episode_0245

“If you’re confident you won’t make Ayun sad, then I have no particular complaints.”

Those were the first words he uttered after a long silence.

Unlike my expectation that a fist would fly without question, Gwon Hwang’s expression was far more peaceful than even Myeongseon’s.

Baek Ayun, who had been blocking my front just in case her grandfather tried to hit me, also blinked in surprise.

“Uh… are you alright, Grandfather-nim?”

“What do you mean?”

she asked, and Baek Muyeom, in turn, tilted his head as if wondering what the problem was.

Baek Ayun hesitated for a moment, watching my expression, then quietly spoke.

“Well, um. Our Hyunjin-ssi is a bit, isn’t he quite promiscuous?”

“…Ayun?”

“But he can’t give me up, and he says he has no intention of giving me to anyone else… I definitely thought Grandfather-nim would be furious…?”

I suffered internal damage and faltered from the sudden blunt attack of facts, but neither Baek Ayun nor Baek Muyeom paid me any mind.

They simply continued their conversation among themselves.

“Well, of course, it’s still true that I don’t like that fellow much.”

“Uh… really?”

“Still, how could I look coldly upon a young man who flew all the way from a distant land to save me? Especially since he’s the very man you’re so crazy about, Ayun.”

Baek Muyeom chuckled, and Baek Ayun, with a deeply flushed face, didn’t know what to do.

“Oh, Grandfather-nim! It’s true I like Hyunjin-ssi a lot, but it’s not like I’m, no, no, no, not *that* crazy about him!”

“No need to hide it. Even if you didn’t, I have no intention of rejecting that fellow.”

“…Ugh, ack, heh.”

Finally, Baek Ayun was sputtering out strange noises.

She turned to look at me with an intense gaze.

“…I, I mean, Hyunjin-ssi…”

“…Uh-huh, what is it?”

I didn’t know what it was, but I answered anyway. I wondered if she had something to say to me, perhaps, as she’d implied, she had quite a few complaints about my promiscuous relationships.

If it was anyone, Baek Ayun certainly had the right to express such complaints to me.

I nodded awkwardly, waiting for her next words.

“Even if I’m the second, it’s fine…!?”

“?”

“Uh, please come find me anytime. I want to try on a wedding dress too!”

This was an unexpectedly direct confession. I was momentarily dazed by her words.

But that was only for a moment; as soon as I snapped back to reality, I broke out in a cold sweat.

‘What should I do?’

It wasn’t anything else. In truth, her confession was more than welcome, and I was grateful. It was also something I wanted to say to her first, but—

“—I, Ryu Seeun… I love you, Lee Hyunjin. So, please.”

“—Someday, let me be your second bride.”

If I were to mention now that there’s already one designated person, and perhaps she should get in line?

‘Hmm…’

There was no need to think about what would happen. Ayun, tense and waiting for my answer, and Gwon Hwang, with a pleased expression beyond her—

‘If I don’t get beaten to death twice over, that’ll be a miracle.’

Oh, whatever. It was a problem with no clear answer, so I decided to take a direct approach.

With talk of Ryu Seeun, and then crazy talk like, ‘How about a third?’—

“…”

“…”

“…”

“H-Hyunjin-ssi? I, I’m waiting, for your answer…”

“Uh, hmm.”

I rolled my eyes up, down, left, and right once, then answered with a forced bright expression.

“…Yes!”

It was an excellent and splendid evasion of responsibility.

Only, I hadn’t thought about the consequences.

I wonder if, in trying to avoid these two gray tigers here, I hadn’t also summoned that teal fox over there…

‘Still, wouldn’t a fox be better than a tiger?’

I decided to just think that way, deliberately ignoring the worst-case scenario: that I might have to face two at once.

*****

Things proceeded smoothly. Ryu Jinseong, in the Cheorwon region, whom I visited last, didn’t view my wedding negatively, as I had already received his approval once before.

He even meticulously read the wedding invitation and offered me advice on relationships.

“…So, when you hand over the ring, it would be best to kneel and look up at her. And if you’re going to do it, give her an expensive one.”

“Ah, yes… Yes?”

“In the past, I had many shortcomings and received a blow from your master, but well, aren’t you and Manroe’s daughter already on the same wavelength?”

Then there should be no problem, right?

Ryu Jinseong, adding words in that manner, nodded with an inexplicably proud expression.

“Ah, seriously, Dad, please.”

Beside him, Ryu Seeun, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, covered her face and sighed deeply, as if utterly embarrassed.

She glanced at me, exchanging a look, then soon mumbled with an even more flushed face.

“Dad doesn’t even have any dating experience, does he…? From my perspective, Senior would know much more about women.”

“?”

It was a single remark from Ryu Seeun, one that seemed to shove a blade into a short sentence, sharp enough to feel like she had planned to land a scathing blow.

“What are you talking about, daughter?”

Ryu Jinseong merely blinked, his expression showing no trace of shock.

“I’m older than this fellow, after all.”

“…Huh?”

“Naturally, I’ve seen, heard, and experienced far more.”

While Ryu Seeun was dumbfounded, mouth agape, Ryu Jinseong tilted his head as if his words had been strange, then turned to look at me.

“Don’t you think so? Son-in-law.”

“Uh…”

And then the arrow turned towards me.

I hesitated for a fleeting moment, but—

“…Of course, Father-in-law knows much more, and, uh, can give me various helpful pieces of advice.”

“You think so too, don’t you?”

It was an unavoidable choice. The right to enlighten him about the truth was not something a son-in-law possessed in front of his father-in-law.

I put on the expression of a common citizen crushed by authority and apologized internally to Ryu Seeun.

‘I’m sorry, Seeun.’

And then Ryu Jinseong’s arrow turned back to his daughter once more.

“Even your son-in-law says so, daughter. If you think about it, lately you seem to be taking your father too lightly.”

“…Ah. Oh, seriously. Ah.”

“I should pick a day to have a talk with you. Although I’ve handed all my power over to you now, I was once a proper great mage of this country, actively—.”

Thwack!

“…”

Thud. Ryu Jinseong collapsed. At this sudden turn of events, my pupils trembled slightly, and Ryu Seeun, with a black bat slung over her shoulder, murmured.

“Just rest for a bit, Dad. You suddenly collapsed; you must be very tired…”

“…”

“Hmm, Senior, how about you and I have a talk too?”

And then Ryu Seeun smiled sweetly, looking back at me. I was feeling like I wanted to head back to Seoul now, but…

“O-Okay. Uh, should we have dinner together?”

I simply didn’t dare to shake my head against her, who was becoming increasingly skilled with dark mana.

Anyway, I needed to play it safe until the wedding was successfully over…

While they weren’t the type to cause trouble, if I were to displease them somehow, there was no telling what kind of major disaster might occur.

Of course, this wasn’t a story limited solely to Ryu Seeun.

The women I still had to meet, in other words.

‘Hmm.’

Good.

It seems like at least ten more are left anyway.

Let’s put aside the useless thought of counting.

*****

“…”

One way or another, time flows on. Even more so when one has been busy moving around for a long time.

It was impossible to know how many times I had traveled back and forth across the country during this short period.

Especially since it was vacation, and there weren’t just one or two people I had to visit.

It was even more grueling because I had to go to Japan, France, and even England…

“Phew.”

I decided to blow away all the arduousness of my journey so far with a deep sigh.

In any case, today wasn’t the right day to recall everything that had happened during that time.

I was currently surveying the wedding hall in my tuxedo. In other words, today was the day of reckoning.

[Lee Hyunjin, Eldest Son of Lee Jaesung and Yeon Seobaek]

[Cheon Soyul, Second Daughter of Seong Jiho and Cheon Sehee]

I adjusted the position of the sign in the middle of the wedding hall and swallowed dryly.

There was still time, but simply waiting made me feel a surge of tension.

Yes. Today was the day Cheon Soyul and I would officially tie the knot as husband and wife.

“…”

Hmm.

But now, several of the girls who would become my nth wives would also be attending, a situation like that…?

‘Nothing will happen, right?’

I needlessly worried and looked back.

It was slowly becoming time for the guests to arrive.