“Okay~ Ah~”
What kind of situation is this?
“Hey, no need to be shy~ Just say Ah~ darling. Okay?”
“What’s that person?”
“They say it’s the Queen.”
Why is she in my room…
“Isn’t Alice here?”
“Call me Queen, darling, not Alice.”
“…….”
“But if darling wants… Alice wouldn’t be so bad either.”
Heh.
I couldn’t hide my disbelief as I looked at the grinning Queen.
When I turned down the Queen’s offer and returned with my party, I thought the Queen would show one of two attitudes.
The first was persuasion.
With a staggering sum of 30,000 gold—nearly 600 million won—offered, it seemed blessing was incredibly important to the Queen.
Maybe she’d offer more money or some special something from Kiki Island.
“Let go of my hand, darling. Quick.”
The second was theft.
Given that if I ‘die’ the blessing is seized, I wondered if this high-ranking Queen with Kiki Island’s power might just kill me.
I actually believed the second possibility was more likely than the first.
It’d be easier for her to kill me than to persuade someone who wouldn’t take hundreds of millions.
But…
“Come on~”
The Queen chose a completely different method.
One that was truly ridiculous.
“…Do you think I’d die for something like this?”
“I just came thinking about darling! What if you can’t have this Kiki Island specialty, banana ice cream? Can’t do that, right?”
Huh?
The Queen casually moved closer to me.
She could stay close, but beyond a certain distance was off-limits.
“Cheh…”
I was blocking her.
The Queen seemed disappointed as she knocked on the transparent wall made of magic and poked the spoon filled with ice cream.
“Darling, just try this. Then I’ll really go.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah! Hurry, hurry.”
I had no choice but to open the door.
Then the spoon rushed right to my mouth.
I couldn’t just shove it in; I could only look at it with my reddened eyes.
I snatched the spoon and put it in my mouth.
“Ehh.”
“It’s delicious. So sweet.”
Must be because it’s a specialty. It really is tasty.
[You have eaten the specialty of Kiki Island, banana ice cream.]
[Power has permanently increased by 1, Agility by 1.]
[Temporarily increases Power by 8, Agility by 9.]
Seeing all this increase…
“My hand touched. Hehe.”
“……”
“Anyway, as promised!”
As the queen stood up, the badge around her chest shimmered with a golden light.
The golden wave moved towards my card.
“You don’t have to give it.”
“Just take it, darling. I’m giving it because I want to.”
Well, I guess you could think of it as the price for bothering me, right?
“See you again~”
The queen lightly waved her hand and turned to smile at the trio she was watching before exiting.
“Wow… she’s pretty.”
“Right? The boss is pretty, but that queen is really beautiful.”
“R, Lady Lily is even prettier…”
“…What are you doing?”
White Autumn and Joah were watching, munching on popcorn that seemed to come from nowhere, along with the latecomer Apple Flavor.
With even 3D sunglasses on, White Autumn laughed and awkwardly took off the shades.
“That person from earlier was talking with the boss, right? Um… is that the real power here?”
“Pretty much.”
“Wow… so that beautiful person was just hooking up with her?”
Hooking up, huh.
Sure, that’s accurate, but was there any ambiguity in the intention from the start?
‘She’s just trying to somehow take my luck, huh…’
Honestly, it wouldn’t make much difference if I had it or not; I wouldn’t mind just giving it away.
Luck ultimately isn’t an absolute ability after all.
But I can’t just give up my chance of success.
Waiting two months is already a stretch.
“Looks like she just wants something I can’t give, so don’t worry about it and just enjoy yourselves.”
“…There’s something going on.”
“Treat it like there’s nothing if there is.”
I’ve said it time and again, but I’m not here to clear dungeons.
I’m just purely here to hang out and plan to leave quietly without any hassle.
“But where did Battery and Hyuji go?”
“They went to the billiard hall. I don’t know after that.”
Seems like guys have a way of connecting.
Joah, who arrived late, seemed to have gotten pretty close to the girl, White Autumn, and it looks like Hyuji has gotten friendly with Battery too.
There’s a tendency to group with similar people, but there’s nothing wrong with becoming friends.
‘Becoming friends is a good thing after all.’
I nodded while listening to Apple Flavor’s response.
“Where have you been, Apple Flavor?”
“I went to the casino…”
“Huh?”
“Why didn’t we see each other? Didn’t we all wander around a lot?”
Joah and White Autumn tilted their heads.
To that, Apple Flavor, seemingly uncomfortable under their gazes, fidgeted with his fingers and replied in a low voice.
“Well… I won more than I thought, so I went to the back early, but the back was a bit tough. No matter how much I played, my money stayed the same.”
Gulp!
“So I just came back, and um… everyone was here…”
“Aha? That makes sense.”
“If we had stayed longer, we could’ve met.”
“Haha…”
“Where are you going?”
White Autumn asked me as I was about to leave the room.
“If I stay like this, I feel like they’ll just keep coming. Can you say a few words?”
It was a good time to ask something.
—
‘So it really doesn’t work, huh?’
The queen walked through the hallway of the guest room with a barely touched scoop of ice cream, ready to go all out.
She was a bit angry when I initially turned down the suggestion.
To be honest, for the immortal outsiders, death isn’t a big deal.
If they die, it’s a pity, but after suffering some loss, they just resurrect.
Most of the outsiders the queen had seen didn’t care much about the meaning of death.
But Lily was different.
‘More than anything, my death is a loss.’
She avoids death like the plague.
No matter how much money you throw at her or how expensive the items, they won’t work.
But if you were to ask her if she wasn’t interested in material wealth, that wasn’t true either.
It’s like maintaining a clear boundary while receiving things?
Whatever you throw at it feels like it would be the same.
‘…So tricky.’
As a last resort, she considered brute force, but…
‘…Is this for real?’
‘That’s right.’
What Jack uncovered was shocking.
An outsider with transcendent power capable of taking down a massive dragon that would annihilate the continent.
Even Kler couldn’t contend with such a strong opponent outside the island, causing the queen to swallow hard.
‘I can’t win.’
There’s no chance of winning, and persuasion won’t work either.
Even blessings don’t have any effect.
All the queen’s assets were blocked.
It left only one alternative.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t submit to someone like me….”
If charm doesn’t work, she could just seduce directly.
Before gaining the blessing of charm, the queen, Alice, and Ria were already recognized for their stunning beauty and were the most popular and captivating figures on Kiki Island.
In that sense, the queen was confident.
No matter how much her opponent might be a woman or stone-hearted, if she acted sweetly, she could melt their heart.
“Ugh…”
She firmly believed that…
“Why in the world isn’t it working?”
It didn’t work at all.
Instead of showing discomfort and completely pushing her away, her opponent even looked at her with pity as if they were being considerate.
For a queen with the blessing of charm, this was a hit to her pride.
“Sigh…”
But this feeling wasn’t anger or wounded pride.
“Delicious. Sweet.”
The overwhelming beauty of someone whose charm is unknown.
Still, the queen felt a different emotion from the naturally considerate actions and tone.
Clearly, they came to seduce, but it seems like we’re the ones who fell for it.
Does luck also come tied with charm?
“I can’t. I have to go back once more…!”
“Excuse me.”
“Darling?”
Just as she was about to speak, Lily appeared.
Lily took a step closer to the queen.
In the dark lobby with a subtle glow, her blue eyes sparkled like jewels.
Eyes that seemed to draw you in with their shine.
The queen instinctively stepped back.
‘Why, why am I like this?’
It should just be an ordinary Blessed One.
It was a dilemma to approach, but if they came closer first, now’s the chance.
Right now, I have to charm her…
“I was trying not to say more.”
“Uh, huh?”
“Doing it this way doesn’t mean I’ll fall for you.”
Woosh!
In an instant, the queen’s gaze was lifted as her arm was pulled.
‘What?’
In the blink of an eye, she met Lily’s eyes.
Now, Lily’s face was literally right in front of hers, and the queen’s face flushed a bright red, just like her own crimson eyes.
“D-Darling?!”
“How’s that? Do you think you’ll fall for me?”
“…Uh-huh.”
It definitely seems like she will.
“…Not referring to you.”
“Darling, can I say I love you?”
“No.”
“I love you.”
“I’ve heard that a lot.”
“…From whom?”
Could it be that she has a lover?
Is that why she’s not accepting me?
For a moment, along with the thought that it was natural, a sense of defeat washed over her, but Lily sighed as if reading her mind.
“Like with Alice, to people I just met.”
“Ah… Huh?”
“To repeat, I can’t die for you. I can’t come back in two months either.”
Alice is just the resort manager to me. Nothing more, nothing less.
It’s not a special relationship, but it’s not a hateful one either.
Therefore, while it may be disappointing for Alice, it’s right to end it here.
Alice looked at her arm with a blank expression.
“Oh.”
I’ve been holding onto it all this time.
As soon as she let go, Alice slipped away.
What’s with that expression?
“You won’t be coming anymore, right?”
“……I feel like something else is needed now.”
“…What?”
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