episode_0043

“…Huh.”

Ian, who picked up a spoon, let out a deep sigh. Enough to make his shoulders twitch.

I don’t know what happened overnight, but there was no doubt that something had happened to make him physically and mentally exhausted to the point of collapse.

Seeing his face, Rachel asked with a puzzled expression, “Ian, what happened? You don’t look well.”

“…Yes? Oh, it’s nothing. I just… couldn’t get enough sleep.”

As she looked at him, struggling to put the spoon in his mouth with a weary voice, Rachel leaned in slightly closer to him.

Then, she suddenly sniffed and nuzzled her nose into Ian’s shoulder before he could push her away.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?” he said before pulling her off.

“Ian.”

“…”

“You did it,”

A voice pierced through his mind like a dagger.

At first, his head went blank.

“…Yes?”

“I know this isn’t the first time for you two. But…”

“…”

Rachel?

Why is she saying this kind of thing…

Ah,

Suddenly, the image of Rachel smiling at me a few weeks ago overlaps.

-“It’s not necessarily about having intercourse, find another way. That’s it.”

-“That’s what you should do. For your own life, if nothing else.”

-“Find another way besides intercourse. If you don’t, I have a special method.”

-“…”

“You should just cut it off.”

“For your information, I have a good sense. This gut feeling is usually right.”

“…”

“I can smell it. This isn’t your scent, Ian.”

Before I could ask why she knew my scent, Rachel continued speaking and placed her hand on my shoulder with a cold, frosty touch, as if freezing everything around her.

Not a furious rage like shards of glass, but a chilling force that seemed to freeze everything. It felt like being left motionless on an icy plateau. Truly terrifying.

At that moment, the door opened, and a woman in a pure white robe appeared.

“Oh my, you’re up quite early.”

She was a saint.

“…”

“I’ve heard a lot about Ian-nim in many ways.”

Unlike Isabella, who clasped her hands and greeted with a sunny smile, Rachel’s eyes were chillingly cold.

“…What’s going on here?”

Her voice had become so chillingly cold compared to before.

As soon as she spoke, an overwhelming sense filled the room, almost causing even me, who was standing next to her, to carelessly drop my utensils.

In the escalating tension.

The saint spoke cheerfully.

As if a deeply religious saint were reciting the history of God.

With a lively voice.

“Oh, it’s to receive a bit of Ian-nim’s ‘grace.’ Since it’s something I’ve been doing every day. How merciful you are… When I first resisted being tied up, you treated me slowly and kindly, despite that resistance? It must be thanks to Mother Rachel for teaching such proper and efficient education, right?”

No, if you put it that way.

“…”

Rachel’s eyes, which had sunk even deeper into the abyss, contained a cold chill.

Chewing her lips, Rachel lowered her head deeply and barely spat out the next words.

“The two of us, is it a bad thing, or rather, was it…?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? There’s no longer any trivial barrier between us. From now on, I’m ready to ‘serve’ Ian-nim from behind or in front, whenever you call upon me.”

The saint did not mean “service” in that sense.

But unfortunately, since the meaning didn’t get through, it became a problem.

In other words, it was like boasting about having gone all the way until the end.

Seeing Rachel’s silence and apparent concern, the saint added with a smirk.

“I am in a position where I have been saved by Ian-nim. Even if I give everything right now, it wouldn’t be enough to repay the grace. There’s no need to worry about the compensation for the service. Rather, we should provide a fitting reward…”

“…”

Saved… by life?

Service.

The intuition that had just been felt fit together like a puzzle.

The starting point of misunderstanding was the snow globe.

A dent formed where she grabbed the table.

“Fei, Lim Eun. Did you do well?”

“…Huh? Birth control?”

“…”

A pure maiden who didn’t even know what birth control was.

Rachel’s target momentarily veered off course due to that innocent reaction.

Rachel, born from the cursed saint of justice, destined to lead the family in the future, was on the verge of losing her mind.

She was about to collapse inwardly.

“Ian. No, you.”

“Yes.”

“You need to come with me for a moment.”

“…”

I’m dead.

…

Bang. The door slammed shut angrily.

The atmosphere around Rachel, arms folded, felt slightly more hostile than before.

In fact, the wooden floor seemed to freeze, and the palpable sensation on the skin made it feel like the temperature had dropped several degrees.

Though there was no violent act, just staring at me felt like a strong pressure, as if my head had been hit several times.

First, rely on excellent social skills.

“…I’m sorry.”

First, bow your head and look down. Was that it?

There was little chance Rachel would listen to any excuses I made. At least, by acknowledging it this way…

“No. Don’t apologize to me.”

However, as soon as my apology left my lips, the anger from earlier vanished as if it were a lie, leaving Rachel looking deeply ashamed, fists clenched, standing at attention, gazing downward.

“…”

Ian’s expression was full of doubt upon seeing this sight.

Rachel knew it too.

It was all her stubbornness, unreasonable jealousy.

Sometimes they were drawn to each other, but she thought it was merely a superficial desire. No, she brainwashed herself into thinking so. If she were to conclude that she loved Ian, it would not only violate the rules but also brand her as an obstacle to Ian’s future.

So she denied it.

What she clearly wanted from Ian now was undivided attention and affection.

An irritating, such emotion.

Even though the fragrance he wore in the room where he had been secretly was right in front of her, Rachel deliberately kept her distance.

I also wanted to be lewd without knowing it, because I didn’t want to reveal my own atmosphere. At the same time, it was a shield for myself who didn’t want to show that my heart could be swayed.

I wanted to not show that I couldn’t completely let go of my mind.

Already, from the moment I brought him here, its purpose was nothing but lost. But even now, it could still be redeemed.

It had to be from the perspective of a true mother.

How could I, a married woman, feel intense emotions for a blood relationship that was nothing but fatigue? Absolutely, it was not allowed.

I deny it.

I endure it.

I turn my head.

I had to maintain composure as if nothing were wrong.

Suddenly, Ian’s touch that I grabbed.

As we naturally got closer, the scent of a male from the tip of his nose, his lingering scent with suspicion, began to seep into Rachel’s clothes.

Rachel silently prayed for this moment to end.

Quickly, no more…

Then, contrary to her wish, Ian’s touch crept up.

She opened her eyes at the sudden feeling of his face turning towards hers.

“Ugh, Ian. What are you doing-”

A sudden close distance.

Startled, Rachel closed her mouth and looked up at Ian, repeatedly trying to calm her pounding heart.

“…Ah.”

Rachel, belatedly realizing how close he had gotten, spoke.

‘Now, surely not.’

Because she didn’t want to push him away. Was she just standing there quietly?

Close.

Too close.

Unconsciously, Rachel placed her hand on her chest.

Thump, thump, thump,

Her heart beat like that day. Quickly,

The days she had vowed to push him away over the past few days overlapped in her mind.

“You two are so close here.”

“…Ugh, oh…”

For a moment, Rachel, who had come to her senses, spoke in a lifeless voice.

An irritating sensation, unable to reach the end. That kind of feeling.

“…Mother?”

“That,”

The words don’t continue.

If she were to say this, she would be breaking all the vows she had made until now.

But at the same time, she felt that way.

At that moment, the sight of herself regretting not having said those words alone later.

As soon as the assumption was made, her lips moved.

“But, the two of us…”

Her pounding heart was terribly painful.

She closed her eyes tightly again.

This kind of behavior must stop now. She repeated the resolution she had been thinking about for a long time, but it was too late to stop her actions.

“When… the time comes.”

Call me by my name. She weakly spat out the words to end it.

“Yes?”

The bastard who understood the meaning and asked again.

“……”

She stiffened her expression, then Ian responded.

“Ray.”

“…That’s enough.”

Rachel turned her head with a slightly shocked expression.

Rachel, who gently distanced herself again.

It seems that today’s events will linger in her memory for a long time…

“Let’s talk more here.”

A man’s hand firmly grasped hers.

The warmth of the man could be felt clearly beyond the thin leather gloves.

The flushed cheeks seemed to float on Rachel’s white face as if something hot had risen.

Even on Rachel’s already pale face, a slight blush was easily visible.

“…No, it’s okay, Ian. I’m sorry. I, I think I lost my mind for a moment.”

She stammers, even more than when she is embarrassed.

The image she had imagined of herself facing someone right in front of her was very different from what she had expected.

Perhaps the shock was that this meeting, which was supposed to soothe her feelings from a distance, turned out like this.

There was also the shock of realizing that she couldn’t resist when pulled once.

“Ian…”

Rachel said to me with a trembling voice.

In fact.

She might have been a little upset from the point where he went to make a deal with the devil without consulting her.

Emotions stemming from worries about what would happen if things went wrong.

Now, even that emotion was not allowed, which made her feel scared.

I’m sorry. I… I… I can’t even cut this properly, and I’m just a petty woman who feels jealous from behind. I’m sorry. You and I are… between our parents, and I know my feelings are wrong. This mistake is not yours alone. It’s wrong for me to feel jealousy as a woman. You shouldn’t push away someone like me, and you shouldn’t accept it.

Rachel expressed gestures of sadness, anxiety, and distress, trembling quietly.

I looked up and down at Rachel’s appearance.

Naturally, she didn’t dress up well, and she wasn’t good at makeup either.

Because her moist skin was maintained without effort, and she always maintained the physical age of a mid-twenties despite being in her early twenties.

Just being near her, I could see the fragrant smell as if she had just showered and her clean appearance.

In her shifting gaze, I could feel several burning emotions that couldn’t be hidden.

She looked troubled.

Because of the unfamiliar whirlwind of emotions.

Being Rachel, who had never experienced such tingling emotions, made her even more vulnerable and difficult to adapt.

-Hwaak.

The pheromones of an excited female wafted through the air. I took a deep breath, enduring the urge to become resolute with my second brain.

“Ian…?”

As the long silence continued for three minutes, Rachel looked up with slightly moistened eyes.

It was somewhat amusing that she was about to cry.

“…I’m sorry. Even though you gave me a chance. I’m just a foolish woman, so… Do you hate your… mother? I’m sorry. I won’t do this again. Please, at least that much.”

“Ray.”

“But… we can’t maintain this kind of relationship. You don’t need to grovel to me. Just maintain the dignity of a parent…”

“Rachel.”

Just repeating her name. Rachel now had a completely mismatched face, like a clever general, shedding tears like beads.

“To sever the bond…”

Rachel couldn’t bring herself to say anything more.

She didn’t know where it had gone wrong.

How did she become such a pitiful woman who could only stutter out these words, unable to do anything else to him?

I hesitated for a moment and then spoke.

“…Mother.”

“Wh-what? Hm?”

Rachel’s thoughts came to a halt.

Her pupils, which hadn’t even finished assessing the situation in her surprise, widened. A scent that suddenly overwhelmed her.

I somehow managed to turn my eyes away and released the demand I had been holding back until now. I pulled her body to me with all my strength.

More intense resistance than I had imagined.

And a sweetness I could feel? Saliva with a similar taste was exchanged.

“Suck! Ugh!…!? Huh, huff. Ugh… no…!!”

Rachel, grabbing her forehead and turning her head, barely managed to break free from my embrace and shouted my name as a warning.

But her voice was slightly tinged with fear.

She weakly pushed against my chest, but even that slipped, bringing us closer.

The distance between us, entwined in a posture that lifted her body trying to fall backward again.

As if the memory of that time was tempting Rachel’s heart once again.

Rachel, unable to say anything, entrusted her weight to my embrace and buried her face there.

-Thump, thump.

Rachel’s heartbeat coming from beyond.

“…I love you.”

“…What, ah… that.”

Rachel, shyly lowering her head deeply, replied in a hesitant voice.

“I, I also… love, you. Ian.”