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Discomfort crept up when Ok Toyeon’s name came out of Eunho’s mouth, but Hwangho gradually regained his coolness.
Eunho’s awakening from his deep sleep has been thoroughly hidden.
However, there may be a reason why he suddenly asked to meet Ok Toyeon at a time when Jo Euishin is headed to the underworld.
Hwangho thought so, but he asked back without hiding his displeasure.
“Is it because of Ok Toyeon’s background?”
“Yes. Toyeon-nim is the royal lineage most connected to the realm of death. Rather than knowledgable, we can say that she’s most experienced.”
“Are you thinking of killing that damned rabbit and sending her to the underworld? If that’s the plan, then I agree. That damned moon rabbit owes us a lot, so she should endure that much.”
The young-looking Hwangho said seriously.
There was a faint murderous intent in Hwangho as if he would kill Ok Toyeon as soon as Eunho said so.
“No way. You don’t think I’d ask you such a favor, do you Hwangho-nim?”
“I’m willing to do it even if you don’t ask me to.”
“I’ll take that as a joke.”
Eunho euphemistically said not to kill Ok Toyeon.
Despite his dissatisfaction, Hwangho took out his device and sent a message.
As if she wasn’t busy, a reply came from Ok Toyeon right away.
She somehow sounded weak, but she still seemed to have the drive to annoy Hwangho.
[Damned Moon Rabbit] I’m heading home from the association. Why are you suddenly contacting me? Aren’t you busy, Hwangho? It must be nice to be relaxed.
As soon as he received the message, Hwangho wanted to reply “Okay, get lost.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, Ok Toyeon sent another message before he could.
[Damned Moon Rabbit] Ah, wait. Are you going to let me meet Seoho, Iho, and Jaeho? Are we having a Christmas party? Do they want to see me?
[Damned Moon Rabbit] I’m coming right away! I’ll prepare a present and go with Toyoon unnie! We can do that, right? Right?
Hwangho only told her to come to the mansion, but it seems that Ok Toyeon misunderstood.
Hwangho didn’t bother to correct her, so he turned off the screen without writing an answer.
‘She said she’s coming with Ok Toyoon.’
It wasn’t planned, but Ok Toyoon was one of the rabbits who had a straight mind, so Hwangho decided to allow it.
She’d be perfect to take care of Ok Toyeon when she gets surprised upon seeing Eunho.
Eunho also nodded after hearing Hwangho’s explanation.
“Then let’s wait. It would be nice if Toyeon-nim and Toyoon-nim arrive before it comes.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“A message from Euishin hyung.”
Hwangho didn’t understand.
‘Can Jo Euishin send a message from the underworld? Does that mean the message will arrive after Jo Euishin returns?’
Eunho explained soon.
“Euishin hyung always leaves a message when he’s away like this.”
“Jo Euishin leaves a message?”
“Yes. He doesn’t say it beforehand to relieve us of worries and instead leaves a message for later telling us not to panic. I think that’s Euishin hyung’s notion of being considerate.”
“You talk from experience.”
“There have been a few times. I experienced it during a Christmas party too. If Euishin hyung had told me in advance, I would’ve negotiated with the student he’s tutoring or adjusted the party schedule.”
Eunho said so, hiding his bitterness.
It was clear that Jo Euishin didn’t speak up because he didn’t want Eunho to go through trouble.
On the other hand, Hwangho also had an idea of what Eunho meant.
When Jo Euishin left for England, Jo Euishin left him a message after the fact.
— [Jo Euishin] I’m going to England.
A headache began to rise in Hwangho’s head when he remembered the heartless message.
This situation was worse than then.
Sung Gukeon and Jeon Muyeong accompanied him when he went to England, but this time, Jo Euishin was alone.
Moreover, Hwangho’s worries are heavier because his injuries were much worse than during the broadcasting station incident.
Hwangho’s worry reached its peak at Eunho’s words.
“The last message I received was a suicide note. A will. It was after Euishin hyung disappeared from the previous world.”
“…A suicide note!”
Anger rose inside Hwangho at the words when a message arrived on his and Eunho’s devices.
It was a scheduled message from someone who’s not in this world now.
[Jo Euishin]
Seeing the name of the sender, Hwangho and Eunho immediately clicked the message.
***
Around Eungwang High’s entrance, Jeokho was among the crowd moving.
‘They’re later than I thought. Maybe later than Eunho.’
Jeokho worked tirelessly after Baekho went to Mt. Cheonik.
The situation ended and the captured royal lineages had to be cleared before the boundary was restarted.
The work took a long time because there were quite a few people who tried to shake the terrestrial lines of Eungwang High, and they did not stop the meaningless resistance until the end.
It was more cumbersome than Jeokho thought to subdue, seal, and move them to the basement of Eunyeonggwan.
Of course, for the sake of his son’s safety, such a hassle was nothing.
However, his son’s face which he saw for the first time today, was full of worries.
Jeokho felt bad, having a rough idea of the reason.
‘Yong Jegun was wearing a blindfold. That dragon might ascend soon.’
Just the thought of it made him want to strike Yong Jegun with red lightning, but he tried to hold back.
It was even harder to do that knowing that Yong Jegun wanted to ascend to protect Kim Shinrok from the Bear Clan.
‘Fighting with the Bear Clan this time may make the decision even harder.’
Baekho and Yoo Sanghee were prepared to intervene, but just the thought of it was dizzying.
Kim Shinrok is helpless against the Bear Clan, and Yong Jegun is the closest friend who watches over him.
The idea that this was all due to the crazy bears made Jeokho furious.
In his violent thoughts, Jeokho suddenly remembered the words spoken by Beonmin, the Bear of Anguish.
— It’s very painful for a couple who loved each other dearly to be separated. Don’t you think so?
Beonmin spoke as if Ungnyeo, the Bear of Sadness, was thinking of Jeokho.
‘It can’t be. There’s no need to keep thinking of that crazy bear’s words.’
As he had done for thousands of years, Jeokho tried to push the idea to the back of his mind.
However, contrary to his will, it kept coming back to him.
When he returned from Kimopolea after being stabbed by Jogangryeob…
There were no traces of the prongs, but there were nail marks on his abdomen.
And while he was half-asleep, he heard Jogangryeob murmur.
— Red dres… I will kill you…
Without realizing it, Jeokho recalled his old loved one.
Whenever he was hurt, his lover in her red dress would go hunting and avenge him in some way.
Jogangryeob hurt Jeokho’s stomach with Sangbosimgeumpa, and later he heard him murmur something about a red dress.
‘Isn’t red a common color? There’s no reason to think about an old love. It’s all nonsense. An unfounded delusion.’
A hazy sight has been added to the idea that Jeokho kept trying to dismiss as delusion.
In the replay shown by Jo Euishin, under the sleet, someone was crying and looking over Jeokho.
That lovely one was wearing a red dress.
‘I saw something in vain before I died. Jo Euishi affirmed that it only snowed that day. Pungbaek and Usa made it snow, not sleet.’
Jeokho tried to calm his confused mind, but things didn’t go his way.
He at least tried to erase his thoughts before going to the mansion.
When he stopped to catch his breath…
‘…What’s that?’
Someone using a lace parasol caught his eyes among those who came and went to Eungwang High’s entrance.
There were no clouds anymore, making the person stand out among the crowd.
However, as if she was using a skill, no one paid attention to her.
Jeokho was surprised to see someone using his glare skill.
‘A red dress!’
The person in the red dress tilted the parasol.
Her face was hard to see because she covered it with a fan, but she seemed to be looking at Jeokho.
Her gaze was directly on Jeokho’s feet.
It was the foot that he broke when he was trapped in the tree.
Someone seemed relieved at the sight that his feet were alright.
“Wait!”
Before Jeokho caught another glance, the person disappeared from sight.
***
Players’ Association, around the back gate.
Ok Toyoon, who was guarding the Rabbit Clan’s territory just in case, went to pick up Ok Toyeon.
Ok Toyeon jumped into the air limousine, excited.
“Unnie, let’s go quickly!”
“Yeah. The children must be waiting.”
Ok Toyeon was frozen from Nabiryeong’s ominous energy earlier in the day, but she seemed to have warmed up again.
It was scary, but a reluctant rat and a man he cared for solved the case and made the ominous energy disappear.
Also, she’ll be able to meet Eunho’s descendants on Christmas.
There was no reason for Ok Toyeon to be droopy anymore.
‘It’s not good that the sense of crisis wears off quickly but… It’s okay since Toyeon is safe.’
Oblivious of Ok Toyoon’s feelings, Ok Toyeon excitedly organized gifts.
There were gifts prepared by the Rabbit Clan.
“This is Seoho’s, this is Iho’s, and this is Jaeho’s! We have to give the benefactor’s right at the end!”
“Yeah, it’s good that we can give them personally.”
The two rabbits arrived at the mad tiger’s mansion with excitement.
Ok Toyoon walked carefully with a Christmas special tree-shaped rice cake from the Moon Rabbit Ricecake, while Ok Toyeon wearing a Santa hat ran with a rabbit-shaped mood light.
When they tried to get on the shuttle that would pass through the maze garden, a young-looking Hwangho stopped them.
“It’s this way.”
“Why? We’re not riding that? We’re carrying a lot of things though.”
“Go away if you’re not going to follow.”
“I don’t want to though?”
Ok Toyeon whispered, but she did as Hwangho said.
Hwangho didn’t look very happy.
She thought she wouldn’t see the descendants’ faces if she teased him too much.
‘Why is he like this on such a good day?’
‘…If Toyeon crosses the line, I’ll have to take her and run away before Hwangho kills her. Can we run away? It would be safer to hit Toyeon’s back before she crosses the line then.’
Hwangho stopped in front of a modern annex.
From the outside, it didn’t look like the perfect venue for a party.
“Why are we here? Aren’t the kids in the main house?”
“…”
Ok Toyeon asked but Hwangho did not answer.
Instead, he opened the front door.
The exterior of the modern annex wasn’t special, but the interior was very well decorated.
The colors of the furniture and wallpaper and the Christmas wreaths all matched well.
Leases and a few ornaments gave off the perfect Christmas atmosphere.
‘They all look handmade. I wonder who made them. Did the kids’ skills improve this much? No, it’s definitely not in the picture they sent last time. Did Hwangho do it himself during this busy time? Was he that bored?’
Ok Toyeon’s eyes were moving busily as she tried to think.
Then, as they heard a longing voice, the two rabbits’ heads turned at the same time.
“It’s been a while I’ve missed you, Toyeon-nim and Toyoon-nim.”
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