Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

“Wow, Young Master, you won again. You’re good at this.”

Jerome couldn’t hide his admiration. Hisha was triumphant.

“There’s no one at home who can beat me at Rummikub.”

The Rummikub tiles were neatly lined up on the table between them.

Selena, sitting alone, was confused about whether this was a business trip or a daycare, but she was thankful Jerome was there.

“Selena, do you want to play a round?”

Hisha asked, but Selena didn’t even look up from her tablet.

“Sorry, I have work to do.”

Watching her, Hisha remarked.

“Selena, you are a workaholic.”

“She does nothing but work except for breathing.”

Jerome chimed in, seizing the opportunity. Hisha let out a small sigh.

“I’m worried that Eugene works too much, too.”

Jerome smiled a little.

“She seems different from the rumors.”

Hisha responded eagerly.

“Completely different. The rumors are really strange.”

“That woman must have let the rumors spread intentionally to some extent.”

Selena suddenly spoke. When Hisha turned to look at her, she added.

“Being seen as a villain might be better than being underestimated. Only she knows if she’s truly a villain or not.”

“If Eugene was a villain, she could have torn me to pieces when my identity was revealed.”

Hisha’s immediate rebuttal made Jerome frown.

“Young Master, such gruesome talk…”

But Hisha had more to say.

“And she wouldn’t have promised not to use me as a test subject.”

Selena looked at Hisha in surprise.

“Did she say that?”

Hisha nodded. He looked out the window, a hint of longing for Eugene showing on his face. Jerome glanced at Selena as if to ask what to do, and Selena shook her head, signaling to leave him be and return to her work.

Soon, an announcement for landing came, and the plane touched down. Hisha stretched his legs and stood up.

“Thanks, that was a comfortable trip. Now, I…”

“You’re coming with us.”

Selena cut him off firmly.

“You don’t have a place to stay, do you?”

“Well, that’s true…”

Hisha scratched the back of his head. He had only thought about getting to Rome and had no time to find or book a place to stay. He just realized now that he didn’t have accommodations.

“Let’s go.”

Selena said, leaving no room for argument, and walked out first. Though she had forcibly brought him along, she had a look that said she would never let Hisha stay in some shabby motel.

Understanding her intentions, Hisha smiled and stood up. As Jerome walked out with him, he asked something he’d been curious about.

“So, how many more wish coupons do you have left?”

“They’re fake.”

Jerome was puzzled by Hisha’s casual remark and asked.

“Fake?”

Hisha nodded.

“The last one I used was a real one that happened to be left. But I think Selena knows too.”

He nodded towards Selena, who was descending the stairs. Jerome chuckled.

“Even with all that, she’s still weak against you and Miss Ha-yeon.”

* * *

“Master.”

Hisha, about to leave the hotel room, turned around at the call.

Selena stood in the hallway, arms crossed, looking ready for a serious conversation. Dressed more elegantly than usual for the party downstairs, Hisha couldn’t help but admire her.

“Selena, if it weren’t for Eugene, I’d ask you out.”

“Thank you.”

Though she responded politely, she seemed unimpressed. She uncrossed her arms, placed her hands on her hips, and got to the point.

“Have you seriously thought about it?”

“About what?”

“Whether it has to be Director Eugene. Isn’t it just because she’s your first?”

Hisha was momentarily at a loss for words, then blushed slightly.

“How do you know about that?”

Selena shrugged slightly.

“I even know who your first kiss was with. That scary friend who two-timed you with the hockey team captain. She seemed so nice.”

Ha-yeon often referred to that incident with a cryptic saying about a fool stumbling and grabbing the cow’s tail.

“People aren’t what they seem.”

Hisha grumbled.

“Eugene is so cute. Why doesn’t anyone see how cute she is?”

“The word ‘cute’ for her…”

Selena muttered reluctantly, not wanting to imagine how fearsome that cuteness might be.

Considering Eugene’s personality, social status, and age, she seemed like someone who would have Hisha completely under her thumb, but apparently, that wasn’t the case. Despite his naivety, Hisha had determination, and sometimes naivety itself could be a powerful weapon. Maybe that’s why they say every pot has its lid.

“I like Eugene.”

Hisha looked more serious than ever.

“Isn’t that enough? It’s not just because she’s my first or because it feels special. Even if everyone tells me to give up and follows me around to make me change my mind, I can’t give up on her. That’s all.”

“…”

Selena silently looked at Hisha.

Yes, there were indeed such pure hearts in the world. It’s just that she, and others, hadn’t seen such purity in so long that it was as hard to believe in as ancient people believing in vampires.

At that moment, the hotel door opened, and Jerome entered.

“Are you ready?”

Selena relaxed her posture and said to Hisha.

“I understand your feelings. Let’s go.”

Before leaving, she reminded Hisha.

“Remember, outside, we don’t know each other.”

“I know.”

That was a rule since childhood, so it wasn’t difficult for him to follow. When Hisha nodded, Selena and Jerome left the room first. A little later, when Hisha came out of the room, he took the elevator and took one last look at himself in the mirror. With his brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, and black suit, he looked different enough that no one here would recognize him. While it wasn’t exactly a disguise, he had changed his appearance enough to be unrecognizable at first glance.

Upon arriving at the venue, Hisha scanned the surroundings. He spotted Selena’s back in the distance and then turned his gaze to find Eugene among the crowd. Eugene was wearing a black evening dress he hadn’t seen before, suggesting it was a new outfit. Her hair was styled up, and she wore stunning sun-like crystal earrings.

She looked so beautiful and elegant, like a goddess of the night, that Hisha felt he could spend the entire night admiring her. However, his admiration quickly turned to ice when he noticed Sergei standing next to her.

Sergei appeared confident and self-assured, and seeing him for the first time, Hisha was even more displeased with his smug expression.

At that moment, Eugene, almost unconsciously, turned her head and spotted Hisha, pausing for a moment. Even though he looked different from usual, she would certainly recognize him. Yet Eugene showed no sign of it and turned away. She smiled as a man spoke to her and responded warmly. Sergei seemed to be someone he knew, and the three of them appeared to be enjoying a pleasant conversation.

During their conversation, Sergei lightly touched Eugene’s back, where the dress was cut deeply to the waist. Hisha’s eyes widened in anger.

‘That guy… Why is he subtly touching her back while talking?’

Eugene, however, didn’t seem to mind Sergei’s touch, which remained there throughout their conversation. This made Hisha’s frustration boil.

At that moment, the cup in his hand shattered with a crash.

“Oh my!”

A middle-aged woman passing by was startled, and Hisha was also surprised by how easily the cup broke.

“The cup was fragile, I guess.”

Hisha awkwardly commented.

“Are you hurt?”

The concerned middle-aged woman asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

Hisha replied, brushing off the glass shards from his hand. There were no cuts on his hand.

“Glad to hear it. Really, to think they would have such poor quality cups.”

The kind middle-aged woman, assuming the cup was faulty, spoke to a nearby waiter.

“Please clean this up.”

A waiter in a white uniform came over and began clearing the broken pieces. Hisha wondered if he had drawn unnecessary attention, but fortunately, since it was in a corner of the party venue, no one seemed to be paying much attention.

While the waiter cleaned up, the middle-aged woman looked at Hisha and asked.

“I don’t recognize you. Is this your first time here?”

“Yes, I came with the representative.”

“You look young, but it seems you work for quite a good company, considering you’re here.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed by the flattery, Hisha smiled.

“Well, the company is good, but I’m just an intern.”

The woman smiled warmly.

“You’re so modest.”

However, Hisha couldn’t shake a sense of déjà vu he’d been feeling.

‘Why does she seem so familiar?’

In that moment, he realized. The woman was Leah’s mother: Constantina Mavrogiotis. The face he’d seen in photographs during his research was now smiling at him in person.

“I was just about to get bored. Would you like to have a drink with me?”

Despite referring to her as a ‘middle-aged woman’ earlier, her appearance was far from what he would have expected of Leah’s mother. She had a sensual, well-maintained appearance, looking younger than her years, perhaps because she mingled with younger men.

At that moment, Hisha remembered that Constantina had a reputation for having affairs with younger men, younger even than her daughter Leah. He realized she was now giving him flirtatious looks.

‘Oh no.’

Though she was an attractive woman, Hisha preferred women closer to his age, and more importantly, he was in love with Eugene. Even if Aphrodite herself were to make an appearance, he would politely decline.

Hisha smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, but the representative is looking for me.”

“Is that so?”

“I should go then.”

To avoid seeming too hasty, he said this and turned his body. Fortunately, Constantina, though disappointed, didn’t press him further and let him go.

As Hisha walked away, he felt a gaze on him from a distance.

“That person…”