Chapter 270: Greed And Love (2)

Only Awakeners with a Stigma could enter the world of Celestials called the Sanctum. The mere existence of these precious entrances to the Sanctum, scattered across the globe, could elevate a nation's status. Countries without an entrance to the Sanctum were mockingly referred to as Star-Forsaken Land.

In the bustling streets of Hongdae, a woman walking sighed. “

Haaa

.”

Her dazzling platinum hair fluttered in the night breeze and brushed against her cheek.

The woman’s unrealistically beautiful appearance captivated all those around her. Hundreds of eyes focused on her, yet no one dared approach due to the noble aura she exuded so effortlessly. They could only whisper from afar. Unbothered by the attention, she walked gracefully down the street.

She glanced at the entrance to the Sanctum and smiled faintly. “Lady Vega must have arrived by now, right?”

Isabella had been practically kicked out of the hospital room by Song Ha-Eun and nervously loitered outside the door. Well, nervously didn’t seem quite right. Her step had carried an odd bounce as she wandered the hallway, and the corners of her lips twitched up.

This might drive a wedge between Ha-Eun unnie and Mr. Oh-Jin.

Kwon Oh-Jin had been hiding the fact that he had lost his memories of Song Ha-Eun. From Song Ha-Eun’s perspective, that probably felt like a betrayal. That much was clear from the way her face had stiffened terrifyingly as she stormed into the room.

If their relationship really does fall apart...

Isabella swallowed dryly and stared at the closed door.

Gulp.

She forcibly pulled down the corners of her mouth that kept trying to rise.

If things go wrong between them, Mr. Oh-Jin will be devastated.

She knew all too well just how much Kwon Oh-Jin cherished Song Ha-Eun. He loved her enough to throw his life away without hesitation and devoted everything to her.

I’ll be the one to comfort him.

Isabella placed a hand over her fluttering chest, letting her imagination run wild. She pictured herself tenderly consoling the heartbroken Kwon Oh-Jin with utmost sincerity.

I’ll hold him gently and stroke his hair. Maybe even share another sweet kiss like last time.

Fortunately, she was gifted with a beauty that could seduce even a monk who had trained in asceticism for decades. Their relationship had also advanced to the point where she could at least be considered his second.

Though he probably doesn’t remember that.

Still, unless all his memories of her disappeared, she surely held a place in his heart.

Maybe...

Isabella’s gaze, fixed on the door, began to burn with intensity.

Maybe, just maybe...

Through this incident, she could even become his first. The desire she had long repressed rose again in her heart, but that hopeful moment was short-lived. As soon as she heard the unmistakable sounds of moaning from beyond the door, her hopeful heart deflated like a pricked balloon.

Isabella deeply sighed. “

Haaa...

”

Staring blankly at the hospital room door, she turned and headed toward the Sanctum. She intended to inform Vega that he had woken up, but part of her also wanted to interrupt the couple’s sweet time together. After all, they always acted more cautiously around Vega.

“What am I doing?”

Calling Vega just to interfere with their intimate moment felt pathetic. Even by her own standards, being jealous like this was pitiful.

With a self-mocking smile, Isabella walked through the streets. Rather than returning to the hospital right away, she went on a short walk to clear her head. As she aimlessly wandered in a nearby park, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Her sharp eyes scanned the surroundings as she gently scratched her palm with her fingernail. The blood that dripped formed a scythe.

A woman stepped out from the shadows of the now eerily silent park. “Oh my, how scary.”

Her physique resembled that of a girl more than a woman. The delicate outline of her figure seemed so fragile like she could break at the slightest touch. Despite her girlish frame, the woman looked quite sultry and captivating. Like the forbidden fruit that tempted Adam, she provoked an instinctive sense of guilt and transgression.

Cassia Colgrande smiled sweetly as she looked at her younger sister.

Isabella sharply glared at Cassia. “Unnie...”

Though Cassia had abruptly ceased her attack after talking with Kwon Oh-Jin in the black dome, she had tried to kill Isabella with a mad grin just moments earlier.

Meeting the sister that Isabella believed to be dead should have brought joy, but an instinctual wariness took precedence instead.

“You don’t need to be so guarded, you know?” Cassia lightly chuckled.

Her shoulders shook as if she found Isabella’s tension amusing.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just met him and thought I’d stop by to see my beloved little sister on the way.”

“Him? You don’t mean Mr. Oh-Jin, do you?”

Cassia nodded silently.

Isabella bit her lip and aimed her scythe at her sister. “You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

“Don’t worry. He...” Cassia trailed off and looked up at the night sky.

“He what?”

With a complicated expression, Cassia stared at the darkness that blanketed the sky. She deeply sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know yet...”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“It’s nothing.” Cassia avoided the question and shook her head again.

That day, she recalled how Kwon Oh-Jin had looked in the black dome. The arrogant, overconfident man who claimed he would become her Heavenly Demon. The man who whispered sweet lies, asking her to abandon the very Heavenly Demon she served to follow him instead.

Her feelings toward him were too complex to be summarized in a few words. She had too much blood on her hands to fall for such sweet words so easily.

A crushing guilt and regret tightened around her heart. Even if she had been out of her mind ever since receiving a star from the Heavenly Demon, she had been his loyal servant for the past ten years and had trampled on countless lives.

Could a filthy, vile serpent like her dare to follow those sweet whispers and pursue happiness now? Did she even have the right to feel happy in the first place?

Cassia shook her head as if to erase her tangled thoughts. “Anyway, I haven’t done anything to him. There’s no need to worry.”

Isabella slightly lowered her scythe. The tension on her face eased a bit. “So, what’s your business here?”

“Oh my, do I need a reason to visit my little sister?”

“Cut the nonsense,” Isabella snapped back and coldly glared at Cassia.

Cassia shrugged lightly and took a step closer. “By the way... it seems like he has another woman.”

Isabella flinched.

Cassia delightfully giggled at her reaction. “Are you going to steal him away?”

“S-Steal? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Cassia stuck out her long tongue playfully. “Our little Bella is greedy, isn’t she?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“

Hehe

. You know exactly what I mean.” A snake-like glint in Cassia’s eyes swept over Isabella. “Or... should I take him for myself?”

Cassia ran her hand sensually down her chest with a seductive smile. Though she lacked voluptuous curves, her intense allure could even steal the gaze of her own sister. She was like a forbidden fruit, impossible to resist.

“If you so much as lay a finger on Mr. Oh-Jin, I swear I won’t just stand by—!”

“And what exactly are you to him?”

“T-That’s—!” Isabella froze.

Even she didn’t want to declare to her sister that she was Kwon Oh-Jin’s second.

Cassia’s eyes sparkled as she watched Isabella hesitate.

Even as sisters, Isabella was obviously very attractive. Her voluptuous figure and slim waist seemed impossible for her frame. She also possessed spotless skin like fresh snow and golden hair that looked as if it had been melted from pure gold.

Cassia prided herself on her own charms as a woman, but she couldn’t compare to Isabella. And yet, to think another woman could make Isabella hesitate like this.

“

Hmm

. I wonder who she is.” Cassia narrowed her eyes and recalled the scent that strongly lingered on Kwon Oh-Jin.

For some reason, just thinking about such a woman made her blood boil. Even though she didn’t necessarily have feelings for him, she bit her lip hard and felt annoyed by the surge of irritation that she couldn't quite explain.

“Well, in any case, do your best. Stealing things is your specialty, isn’t it?”

“Shut up...”

“

Hehe

. Well then, I’ll be going now.” Cassia lightly waved and turned away.

“Why did she even come here? Seriously...” Isabella deeply sighed and shook her head. “Where are you going?” she called out to Cassia, who was disappearing into the shadows.

Cassia stopped in her tracks and turned back with a stiff expression. “The Demonic District.”

With that short answer, her figure completely vanished into the darkness.

Isabella blankly stared at where Cassia had disappeared. Then, she slowly bit her lip and turned away. For some reason, she wanted to see Kwon Oh-Jin right away and headed back to the hospital.

***

Isabella opened the hospital room door and saw Kwon Oh-Jin asleep.

So, they’re both already gone.

Not seeing Song Ha-Eun or Vega, Isabella quietly walked over to him. He slept soundly, his breathing calm and even.

Cassia’s previous words echoed in her ears.

“Stealing things is your specialty, isn’t it?

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Isabella reached out to him. “I...”

Her hand gently cupped his cheek, and her fingers traced his lips as he exhaled softly. The soft sensation of his lips triggered an intense desire suppressed within her.

Perhaps sensing a presence, Kwon Oh-Jin opened his eyes. “

Mm?

Isabella?”

“You’re awake?”

As he tried to sit up, Isabella gently pressed his chest and pushed him back down onto the bed.

“Do you remember the promise you made with me?” she asked.

“Promise?”

“Yes, the one we made on the Ferris wheel.”

“That’s...” Kwon Oh-Jin’s face stiffened.

Due to the aftereffects of Open Heaven, his memory of what they had talked about on the Ferris wheel had been completely wiped.

“Sorry. Like I said earlier, I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay. I’ll remind you.”

Isabella climbed onto the bed.

With suffocatingly seductive eyes, she looked down at him and whispered, “Mr. Oh-Jin, you said...”

With a brief hesitation, Isabella looked down at him with conflicted eyes. Then, she slowly pressed herself on top of him, almost crushing him.

“You said you’d make me your first.”

He couldn’t remember what happened on the Ferris wheel, so maybe she could become his first and not his second. Not Song Ha-Eun, but herself.

Isabella would become the most important person in his life.

“Mr. Oh-Jin... you’ll keep your promise, won’t you?” She looked down at him, her eyes glistening with desire, and her breath hot and heavy.