BOPE 78

Chapter 78 …

“Have I paid money for the theater about twenty times by now?”

Dong-hee’s voice was dry and arrogant, as if tossing the words out carelessly.

“What are you talking about? Including this time, it’s only the fifth. Remember? You agreed to buy the big theater in Fran for 2,500 gold. Don’t you remember? I’d become the theater owner, and you, Chloe, would become my wife.”

Rei sounded exasperated, as if ready to tear his hair out.

“So if I just pay another 300 gold this time, I can own the theater?”

“That’s right. Exactly. Just one more step and that theater will be mine—no, ours. So, what do you say? Hmm?”

When Chloe looked as though she couldn’t quite remember, Rei’s irritation flared. Then, catching himself, he softened his voice to something as tender as melting icicles, pleading with her and gazing with soulful eyes for added effect.

Kneeling in front of her wheelchair, setting a bouquet of flowers gently on her lap while locking eyes with her—it was, even in my own imagination, the picture of romance.

Watching Chloe stare down blankly at the flowers he’d given her, Rei allowed himself a satisfied smile. His strategy of not giving flowers or gifts every time they met, but only on rare occasions, had been a masterstroke. Like rain after a drought, his sporadic gifts always moved Chloe to tears of gratitude.

See? It’s all about training them properly.

Expecting the same result this time, Rei beamed in triumph—only to have the bouquet hurled straight back at him. The flowers smacked into his face so hard his head snapped to the side. He hadn’t even had a chance to dodge.

Stunned, wide-eyed, Rei clutched at his cheek where the branches had scratched him. The sting burned sharply, and when he touched it, fresh blood welled up and smeared his fingertips. His eyes went wide as plums. But that thin scratch was nothing compared to the torrent of abuse that followed.

“You filthy, Siberian husky-looking tapeworm clinging to a duodenum hairball of a bastard. Never in my life have I seen someone so brainless yet brazen enough to shove his ugly mug in my face. Out of the heavens’ mercy, I didn’t kick your sorry ass out in just your underwear on a freezing night—I even let you sleep one night in the stable, with horse spit and amylase drooling all over your face. And now you dare show up again? Theater? Another payment? That’s like digging your own grave in the theater lot. I ought to rip out every last hair on your head and ram them all straight up your butthole!”

Dong-hee’s tirade came like a runaway locomotive without a single pause for breath. Rei’s eyes just grew wider and wider.

“C-Cl-Chloe… how can you say such things…?”

Not just Rei—Delma, Anna, and even the guards nearby all stared, jaws dropped, at the two of them.

“Throw that bastard out this instant! And find out who let him in—kick them out of the castle too!”

Dong-hee’s voice rang sharp with fury.

“Yes, my lady!”

Snapped back to discipline by their lord’s cold command, the knights barked their reply. To them, Chloe was no longer the powerless, naïve girl she once seemed. She was the heroine who had charged into monster-ridden lands to save them—the sovereign they would serve loyally until their dying breath.

“Chloe, I really do love you! I can’t live without you, I swear! Please, just listen to me!”

“Shut up before I fetch a sewing machine and overlock stitch your lips together.”

She might not even know what an overlock was, but with that terrifying expression, she might as well have been a monster herself. Rei’s beautiful eyes welled with fat chicken-dropping tears, his fear and misery spilling over.

The old Chloe might have pitied those tears, but to Dong-hee now, they were nothing more than literal chicken droppings.

Soon Rei’s pitiful cries echoed through Grace Castle’s garden as the knights dragged him away.

“Um… my lady,” Delma’s hesitant voice broke the silence as Rei flailed and vanished into the distance.

“Yes?”

“Where… where on earth did you learn to say such things? Ramming hair up, well, the rear end…”

“Pfft!”

Delma’s face paled while Anna beside her failed to stifle her laughter, her shoulders shaking. Delma shot her a stern glare, then returned his gaze to his lord.

“And, um… who is this Amylase fellow, and why was he… smeared all over…?”

“Pffft—!”

Anna now had both hands clamped over her mouth, trembling from the effort to hold in her laughter. Hardly words befitting a noble, but oh, how satisfying they’d been.

With Dong-hee feigning innocence, Delma bowed lower, concern etched deep across his face.

“My lady, please promise me never to speak like that again.”

“What words?”

Dong-hee tilted her head, expression all harmlessness.

“The… overlo—k-khhh! Hahaha!”

Delma tried to repeat the phrase but lost control, laughing outright. A mischievous smile tugged at Dong-hee’s lips too.

That evening, Dong-hee received a welcome visitor.

Red Bear, who had been helping rebuild Morota Village as soon as his wounds had allowed, stood before her. He couldn’t even lift his head, ashamed that he had failed to protect his lord.

“Now that you have recovered, my lady, I, unworthy as I am, must step down as captain of the Grace Knights.”

His voice was heavy with grief. Just looking at him, Dong-hee could see how much he had suffered. He was still wrapped in bandages, armor hiding the state of his wounds.

“Red Bear.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Were you sad because you failed to protect me?”

“…”

He lowered his head further. This man, always so formidable and fearless, looked heartbreakingly small today. Dong-hee wanted to hug him, to pat his shoulder in comfort, but her own body was still weak.

Only thanks to the wheelchair Builder had crafted could she move at all. She made a mental note to give Builder a gift later.

“I was sad too—because I failed to protect my people. Should I step down as lord as well?”

“That’s not—!”

“We both did our best. You were stabbed through the side, and my head nearly got smashed in. Let’s just grieve until our bodies heal. After that, let’s work hard again for the living. Don’t even dream of running away. That would be cowardice.”

“…My lady.”

“Yes.”

Red Bear lifted his head. His face was swollen from pain, sleepless nights, and guilt.

Suddenly he sank to one knee despite his injuries, planting his longsword into the ground.

“Red Bear Brandel swears: until the day my life ends, I will devote myself wholly to Lady Chloe Grace.”

A sudden vow of fealty.

Dong-hee was caught off guard, staring blankly before struggling to her feet. Delma moved to support her, but she waved him off. This moment demanded she stand on her own. Pain flared in her legs and back, but she limped forward to face Red Bear.

“Red Bear.”

Her throat tightened with strange emotion as she slowly, deliberately called his name.

“Yes, my liege.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond in a moment like this. But I’ll promise you this—I’ll protect you too. So if things get too scary, hide behind me.”

Never in his life as a knight had he heard such a reply to a vow of loyalty. Red Bear raised his head and looked at his lord. She stood before him, her deep brown eyes shining as she smiled at him.

A small, fragile girl, smiling radiantly, promising to protect him.

“Yes, my liege.”

Red Bear’s smile was warm as he gazed up at her.

Later, lying back down, Dong-hee was utterly exhausted from meeting people. As she prepared to sleep, she opened her Status Window for the first time in a while.

She hadn’t had the chance before—her days had been consumed with medication, sleep, and treatment.

At her thought, the familiar blue panel appeared before her.

[Status Window]

• User Name: Chloe Grace

• Occupation: Part-timer / Lord of Grace Territory

• Abilities: 2 / Terrain Info Lv.1 (Morota Village only), Lv.1 Building Field, Agriculture Field Advice.

• Body Level: 1 (Restores after wounds heal.)

• Activity Range: 4.5 / Basement studio, convenience store, Borimdang & surroundings, entire 1st floor of supermarket.

• Traits: 2 / Still impoverished territory. ★Obsessed with chocolate roll bread, loves to take credit for small things, still terrible at naming, Achieved: Great Leader (Beginner).

• Citizen Affection: 20,000p

• Inventory (Lv.7): Storage. Capacity (0/800)

• Weapons: 18 Slingshots (0 shots)

• Hidden Points: 2,000

• mp: 120 / 86,400

A few changes stood out. Her body level had dropped, which made sense after such serious injuries—but at least it would recover once she healed.

She had also gained a new trait: Great Leader (Beginner). That must have come from charging into Morota Village with her slingshot. And her citizen affection score, once negative, had risen to +20,000. In contrast, her mp had plummeted from 1,235 to a pitiful number.

“What even is mp?”

She realized her mp always dropped whenever she was hurt—and afterward, her body felt much better.

“Is it like some emergency medicine?”

She wanted to ask the status window, but since it concerned mp, that seemed impossible.

As she thought it over, she recalled the flash of light and the spear that had appeared when Kyulen attacked her.

The being who saved her had looked incredibly annoyed, yet when his form began to blur, he’d seemed truly shocked.

“So it happens against his will…”

Dong-hee stared hard at the mp value again.

“120… and 86,400. That 86,400 feels important somehow. Wait… is that… a day’s worth of seconds?”