Not A Regressor - Chapter 274
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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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I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 274
Interlude – Two Lovers
“So….”
The next day.
After leisurely completing the discharge procedures and spending a night at a nearby hotel, Ha-eun returned home and sat down with the two of them who had just finished breakfast.
She swept her gaze across Kwon O-jin and Isabella, who emanated a peculiar atmosphere, and broke into a knowing smirk.
“Did you?”
A fastball thrown without warning.
“Ah, Elder Sister!”
Isabella shot up from her seat, her face flushed crimson.
Kwon O-jin let out an awkward cough and turned his head away, avoiding Ha-eun’s gaze.
“Yeah, we did.”
Tsk, tsk.
Ha-eun shook her head disapprovingly and sighed.
Though she had anticipated this, seeing the two of them with flushed faces and that fresh, innocent atmosphere somehow twisted her insides.
Well, what good would regret do now?
She was the one who had approved their relationship, after all.
“Oh, right, Kwon O-jin. That gorilla guy was looking for you?”
“Han Manager?”
“Yeah. I mentioned yesterday that you were going to that Demon Realm, and he said he wants to see you in person once you’re discharged. He has something to give you.”
Something to give him, she said.
“It’s from that Kim Si-hu, apparently. He said the kid made it himself.”
“Really?”
At the mention of Kim Si-hu’s item, Kwon O-jin’s eyes sparkled.
If it came from the genius boy who had no equal in the country when it came to crafting sacred relics, it would be worth anticipating.
“Did you find out what it is?”
“I didn’t get the exact details. He just said it would be useful for the Demon Realm?”
“Hmm… I should probably go see for myself.”
“Go ahead. He was worried about you anyway, saying you got beaten by the Serpens Queen.”
“Beaten? That’s not—”
“So you won?”
“No.”
I got absolutely crushed.
“…It was just a matchup I wasn’t ready for at this point.”
At the sight of Kwon O-jin grumbling, Ha-eun burst into giggles.
For someone who had always grasped victory like a ghost no matter how strong his opponent was, seeing him like this with his spirit dampened was quite the sight.
Ha-eun playfully grabbed his cheek and stretched it while pushing his back.
“Go on, hurry up.”
“Got it. I’ll head to the Association then.”
“Have a safe trip, Kwon O-jin. Oh, should I ask Roberto to give you a ride?”
“Never mind. It’s close anyway.”
I shrugged and headed out.
* * *
Click.
As the entrance door shut firmly, an eerie silence descended upon the house.
“….”
“….”
Ha-eun and Isabella fiddled with their smartphones in silence, stealing glances at each other.
One man and two women.
Within this twisted relationship that could hardly be called conventional, Ha-eun and Isabella found themselves uncertain how to treat one another.
Despite knowing each other for quite some time, they now felt as strangers, as if meeting for the very first time.
The atmosphere was as awkward as finding yourself in an elevator with a friend-of-a-friend you’d only ever seen in passing.
“Thank you, Elder Sister.”
It was Isabella who broke the suffocating silence first.
Still wearing an apron as if she’d just finished the dishes, she continued with a faint smile playing at her lips.
“If you hadn’t permitted it, I would have lived my entire life never knowing such blissful happiness.”
A sweetness like melted sugar, dissolving into pure joy.
Having finally achieved her long-cherished union with Kwon O-jin, Isabella’s beautiful eyes gleamed with unmistakable contentment.
“You don’t owe me any gratitude. I simply followed the choice that bastard made.”
“But if you had opposed it, I’m certain Kwon O-jin would have changed his mind.”
“That’s….”
True enough.
Had I firmly opposed his relationship with Isabella, his nature would have compelled him to sever ties with her without hesitation.
For him, I matter far more than Isabella ever could.
I lifted the corners of my mouth in a smirk and leaned back leisurely against the chair.
An inexplicable sense of superiority swelled within me, my pride rising.
“…Elder Sister?”
“Hm? Oh. It’s nothing.”
I shrugged with a self-satisfied expression.
“Besides, he’s always been obedient to me. Even back at the Orphanage, he’d rush headlong into anything if it was for my sake.”
I spoke proudly of my memories with Kwon O-jin, my nose held high.
A long bond stretching back to our days at the Orphanage.
That fortress of memories, built across a lifetime together, was a realm Isabella could never hope to breach.
“….”
Isabella’s eyes narrowed slightly, faint veins appearing on her forehead.
Watching Ha-eun proudly reminisce about her memories with Kwon O-jin, something began to bubble and churn within her.
“Well, by that measure, Kwon O-jin has risked his life twice for me as well.”
Once when trapped in the Demon Realm, and again when he threw himself into danger to save me from Cassia’s assault.
Without hesitation, he had flung himself into what amounted to certain death to rescue her.
“That was just because the situation was too urgent at the time. You don’t need to risk your life to feel that someone treasures you, do you? Trust between people ultimately requires time to build.”
Ha-eun continued to emphasize ‘time’.
Isabella nodded with a soft smile.
Her lips curved into a smile as beautiful as a painting, but her eyes had turned cold and distant.
“Time is something I can build slowly from now on anyway. Eventually, there won’t be much difference between me and Elder Sister, will there?”
“…Much difference?”
“Well, think about it. In your teens, a one-year age gap feels huge, but in your thirties and forties, a year or two doesn’t even register as a difference.”
The longer Isabella remained with Kwon O-jin, the fewer memories he and Ha-eun would share exclusively together.
“Hah, is that the same thing? No matter how much time passes, some things don’t change. You have no idea what that bastard was like back at the Orphanage, do you?”
“Oh my, is this what they call ‘latte’ in Korea?”
“Latte?”
“You know, people who start sentences with ‘back in my day~’.”
Ha-eun’s shoulders twitched.
Her lips twitched as she continued speaking.
“Are you jealous right now?”
“Oh, how could I be? I’m only second, after all.”
Isabella leaned forward slightly as she spoke.
“And thinking about last night… I don’t think I need to be, do I?”
She placed a hand gently on her chest, recalling the memories of last night.
Hot breath that tickled her skin.
The sensation of strong arms pulling her close with a roughness that seemed ready to break her.
Kwon O-jin had devoured her with the ferocity of a beast.
“Hehe. Kwon O-jin, you really… even though your body hasn’t fully recovered, you did it so many times.”
Isabella placed her hands on both cheeks, recalling the passionate night with Kwon O-jin.
“Kwon O-jin seemed to really like ‘this’.”
Isabella glanced at Ha-eun and subtly thrust her chest forward.
The voluptuous curves were accentuated, instantly capturing all attention.
Ha-eun swallowed hard, her eyes taking in the curves that were clearly visible even through the loose apron.
She herself was not small by any standard, but she could not compare to those mountains of impossible elasticity and size.
Ha-eun’s expression twisted sharply.
“Hah. You probably didn’t even do it properly anyway.”
“…H-how would Elder Sister know that?”
Isabella’s expression stiffened in shock.
Just as Ha-eun said, last night Isabella had been so nervous that she’d gone rigid as stone, moving only as Kwon O-jin guided her.
Considering how she usually took the initiative to seduce Kwon O-jin, it was a first experience shameful enough to make her blush.
“It’s obvious without even looking.”
Ha-eun’s lips curled into a smirk as she lifted her chin proudly again.
“As for me, I have plenty of experience with O-jin, so these days I’m the one leading.”
“…It’s not about who leads and all that, is it?”
“Sure, sure. None of that matters anyway.”
Isabella’s lips trembled as she watched Ha-eun nod with the smile of a victor.
The way Ha-eun carried herself with such composure—as if to say, “Your struggles mean nothing”—ignited a thousand flames of rage within Isabella’s chest.
Her gaze fell upon Ha-eun’s chest.
Without question, it was the most undeniable point of ‘difference’ between them.
She was well aware of how childish it was to feel superior over physical differences.
Yet people were remarkably capable of becoming absurdly petty once their blood began to boil.
“Y-your chest is tiny too!”
“You should speak properly—I’m not small, you’re just unnecessarily large!”
“It’s not unnecessary! You don’t know how much Kwon O-jin adored it!”
“Are you trying to compete with me again? Did you already forget the burn you got last time?”
“Hmph, if you can’t win, just say so.”
“I-I’m not lacking confidence!”
“My, your voice seems rather loud for someone so assured.”
Both women sprang to their feet, glaring at each other with predatory intensity.
An awkward silence descended once more.
“….”
“….”
About ten seconds passed in silence.
Their gazes crossed through empty air—two women, no, two lovers.
Without waiting for the other, both let out hollow laughs.
“Sigh. What am I doing being so childish at my age?”
“Exactly.”
Ha-eun and Isabella exchanged sighs, shaking their heads in unison.
“Anyway, this is all because of that bastard.”
“That’s right, Elder Sister. It’s all Kwon O-jin’s fault.”
The two who had been snarling at each other moments before now looked at each other and broke into light laughter.
“Anyway… thank you, Elder Sister. For allowing me to be by Kwon O-jin’s side.”
A radiant smile bloomed across Isabella’s lips.
“And… well, you said it yesterday, didn’t you? That it felt like you’d gained a younger sister.”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
Isabella turned her head away hesitantly.
She continued speaking while hiding her apple-red cheeks.
“I felt like I’d gained an older sister too. I did have one originally… but we’ve been apart for so long.”
How long had it been?
The affectionate elder sister in her memories had even tried to kill her directly.
Of course, that was because she’d been controlled by the Heavenly Demon.
Still, when they reunited in front of the Star Palace yesterday, their conversation had hardly been warm.
“Well, since things have come to this, let’s get along well from now on.”
“I’d like that too.”
Ha-eun clasped Isabella’s hand and lifted the corners of her mouth in a slight smile.
“Oh, right. And if any other woman tries to make a move on Kwon O-jin….”
“Then I’ll step in and handle it myself.”
*Smile*
A chilling smile spread across Isabella’s lips.
“No one will dare to come near Kwon O-jin.”
“Good.”
Ha-eun nodded with satisfaction, as if she’d gained a reliable ally.
“Now that I think about it, there was something suspicious about her.”
“Who?”
“The Green Star Awakener.”
“You mean Rebecca?”
“Yeah. Apparently she sat on Kwon O-jin’s lap before?”
“…Tell me the details.”
For a while, the two women huddled together, scheming ways to keep other women away from Kwon O-jin’s side.
“We should depart for the Demon Realm as quickly as possible.”
“Right? If we’re going anyway, there’s no point in dragging our feet.”
With the title of Heavenly Demon, Kwon O-jin had gained tremendous renown.
An Awakened User who hadn’t even reached the ninth star was now recognized as a member of the Seven Stars—so the factions targeting him would inevitably multiply.
And the honey trap was an age-old tactic commonly employed in factional competition.
Even during the Cold War, Russian spies primarily relied on such tactics, didn’t they?
“I should prepare to leave quickly as well.”
“Need help with anything?”
Unlike Isabella, who commanded the massive Colgrand Family, Ha-eun didn’t have much to prepare.
Isabella smiled and nodded.
“Yes, actually. I could use the extra hands.”
“But I’m not good at paperwork and stuff like that.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
The Colgrand Family was among Europe’s top five most prestigious houses.
It was a mammoth-scale family operating dozens of business ventures.
If Isabella left, it was inevitable that various factions would descend like hyenas to prey on the Colgrand Family in her absence.
In fact, since she’d been staying in South Korea recently and had stepped back from direct operations, she’d already received reports that several families were eyeing the Colgrand Family’s business interests.
There was only one optimal method to keep those hyenas at bay.
“Just… burn down a few places for me.”
Isabella extended her hand with a chilling smile.
Ha-eun grasped her hand and grinned wickedly.
“That’s exactly my specialty.”
And so, preparations to depart for the Demon Realm began.
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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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