The Snake, the Flower, and the Tiger - Chapter 11

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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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Episode 11

Among those in Kim Je-eon’s circle, only his grandfather, Kim Jong-hyeop, had noticed the possession. Which meant that at least in recent times, there had been no obvious shift in his behavior.
If she could pinpoint when it happened, she could work backward to the cause. Lee Hee-seo’s eyes gleamed as she pressed him for answers.
“Don’t speak in riddles. Give me a straight answer. When did you take over that body, and how?”
“You don’t seriously think you can solve this with nothing but talk, do you? Finish that. Then I’ll answer your question.”
Yet Je-eon refilled her glass with the same composed expression. Hee-seo held his gaze for a long moment before raising the glass to her lips again.
Her alcohol tolerance was quite formidable—a couple of glasses of wine wouldn’t be enough to intoxicate her.
Does this bastard take me for a fool? If he wants to play drinking games, he’d need to bring a goblin just to have a chance. As the glass emptied quickly, surprise flickered across Je-eon’s eyes.
“Ah, of course. Being from France, wine must suit your palate.”
“Yeah. I drank it like water back in France. Just kept it in a tumbler and carried it around.”
“Ha—well, that’s amusing. I’m quite fond of wine myself, actually. We seem to have remarkably similar tastes, don’t we?”
“That’s only what you think.”
Hee-seo’s reply was glacial, but Je-eon paid it no mind. She, in turn, refused to be rattled by his pace, concentrating her will instead. A long breath escaped her, carrying with it the lingering scent of grapes.
Je-eon wiped the mouth of the wine bottle with a clean cloth, his movements unhurried.
“I’ve been here for a very long time. So long I can’t even remember. Since ages past.”
“…You’d better be lying about that. One more question. What exactly are you after, inhabiting that body?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean exactly what I said. What grudge do you have that you’d possess his body?”
At her question, Je-eon’s smile dimmed for a moment. That wistful, forlorn expression resembled a painting—something you might frame and hang.
He paused in silence, then slowly refilled her glass. Every gesture was graceful, like a swan gliding across water. If only what he said hadn’t been so infuriating, Hee-seo might have found herself entranced, staring at him without thought.
“Believe it or not, I want to be helpful to you, Lee Hee-seo.”
“…Ha.”
Laughter spilled out despite her efforts to contain it—sheer incredulity at what this creature, having stolen someone else’s body, was saying.
Yet Je-eon remained unshaken by her scorn.
“But I cannot easily answer that question. You see, I don’t know the reason myself.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve taken over a living person’s body, and you don’t know why?”
“Whether you believe me or not is your choice. But I hope you’ll accept that I’m telling you the truth.”
“This makes absolutely no—!”
“Why talk about things you won’t believe? Shall we change the subject?”
Without meaning to, Hee-seo’s voice had risen. Then suddenly she pressed a hand to her forehead. The room spun sickeningly, and her body felt impossible to control.
As if she’d been drugged, not simply drunk.
He got me…
Hee-seo’s eyes fixed on the wine bottle in Je-eon’s hand. Now that she thought about it, since opening that bottle, his glass had remained just as full.
“…You put something in the wine. What did you do?”
“We’re going on a honeymoon. You and me. The two of us together. Until then, you need to keep yourself in proper condition, don’t you?”
“What? Why would I go on a honeymoon with you…?”
Her eyelids and limbs grew heavy. Sleep approached silently, like a tide about to swallow her whole, and yet she couldn’t simply surrender to it, not with a possessed person sitting right in front of her.
She couldn’t. She couldn’t afford to show weakness like this. Hee-seo stumbled to her feet, only to collapse at once.
The room tilted into slow motion as the floor drew near. Just as she was about to fall forward, her nose about to strike—
‘Great, I’m going to break my nose….’
“Oh my, Hee-seo. Don’t move so suddenly. You’ll hurt yourself.”
Contrary to her expectation, a firm arm wrapped around her waist. As consciousness slipped away, she mumbled something barely coherent.
“Whether I hurt myself… or not… why would you… care…?”
Sleep claimed her. Distantly, as if through water, she heard Je-eon’s laughter. And his voice, too, soft as a murmur.
“…For the first time, I have something of my own. Wouldn’t it make me sad if you got hurt? Hee-seo?”

***

Hee-seo dreamed—something she rarely did. It was an odd dream.

“Ah!”
Weightless for an instant, Hee-seo cried out softly in alarm. Then someone behind her caught her firmly in their arms. She turned, her eyes wide, to see who it was.
A familiar smile greeted her, warm and bright. It was Kim Je-eon, somehow there behind her now, holding her close and whispering something she couldn’t quite make out.
His voice was pleasant, humming almost, tickling her ear with its rhythm. The dog climbed higher into the sky, and clouds brushed against her cheeks. His words were lost in the soft rush of wind.

“What did you say?!”
“We……I, ……to!”
“What are you saying? I can’t hear you!”
In the end, a dog that had reached the very top of the sky barked relentlessly. Lee Hee-seo strained to hear Kim Je-eon, but his voice only grew more distant.
Frustrated, Lee Hee-seo grabbed Kim Je-eon’s shoulder and shook him.
“What……are you, properly ……say, it.”

“Lee Hee-seo? Lee Hee-seo?! Lee Hee-seo, wake up!”
Then Kim Je-eon called out to her, his lips moving. The unfamiliar form of address was strange enough, but what was stranger still was Kim Je-eon’s voice. He was clearly speaking, yet the sound that reached her ears was a woman’s voice.
What kind of absurd situation was this?
Dazed, Lee Hee-seo released her grip on Kim Je-eon, and in an instant she plummeted toward the ground.
“Aaahhh!”
“Oh my, Lee Hee-seo!”
With a dull thud, Lee Hee-seo jolted awake, her senses snapping back into focus.
Looking around, she found herself not in the sky but on a bed. Standing beside her was not Kim Je-eon, but her secretary, Jo, staring at her as though she were mad.
“A-are you all right, Lee Hee-seo?”
“……I’ve always had bad sleeping habits.”
“Yes……, yes. I suppose that’s it.”
Jo affirmed the excuse, her expression carefully controlled.
It seemed far too late to salvage her reputation in Jo’s eyes. She too must have heard about yesterday’s incident with the underwear fixation.
Lee Hee-seo pretended indifference and ran her fingers through her hair. Tangled strands caught on her fingertips. Judging by the disorder of the bed around her, she’d thrashed about quite violently in her sleep.
‘……Drugging the wine, the coward.’
Though she bore more blame for swallowing the drink Kim Je-eon had handed her without hesitation, Lee Hee-seo decided to fault him anyway.
Restoring her wounded pride took priority over facts. Besides, Lee Hee-seo had never considered self-deception a vice.
“That cowardly, sneaking bastard, as if I’d swallow anything from you next time……. I’ll drag you out and throw you into the fires of hell, I swear it by everything under heaven…….”
“Pardon? What did you just say, Lee Hee-seo?”
“Nothing. Just thinking aloud.”
“……Yes, I’m sure.”
Jo’s face went even paler. In her assessment, the one possessed by spirits was not Kim Je-eon but Lee Hee-seo. As though pursued by something, Jo delivered her message hastily.
“There is a dinner at the Chairman’s residence this evening. Both of you must attend. Hair and makeup staff will arrive at the mansion by five o’clock.”
Now it was Lee Hee-seo’s turn for her face to drain of color.
She recalled the dreadful wedding dress and evening dress she’d worn days ago. The corset had cinched so tightly that even now, afterward, she hadn’t recovered proper digestion—a persistent discomfort that tormented her.
“Could I just attend like this……? If I insist it’s a French style……?”
Jo’s expression, which had been studiously avoiding Lee Hee-seo’s gaze throughout, shifted at once. Her look said plainly: stop talking nonsense.
Under that withering stare, Lee Hee-seo fell silent, her lips pressed into a thin line.

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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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