EP.107 31-1. Wolves are surprisingly heavy with love.
***
Phine Gransia woke up in her bedroom in her pajamas,
“Ugh… headache…”
She clutched her head, blaming the heavy drinking from the night before. She reminisced about the events of yesterday.
“…What a shame.”
Looking at herself in the mirror, the white-haired woman thought, ‘I guess I’m still not up to par compared to that Saintess.’
“I thought Licht was going to fall for it.”
When she hadn’t been wearing the Masterpiece, the nobles around her had looked at her with greedy eyes, and,
“I guess the male leads in the books are different.”
Above all, she thought her voluptuous figure would help. She had no experience with men, but that’s how it usually was in the novels she had read.
Confirmation bias arising from distorted and limited information.
In fact, even though she was drunk, it was all a calculated move on her part. The reason was simple.
“Well, the Heavenly Demon advised me… so I did as I was told. It worked.”
The mentor of the hero in the Dark Knight helmet. Baek Mok-ryeon, one of the Ten Greats, had also encouraged Phine.
“…He really was immune to women. Licht.”
Phine felt jealous of the Nameless Saintess, so she drank impulsively and almost succeeded.
“If it weren’t for the Imperial Guard… I could have made Licht care about me.”
She sighed softly in disappointment.
***
Looking back at yesterday’s situation, the course of events was as follows.
“This old one has no intention of seducing her disciple, young lady.”
“How can I believe that?”
“Keuheuheuh! This is quite the gem!”
Baek Mok-ryeon grinned, baring her fangs as she watched her not believe her even when she told the truth.
Perhaps it was because she felt a fresh current, as if she were experiencing first love.
“Then would you believe me if I gave you some advice?”
From her perspective, the young lady, who was unaware of her own feelings and only displayed jealousy, was obviously going to be hated by the man she liked.
“That guy has no luck with women. I can tell just by looking at him.”
Because of that, Baek Mok-ryeon gave Phine advice, and Phine showed interest, twitching her wolf ears and tail.
“Really?”
Her tone immediately changed to polite speech. The Heavenly Demon was dumbfounded as she heard that. Her emotions were already so ripe.
“That Saintess, in the end, didn’t share love with Licht either.”
It was because her clueless disciple hadn’t said a word even after seducing two women like this. But if there was anything that reassured her, it was,
“This old one likes you more, young lady.”
“What’s the reason…?”
“I heard that you saved our disciple with all your heart.”
She seemed to think that the princess before her was better than the Nameless Saintess, whom Licht kept mentioning during his training, or the source from which he had forged the Heart Sword.
No matter how much Baek Mok-ryeon thought about it, the relationship between her disciple and the Saintess seemed strained. Like longing for someone they could never meet.
Or, she showed a fear of approaching, feeling as if it were one-sided emotion.
In fact, he was a loser disciple who was running away from his feelings until he drew the first Heart Sword, Kiyu.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed; the person who stands by you when you’re most in need is the best person.”
“…”
“So, I hope you will continue to stay by our disciple’s side.”
“Who knows? A friend in need might become a wife.”
The Heavenly Demon closed her eyes tightly. Regretting not being there for Dennis when he was struggling because of Head’s ignorance, she hoped that the same thing would not happen again.
“I understand. I’ll believe you.”
Only then did Phine Gransia withdraw her jealousy towards the Heavenly Demon. The Licht she had seen always seemed distant from women.
“Keuheuheuh! Disciple, you’re such a bad man!”
He seemed to cherish the Nameless Saintess, but that was it.
The two didn’t sound like lovers. Wasn’t he so embarrassed just by looking at her figure?
Phine was curious. What kind of person was she that he tried to take care of her until the end, even when he went to fight Magic Hat at the risk of his life,
And overlapped her in his trauma, and shouldered the dishonor of second place to obtain Mana Rose?
And why he was so tight-lipped when it came to the Nameless Saintess.
She was so eager to know everything.
A woman with beautiful white hair. A woman whose appearance was a carbon copy of Phine Gransia, according to anyone who heard it.
‘…I’m jealous.’
Besides, now she could know physically. She could feel his heartbeat because their magic circuits were shared,
And his heart was beating faster when he was with Phine herself than with anyone else. It was a bit of a cowardly trick, but Phine still had hope.
The hope that she could become someone as precious as the Nameless Saintess to the man named Licht.
She had risked her life to save him, and if he kept looking only at the Saintess and saying he would sacrifice his life, wouldn’t she feel a little resentful?
“Hehe, so sweet…”
The kind and gentle person who had handed her a slightly chilled chocolate drink when she was drunk.
She felt refreshed and clear-headed, and at the same time, the thought that this man was quite the master strategist crossed Phine’s mind.
He was the man who had even put his coat on her in case she got cold when she went outside. It was still early summer.
Phine at the time also thought that Licht, who was so clueless and kind, was wasting his life by getting involved with women.
“It was an unforgettable first love.”
But as soon as she confirmed through his drunken confession that he had a crush on her and the Nameless Saintess, her heart ached.
‘Why… am I like this…?’
A constricting pain. A heart that was as cold as if it were embedded with ice. She flared up spontaneously with a stinging sensation as if stabbed by a knife.
“Next time… tell that Saintess to come and fix it… I won’t fix it…”
Her tongue was completely twisted by the words that were not in the plan, but she breathed out hot air and sobbed.
And as soon as she heard the sentence that he was so kind because they were just ‘friends’.
‘Friends are like this…? If Licht thought of me as someone as precious as the Nameless Saintess….’
In that instant, a flame of jealousy ignited in Phine’s cold and quiet glass heart.
Was it because she was completely drunk on Lumen’s Dream, or was it his heartbeat, or was it her own?
“Phine. Wait a minute, you’re too drunk.”
Perhaps it was because her heart was beating so fast.
“…If I do this, will you treat me as someone precious to you, like you do her, Licht.”
She tried to kiss him, just like in the books. The male protagonists in romance novels were prone to being dazed by just one kiss from the female protagonist.
She had read scenes where they turned their eyes to other women even though they had fiancées,
And Phine herself didn’t realize it, but that day she suddenly had the urge to add her mark to Licht’s lips.
Complete possessiveness. The feeling of wanting to make him hers.
She wanted to try it regardless of whether he had burn marks or not.
“You are already precious to me, Phine.”
“I know it’s true, but I can’t believe it, Licht.”
One fact that people don’t know well is that wolves are born hunters.
They are also very intelligent and clever. They are not stupid like the villains in fairy tales, nor are they playboys.
Monogamous. Romantic animals who give their bodies and souls to love.
“I want to become more special to you, like that Saintess….”
Even though she knew that the words ‘precious person’ were true with her naturally good eyes, Phine didn’t try to stop moving forward.
Even if the Empire’s only princess’s first kiss disappeared, it was okay if it was the Dark Knight.
She wanted to become even more precious to the man Lee Soo-hyun.
More than the person called the Nameless Saintess.
Seeing Licht’s cute appearance, his face red and resisting a kiss,
“Ugh… Licht… I read in a book that men fall for this…”
She had the predatory thought of wanting to make him think only of her.
“Princess Gransia!! His Majesty Roque is summoning you!!”
It was then. Phine Gransia’s perfect plan was thwarted by the sudden summons from her father.
She would have reached him if she had gotten just one more breath closer, she almost bumped noses, but she failed. The man ran away, keeping his distance.
Even that looked somehow cute to Phine, like a frightened puppy.
‘…Should I replace the Imperial Guard?’
Disappointment and annoyance coexisted, and the previous night’s her bit her lower lip without Licht noticing.
***
Phine took a bath with rose bath salts and was preparing to head to the academy as usual.
“…Mana Rose.”
Suddenly, she noticed the blue rose in the vase. The medium Licht had used to save her.
“Come to think of it, it looked like it was supposed to be given to the Saintess.”
Her eyes narrowed. It was something she had obtained by even pretending to lose in the grade test, but he used it to save her.
“I won. Over the Saintess.”
Recalling the man who had tried to use healing magic on her even with thorns stuck in his palm, she took the flower out of the vase.
“…This is the first thing Licht gave me.”
She recalled him saying that she could have the Mana Rose when he woke up in the infirmary.
She used mana to make the blue light slightly less intense, and seeing the rose that had been torn because he had held it so tightly, the corners of her lips lifted slightly.
It was a very poor flower to give as a gift to a woman, but Phine didn’t care.
Just the fact that he had given it to her made it look more beautiful than any flower in the world.
“I want to cherish it.”
Glass magic blooming from the hand of the princess holding the rose.
In an instant, the Mana Rose was cut off at the stem and coated on the outside, turning it into something like a hair ornament.
“Hehe, it’s not bad.”
She smiled as she looked in the mirror, wearing the blue rose in her white hair. She wondered what Licht’s reaction would be.
“After class today… I have to go to the Imperial Palace with you. Licht.”
She had the task of meeting her father, Emperor Roque, but what could be the big deal?
From her point of view, he was a kind father who cherished his family terribly.
“Surely my father… will like Licht…?“
He had also found her mother, Bellin Gransia, and saved Phine’s own life.
“Yeah, it’ll be okay. Because he is a wonderful person.”
Thinking that there was no way he would dislike him, she left the room.