Chapter 105: The Date Appointment Angelica sat on her bed, staring intently at her phone.
Her hesitant thumb hovered over the call button. She had been agonizing over this for an hour already.
'Oh, I couldn't grab it while I was running away, but you found it for me. Thanks.'
When she had returned the weapon he'd lost during the monster's surprise attack, Yeon-woo had looked at her and given her a soft smile.
His bangs swaying in the breeze, the touch of melancholy in his eyes beneath them, the curve of his lips tracing over an elegant jawline…
After momentarily dazing out while recalling Yeon-woo's face, Angelica's face flushed, and she shook her head vigorously.
That wasn't the important part. It was what he said next.
'I'll buy you a meal sometime.'
Yeon-woo had definitely asked her out on a date.
'Well, it wasn't exactly a date proposal, but…'
Angelica knew it was likely just a polite social grace.
But wasn't she allowed to dream a little?
Walking through the streets while holding hands and sharing trivial chatter, sitting across from each other anywhere—it didn't matter where—eating the same food, watching the sunset together… and then, swept up in the atmosphere, their eyes would meet, and their lips would draw closer…
As her imagination reached that point, Angelica remembered the deep skinship Yeon-woo had initiated during the Tournament, and her face turned beet red.
Even though she was alone in her room and no one was watching, she felt so embarrassed that she squirmed under her covers to hide her face.
"Phew—"
After staying still for a long time, Angelica kicked off the blankets and exhaled.
Thinking about the Tournament made her body heat up so much that staying under the covers felt suffocating.
Sitting back in her original spot and steadying her somewhat ragged breathing, Angelica looked at her phone again.
'What if I call him and he doesn't even remember…?'
Or worse, she was terrified that Yeon-woo might say with an awkward expression, 'Ah… right, I did make that promise. But I didn't think you'd actually call.'
What if he thought she was a girl who couldn't take a hint? What if he'd said it without a second thought? What if he ended up hating her?
As she piled assumption upon assumption, Angelica fell into a spiral of negative thoughts and grew frightened.
For an hour, she had been repeating this cycle, unable to press the call button.
After a moment of deliberation, Angelica walked over to her desk and looked at the notebook she had been writing in all morning.
'First, "Hi, how are you?" Then, Yeon-woo's response will be… Pattern A is "Yeah, I'm doing well." Pattern B is "Yeah, but what's up?" Pattern C is… In Pattern A, he'll say, "We're supposed to start our break today, right?" and then A2… A3… No, Pattern C is more likely…'
Having written down every possible conversational path along with the best possible responses, Angelica read through them meticulously one more time and took a deep breath.
Tense as a mage stepping onto a battlefield, she forced her still-hesitant thumb to move slowly.
Ring—
She had barely brushed the screen, but the smartphone's sensitive sensor detected it immediately and placed the call to Yeon-woo. Startled by the sudden connection, Angelica fumbled and dropped the phone.
Lunging like she was making a diving catch, she caught the phone before it hit the floor. Lying prone on the carpet, she stared at the screen with trembling eyes as the call connected.
— Yeah, Angelica. What's up?
"Ah! Uh, uh… H-Hi…!"
Angelica's eyes darted around frantically; she had never felt like such an idiot in her life.
— Right, hi.
Yeon-woo gave a small, amused chuckle as he greeted her, finding her reaction cute, but Angelica—having already run through dozens of negative scenarios before calling—flinched at the sound of his laughter.
Even though she knew the kind-hearted Yeon-woo wasn't the type to mock someone, her body reacted instinctively and froze. When Angelica didn't respond, a heavy silence filled the line.
— Angelica? Hello? Did it cut out?
"No! No, no, no… Um… how have you been?"
— I've been fine. Why the sudden formal speech? Besides, I just saw you yesterday.
Even though it was summer break, most students stayed at Yggdrasil. Since Yeon-woo had also decided to rest for a week starting today, the two of them had been seeing each other at Yggdrasil until yesterday.
Having deviated from her predicted conversation patterns from the very start, Angelica scrambled to her feet and flipped through her notebook to find something to say.
"Uh…"
— Ah, we were supposed to grab a meal, right? When are you free?
While Angelica was frantically flipping pages, Yeon-woo brought up the promise first.
She hadn't even written down a pattern for him bringing it up first, so her brain short-circuited. She could only stammer, but Yeon-woo continued the conversation, sounding as if he found her flustered voice endearing.
Though she still stuttered, Angelica began to regain her composure as Yeon-woo took the lead, and they shared a warm conversation.
It was mostly Yeon-woo talking and Angelica giving short replies, but even that was enough to make her heart pound as if it were about to explode.
— Then, I'll see you then.
"Yeah! I definitely won't be late!"
With that, Yeon-woo took charge of the appointment, setting the time and place before hanging up.
As soon as the call ended, the room fell silent. She stood there for a long time, as if frozen in place.
"Yessssssssss!"
Suddenly throwing her arms up in a cheer, Angelica climbed onto her bed and started jumping up and down.
If her mother, Monica, had seen her, she would have been scolded, but right now she was too happy to care about anything else.
The dolls on the bed were scattered by the recoil. After jumping around wildly, Angelica collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.
She grinned like a fool while looking at Yeon-woo's name in her call logs, then hugged her phone and kicked her legs in the air, rolling around the wide bed to express her joy with her whole body.
Then, as if remembering something, she bolted upright and began rummaging through her closet.
They were meeting tomorrow, but Angelica wanted to show Yeon-woo her prettiest self. She pulled out every piece of clothing she owned and held them up against her body.
While she was holding a one-woman fashion show in anticipation of her date, Monica was pressing her ear against the door.
Monica had come by to see if her daughter wanted to go shopping since they were both resting at home for once, but then she heard Yeon-woo's name.
She knew this was impolite even for a family member, but the moment his name came up, Monica threw dignity and etiquette out the window.
That thug who had publicly groped her daughter's body and stolen her lips as if he were going to devour her during the Tournament.
'No, not a thug… Right, let's go with "bastard."'
The bastard who had toyed with her precious daughter using that disgraceful magic called Soul Chain.
As if it wasn't enough that he'd laid hands on Merina, who was already engaged, now he was after her daughter too?
Having already labeled him a philanderer even before the Tournament, Monica, as a mother, could not just stand by and watch.
"Klaus, call the security team for tomorrow."
Moving away from her daughter's door, Monica gave instructions to her secretary.
'You won't be laying a finger on my precious daughter so easily, you bastard.'
"Then, I'll see you then."
— Yeah! I definitely won't be late!
She really is cute.
After finishing the call with Angelica, I let out a small chuckle, then looked up as I felt a gaze on me.
"Ah, sorry for the wait. The call went a bit long."
"Yes, I understand. Romance is important at that age. Important enough to leave a precious guest hanging while you chatter away."
The unwelcome guest, Randall, gave a sarcastic smirk.
Why the hell is this guy here again?
I was lying around enjoying my first break in six months when the doorbell rang. I checked to find Randall and his subordinate.
Unlike the sly Randall, his subordinate, Sophia, seemed inexperienced; she was glancing around the house with a nervous air.
"A precious guest… am I?"
"Anyone from the Enforcement Agency is a precious guest. Everyone regrets it later if they don't treat us as such."
"… I didn't know you were allowed to mix personal feelings with official business."
"I didn't say anything about feelings. I just said people usually regret it."
It's the same thing.
Well—even if he talks like that, it's not like Randall takes bribes or treats sycophants well. On the flip side, he goes out of his way to absolutely wreck the people he finds disgusting, so I should… be careful, right?
But I haven't done anything wrong. There's no reason for him to come after me.
"Anyway, why are you here?"
"Don't you even offer coffee or tea? Your hospitality is terrible."
"No, I'm telling you, you're not a guest."
"Hmm—right, I see."
The moment the door opened, he pushed his way in like he was conducting a forced entry and plopped down on the sofa. What do you mean, "guest"?
Because you barged in so recklessly, your subordinate—Sophia, was it?—is totally freaked out. Should I file a formal complaint?
Giving up on being served, Randall shrugged, shifted his posture, and stared at me intently.
"What?"
"I'm thinking it's about time to attach an investigator to you."
"… Didn't you say that was canceled?"
"It was. Yggdrasil wouldn't let us in, so what could we do? Must be nice having such a sturdy backer, eh?"
"It's veeeery nice. The best. Incredible."
When I snarked back, Sophia's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
However, Randall didn't care at all and said with a smirk.
"So, I'm going to attach one now."
"… …?"
"You're not going to Yggdrasil for a week, right? It's a short period, but I plan to investigate you thoroughly."
Uh… so, am I understanding this right?
Since Yggdrasil won't let them in, he's going to attach an investigator to me specifically during my time off?
What kind of obsession is this? What could he possibly investigate in just one week?
"Hmm… suddenly I feel like going to Yggdrasil. I think I'll be training at Yggdrasil starting tomorrow?"
"Oh? Are you running away? That makes me even more suspicious."
"No, I'm a student, so I should train hard while I'm enrolled at Yggdrasil."
"Now, now~ overworking yourself isn't good. You should rest when it's time to rest."
I was trying to rest, but you're the one making my life miserable.
Teasing me with words that mockingly sounded like he cared for me, Randall pulled a thin, stylish silver flask from his coat and took a drink.
That's the smell of alcohol, isn't it? He's drinking openly while on duty.
Pay some attention to your subordinate; Sophia is glancing sideways, looking incredibly uncomfortable.
But whatever, I have nothing to hide. I'm innocent.
He probably already knows about the Auction House and the Yggdrasil business anyway. It's better to get it over with in a week rather than having him drag it out and annoy me.
"Do whatever you want. Are you the one investigating?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm a busy man. I'm far too competent to be stuck to someone like you."
"Seeing as how you're barking up the wrong tree, I'm not so sure about that competence."
"Hahaha, whenever I dig into people who say things like that, something always turns up."
This guy really won't let me have the last word.
I want to smack him in the back of the head, but I endure it because he's a character who significantly impacts the main story.
I stared gloomily at the chuckling Randall, who hadn't taken a single point of damage, and asked.
"So, who's coming? How many? Are they staying here? Should I prepare a guest room? Am I responsible for their food? I'd rather not be."
"Don't be so uptight from the start. You can work that out yourselves. For starters, this friend here will be joining you."
"… …?"
Did you even consult her?
When his hand landed on her shoulder, Sophia jumped, then slowly turned her head to stare blankly at Randall with wide eyes.
"What? You're used to things now, so you need to gain some field experience."
"No, I, uh, er—"
"Don't worry, I'll have Melissa join you too. You remember Melissa, right?"
Randall suddenly looked at me as he spoke.
Melissa? Who's that?
When I tilted my head in confusion, Randall continued with a snicker.
"You met one more person right before the day we first met."
"… Ah, that short-tempered woman."
"Hehehe, you'd better not say that in front of Melissa. Like you said, she's short-tempered, so her fists move faster than her brain."
In my case, I think her feet moved first.
I recalled the woman who had kicked me the moment we came face-to-face after I was hauled into the 4th Division.
I have to stay with her for a week? I'm not looking forward to that.
"I can charge you later for any property damage or medical bills, right?"
"Hahaha, go ahead. We just need to conduct our investigation."
And so, Randall attached the ill-tempered Melissa and the inexperienced Sophia to me as investigators.
The following day.
"Yeon-woo…"
"Angelica."
"The people behind you are…?"
"Government agents. But the people behind you are…?"
"Ah… Mom… I mean, my mother insisted that I have to have guards with me…"
I was hoping for a cozy meal for two, but both Angelica and I had brought quite a crowd.
People passing by on the street looked at the agents and guards following us, whispering as if they thought we were some kind of VIPs.
Well, Angelica is from a prestigious family. I'm not.
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