The one-month grace period Namhyeon had left behind.
Jia, who had shut herself inside the office of the large guild she belonged to, was lost in deep thought, biting her nails in the darkened room.
"Just what is lacking? Money? Fame? Power? What is it? I don't know... I really don't know."
No matter how much she tore at her hair, the answer to the question Namhyeon had thrown at her would not come out.
Jia's thought process twisted and tangled until it finally regressed to the sweetest time in her past. Those suffocatingly happy years at the Academy when she had kept Namhyeon perfectly trapped and sheltered beneath the hem of her skirt.
Her memories soon flowed to a certain night that had been the most intimate and one-sided.
The day she had overpowered the weak Namhyeon with force, pushed him down against his will, and had a one-sided relationship with him. In Jia's mind, that day's memory was thoroughly distorted.
'He didn't have the strength to resist anyway. Besides, men like that sort of thing by nature... Hyunie definitely felt it and enjoyed it deep down. Back then, we were truly perfectly one, and it was maddeningly good.'
It was a pathological rationalization that mistook violence for love and coercion for empathy.
Jia compared the perfect submission of the past with the present Namhyeon who had coldly cast her aside. Just what had gone wrong? Between Jia's lips, as she glared into empty space with bloodshot eyes, an eerie murmur soon seeped out.
"Hyunie... got stronger."
It felt like puzzle pieces falling into place.
"Hyunie Awakened and became as strong as me. That's why he thinks he doesn't need me to protect him anymore, so he's pushing me away."
In Jia's worldview, the only qualification that allowed her to remain by Namhyeon's side was "protecting him with overwhelming force." What Namhyeon had wanted when he said he wanted to "live comfortably" was simply the freedom and respect to breathe, but Jia's twisted neural architecture translated that into an entirely different language.
"Yes... that was the answer. I just need to get stronger."
In the darkness, Jia's two eyes flashed with a murky madness.
"I need to get far, far stronger—so strong that Hyunie wouldn't even dare think of running away. If I become so strong that I can instill the fear that he might die if he dares leave my side... he'll lean on me again and need me!"
A horrifyingly ecstatic smile spread across Jia's face.
She truly did not know the simplest and clearest correct answer. All she needed to do was take one step back and let him breathe, but the predator blinded by obsession lacked the very function to understand the word "freedom."
In the end, she completely veered away from a truth she could have reached if only she had thought a little more normally, and began sprinting at full speed toward the most destructive and terrible conclusion.
.
Namhyeon, having returned after a brief rest at his parents' home, was once again clearing a dungeon assigned through the Windy Guild by himself, just as usual.
Inside the dark cave-type dungeon, dozens of beast-type magical beasts with red gleaming eyes surged from every direction. Namhyeon gestured lightly as if annoyed.
"Go."
The moment the command fell, blue phantom clones surged up from behind him and rushed at the beasts all at once. Under the overwhelming sword strikes, the beast-type magical beasts collapsed one after another like sheaves of wheat before a reaper. It was, as expected, an absurdly easy battle. Just as Namhyeon was about to move his steps leisurely.
Thwack—!
An arrow flew in from somewhere along with a sharp whistling sound. Namhyeon reflexively twisted his body, but the arrowhead grazed his forearm, leaving a very shallow scratch. When he turned his gaze, a centaur-type magical beast holding a bow was visible deep in the cave. Namhyeon reached out into the air and crafted a handgun with intricate illusory magic.
"Die."
Bang—!
The illusory bullet fired with a light crack lodged precisely between the centaur's eyes. The magical beast, with a small hole punctured through its head, couldn't even scream before it collapsed its massive body. The moment he tried to step forward again.
"Master."
Namhyeon flinched in surprise and turned his head at the sweet, sticky voice coming from behind him.
"Sigh... again?"
There stood Flora, looking at him with concern. It was a mystery how she had popped out into the middle of this real-world dungeon when she should have been in the subspace.
If even the tiniest wound appeared on Namhyeon's body or even a single drop of blood formed, Flora would ignore even the constraints of space and appear suddenly like a guardian angel (masquerading as an obsessive stalker). When it came to healing, nursing, and reacting to Namhyeon's physical imperfections, she possessed a fanatical ability that even surpassed Hatsune, the head maid.
Flora gently stroked Namhyeon's shallow scratch and healed the wound in an instant.
"Well then..."
Having achieved her goal of treatment, she pressed her lips to Namhyeon's forearm as if reluctant, then slipped back into the subspace without lingering, just as suddenly as she had appeared. Namhyeon shook his head and cleanly took down the dungeon boss as well.
Returning to the mansion and receiving the maids' enthusiastic welcome, Namhyeon immediately set about a new task.
This time, the goal was none other than "Wi-Fi installation."
It was quite a complex task: cleverly fusing the outside world's radio waves with illusory magic to pull a wireless communications network into the subspace, whose dimension was severed. Using electricity obtained from a mana generator, he set up a router and connected the illusory medium, and a familiar fan-shaped icon appeared at the top of the smartphone screen.
"It's connected, for now."
He opened a video streaming site to test it, and the wireless internet boasting the overwhelming speed unique to Korea ran smoothly. A satisfied smile spread across Namhyeon's lips. Now he could enjoy the internet to his heart's content even inside the mansion. From electricity to communication networks, the subspace mansion was gradually being renovated into a perfect modern paradise tailored to Namhyeon's tastes.
It was when he led his exhausted body into the bedroom and had just lain down on the bed after finishing all the work.
Creak—
"Master."
The door opened carefully in the darkness, and Hatsune entered. She was not in her usual neat and ascetic maid uniform. She was in daring, provocative lingerie that revealed the curves of her body in full. Red, burning eyes behind her glasses were directed obsessively at Namhyeon.
Namhyeon knew without having to ask why she had entered his bedroom so late at night dressed like this.
Night Service.
Every so often, Hatsune would use the impeccable justification of "service for Master" to willingly become a seductive female and come to seek Namhyeon's warmth. Unlike Cherina, she didn't openly seduce him, but Hatsune's heavy, secretive obsession was no less than that of the other maids.
Namhyeon, leaning against the bed, smiled faintly and opened his arms.
"Come here."
The moment that brief permission fell, an ecstatic smile spread across Hatsune's lips. She approached lightly and collapsed into Namhyeon's broad embrace. Hatsune's hot body temperature and her unique mature fragrance filled Namhyeon's arms, and the subspace night grew sweet and deep once more.
.
When the bluish light of dawn softly seeped through the windows of the subspace mansion, Namhyeon slowly opened his eyes. He tossed his exhausted body and looked beside him; between the thin blankets, he could see the white line of Hatsune's back as she slept soundly, breathing evenly. She was not the usual flawless, strict head maid Hatsune, but a defenseless dragoness who had been completely exhausted after seeking Namhyeon's warmth. Namhyeon quietly gazed down at her cheek with a lingering red hue peeking through her disheveled black hair and her satisfied smile, then carefully brushed aside her soft hair and rose from the spot.
Escaping the bedroom and going down to the first floor, the maids who had already woken up were busily starting their mornings in their respective areas. Para was humming as she wiped the floor, and in the drawing-room, Miria was skillfully changing the flowers in the vase.
"Tiara, morning coffee, please."
Namhyeon entered the spacious kitchen, lightly stretched, and ordered.
"Yes, Master! Please wait a moment."
Tiara, the tyrant of the kitchen and the one in charge of cooking, hummed a tune and quickly served a cup of fragrant freshly ground coffee. Namhyeon chased away his drowsiness with the bitter coffee and took his seat at the head of the table.
Shortly after, all six dragon maids, including Hatsune who appeared in a neat and perfect maid uniform as if nothing had happened after washing up, sat around the breakfast table. Freshly baked bread, omelettes, and fresh salad filled the table abundantly.
When the meal was about halfway through, Miria stabbed at her salad with a bright, smiling eye and playfully broached the subject to Hatsune.
"So, Hatsune unni, did you have a 'gooood' time with Master yesterday? You cast such thick soundproofing magic that I couldn't hear a thing."
At that direct and mischievous provocation, a strange tension and the other maids' excited gazes all focused on Hatsune at once. But Hatsune lifted her teacup elegantly without changing her expression in the slightest.
"Miria. Whatever do you mean by that? I was simply keeping watch by Master's side."
It was a perfect poker face. But due to the very faint red marks remaining near the nape of her neck and her strangely languid atmosphere, not a single maid believed that excuse. Just as the maids were pouting on the outside while grumbling inwardly, overwhelmed by Hatsune's momentum, Namhyeon lightly cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"More importantly, our guild's profits and financial situation have become quite comfortable these days."
Namhyeon set down his coffee cup and threw a bombshell announcement at everyone with a relaxed smile.
"Wouldn't you all like to go out and play?"
The moment those words fell, brilliant color spread across the faces of the five maids excluding Hatsune. Though the daily life in the repeating subspace mansion was good, a "vacation to the outside world" with Master was enough to make their tails spin like propellers just from imagining it.
"M-Master! How dare we steal your precious rest time..."
The most flustered was, of course, Hatsune, who pursued control and stability. She abhorred the idea of Namhyeon getting involved with unpleasant things outside and tried to downplay the situation somehow. But Namhyeon cut Hatsune off with a gaze that was gentle yet firm.
"It's alright, Hatsune. We really are quite comfortable now. I wouldn't have brought it up if we were tight on money, so don't worry and let's enjoy ourselves."
Realizing she couldn't overturn her master's firm will, Hatsune eventually let out a small sigh and bowed her head, and the table instantly transformed into a festive atmosphere. To them, who had already fallen deeply into modern civilization through the Wi-Fi Namhyeon had recently installed, magazines from the outside world, and internet videos, an "outing" was the best of events.
"So, if we were to go, I'd like to hear everyone's opinions on where would be good. Want to tell me?"
Before Namhyeon's question could even finish, simultaneous cries reflecting each person's tastes burst out.
"The ocean! I've always wanted to visit the sparkling, wide ocean I saw on TV!" (Para, true to her role as the laundry maid, showed tremendous curiosity about water.)
"An amusement park! I want to be trapped alone with Master in dark, thrilling places like a 'haunted house' or a 'ferris wheel'... no, spend a cozy time." (Cherina, as expected, preferred damp and secretive spaces.)
"A shopping mall, of course! I'll pick out the finest suits for Master, pretty clothes for me, and sweep up all the delicious desserts!" (Miria—a choice befitting her love of hospitality and glamour.)
"A gourmet tour! There are ingredients and recipes in this world I haven't conquered yet. I'll devour them all!" (Tiara, with the eyes of a chef mad solely for cooking and gastronomic desire.)
"A quiet landmark for me. I'd like to comfortably enjoy the scenery with Master from somewhere with a good view... and it should be somewhere not too crowded, so I can take immediate action if you get hurt." (Flora, an answer obsessively fixated on "treatment" and "safety" as always.)
The table became as noisy as a marketplace with the colorful, wildly differing opinions.
"Can't you all be quiet? How dare you rudely try to satisfy only your own greed in front of Master. Shut your mouths this instant—"
The number one in the hierarchy, Hatsune, unable to endure it any longer, fiercely furrowed her brow and rose to suppress her younger sisters with a fearsome momentum. But Namhyeon smirked and raised his hand to restrain Hatsune.
"It's fine, Hatsune. It just means they all have high expectations."
Namhyeon alternated his gaze between the five pairs of eyes shining brightly at him with excited faces and Hatsune's eyes that couldn't hide her inner expectations despite her worries, and declared cheerfully.
"Alright. For now, I'll pick the best place convenient to get to from here that can evenly accommodate all your opinions. All of you, prepare yourselves thoroughly to go out."
At Namhyeon's definitive answer, a cheer loud enough to almost lift the mansion burst out. Namhyeon, too, felt a strange excitement blooming at the thought of enjoying the leisure of everyday life that he had been unable to properly savor since returning from the otherworld, overshadowed by Jia's terrible shadow, together with these lovely headache-inducing maids who worshipped him.