[AFYC] Chapter 71

“Yes. The county of Dankook has a particularly strict naming culture, so they often have separate names for childhood and adulthood. Given that, it’s unlikely that a noble family would name someone with a meaning that includes ‘forgiveness.’”

As Simon explained, Oscar quietly examined the translation of the identification document. 

Seo Ah. So, if one were to interpret her name… it would mean something like “forgive and love,” right?  

How peculiar. 

Then again, everything about her was peculiar. 

“…Are you coming?” 

Coming? For what? Where? 

She had asked with eyes that looked like they would spill tears at the slightest touch. He couldn’t quite understand the underlying emotion behind those teary eyes, but how she seemed on the verge of crying had certainly puzzled him. 

The strange question, which he had never been asked before, lingered in his mind longer than it should have, causing him to dwell on it. 

“When will you come?” 

It was question to be asked someone left behind, hoping for the return of the departed. In those teary eyes, he had seen a blind, anxious hope—a plea to return. 

Perhaps it reminded him of something from his past. Something he thought he had erased but hadn’t entirely forgotten—a moment from long ago. 

For some reason, he thought he could smell rain. 

Oscar chuckled coldly and shook his head. Yet, despite himself, that insignificant question stuck in his mind like a thorn, nagging at the edges of his thoughts. 

A train window, half-drawn curtains, the startled look she gave him. The curve of her ear, sunlight glinting off it. 

Ignoring the persistent memory, Oscar returned the translation and lit another cigarette. 

“As long as Felphe Bank doesn’t make an issue of it, her strange name isn’t our problem. If Abel Sting marries her, it won’t be a problem.” 

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Simon agreed, handing over Abel’s report. 

As Oscar opened the report, he recalled the usual content of Abel’s reports. 

It had been five days since he’d last seen the woman. The situation would have progressed considerably by now. The report would likely detail how Abel had seduced her, how she had fallen for him, whether they had slept together, and the subsequent marriage plans. 

He expected to find those sorts of details written at length. 

Would she look at Abel that way, even in bed? The thought of that night, her tearful eyes praying to some unseen presence while failing to find any light, flashed through his mind. 

Oscar’s thoughts on the woman began to spiral strangely, so he turned the pages with a cynical smile. 

But then… 

Oscar’s eyes narrowed reflexively as he read the report. 

Market tour.

And besides that: 

Pancakes, 5,200 Kertes.

Not just pancakes. There were also sausages, candy, coffee… 

Oscar read on, cigarette still in his mouth, turning to the next page. It was the same story. The next page and the page after that are detailed with the same activities. 

The only difference was the growing frustration in Abel’s increasingly forceful handwriting. 

Judging by this report, the woman had spent the last five days waking Abel up at the crack of dawn, dragging him around the market all day, buying sausages, coffee, candy, and pancakes. 

Standing in the midst of bloodshed, Oscar found himself unintentionally visualising the foreign woman’s market tour. He couldn’t help but mutter incredulously. 

“She asked how significant a weekly payment of 500 million Kertes is, yet she spends only a few thousand, maybe a few tens of thousands of Kertes in a day?” 

He could vividly imagine the woman moving hesitantly in circles at the market, just as she had done when asked to turn around. She must have been tiptoeing around Abel the entire time, nervously watching his reactions. Oscar let out a small laugh, almost like a cough. 

“She goes to bed this early?” 

The amused murmur drew Simon’s curiosity, and he quietly read a page from Abel’s report. As he scanned it, the usually cold and composed man frowned slightly. 

“It seems like Abel is the one being led around by the target, rather than the other way around.” 

Behind them, the screams of the dying echoed through the air, and blood and flesh splattered across the floor. Even the laughter bubbling up from Oscar’s throat tasted of blood. But he couldn’t help himself; he had to cover his face with Abel’s report to stifle his laughter. 

Stifled chuckles reverberated through the blood-soaked hallway, causing Simon and the senior wolves directing the cleanup of corpses to pause and look back at their master. It was a rare sight, even for those who had served Oscar for a long time—like snow falling in the height of summer. 

♔♔♔ 

ONEDAYTHREEAUTUMNS PATREON
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The Painless Player

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[SCR] 11 – You Will Be Mine