Chapter 367. The Story That Should Not Have Existed (2) (2/2)
—Yay! Then we’ll be waiting for you~!
Seeing Evandel smiling brightly as she talked to her friends, Rachel had a rather random thought. Did young kids always use exclamation marks (!) when they were talking to their friends…?
No, that wasn’t it.
Then what was it that she was thinking about?
Rachel furrowed her brows but failed to find out.
“Un~ See you~”
At that moment, Evandel hung up. Evandel smiled bloomingly, then spat out ‘those words’.
“I want to see you~”
I want to see you. Rachel didn’t know what that meant.
Recently, either as a form of sleep talking or an instinctual calling, she began to say the words ‘I want to see you~’
She would say this in the middle of eating, showering, running around, and even sleeping.
“I want to see you~”
It was almost like a habit. Even when Rachel asked who she wanted to see, Evandel would only tilt her head.
Tok, tok-
At that moment, a couple knocking noises rang out, and the royal court’s secretary spoke.
—She is almost here.
Yoo Yeonha seemed to almost be here.
Rachel returned a simple yes and walked out of the palace with Evandel. The Prime Minister, his Cabinet, and the members of Parliament were gathered in the garden.
“Don’t be nervous, Princess. The negotiation is looking favorable.”
Despite saying this, the Prime Minister was trembling nonstop.
“…Yes, don’t be too nervous either, Prime Minister.”
“Hahahaha, nervous? Never. Never, ever nervous. Hahahaha.”
In any case, after about five minutes of waiting, Yoo Yeonha’s limousine appeared along with an incredible entourage of guards.
After getting off, Yoo Yeonha entered the meeting room while receiving a warm welcome from the Prime Minister and Parliamentary members.
Yoo Yeonha replied to the Prime Minister’s joke extremely coldly.
“Now, let’s start the negotiation… but before that, why is there a kid here?”
Inside the meeting room, Yoo Yeonha found Evandel sitting inside the room full of suited politicians and slightly lost her calm.
“Princess Rachel?”
Yoo Yeonha’s sharp gaze turned to Rachel.
“Yes?”
Rachel blinked her eyes and pretended to be oblivious. Evandel also blinked her eyes and stared at Yoo Yeonha.
Sitting on a chair that was far bigger than her body, Evandel found it difficult to even place her two arms on the table. Yoo Yeonha found this incredibly cute.
But she knew not to mix business with pleasure.
“…This is an important negotiation meeting. Please leave Evandel out of it.”
“No, Evandel is here because she wants to be a part of the talk.”
Rachel spoke as she looked at Evandel.
“What?”
Yoo Yeonha frowned. This princess was trying to use a kid for the negotiation…?
“Evandel wants to become a Hero in the future, and the English Royal Court plans to support her as much as possible. After all, her talent is great. We were hoping that, through this meeting, Evandel would become a member of both a Korean guild and an English guild.”
Yoo Yeonha’s shoulders turned stiff.
What Rachel was saying was clear.
Yoo Yeonha racked her brains before letting out a dry cough and nodding her head.
“I see. Well, I’ve heard of our little Hero’s accomplishments. You were great, future Hero Evandel.”
“Eh? Ah, hehehe…. Th… thank you….”
Evandel tried her best to hide her laughter at Yoo Yeonha’s praise.
Yoo Yeonha also smiled lightly and spread out the documents she brought.
“…Then let’s start the negotiation, including future Hero Evandel-nim’s guild status.”
**
[Korea, Seoul - Chae Joochul’s Mansion]
“We’re here, Grand Hero-nim.”
On the other hand, a voice from the driver’s seat woke Chae Nayun from her sleep. She had returned after completing her mission as a Hero.
She opened her eyes narrowly, She was drooling from her mouth, and tears were flowing down from her eyes.
The drool was one thing, but why was she crying?
“Ah, thanks. Huaaaam—”
Chae Nayun yawned and wiped away the tears and drool.
“…What time is it?”
“1:30 a.m.”
“Wow~ Really? I fought for 18 hours? I was wondering why I was so freaking tired.”
“Why don’t you form a team too? It will reduce your exhaustion significantly.”
“Hm? Ah, no, I like being alone.”
Chae Nayun’s official position was ‘Grand Hero’. It was equal to a team leader position, and she was one of the highest-ranked officers in Essence of the Strait.
Although she had the right and authority to form her own team, she didn’t. She completed her missions almost exclusively alone.
Chae Nayun herself didn’t know the reason.
She simply thought she had to.
“You can go back. I’ll go on my on tomorrow, so rest up.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Chae Nayun got off from the limousine and sent the driver home. Just like always, she walked past the Hanok’s front door. But today, she was roused by a certain presence.
It wasn’t the presence of an assassin.
In fact, this presence was making it clear that it was there.
Chae Nayun stopped and turned in that direction.
“Oi, crazy woman. It’s been a while.”
From the darkness, a destructive figure appeared.
Terrifying muscles and protruding veins. A human monster that seemed impossible to kill with a blade.
Chae Nayun reached back and grabbed her Balmung.
“…Ah, don’t be so wary. My business isn’t with you.”
Cheok Jungyeong waved his hand and walked proudly to the front door.
Chae Nayun didn’t relax and spat out.
“What business do you have with me?”
“I told you, my business isn’t with you…. I’m here for your grandfather.”
“…Grandfather?”
“Yep. I came to make your grandfather atone for his past sins.”
“What?”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know. The Kwang-Oh Incident.”
Chae Nayun flinched. She knew what the incident was.
Killing innocent people to silence a political opponent, hiding all records and manipulating the media - a truly heinous massacre.
And…
And… mm… what was it?
Wasn’t there something important?
“So tell me. Where is your grand—”
When Cheok Jungyeong asked, suddenly, an arrow flew forward and struck the back of Cheok Jungyeong’s head. It must have been quite strong, as his head bent forward in a 90-degree angle.
Cheok Jungyeong remained in that position for a while before gritting his teeth and glaring back.
“That stupid woman…. Does she think she’s the leader now?”
“Don’t be violent.”
A clear voice rang out from the sky. Startled, Chae Nayun turned to the direction of the voice.
A hooded archer was sitting on top of a pine tree near the mansion.
“Sorry for visiting you all of a sudden, Chae Nayun-ssi.”
The archer said so as she lifted up her hood.
“But this is something that must be done. We wanted to get your opinion too, so excuse us for our rudeness.”
When the archer’s face was revealed, Chae Nayun’s eyes became dyed in shock.
“…Senior Jin Seyeon!?”
“Yes.”
Jin Seyeon smiled faintly and gazed at Chae Nayun.
“Nice to meet you, Junior Chae Nayun.”
“W-Why are you here? Or rather, what relationship do you have with this crazy muscle-pig….?”
“Muscle-pig? Are you out of your—”
Tak- Jin Seyeon lightly landed. She walked up to Chae Nayun, who was in a mild state of panic and spoke with a stiff expression.
“I know this might be sudden, but I wanted to ask for your opinion.”
“Opinion? Mine?”
When Chae Nayun asked back in a daze, Jin Seyeon answered seriously.
“I’ll get to the point. We plan to rob Essential Pharmacy and return ‘emotions’ to Chae Joochul.”
“…Huh?”
As Jin Seyeon’s skipped a few explanations, Chae Nayun’s already-empty head was wiped clean.