Chapter 84
ㅡClunk!
“Woooo…. Good job, Minyum!”
ㅡClick!
Minyum diligently moved the heavy oil canisters, the metal, and the box of special fabric. There’s a small storage space called the pantry, so for now I put them away neatly in there. The box looks like it might be needed again later, so I’m keeping it stored for now.
After we got home, I washed my hands, changed into pajamas, and then flopped on the bed and rolled around for a bit. The kids’ zone wasn’t especially fun, but since we went in, it’d be a waste not to enjoy it. I guess I’m a little tired from playing hard?
“Ophelia.... Can we take some pictures?”
“I will prepare everything.”
“Yes.”
Still, I promised Ophelia, so first we have to take the pictures. The stronger I get, the better I’ll be able to fight in dungeons and the like, and Doggo, Minyum, and Suri will all get stronger too.
Besides, according to Ophelia, I’m still about a hundred times weaker than I’ll be once I’m fully strong. That means I still have a hundredfold growth potential.
My height will grow a hundredfold too.
“Where are the outfits?”
“Just a moment.”
Our house has three rooms. One is a studio... a room we set aside to use for photos, my master bedroom, and a room for Ophelia. Though Ophelia spends most of her time in the living room anyway.
“Wow.... What is all this..?”
“These are outfits I made little by little.”
There was a whole pile of flashy clothes that were practically cosplay-level. They weren’t just hanging on a clothes rack either—there were even odd mannequin-like figures with only a person’s upper and lower halves left. Apparently, when I was in England, I ordered everything and Minyum received it.
“Let’s have you try this outfit today.”
“Eeeeh....”
* * * * *
“Yes, please turn your head a little more and look this way.”
“L-like this..?”
The studio already has lights and that small white glowing circular stage I’d seen before. There are also reflector boards, plus the super-high-definition, crazy-expensive camera Ophelia splurged on and a tripod.
“Good.”
ㅡClick!
“Excellent. It seems the princess has a talent for modeling.”
“A-ahem! Of course! I’m a pro model too, after all!”
I already have experience working as a kids’ model for a major conglomerate. Of course, the magazine still hasn’t come out yet, but once it does, I’ll become an instant star.
Eloise has only been active for three months and already has 1.8 million followers, right? Once my magazine starts selling, won’t I get insanely famous too? What if people start asking me to take pictures outside? Ugh, being famous is hard.
“Mwahaha.”
ㅡBeep!
“Huh? What’s wrong, Doggo? How do I look? Pretty?”
ㅡBeep....
“What? You’re so picky. How could I possibly be any more elegant than this?”
ㅡBeep-beep!
“A laugh? How am I supposed to laugh? Like this, ohohoho—?”
But somehow, laughter is hard to control. It comes out because something is funny, so how am I supposed to change it however I want? At this point, I really am a princess, aren’t I?
ㅡDing-dong
“Gah! Who is it..?! ”
I was looking over the photos with Ophelia in the studio room when the doorbell suddenly rang. Do we have a visitor coming to our house..? No way it was the downstairs neighbors coming up because we were being noisy.
I am wearing heels right now, but I’m not exactly walking around....
ㅡBweep
“W-who is it??”
“I’m here to loot. Open the door.”
“Hwaaah!!!”
The culprit was a burglar!! No, it was Han Dohee, who was putting on a weirdly exaggerated voice. She said she’d come by once before, so I guess she came today. Maybe she heard from Chaerin unnie that I’d gotten home.
“I’ll open it for you, just a second!!”
I also happen to have the thing I bought in England to give as gifts (Ophelia bought it). I said I packed enough for five people just in case, and I already gave one to Chaerin unnie. The remaining ones... maybe one for Han Dohee or Chaea unnie? I’m not sure who to give the other two to.
ㅡCreeeak....
The door opened, and Han Dohee, who had been standing outside, started to wave before she froze.
“Oh, wow. Cosplay?”
“A-ah, no.... It’s not that...”
“Dohee, welcome.”
“Hi. Ophelia, this is the thing I asked you for before.”
“Thank you.”
“Eep.”
Han Dohee handed the big bag in her hand to Ophelia, then took off her shoes and came inside. The bag was like a huge shopping bag? You know, the sturdy kind that doesn’t tear easily.
“Wow, what is this place? A studio? You were in the middle of a photo shoot?”
“I-it’s just.... I thought I might upload a few photos online...”
As soon as you come inside, the room right in front of you is the studio, so Han Dohee was startled when she looked inside. There was a ton of equipment that looked totally professional, and she was reminiscing as she looked around.
If you look at the old photos on Han Dohee’s account, there are a few that look like they were taken in a studio. These days, though, she only uploads everyday photos.
“Yeah, yeah, no one’s saying anything. Your outfit is cute. Where’d you get it?”
“Ophelia made this for me...”
“Wow, Ophelia’s seriously talented. I’d almost want to ask her to make one for me too.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Han Dohee walked down the short hallway into the living room and looked around, saying it was like a completely different house from the last time she’d been here. And honestly, she wasn’t wrong—while I was in England, some display cabinets and other things were brought in, and the furniture had increased a lot.
“But what did you just bring??”
“This? Kimchi. I went to my father’s side of the family and helped with kimjang. I brought it because I thought maybe there’d be someone around Eve who wanted kimchi. Ophelia asked me to, too.”
“She did, Ophelia?”
“Yes, that’s right. It seems essential for Korean cooking, but unfortunately, we didn’t have the equipment or the time, so we couldn’t make kimjang ourselves.”
“Heh.”
Kimjang with Ophelia, though—it’s kind of funny. It just doesn’t suit her at all, a white-haired maid in kimjang clothes doing kimjang..? If I posted that, my follower count would probably jump a hundredfold.
And Han Dohee doing kimjang is just as out of place. A jirai-kei girl doing kimjang? It feels like boiling cheonggukjang with natto.
Back then, I hardly ever ate at home, so just the kimchi the convenience store owner gave me every now and then was enough to last me a whole year. There wasn’t even that much, and if things got bad, I still had kimchi left from the year before last.
“Dohee, these are souvenirs I brought back from England.”
“Oh, thanks.”
The souvenir gift just has assorted tea bags, British fruit jam? And chocolate and dessert cookies and stuff like that. I even tried one myself, so I know it’s really delicious.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?”
“Eh, really? I was going to eat with Chaea, though.”
“You can invite Chaea here.”
“Ah, then I guess I’ll call Chaea too, Eve?”
“I don’t mind, but...”
I was planning to play games after I finished all this, but if it turns out like this, it doesn’t really feel like resting.... Still, whatever. I already went out once today and came back, so I can just think of it as a workday.
An introvert isn’t really resting just because they’re at home if there’s someone else there, you know.
“Ophelia, should I help with anything?”
“It’s fine. Miss Dohee, please just sit down.”
“Wow, Eve’s lucky. Since Ophelia does everything, you’ve got nothing to do.”
“Heehee.... Well, yeah! Ophelia is competent, after all!”
“What if Ophelia disappeared, Eve?”
“O-Ophelia..?”
Come to think of it, what would I do if Ophelia disappeared? Well, of course there’s no way that would happen, but Ophelia is my summon, my mom figure, my maid, and so on. Naturally, she’d always be right next to me....
‘What if Ophelia went and found another princess..?!’
What if some even more amazing, beautiful, and cute princess with five million followers suddenly showed up....
“O-Ophelia! Is there anything I can help you with!?”
“It’s fine. Please wash your hands and come back for dinner prep, Princess.”
“Huuuh.”
Look at that. It seems like Ophelia is fine without me, but I can’t be without Ophelia..?
‘This can’t be..!’
From now on, I’m going to become just a little more independent as a princess! Of course, I’m not actually becoming independent or anything.... I just mean the kind who can handle things properly on her own..?”
But I don’t really know how much work Ophelia is doing, so it’s not easy.
“Chaea says she’s coming up from the first floor right now.”
“Ah!! I need to change clothes!!”
I was still wearing the cosplay outfit I’d put on for taking photos to upload online with Ophelia. If I don’t change out of it quickly, the vicious SNS addict Chaea unnie might grab me and post me on her Instagram.
And with her ridiculous awakened powers, she might even scoop me up and press my face against that enormous chest.
I got hit by that once before.
“Nngh, eek..!”
“Eve, what are you doing?”
“I can’t reach the corset tie in the back..!”
There’s a corset lacing knot tied at the back of my waist, but with the sleeves making it hard to move, I can’t reach it. Ophelia is busy cooking right now, so I have to do it myself.
“Why take it off? Just keep wearing it.”
“It’s kind of weird to show you an outfit like this...”
“Chaea would love it, though.”
“That’s exactly why I don’t want to..?”
Han Dohee doesn’t help at all and is sitting on the sofa stroking Doggo’s butt, while Minyum is meditating and Suri isn’t interested. After about a minute of struggling, the doorbell rang and Chaea unnie arrived.
“I’ll go open the door for Chaea and be right back.”
“Whaaat..!”
I tried to at least take off the bonnet I was wearing on my head in a hurry, but there was another hard knot under my chin that I couldn’t see.
ㅡBeep-beep
In the end, by the time Chaea unnie came in with the sound of the door lock opening, she caught sight of me lying face-down on the floor, reaching my hand behind my back.
“Eve!? You’re wearing such a pretty outfit today?!”
“She said she was going to take pictures and post them online. Apparently Ophelia made the clothes herself too.”
“Pretty! It’s super cute!”
“H-hello..?”
“Come here, Eve! Let’s take pictures together!”
I knew this would happen.
* * * * *
“Wow.... This is kind of amazing.”
“What do you mean?”
“That Ophelia makes Korean food. Back then, we were eating bread and pasta and stuff like that.”
It felt like all sorts of cabinets and drawers had been added, and there were tons of things used only for Korean food now. It also reminds me of when I first lived on my own, which is nice too—I did still cook for myself every now and then back then.
I even had rice delivered, so this is the first white rice I’ve eaten in a really long time.
“Aang-nyang-nyang.”
“Aww, you’re so cute, Eve. You even eat well.”
“Heehee.... Eh....”
Can I really be praised for eating like this at my age?