Chapter 36.1

Chapter 36.1

“These days, do ladies communicate with their shoulders instead of words?”

Seok-kyung clicked his tongue and raised a finger, tapping lightly near his own shoulder.

“I-it’s not like I’m showing this for you, Kim Seok-kyung!”

Ara hastily yanked up the neckline of her shirt. Unfortunately, covering her left shoulder only caused the right one to slide down instead.

“Yes, milady. Perhaps you should first tame that unruly nightwear before delivering your lecture.”

Seok-kyung mockingly adopted the tone of a medieval nobleman. With one hand resting on his chest, he gave her a slight bow, resembling a gallant gentleman inviting a lady to dance at a ball.

Flushing bright red, Ara clutched at her wayward neckline, which seemed determined to betray her.

Why does he have to be so ridiculously good-looking even when he’s being insufferable? This is just unfair.

As Ara silently fumed, her tightly pursed lips began to twitch against her will.

“Why the sulky face? You wouldn’t be in this predicament if you’d just gotten up when I knocked,” Seok-kyung said, his keen eyes catching even the smallest hint of her frustration.

“…You knocked? I didn’t hear it.”

“I did. For a full five minutes, no less.”

Five minutes…

Even a saint would have barged in after that long. At least he hadn’t resorted to slapping her awake to check if she was still alive.

Still, what if I’d been sleeping stark naked? What then?

“So what do you want?”

Ara tugged the disheveled blanket draped over her bed and pulled it over her shoulders.

“We’re going somewhere. Get ready and come out.”

She froze mid-motion, tilting her head at an angle.

“This early in the morning?”

“This early in the morning.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Seok-kyung’s reply was utterly unhelpful, delivered with unwavering calm.

Ara was beyond exasperated—she was floored.

Unbelievable. The nerve of this tyrant! Barging into my room before dawn isn’t enough—now I have to follow him to God knows where, just because he says so?

“I can’t go.”

But her response wasn’t purely out of preference.

“I mean, not right now.”

Ara tilted her chin toward the clock hanging on the wall.

“It’s almost time to start preparing breakfast.”

If the landlord holding billions tells you to go, you go—even if it’s to hell itself. But I have to finish making breakfast first.

Besides, Baekseol, hungry and irritated, was likely to be just as terrifying and fierce as a grumpy Kim Seok-kyung.

“There’s no one to eat, so why bother preparing breakfast?”

Seok-kyung’s rebuttal came as if her words were utterly absurd.

Ara didn’t understand at first, tilting her head in confusion. But then her round eyes narrowed into sharp slits as she glared at him.

“Wait, don’t tell me… you’re planning to starve Baekseol now?”

“What?”

“I mean, even if you’re concerned for me, isn’t that going too far? You said Baekseol is like a benefactor to me! Everyone makes mistakes, whether they’re human or… canine spirits. How can you not feed her? Especially after you fed her just fine last night!”

“……”

“How can you be such an awful king? If you’re going to punish someone, at least be consistent! Feed her, let her rest, then punish her some other way—”

“Ara.”

Seok-kyung, who had been silently enduring Ara’s torrent of words, finally interrupted.

“What?”

“Did you hit your head somewhere when you got hurt yesterday?”

“Are you trying to change the subject now?”

“No, I’m serious—”

His sigh fell heavily at Ara’s feet, still cocooned in her blanket.

“There’s no one home.”

“So you’re changing the story agai— What?”

“Cheongseon, Hongseon, Nam Seol-do, and Baekseol—they all left. They’ve got things to do.”

“……”

“That’s why I said there’s no one to feed breakfast to.”

Ara clutched the edge of her blanket tighter, her pale cheeks flushing into a fiery red, like ripened apples.

“You didn’t seriously think I was punishing you or something, did you?”

Now Seok-kyung wasn’t just poking fun; he was battering her with his words.

“Ara, you’re not some princess with a delusional complex, are you? Of course, you wouldn’t think that. Right?”

This wasn’t even comparable to being physically hit. In fact, dying a noble death by sword or spear, like in her recent dream, seemed far preferable.

Speechless and flustered, Ara sank further under the covers while Seok-kyung glanced at his wristwatch.

“Thanks to your dawdling, we’re short on time. I’ll give you exactly five minutes—get rid of your sleep crust, change, and come out.”

He turned, retrieved a bag from the nearby nightstand, and tossed it unceremoniously onto the bed in front of her.

“Oh, this is…”

The familiar bag was the eco-bag Ara had left behind on Daeyasan. Inside, even her phone was neatly tucked away.

“I moved the bugleweed to the front yard, near the zelkova tree. If you want to replant it in a pot and keep it here, go ahead.”

What? Did he go out of his way to retrieve all of this? For me?

Ara, moved by the gesture, was about to express her gratitude.

“If you’re late again, I won’t knock next time.”

Crash. The swelling wave of gratitude shattered spectacularly.

Leaving behind what was essentially a threat, Seok-kyung turned on his heel and left the room.

“Arghhh…!”

Through the crack in the closing door, Ara’s frustrated thrashing and muffled screams echoed as she furiously kicked her blankets.

Leaning against the wall next to her door, Seok-kyung chuckled softly.

With arms crossed, he waited for the door to open again, listening to the commotion beyond the thin wooden barrier as if it were a lively tune.

…It had been a long time since he felt this alive.

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