translation by mourningmoor
Natalie Grace Gordon.
That woman. A famous Hollywood star and the current wife of Timothy Gordon.
Naturally, my eyes went to her fingers.
To check for the ring.
But there was no ring with a magic circle engraved on it.
I couldn’t read her mind, like a solid black wall—yet she didn’t have the ring? That couldn’t be right.
The woman caught on to my intent and smiled brightly.
{I don’t have it. That ring.}
As expected of a world-famous actress, her smile was dazzling. Then, she subtly lifted the inside of her wrist.
{Instead of a ring, I have it here.}
A magic circle was engraved on the inside of her wrist. She was the second one after Go Dajin.
I couldn’t immediately understand what that meant.
Normally, engraving a magic circle on the body signified possession.
But if the person who received the ring and the person who had it engraved on their body were different, then at this point, I was really starting to get curious about this so-called Master.
At that moment, the woman stepped right up to me.
The members who had been behind me instantly pressed closer at my side.
Basically, it was like this—my pet rabbits puffing up their fur, ready to protect me.
Cute. These guys.
“It’s fine, just step back for a bit.”
“H-hyung, I don’t want to?”
Jaewon even stuttered as he shook his head.
“She looks super fierce though. What if she’s a sasaeng?”
At that, Roa jabbed Jaewon in the ribs.
“She’s an actress. You know, that one. That. I don’t know her name though.”
Looks like Roa didn’t really know either.
“An actress? She looks more like a witch, though?”
“Hey. Calling someone a witch is rude. She’s still an actress.”
“Joonie hyung-ah. Do you know that lady’s name?”
Jaewon immediately dragged Hanjoon and Siu into this.
“No.”
“What about Siu hyung?”
“I’ve seen her a lot, but I don’t really know… Ah, isn’t she Joshua Tanning?”
At Siu’s words, Hanjoon instantly exploded.
“Hey! Yoon Siu. Who are you calling Joshua Tanning? There’s no way that witch-looking lady is Joshua Tanning.”
Hanjoon was furious at the mere idea of associating the angelic Joshua Tanning with a witch.
Good thing this woman didn’t understand Korean.
For Natalie Grace Gordon, a top-tier actress, this would’ve been a serious humiliation.
In the end, I had to explain.
“She’s SS Group’s Timothy Gordon’s wife. She’s also an actress.”
Only then did the kids shut their mouths, realizing she was a big shot.
But that didn’t mean they backed off.
No helping it.
{As you can see, I have company. Let’s keep this short.}
I responded with a cold expression, quickly reading the woman’s mana.
The magic circle on her wrist was at a 9th-circle scale. That meant she received the engraving later than Go Dajin, since it was a higher circle.
It also meant that the mysterious villain was at least a 9th-circle mage.
{I was just curious about you.}
Then, she stared straight into my face.
{You’re pretty good-looking, huh?}
{That’s an awfully roundabout way of stating the obvious. If you have nothing to say, get lost.}
The woman burst into laughter.
With her long fingers, she lightly tapped my shoulder.
{I like your boldness too.}
{Is your whole marriage just a pair of lunatics?}
I slowly brushed off her hand, dusting off my shoulder as if dirt had gotten on it.
The woman frowned slightly and shook her head.
{I’m different from that man Timothy. We’re on a different level.}
{You must not know, but I’m also on a different level. Compared to your so-called Master.}
A completely different dimension.
After all, I was the only "unmeasurable-class" 9th-circle mage in Armania’s history.
The woman’s expression subtly twisted.
Then, she curled up the corner of her lips.
{I’m curious. Just how different is your level?}
It was then that Kim Chanyeong entered the Prestige Lounge.
“What are you doing? Just standing here?”
At Kim Chanyeong’s question, Roa widened his eyes like an axe and quietly whispered.
“That ahjumma threatened Ichan hyungnim.”
At that, a cold smirk crept onto Kim Chanyeong’s face.
“Looks more like seduction than a threat? Ahjumma’s taste is really nasty.”
Kim Chanyeong scanned the woman up and down before stepping in front of me.
“Ichan-ah.”
Then, he deliberately raised his voice so everyone could hear.
“Those sasaengs. They weren’t connected to Timothy Gordon’s twins, but to this ahjumma instead?”
Looks like he already figured out what I asked him to investigate.
But this was unexpected. Not the twins, but this woman?
“She sponsored Prestige Class plane tickets. For two people, no less. And I recorded everything when they confessed it out loud.”
Kim Chanyeong held up his phone.
The woman snorted and shrugged her shoulders.
“I told you. I like you. I’m going to be your fan too.”
Her Korean was quite fluent.
She chuckled, then wrinkled her nose and twisted her voice. She was clearly getting more irritated the more she thought about it.
“But from earlier, it’s been ‘ahjumma, ahjumma.’ Isn’t that too much?”
Well, yeah. Since she understood Korean, it must have been annoying.
But Kim Chanyeong didn’t care at all.
“What else should I call an ahjumma other than ahjumma?”
Instead, he pushed her even colder.
“Get lost. Ahjumma.”
He bent his waist, bringing his face closer to hers, and spoke in an even more relaxed, mocking tone.
“My singers are uncomfortable.”
Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned back to us and smiled.
“Let’s go. It’s time to board.”
Without saying another word, the members followed Kim Chanyeong out of the lounge.
As Kim Chanyeong walked briskly toward the lounge exit, Jaewon quickly followed behind him.
“Wow. Director-nim, you’re so cool.”
This guy really took a liking to Kim Chanyeong.
Anyway, the maknae always fixated on people in the weirdest ways.
“If it were Gyuhyung hyung, he’d be too scared to say a single word, but Director-nim is jjangjjangman (T.N.: slang for ‘awesome’ or ‘super cool’).”
The other members weren’t much different from Jaewon.
And since Kim Chanyeong was flying with us in Prestige Class, their favorability toward him skyrocketed.
“PD-nim said upgrading everyone to First Class was impossible, but upgrading two managers to Prestige Class was fine.”
After the incident on the flight to Hong Kong, where our privacy was thoroughly violated,
the members had become anxious about even eating or sleeping on the plane. They even worried about being followed when going to the restroom.
But now, with two bulky managers watching our backs, we felt much more at ease.
“We’ll keep an eagle eye on things, so you guys should at least get some sleep on the plane. Otherwise, you won’t be able to handle tomorrow’s schedule.”
“Yesss! Then I can sleep in peace.”
The maknae was the happiest about it.
I didn’t show it, but maybe I was actually the happiest one.
With Kim Chanyeong covering me, I could do a lot more things.
For example, something like this.
I purposely sat next to Kim Chanyeong, left behind a clone, and then slipped away from my seat.
At least until we arrived in Incheon, Kim Chanyeong could provide me with an alibi.
But just as I was about to go, Kim Chanyeong grabbed me.
“Where are you going? Going far?”
Far? I originally planned to go far. But I didn’t need to anymore.
Because my target was very close.
“The restroom.”
Kim Chanyeong frowned as if he had just heard the most ridiculous thing in the world.
“If you’re going to the restroom, just go the normal way. Stop doing weird things.”
“The restroom here is too crowded, so I’m going to the front one.”
I pointed toward First Class.
“I’ll be back. Just take care of my clone.”
I pulled the airplane blanket up to my neck, reclined my seat all the way back, and closed my eyes.
Then, I attempted teleportation.
* * *
Natalie Grace headed to the restroom to change clothes.
A world-famous actress going through all this trouble just to meet some wet-behind-the-ears brat. It was honestly frustrating.
But it wasn’t a complete waste.
At least she succeeded in seeing him in person and getting a feel for him.
Well, they even exchanged words.
Not bad.
“Anyway, what the hell was that idiot Timothy thinking, making such a fuss over that kid? He’s just a soft, pretty baby.”
Natalie Grace entered the restroom and locked the door behind her.
The moment she turned around, her heart plummeted.
It had definitely been empty, so how…?
“Hello, ahjumma.”
Inside the cramped airplane restroom, Kang Ichan—the person she had just met at the airport lounge—was standing there.
“H-how did you… get here?”
She was surprised but didn’t scream or shout.
Someone who owned a magic circle wouldn’t lose their composure over something like this. Still, she couldn’t understand it. That a mere greenhorn had such an ability… This was something only a Master should be capable of.
Barely managing to suppress her shock, Natalie Grace stared directly at Kang Ichan.
His dark eyes held a faint shimmer of blue.
A cold and overwhelming light.
Just looking at it made her heart feel like it was freezing over.
Then, Kang Ichan spoke.
“There’s something I’ve been curious about. And I just couldn’t hold it in.”
The moment he opened his mouth, strangely, she found herself unable to move.
“Your Master… why didn’t they give you a ring but instead carved the magic circle directly onto your body?”
Kang Ichan took a step closer, his expression chilling.
Panic finally started to set in.
“T-that’s because I’m the most special existence…”
“You really believe that?”
Cutting off her words, Kang Ichan suddenly grabbed her wrist and lifted it up.
She tried to shake him off, but her body wouldn’t obey her.
“Listen closely, ahjumma.”
Firmly gripping her trembling wrist, he twisted his lips into a smirk.
“Let’s test just how much your Master actually cares about you.”
Then, he pressed his thumb against the magic circle.
“I’ll just erase the very edge.”
“W-what are you saying? Erase? Y-you can’t do that.”
“What do you mean I can’t? It’s working just fine.”
The magic circle glowed red, distorting at the tip of Kang Ichan’s finger.
He’s insane. If this happens… if this happens, then—
“Stop. Stop it!”
“Then why’d you mess with my people? Who told you to take those damn pictures, huh?”
His eyes were merciless, as if he intended to return the damage done to his own people in equal measure.
Overwhelmed by sheer terror, Natalie Grace let out a desperate scream with all her might.