Chapter 7
For the past three years, Ivan had been forced to live a celibate life.
Of all the things he had been forced to suppress, his sex drive had obviously suffered the most.
Thinking back, women had not exactly been a major part of his previous life either, but at least opportunities had existed.
Now, not only was dating out of the question, he never even had occasion to see a woman’s face.
In that sense, the scene unfolding before him was almost excessively stimulating.
Ivan stared at her as if entranced, unable even to breathe.
Before him was an otherworldly beauty he had never once seen in reality.
First, his pupils registered hair as white as untouched first snow and skin just as pale.
Next, her endlessly blue eyes clutched at his heart.
Finally, pale pink··· Fucking hell. Ivan was overcome by a crushing sense of self-loathing.
No matter how desperate a person was, there were boundaries one had to respect as a human being.
Even as he thought that, Ivan simply could not tear his eyes away from the woman before him.
She calmly met that intense gaze and asked:
“What are you doing?”
Only then did Ivan clearly realize the seriousness of the crime he was committing.
‘I’m fucked!!’
In his previous life, he would have been thrown straight in jail and suffered a social death as everyone severed ties with him.
In this uncivilized medieval-fantasy world, he would have no grounds for complaint even if her enraged family tore him limb from limb.
“I’m sorry!!!”
His head went completely blank. Ivan executed a picture-perfect dogeza, then fled at full speed.
***
Left alone, the woman muttered with a dazed expression.
“What was that···?”
A soul so immense that merely meeting her eyes exerted fierce pressure.
Her stature was comparable not to a human’s, but to the beings of great myths.
And she was in need of that kind of mystery. Desperately so.
It was a simple problem to solve. All she had to do was find him herself.
Elena slowly rose to her feet.
***
“Haa······.”
“Why are you suddenly moping? You’re putting me in a bad mood.”
Ivan looked at the old man with mournful eyes, then turned away again.
“Haa······.”
“Did I hit your head too hard? Hey, how many fingers do you see?”
The old man waved his fingers exaggeratedly in front of Ivan’s eyes.
Ivan lacked the energy even to get angry, so he answered halfheartedly.
“It isn’t that, so don’t rile me up for no reason. I’m already miserable enough to die.”
“Bullshit. With that vacant look on your face, you must’ve fallen for someone.”
“······!!”
Ivan was so shocked he could only gape.
“No, how did you know that?”
“I know it when I see it. It’s not my first time seeing an idiot like you. Come sit down. I’ll give you some advice.”
Ivan felt a surge of indignation, but quickly calmed down.
Indeed, despite his appearance, the old man gave off the air of someone who had been quite the womanizer in his younger days.
Surely that was better than nothing, wasn’t it? After thinking it over, Ivan opened his mouth.
“The thing is, actually···.”
After hearing a brief explanation, the old man rolled around on the ground and burst out laughing.
Tight. Ivan’s fist clenched.
After wheezing with laughter for a long while, the old man finally got up, wiped away his tears, and said:
“So you ran away just like that? You were an even bigger lunatic than I thought.”
“What else was I supposed to do in that situation?”
At Ivan’s blunt reply, the old man wore a lecherous expression.
“Good grief, you pathetic bastard. Do I really have to spell it out? Just go with the mood and get her into bed···.”
Ivan swung his fist without a word.
As if he had expected it, the old man turned his head and dodged the attack.
“Slow.”
“You old bastard, seriously. Even if senility’s set in, couldn’t you at least go crazy with some dignity?”
“You’re only getting prickly because you’re embarrassed. And you call yourself a man?”
Figures. Asking a man like that for romantic advice had been a mistake from the start.
The old man roughly patted Ivan’s drooping back, as if encouraging him.
“A man shouldn’t lose heart over something like that. There are so many women in the world.”
“Go away, would you.”
Ivan lowered his head, belated shame surging over him. If possible, he wanted to crawl into a hole.
‘Ah, what a fucking idiot. ‘Huh?’ What the hell was I doing?’
Looking back, not a single part of it had been normal—from each little action to the way he finished.
How pathetic must he have looked, just staring at her with his mouth hanging open?
If only he hadn’t run away at the end, there might have been a sliver of hope···. Now he would probably never see her again.
‘Fuck···I loved her.’
Ivan buried his first love in his heart. A single hot tear rolled down his cheek.
Watching that pathetic spectacle, the old man felt an urge to gouge out his own eyes.
Ivan looked up at the old man with reddened eyes.
“Master, what is love?”
Even now, the old man couldn’t bring himself to refrain from kicking him.
“Quit your bullshit and go inside and sleep. Unless you want to die.”
“Yes···.”
With a large footprint left on his back, Ivan trudged off to bed.
“I must be crazy. Why did I ever take on a guy like him···.”
The old man clicked his tongue as he watched Ivan’s pathetic retreating figure.
Apparently, he would have to watch that sorry spectacle for several days.
***
“A strong and vigorous morning!!”
“······?”
Contrary to expectations, Ivan was energetic to an almost excessive degree.
The old man rubbed his eyes, briefly wondering if he was seeing things. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a dream.
“Why are you grinning like a lunatic after bawling all night?”
“Now that I think about it, Master was right. There are so many women in the world; clinging to one woman is a bit much.”
“It’s good you’ve come to your senses, but why do you look so obnoxious?”
Ivan looked down at the old man arrogantly. The sight of his face made the old man’s fist clench on its own.
“And more importantly···when it comes to looks, I think I’m the one who’s more of a catch. Where in the world would she find a guy as handsome as me?”
“······.”
Sometimes something can be so absurd that it leaves you completely speechless. That was exactly what happened to the old man.
Taking the silence as a positive sign, Ivan went one step further.
“Maybe she’ll even come looking for me herself? Then I’d be in trouble···Agh!”
He couldn’t let that pass. A huge fist thudded against the crown of Ivan’s head.
“There’s a limit to how shameless you can be. What a lunatic···.”
“Jeez, why is this old man so violent? What are you going to do if I’m right!”
The old man snorted as though it were ridiculous.
“Ha, if that happens by some chance, I’ll grant you one wish.”
Knock-knock. No sooner had the old man said this than the sound of someone knocking outside reached them.
‘Havel? He shouldn’t be here yet.’
“Looks like a friend has come to visit. I’ll go see who it is.”
“You have a friend? That can’t be right.”
Ivan let the malicious slander pass in one ear and out the other, then flung open the door.
“Brother, what brings you here so soon···.”
“Hello.”
Elena waved lightly in greeting. Ivan froze in the exact position he was in while opening the door.
“You do remember, don’t you? My name is Elena. And you?”
“···I’m Ivan.”
“I have something to discuss regarding yesterday. May I come in?”
“Uh, yes···.”
Ivan was half out of his mind and awkwardly shuffled aside.
The old man, who had more or less grasped the situation, reacted no differently. No, even worse.
‘That ridiculous delusion was real?’
Unable to overcome the despair welling up from deep in his chest, the old man collapsed to his knees.
“······?”
As the two men lost their wits in an instant, Elena alone tilted her head, unable to understand why.
***
Elena took a sip of the tea in front of her. A rich aroma rose from it.
“Delicious.”
“Th-thank you···?”
Ivan knelt politely in front of her. She clearly hadn’t come for any good reason.
Unless she was insane, who could possibly have taken a liking to someone in that situation?
Ivan lowered his head.
“I’m···truly sorry about what happened yesterday.”
“It’s all right. It didn’t seem intentional, so accidents happen.”
‘She’s just going to let this slide?’
For a moment, he was so moved he nearly burst into tears. In Ivan’s mind, Elena was practically a saint.
“But you kept staring without looking away. That wasn’t an accident.”
“Ah···.”
As expected, the light went out of Ivan’s eyes.
From behind, the old man watched him and quietly sneered. What could she possibly like about a guy like that?
“I’m truly sorry···. I’ll do anything I can.”
“You’ll do anything, really?”
For the first time, something resembling emotion appeared in Elena’s voice.
Did he overdo it? Ivan’s palms grew damp with sweat.
But once words were spoken, they could not be taken back.
Ivan prepared himself mentally to calmly accept any outrageous demand.
“Yes, anything.”
“Then I’m going to live here.”
“······?”
Even so, he had never expected this.