Episode 453. Iris Sisters (4)

Lee Hoyeon had already recognized the magic outside the door, but that didn’t change the situation.

Alice, getting up from the bed, wrapped a thin white gown around her body and offered the same gown to Lee Hoyeon.

A gown made of high-quality fabric.

While Lee Hoyeon fumbled to put on the gown, Alice walked to the door and slowly opened it.

Creeeak.

“Mmph. Mmmph….”

Irene, whose limbs were tied and mouth gagged, saw Alice open the door and couldn’t hide her panic.

Behind her, Lee Hoyeon’s figure could also be seen.

Last time, she had suffered such humiliation from Lee Hoyeon, but this time, it was from her own younger sister, Alice.

Embarrassment and shame. Humiliation. Disgrace.

Various emotions poured down on Irene.

She wanted to hide in a mouse hole if one existed, and wished a god would kill her right then and there.

‘How many hours had I been in this state?’

The memory of Irene’s capture in France overlapped.

Lee Hoyeon felt sorry for Irene and stood beside Alice.

“Unnie. What is this?”

Alice, with her arms crossed, moved her fingers and made the magic ropes binding Irene disappear.

Actually, she hadn’t intended to keep her tied up for hours, but she had been having such a good time having sex with Lee Hoyeon that she’d momentarily forgotten about Irene.

Although she felt a little sorry, that didn’t erase her older sister’s wrongdoing.

“Ah, Alice….”

Irene, finally free, glanced nervously at Alice and carefully met her gaze.

“Haaah…. Honestly.”

Alice liked Irene.

Maybe not in the past, but now she thought of her as a sufficiently proud older sister.

Because of that, she could overlook most things, but messing with her relationship with Lee Hoyeon was something she couldn’t let slide.

“Why were you trying to spy on my room? I told you Lee Hoyeon was coming.”

“Alice. Unnie was just….”

“You’re not going to say it was out of concern, are you? I’m an adult now. How long are you going to treat me like a 10-year-old?”

“N-no, that’s not it. Alice, Unnie really….”

“Spying on your younger sister meeting a guy is weird even by your standards, isn’t it? Right? You’re not my parent. No, even Mom or Dad would get angry if they tried to spy on my room, so what right do you have to interfere?”

“Alice….”

Irene trembled at this side of Alice she’d never seen before. Her body shivered.

She had always been a kind and cute younger sister.

Even when she acted rebellious sometimes, that side of her was cute too.

But why?

How could this be?

She had only followed because she was worried about Alice.

Lee Hoyeon.

Would that beast harm the frail Alice?

Was she perhaps being forced, like herself?

It was a heart full of worry.

…Maybe, she thought that was the reason.

“Just how long. How long like this… Haaah. Hoooh….”

Alice, who had been venting her emotions at Irene, took a breath to calm herself down.

This wasn’t going to end well.

Alice decided she needed to settle this today.

“… Unnie. Yes. Okay. I think this is partly my fault too.”

“What do you mean? Alice….”

“Everyone thinks of me as a child. Mom. Dad. Unnie.”

Alice wasn’t actually angry, surprisingly.

It was just that the whole situation felt wrong.

She wasn’t a child anymore.

She was old enough to do what she wanted, and… old enough to choose who she wanted.

Alice thought the time had come to break her family’s perception of her.

“I’m going to officially date Lee Hoyeon. I’d love to announce it to the world via news articles, but… we can’t do that right now, can we?”

Alice turned her head to look at Lee Hoyeon.

Watching the sisters’ argument, Lee Hoyeon, suddenly receiving the attention, was slightly flustered, but quickly continued.

“Uh, yeah. That’s probably a bit difficult right now.”

“Fine. Then, just telling Mom and Dad should be enough. Even that much will likely reach all the influential people in the world.”

“Ah….”

Irene felt like her vision went dark.

She had tried so hard to prevent this.

She wanted to sever Alice’s relationship with Lee Hoyeon.

That’s why she offered her virginity to Lee Hoyeon, adapted to sex, and was trained body and soul.

But now that Alice said that, what was she supposed to do?

“No… Alice. That can’t happen…. You know what a dirty man he is. But something like that….”

“… Don’t insult Hoyeon, Unnie. It’s like insulting me for choosing Lee Hoyeon. If you do that again, I’ll get really angry.”

“H-how could you….”

Irene felt tears welling up from injustice.

Her coming out so strong meant she was already head over heels for Lee Hoyeon.

In other words, Lee Hoyeon and Alice were already a couple.

They had hidden it from her from the start.

‘You said you were just friends.’

Irene resented Lee Hoyeon.

If he had just told her from the beginning.

That he was already Alice’s lover. And told her not to interfere.

If he had said that, would Irene have handled it differently?

‘… No.’

She wouldn’t have stopped back then.

She probably would have interfered even more annoyingly.

Thinking back, even if they didn’t say it, she could tell just by looking at their eyes.

They were a couple having sex under the guise of ‘massages’.

In that situation, her mistake of judging Alice as the only victim.

From Lee Hoyeon’s perspective, Irene must have been an eyesore.

Blinded by Alice, he chased an illusion.

Her attempt to divert Lee Hoyeon’s attention with her own body had also failed.

If Alice was obedient to Lee Hoyeon, Lee Hoyeon would have no reason to want anything else.

Since Alice gave him everything anyway, even if Irene offered everything, there was no reason for him to choose Irene.

Her beloved sister hated her, and the man who had trained her body had sidelined her in favor of her sister.

Irene felt a sense of emptiness and slumped onto the floor.

“Alice… You’re too cruel. Too cruel….”

If only she had known this would happen.

She wouldn’t have approached Lee Hoyeon in the first place.

Then she wouldn’t have known that pleasure either.

Now, everything was tangled up.

Her beloved sister had found a lover, and the pleasure she received from him was unforgettable.

What was she supposed to do now?

Irene felt her eyes welling up.

She forgot that Alice and Lee Hoyeon were looking down at her.

Irene, still sitting on the floor, teared up.

“Why, why are you crying, Unnie…? Is it that sad that I’m dating a guy?”

Alice was taken aback seeing Irene suddenly start crying.

Alice wasn’t truly angry at Irene.

She was just annoyed by the perception that everyone still saw her as a child.

The older sister’s excessive protectiveness, born from love for her sibling.

It was so overprotective that she had simply said she was all grown up now.

Was that something to cry over?

It wasn’t the tears of joy for a sibling’s growth; her expression was far too sorrowful.

Alice approached Irene, who was still sitting on the floor.

“Unnie. Unnie… What’s wrong? Did I speak too harshly? I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“Alice… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…. I didn’t mean to….”

“What are you talking about….”

Alice, flustered, hugged Irene.

She worried that her kind-hearted older sister might actually be hurt by her words.

Alice knew well that Irene cared for her more than Lee Hoyeon did.

“Unnie. Stop crying now….”

As Alice stroked Irene’s back, she casually scanned Irene’s body and noticed something strange.

Since Irene was wearing comfortable home clothes, her clothes were very thin.

However, only the area between her legs looked as if she had wet herself, and was incredibly damp.

Alice, being experienced, knew it wasn’t urine.

‘… Why?’

Her thoughts were brief.

During the sex, there were times the barrier weakened.

Specifically, when Alice reached her climax.

She tried to regain focus and supply mana whenever possible, but in between those moments, Irene might have seen or heard Alice having intercourse.

For a moment, Alice felt embarrassed that her own sister had witnessed her sex.

But then, Alice felt something was odd.

Irene apologizing.

‘… It felt so awkward.’

Irene, sitting on the floor, was crying profusely, saying she hadn’t meant to.

It was as if… she regretted something else entirely.

“Unnie.”

“Yes, Alice….”

“Then, please answer my question.”

Alice looked at the sniffling Irene and continued.

A sense of unease began to creep into her heart.

The reason Alice wasn’t angry at Irene was simple: she thought it was just excessive protectiveness.

The trap magic circle she had set up at the door was naturally installed because she suspected Irene’s interference regarding Lee Hoyeon.

However, at the moment she set up the magic circle, she hadn’t yet received confirmation from Lee Hoyeon.

The current Alice didn’t suspect Irene.

‘Because Lee Hoyeon said it wasn’t true.’

Alice trusted Lee Hoyeon, and the moment he denied it, she erased her suspicion towards Irene.

Since the most likely scenario wasn’t true, she had no choice but to believe Irene was caught in the magic circle due to her overprotectiveness.

But what if that wasn’t the case…

“… Unnie. You have no relationship with Lee Hoyeon, right? Tell me for sure. You’ve never met or slept with him alone, have you?”

“Huh…?”

Irene, caught off guard by the sudden question, couldn’t control her emotions.

Hiding surprise and panic was usually easy for Irene, but she failed miserably right now.

She tried to recover as quickly as possible, but Alice had already read Irene’s true feelings.

Seeing Irene’s pupils dilate, Alice turned her head to look at Lee Hoyeon.

“Hoyeon. You, you….”

An explanation was needed.

He had told her it wasn’t true.

Did he lie to her?

‘So this is how it ends.’

Faced with Alice’s gaze, Lee Hoyeon sighed inwardly.

Things seemed to be going well between them, but Alice was too perceptive.

Right.

He had figured something like this might happen someday.

Of course, he never imagined Alice would be caught by Irene… but he had already decided how to handle it if his relationship with Alice was discovered by Irene.

The role of the bad guy was one he, already a piece of trash, decided to take.

“I’m sorry, Alice. I lied.”

“You… what are you talking about? You said it wasn’t true. You said no. You definitely said no….”

“… Sorry. It’s all my fault. Irene-ssi is not at fault.”

Lee Hoyeon bowed 90 degrees.

It wasn’t entirely his fault, but he couldn’t help it.

Before getting caught, maybe, but now that they were caught, someone needed to take the blame.

‘I have to sacrifice myself.’

If Irene sacrificed herself, their relationship would deteriorate to the worst possible state.

But if Lee Hoyeon sacrificed himself, it would take time, but they could somehow recover.

Irene and Alice’s relationship too… would worsen, but perhaps not to the absolute worst.

Therefore, it was right for him to do it himself.

“… Ha. Ha. Haaaah.”

Alice, looking at Lee Hoyeon as if she couldn’t believe it, turned her head to look at Irene.

Irene was staring at Lee Hoyeon with wide eyes.

Her eyes seemed to ask, ‘Why is that man doing this?’

In Alice’s vision, the teary-eyed Irene overlapped with Irene’s shocked face as she looked at Lee Hoyeon.

Oh, I see.

She roughly understood how things had unfolded.

“… It was Unnie.”

While she was away, Irene had approached Lee Hoyeon first.

Alice glared at Irene.

“…?”

And Lee Hoyeon, still bowing, doubted his own ears.