I’m Not a Regressor - Chapter 246

Chapter 246: Celebratory Party (2)

A luxurious, Hollywood-like limo drove along one of Seoul’s busy streets, and Isabella hummed from the passenger seat without meaning to. “Hmmmm~♬” The warmth and satisfaction were worth more to her than the limo’s luxury leather seats, which had cost tens of billions of won; her shoulders shuddered with excitement.

“Oh, I’m sorry, miss.” Her maid, who was helping her with her makeup, looked embarrassed and fixed a mistake she’d made due to Isabella’s movements.

“No, I’m sorry for moving so suddenly.” Isabella gave the maid a kind smile.

“You seem to be in a good mood. You were in bad shape for the last few weeks,” Roberto, the old man driving the limo, said as he glanced into the back seat.

“That’s because all of the things I’ve been putting off have been more or less solved.” After Ohjin escaped from the Demon Realm, she felt a need to reestablish the Cologrande family’s power, which she’d put off for too long.

‘We need power that can help Ohjin in an emergency.’ Compared to his excellent skills, Ohjin had almost no force to call his own. Of course, that meant he could operate freely since nothing was holding him back, but it also meant that he had nothing to fall back on in the case of an emergency.

He had the Association, but that was a group that belonged to the state. Thus, she’d returned to the Cologrande family to create a force that would become a natural extension of his will.

* * *

It’d only taken a few weeks for her to consolidate her family’s power after Damien Salvator scattered it. After she heard that Ohjin would be participating in the Seven Stars selection, she focused on her work even more and did not contact him.

“Hmm. Is that the only reason you’re so happy?” A mischievous smile appeared on the old gentleman’s face.

“What do you want to say…?” Isabella asked.

“Haha, it’s nothing. I suddenly remembered the first time I met my wife.”

He was about to say that everything was very fresh back then before Isabella cut him off. “Just focus on driving, Roberto.” She calmed her excitement a little and looked out the window.

“By the way, Miss…” Melissa, the maid who’d been helping with her makeup, gave Isabella an embarrassed look. Even amid her day-to-day work, Isabella was so beautiful that even women found themselves breathless at the sight of her.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay with that outfit?” The maid was referring to her clothes, which didn’t match her noble appearance—it was a classic maid costume that not even the family maids wore anymore.

“Fufu. He liked this outfit before.” Isabella smiled and leaned back in her seat, lightly stroking her open cleavage. “Ohjin fell very deeply for me. You could consider this a service for a loyal pet or something like that.”

“Aha! You’re rewarding him!”

“Yes, this might be what I’m wearing, but I’m the master of our master-servant relationship,” Isabella smugly said, even though she’d been the one to fall deeply for Ohjin. If she wanted to maintain her dignity in front of her subordinates, she had to twist things a bit.

“As expected of you, Miss!” Melissa’s eyes shone, and she clenched her fists.

Isabella lifted her chin at her maid’s awestruck gaze. “When it comes to love, the most important thing is to take the initiative and make the other person love you even more. Make it impossible for them to live a day without you—that’s what I call ‘initiative’.”

“Your maid costume…”

“Men tend to ‘delude’ themselves into thinking they have the initiative, even when they’re dancing on the palm of my hand.”

“Wow,” Melissa exclaimed and nodded constantly. Certainly, no outfit could make a person more ‘deluded’ into believing they had the lead in a relationship than a maid outfit. “Then, the Lightning Wolf—”

“The Star of Twinkling Brilliance,” Isabella interrupted.

“What?”

“He’s not the Lightning Wolf anymore. He’s the Star of Twinkling Brilliance. You also heard he became a member of the Seven Stars, right?” Isabella spoke in excitement, like a devoted wife boasting about her husband’s promotion.

She continued with, “Ohjin was chosen as a Seven Star, beating all other prominent competitors, such as Wind God Namgung Hui of one of China’s top families, Jason Hardy of the US, and Orlando Bale—the God Archer of the UK. He did it all without being a high-ranking Awakener! Do you know how amazing that is?”

“Oh… yes. That… Yes.”

“There’s a rumor that the ‘Star of Twinkling Brilliance’ title is given to the most powerful Awakener among the Seven Stars. This means that many celestials recognize Ohjin’s ability and talent.”

Melissa looked jaded as she listened to Isabella brag. “By the way, Ohjin—”

“Melissa?” Isabella interrupted

“Yes?”

“You should add ‘sir’, right?” Her eerie blue eyes stared deep into Melissa’s.

Melissa shook her head and nodded like a woodpecker.

Isabella stroked her maid’s hair and made a satisfied smile. “What were you trying to say?”

“So he’s already in a relationship with you?”

“…” Isabella’s face stiffened, and she looked away while sweeping her hair. “O-of course. I suppose you could say we promised ourselves to each other.

She continued to talk, pretending to be as relaxed as possible. “He’s so in love with me that he asked me to drink his blood.” Well, it was true that Ohjin had asked her to drink his blood.

“Oh! Oh, my! He even asked you to drink his blood?” Melissa, who had the same stigma as Isabella, was well aware of what blood drinking meant for an Awakener of Hirudo.

“Yes, and he did so while even knowing about the soul subjugation aspect.” Isabella crossed her legs and shrugged.

Melissa looked at her in envy. “I… can I also be a wonderful woman who can control men like you?”

“Oh, of course. You’re very cute, aren’t you?” Isabella smiled and gently touched Melissa’s cheek.

Melissa’s shoulder-length chestnut brown hair and freckles gave her a pretty country-girl atmosphere, and her beauty was even apparent compared to the other maids. “Cute isn’t enough to be like you, though…” She pouted and sulked.

Isabella smiled, turned her head, and looked out of the window. In the distance, she saw Ohjin’s apartment, and her heart started to surge with adrenaline while an impulse other than bloodlust began to heat her body. “Haa…” Just when she was feeling frustrated that the 80km/h limo seemed as slow as a turtle…

“We’re here,” Roberto announced from the driver’s seat.

“Well done, Roberto,” Isabella said, stepping out of the door after Roberto opened it. Of course, everyone nearby couldn’t help but watch when a brilliant beauty in a maid outfit emerged from the luxurious limo. Isabella, on the other hand, walked straight to the apartment building as if she didn’t care that others were looking.

“I’ll escort you to the front door,” Roberto said.

“It’s alright. I’ll go up by myself, so you can head back.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll be waiting at a nearby hotel.” Roberto bowed deeply and went back to the limo.

Isabella practically jumped into the elevator. When she arrived at Ohjin’s front door, she took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart. “Ahem…” She cleared her throat, took out a hand mirror, and checked her makeup. ‘Perfect.’ Melissa was as skillful as ever.

She looked into the mirror and gave herself an alluring smile. “It’s been a while, Ohjin. Why a maid outfit, you ask? Of course, it’s because I’m your maid. Or… is the master-slave relationship not enough?” She practiced her lines in the middle of the hallway and imagined Ohjin’s reaction. Melissa would be shocked to see her like that.

‘Okay, just like this!’ Isabella clenched her fists and resolved herself. When she carefully opened the front door…

Click—

She saw Ohjin and Ha-eun clinging to each other in the early hours of the morning.

“Why not?! It’s not like it’ll get worn out!”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Of course, Ohjin would’ve felt that it was unfair for her to think they were ‘showing off’, but Isabella couldn’t help but view the two naked people as doing anything else.

“…” Her eyes went cold, and the atmosphere in the room seemed thick enough to cut with a knife. “What are you two doing?” she asked. “Well, that’s it.”

The two were frozen in shock.

Isabella resentfully chewed her lips. This is what she was rewarded with after working day and night to create a force to support him? Had he been spending every day being all lovey-dovey with Ha-eun?!

“So unfair, Ha-eun…!” She grabbed Ha-eun, who was still clinging to Ohjin. “I also want to be with Ohjin!” she shouted like a child. Any sort of image she’d tried to cultivate of being a queen who held men in the palm of her hand was long gone.

* * *

“Have you calmed down?” After the brief scuffle, Ohjin offered her warm coffee as she sulked in the living room.

“…Hmph.” Isabella narrowed her eyes and sipped the coffee he’d given her. “I guess you didn’t even miss me while I was away.”

“That’s not it at all.” Ohjin shook his head and sat next to her. He’d been happy to spend time alone with Ha-eun for the first few days, but he’d started to miss Isabella after about a week.

‘I feel like trash managing a fishery.’ It wasn’t wrong for him to think that way, since he knew how much she liked him but still couldn’t bring himself to push her away. If he were to make an awkward excuse, he’d say it was because Ha-eun had permitted him to stay close.

‘That’s not the only thing…’ Ohjin gave his hand a bitter look. As expected, he was holding on to so many things that he was starting to get greedy.

“I don’t know…” Isabella turned her head away as if she were upset, but that only lasted for a moment. She swept her toes over the floor and carefully turned to him. “…You thought of me, right?”

“The house was pretty quiet without you,” Ohjin said.

“Haha. I’m glad you said that, even if it’s just to comfort me.” A warm smile crept onto Isabella’s lips.

Ohjin, on the other hand, was so sure of her anger a few moments ago that he couldn’t believe a few words were enough to make her happy.

Isabella let out a dramatic sigh. ‘I can never tell Melissa.’ She clapped her hands to shake off the depressed mood and spoke to Ohjin again. “Come to think of it, Ohjin…!”

“Huh?”

“What have you planned for your celebratory party?”

“What?” He had no clue what she was talking about.

“Of course, we need to celebrate your joining the Seven Stars!”

No matter how Ohjin looked at it, Isabella’s eyes shone like she was a bride, proud of her husband’s promotion.