CHAPTER 194: BROKEN FAMILY (1)

An awkward mood settled in.

Kwon Oh-Jin and Song Ha-Eun stood frozen, mouths agape at the curse that just came out of Isabella’s mouth.

How could she tell her father, who had rushed over in a helicopter, to get lost because he reeked of sweat? The fiery insult left them stunned.

“Haha. Looks like my princess is feeling a bit shy.”

Paolo, as if used to this sort of treatment, chuckled warmly and reached out to pat Isabella’s head. However, Isabella coldly slapped his hand away and shot him a piercing glare.

Smack!

“What brings you here?”

“What do you mean? I came because I was curious about my precious princess!”

“Is that so?” Isabella smirked.

Listening from the side, Kwon Oh-Jin felt something was off like gears grinding out of sync. A jarring unease crept over him. It didn’t take him long to realize what it was.

He didn’t come because he was worried, but because he was curious?

It was a strange way to put it for a father who came flying in a helicopter for his daughter.

“Well then, you can leave now that your curiosity has been satisfied,” Isabella coldly said.

Paolo shook his head. “How can I leave after just seeing my princess when you were in such danger? Anyway... who might these people be?”

His gaze landed on Kwon Oh-Jin.

Isabella stepped in front of Kwon Oh-Jin with a sharp look in her eyes. “They’re my guests.”

“Ah, I see! What a pleasure to meet you!”

Paolo strode past Isabella with a bright smile and extended a hand.

Kwon Oh-Jin looked down at Paolo’s outstretched hand for a moment before shaking it. As their hands met, Kwon Oh-Jin subtly channeled a bit of mana, but he felt no trace of mana from Paolo.

He’s a non-Awakener.

“My name is Kwon Oh-Jin.”

“The Thunder Wolf! You’re the apostle of the Weaver, correct? I’ve heard of you before.”

Paolo shook his hand vigorously with a bright smile.

“What’s your relationship with my princess? Could it be that—”

“Father.” Isabella cut him off sharply. “Mr. Oh-Jin must be tired. Isn’t it a bit rude to keep holding him up like this?”

“Ah, of course, of course! Haha! I just got too excited since this is the first time my princess has brought anyone over!”

Too excited, huh?

Was this really the time to feel excited even though the Dragon Vein had gone wild and tens of thousands of monsters had attacked the very place his daughter was staying?

“I’ll take care of the rest! You should go get plenty of rest with Isabella.” Paolo patted Kwon Oh-Jin on the shoulder as he walked by.

Kwon Oh-Jin silently watched Paolo’s back as he walked away.

“Let’s go inside, Mr. Oh-Jin.”

Isabella grabbed his arm and led him inside.

Song Ha-Eun followed behind and asked, “You and your dad don’t get along, huh?”

Isabella remained silent.

“He seems like a good person, though. Did something happen between you two?”

Song Ha-Eun cocked her head and waited for an answer.

Then, she quickly gasped, “Ah... sorry. That was probably too personal.”

She wasn’t even that close to Isabella, so prying into her family matters was definitely crossing the line.

“That person,” Isabella said.

“What?”

“He’s not a good person,” she said bitterly.

Her hand trembled as she clutched the bloodstained hem of her red dress.

Song Ha-Eun didn’t ask anything more and followed quietly behind.

Isabella led them to their rooms and bowed before turning to leave. “Please get plenty of rest. Let me know if you need anything.”

She shut the door behind her and left.

Once Isabella left, Song Ha-Eun shook her head. “Yikes... talk about a broken family. I could barely breathe while they were talking.”

Kwon Oh-Jin stared at the closed door, replaying his conversation with Isabella while they were tracking the Living Armor.

Didn’t she say her sister was exiled after Isabella was named the heir?

Could that be when things fell apart between her and her parents? If so, that left a few questions unanswered.

I should talk to her about this sometime.

He stroked his chin, deep in thought. He had a feeling that following this thread could lead him to the heart of this current incident.

“Ugh, I don’t know. It’s not like I have any business meddling in someone else’s family drama.” Song Ha-Eun jumped onto the bed and stretched out her arms.

Her long legs kicked playfully like she was splashing in water.

“Whew~ I’m so damn tired.”

“Still, go wash up before sleeping.”

“Hmm.”

She spread her arms wide and flashed a cheeky grin. “I’m too tired to move.”

“Oh, really now.”

“Seriously~”

Kwon Oh-Jin chuckled softly as he walked over to Song Ha-Eun, sprawled out on the bed like a baby reaching for its mother.

After hours of intense combat, though it felt more like a one-sided massacre, she was smudged with soot in various places.

He carefully slipped an arm around her back and lifted her gently. He could feel the softness of her skin since she was still in her swimsuit. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Oh-Jin.”

“Yeah?”

“Can we trust Isabella? Isn’t she an executor of the Black Star Society?”

“I’m not completely sure, but I think she’s worth trusting.”

He wasn’t ready to give a definite answer about Isabella just yet, but he recalled the glimpse of her true self back in the alley. At the very least, she felt different from the rest of the Black Star Society he knew.

“Is that so?” Song Ha-Eun nodded while still nestled in his arms.

If Kwon Oh-Jin said so, there was no need to doubt.

“Then we’ve gotta bring her to our side no matter what,” she said.

Kwon Oh-Jin blinked in surprise at her unexpected words.

“Are you sure?”

“Huh? About what?”

“You and Isabella aren’t exactly on good terms.”

“Oh, that.” Song Ha-Eun clicked her tongue and scratched her head. “Well... I don’t like the way she flirts with my man, but I’m not about to let that ruin such a golden opportunity.”

A chance to recruit the Black Star Society’s third-ranked executor didn’t come around every day. If Isabella’s kindness toward Kwon Oh-Jin was genuine, the benefits of bringing her onto their side would be immeasurable.

“We could gain intel on the Black Star Society’s inner workings and leverage the Colgrande Family’s power in many ways. There are tons of possibilities, but more than anything... if she’s that strong, she can protect you when things get dangerous, right?”

Kwon Oh-Jin would face countless threats as someone acting under the title of the Heaven-Defying Star. Some of those threats would be far beyond what they could handle alone. Song Ha-Eun wanted to protect him with her own strength.

But that’s... impossible.

She had already learned that painful truth more than once. Her strength alone wasn’t enough to keep him safe. What harm was there in having one more woman around to protect him?

“And besides... you’re already head over heels for me, aren’t you?”

Song Ha-Eun puffed up proudly with a grin.

Kwon Oh-Jin helplessly laughed and nodded.

“You’re right.”

Just as she said, he had fallen for her so deeply that he couldn’t even remember when it started.

“If that’s the case, go work your charm on her. Now’s your chance,” Song Ha-Eun said.

“My chance?”

“Yeah. She seems a little more... vulnerable right now.”

Song Ha-Eun gently rubbed her lips and narrowed her eyes. She recalled how Isabella looked when talking to Paolo.

“Vulnerable? How?”

“There were kids like that at the orphanage.”

Not kids who were abandoned, but kids who ended up there because their families fell apart. Kids who tried, with their tiny hands, to fix things that had already shattered beyond repair. Song Ha-Eun could sense that same aching despair from Isabella.

“I mean, I don’t have proof or anything.”

“Is it something like a woman’s intuition?”

“Pfft. You know my gut instincts are right on.”

“Oh yeah? Is that why you fumble all the time?”

“S-Shut up, you brat!”

Vulnerable, huh...

In any case, Kwon Oh-Jin carried Song Ha-Eun to the bath while silently repeating that word in his mind.

***

Moonlight streamed through the window.

The blood-soaked massacre that happened today felt like a distant dream with the unspeakably beautiful moon hanging in the night sky.

Isabella sat on the terrace and gazed at the moonlit sky.

“Haaa.”

How had things ended up like this? As she ran the unanswerable question through her mind over and over again, a soft knock sounded at the door.

Knock, knock.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

“Mr. Oh-Jin? Is there something you need?”

“No, I just thought we could talk for a bit.”

He lifted a bottle of wine he had brought from the kitchen.

“My, I didn’t expect you to be the one to initiate a secret rendezvous.”

Isabella smiled with her eyes and took out two wine glasses.

The high-end wine, easily worth several hundred a bottle, filled the glasses. A fragrant aroma spread through the room as they clinked their glasses together.

“In Korea, don’t they say ‘Cheers’ at times like this?”

“That’s what I’ve heard.”

“Hmm? Do you not say it, Mr. Oh-Jin?”

“I just rarely drink with other people, so...”

He used to get by on two protein bars a day. He never had time for leisurely drinking.

“Haha. Then I guess I’ll be your first.”

Isabella’s smile deepened, and her eyes glinted seductively.

Well, it wasn’t exactly his first time since he drank with Song Ha-Eun a few times at home. He didn’t bother clarifying and sipped his wine instead.

Perhaps because it was expensive wine, the intense aroma struck his nose with just one sip.

“Did your relationship with your father fall apart because of your sister?”

“As expected, that’s what you came to ask.” Isabella smiled faintly. “That’s right. After I was confirmed as the next head... I got into a fight with my father over my sister. In the end, she was exiled from the family.”

A girl who wanted to protect her family, and a father who tried to uphold the family rules. Back then, she probably hadn’t awakened yet and couldn’t resist her father, who held all the power.

“Well... at the time, I was basically my father’s puppet.”

“You don’t seem like one now.”

“Haha. I didn’t just sit still. I may not look it, but I can get things done when it matters, you know?”

He was well aware. She couldn’t have become an executor of the Black Star Society just by obediently doing what she was told.

“Then why are you leaving things as they are?” he asked.

“Excuse me?”

“If you wanted to, couldn’t you push your father aside and take his position whenever you wanted?” Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes grew dark as he asked.

She wouldn’t know it, but this question was for the Leech Queen and not the Saintess of Rome.

With power like that, she could easily remove Paolo from his position since he’s not even an Awakener.

Even though she looked at her father with such hatred, why hadn’t she done anything to him?

Isabella tilted her wine glass and bitterly gazed at the night sky.

“Who knows? Maybe it’s because no matter how much I hate him... he’s still my father,” she replied uncertainly.

Because he’s her father, huh.

For Kwon Oh-Jin, who didn’t even know what his parents looked like, he couldn’t understand.

“Maybe a part of me still hasn’t let go of hope.”

“Hope?”

“The hope that somehow, like a miracle, all the grudges and misunderstandings will be resolved, and we’ll go back to the way things were.”

Before the intense competition to become an heir began at the age of ten, she had lived full of happiness like any normal family. A father who loved both daughters, a kind mother, and a frail sister who always looked after her. It had been a sweet, dreamlike time.

“Even though I know it’s far too late to go back... I just can’t seem to give up. Silly, right?” Isabella smiled self-deprecatingly and shrugged.

Kwon Oh-Jin looked at her with conflicted eyes. A woman with such deep affection for her family had become a witch who massacred tens of millions in the first timeline?

Could this all be an act too?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he looked into Isabella’s eyes.

“Ah.”

Maybe it was because Kwon Oh-Jin was a born scammer himself, or maybe it was because her eyes, reflecting the moonlight, weakly trembled. Somehow, he knew the person before him wasn’t the Saintess of Rome nor the Leech Queen, but simply Isabella Colgrande herself.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Mr. Oh-Jin?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kwon Oh-Jin faintly laughed and shook his head.

Of all people, I’m not in a position to talk about what someone did in the first timeline.

If she was the witch who massacred millions in the first timeline, then he was the Heavenly Demon who led billions to their deaths.

Depending on my choices, I could be the Heaven-Defying Star that saves humanity or the Heavenly Demon who ends the world.

At the very least, he had to believe she was being genuine because he would be denying his own existence if he didn’t.

“It would be nice if that hope of yours came true.”

“Haha. Thank you.”

Their glasses met again.

Clink.

Though he wished for her hope to come true, Kwon Oh-Jin knew the truth. Perhaps Isabella knew it too. That hope was called hope because it would not come true.

***

Ringggg.

Under the bright moonlight shining down on the beach, Paolo was making a phone call while standing on the bloody shoreline.

“Ah, it's good to hear from you, Mr. Damian.”

He politely greeted the person on the other end.

“The reason I’m calling is...”

A video played on the small tablet in his hand.

“To inform you about my daughter. No, about that blood-crazed witch.”

In the video, a crimson aura enveloped Isabella as she mercilessly slaughtered thousands of monsters.