Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better? - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 111
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Sun-scorched, rough bare feet sank deep into the white sand with each step. I instinctively knew this was a dream—my body moved against my will, independent of my consciousness.
“You need to kill that temperament of yours first!”
Though my breath came in gasps, the moment I saw the red-haired man crouched on the desolate desert, my mouth moved of its own accord.
The man sprang to his feet, his face flushed with agitation as he shouted. But the surrounding air hummed so loudly that I couldn’t make out his words clearly.
‘What is he saying?’
“…Why?! …!”
Just as a single word came into focus, a violent sandstorm swept across the landscape, blurring everything around me, and I was rapidly consumed by the oppressive heat.
‘This is agonizing.’
Even though it was a dream, it felt as though someone were strangling me. Sand grains scraped the inside of my mouth, and I felt as though I would suffocate. Fear seized me at the thought of dying from asphyxiation when a cool sensation slowly enveloped my forehead.
At the touch of that tender hand, my heart—pounding violently from the nightmare—gradually calmed.
‘This feels wonderful.’
As if reading my thoughts, someone gently stroked my forehead and brushed it lightly. Having quickly regained my composure, I slipped back down into deep, dark unconsciousness.
“…!”
After some time had passed, I felt my body rising toward the surface of wakefulness and snapped my eyelids open.
“Are you alright?”
A familiar low voice. Still dazed, I blinked my eyes and found myself staring directly into Knight Isidore’s gaze as he looked down at me.
“What, what is this?!”
My optic nerves registered a shock far greater than being hit head-on by a camera flash.
“…Is it really something to be so startled about?”
Knight Isidore murmured with a bewildered expression.
‘But what is this position?’
From the angle visible in my field of vision, I instantly realized that what I was resting my head on was Knight Isidore’s thigh, and I bolted upright.
“If you get up so suddenly, you’ll feel dizzy.”
Knight Isidore said with concern.
“…Ugh.”
Just as he said, my head spun as if I’d been working through the night for four days straight. Simultaneously, the expanse of nothing but blue water came into view, and I felt both a dizzying dread and a throbbing headache.
‘What is this? Am I still dreaming?’
Knight Isidore carefully pulled me, who was swaying, toward him.
“Just lie down for now. But there’s nothing here to rest your head on….”
He hesitated slightly and patted his thigh. Knight Isidore’s long coat was already being used as my blanket. In the end, I found myself using his thigh as a pillow once more.
Separate from my fear of the situation, I felt embarrassed for some reason, so I squeezed my eyes shut. Then he placed a water-dampened handkerchief on my forehead.
“Once you’ve settled a bit, get up. You’ll still be in pain from being caught in the mana surge.”
“…Mana surge?”
“My guess is that the Montes House heirloom was damaged and went haywire, and we were sucked into a Subspace connected to the heirloom.”
That bastard Philaf!
He said he’d show me the true power the Montes House possessed, but it seems he intended to drag me into this strange space.
“Philaf, you scum….”
Even as my energy drained away, anger surged up within me.
“No matter how much of a successor to Montes House you are, this matter won’t simply be overlooked.”
Knight Isidore spoke in a sharp voice.
“It won’t be overlooked.”
They attacked my escort and dragged the direct lines of both Simour and Visconti into this mess. The real problem was figuring out how to escape from this bizarre space surrounded by water on all sides.
“…Is there even a way out?”
“If there isn’t, I’ll create one.”
“….”
“Don’t worry. Let’s get you stabilized first.”
His voice was so gentle it made the tip of my nose sting.
Once again, he was meddling in my affairs. And his meddling always had impeccable timing.
“I’m indebted to you again. …Thank you.”
“…Well. If I’d arrived earlier, you wouldn’t have been trapped in this nauseating space. I never thought Philaf would go this far….”
At the suppressed tone in his voice, my eyes opened without my realizing it. Knight Isidore, whose expression had turned so cold that onlookers would freeze, covered my eyes with his hand the moment our gazes met.
“Rest, I said.”
As I glimpsed his emotions so vivid they seemed tangible, my insides churned. Seeing him empathize with me, the area around my eyes where his hand touched grew hot.
“…Don’t be angry. Your meddling will tear.”
The atmosphere kept growing heavier, and I found myself making a joke without thinking. It was a pun about how “meddling” could mean “clothing hem,” but it fell completely flat.
‘I shouldn’t have said that.’
“It’s not meddling. If it were merely that, I wouldn’t feel this way.”
Because he didn’t return the joke, my feelings became even more confused.
‘I thought he’d counter that his own meddling was tougher than orc leather.’
“It’s not meddling.”
He repeated himself and withdrew his hand, then flipped the handkerchief once. Slowly, he stroked my forehead.
‘Then what is it?’
The question rose to the tip of my tongue, but simultaneously another doubt occurred to me, and I hesitated, pressing my lips together.
‘What answer do I want to hear from Knight Isidore?’
Time flowed on in a state where confusion and subtle tension coexisted.
“Are you feeling better?”
My thighs must have ached from supporting my head’s weight, yet Knight Isidore asked tenderly without showing any strain.
“The headache seems to have improved a bit.”
“Take it slowly as you get up.”
With his help, I raised my upper body gradually. As my condition improved, I looked around my surroundings.
‘It really is a simple space.’
Water, and the stone platform where Knight Isidore and I were sitting. It consisted of only these two things.
I gazed quietly at the blue stone platform floating like an island in the midst of the Vast Sea and tilted my head. The shape happened to be square.
“The cube Philaf was holding—when I glimpsed it, each of its faces seemed to have different colors.”
Knight Isidore listened to my words with utmost seriousness.
“It occurred to me that this stone platform might be connected to the blue face among the cube’s cross-sections.”
I continued, gazing at the smooth stone platform.
“And if my assumption is correct, wouldn’t there be some anomaly on the stone platform corresponding to the face that Knight Isidore damaged with his sword?”
“So that ancient artifact might not be a gate at all, but rather a subspace compressed into a physical form.”
“Right. If it were merely a gate, there’d be no reason for the stone tablet to take this particular shape.”
He nodded in agreement.
“Besides, only we were pulled into this strange space. Philaf, who was standing across from us, is nowhere to be found.”
I pressed on quickly.
“If each face of the artifact functions like the sides of a die, then something may have gone wrong with the cross-section where we were standing.”
“That’s a brilliant hypothesis. I initially thought it was simply a gate malfunction, but your reasoning is far more convincing.”
“And since it’s a hexahedron, there’s a high probability the spaces are interconnected like an unfolded net.”
I gazed out at the Vast Sea and exhaled heavily.
“But we can’t exactly swim across to reach another location…”
“I can cast a Flight spell.”
“You’re really… a Spellblade?”
I’d glimpsed him using a movement spell before, but I still couldn’t quite believe it. Spellblades were so rare that one might appear only once every few centuries. Handling both aura and mana circles simultaneously was nearly impossible.
“Why hide something so remarkable?”
“Too bothersome.”
How irritating.
‘Why doesn’t someone this absurdly overpowered appear anywhere in the novel?’
And even Master didn’t know he was a Spellblade.
‘Truly a mysterious existence.’
As I narrowed my eyes at him, Isidore let out a soft laugh.
“See? If everyone found me this annoying, wouldn’t that be exhausting?”
“I think your personality is the real problem.”
“I’m perfectly well-behaved around Deborah Simour. Come on, climb on.”
He smiled wryly, dropping to one knee and offering his back. I stared at his round, handsome head before letting my gaze drift down to his broad shoulders, my fingers fidgeting nervously. The prospect of actually mounting him suddenly felt daunting.
Throughout my entire life, save for early childhood, I’d never once been carried on someone’s back. Kim Han-jun, that ruffian, would never have offered. If anything, he’d drunkenly demand I carry him instead.
Ugh, let me stop thinking about him. Comparing him to Philaf only irritates me further.
“Is there something wrong with my back?”
“I’ve never been carried before…”
Watching me mumble awkwardly, he widened his eyes.
“I’ve actually never carried anyone either. Since this is our first time, we can probably manage an awkward posture without anyone noticing.”
“Alright then…”
I clumsily wrapped my arms around his neck, and Isidore paused for a moment.
“Am I too heavy?”
“No, not at all.”
“What if I cast a weight-reduction spell?”
I felt oddly self-conscious and made the strange suggestion. Isidore fumbled with his arms briefly before hoisting my body higher. His movements were equally awkward, which helped ease my tension.
Soon, Isidore slowly lifted us both into the air. Our bodies pressed close together, and his golden hair brushed against my cheek like silk.
‘Oh.’
Before long, the dark blue waves of the Vast Sea spread out beneath my view. Sudden fear gripped me, and without thinking, I tightened my grip around his neck. In that instant, his body trembled slightly.
“What’s wrong?”
I was terrified, but my voice remained ice-cold.
“…It’s fine.”
His voice was submerged far deeper than usual, like a swamp. A beat too late, I noticed Knight Isidore’s nape flushed a vivid crimson. His neck had turned as red as a ripe persimmon, threatening to burst at any moment, and without thinking, I hastily averted my gaze upward.
I felt an odd sense of having witnessed something I shouldn’t have seen.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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