Chapter 17.2

Chapter 17.2

Ugh. Ara buried her head again, fighting the urge to vomit. Her vision spun so violently that everything turned white.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Seol-do clicked her tongue loudly, crouching in front of Ara. She grabbed the nape of her neck and forced her to look up at her.

“Ah.”

“…?”

“Ah.”

“…Ah?”

In her dazed state, Ara mimicked Seol-do’s words. Her dry lips parted into an involuntary “O.”

At that moment, a pill the size of a thumbnail was suddenly pushed into Ara’s mouth.

“Chew.”

Seol-do pushed Ara’s jaw shut, closing her mouth for her.

“Mm!”

Ara tried to say something, but she couldn’t. Seol-do’s grip on her jaw was too strong.

“Swallow.”

Seol-do urged again. When Ara hesitated, furrowing her brow, she pinched her nose shut with her other hand.

Unable to breathe, Ara had no choice but to gulp down the pill.

Only then did Seol-do release her face. Gasping, Ara exhaled the breath she’d been holding in.

“W-What was that? You didn’t even tell me what it was…”

“You’re so timid. Did you think I’d give you something that would kill you? Who’d cook the meals then?”

Wait, did Kim Seok-kyung not feed his people properly? Why do both Baekseol and Seol-do act like they’ve got the ghosts of starving souls haunting them?

“If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have bothered tucking you in last night. I’d have just tossed you out of the maze garden.”

“So… Seol-do, you carried me to bed? I’m sorry, I don’t remember anything from last night.”

“You don’t remember? Not at all?”

“No. I remember opening the third bottle of soju, spilling some because I was so drunk, and Baekseol-nim licking it up. But after that, everything’s a blur.”

“You held out longer than I expected.”

“Um… did I do anything stupid?”

Ara glanced at Seol-do, cautiously broaching the topic. She’d never drunk that much before, so she had no idea what kind of drunken antics she might have gotten up to.

“Stupid?” Seol-do shrugged and chuckled.

“The one who made a mistake was our king. You really should’ve seen his face.”

“His… face?” Ara tilted her head, puzzled. What did he mean by “that face”? She was trying to make sense of Seol-do’s words when suddenly—

The pounding headache that had been squeezing her skull vanished as if it had never been there. The nausea that had been churning her stomach subsided, and her vision, once crumpled like a piece of old newspaper, cleared up entirely.

“It’s a spirit pill I made. There’s nothing better for curing a hangover.”

Only after seeing Ara’s complexion change did Seol-do reveal the identity of the pill.

“Thank you, Seol-do. I thought I was going to die.”

Still on her knees, Ara clasped Seol-do’s hands tightly. In that moment, she was her savior, her god.

“Really? You’re thankful?”

“Totally! Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll make you anything you want. Just say the word.” Ara nodded eagerly, shaking her head without a trace of dizziness.

Hallelujah. Namu Amida Butsu. Long live the dokkaebi.

“That’s fine, but I have a favor to ask instead.”

“Sure. What is it?”

Ara agreed without even hearing what the favor was. In her current state, she felt like she could handle anything—even serving a twelve-course meal every morning.

“Go to the market with the king for me.”

“What?”

But this was a favor she hadn’t expected.

“It’s not hard. Just follow him around and make sure he doesn’t wander off or get into trouble.”

He’s asking me to keep an eye on a dokkaebi? A powerful goblin? Ara couldn’t help but frown.

Seok-kyung was a dokkaebi who was likely hundreds of years older than her. He wasn’t a child—why would she need to watch where he was going or what he was doing? If anything, it should be the other way around.

“Don’t worry, he’s not the kind of goblin who’ll make you carry his stuff.”

Would he, though? I bet he’ll have me carry everything, whether on my head or my back.

But that wasn’t the real issue…

Going somewhere with Seok-kyung, just the two of them? That was the real challenge.

“Na Ara.”

“Can you stop touching me?”

The voice still lingered in her ears like an echo.

Ara tightened her grip on Seol-do’s hand, as if holding onto the hem of his pants for dear life. “Not possible.”

Seol-do dismissed Ara’s hopes instantly and stood up from her seat.