Chapter 77
“…Don’t say such terrible things. You’re the one who invited that bastard in the first place.”
Bali, who had been quietly mouthing along with the hymn, roughly ruffled her hair at that remark. Judging by her reaction, it seemed she wasn’t fully on this woman’s side either.
The other person, fixing her gaze on the choir ahead, spoke with a tone of irritation.
“It was just a formality, a mere formality. If we didn’t invite him, the tea-loving ladies would have complained. Besides, I figured he wouldn’t show up this time either.”
By “tea-loving ladie”, she meant the noblewomen who made up her main clientele.
Despite appearances, Bali was diligent and talented in many areas. She was involved not only with Hongik Ingan’s affairs but also in the clothing and tea leaf processing businesses. The parties she threw whenever possible were part of her customer retention efforts.
I had wondered how she secured funding for an intelligence agency like Hongik Ingan, and it wasn’t just relying on a golden spoon. Though I had thought she was a party-loving hedonist, I was surprised to learn she was a passionate woman who actively sought investors herself.
With that in mind, I could understand why the noblewomen tried to connect their daughters with her, and why Bali found it difficult to simply erase a man despite his Public Security Bureau background from her invitation list when her clients were demanding it.
“So, did you enjoy it? You haven’t answered my question yet.”
“You’re talking nonsense—how am I supposed to answer that?”
“Do you have the confidence not to fall for that guy no matter what he does?”
I sighed and looked back at her. Bali’s expression was uncharacteristically serious, without a hint of her usual mischief.
So this was indeed a serious matter. I understood she was acting that way because of past betrayals. But no matter what, it seemed necessary to properly quell that baseless anxiety once and for all.
“I know you’re worried because you’ve been beaten by another reader before. But I’m not that naive. Do you know what that man said to me?”
“What did he say?”
“He shamelessly asked if what we had was a ‘situationship’.”
Bali’s eyes narrowed further. I shook my head as if to say that wasn’t the point and continued.
“Of course it wasn’t. We just happened to meet at the orphanage, then I was dragged to the investigation room. He even summoned an instrument to threaten me there.”
“Then why would he say something like that?”
“Exactly. That’s why it’s even more dangerous. He keeps slipping in expressions that should only be used on Earth. If I’m not careful, I’m going to end up arrested.”
As I whispered this despite the sermon continuing, Dahlia, sitting in the front row, peeked back at me suspiciously.
I glanced around, then lowered my voice even further.
“Common sense tells me—do you really think I could fall for a man like that? Just because he looks good doesn’t mean I’d walk right into the lion’s mouth.”
“Hmm.”
Bali snorted indifferently and crossed her arms. She didn’t seem overly convinced, but at least her earlier suspicion had vanished.
Because of that villainous reader, I was the only one suffering needlessly. Speaking of which, who was that woman?
“Who is she, anyway?”
“What?”
I hadn’t had the chance to wonder amid more pressing matters. Now that my residence permit was more secure, curiosity sparked anew.
Who was the woman that inflicted such terrible PTSD on Bali?
“That reader—the one who tattled everything to the Public Security Bureau.”
“Ah.”
Bali rolled her eyes as if the thought alone was unpleasant. Whether by coincidence or genuine irritation, she even unfolded her fan.
“You’ll find out soon enough, whether you like it or not. It’s about time.”
“It’s about time?”
“She comes around this time every year. It was the same last year.”
“……”
Could she not be from Harent?
I wanted to ask more about the vague remark, but at that moment a late couple for mass sat beside me, and I had no choice but to fall silent.
Thus, I was forced into quiet meditation until the end of the service.
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