Ch.85Let’s Go! To Japan!

“This isn’t something we can end like this.”

“……”

“As long as you’re a member of the Kitsune Family, things like this will happen as commonly as eating meals.”

“…Regarding that matter, I’ll handle it myself, so would my brothers and sister please back off now.”

Amaterasu retreated back into Kurumi’s shadow.

After that, well.

The behavior of the three family members who had been kneeling before her changed dramatically.

First, her second brother Rokyu no longer picked fights with Kurumi’s actions and simply maintained silence while wiping away cold sweat.

The same went for the third sibling, Sakura.

She no longer had the luxury of putting on a fake smile, and instead averted her eyes, not even daring to look at Kurumi.

Finally, Katsuo, who had been confirmed as the next family head.

“I won’t ask how you managed to command Amaterasu.”

“……”

“Instead, return to our main house in Japan. That’s how all of this will end.”

His expression had changed from expressionless to tense, but nevertheless, he turned his back on Kurumi after saying everything he needed to say.

“I’ll be waiting in Japan first.”

“B-Brother! Let’s go together!”

“Brother~!”

The family members followed Katsuo out of the mansion.

Watching their backs, Kurumi’s expression was ice-cold.

She didn’t even give them a farewell greeting.

Because that was the distance between her and them, mixed within the pretense of family.

But right at that moment.

Tap tap tap.

“?!”

There were four visitors who came to the mansion.

Among them, Kurumi had only dealt with three family members.

Because of the hatred from those three people, she hadn’t noticed until now…

“Ah…”

“……”

A younger sister passing by her side.

With short hair red like a ripe persimmon, lips as white as cherries, and the only family member who looked at her without prejudice, now as before.

“Asuna…”

“……”

For a moment, their eyes met—hers beautiful like amethysts.

But that was all.

Asuna didn’t say a word, just like when they were young, and simply walked past Kurumi to follow her real family.

But in a way, that was to be expected, so Kurumi just nodded.

‘Yes, she’s a direct descendant after all.’

She thought this was natural.

As she coldly watched her family members leave through the door like outsiders, Kurumi carefully pulled one hand out of her sleeve and waved it when Asuna was the last to exit.

***

By the next morning.

Shinwoo and Kurumi received a summons from the Korean Hunter Association and headed straight to the branch director’s office on the top floor where Lee Jin-ah was staying.

When the two met in the elevator on the way.

The atmosphere was awkward, and neither dared to speak first, and that’s how they were when they finally met Lee Jin-ah.

“So… you two aren’t in that kind of relationship?”

“No! It’s a misunderstanding!”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s a misunderstanding!”

That was the first response that burst out from both of them.

Both seemed to be trying to clear up the misunderstanding for each other’s sake.

However, seeing Shinwoo protesting as strongly as herself, Kurumi’s eyes welled up with tears despite having prepared herself for this.

“Shinwoo… I’m sorry…”

“?! Princess Kurumi, you don’t need to apologize.”

“Sniff… but I’ve caused you unnecessary trouble… please don’t hate me…”

“Why would I ever hate Princess Kurumi?”

Sitting next to Princess Kurumi, Shinwoo tried to calm her by embracing her.

At this point, the tabloid headline “They Did Everything!” seemed somewhat accurate…

‘Are these kids putting on an act?’

Lee Jin-ah wondered if it was because they were still young.

She felt somewhat disappointed that they lacked the “courage” to develop a relationship as intimate as the tabloids suggested.

However, as the blonde boy who had visited her a few days ago said, this might be better than having things change that way.

“Ahem. The reason I called you two here is because we need to settle things once and for all.”

“Yes…?”

“Settle things?”

“Yes, that’s right. Settle things.”

The Shinwoo♥Princess Kurumi tabloid stories had already spread worldwide, beyond Korea.

If it were limited to domestic media, the Hunter Association could have used its influence to suppress it somehow.

But controlling foreign media was impossible, and attempting to control the press could potentially cause an even bigger problem due to its power.

“Princess Kurumi.”

“Yes.”

“The mastermind behind this situation is your backing, the Kitsune Family, correct?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“The family is… the culprit?”

Lee Jin-ah’s instruction to “settle things” meant dealing with those who had started these false rumors and continued to meddle around Princess Kurumi.

It also meant reaching a definitive conclusion with the family that had abused her in the past.

“I heard you drove out the direct descendants who visited your mansion.”

“Yes.”

“But that’s not enough. Although promising, except for the eldest, they don’t yet have proper political power within the family. The Kitsune Family won’t give up on you just because you sent those people away.”

“……”

If they discovered that the princess they had dismissed as an illegitimate child had become the first in the family to command the sun god, their obsession would only grow stronger.

“I understand what Branch Director Lee Jin-ah is trying to say.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

Kurumi nodded, as if steeling her resolve.

Watching the princess silently, Shinwoo also seemed to have grasped the general situation.

‘The Kitsune Family… Come to think of it, didn’t I enter their main house in Japan in the game? Probably.’

When he was playing “Hunter’s Blood,” one of the theme dungeons he visited for leveling up before the final chapter was “Theme Dungeon – Kitsune Family Mansion.”

However, the final boss of the Kitsune Family Mansion was the sun god Amaterasu, who was sealed inside Princess Kurumi’s body, and whose rampage caused the entire Japanese archipelago to become a sea of flames.

Which meant…

‘Does this mean the current Kitsune Family isn’t a dangerous area?’

Since the dungeon’s final boss was here now.

So the current Kitsune Family might have become an ambiguous dungeon filled with mediocre enemies, like a team without its star player.

But even such an ambiguous place…

“I understand. Then I’ll return to Japan and settle things.”

“Then I’ll accompany you, Princess Kurumi.”

“Shinwoo?!”

For Princess Kurumi, that place was essentially enemy territory.

Having bought time until the next scenario by stopping the Chinese Forces in Korea incident, Shinwoo decided to go to Japan with Princess Kurumi to protect her before any new butterfly effect could cause problems.

“I’d like to accompany you, if that’s alright, Princess.”

“Sh-Shinwoo?! You want to go to Japan with me? O-Of course that’s fine! It’s fine, but…”

What if she transformed into that black monster again, not in Korea but in Japan?

Would that be okay?

Princess Kurumi worried, unable to speak up.

However, as if anticipating this…

“I figured as much, so I hired a bodyguard for you two.”

“A bodyguard…?”

Lee Jin-ah smiled and pointed toward the elevator entrance.

When they saw who came up through there, both Shinwoo and Princess Kurumi’s mouths…

“Wha…”

“Huh?!”

Opened wide simultaneously in disbelief.

***

“What, Japan?!”

At the Villain’s Troupe hideout.

Specifically, in the living room of the detached house where the members had gathered.

“That wasn’t in the history books!”

Han Jaewon clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The reason was that Han Shinwoo was suddenly departing for Japan for some unheard-of reason.

He had come to this era to monitor his past self.

This meant that if the guy was trying to move to another country, he had no choice but to secretly follow him, and Japan of all places.

He was even more confused because he had never heard information about Han Shinwoo going to Japan before he changed.

“Princess Kurumi…? Was there such a woman in the World’s 10 Great Families? Damn, was he taking care of the World’s 10 Great Families like this 20 years ago, only to completely annihilate them later?”

While complaining, Han Jaewon roughly stuffed his belongings into a bag.

“You’re following Shinwoo?”

“Yes. I just got a call from Ms. Lee Jin-ah. They’re taking a private jet, so I’ll have to secretly follow them even if I have to swim across the ocean.”

Katarina nodded in understanding at his statement about transforming into a monster and swimming all the way to Japan.

But then.

“Shinwoo…? You mean your junior Han Shinwoo, boss?”

Riverine, who happened to overhear their conversation while passing by.

“Is he involved with the 10 Great Families?”

Having once been a daughter of the Belphes Family and betrayed by them, Riverine frowned convulsively whenever the 10 Great Families were mentioned.

And eventually.

“Your name is Jaewon, right?”

“Huh? Ah, yes…”

“I’m coming with you.”

“W-What?!”

Riverine couldn’t stand by when her only junior seemed to be in danger because of the 10 Great Families.

Before anyone could stop her, she had already attached herself to Han Jaewon’s side, ready to accompany him.

“I’ll get the plane tickets. Dorothy can make forged passports easily.”

“Ah, no… you don’t have to go that far…”

On top of that.

Ding dong.

“!?”

“…!”

“Who is it?”

To make matters worse, the doorbell rang at the Villain’s Troupe hideout where no one was expected to visit.

Everyone tensed up, preparing to fight if necessary.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Is anyone home?”

“…Mother?”

Han Jaewon approached the door to see who it was, and immediately recognized the voice of a woman he could never forget.

He was stunned by the appearance of his mother, whom he thought he would never meet again, somehow having found this place.