The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

061 – Hiding a Tree in the Forest

061 – Hiding a Tree in the Forest

The police searched our house, the next house, the house in front, and the house behind thoroughly.

They said they had to investigate because someone reported it.

I don’t know what they were looking for, but it was a waste of effort.

There was nothing suspicious around this house.

Actually, Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeoreum were here─.

But that’s in the past now.

What happened, you ask?

Let’s rewind a bit to the past-.

After finding out about Jin Eun-byeol’s birthday party through Jeon Somi and Jang Hyun-ah, I came straight home without detouring anywhere else.

I had something I had to do since I got the “Cage of Reduction”.

Arriving at the basement.

“Hey, why are you so late? You’re late!”

Seo Ga-eul complained to me as usual.

Yoo Yeoreum was trembling under the blanket, covering herself up to her head.

What on earth is going on?

I knew something had happened, but I had no idea what it was.

But, there was something more important right now.

It was through the “Cage of Reduction” that we moved to the new house.

“Hehehe, come here!”

“Kyaa! What are you doing!”

I reached out and put Seo Ga-eul into the cage.

Yoo Yeoreum, who was curled up under the blanket, was the same.

“W-what is this!”

“……!”

A flustered Yoo Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul.

They shrank to 1/10th their size and flapped around, looking quite cute.

“I feel like swallowing you whole!”

I carefully put the cage into my bag and headed to the “Great Labyrinth.”

The entrance guard at the Great Labyrinth recognized me.

“Han Nam-jin, right? You’ve been in and out several times today already.”

“Got to work hard if I want good midterm scores.”

“That’s right.”

I entered the Great Labyrinth and headed to the “Fairy Princess’s Room.”

There, I released the cage and took out Yoo Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul.

“Hey! What the hell is this all of a sudden!”

Seo Ga-eul was furious.

Yoo Yeoreum, who seemed angry at my actions, tried to say something but closed her mouth.

Was she too angry to speak?

“I thought it was about time to move you from the basement. This is part of the ‘Great Labyrinth,’ and not many people know about this place, so it’s a good spot to keep you confined.”

The problem started when I approached Seo Do-cheol a while ago.

Since I openly showed hostility towards Chairman Seo Do-cheol, they must have started investigating me.

I would have done the same if I were in their position.

They might suddenly send people to search our house.

Then, Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeoreum in the basement next door would be discovered soon.

So, I needed to move the girls’ residence as quickly as possible.

The problem was how to move Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeoreum to another place without being noticed by others.

That’s when I obtained the “Cage of Reduction.”

Perfect Timing!

The goddess of fortune must have been smiling upon me.

“Anyway, this is your home for the time being.”

At my explanation, Seo Ga-eul rubbed the grass with her stockinged feet.

Having come from the cold stone floor to a space with grass and flowers, her expression became much more vibrant, as if she felt the newness of it all.

“Hmph, well. It’s spacious, I like it.”

Compared to the previous basement, which was narrower than a studio apartment, this place was roughly the size of a two-room apartment.

Unlike the basement, which was filled with the smell of dogs, this place had a fragrant scent of flowers.

It even had a bathroom attached.

It would be spacious enough for the two of us to live in, right?

Even if we brought in various pieces of furniture, there would still be space left.

“So, Yeoreum, why are you wrapped up in a blanket? Are you cold?”

“A grown woman shouldn’t show her skin to a man carelessly.”

Oh? That was quite a reasonable statement.

But it was strange to hear that from Yoo Yeoreum, who usually didn’t mind showing her armpits or belly.

We even watched adult videos together.

“What kind of doll is this? It even smells nice… Sniff sniff…”

If this goes on, they’ll find out that Ing-Ing is a monster.

I have no choice.

“Officer, that’s my cushion. Please give it to me.”

“What? Eeeek!”

The policewoman, who had been sniffing Ing-Ing, was so startled that she threw Ing-Ing to the floor.

In the end, the police left without any gains.

“Anonymous. Transparent. Transparent.”

It must have been Chairman Seo Do-cheol or someone related to him who set me up.

What would have happened if I hadn’t moved Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeoreum to the “Princess Room”?

I would have had to turn the police into enemies.

It would have been quite troublesome in many ways.

“I’m damn lucky!”

# # #

After moving into the new house, Seo Ga-eul looked around here and there. The feeling of stepping on the grass that was laid out like a carpet on the floor was refreshing, and the flowers blooming here and there were fragrant, making it much better than before.

‘For some reason, I feel a slight sense of incongruity…’

There was also a bathroom and many pieces of furniture like a dressing table.

Seo Ga-eul guessed that this might have been some kind of ‘woman’s room.’

And quite young or youthful at that.

“But how can grass and flowers grow indoors?”

Seo Ga-eul, who had been staring at the ceiling absentmindedly, was able to somewhat satisfy her curiosity.

Beautiful jewels were attached to the ceiling of this large room, emitting light, bright and warm like a small sun.

Seo Ga-eul named the jewel in her mind “Sunstone.”

And then, realizing something, she glanced at Yoo Yeoreum.

If that “Sunstone” also affects Yoo Yeoreum’s “photosynthesis”?

It was a plausible hypothesis.

In fact, Yoo Yeoreum was recreating yoga poses as if her condition had improved compared to before.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but the ‘solar battery’ seemed to have grown a bit bigger.

‘If Yoo Yeoreum regains her strength, I won’t be able to bully her one-sidedly.’

In fact, the real problem wasn’t Yoo Yeoreum.

Swoosh, swoosh-.

Seo Ga-eul touched the door covered with flowers.

It didn’t budge.

‘At this rate, I can’t escape as I please.’

In fact, Seo Ga-eul had planned to end this ridiculous kidnapping life and run away if necessary.

She could break the chains and escape anytime she wanted.

In other words, the kidnapping life with Han Nam-jin was nothing more than a brief amusement for Seo Ga-eul.

But now?

She was truly confined, trapped in this bizarre room.

Being able to escape but choosing not to─.

─Being unable to escape.

The mindset between these two situations was fundamentally different.

Seo Ga-eul felt frustrated and slightly scared.

What if she could never get out of here?

What if people forgot about her?

What if she spent her whole life here, dying as the toy of a perverted kidnapper?

Thump, thump, thump-.

The fear she had forgotten for a few days began to resurface.

Yu Yeoreum spoke to such Seo Ga-eul.

“Seo Ga-eul, your heart rate is rising too rapidly. Calm down.”

“What? My heart rate?”

Surprised by the unexpected word, Seo Ga-eul turned her head to see Yu Yeoreum’s eyes shining with a strange green light.

“How do you know my heart rate?”

“I think I just acquired a concept I’ve been aiming for a long time. Thanks to the ‘modesty’ you gave me, my mind calmed down, and it helped.”

Yu Yeoreum had been secretly and unethically experimenting in the lab for a very long time, striving for the awakening of the third concept.

It was an effort accompanied by many sacrifices.

But there had been no progress, as if facing a huge wall. However, the moment she entered this ‘Room of Flowers,’ Yu Yeoreum felt confident that she might be able to overcome the wall surrounding her.

“Do you remember Dr. Wi Seon-ah, the special class instructor? According to Dr. Wi Seon-ah, there is a substance in the air of the ‘Great Labyrinth’ that amplifies and strengthens the concepts of awakeners. Maybe that’s why.”

Yu Yeoreum’s researchers referred to the substance that affected awakeners as ‘mana.’

Wasn’t it the element that enabled magic in novels and games?

And it seemed that this room was rich with that “mana.”

Thanks to that, Yu Yeo-reum was able to grasp the concept of ‘clairvoyance.’

It meant she could tell how fast Seo Ga-eul’s heart was pounding.

“You crazy pervert! Why are you looking at my heart!”

Seo Ga-eul, blushing, covered her chest with her palm.

For some reason, it felt like she was stripped bare in front of Yu Yeo-reum.

“In the end, you were scared of being kidnapped too, huh?”

“What are you talking about! That’s not it!”

“It’s only natural to be afraid of a kidnapper. You don’t need to be embarrassed. Especially if the kidnapper is a man and the hostage is a woman, the chances of something perverse happening increase.”

Of course, Ha Nam-jin didn’t do anything perverse.

He merely said he would train Seo Ga-eul.

In a way, that was the more perverse thing.

Why was Ha Nam-jin doing this?

“Seo Ga-eul, why were you kidnapped in the first place?”

The fact that Seo Ga-eul was kidnapped was the beginning of everything.

“How would I know? I don’t know. I really don’t know!”

“No, that sounds like a lie.”

Seo Ga-eul had now clammed up.

Having understood Seo Ga-eul’s stubbornness through a few days of experience, Yu Yeo-reum didn’t expect to hear an honest answer.

After quite a long time had passed, when Yu Yeo-reum had repeated a few yoga poses,

“…I thought I was a princess. To be precise, I wanted to be a princess.”

“……?”

A princess? What did that mean?

What connection did that have to the kidnapping?

As Yu Yeo-reum felt a subtle emotion inside, Seo Ga-eul looked around.

This place was filled with flowers and grass, making it feel like a princess’s room.

It seemed like everything Seo Ga-eul had dreamed of in her childhood was contained within.

“In movies or fairy tales, princesses usually marry a wonderful prince, right? I wanted that too. That’s why I ended up getting kidnapped.”

She dreamed of a life like a fairy tale princess and got kidnapped—.

It was still something that didn’t make sense.

“My dad did all sorts of things to make my dream come true. Did you know there was talk of an engagement between me and President Nam Tae-geon’s grandson? That was also my dad’s doing.”

“Nam Tae-geon’s grandson…”

President Nam Tae-geon had many goddaughters and godsons.

Jin Eun-byul, the daughter of the Samjin Group, and Nam San-ho were among them.

“Was there a talk of an engagement between you and Nam San-ho?”

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Yoo Yeoreum had met Nam San-ho a few times.

Their fathers were close, so they occasionally met at gatherings or banquets.

He didn’t leave a good impression.

There were many rumors about his relationships with women.

“Wasn’t Nam San-ho involved in the N-Mart incident and went missing?”

The president’s grandson went missing in a fire caused by a mad Awakener.

It was the catalyst for the unanimous passage of the inhumane “Awakener Control Act.”

“Nam San-ho, that guy, he didn’t actually go missing. He fell down the stairs and broke his neck.”

Yoo Yeoreum’s eyes widened at Seo Ga-eul’s story.

There were many parts she couldn’t understand.

Judging by her heartbeat, it didn’t seem like she was lying.

“How do you know if he broke his neck or not, Seo Ga-eul?”

“I was at N-Mart that day too. Two hours before the fire.”