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“See, you understand why I’m here, right?”

William said this with an air of confidence, as if boasting about his astonishing prophetic abilities.

However, Agnes merely stared at him and then tilted her head in confusion.

“How can you be so sure about this?”

After some thought, she opened her mouth again.

“How did you know Ella has an older sister? You seem pretty convinced.”

“Ahem, well, that’s…”

William clamped his mouth shut as if hesitant to answer Agnes’s question. He even averted his gaze, as if he had something to hide, and gulped down his beer like it was water.

Seeing this, Agnes narrowed her eyes and asked, “Did you investigate me?”

“Ahem!”

It was hard to believe that a scoundrel like William would take an interest in the East or Russia, let alone form close connections there to regularly share information. He was a man whose sole purpose in life was to chase after women.

So, if he was certain Ella had an older sister, there was only one way he could have found out.

It had to be through investigation.

“He adopted her, huh? Well, I have no idea what the story is behind that…”

“You disgusting, rude scoundrel…!”

“Whoa, wait a minute. Calm down, Ness.”

“I told you not to call me Ness!”

Agnes shot up, unable to contain her anger. It seemed like she was ready to unleash some witchcraft right at William.

Kkyung!

Clank!

But Agnes’s fury didn’t come to fruition. William’s summon creature, which had been watching her intently, and the bodyguards, who were always on high alert to protect him, sprang into action.

The summon creature stood before William as if to shield him, expanding its body to obscure him from view, while the bodyguards moved in a trained formation centered around Agnes. They pulled out the batons strapped to their waists and infused them with energy.

“Hmph.”

Agnes, feeling insulted by the sight of the summon creature and bodyguards protecting William, furrowed her brows in discontent. Resolving herself, she dusted off her sleeves.

Thud.

Thud thud.

Then, tiny red fruit wrapped in plastic started dropping to the ground, all dried up. Despite being shriveled to the size of fingernails, their color was as red as blood, and they emitted an acrid smell through the plastic.

“Do you know what this is?”

She lifted her witchcraft to infuse the fruits with life force. The fruits began to tremble as if vibrating, and soon swelled like water balloons. Fiendish faces were etched onto their red sides, and the green caps glimmered as if they were light itself.

Transformed into living bombs, the fruits bounced around Agnes in a circle, but due to their small, toy-like appearance, the bodyguards didn’t take them seriously.

At least not until Agnes revealed what those “toys” truly were.

“Have you heard of the Carolina Reaper?”

“What?”

At her words, the bodyguards recoiled in horror.

The Carolina Reaper. A insane chili pepper known to have an average Scoville rating over 1.6 million.

Considering that the Bhut Jolokia, a pepper with a lower Scoville rating than the Carolina Reaper, is used to make tear gas…

The bomb-like shape of those peppers moved by witchcraft had particular significance.

The bodyguards gulped nervously.

What would happen if those bomb-shaped peppers exploded? They could either unleash a devastating explosion or scatter a terrifying amount of chili powder like tear gas, incapacitating everyone.

Either way, it would not be favorable for them.

Thus, the bodyguards tensed up while Agnes simmered with laughter and irritation, maintaining a standoff…

Until someone finally broke the silence.

“Everyone, please calm down and take a seat.”

It was Jinseong.

He spoke in a voice that eased the taut tension, redirecting their focus toward him, explaining the reason they should all settle down.

“I hope you understand that Frau Winter and I are also present here.”

While not perfect, this provided a justification to resolve their standoff. Agnes could back down for Ella and Jinseong, while William’s side, despite being innocent, could consider the ‘innocent victims’ involved.

“Hmph.”

Agnes made a displeased expression as this justification was laid out, snapping her fingers. The Carolina Reapers, which had been revealing their spiky sides toward the bodyguards, swarmed toward her, puffing their cheeks as if to throw something up.

Ptoo!

Thud thud thud.

What shot out from those puffed cheeks were spheres seemingly made from clusters of seeds. The spheres rolled back into the plastic where the Carolina Reaper had come from, and as they settled into place, the Carolina Reapers crumbled on the spot, as if their work was done.

Swoosh.

The peppers disappeared without leaving even a speck of powder behind, leaving only the seeds.

Those seeds delicately rolled into Agnes’s handbag, and finally, seeing this, the bodyguards seemed relieved as they returned close to William. However, the summon creature remained tense, still puffed up and staring at Agnes, until William nudged it, signaling to relax, and it finally shrank down and settled at his feet.

“Wow, I didn’t expect you’d be this angry.”

Even after such a commotion, William remained unchanged. He was cheeky, brazen, and refused to acknowledge his faults.

What’s more, as if his own business took precedence, he nonchalantly brought up Anastasia’s story again.

“First, calm down. It’s not odd to investigate for predictions. It’s something every prophet does, right? And honestly, knowing about one woman isn’t that big of a deal….”

Agnes’s anger flared up again at his shameless attitude, but she barely managed to calm down thanks to Ella holding her hand.

“…I don’t want to talk to you anymore, so get to the point already.”

“Okay, okay. Tsk. Someone’s certainly sensitive about women.”

He clicked his tongue while watching Agnes suppress her fury, then pulled out a small piece of paper.

On it was something familiar to Koreans: alcohol.

“It’s Makgeolli.”

And it wasn’t some specialty you’ve been given directly by a craftsman; it looked like a well-known brand you’d find at a convenience store or store.

The words “fresh makgeolli” and “with chestnuts” were boldly written alongside a cozy-looking green PET bottle.

However, something was off about the makgeolli.

The manufacturing date and expiration date were half-erased.

“Hmm. It’s around the day of the Coming of Age ceremony.”

But although the markings were faint, they weren’t unintelligible.

“The year is next year… February? No, March…? It’s hard to tell with it smudged.”

It seemed like it was early next year.

“Yeah. When I saw the future with the ability of a prophet, I was holding this drink. I can’t quite remember, but I used all kinds of means to restore it like this.”

Makgeolli doesn’t have a long shelf life. If it’s fresh makgeolli, it would be even shorter.

Then, his prophecy would take place early next year…

And that raised one question.

“…Did you misjudge something?”

That question was regarding the appearance of Anastasia depicted in the prophecy.

There was no way Anastasia could mature from an elementary school girl to an adult in just a few months.

Agnes held onto this reasonable doubt, while William laughed as if bemused by Agnes’s current condition, thinking, ‘She’s playing dumb again.’

“Ah, that’s…”

However, Ella, sensing something was amiss, seemed to want to say something to Agnes. But standing beside her, Jinseong firmly grasped her hand and raised a finger to her lips, whispering silently.

Shh.

Ella’s face flushed at Jinseong suddenly blocking her lips and, losing her train of thought, followed his lead to seal her lips. Seeing her comply, Jinseong nodded gently as if that was proper, then turned to look at William.

“Ah, Ness. I get what you’re worried about. But listen, this girl who’s Ella’s sister is pretty, but honestly, I like you more, Ness. So I decided to give up on Anastasia—Anastasia? Whatever her name is, for you. I hope you realize this true feeling of mine.”

“Hah, you really think that’s going to work?”

“Oh? Are you jealous right now?”

“What? Are you out of your mind?”

“Heh. It’s cute.”

William earnestly conveyed his opinions to Agnes. No, rather than conveying them, he was shoving his thoughts down her throat.

He ignored Agnes’s responses and comments, abruptly ending the conversation. When he made eye contact with Jinseong, he grinned and said,

“Ah, speaking of which, you’re the son-in-law, right? A shaman?”

He looked up and down at Jinseong with an air of arrogant gratitude and then tossed a watch toward him.

“I heard shamans are all about style these days. You look nice, but if you keep dressing like that, will girls really like you?”

Then he slyly glanced at Ella sitting next to him.

“Especially if you’re dating a girl like her, who grew up surrounded by all the best things, you should care about fashion. You’re not from a poor family, and you’re not talentless, right? Don’t dress so drably.”

It seemed more insulting than complimentary.

But Jinseong lost none of his smile in response to William’s evaluation, nudging the watch William tossed back toward him.

“I can’t just accept something so precious.”

“Oh, just take it. Are you really going to refuse a gift from your future father-in-law?”

“It doesn’t make sense to just accept such an expensive gift. It’s too much of an honor.”

“Hah, just look at you, so shameless like a shaman.”

William frowned at Jinseong’s refusal of the gift but then suddenly had a bright idea, grinning widely before tossing the watch back to him.

“Then count it as payment for services, and take whatever’s left. Let’s see your divination skills or whatever, son-in-law.”

 

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