Ch.86Mom, Stop!

For Sophia, yesterday was absolute hell.

Shinwoo suddenly said he had something to do and would stay out overnight.

Adult or not, she’d been anxiously biting her nails at the thought of that delicate boy(?) sleeping somewhere other than home.

But that anxiety was merely the preview.

“Ms. Sophia. Would you care to comment?”

“We understand you’re family with the adopted Han Shinwoo. Did you know your brother was secretly dating Princess Kurumi?”

“…What?”

After staying up all night, these nonsensical questions from reporters hit her like a bolt from the blue.

“B-big sister… is dating… who…?”

Kurumi Princess with Shinwoo?

They were secretly dating?

From that moment, Sophia’s mind began to crumble like a collapsed fortress wall.

Later, she saw Shinwoo pushing through the crowd of reporters, denying everything.

‘…Really?’

Any woman born with Beast Hunter traits would think the same thing—that Han Shinwoo was the greatest treasure in her life, something that should never be lost, that couldn’t be exchanged for anything.

Princess Kurumi, who had Beast Hunter traits as strong as hers—perhaps even stronger—making it difficult to even have a conversation with ordinary humans.

And she was using all her family’s power to secretly meet with Shinwoo behind her back.

…Shinwoo was already such a kind boy who would rush to help whenever someone needed him.

At least to Sophia’s ears, it didn’t sound completely like tabloid nonsense.

Because if she were Princess Kurumi, she’d want secret meetings with Shinwoo too.

“Haah… If only I had someone to talk about this with.”

Lia was still too young to listen to these concerns.

How could she discuss such rumors about Shinwoo with a child who, monster or not, was only elementary school age?

Besides, Sophia had no friends besides Shinwoo.

Due to her Beast Hunter traits, she had tried making friends with ordinary people several times before, but it was always impossible.

So the next morning, after Shinwoo left early for the Hunter Association…

“Sigh…”

While she was handling a D-class monster that had appeared downtown.

“Huh?”

Sophia could vaguely sense it.

That indescribable dark energy she usually felt when with Shinwoo.

More precisely, it was the energy she had felt ten years ago in Busan when she first witnessed Shinwoo’s kaijufication.

“…Shinwoo?”

Something was strange.

Shinwoo had clearly said he was going to the Hunter Association early because Branch Director Lee Jin-ah had called him.

So why was his energy coming from the exact opposite direction of the Hunter Association building?

At that moment, the tabloid rumors about Shinwoo and Princess Kurumi flashed through her mind.

The so-called “secret meetings.”

“…No way.”

No way, no way, no way.

No way, no way, no way, no way, NO WAY!

…Was he lying to me to meet her?

To comfort each other after yesterday’s reporter ambush?

“N-no. That can’t be…!”

What kind of person was Shinwoo!

Shinwoo was a sincere and upright man.

Kind-hearted! Good! And, and…

A prince-like boy who couldn’t stand to see a woman’s tears and would always try to help.

“…I have to follow him.”

Because he was so wonderful.

That must be why he was surrounded by so many female acquaintances.

Yesterday’s incident wasn’t just a tabloid rumor after all!

With these thoughts, Sophia immediately began chasing that dark energy after defeating the monster.

“U-unnie, where are you going?”

“To meet Shinwoo!”

“My brother… you mean?”

Lia called out to Sophia from the shadows, sensing her owner’s frantic heartbeat, but it was useless.

Sophia ran and ran like mad until she stopped in front of a shabby detached house at the edge of the city, away from people.

And at that moment.

“Huff… huff…!”

Sophia’s expression was more twisted than ever, her suspicions gradually turning into certainty.

“Why… why am I sensing Shinwoo’s energy here…?”

It clearly wasn’t a normal house.

The cracked exterior walls and slightly sunken roof.

It looked more like an abandoned house than one where people lived.

Yet from inside, she could sense what seemed to be Shinwoo’s energy.

“……”

“Unnie…”

The reason Shinwoo would enter such a gloomy abandoned house.

The tabloid rumors she’d heard yesterday about secret meetings with Princess Kurumi.

Did that mean this abandoned house was their “secret place”?

A secret place Shinwoo had created with another woman, not her.

As that thought suddenly struck her.

“Kuk, kukkuk…”

“Unnieee…!”

“KUHAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!!”

Sophia just started laughing.

She stood there laughing hysterically for a full ten minutes.

Then, as she abruptly stopped laughing, her face was covered with a shadow as dark as an abyss that could never be erased.

“No…”

Her expression contained the killing intent of a powerful female who absolutely could not lose her male.

“He’s mine!”

So, to see what kind of situation these bastards had created, Sophia walked to the front door and knocked loudly, bang bang!

She even rang the doorbell as if making sure they heard her.

“Is anyone home?”

On the surface, Sophia was smiling brightly.

But Lia, who could sense her owner’s emotions from within the shadow, was trembling with a face that looked ready to cry.

‘Don’t come out, oppa…! If you come out, you’ll die! You’ll die!’

BANG BANG BANG BANG!

“Hoho. I know someone’s in there. So come out.”

“……”

“Hohoho… Hey! I said I know someone’s in there! Do I have to break down the door?! Come out right now!!”

It was an abandoned house anyway.

With those final words, Sophia clenched her fist, truly ready to break down the door.

SLAM.

But then.

The door swung open, revealing an unexpected figure.

“Are you trying to break into someone’s house?! Why are you acting like this?!”

“You are…?”

Riverine, who had been introduced as Shinwoo’s senior colleague a few days ago.

When she appeared from the abandoned house, Sophia, who had been angry, literally froze.

Riverine, looking at the dumbfounded Sophia, continued her act as the homeowner, trying to drive this woman away quickly, regardless of why she was here.

“I don’t know why you’re here, but please leave. I was resting.”

“……”

“If you keep blocking the door, I’ll call the police…”

“…An orgy party?”

“……What?”

However.

Sophia’s mind was already broken by the thought of losing her man.

“Ha, haha…”

“Excuse me…?”

“Fuck. Not just one, but two women?”

“Ms. Sophia?”

Seeing Sophia’s crazed appearance, Riverine felt a chill run down her spine and tried to quickly close the door again, following her survival instinct.

But.

CRASH!

“Where is Han Shinwoo…”

“T-the door!”

“HAN SHINWOO!! FROM NOW ON, YOU’LL NEED MY PERMISSION EVEN TO GET AN ERECTION, YOU BASTARD!!!”

Sophia finally smashed the door and entered the Villain’s Troupe hideout.

Riverine quickly tried to restrain her, but how could a woman who was a Beast Hunter be so strong?

“I-I’m being dragged…?!”

Riverine, who had bound Sophia with magic threads, was instead being dragged along.

“Y-you can’t enter here!”

Dorothy, who could no longer just watch, emerged from the closet where she was hiding and hugged Sophia tightly from the front.

“…Three women?”

“Eek?!”

“And who are you?”

But her appearance only made things worse.

“How! Many! Women! Are there! You crazy Shinwoo bastard!!”

“H-her strength is increasing…!”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-!!”

“Unnie, calm down!”

Finally, even Lia came out from the shadows and joined forces with the two women from the Villain’s Troupe.

Only with the strength of three were they barely able to stop Sophia’s advance.

But she still had plenty of strength left.

“URAAAAAAAA!! AAAAAAAAAA!!”

“I-is she a monster?! This person…?”

“No, she’s human! She’s definitely human, but…”

“GWAEJSEUHEOMHAENMEOTMEUNDEOHEUHEENEOTHEOHURYUPYEOREMYEOK!!”

“Unnie, stop making weird noises! It’s scary!”

The shabby abandoned house was shaking as if it might collapse from her tremendous strength.

Meanwhile, Han Jaewon and Cartina, who were secretly watching the scene from a corner, swallowed hard and were trying to find a solution.

“So she’s your mom?”

“Y-yes…”

“And your husband is that Shinwoo…?”

“Y-yes… that’s right…”

“…Is she perhaps a monster too?”

“No?! Mother is definitely human. …At least that’s what I’ve been told.”

“UREAAAAAAAAAA-! KAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAK!!”

A human like a monster?

Or a human on the verge of becoming a monster?

Anyway, looking at Sophia who had already lost her grip on sanity, Cartina was wondering how to subdue Shinwoo’s girlfriend without causing any injuries.

After thinking carefully.

“Hey, son.”

“M-me?”

“Yes, you. Jaewon, at this point, the son needs to act cute instead of the husband.”

Why overthink it?

When there was someone here who could clear up the misunderstanding, it was time for a frontal breakthrough.

“How long are you going to hide your identity?”

“…Ms. Cartina. Just a moment.”

“She clearly looks like a wife who thinks her husband is cheating and has stormed into an establishment. Let’s have the son calm his mother down by telling her this isn’t that kind of place.”

“But if I do that, who knows what butterfly effect it might have on the past…!”

“Idiot! The past is already twisted from the moment you’re here! So since it’s already twisted, twist it thoroughly enough to avoid spoilers!”

Water under the bridge anyway.

Actually, it wasn’t even spilled water, but since things had come to this, Cartina smiled brightly, suggesting they might as well swim in the spilled water.

And so.

THWACK!

“Kuhek?!”

Cartina kicked the reluctant Jaewon in the back, forcibly sending him outside.

“You, are…?”

“T-that brother imposter from before?!”

At Han Jaewon’s sudden appearance, Lia immediately bared her teeth, and as Sophia’s sanity was returning upon realizing that the dark energy she thought was Shinwoo’s was subtly different.

“Uh…”

“Huh?”

“Mother! Please calm down!”

“…What?”

“…Huh?”

“Moth…”

“Mother?!”

At Han Jaewon’s words, spoken with his eyes tightly shut.

“Well done! Jaewon!”

Hearing those words, all the women in the abandoned house except Cartina froze as if time had stopped.