Episode 523. Spilt Milk

“Haa. Haa-at….”

Nam Daeun trembled, her body wriggling as she lay face down on the bed.

The night with Lee Hoyeon had brought her immense satisfaction, leaving her mind completely blown, just like always.

“You worked hard, Daeun-ah. Let’s sleep together. Come here.”

“… Eung.”

Lee Hoyeon stroked Nam Daeun’s back, and she buried herself in his embrace, avoiding his gaze.

Before sex, the overwhelming lust left no room for shame, but afterward, embarrassment would flood in belatedly.

‘Is this what they call the ‘sage time’?’

Recalling a word she seemed to have learned from Liliana last time, Nam Daeun snuggled into Lee Hoyeon’s arms.

“….”

Lee Hoyeon swallowed hard as he looked at Nam Daeun.

She was so good at sex, but her current bashfulness was utterly adorable.

The female who had been craving his semen just moments ago had returned to being just Daeun.

The contrast was so damn hot, it made him want to do it all over again.

“… Should we do it just one more time?”

“Huh…? Hoyeon-ah?”

“No way. Let’s really do it just one more time.”

“Ah, I can’t… Last time it was definitely like this, Hhng….”

Nam Daeun finally tried to push Lee Hoyeon away, but she couldn’t stop him now that his switch had been flipped.

Lee Hoyeon buried his face in Nam Daeun’s chest.

“Hh, Hhng… Ah, Aang… Hoyeon-ah, Aang, no. We have the Academy tomorrow….”

“If we do it just once, we can sleep for a few hours. Sorry.”

“Ugh, okay, just one more time then….”

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Nam Daeun instinctively knew they were in trouble again.

But… she wasn’t exactly complaining.

*

It was a slightly later morning than usual.

Nam Daeun stretched, yawning as she prepared to head to the Academy.

“I’m so tired. Ugh, Kkeuh-eut.”

“Sorry….”

Lee Hoyeon watched Nam Daeun gather her clothes with a tired expression, feeling apologetic.

He had only intended to do it once… but things didn’t go quite as planned.

In the end, the two of them barely managed to fall asleep as dawn broke.

“… It’s okay. I couldn’t control myself either.”

“It’s my fault. I really won’t do this next time.”

Nam Daeun smiled as she looked at Lee Hoyeon, who had his head bowed.

She couldn’t help but laugh at how different he looked now compared to the beast he was last night.

“Thanks. I should get going, I don’t want to be any later. You’re off until the end of this week, right Hoyeon?”

“Yeah. But seriously, I feel bad. I’ll take you to the Academy. Let’s go together.”

“No, it’s fine. Dahee is waiting outside, so I’ll go with her. I’m the one who should be sorry for not making breakfast. I’ll head out first.”

“… Alright. Be careful going. Daeun-ah.”

Lee Hoyeon watched Nam Daeun stagger off towards the Academy, seeing her out.

We enjoyed ourselves together last night, but seeing her go to the Academy alone like this makes me feel guilty.

‘I was the only one who enjoyed consequence-free pleasure.’

Even when he looked back at Nam Daeun with a belatedly apologetic expression, she was already gone.

Hearing her apologize for not making breakfast made him feel like a real scumbag, and the feeling was quite strange.

“… Why are you waking up so late?”

“I usually do a lot of fun stuff late at night.”

Lee Hoyeon approached Liliana, who was sitting at the dining table, and took the seat next to her.

Liliana also looked incredibly tired.

Still, she seemed a bit low-energy yesterday, but recovering in just one day was so typical Liliana.

Nyam nyam.

Liliana slathered jam generously onto a slice of bread and popped it into her mouth.

Seeing how delicious it looked, Lee Hoyeon reached for a slice of bread, but Liliana flicked his hand away with a snap of her wrist.

“Ouch! Hey, what’s your problem?”

“What’s my problem?! It’s because of you that I can’t eat a proper breakfast and have to settle for toast!”

“How is that my fault?”

“It’s useless to hide things from a succubus, you know.”

“….”

Hearing Liliana’s words, Lee Hoyeon finally understood the chain of events.

Nam Daeun was made so tired that she had to rush to the Academy, skipping breakfast, which meant Liliana was stuck eating toast.

‘I get it, but….’

Still, it felt unfair that she wouldn’t even let me have toast.

Was I really that low on the totem pole in this house?

‘Anyone would think I was just a freeloader. This is my home, after all.’

If anything, Liliana was the freeloader.

Just as Lee Hoyeon was about to forcefully snatch the toast out of sheer indignation.

“Don’t get upset, have some tea instead.”

Scarlet, her voice calm, brought out tea and cookies.

Seeing the freshly baked chocolate cookies, Lee Hoyeon’s anger vanished, and he quietly took one to eat.

“Scarlet, what about Rebecca-ssi?”

“She said she had some business to attend to today. Apparently, it’s her main job.”

“Ah. So you’re off today, Scarlet?”

“Yes. I don’t really have any plans today.”

“I wanna eat cookies too.”

“Why don’t you just eat your toast?”

“That’s so petty for a guy.”

“Seriously. I can’t believe this.”

Lee Hoyeon chuckled wryly and handed a cookie over to Liliana.

Liliana giggled, took the cookie, and nodded with satisfaction.

“I take back what I said. Thank you.”

“It’s a pleasant sight to see first thing in the morning.”

Scarlet took a sip of her warm black coffee and sat down opposite Lee Hoyeon.

‘Hmm….’

Lee Hoyeon blinked as he looked at Scarlet.

Her expression was as calm as ever, but after hearing Nam Daeun’s secret yesterday, he couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Scarlet, being from the Iris Guild, was skilled at managing her emotions.

Perhaps she knew something important that others didn’t.

“Is there something on my face?”

“… No, you just look particularly beautiful today.”

“Thank you. Is this a special service because it’s my turn today?”

Seeing Scarlet smile, clearly pleased inwardly, Lee Hoyeon checked her status window.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Scarlet]

• [ Affection: 100 ] ( + 1.3)

• [ Lust: 75 ]

• [ Appetite: 40 ]

• [ Fatigue: 60 ]

Current Status: Irene-ssi isn’t calling today, so I should rest at home. But why is this person acting so strange all of a sudden?

[Upon reaching 100 Affection, she will serve Lee Hoyeon.]

… Am I being too paranoid?

Lee Hoyeon closed the status window while sipping the tea Scarlet had given him.

Fortunately, nothing unimaginably strange was happening.

‘I am curious about how much they talked to each other though….’

From what Nam Daeun told me, it didn’t seem like much, but they definitely shared information.

Moreover, the word ‘curse’ even came up.

The fact that everyone knew about what only Alice had known meant it was time for my womanizing to be suspected too.

‘But digging deeper right now is dangerous.’

There’s no need to act suspiciously right now.

What Lee Hoyeon needed to do was fix the mess he’d made as quickly as possible.

After that, he could afford to be suspected.

‘First… I need to halt the fake dungeon magic circle.’

Even if he had to try again later, he needed to retrieve the magic circle now.

The fake dungeon magic circle was a plan to create a crisis situation without the heroines noticing, thereby increasing their affection for Lee Hoyeon.

The moment the women noticed, the plan was as good as sunk.

Besides, much had changed while preparing the plan.

The surrounding circumstances. And Lee Hoyeon’s mindset.

Although a formidable enemy like Lucifer had appeared for the current Lee Hoyeon, his mind was capable of thinking a bit more coolly.

‘Then I have to rethink everything… My head hurts.’

Let’s just dispose of the magic circle first and think later.

Whether it meant revealing the truth and confessing on his knees, or planning something else entirely.

The most important thing is not getting caught for what I’ve already done.

Lee Hoyeon stuffed cookies into his mouth, munching loudly.

Liliana hit his shoulder trying to steal his cookies, but he ignored her.

“Are you troubled by something? You look displeased.”

“… No, it’s just morning.”

“It must be because last night was too intense. Daeun’s expression looked rough.”

“Shut up.”

Lee Hoyeon, after scolding Liliana, let out a deep sigh.

He found the gloomy Liliana from yesterday cuter; now she’d reverted to this state again.

“Ahem. I’m going out for a bit. Is everyone resting today?”

“I believe I will.”

“I’m going to stream.”

“Okay. I have things to do too, so I should get ready to leave soon.”

Lee Hoyeon finished the remaining cookies and downed the rest of his tea.

Since he didn’t have anything specific to do, he decided to head straight to Victoria Park.

“Where are you going so early?”

“I’m going to do some magic research for the first time in a while.”

Using his usual excuse of ‘magic research,’ Lee Hoyeon answered Liliana, got up from the table, and put on his clothes.

‘Come to think of it, I wonder what Victoria Park is like now.’

He hadn’t been there since Lucifer’s attack, so he was curious about its current state.

What if it was under curfew?

Sneaking in would be a huge hassle.

Hoping to avoid any trouble, Lee Hoyeon left the house.

He reached Victoria Park quickly and immediately frowned.

“My bad feelings are never wrong.”

Inside the park, numerous hunters were bustling about, investigating the area.

The mark on their clothes was the symbol of the Hunter Association.

It seemed the authority had already transferred from the Iris Guild to the Association.

“Right. After what happened, it would be strange to expect nothing.”

While it was easy to enter when the Iris Guild was in charge, it was a different story now that the Hunter Association was handling it.

Of course, with Lee Hoyeon’s reputation, he could probably get in.

But he couldn’t skip the procedures like he could with the Iris Guild.

First, he’d have to state his name, identify himself, and explain his reason for entry.

After that, cooperating with the Hunter Association to enter Victoria Park would make it difficult to achieve his goals.

‘It’s better to just sneak in.’

Lee Hoyeon was confident he wouldn’t get caught given his skill level.

Of course, there was a minuscule chance he could be caught, but it was practically negligible.

“Huh?”

As Lee Hoyeon headed to a corner to use a rune barrier, he spotted a woman standing near the entrance.

A familiar face he’d seen somewhere before.

It was Dr. Kang Hyorin, the head of the Iris Guild’s Korean branch.

‘Why is she here?’

Lee Hoyeon approached Dr. Kang Hyorin, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, to greet her.

“Dr. Kang Hyorin. What are you doing here?”

“Oh? Student Hoyeon. It’s been a while.”

“Yes. But why is the Korean Branch Head standing here?”

Dr. Kang Hyorin stood there like a guard at the entrance.

He thought of an Iris Guild member he’d gotten friendly with before and felt a pang of concern.

“Ah, well, since it’s an Iris Guild matter, the Iris Guild is leading the investigation.”

“Really? It looks like only Hunter Association people are visible from the outside.”

“There are Iris Guild members inside. Ah, even though I, the Korean Branch Head, was called out, I found the easiest job among them.”

“….”

Why is she smiling proudly about not working?

Is it really okay for someone like this to be the head of the Korean branch?

Dr. Kang Hyorin tilted her head as she looked at Lee Hoyeon.

“But what brings you here, Student Hoyeon? I wouldn’t think you’d have fond memories of this place.”

“Ah… I was just passing by.”

“Hmm. I see.”

“… Is there anything I can help you with? I’ve been to Victoria Park often.”

Lee Hoyeon observed Dr. Kang Hyorin’s expression and offered the excuse he’d just come up with.

‘I can probably get in easily this way.’

Going through the proper channels is definitely better than sneaking in.

And coaxing Dr. Kang Hyorin didn’t seem difficult at all.