‘Fuck you.’

I laughed and even though I should stop, I couldn’t hold it back. I thought I needed to hold back my laughter because I was surrounded by people who were comforting me, but I couldn’t stop.

“I-I think he’s having a seizure. I need the priests to continue casting the spells and for the mages, please check to see if there’s still any explosive mana in his body,” Lee Ji-Hye said.

“Okay…”

Lee Ji-Hye realized what kind of situation I was in right now, so thanks to her lying to everyone that I was having a seizure, I quietly grabbed my arm and rolled again. Kasugano Yuno arrived and she stood near me anxiously.

There was no reason for me to be here because my body was already recovering and I would rather rest comfortably in my room rather than be a spectacle, but despite that, there was a reason why I was putting on a show.

‘We’re the victims, you bastards!’

This was what I wanted to tell them and the person that was making the biggest fuss was none other than Jung Ha-Yan.

“Heuuuuuuuung oppaaaaa! Heuuuuuk…”

“I’m okay…” I told her.

“Heuuuuung…”

Her tears and runny nose made her look sad and to Jung Ha-Yan, this entire situation was real. It was natural for her to react this way because the oppa she loved so much screamed painfully the moment he grabbed the dirty hand of a villain and almost died. With the way she was crying, the onlookers might think that I had already died. Since Jung Ha-Yan was crying so sadly, the kind-hearted and empathetic noblewomen quietly wiped their tears and even though I told Kasugano Yuno about all this earlier, I guess she wasn’t used to this kind of situation because she also looked at me while crying quietly.

All I had to do was show that I was in pain without exaggerating it since that wasn’t a good idea. Lee Ji-Hye must’ve thought the same thing because it seemed like she wanted to settle the situation and that was when Cha Hee-Ra carried me on her back. She didn’t seem to care that my clothes and body were covered in blood, which made the situation even better. Her body was immediately covered in blood when she carried me, but to the noblemen and women in the Holy Empire, she looked beautiful and I was sure that the current situation was more entertaining than any other literary work for them.

For a woman, Cha Hee-Ra’s back was wide and being on it really made me feel like I was being protected. Despite the fact that I never once touched her body, I knew that she had a very strong body. It was like her muscles were perfectly compressed and not unnecessarily bulky like Park Deok-Gu. When I thought about how Ito Sota got punched by Cha Hee-Ra whose body was like this, it made me laugh once again.

‘It’s actually amazing that he didn’t die.’

I was certain that he had done all he could to protect his body the moment he got punched, but despite that, he was still forced to cough up blood which meant that he had sustained a fatal injury. To be frank, the damage that Ito Sota sustained was double the damage that I experienced.

Cha Hee-Ra quickly exited the party hall, Jung Ha-Yan followed behind while wiping her tears and Lee Ji-Hye must have thought that she needed to calm everyone down because she was still talking to the others. Since she knew I was safe, she thought that it would be advantageous if she remained here and continued her task. I was a bit disappointed, but that was just like Lee Ji-Hye.

‘It’s also advantageous for me too…’

Anyway, my boat was sailing at full speed. Cha Hee-Ra was running toward the comfortable hospital room and as soon as we arrived, she placed me on the bed while still looking a bit serious. When the priests came in and started their treatment once again, I couldn’t stop laughing. As Jung Ha-Yan stepped back and watched the situation, Cha Hee-Ra quietly asked, “How’s his condition?”

“He has improved a lot, Miss Cha Hee-Ra. If he continues to rest, he shouldn’t experience any other side effects,” a priest answered.

“Thanks. You can leave now,” she said.

“Okay…”

“Second girlfriend, you leave too,” she told Jung Ha-Yan.

“I don’t wa—”

“Ha-Yan, if you go to my room, you’ll find a letter in the second drawer. Deliver that letter to the shaman right now,” I told her.

“O-Oppa… heuuuuk…”

“I’m fine, so please listen to me, okay?” I said.

“Ok… kay…” she mumbled.

“Go change your clothes and wash up. I’m okay now, so just deliver that letter and then we can stay together, okay? Also, tell Kasugano Yuno that I’m okay,” I said.

“Okay…”

I wasn’t sure why Cha Hee-Ra told Jung Ha-Yan to leave, but even I didn’t want Jung Ha-Yan to be in the room right now and since there happened to be a task that I needed her to do, so it was the perfect excuse. She was still crying and I did feel bad about it, but I couldn’t laugh in front of her when she was so worried about me.

The priests quickly left the room and Jung Ha-Yan slowly left the room afterward.

When they were gone, I released the laughter that I had been holding in.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“...”

“Hahahaha! Cough!”

“...”

I laughed so hard that I started coughing, but I saw Cha Hee-Ra watching me quietly.

“I feel that that indigestion I’ve been feeling for 10 years has finally disappeared. Noona, did you see Ito Sota’s face? Cough. Hehehe.”

“...”

“It was more perfect than I thought. Seriously… if that bastard dodged your punch, it would’ve been the best… it’s too bad that didn’t happen, though. If you killed him right there, things would’ve been more comfortable, no, now that I think about it, it’s a relief that he’s alive. I still have a lot of gifts prepared for him, so I can’t have him dying so early. You were controlling yourself, right? Noona? Or maybe his reaction was just fast. Pffft. Well, it doesn’t matter, cough,” I said.

As I continued to laugh, Cha Hee-Ra’s expression started to change a little bit. I wasn’t sure why, but I couldn’t help but notice that she was feeling uncomfortable.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

Of course, I was worried about her reaction because her face looked kind of angry. But she finally spoke after being quiet all this while. “Darling.”

“Yes?”

“Is this funny to you?” she asked.

‘What the hell is wrong with her?’

“Is this funny, you bastard? Forget about that piece of shit Ito Sota. You do realize that you almost died, right?” she asked.

“But I…”

“Don’t you dare say that you didn’t die! If I was even a little bit late, you could’ve actually died or you could have been crippled for the rest of your life. If I didn’t cut off your arm in time…” she said.

“That’s why I said I trusted you, noona,” I told her.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about your attitude. I’ve seen a lot of crazy bastards in my life, but I’ve never seen a crazy bastard like you, you shithead. I’ve seen a few guys betting on their lives sometimes, but none of them laughed like you. Do you want to die that badly?” she asked.

“No…”

“If you want to die, just tell me so that I can kill you myself,” she demanded.

“What’s wrong with you, noona?” I asked.

She definitely wasn’t like her usual self. I thought that Cha Hee-Ra was going to laugh with me after pulling off the hidden camera prank perfectly, so of course, I was flustered by her reaction. But after seeing her bite her lips hard, I finally realized why she reacted this way.

‘Huh?’

I never imagined that the Mercenary Queen would show this kind of reaction.

‘Does she…’

I thought that maybe Cha Hee-Ra had actually fallen in love with me, but I shook that thought out of my head because I just couldn’t imagine her being obsessed with me. I was a bit confused, but it was a fact that she was worried about me. Actually, according to her, she was fond of me, but no matter the reason, she was actually worried about me right now.

“Were you worried?” I asked.

“Shut…”

When I lightly touched her face, I saw her quietly closing her mouth.

“You don’t have to worry, noona,” I said.

“You…”

“It’s because you were there with me and that’s why I’m able to laugh right now. I never doubted you once, so I wasn’t putting my life on the line. I was certain that I wasn’t going to die,” I told her.

“You…”

“Thanks, Hee-Ra,” I said.

When I slightly pulled her face using the arm that I could barely move, her body got closer to mine and when I quietly placed my lips on hers, I felt her body shaking.

‘She’s nervous.’

I couldn’t believe it either, but Cha Hee-Ra was definitely nervous. It only lasted for a moment and after seeing her crave for me, I was certain that I was at least, half right. During all of this, I noticed her grabbing my injured arm tightly and after thinking that this could turn into something else, I let out a short scream.

“Ouch!”

“S-Sorry,” she said.

“It’s fine, Hee-Ra noona.”

I had never seen her react this way before and I guess she must have realized that she wasn’t acting like herself because looked embarrassed. I saw her purposely changing the subject.

“A-Anyway, consider yourself lucky.”

“Yeah, this is more than enough. We’ve turned the tables around,” I said.

“You have a plan, right? I did what you asked me to do, but people will be curious about the secret you said you knew and they’ll also want to know why Ito Sota wanted to kill you. If you don’t have solid evidence, they may just release him,” she asked.

“I already know that because the Holy Empire doesn’t want conflict,” I said.

“Executing the master of a large guild is definitely a problem and when considering the fact that the pope’s faction is supporting the Yamato Guild, I’m sure Ito Sota will show up at the meeting a week later as if nothing happened,” she said.

“You don’t have to worry. You’re the only one I’m telling this to, but there’s something else I’ve been working on,” I told her.

“What?”

“You can consider the task I gave to Ha-Yan a moment ago a part of that plan,” I said.

Cha Hee-Ra seemed really curious. I thought that it would be best not to say anything, but she was going to find out eventually, and telling her ahead of time wouldn’t ruin my plan anyway. It could be surprising for her though.

“I sent potions to Japan,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“The Blue Guild had been distributing potions to Japan through Kasugano Yuno, but externally, we’re going to make it so that the shaman and the Blue Guild won’t have any connections to this potion. The truth that the people will hear is that a new clan in Japan are the ones that have developed and distributed this potion,” I explained.

“You’re…”

“Of course, the rumors will say that the small clan is only a front and the person that’s actually behind all of this is Ito Sota. His movements are restricted right now because of that damn procedure, so this is the perfect time to get the media involved and of course, we won’t be the ones to actually spread the rumor since we have saved up a lot of insurance. The truth will be revealed little by little and in the end, it’ll choke that bastard,” I said.

“You do know that Ito Sota has a nice image amongst the nobles and the pope, right? Darling?” Cha Hee-Ra asked.

“That’s even better, noona. People aren’t really interested when a villain commits a crime, but when a person has a kind image, it’ll be easier for us to taint it. By the time Ito Sota enters the high society again, the public opinion about him will be so bad that he won’t be able to change it. I can destroy his image to the point that it’ll be impossible for him to recover from it,” I explained.

“...”

“Do you know what these types of people find the most enjoyable in the world?” I asked her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Talking behind people’s backs,” I answered.

Cha Hee-Ra looked a bit flustered.