Chapter 73

<Episode 75> This Heart Can’t Be Hidden

At Rime’s question, Young-hee blinked.

“Want to get your memories back?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?”

“Think carefully before answering.”

As if seeing straight through her heart,

Rime said sharply with a piercing gaze.

“But I’ll tell you this upfront—there’s nothing wrong with your body.”

“Is…that so?”

“Yeah, the problem lies in your heart. You’re refusing to bring it up yourself.”

Young-hee unconsciously placed her hand on her chest.

The current her doesn’t know these memories, these unknowable pasts.

Perhaps they’re so terrible that it’d be better to forget them?

“Humans have a saying too—ignorance is bliss.”

Only then did Young-hee understand Rime’s question.

Maybe regaining memories would be even more painful.

If the past was something her heart rejected, maybe living without knowing wasn’t so bad.

Young-hee smiled faintly.

“Ms. Rime, you’re so kind. You remind me of Yu-jin.”

“Not exactly doing it for you. It’s all because of Yu-jin.”

That was the truth.

The original Rime probably wouldn’t have cared about Young-hee at all.

The only reason she’s doing this is for Yu-jin.

Regardless of the truth, Yu-jin considers Young-hee a friend.

So Rime can’t just leave her be.

“Anyway, that guy Yu-jin may be dense and an idiot, but he doesn’t abandon people who’ve come under his care.”

Rime shrugged slightly.

“If you want to keep living, I won’t hold back my support. I’ve got the power and money for it. Your social anxiety will probably improve eventually, so there’s no need to overdo things.”

Young-hee nodded quietly.

She didn’t really understand why she relied on Yu-jin.

But he helped her without any complaints.

That alone gave her a sense of his kindness.

Maybe even the pre-amnesia version of herself received a lot of help from him.

Still, that’s unrelated to this.

“I still want to regain my memories.”

“Even if it’s something so painful you want to forget?”

Rime asked, clearly perplexed.

Young-hee paused for a moment to think before speaking.

She needed time to put her feelings into words.

Even she didn’t fully understand this emotion,

but tried to express it meaningfully.

“In fact, someone visited me at the hospital. Someone who probably knew me.”

Chul-soo, huh.

Rime thought to herself.

“I don’t know who they were yet, and I can’t remember. But from their expression, I could tell they were deeply hurt.”

Anyone else might’ve thought a family member had died.

To make such a face for someone else?

It was unimaginable for the current Young-hee.

“But I just avoided that person. I even hid behind Yu-jin.”

“Maybe I caused them even more pain because of me.”

Why did she avoid that person?

Even now, they felt scarier than anyone else.

She still didn’t know why.

The instinctive aversion and fear rising within her couldn’t be suppressed.

“Still, after some time passed, I thought—if that person didn’t have to make that face anymore…”

“…”

“I want to protect that person. I don’t know why I feel this way, but this heart—it’s not fake.”

She definitely had no memory.

Perhaps some forgotten memories existed somewhere, but they weren’t coming back now.

Still, she wished that person would smile.

Her heart was telling her that.

“So, I want to recover my memories. Even if they’re painful—I want to know where this heart comes from.”

It was a pure smile.

A completely clean expression, one that made it hard to believe she’d gone through such hardships.

Even Rime, who usually found humans disgusting, lost her words in front of that smile.

I thought everyone was revolting…

But such purity exists in this world too.

If it weren’t for Hwagcheon,

this kid and Yu-jin might’ve become genuine friends who could open up to each other.

“…Ah, this is getting annoying.”

Rime muttered.

She snapped her fingers.

Behind her, green tentacles began to rise slowly.

Something ominous was happening.

Startled by the menacing sight, Young-hee took a step back.

Wait, how did our conversation turn like this?

“R-Rime-san? That thing over there—”

“It’s your choice. Let’s do this rough-and-tumble style.”

In an instant, the green tentacles wrapped around Young-hee.

Before she could resist, she was captured.

“R-Rime-san?! It tickles! Too much! Hahaha!”

The tentacles started caressing her all over.

An uncontrollable sensation coursed through her body.

While laughing, Young-hee struggled to break free.

But the tentacles only tightened their grip on her.

“What’s going on? Hehehe! Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“It’s treatment. You wanted to recover your memories, right?”

The top-tier slime Rime has the special ability to manipulate minds.

With Rime, it’s possible to forcibly extract memories.

But doing so could collapse Young-hee’s psyche.

At least she needs to loosen her mental defenses first.

The rest…well, depends on Young-hee.

“Just stay still. I’ll make your closed heart unravel nicely.”

“AHAHAHA! Okay, okay! Just, wait a sec! Please stop—!”

Overwhelmed by the dizzying sensations coursing through her body, Young-hee couldn’t gather her thoughts.

Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded desperately.

Ignoring her cries, Rime skillfully moved the tentacles…*

Somewhere in the corridor near Class President Yu-jin’s room.

Standing there, idly creating light with magic.

This wastage of magic power is something a magician should avoid,

but doing nothing felt unbearable; it seemed like it would drive her into deep despair.

“Fiancée…so there was one, huh.”

Honestly, it felt like a distant fairy tale, hard to grasp as reality.

Simultaneously, it also felt somewhat natural.

Hwagcheon is a massive, ancient organization.

They must have ties with various guilds, big and small.

Inter-family contracts might not be uncommon.

“Stupid.”

Class President has some womanly intuition too.

She knows that the relationship between Yu-jin and Rime isn’t ordinary.

The looks, expressions, and words exchanged—they’re all different.

Yu-jin’s face when talking to Rime looked more relaxed than ever.

And she was incredibly beautiful.

Rime was truly like a porcelain doll.

Her waist-length blonde hair, milk-white skin…

Above all, she exuded immense self-confidence.

Even her close friend envied her secretly; they belonged to different worlds.

“…Still, I think I win in terms of figure.”

The Class President cupped her own breasts with her hands.

Though they belong to her, she thought the weight and softness were pretty good.

Especially since coming to the Academy, they seemed to have grown even larger.

Not particularly useful in combat,

but as a woman’s charm, it’s another matter entirely.

Maybe this could be used to appeal to Yu-jin…

“What are you doing, Class President?”

“KYAAAAAAAAAA!”

Startled, the Class President jumped.

The light she had created flew toward Yu-jin.

He casually deflected it with his hand.

“Why so jumpy? Did you think I was a ghost or something?”

“Ah, no. I was just…thinking about something.”

Blushing, the Class President fanned her cheeks with her palm.

Surely he didn’t see what she was doing just now?

If he did, she might die of embarrassment.

“Hey, why are you here anyway? What about Young-hee?”

“I came out because I was worried about you, Class President.”

“HUH?!”

Her face turning red, the Class President clutched her chest.

Her heart was pounding as if it would burst.

‘What am I getting so worked up about?’

Yu-jin is the master of this house.

Of course, it’s natural for the master to worry about the guest.

There was nothing more to it than that.

“Young-hee is fine; I left her with Rime.”

At those words, the Class President’s face stiffened momentarily.

She could sense unwavering trust in Yu-jin’s voice.

A level of confidence that couldn’t exist unless the other party was extraordinary.

“…So you really trust this Rime person, huh.”

“Since she’s the one I rely on the most.”

Trust, huh.

I see.

She’s already reached that point.

When I struggle just to prove my worth to Yu-jin,

she’s already so far ahead of me.

“Really stupid.”

Oh no.

The suppressed inferiority complex flared up again.

Feeling this way right now is dangerous.

This is a rare chance to be alone with Yu-jin.

I don’t want to stand in front of him feeling like this.

‘What should I do in a situation like this?’

The Class President racked her brain.

For some reason, Rime isn’t here now.

Isn’t this…perhaps an almost dangerously good opportunity?

“Hey, Yu-jin.”

The Class President turned her head.

She couldn’t bear to stay silent any longer.

Because of that,

uncharacteristically, she wanted to act cute towards the Yu-jin standing beside her.

“If you don’t mind, there’s something I want to do with just the two of us.”

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