Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Bang.

The man’s face was slammed into the wall, half of it embedded in the surface. With his face almost smashed, Si-woo approached. His eyes sparkled with a light reminiscent of madness.  

“Back in the day, guys like you weren’t even worth my lunch.”  

Overwhelmed by the air exuded by the old-timer, the man froze.  

Si-woo asked again.

“Where is Changwon-gun?”  

“I don’t… I don’t know…”  

He spoke with an unclear pronunciation and fainted. Si-woo then took a step back, and the men poured a bucket of water over him. The man awoke as if he had been hit by a waterfall and burned by fire.  

Si-woo noticed the penetrating gaze and turned around.  

“Why are you looking at me like that?”  

Jerome, with a stunned expression, could only wonder if this was the same man who had been so kind and sweet in front of Ha-yeon earlier. His current manner was still extremely gentle, but it was even more frightening.  

* * *

Ha-yeon did intend to wait naked in bed, but there were still some things to take care of.  

While standing in front of a window display at the shopping mall, she heard a familiar voice from behind.  

“Miss?”  

Turning around, she saw Emily standing there.  

“Emily, what are you doing in town?”  

It was very rare for Emily, who was practically a fixture at the Ivanov House, to be out and about.  

Emily smiled.

“I just came out for a bit of shopping.”  

“You should have called me. I would have come with you.”  

“I didn’t want to bother you if you were busy.”  

“It’s no trouble.”  

As she was answering, Ha-yeon noticed the shopping bag Emily was holding.  

“I’ll carry the shopping bag. Give it here.”  

“It’s alright…”  

Emily tried to refuse, but Ha-yeon had already taken the shopping bag from her. Then, wrapping her arm around Emily’s, she spoke.

“Let’s go.”  

Emily smiled.  

“Are you sure you’re not busy?”  

“It’s fine. Want to grab a coffee?”  

“Sure.”  

The two of them settled into an outdoor café. Emily took a sip of her tea.

“It’s nice to be out having tea with you like this after a long time.”  

“Let’s do it more often. Come out regularly.”  

Emily laughed.  

“Yes.”  

Then Emily seemed to ponder something, hesitating a bit.  

“By the way… is it true?”  

Ha-yeon looked at Emily over her teacup, as if asking what she meant.  

“About the CEO…”  

Ha-yeon let out an ‘ah’ sound and scratched the back of her neck.  

“How did you know?”  

“I overheard Mr. Ivanov and Mrs. Yeon-ha talking. Mr. Alex was said to be furious…”  

Ha-yeon chuckled.  

“I never expected to end up with Si-woo among all the men.”  

“I’m glad. I’m happy that the two people who are so precious to me are together.”  

“I’m glad too, that you think so, Emily. You’re important to Si-woo.”  

“No, I…”  

Emily’s face became sad.  

“I’m not worthy.”  

Ha-yeon took Emily’s hand.  

“Emily, we decided not to think like that.”  

Emily, lost in thought, then spoke as if having resolved.  

“Miss, actually, Si-woo is…”  

“I know.”  

Ha-yeon cut her off.  

“I know what happened.”

“Did the CEO… say something?”  

“Yes. Eop-ji, Changwon-gun, everything…”  

Emily bit her lips tightly.  

“It was my fault that we missed Changwon-gun.”  

Ha-yeon firmly grasped Emily’s hand.  

“Why is it your fault?”  

“If I hadn’t been such a fool back then…”  

“Fraudsters are always the ones at fault. The ones who get fooled and call themselves fools only realize how foolish they are when they get hit with a righteous stick and have their heads cracked open.”  

Emily couldn’t help but laugh.  

“You have a way with words.”  

Ha-yeon gave an awkward smile.  

“Emily is the only one who finds my words entertaining.”  

Ha-yeon was, after all, able to view herself objectively.  

* * *

Eugene sat at her desk, looking at the screen. Nasiri stood beside her.  

“Is this all the data?”  

Eugene kept her eyes on the screen as she spoke. Nasiri nodded.  

“For now, yes. However…”  

He usually didn’t question Eugene’s work, but there was something about this particular task that seemed unexpected, so he couldn’t help but ask.  

“Why are you investigating the personal information of the family members?”  

Eugene continued to look at the screen as she answered.  

“To be sure of everything.”  

So she could respond immediately if something happened.  

“But there doesn’t seem to be anything special.”  

Nasiri didn’t answer. Eugene looked at him curiously.  

“Is there something?”  

“There’s one surprising fact.”  

Eugene looked at the screen. The page about Ha-yeon still didn’t seem to have anything noteworthy. It was unexpected that Ha-yeon liked the cartoon character Doraemon, but that wasn’t too strange. Si-woo had some Doraemon-like qualities.  

“Please turn to the next page.”  

Nasiri spoke as if he had read her thoughts, and Eugene gestured to turn to the next page.  

“This is…”  

Eugene’s expression became serious, and she suddenly jumped up from her seat.  

“I’m going home. Prepare the helicopter.”  

Nasiri slightly lowered his head, as if he had expected this.  

As soon as Eugene landed from the helicopter, she ran down the stairs and entered the house. The house was quiet. She went to the study, opened the door, and stepped inside.  

“Father.”  

Ivan, sitting at the desk, looked at Eugene with surprise.  

“What’s going on at this hour?”  

“There’s something I need you to see.”  

Ivan looked at Eugene for a moment, sensing that she had brought some unwelcome news.  

Eugene showed him a file marked with a case number.  

“I didn’t realize such a famous person was around me.”  

Then Eugene sneered.  

“Did you let such a person take care of Martha?”  

As if expecting this reaction, Ivan turned his chair sideways.  

“She’s fine, Emily.”  

“No, it’s likely Chun Ah-eun.”  

The screen displayed a photo of Emily and Ah-eun in prison uniforms, standing in court. Her appearance hadn’t changed much, but had lost a lot of weight, and with eyes that looked haggard.  

Eugene looked at her father-in-law, the head of the Ivanov clan, with a gaze that was both arrogant and condescending.  

“The vampire Chun Ah-eun, the ‘Angel-faced Murderer’ sentenced to 164 years for killing 21 people.”

* * *

Ha-yeon suddenly remembered something and asked.

“By the way, why wasn’t Changwon-gun’s disappearance recorded in the chronicles?”  

Emily let out a small sound of realization.  

“I went back later and stole the historical records and the official records of the king’s administrative affairs), and burned them all. Even the ones the historians kept privately.”  

Ha-yeon was shocked.  

“That’s cultural heritage…”  

Emily’s cheeks flushed slightly.  

“Well… it wasn’t at the time. Besides, historical records were often washed and reused after they were used.”  

“But still, those are government documents…”  

Emily gave an awkward smile.  

“It was wrong of me, but I thought it was important not to leave any doubts about Changwon-gun’s death.”  

It must have been the best choice Emily could make at the time.  

Suddenly, Ha-yeon noticed a backpack sitting on the chair behind Emily.  

Now that she thought about it, there had been an open notebook on the table and a half-finished cup of coffee. She had assumed the owner had just gone to the bathroom, but it had been quite a while.  

She had a bad feeling.  

“Emily. Get up.”  

“What?”  

“Let’s go.”  

Ha-yeon grabbed her coffee and stood up, pulling Emily along. Emily looked confused but followed her lead. As they hurriedly walked away, Emily asked.

“What’s going on?”  

“That table, it just feels…”  

The moment Ha-yeon turned to look back, the backpack exploded with an earth-shaking blast that rocked the ground.  

Ha-yeon immediately tossed her coffee and threw herself toward Emily.  

“Emily!”  

“Miss!”  

The two reached out to protect each other.

* * *

“Emily… Ah-eun is not a murderer.”  

Ivan began to speak.  

Thirteen years ago, it wasn’t just Hisha and Ha-yeon who were kidnapped by the abductors. Their housekeeper, Ah-eun, had also been taken with them.  

“Perhaps because she was also a woman, when the kidnappers split into two groups, they took Ha-yeon and Ah-eun together.”  

Ivan looked directly at Eugene.  

“When Ah-eun’s village was raided, she lost her daughter. When something similar seemed about to happen to Ha-yeon, she lost her mind.”

* * *

As soon as the container doors opened, the stench of blood overwhelmed them. It was a smell so suffocating and paralyzing that it barely registered as the scent of blood. It was the kind of scent that could make your skin crawl just by breathing it in. In Luax’s vision, strange shapes seemed to outline themselves in the darkness, where nothing was visible for a moment.

If it were appropriate to describe it this way, it was like a soup of dismembered vegetables spilled everywhere. Inside the murky puddle, various pieces of different shapes and sizes were submerged.  

A soldier muttered quietly.

“Oh my God…”  

Si-woo’s chest tightened with dread. The thought that he might find a familiar part of someone he knew in this chaotic mess filled him with unease.

But something was crouched in the corner where the pile of bodies lay.  

“Miss.”  

Si-woo exhaled with a sigh.

But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t Ha-yeon. The figure was someone larger, huddled in a ball.  

A woman, covered entirely in a black substance as if drenched in oil, was crouched over, clutching something close to her chest. When Si-woo realized that the half-visible thing she was holding was a little girl, the soldiers immediately pointed their guns at her. They thought the woman was devouring the child.

Si-woo quickly raised his hand, signaling them to stop. He cautiously called out once again.

“Ah-eun.”  

In an instant, Ah-eun turned around sharply.