Was it because I loved her more? Or was that just my way of loving, regardless of the weight of it all?
Or maybe, I was simply tamed by her.
I don't know for sure which it was, but she was always the one on top.
And where there's a top, there's naturally a bottom.
Yes.
I was always beneath her.
I thought it was only natural.
When an argument broke out, unless you were prepared for a life-or-death struggle, the best solution was for both sides to take a step back. But what could you do if one side refused?
The next best thing was for me to be the one to take a step back.
Since that usually resolved things smoothly, I was naturally tamed into that role.
People are hard to understand, after all.
So… to sum it all up, I lived my life worshiping her like a queen.
It wasn't hard at first.
The phrase "serving her like a queen" hardly did it justice, because she loved and understood me just as much in return.
But now, I feel like all of that was a mistake.
I can't help but wonder if that's why she's treating me so coldly now.
The thought that she was lulled by the comfort of it all, that my actions became something she took for granted, and her own behavior became solidified as the "right" way.
So this time, I plan to take a different approach.
Not one where I adapt to her, but one where she adapts to me.
“How audacious.”
As she spoke, Han Ju-hee’s eyebrow arched slightly.
The meaning was clear.
She was displeased with the situation not going the way she wanted.
In the past, the moment I saw that look, I would start groveling. But not anymore.
“I just happen to want a lot of things. And… what I want changes often.”
Her brow furrowed deeper at my slick reply.
“It sounds like you’re telling me to bring you whatever I can think of, and you’ll judge and score my offerings… Am I understanding you correctly?”
The mana in the air began to shift.
The translucent blue mana began to glow red-hot, like her crimson hair.
The crimson mana affected the ambient temperature.
“…It’s suddenly hot.”
Despite the weather heralding winter, I felt a heat so intense it was as if my throat was burning.
It seemed she was a little angry.
I could understand why.
Being toyed with by some young punk, it'd be strange for someone with her pride to just sit still.
That’s how it was for most people.
The moment an S-rank Hunter showed overt displeasure or annoyance, things would quickly start going their way.
It was the same for me.
I didn't even intend to pressure them; I was just expressing my confusion, yet everything would shift to my liking.
So I could perfectly picture what it was like for those around her when she explicitly revealed her will.
If I back down and tuck my tail between my legs now, I’ll just become one of the countless others.
Just another person she can replace or change her mind about whenever she pleases.
To overcome that, I need courage, and the power to back it up.
“Is summer trying to come, skipping winter and spring…?”
With a flick of my index finger, I released a gust of frigid air around the superheated mana.
The temperature plummeted in an instant.
“……!”
Seeing her eyes widen, I smoothed down the front of my fluttering shirt and gave her my most refreshing smile.
“Ah, that’s much cooler.”
Having lost their master’s anger, the mana could no longer heat the atmosphere and dissipated into nothing.
I stopped the frigid wind once the temperature was just right.
Without any magic circle or incantation.
As one of the world's foremost mages, she had already achieved synchronization with mana.
What just happened was a result of that phenomenon.
When her emotions flared, the mana responded in kind, naturally extending outwards to heat the surroundings.
She is the Scarlet Witch, after all—the mage with the broadest and deepest mastery of fire magic in the world.
And I had just interfered with her emotional expression.
Truthfully, anyone could interfere.
All they’d have to do is release a cold wind like I did to cool the surrounding mana.
What made this simple method so shocking was that the process of activating it was completely absent.
The entire sequence required to properly cast a spell—the magic circle, mana condensation, incantation—was deleted, and the magic was cast instantly.
I had just revealed one of the cards I’d been keeping hidden.
All to leave a powerful impact on her.
She was a woman worth the effort.
Whether for lust or for revenge, she was worth it.
After a long moment of shock, she finally parted her lips.
“…You’ve been hiding your true abilities until now. And something this tremendous, at that.”
“As you can see, it’s the kind of ability that would draw endless obsession if it were known.”
She looked at me with a much softer gaze and asked.
“Why show me an ability you’ve kept so tightly under wraps?”
“There’s only one reason.”
“……?”
As she tilted her head slightly in confusion, I tossed out an ambiguous statement, one that could be interpreted in many ways.
“Because I was hoping you, Tower Master… Han Ju-hee, would become a little obsessed with me.”
Hearing my words, her brow furrowed slightly.
Not missing the chance, I added another comment.
“You’ll get wrinkles on that carefully maintained face. I’d advise against making such expressions.”
A blatant attack on her age.
I have to constantly walk the line.
I have to follow that irregular line drawn somewhere between rudeness and rugged charm, and shake her relentlessly. Only then will a sliver of a chance emerge.
The chance to drag her down to the bottom.
Before Han Ju-hee could voice her complaint, I continued.
“You probably won’t regret it. The more you obsess over me, the deeper you dig… the more you’ll discover things even more astonishing than what I just showed you, you know?”
“……”
Her expression was one of deep thought.
She was probably trying to gauge whether I was bluffing or telling the truth.
Jumping in rashly would hurt her pride, and there were likely many other complications.
Well then, shall we call it a day?
I stood up without hesitation.
“You’ll need time to think, so I’ll give you some space.”
At that moment, another way to surprise her one last time came to mind.
Some of the plants by the window had withered slightly from the brief spike in temperature.
“What a shame, all these precious plants have withered…”
I said in a regretful tone, chose a suitable plant, and stood before it.
The plant I chose was an evening primrose, the most withered of them all.
“Ah, did you know?”
“……?”
“They say if an evening primrose is raised on the special nutrient of moonlight mana, it becomes a hundred-year evening primrose.”
Simultaneously, I channeled the moonlight mana I had copied long ago and fed it generously to the evening primrose.
At the same time, the drooping flower bud began to rise.
In no time, the evening primrose was vibrantly alive.
“Plants look best when they’re fresh and green, don’t you think?”
“How did you just…!”
“Who knows.”
I added one last remark to make her blood boil.
“I just do it, and it works.”
“……!”
Han Ju-hee bit her lower lip.
The moment I saw that expression, a refreshing feeling, as if a weight had been lifted from my chest, washed over me.
That’s right.
From now on, you’ll become someone who suits that expression.
“Well then, think it over and give me a call?”
Leaving her with those playful last words, I immediately turned and headed for the elevator.
I pressed the button, and the elevator arrived at once. I stepped inside and pressed the button for the first floor.
Just before the transparent glass doors closed, I added one final, final remark to her as she watched me with a complicated gaze.
“I won’t wait long.”
Han Ju-hee.
I won’t even give you much time to think.
A storm had just raged through and vanished.
To be precise, one man had flaunted a storm-like presence before leaving as he pleased.
“Kim Do-jin…”
Han Ju-hee murmured the name of the man who had just sent her emotions on a wild rollercoaster.
At the same time, the bizarre things he had shown her replayed in her mind in sequence.
She had dedicated decades to magic, yet she had never seen or heard of such a thing.
“To completely omit the magic circle and incantation… I never thought it was possible.”
Was she trapped in her own preconceptions, or was he just that exceptionally special?
“……”
Her heart leaned toward the latter, but she didn't want to admit it.
“I’ll just have to confirm it for myself.”
A competitive spirit sparked within her.
The omission of magic circles and incantations.
If she could pull it off, she would be called the greatest mage of all time in the annals of history.
A spark ignited in her chest as she faced a new line of research she wanted to immerse herself in completely.
At the same time, she recalled the other strange feat he had shown her at the end.
Her gaze fell upon the vibrantly revived evening primrose.
“……”
As for that, she couldn't even begin to fathom how it was possible.
After some thought, she decided to ignore it for now.
She consoled herself, thinking that once she solved the first research problem… a path for the other would reveal itself as well.
Her thoughts began to settle calmly.
However, one thing remained, not easily forgotten: the image of Kim Do-jin.
Were his disrespectful words and actions, never once bowing his head to her, simply the recklessness of a talented young man?
She could not seem to find an answer.