Chapter 13.2

Chapter 13.2

“Do you know what this is?”

He dangled the smartphone he was holding.

“I know. It’s a goblin’s magic wand.”

“Oh, correct. How did you know?”

“Seok-kyung told me. He said no one uses those old-fashioned, bumpy goblin wands anymore.”

“Then what about this?”

Cheong-seon rummaged through his hoodie pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.

“Sunglasses.”

“Hmm, they do look like sunglasses. Half correct.”

Cheong-seon put away the smartphone and unfolded the arms of the sunglasses, placing them askew on his forehead.

“These are goblin’s invisibility caps. Do you know about them?”

“Yes, I’ve read about them in books.” Ara nodded.

Goblin’s invisibility caps. Along with the goblin’s magic wand, they are among the most famous of the goblins’ mystical treasures.

“Watch, when I wear them like this…”

Cheong-seon slowly lowered the sunglasses with his index finger.

Swoosh.

In an instant, Cheong-seon, who had been sitting right in front of her, vanished.

“Cheong-seon?”

Startled, Ara called out to him.

She reached out to feel the spot where he had been sitting, but there was nothing there. She couldn’t even feel the slightest resistance against her fingertips.

No way. Did he really disappear just like that? Is this even possible?

Ara withdrew her hand and instinctively covered her open mouth.

Only then did Cheong-seon push the sunglasses back up. His vanished form reappeared as if nothing had happened.

“Ta-da. How about that? Isn’t it amazing?”

Ara, forgetting her earlier gloom, nodded vigorously.

Cheong-seon, noticing Ara’s sudden change in mood, laughed heartily. He began to understand why the king had allowed this ordinary human woman into their home.

“It’s really amazing. It felt like you became completely invisible, no, a transparent goblin.”

“Right? Even if I stood right in front of you wearing these, you wouldn’t know I was there.”

“Does it even mask your breathing?”

“Of course. It even silences your voice.”

Oh, but if two beings are wearing the invisibility caps, they can see and hear each other. It’s like being in a different dimension from the human world.

Cheong-seon, who had been chattering away with extra information, suddenly grinned.

“Ara.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to try it on?” Cheong-seon took the sunglasses from his forehead and offered them to Ara.

“What? No, no.” Ara stared intently at the sunglasses in Cheong-seon’s hand but waved her hands in refusal. “For a human like me, it’s too…”

Cheong-seon chuckled and extended his hand closer to Ara.

“Too extraordinary…”

A little closer,

“Maybe even dangerous…”

And a little closer still.

“…Are you sure it’s okay?”

Cheong-seon laughed loudly at Ara’s finally honest response.

“Of course, it’s okay. Why wouldn’t it be? I’m lending you my own stuff.”

Cheong-seon waited for Ara to reach for the sunglasses, but just before her fingers touched them, he pulled his hand back quickly.

“But there’s one condition.”

Of course.

Ara pouted. Like master, like servant. These cunning goblins wouldn’t give anything away so easily.

“What is it?”

“I heard from Seol-do that you just arrived here yesterday. So, you’re still getting to know each other. That’s probably why Geumsang Jeonha is reluctant to share old stories.”

Cheong-seon subtly scooted closer to Ara, draping his left arm over her shoulder. Despite having just met today, he acted as if they were friends of ten years.

“The quickest way to get close is… this, right?”

Cheong-seon clicked his tongue and mimed tipping back a drink.

“I’ll set up a welcome party for you. Unlimited delicious drinks included.”

He smacked his lips as if the thought alone made his mouth water. You could even hear him gulp.

It seemed like he was trying to satisfy his own desires…

Ara narrowed her eyes and looked at Cheong-seon. “So, tonight, just prepare a great spread of snacks with your amazing cooking skills.”

“Hmm…”

Sensing an incoming refusal from her, Cheong-seon made the offer sweeter with words, “Ara, you’re really an amazing cook. I’ve tasted food from almost every famous chef over my hundreds of years, but your cooking is on a completely different level. The savory taste that clings to the tongue, the perfect seasoning—it’s truly the masterpiece of a culinary maestro.”

“Where else would I get to eat such incredible food to my heart’s content? Come on, I’ll let you use this right away, just help me out one more time. Please?”

Cheong-seon grabbed Ara’s hand and placed the sunglasses in it. He even tilted his head and acted cute, just like he did with Baekseol.

“Deal?”

Ara looked back and forth between his adorable face and the sunglasses in her hand.

“Deal.”

She nodded resolutely, a determined look on her face.