IBHB 16 - There's something called the b.u.t.terfly effect

TL: Eevee

Ed: Hungry Panda

Marriage, might not be too bad.

My a.s.s it would! What do you mean not bad! Focus! Focus! Park Minwoo!

As if to shake off the king's sinister laugh he felt he could hear from over there, Minwoo grabbed his hair and shook his head around. All of a sudden a bolt of thought went through his head. That's it. Don't panic. This is all the king's trap.

Having received the king's communication line and eventually shaken off his trivial small talk ("So when would be a good date for the wedding?", "When would be a good date for your funeral?") and what he came back to with perfect timing was Clarice wearing clothes as if to seduce him… No matter how you looked at it you could only see it as the two of them having set this up.

"Haha. What kind of ridiculous words are those? I only taught His Highness swordplay while you were gone?"

"Is that true?"

Minwoo asked, taking off his overcoat and covering Clarice with it. Poor Clarice. Just how much had she suffered by that pervert. Clutching at the overcoat with quivering hands, Clarice thanked him and said with tearful eyes.

"Hero-nim. You cannot take Eri's words at face value. She did not simply teach me swordplay."

Look at this. Clarice said as she slightly opened up the overcoat to reveal her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Boing~ At the overwhelming sight, no scenery, Minwoo's breath caught in his throat.

"Hero-nim."

"Hm?"

"I wanted to ask this a while ago, but why do you have a nosebleed?"

Minwoo hurriedly stoppered his nose.

"S, sorry. I haven't been feeling too great lately…"

"Oh dear! Then I must tell the palace doctors to make you some medicine."

"No no, it's okay! I'll be better with some rest so no need!"

"……Hooh."

Ericia folded her arms and gave them an amused look. Minwoo, your nose marked with bloodstains as well so why bother holding up your image, she wanted to pipe in. Minwoo turned his eyes back between the overcoat again. As if to calm himself down he coughed and asked.

"So what about it?"

"My bra.s.si…. Awuu, th, that's Ericia turned my clothes into bikini armour!"

Minwoo stared at Clarice's bikini armour. With absolutely no impure thoughts, but like Clarice said, it was sparking like Ericia's own bikini armour. Minwoo gulped and looked downwards. Absolutely no impure thoughts involved, but he wanted to check if her panties were the same. He had absolutely no impure thoughts.

Just above her captivating Mound of Venus was a familiar symbol. Minwoo's expression gradually stiffened. Womb Power. A power that he had once denounced as bulls.h.i.+t and even now wanted to continue denouncing. Since it was Ericia who had constantly preached on and on about wanting to spread Womb Power to women on their travels, Minwoo understood the situation in an instant.

"The c.r.a.p did you do you dumba.s.s! If you want to be a pervert do it on your own!"

"Ha? P, pervert?! Are you mocking me!?"

How did she understand so perfectly?

"Enough of that, return Clarice's clothes quickly."

Nod nod! Clarice nodded strongly as if to agree with him. Ericia's eyes widened before she made a bashful expression, averting her gaze.

"Uh. Erm. That is…."

"What?"

"You can change as you will but not so in reverse."

Thud. Clarice turned sheet-white, swaying. Minwoo hurriedly supported her up. Clarice withered like a manman.

"d.a.m.n it all… Then I, what did I go through all this…"

"Calm down Clarice!"

Held firmly in Minwoo's embrace, Clarice sobbed and wept. Minwoo stroked Clarice's small back. Clarice wiped her fine nose and looked up at Minwoo. Her face streaked with snot and tears was so cute it could give someone a heart attack.

"Hero-nim. Just one thing, could I please ask for just one thing?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

At that moment, with a yaksha-like face,(1) Clarice glanced over at Ericia.

"Please kill that motherf.u.c.ker."

""Hut?!""(2)

If looks could kill, Ericia would have died several hundred times over. Even as Minwoo's scalp and hair quivered in fear at the quick change in mood, he nodded. Just how shocked and enraged must Clarice be.

"Y, Your Highness! Please calm yourself! It was my fault! My greed and desire drove me to a sin I should die for!"

Ericia quickly dropped to her knees and bowed her head. It was a narrow-minded action that, knowing Clarice's gentle personality, she might forgive her if she did so.

But alas.

"Then die."

"……Eh?"

"Seriously die. Don't just say it with words, I should die for my sins, but please kill yourself right here, right now."

Having been driven right to the very edge with all that had happened lately, such petty tricks didn't work on Clarice. s.h.i.+ng. Minwoo drew his sword. Ericia sweated bullets and smiled nervously.

Ah. f.u.c.k.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaakk!! Ericia's desperate screams rang throughout the training grounds.

***

Senyun had been there. She had been hiding behind a tree watching everything. She watched very clearly as that exhibitionist dared to disgrace her prince-nim. She was so angry in the middle she nearly shattered the tree and was very nearly caught by Ericia, but she just avoided getting discovered. It was due to her long experience of sneakily taking photos under invisibility magic.

Right now, Senyun was in a secret bas.e.m.e.nt in the city. As the main headquarters of the CLC, all the customers were fervent CLC members. As Senyun sat sighing at the bar while guzzling wine, someone approached Senyun.

"We Need a Prince-nim?"(3)

Senyun turned around with a tired look.

"…….Haaa. 'Clariceisaprince'-nim?"(4)

Clariceisaprince, or 'Isaprince' for short, nodded and took a seat beside Senyun. Today Senyun had come to make a trade with her. Of course, even if she hadn't she'd still be here to drown her sorrows…

Isaprince ordered wine from the bartender and asked Clarice with a worried look.

"You look tired."

"……Haa. No, well…. It's been tough lately…"

She couldn't deny it. Senyun's mind right now no different to being totally trashed. Having turned His Highness into a woman with her own hands, today she even saw His Highness don bikini armour and learn Womb Power. Although His Highness in bikini armour was shockingly seductive, …..In Senyun's heart, the pa.s.sion, fervour and emotion didn't rise up like it used to.

Just the world tumbling down around her.

"You brought the goods?"

"…….Haa. Of course."

Senyun pulled out the goods, Clarice's panties, well packaged. Isaprince's eyes lit up and reached for them. Senyun quickly shooed away that hand and held out her own.

"Oh dear, I was too excited. Here. 1 gold."

Isaprince took out a gold coin and handed it over. Senyun stared at the 1 gold in her hand before flatly saying.

"1 gold is too little. Let's make it 4 gold."

"Eh? No, you were the one who said 1 gold…"

"4 gold. Make it 4 gold."

Isaprince jumped up in protest.

"Just how are you raising the price up by four times?! 1 gold 50 silver."

Senyun flatly said.

"4 gold."

"2 gold. It's double, double!"

Senyun flatly said.

"4 gold."

"2 gold 50 silver."

Senyun flatly said.

"4 gold."

Isaprince brushed back her front hair and gaped.

"No way… 3 gold. This is still 3 times. It went up by 3 times. This is a ridiculous price hike!"

And Senyun flatly said.

"4 gold."

"d.a.m.n it! I get it! 4 gold!"

Isaprince finally waved the white flag and handed over the remaining 3 gold. Having made such ridiculous profits, Senyun calmly put away her 4 gold. She felt a little bit better.

"Don't be like that. These were worn by Prince Clarice himself."

Isaprince thought. And whose fault is it!!

"But is it really alright to sell it to me? If it were me I'd use these are a family heirloom…"

Isaprince asked, after burying her nose deep inside the panties and sniffing around. Instead of answering, Senyun downed her wine again. To be honest, it wasn't just the panties. Since Senyun saw the prince at the training grounds, Senyun had been in and out of the underground market, disposing of her goods.

It wasn't that she'd come to dislike the prince. Far from it. But… Lately, whenever she brought up the prince in her mind, his figure as a woman wavered in her mind's eye. Whenever she faced the reality that the prince was now a woman, her heart hurt like it was being stabbed with a sharp knife. She couldn't stand it any longer.

So Senyun quit daydreaming about the prince she liked.

So Senyun stopped wearing the underwear of the prince she liked.

So Senyun decided to dispose of the goods that reminded her of the prince.

"That reminds me. Are the rumours true?"

Isaprince clapped her hands and said. Senyun had a rough idea of what was coming next, but pretended to be interested as if she didn't know.

"Rumours?"

"You know-"

Isaprince glanced around before secretly whispering.

"The rumours that the prince couldn't stand his feelings for the hero anymore and became a woman."

"Prince-s.h.i.+(5) works in the palace, no? So I thought you'd know something… Uh, mm…"

Noticing Senyun's frigid look, Isaprince nervously let the end of her sentence trail out. If looks could kill, wouldn't she be dead several hundred times over?

"Sorry. Never mind then…"

Haaaaaa. Senyun sighed long and deeply.

"…..You want to hear?"

"Eh?"

Senyun took another swig of her wine. Senyun's face had flushed noticeably enough that it was noticeable even in the dim lights. Isaprince realised that the wine she was drinking was of a quite high concentration as well.

Senyun scoffed at no one and said.

"Rumours."

They say there's a thing called the b.u.t.terfly effect.

When you look back…. That was the beginning.

Author's Note

Heave ho heave ho finally in the middle.

Thanks for everyone who commented and supported this work! I'll do my best!

[][][]

TN: Like authors, translators are also made very happy by comments.

(1) Yaksha: Creature in Buddhism. j.a.panese yasha/yaksha look (allegedly) something like this

(2) Gasp SFX

(3) Originally in English

(4) Not sure whether I've explained this joke before or not, but 왕자지 can be split into 2 VERY different meanings, depending on how you choose to read it. 왕자 지 = is a prince or 왕 자지 = big p.e.n.i.s, i.e. this 'username' can be translated as either 'Clarice is a prince' or 'Clarice has a ma.s.sive d.i.c.k.' Amazing what you learn when you start reading KR translations of JP p.o.r.n. EleGiggle

(5) Prince, in English, as in Senyun's abbreviated 'username.'

(5.5) -s.h.i.+ = honorific used to address people you are not very familiar with, but are on roughly equal terms with. Rough equivalent would be the j.a.panese -san

Bonus Note: 4 gold = 4 dollar meme

Apparently 'four dollar' is a meme in Korea, from this scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Nw7nWCqlY of the (pretty old now) Kdrama 'Rustic Period.' Feat. a former gang leader-turned politician 'negotiating' with the US army.