Chapter 229: Northern Walls (5)
༺ Northern Walls (5)༻
Alicia was the daughter of a concubine. Throughout her early childhood in the Arden Household, she became fully aware of her position.
The child of a concubine. The outcome of adultery. An illegitimate child.
Because of the background she was raised in... her view on marriage was slightly distorted compared to others.
‘Hmm... Hua Ran-ssi...’
Looking at those suspicious actions just then... Alicia assumed that Hua Ran wasn’t even trying to hide it.
Whatever the case, it seemed evident that Hua Ran was pregnant with Korin’s child.
“That’s a bit unexpected...”
Alicia did think that someone would assault Korin before others. Marie, Hua Ran, Estelle, Miruam, Lunia-unni and Chairman Erin.
She did have the anticipation that someone would be unable to wait out this stalemate and make the first move. However, she wasn’t expecting that to be Hua Ran.
“I thought it would be Marie-sunbae if anyone.”
Although she was on the docile side compared to all the other women around Korin, Alicia knew how indecent she actually was on the inside. In fact, Marie might even be the most un-innocent person in the group.
“Well... Anyway.”
Korin-ssi had done it with Hua Ran.
Alicia found it slightly odd that it was in this specific time and occasion out of every possible situation, but looking at it from another perspective, maybe it meant that he couldn’t hold himself any longer.
“Then~ I won’t hold myself back either.”
Since Hua Ran had done it already, there was no reason for her to hold herself anymore. The first step was always the hardest one to take, and Alicia thought that it was now her turn.
It was quite a strange perspective to hold, but Alicia found nothing wrong with it and sincerely wanted to carry out her plans.
She had no plans of keeping Korin all to herself in the first place. One of her small (?) dreams was to have as big of a family as possible.
First mother, second mother, third mother... Hmm, as long as Korin’s energy could last, Alicia was okay with around ten.
What she wanted was a big family where a hundred sons and daughters could run around a large mansion, laughing and joking, with love for each other. Due to growing up while receiving only the love of her rather-indifferent older sister, Alicia had a yearning for a big family full of love.
‘I have to tell unni to assault him as quickly as possible when she comes.’
It truly was a distorted and strange perception of a family that she had.
“Korin-ssi~”
Sliding open the window of the 3rd floor, what Alicia came across was—
“......Woof.”
“......”
Doggo carrying Korin, as well as Marie giving the orders.
“...”
As well as Hua Ran, who despite her lacking sexual education, was here to basically do the same thing.
****
Ever since she saw Hua Ran going around looking for items for babies, Marie couldn’t calm herself down.
Hua Ran was pregnant with Korin’s baby.
It was a great shock to her, but Marie soon began organizing her thoughts.
‘Then... Is Korin going to marry Hua Ran?’
That would be a horrifying future, which she didn’t even want to see in her dreams.
However, it was a very possible thing to happen. It reminded her of the illusion she saw at the lands of druids beyond the eastern borders; the beautiful wedding dress Hua Ran was wearing while holding Korin’s hand.
The glimpse into that terrible possibility was lingering in her mind.
What had she done after witnessing that, she asked herself.
She waited years upon years, before coming to a conclusion.
That she couldn’t accept any form of defeat.
She acknowledged the filthy and lowly side that was in her. No matter what she had do – whether it included tricks, conspiracies, her money or authority... no matter how dirty it might seem on the outside...
She could never accept defeat as an outcome.
‘Thankfully, Korin still doesn’t know about it.’
Based on the conversation she heard, it seemed that Korin was still unaware of the fact that Hua Ran had bore his child. Which meant...
‘It’s not an official relationship yet.’
What determined who the winner was?
The winner would be the one standing next to Korin.
In other words, it was marriage.
The one marrying him would be the winner.
In that sense, Hua Ran was at a huge advantage, because having his baby meant Korin had a sense of responsibility for it.
And Korin Lork was not someone who would turn away from his own child.
Put in other words, the baby was the only disadvantage she had. With that in mind, her thoughts reached a dangerous conclusion.
“What if I also...”
“Woof?”
Doggo, who heard her mutter from her shadows, voiced out his confusion.
– I might be 2 years old and young, but I still don’t think this is what a normal person would think of.
“Ehem!”
Ignoring Doggo’s opinion, Marie immediately headed to the room Korin was staying in.
A baby, right?
If she had his baby as well, they would be on the same page again.
What did she have to do to have a baby? There was only one answer to that question.
Doing the deed.
It was time... to discard the patience and unleash her bottled-up desires.
“Woof, woof woof...”
– For real? Are you serious? Mom?
“Doggo. Quiet down and just open the door.”
She squeezed her shadow in through the locked door and summoned Doggo on the other side. As soon as Doggo opened the door, Marie walked in large strides towards Korin.
– Kuu...
Korin was in a deep sleep due to the built-up fatigue. Marie used sleeping magic on him just in case.
Officially acknowledged as a Unique Grade mage, she was one of the strongest mages of the continent.
Although most of her strength was in destructive spells, there was still no doubt that Marie herself was a talented mage. Even though Korin’s magic resistance wasn’t bad by any means, he didn’t stand much chance against a great mage with arguably the top mana pool from the entire continent.
After putting him in a deep sleep, Marie decided to move him in case there would be distractions.
She had already commanded the mages to create a secret base so she would head there and—
– Click!
– Creak!
– Kwaaaang!
“Huh?”
Roars suddenly began to replace the silence of the border city. Thinking that this might be an early invasion, Erin looked around in surprise.
“W, what is going on...!”
She quickly jumped up the building next to up and climbed onto the roof, and heard a scream.
“Kyaaahk...!”
Someone fell on the rooftop next to her and rolled across, whom Erin was able to immediately recognize. It was Alicia.
“Alicia! What is happening?”
“Uhk... Chairman?”
Alicia dropped the person she was carrying in her arms after seeing her.
“K, Korin?”
The person that rolled out of her arms was none other than her favorite disciple.
‘Oh no... How could he look so adorable even in his sleep?’
She was thinking something silly when three more people landed on the rooftop they were in.
“...Hand him over.”
“Doggo...”
“Woof!”
The girls walked forward while giving off a threatening demeanor. Erin gulped and tried to make sense of what was happening.
“U, uhm guys? I don’t know what’s happening but let’s first calm down...”
In the process, she instinctively pulled Korin tightly into her arms.
‘There is a strong curse of sleep cast on him.’
Erin attempted to remove the curse using runes.
“Hmm...”
The curse was so strong that Korin was still having trouble waking up, but that was when a sword pointed at Erin’s neck. It was Alicia.
“Hmm... It would be troubling if you woke him up. I would like Korin-ssi to remain still today.”
“A, Alicia?”
“...Let him go, Erin.”
“Chairman... Please step back.”
The three girls approached her with a frightening look in their eyes. Erin just couldn’t comprehend what was going on.
“C, calm down everyone. What’s gotten into you?”
‘I, is this normal for kids these days?’
Had she fallen behind in the current trends by this much? With such lamenting thoughts in mind, Erin started to dash under the night sky.
****
One of the warriors of the great gods who would open the ‘gates’ and command the legion of the gods in the time of apocalypse, Valkyrie Hilde, was observing the border city of Bifrost under the commands of her oldest sister, Brunhild.
These past few days, Bifrost was clearly suspicious.
They began repairing the walls that had been neglected for a long time, and hundreds of knights and mages were dispatched to deal with the nearby demonic beasts.
Thanks to that, Brunhild and the group were able to escape south from the ‘shadow demons’ without much retaliation from other demons but...
‘Strange. Has there always been such a strong army residing in Bifrost?’
It wasn’t good for them.
Brunhild, the Valkyries and the affiliated Northern Kingdom tribes had to cross the walls nto survive.
Of course, their plan was to start off with a conversation to request a way in, but it was highly unlikely for the El Rath Kingdom, with their long history of strife against the Northern Kingdom tribes, to accept them.
That was why they needed force.
If she and her sisters were strong... they could break through the border city. Their plan was to show off their might and make it easier to negotiate peacefully but...
“What the hell is that...”
The skies were roaring; the air was being frozen, and clouds were being dispersed.
Throughout her life, Hilde had encountered countless powerhouses and witnessed their battles.
During the final war, she had fought against the Frost and Flame Giants, and even witnessed the final moments of great gods.
What she saw back then... was truly fitting to be called the war of gods.
Surprisingly, a heaven-defying battle that didn’t fall short of that war in the past was being unraveled before her eyes.
“Uhh... Uhm...”
Can we... show off anything?
...............
............
.........
......
...
The long night finally came to an end. Korin raised his body, which for some reason, ached all around.
“Ahh, kuaahk...!”
What? What was happening? Why was he so tired?
Seeing how it was already morning, it meant that he had taken a long sleep and yet his body was aching all around as if he had bashed up the whole night.
Fighting against the fatigue, he somehow washed himself and came down to the shared cafeteria and found the same usual faces.
“Yo~. You are all here already.”
““............””
The girls welcomed him with silence. It was strange how all of them had bandages and band-aids all over their body.
“Uhh... what is it? Did something happen last night? Why are you all...”
“Nothing happened.”
“Nothing.”
“...Nothing.”
The three of them returned the same words at once. Before he could dig into that suspicious response, he found Erin off in the distance.
“Master?”
“...”
Erin, who always had a benevolent and generous smile on her face, gave him a fatigued smile with an exhausted gaze.
“Nothing happened...”
W, what was wrong with everyone? It was scary!
This was how Park Sihu was like for a long time in the last iteration when he found out about Miruam’s pregnancy.
‘What is it? I... haven’t done anything wrong recently, have I?!’
It would be harsh to blame him for not being able to predict the misunderstanding that was made from storks.