Episode 280. Lee Hoyeon’s Harem Plan! (3)

The Iris Guild of France.

News that Alice was returning after a long time had spread among the guild members.

It was because of the information that one more cadet, besides Alice, was coming for field training.

“Come to think of it, did you hear? They say one more person is coming this time besides Miss Alice? That guy, Lee Hoyeon, was it?”

“Who’s that?”

“He exists. A genius mage who’s become famous lately. You really need to pay more attention to the world.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve told you multiple times that you’re the weird one for knowing that…”

Click-clack-

“Looks like work is easy for all of you?”

Just then, a woman interjected into the men’s conversation.

A haughty beauty with flowing blonde hair reaching her waist and ruby-red eyes.

Though she looked to be in her early twenties, her position was the highest among the Iris Guild’s team leaders: Team Leader 1.

Her name was Irene. As the daughter of the Guild Master and Vice Guild Master, she was revered like the heavens by the regular guild members of Iris Guild.

“T-Team Leader! That’s not true! I’m sorry!”

“What’s with the sudden reaction? Relax.”

Irene smiled at the guild member who straightened his posture and walked away.

Only after her figure had completely disappeared did the guild members relax.

“Phew, phew… That was startling.”

“Tsk tsk. Be more careful, I told you. It’s working hours.”

“Still, it’s a relief it was Team Leader 1, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. She always smiles whenever Miss Alice is mentioned. You’d think she’d be a rival in a way… but she doesn’t seem to have that competitive sense at all. Because they’re family.”

“Well, let’s just get back to work.”

Meanwhile.

• Hehehe.

Humming a tune, Irene entered Team Leader 1’s office and sat on the sofa, crossing her legs.

In front of the sofa stood a large full-length mirror. Irene looked at her reflection and poured wine into a glass.

She loved beautiful things.

Aside from hearing compliments about her beauty very, very often since she was young, she was an ordinary little girl who liked princess dolls and cute dresses.

But one day, after seeing her reflection in the mirror, she found the most beautiful thing in the world, and thus, fell in love with herself.

And so, the year she turned 8.

Her younger sister, Alice, was born.

At first, she had little interest in her sister.

Adorning herself more perfectly and beautifully was far more important.

Was the sad fact that she couldn’t marry herself? Irene liked beautiful things, but she didn’t want to be lonely.

However, that worry didn’t last long.

It was when her sister Alice was old enough to walk.

• “Unnie- look at this!”

“Alice. Unnie is busy…”

Alice ran up quickly to get the attention of her unnie, who paid her no mind, and offered a flower.

Irene finally realized.

Ruby-red eyes. Her own sister, still cute now, but who would surely grow into a haughty beauty.

Here, there existed a person as beautiful as herself.

That was Irene’s childhood.

Sip-

Irene watched her own reflection in the mirror like it was TV, enjoying the aroma of the wine.

It was Alice’s favorite wine, Chateau d’Yquem.

At the same time, she took out a photo she had researched on her smartwatch.

It was a picture of Alice posing with Lee Hoyeon.

Irene sighed with regret as she looked at the photo.

“If only she were a woman… it would have been perfect.”

When she first saw the photo, she too was surprised.

Lee Hoyeon, the man standing next to Alice.

He was quite passable, even by the standards of the narcissist Irene.

But he fell a little short compared to Irene’s standards.

The only person she loved, besides herself, was Alice.

“The problem isn’t whether Lee Hoyeon is handsome or not.”

“Hmm… there’s more than one suspicious thing going on.”

Tap- tap-

Irene frowned as she tapped the photo with her fingernail.

“I heard he’s Alice’s masseuse, and frankly, that alone is incredibly annoying.”

“Of course, given Alice’s personality, she wouldn’t have let a man touch her without good reason, so he must be an effective masseuse.”

“It must be true, especially since my father, Isaac, went to Korea himself and came back looking dejected.”

“Right. That’s all fine.”

“But why is that man joining the Centaur Pursuit Team? That’s the question.”

Even when I asked my father, Isaac, he just avoided my eyes and wouldn’t tell me the reason why.

“For now… I guess I’ll just have to meet him.”

It’s something I can just ask Alice or Lee Hoyeon directly.

And see my lovely sister too, after so long.

Irene put down her smartwatch while drinking the wine in her hand.

*

A hospital room at Victoria Academy.

“I don’t understand. Really…”

Alice lay in the hospital room, groaning and expressing her anger.

The magic circuits throughout her body throbbed painfully.

Fortunately, some measures had been taken, but the Congenital Mana Disorder Alice suffered from was a disease not yet clearly identified, making the treatment merely a temporary measure.

In reality, the pain she felt had barely decreased.

There was only one way to eliminate this pain.

She had no choice but to let the natural mana she absorbed little by little dissolve into her body for several days.

In other words, absolute rest.

“- … Hoo.”

Having to stay in the hospital room for several more days was annoying, but a different topic was bothering Alice’s mind right now.

“Just how did they do it?”

Ever since receiving the report from Sebastian, Alice had become disturbed, not just physically but mentally too.

“How on earth did they win over Moon Surin?”

“It was a bit selfish, but… she had thrown a large stone into the lake of the pure student council president’s heart.”

She thought a huge ripple effect must have occurred.

“So why was Moon Surin’s expression, after visiting Lee Hoyeon, one of pure happiness?”

Alice couldn’t understand it at all.

‘I don’t know why she’s falling for that playboy’s charms one by one.’

As if she’d forgotten even her past crush, Alice shook her head while lying down.

“Ouch…”

She stopped immediately because of the pain in her neck, but…

Knock knock knock-

While Alice was holding back tears from the pain in her neck, she heard a knock.

“Alice, sorry for the late hour. Are you awake?”

“…”

Speak of the devil. The timing is scary.

It was Lee Hoyeon’s voice.

Alice hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to pretend to be asleep, then spoke.

“Come in.”

There wasn’t any particular reason.

She couldn’t sleep because of the pain, and she was curious about what he came to talk about.

Lee Hoyeon opened the door, entered quietly, closed it, and approached the bed.

“Is your body okay?”

He then naturally sat down in the patient’s chair.

Seeing that, Alice replied curtly.

“…You can see, can’t you? What brings you here so late?”

“Sorry I’m late. I heard you got hurt because of me, so I came because I was worried.”

“…”

‘If you knew that, coming to see me should have been your top priority.’

‘What are you thinking?’

Alice suppressed the petty jealousy welling up in her chest.

She hadn’t saved Lee Hoyeon just to be acknowledged.

It was just that Lee Hoyeon was the only one who could treat her Congenital Mana Disorder, so she tried her best.

“I heard your condition was severe and was worried… I get the general idea now. It’s the backlash.”

Lee Hoyeon nodded after scanning Alice’s body.

The mana circuits in Alice’s body had constricted because she had forced out mana.

She must be in terrible pain in that state, yet Alice maintained a composed expression, which was quite amazing.

“It’s probably the backlash from the Congenital Mana Disorder.”

“You forced out more mana than your limit to save me, that’s why this happened.”

“Yes. It’s the backlash. And it wasn’t specifically to save you… Go back and rest. You’re a patient too, aren’t you?”

Alice didn’t want others to see her lying there powerlessly.

Especially not Lee Hoyeon.

“Should I touch you directly and put some mana in? It would lessen the pain.”

“…No. I’m fine.”

Alice closed her eyes, indicating her refusal.

In fact, the pain was quite severe, and she wanted to beg him to touch her right away, but she didn’t want to see Lee Hoyeon today.

Her strange pride had kicked in.

However, Lee Hoyeon didn’t just let it go.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Alice]

• [ Affection: 75 ]

• [ Lust: 85 ]

• [ Appetite: 40 ]

• [ Fatigue: 70 ]

Current status: In pain, but annoyed.

‘What’s wrong with her now?’

Him not coming to see her first.

And her getting along well with Moon Surin.

There were various other reasons, but naturally, Lee Hoyeon couldn’t guess any of them.

He just thought her pride must be acting up again.

“You’re in a lot of pain. What if you end up hospitalized even during the field training if it continues like this?”

“…I’ll be better by then, so don’t worry.”

“No, no. Just stay still.”

“I told you to stop?! Aah…”

Lee Hoyeon placed his hand on her arm without even asking for her permission.

Alice tried to raise her arm involuntarily, but the most she could do was twitch it slightly due to the oncoming pain.

“See? You can’t even move your body properly. Just stay still.”

“No, stop… Keup…”

Despite Alice’s resistance, Lee Hoyeon didn’t stop his hands.

He pressed each finger one by one, working on loosening the mana circuits.

“Ah, aah…”

Although Alice didn’t show it, she was greatly surprised.

Every time Lee Hoyeon touched her, she felt the pain decreasing in real-time.

After a very slight sting, the pain disappeared.

“Ah, haa…”

“There. See? It feels better. It’ll be over soon, so bear with it.”

“…”

Alice bit her lip and looked at Lee Hoyeon with resentful eyes.

His tone, as if treating her like a child, was annoying.

“You, ah, hot…”

But as his hands moved past her arm and reached her shoulder, where the mana circuits were heavily knotted, Alice winced.

It was because the pain she felt was getting progressively worse.

Of course, the pain disappeared permanently after a moment, but the pain itself was intense.

“J-Just a moment… Ah, it hurts…”

“Ah, did it hurt too much?”

Lee Hoyeon, who had been pressing Alice’s shoulder, quickly removed his hand.

For the prideful Alice to say that, she must really be hurting.

“Haa… Hoo…”

“Still, your arm doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Alice answered, avoiding Lee Hoyeon’s eyes.

She didn’t like agreeing with what this man said, but the pain had definitely lessened.

“If it hurts too much, let’s take it slow. We can take a break or do it tomorrow.”

“…Then let’s rest a bit first and continue. Half of it tomorrow.”

“Okay, okay.”

Lee Hoyeon smiled and conversed with Alice.

Alice felt a strange emotion.

She was just feeling jealous inwardly, but Lee Hoyeon was genuinely worried about her and giving her a massage.

In that contrast, she felt a little embarrassed.

“What’s wrong? Did it start hurting again?”

“…No. Haa.”

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and opened them, shaking off the gloomy feelings.

Right.

“I went through hell to save him, so I can afford to be a little demanding.”

“Let’s act a little more confidently.”

Pretending nothing was wrong, Alice continued speaking composedly.

“Want to chat for a bit? Didn’t I say I’d tell you about the Iris Guild? We’ll be departing for the Iris Guild in just a few days.”

“Oh, I’d love it if you tell me! Besides, I had something I wanted to ask.”

Lee Hoyeon answered, nodding vigorously and smiling, seeming like a puppy happily following its owner.

It was really nothing much, but seeing the man before her happy made her feel a little pleased.

Holding this strange feeling in her heart, Alice continued speaking.