Chapter 53
#53. The Banquet
This morning was incomparably busier than usual.
After putting on a suit, I stopped by the department store to buy a gift, then had my hair done at the salon I had visited before my last blind date.
Considering that the appointment was at twelve and the department store opened at ten, no one could deny that it was a tight schedule.
I had been busy without even a moment to catch my breath, but it was something I had to put up with if I wanted it to pay off.
When I headed to the address I had received by text beforehand, a huge gate and nameplate greeted me.
[城北崔家]
The Chinese characters for Seongbuk Choi Family were engraved on the nameplate.
“...This is no joke.”
A mansion like this in the middle of Seoul? I had heard it covered more than 10,000 pyeong, and while I wondered whether that was even possible, I also thought that if it was the Seongbuk Choi family, it would be more likely to exceed that figure than fall short of it.
Even so, I couldn't help feeling nervous.
“Could you stop for a moment?”
Just as I was straightening my tie and heading toward the gate, the guards stopped me.
“May I ask what brings you here?”
“I'm Kang Hyeon-woo. I was invited by Madam Choi Yeong-ok.”
Only after I gave Grandmother Choi Yeong-ok's name did the intimidating-looking guards politely bow their heads and step aside.
At the same time, the huge gate opened automatically, revealing the inside of the magnificent mansion.
The garden was so vast that I couldn't take it all in at a glance.
Along the path, which was paved with a smooth material that might have been marble or stone, narrow streams ran on either side, with fish that looked expensive even at a glance swimming through them.
I was only briefly distracted by the garden's landscaping before the enormous mansion in the distance drew my attention once more.
“...People live in a place like that?”
The mansion was so enormous that I couldn't even take it all in at a glance.
Its exterior, which seemed to combine a hanok with a Western mansion, was so magnificent that it wouldn't have looked out of place in a movie.
Still, no matter how much money I made, I didn't think I'd want to live in a mansion like that.
Was it because I had lived my whole life as an ordinary person?
Just as I was thinking that living in a penthouse might be preferable, a familiar voice came from somewhere.
“Your jaw’s going to fall off.”
Choi Hye-na appeared in a dress decked out with extravagant decorations, her wavy red hair streaming in the breeze. She looked completely different from usual.
“Do you dress like that at home too?”
Isn't wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts the standard at home?
“I’m not dressed up, so stop talking nonsense and just follow me.”
Choi Hye-na abruptly turned her head away and went on her way, so I followed behind her.
‘I never even said you looked dressed up, though.’
Of course, I kept my words to a minimum in case saying one more thing earned me a strike from one of her sharp high heels.
Still, with her mage's outfit replaced by a dress, she certainly gave off the air of a young lady from a wealthy family.
If only she could tone down her personality a little, she'd be perfect.
‘By the way, is it just me, or does the atmosphere feel strangely cold?’
I was a little uncertain, but I put those distracting thoughts aside as the mansion drew closer and closer.
“Isn’t it uncomfortable living in a place like this?”
“...It’s not uncomfortable.”
The question had slipped out without me realizing it, but Choi Hye-na's attitude was unmistakably frosty.
I had thought we'd grown somewhat close after sharing life and death in the Gate, but had I been mistaken?
“How did someone who lives in a huge mansion manage in that cramped tent...?!!”
Wham!!
“I-I told you to forget what happened back then?!”
It was unfair.
I had only brought it up to ease the awkward atmosphere. Was it really worth taking a punch to the stomach over?
‘Is it really because of that day?’
Her attitude had been strangely different from usual since earlier.
““Welcome.””
Regardless, when Choi Hye-na touched something, the mansion's front door opened automatically, and rows of maids welcomed us.
They all looked around my age, and every one of them was remarkably beautiful.
‘Living in a huge mansion might not be so bad.’
I had heard that European nobles lived lavishly by staffing their homes with girls who matched their tastes.
Once I became a grand mage, there would be no reason I couldn't live that way either.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“Do you like it?”
“...?”
“I asked if you like it.”
With her expression growing extremely displeased, Choi Hye-na abruptly jabbed me repeatedly in the chest.
This time I hadn't said anything. I had merely followed her, so what on earth had put the young lady in such a bad mood?
It didn't take much thought to figure out the answer.
“Are you jealous right now?”
“...Die.”
After muttering that one short word, Choi Hye-na walked on in silence without speaking to me or even giving me a glance.
***
Choi Hye-na woke up before dawn.
Before the sun had even risen, she summoned the maids and soaked in bathwater infused with an expensive perfume oil released as a limited edition by an Italian alchemist, allowing its subtle fragrance to enhance her beauty.
She called in the services of the most famous hair salon in Cheongdam to do her hair and makeup at the mansion, then put on a one-of-a-kind dress that a famous designer had made for her several days earlier after taking her measurements and style into consideration.
Finally, she added jewelry that she normally found too flashy to wear.
In some ways, her morning routine resembled Kang Hyeon-woo's, but the time and money she had invested were on an entirely different scale.
The maids all praised her as incredibly beautiful, but the expression on her face as she looked in the mirror was anything but pleased.
Had she ever gone to such lengths to dress herself up?
Without a doubt, never once.
At the parties and events she had attended until now, she had only made a token effort to dress up for appearances. This was the first time she had spent hours moving around from before dawn until her feet were sore to adorn herself like this.
If all this had been nothing more than a way to lift her spirits, she wouldn't have felt so dissatisfied.
‘...Kang Hyeon-woo.’
Yet as she bathed, applied her makeup, and got dressed, she thought of him throughout and kept checking herself in the mirror. She felt as though she looked like a lovestruck adolescent girl, and it wounded her pride for no reason.
How had things ended up like this?
Was there really any need to dress up?
What exactly were Kang Hyeon-woo and I to each other?
Questions that no one could answer clearly continued circling through her mind like a broken record.
“This is frustrating. So frustrating.”
“...I told you to shut up.”
Wendigo was normally quiet, but whenever Choi Hye-na thought of Kang Hyeon-woo, Wendigo would always pop out to pester her.
“Tsk, tsk. At this rate, when do you plan to pay the price of our contract?”
“I’ll handle it myself.”
“You? How?”
Wendigo flew through the air, letting out an irritating laugh.
“You blush and twist your legs just thinking about a man who isn't even in front of you, yet how do you expect to get his ‘affection’?”
“...”
“Sigh, you little human child.”
Wendigo descended from the air and lowered to meet the downcast Choi Hye-na's eyes.
“Be honest with your feelings. Remember that hiding your feelings and turning away from them is utterly useless. Otherwise, even things that should work out won’t.”
Wendigo was not offering this advice because Wendigo cared for the contractor, Choi Hye-na.
As a condition for entering into a spirit contract with Choi Hye-na, Wendigo had made an agreement with her to receive Kang Hyeon-woo's affection.
‘Ah... Lord Hyeon-woo...’
Although possessing Choi Hye-na's body had prevented Wendigo from entering into a contract with Kang Hyeon-woo, and falling into a deep sleep for some unknown reason had kept Wendigo from helping him escape the Gate, Wendigo still treasured and remembered what had happened that day.
The advice given to Choi Hye-na was merely a means of reconnecting with Kang Hyeon-woo as soon as possible.
Choi Hye-na had no idea about that, but she had not the slightest intention of taking Wendigo's advice at face value.
Why?
‘I’m crazy, I’m crazy, I’m crazy, I’m crazy, I’m crazy!!’
She was already hiding her feelings even from herself, and Wendigo wanted her to convey them directly to the man himself without filtering anything?
As if she'd ever do that.
Choi Hye-na was still in the denial phase of falling for him.
The very idea of giving her heart to a man was absurd, and telling him about those feelings was practically as ridiculous as expecting her to reach the seventh circle by tomorrow.
Even so, whenever she found an opportunity, Choi Hye-na kept sneaking glances at the mirror to fix her hair and smooth her clothes, and the maids smiled warmly at her retreating figure.
Ah, our young lady has finally found a man she likes!
The maids' whispers passed through the head maid and eventually reached Choi Yeong-ok, the hostess of the mansion.
Her granddaughter had fallen in love with the man who had saved her life! The fact that the man was Kang Hyeon-woo, whom she had already had her eye on for her, pleased her even more.
It was only natural for a smile to spread across Choi Yeong-ok's lips.
As time passed, Kang Hyeon-woo arrived at the dining hall alongside Choi Hye-na, looking like a clean-cut young man dressed far more impeccably than when he had met them at the Mage Tower and in the hospital.
He bowed with decorum.
“It’s been a while.”
“Welcome.”
Choi Yeong-ok watched him fondly, then gestured for him to sit.
Today, she was meeting him not as Choi Hye-na's grandmother but as the hostess of the Seongbuk Choi family, so she remembered to speak formally.
Choi Hye-na looked at Kang Hyeon-woo, who had taken his seat first, as though pondering something, then eventually sat beside him.
At the sight, Choi Yeong-ok had to restrain her desire to pull her adorable granddaughter into an embrace with superhuman patience.
“I was worried I might have arranged this appointment rather hastily, so thank you for coming with such a bright expression.”
“Not at all. I’m unemployed, so I have more than enough time. I haven’t even entered a Mage Tower yet.”
As we exchanged updates and chatted about this and that, the table was soon laden with dishes.
“You must be hungry after coming here first thing this morning, so eat plenty. Tell me if it isn’t enough.”
“Thank you.”
Choi Yeong-ok pretended to eat while repeatedly stealing glances at Kang Hyeon-woo and Choi Hye-na.
Like her, Choi Hye-na barely touched her food and busied herself sneaking glances at Kang Hyeon-woo.
How could she be so cute?
Choi Hye-na was sensitive to other people's gazes, but she failed to notice that her grandmother was watching her now.
‘...Cute.’
Choi Hye-na did not spare even a single glance for the food made from expensive ingredients.
All her attention and interest were fixed on Kang Hyeon-woo.
Perhaps because he felt awkward in a setting like this, Kang Hyeon-woo was eating soup with a dessert spoon. On top of that, the way he awkwardly cut his steak with a knife was so cute that she couldn't take her eyes off him for even a moment.
If her past self had seen this sight, she would have called herself crazy and torn her hair out, but nothing could stop the Choi Hye-na she was now.
Of course, she was disappointed that he hadn't praised her for dressing up so earnestly, but Choi Hye-na was so focused on Kang Hyeon-woo that she didn't even have the energy to show it.
And so the meal continued, all for one person.
***
When the feast ended after some time, Grandmother Choi Yeong-ok suggested that I take a short break and ended the gathering.
As a result, I had time to kill and nowhere to go, so I wandered aimlessly through the mansion's corridors, unsure where I was.
I was absolutely not lost.
“...This place is fucking huge.”
If I'd known this would happen, I should have accepted when the maid offered to show me the way.
I had refused because Choi Hye-na's expression had been so menacing, but who knew it would end like this?
With no other choice, I continued walking wherever my feet took me.
If I happened upon a servant, I could simply ask them for directions.
But as though fate were playing some kind of prank, I couldn't see a single person wherever I went.
Just as I was wondering whether I should call Choi Hye-na and ask her to come rescue me.
“Ha, I knew this would happen.”
A familiar voice I was glad to hear came from behind me.
“A guest who went to look around the house actually got lost.”
“I’m not exactly lost.”
“Shut up.”
Although it sounded like she was scolding me, Choi Hye-na's voice was strangely lively.
“Just follow me.”
I followed behind Choi Hye-na as she took the lead once again.
Before long, we arrived at a door that looked slightly different from the ones we'd passed so far.
“...Come in.”
“Where is this?”
“My room.”
Before I could even process that it was Choi Hye-na's room, the door opened.
‘Oh...’
From top to bottom, the room was filled with furniture and décor for which luxurious was a more fitting description than extravagant.
It was also so spacious that it would have been more accurate to call it a house than a room.
‘I could fit more than twenty of my studio apartments in here.’
It really drove home just how cramped the place I lived in was.
“Stop looking around and take this.”
While I was looking around the room, Choi Hye-na handed me an expensive-looking box.
Inside the box were the wand and ring I had lent her in the Gate.
“They served me well. If you hadn’t lent me your equipment, there would have been many more times I'd have been attacked by magical beasts before I could even cast a spell. I probably wouldn’t be alive and in one piece like this now.”
“If you knew that, you should’ve taken better care of them.”
“...Are you seriously insane?”
Just as I raised my guard to protect myself from Choi Hye-na, who was striding toward me as if she intended to punch me in the stomach again—
Grab—
“...Huh?”
Choi Hye-na abruptly grabbed me by the collar.
Then she leaned her flushed face close and spoke in a trembling voice.
“...What happened in the Gate.”
The hand gripping my collar was trembling so violently that I felt myself tremble along with it.
“Did you really forget everything?”