Chapter 107 - Chapter 104: Episode 102 - The Blonde Foreigner
Countless people bustled through the streets during the lunch hour.
Among the crowd, a woman with a particularly striking appearance drew everyone's eyes.
A blonde, tanned foreigner was looking around with wide-eyed wonder, as if she were visiting the city for the very first time.
With her slender, model-like stature and elegant features, she radiated a beauty that didn't fade, even with the strange, horned hat she wore—the kind of accessory no ordinary person would dream of donning.
Passersby would glance at her with curiosity, assuming it was some sort of cosplay, before quickly losing interest.
Her tanned skin, athletic build, and slightly ripped jeans, paired with her slouchy demeanor, gave her the air of a delinquent.
Everyone looked away after a single glance, afraid that if they stared too long, the wandering foreigner might approach them.
That blonde foreigner was none other than Bianca.
Having been on Earth for only about three days, Bianca was busy taking in the streets, the buildings, the people, and the everyday items of Earth for the first time.
Seeing with her own eyes the things she had only known through internet research while trapped in the basement of the Hwaryong Guild's center felt absolutely fascinating.
Other demons rarely showed interest in human-world items.
Most electronic devices and machinery would break or corrode the moment they were brought into the Demon World.
It was as if some phenomenon unique to the Demon World rejected the scientific artifacts of Earth.
Naturally, demons rarely took interest in items that were rendered useless the moment they crossed the threshold.
She had felt the same way at first, but after learning about Earth's various artifacts online, her curiosity had been piqued. Now, seeing them in person, she was genuinely moved.
The cars moving on the road, the asphalt streets, the glass-walled buildings, the fashion, the savory, fragrant smells wafting from food stalls—it was everything she had imagined.
It was exactly as she had pictured it.
The Demon World, where culture had stagnated for ages, felt like the countryside by comparison.
Thinking that she could finally enjoy all of this, Bianca felt excited about her new beginning.
Just yesterday, after arriving on Earth through a Gate, she had liquidated all the rare ores she'd brought from the Demon World, converting them into local currency.
She had opened a bank account and received the funds from a shop that specialized in purchasing materials harvested from Gates.
She'd managed to secure an identity by hypnotizing a foreign woman and stealing her passport to forge the necessary documents.
She had to conserve her magic power, but it was a necessary investment for a decent life.
Bianca opened her smartphone—purchased just yesterday—and checked her finance app.
The balance displayed 12 billion won.
She had emptied her entire savings from the Demon World to purchase the three most expensive ores she had seen listed online.
She figured that even if a few years had passed, the market value wouldn't have fluctuated too drastically.
Those ores were rare even back home, after all.
Moreover, the money she'd gained from selling out Miel was dozens of times more than her own savings, simply because rare metals from the Demon World fetched a premium on Earth.
Bianca's first priority was to buy a house.
She wanted to find a decent property among the listings.
Honestly, she didn't know much about real estate since she'd never lived on Earth, but she had plenty of money, so she intended to pick a place she liked.
She favored the detached houses she'd seen in movies and dramas.
She planned to shop for other items once she'd secured a home.
Appliances, daily necessities, computer accessories, and the like.
Unlike the Demon World, this place was overflowing with convenient goods, so she intended to buy only what was immediately necessary.
That was why she had visited a real estate agency first.
When she first walked into the office and stated she wanted to buy a house, the agent had been flustered by her bluntness.
They started talking about contracts and the like, but honestly, none of it registered.
She didn't even understand the terminology.
Jeonse? Monthly rent? Deposits? What the hell is a mortgage?
She had no choice but to ask for explanations for every single term.
It took half a day just to get through the basics.
Only after struggling to grasp the concepts did they show her a list of available detached houses.
Bianca chose the one she liked best.
It was a cute house, the kind a newlywed couple might live in in a movie.
It seemed a bit large for one person, but she didn't care.
After all, the estate she'd lived in before her mother kicked her out had a garden dozens of times larger and a mansion several times the size.
The agent drove her out to give her a tour.
It wasn't as big as she'd initially thought, but she liked that it came with a garage.
She thought it was a stroke of luck; at least she wouldn't have to deal with the parking wars she'd read about on online forums.
As soon as she stepped inside, she knew she wanted to buy it.
"Have you seen enough? You like the place, right?"
"The interior is spacious. It's just like a normal commoner's house from the movies."
"Haha, you're joking, right? Where in Seoul does a 'normal commoner' live in a detached house like this? That only happens in fiction."
'Is that for real... So most of what I've watched was dramatized?'
In reality, the house was priced at 3.6 billion won, so it was definitely a stretch for a typical commoner to save up and buy it.
It wasn't a particularly large house, but there was one reason for the high price.
It was located in a Safety Zone where Gates did not activate—an extremely rare region, even in Seoul.
The agent had mentioned it was a Safety Zone, but he hadn't explicitly told Bianca that was why it was so expensive.
It was common sense to the agent, but Bianca lacked that context, so she had no way of knowing.
"I'll take it. I'm buying this house."
"Great. Let's head back to the office and draw up the contract."
As Bianca followed the agent outside, she noticed two men who looked like housewives glancing at the house and whispering.
They kept shooting her pitying looks.
"Looks like that place is finally being sold... After the rumors, nobody wanted to touch it."
"Tell me about it. The son was taken by monsters, the husband collapsed from the shock and passed away, and then the wife died trying to save the boy. Who'd want to live in such an ominous place? Tsk, tsk..."
The agent hadn't bothered to tell Bianca, who looked like a foreigner, about the house's tragic history.
Bianca let their chatter go in one ear and out the other.
She didn't believe in superstitions, so whether the previous owners were unhappy or not had nothing to do with her.
She figured that people who were meant to suffer would suffer regardless.
She had no idea that their words would eventually have everything to do with her.
Meanwhile, in the vast Royal Castle, Seon-ah was whining to Sophia, his face full of dissatisfaction.
"Mom... why are we here instead of our house? Where's Dad? I want to go home... I miss him..."
Seon-ah called Sophia 'Mom' and whined with tear-filled eyes.
She had been constantly accommodating him while his mental age was regressed, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.
She kept him hidden away in the room, fearing he might be shocked if he saw other demons.
Furthermore, because he kept asking for his father, she had to lie to him every single time.
But she had reached her limit.
"Seon-ah... this is our home now. And I told you, Dad has business abroad. You have to wait."
Even though she explained it repeatedly, he responded with the stubbornness of a child.
Managing the regressed Seon-ah was no easy task.
'In Min-ah's memories, Seon-ah wasn't like this when he was young.'
She wondered if his environment had shaped him differently than in his original childhood.
Honestly, even to her, the situation—with his father Hyeon-tae absent and the boy confined to a room—seemed terrible for a child.
"How can that be? I want to go home... I hate it here... You won't even let me go outside... I hate you, Mom... Dad... Dad... sob sob..."
As Seon-ah burst into tears, Sophia realized she had no choice but to consider a trip to Earth.
She had finished most of the Demon World's affairs that had piled up over the last thirty years, and a trip had been in her plans anyway.
After moving her soul into Yena's body, she viewed this as a new wedding and wanted to go on a honeymoon.
Even though she had memories of dates with Seon-ah while inhabiting Min-ah's body, she had never been on a proper trip to commemorate their marriage.
Feeling guilty for Seon-ah, who still possessed his human common sense, she decided to leave for a honeymoon in his hometown.
However, this time it would be different.
For the sake of his broken mind, she intended to recuperate in the familiar environment of Earth rather than just sightseeing.
Since the Demon World had functioned perfectly well for thirty years without her, she planned to stay on Earth for at least a few years.
"I'm sorry, Seon-ah... Mom was wrong. Once I finish my business, we'll go back to our house."
"Sob... Really? I like you, Mom... I love you..."
At those words, Seon-ah stopped crying and hugged her, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
His warm breath brushed against her nose.
In their original state, a hug like this would have inevitably led to a kiss.
That was something she only did when treating Seon-ah as her lover.
Sophia just gently stroked his hair, hiding the desire in her heart while playing the role of Min-ah.
She looked at the lovely Seon-ah with an aching gaze...