irene returned home.

Alice’s mansion, located in an upscale residential area. Since she had decided to stay at Alice’s house while she was in Korea, Irene was pleased. Being able to stay under the same roof as Alice was a happy thing for her.

Knock knock-

“Alice, may I come in?”

Irene stood in front of Alice’s room. She had greeted Alice in the morning, but since she wanted to see her often, she would go to Alice’s room and chat when she had nothing else to do. Fortunately, Alice didn’t seem to dislike the conversation either.

“Mm-hmm. Come in.”

Hearing Alice’s words, Irene entered the room and saw Alice smiling as she looked at her smartwatch. Irene, sitting on a chair next to the bed, started a conversation with Alice.

“I met the Korean Branch Manager today. As expected, there wasn’t much for me to do.”

“…Then why are you on assignment? Is the guild really okay?”

“Nah. Don’t worry. It’s a task my father approved.”

“Well then…”

Irene smiled, looking at Alice. Just having a conversation with her made her happy; it was Alice’s magic. Even a slight upward turn of her lips stirred Irene’s heart. What was disappointing was that even after seeing Alice, the slight unease wouldn’t disappear. This uneasy feeling was Irene’s main concern.

“Unnie, what’s wrong with your expression?”

“Nah. It’s nothing. Right. Do you want to go out for dinner together today? Recommend a delicious Korean restaurant for me.”

“Today…? Today the timing is a bit awkward. How about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is good too, but… do you have any plans today?”

“I’m scheduled to meet Lee Hoyeon soon.”

“…With Lee Hoyeon?”

Irene swallowed hard at the name that came out of Alice’s mouth. Why was he meeting Alice? He had definitely made a promise with her. But why….

“Speaking of which, I think Lee Hoyeon said he was your fan.”

“…Was that so.”

Thinking about it now, maybe that statement was a lie too. It was probably just a pleasantry. Unaware of Irene’s feelings, Alice nonchalantly continued speaking.

“Try talking to him later. He’ll probably come over to our house.”

“…Why is he coming to our house? For what reason?”

“Does he really need a reason? He just said he was coming.”

Irene fell silent, her chest filled with an uneasy feeling. Alice was too nonchalant about it. Given her personality, she wouldn’t just let something like this slide. Perhaps the act of him coming over to the house was natural for him? If so, was he breaking his promise?

“Would you like to join us for some wine? We did the operation together, so we’re acquaintances, after all.”

“I… I’ll be fine. I’ll just rest for a bit.”

“Right. You just arrived today, so you should rest for a bit.”

“Yep yep. I’ll come back later.”

Irene said goodbye to Alice and left the room. Then, as she returned to her own room, she continued to worry.

‘The promise. Is he keeping the promise?’

The promise he made to distance himself from Alice as the price for enjoying her body. If, by any chance, it wasn’t kept….

‘I’ll have no choice but to take other measures.’

Indeed, she needed to face him directly. Irene ran to her room, trying to calm her pounding heart.

*

“She went inside.”

I stood watching the back of Irene as she entered the house. I had followed her all the way to Alice’s house. I debated whether to talk to her, but in the end, I just let her go. There was no need to act hastily yet.

I took out my smartwatch and sent a message to Alice.

• Me: Can I come over sometime today?

• Alice: Sure. When are you coming?

• Me: Then I’ll head over right away.

• Alice: Right away?

• Me: Yeah. Besides, it’s next door.

Alice didn’t reply after that. She’s probably talking with Irene, who just went into the house. If Irene came here to meet me, she would naturally approach after contacting Alice. I just need to wait for that.

I waited for a few minutes in front of Alice’s house, then pressed the bell.

Ding dong- Ding dong-

Click-

As soon as I pressed the bell, the locked main gate opened, creating space to enter. I pushed open the large gate and went inside. I waited for a moment in front of the entrance, and then the door opened and Alice came out.

Alice was dressed comfortably for home, but even in baggy clothes, her figure was good, making her sexiness stand out.

“You really came right away.”

“Yeah. Since we’re neighbors, I can come over whenever I want to see you. Can’t I?”

“…It’s not like I can’t allow it. Come in.”

Alice smiled slightly at my words. Now, words like these just pop out of me without realizing it. The saying that humans are evolving animals is true.

We went upstairs to the room together. As usual, I grabbed a chair and sat down, and Alice sat down in front of me.

“Indeed, if it’s close, you can see each other often.”

“Yeah.”

Sitting at the table, we naturally started talking. I hadn’t seen much of Alice since returning to Korea, so I had a lot to talk about.

“Alice, weren’t you going to return to the Iris Guild during the vacation?”

“Yeah. But since you came, it’s been temporarily postponed. I think I’ll probably go to France next week.”

“Aha. I’m going to America next week too, for conference preparations.”

“The timing works out well.”

“Yeah. Since I’ll be in America, we won’t be able to see each other anyway.”

We talked for a while, catching up. Talking alone with a pretty woman was indeed enjoyable. Speaking of which, should I casually ask about Irene too?

“Speaking of which, about Irene-ssi…”

“Unnie?”

“Yeah. By any chance, did she come to Korea? I think I can feel Irene-ssi’s mana from the house.”

“That’s right. She was dispatched to the Iris Guild’s Korean branch this time. But it’s amazing you can sense Unnie’s mana. I can’t even feel it when I’m with her.”

“I have high mana sensitivity.”

So it was true that she came because she had work to do. It was good that I didn’t pretend to know her right away.

“But why are you asking about Unnie?”

“Huh? There’s no particular reason. I was just curious.”

“Hmm….”

Alice stared intently at me. Her eyes were slightly wary. Why are you looking at me like that? What’s the problem?

“By any chance, you don’t intend to get involved with our Unnie too because of that curse or whatever, do you?”

“….”

I blinked and looked at Alice’s face. So that was it. It’s because Alice thinks I’m cursed. Well, in a way, it’s not wrong. The word ‘curse’ is wrong, but the feeling is similar.

“It’s not like that. It’s not that kind of curse in the first place.”

“Then what is it?”

“Uhh….”

I pondered for a moment. Actually, the reason I haven’t told the heroines about my situation is that there’s no benefit in telling them. Talking about games or anything like that would be completely crazy, and I feared it would become strange unnecessarily if I tried to adapt the story differently. However, wouldn’t it be okay with Alice, who had already reached that conclusion? I wouldn’t be caught even if I adapted it reasonably.

“It’s difficult to say precisely, but… don’t worry. I will never approach first.”

“Can you promise?”

“Of course. Promise.”

When I offered my pinky finger, Alice linked hers, and finally seemed satisfied, nodding her head. It wasn’t wrong, was it? Unless Irene herself showed that kind of behavior, I wouldn’t make an effort to pursue her. I couldn’t ruin my relationship with Alice because of her.

I stared intently at the nodding Alice for a moment, then got up and stood behind her.

“What? What are you doing?”

“Well, I was wondering if your body was doing okay lately. I haven’t been taking care of you.”

Rub rub.

I naturally started massaging Alice’s shoulders. Through the sex we had intensively in France, Alice’s body was completely healed. Unlike when she had the Congenital Mana Deficiency, she was now emitting mana wavelengths completely like a normal person’s. Of course, the aura felt was still weak compared to her strength, but she must be adapting.

“My condition is good. Lately, I’ve been doing adaptation training every day.”

“That explains it. So that’s why you were busy.”

“Yeah. I could feel myself getting stronger day by day.”

“If you had told me, I would have helped.”

“It was simply adaptation to my mana, so it was fine doing it alone.”

Only now did I seem to understand why Alice had been so busy. She had been making an effort on her own.

“So that’s why our communication was a bit infrequent.”

“Sorry, but it couldn’t be helped…. Hng, Ughh.”

I channeled mana into Alice’s body, and she reacted immediately, arching her neck back. Alice, biting her lip slightly and with half-lidded eyes, looked at me and said.

“Do you want to?”

“It’s been a while… How about it?”

“Not today. You know Unnie is here at the house.”

“Ah….”

I had thought it wouldn’t work, but hearing it directly was disappointing. When I made a disappointed face, Alice also wore a thoughtful expression.

Huh? Maybe I could try to push my luck here.

“Then what about just using your mouth?”

“…Do you want to do that?”

“Because it feels good. We haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“….”

Alice smacked her lips, seeming to ponder my words. Seeing that it wasn’t allowed even when I asked like this, doing it at the house with Irene present seemed quite burdensome for her. I understand, because I would feel uneasy doing it at my own family’s house.

“I’ll let you do it with your hands. I can’t do anything more than that.”

“Okay.”

Of course, I understood, but my lust took precedence. Seeing the embarrassed Alice was quite enjoyable. Letting her do it with her hands was a bit disappointing, but since her reactions were amusing, I’d endure it.

I sat down next to Alice. Alice got up from her seat and tried to sit in front of me, but I made Alice sit back down, saying.

“Just sit there and try using only your hands like this.”

“Like this? This is a bit uncomfortable.”

“I’ll hold it for you.”

Alice rested her left arm on the armrest, leaned her body towards me, and grabbed my member with her right hand. To keep Alice comfortable, I supported her upper body and head with my hands, which naturally allowed me to place my hands on her breasts too.

“This way, it’s comfortable, right?”

“Th- Ughh. Nn….”

Her face and upper body were held by me, while only her hands performed the lewd act – quite a position. I smiled seeing Alice’s embarrassed face. Her effort for me was quite cute. Sometimes, things like this aren’t bad. The mental satisfaction is good.

Alice slowly began moving her hands, and I leaned back against the chair while holding Alice.