“… The thirteenth seat is empty, yet you still chose it.”

Kang Ihyeon wanted to express his true feelings, but in front of his grandfather, he just smiled brightly and sat down in the thirteenth seat.

The housemaids served the salad and appetizers with familiarity. Kang Ihyeon placed the napkin on his lap and started the meal.

“Ihyeon, are you alright? I heard you were injured?”

As soon as Kang Ihyeon started eating, his uncle asked while grinning.

That man always brought up topics that poked at Kang Ihyeon’s weaknesses first.

“We also heard that you were hospitalized for a few days. We were worried every day. What happened?”

The aunt sitting next to him asked while wiping her mouth with a handkerchief.

Worried? As if, she was probably happy to find a flaw in her nephew.

“What happened, this kid probably did something bad again, right? No, was it because he was born bad from the beginning?”

“How dare you say that about your cousin who is such an excellent hunter.”

“He is excellent~ Since he met a Constellation, his life turned out great. Anyway, even the Archangel has peculiar taste. No, did he come to fix our cousin’s bad intentions every time?”

The cousin laughed. The uncle also scolded him not to be rude, but he didn’t seem to truly dislike it.

The Archangel furiously sent an indirect message.

[Constellation, ‘The Staff of Purification’ is rolling up his sleeves, saying that guy!! That guy will definitely go to hell!] [Constellation, ‘The Staff of Purification’ pats your head, saying not to worry too much, we always love you.]

‘I know. I’m not even angry anymore, so don’t worry.’

“Come to think of it, Ihyeon really stands out among us. It must be because he’s the only blond. He’s also tall and handsome, so always put effort into maintaining your appearance. Then if you marry a young lady from a good family, it will be a joyous occasion for our family.”

“Yes, how about slowly quitting your hunter job now? No matter how much money you make or how handsome you are, not many families like a husband who makes a living with his body. People should work in a cool place when it’s hot, and a warm place when it’s cold. Go to college too. It’s not too late to take the college entrance exam at your age.”

“Yes, thank you for the advice. I’ll think about it.”

Even at the words of the aunt and uncle who pretended to care about him but thoroughly drew a line and ignored him, Kang Ihyeon just smiled.

He had to let it go. The living point that came from long experience was that if you talk back here, you’ll only get cursed at.

Despite having recovered his Absolute Power, Kang Ihyeon felt his stomach churning again.

It seemed to be because of stress.

After the appetizers, the hamburg steak was served. When Kang Ihyeon looked at it a little strangely, the third uncle said,

“Ah, our kid said that regular steak is hard to eat because he had dental treatment a few days ago, you can understand, right?”

“Ah, of course. Has your tooth gotten better, elder brother?”

Kang Ihyeon familiarly picked up the second knife and fork. As the relatives’ chatter ended, grandfather continued,

“So, I heard you went to Gunsin this time.”

“Yes, grandfather.”

“How was it? I heard you made a big contribution there.”

He heard about that too. Thinking that, Kang Ihyeon cut a small piece of the hamburg steak and put it in his mouth.

The aunt and uncle who ran an electronics company looked at Kang Ihyeon with a smile.

It was about time for the main point to come out. Whether there was any room to dig into Gunsin.

‘Contribution? I thought I was going to die.’

Kang Ihyeon wiped his mouth with a napkin. And he smiled as if nothing had happened.

“Well. I just went so-so. The system was very excellent.”

‘It wasn’t really excellent though.’

“Is that so? There were rumors that Tushin was sick, but it seems he’s healthy.”

“Yes, he was very healthy. So don’t worry.”

Kang Ihyeon smiled calmly, as if not giving any room.

The people of this family always wanted too much. They were never satisfied with what they had and always acted greedily.

Kang Ihyeon looked at the cross hanging on the wall behind his grandfather.

It is said that it is more difficult for a rich man to go to heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, so it seems that our family members are all wrong to go to heaven.

Although he felt his stomach churning even more, Kang Ihyeon did not erase the smile from his lips as if nothing was wrong.

Grandfather, who saw his smile, suddenly laughed out loud.

“Is that so, I’m glad you’ve gotten healthy, Ihyeon.”

‘…What? Why so suddenly?’

Suddenly, Kang Ihyeon looked at his grandfather, feeling his stomach churning even more. He was looking at Kang Ihyeon as if he was truly happy.

“No, your cousin said that the tough one is really hard to eat. So I specially asked the chef to put a lot of milk in the dish.”

‘Ah.’

Kang Ihyeon suddenly gripped the knife and fork tightly in his hands.

The third uncle was laughing. The dental treatment was an excuse.

Come to think of it, his stomach had been hurting since he ate the appetizer, so the sauce in the salad must have been milk-based as well.

‘…Damn it.’

Kang Ihyeon had a very severe milk allergy.

Originally, it wasn’t that severe, but due to his grandfather’s insistence that “you’ll get better if you eat it,” he had been continuously eating dairy products since childhood, and now it reacted immediately as soon as it entered his body.

Even Raphael, the Archangel of healing, could not cure everything.

Notably, allergies were not completely cured. It only alleviated severe symptoms.

“Originally, allergies get better if you eat the food. It seems to be all healed now?”

He already felt like vomiting. But for now, he had to eat it all.

Otherwise, who knows what he would say. With that thought, Kang Ihyeon smiled.

“Yes, it seems to have gotten much better thanks to grandfather.”

He had to endure it. Ms. Nari endured it too. So he had to endure it too.

Thinking that, Kang Ihyeon firmly gripped the knife. His fingertips turned white.

Seeing that, grandfather smiled with satisfaction.

After finishing the dessert that made his stomach churn just by eating it, as the family members got up from their seats one by one, grandfather said,

“Ihyeon. You will stay here until your father’s state funeral this year. To have a cozy conversation with your grandfather. I called a lot of stylists.”

“…Yes, grandfather. Then may I go to my room first? I want to see the room I used to use.”

“Yes, you worked hard. Rest.”

Damn it, damn it, damn it, swallowing those thoughts, Kang Ihyeon smiled.

Kang Ihyeon, who went up to the penthouse loft, immediately entered the room he used to use.

As soon as the door closed, he quickly headed to the bathroom.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Ugh… Ugh… Uh…”

Kang Ihyeon, who had vomited everything he ate, lay on the bed with a pale complexion.

[Constellation, ‘The Staff of Purification’ pats Kang Ihyeon’s head, saying he did well.]

“Yes…”

At some point, he developed a habit of vomiting immediately when his grandfather fed him food containing milk.

The Sacred Fire circulated throughout his body in a timely manner, preventing his throat from swelling up. His rumbling stomach also gradually stabilized.

“Grandfather… Are you trying to kill your only grandson now.”

If his Absolute Power had not returned, he would have really died.

Didn’t he even get rushed to the emergency room before contracting with Raphael?

Half-jokingly, Kang Ihyeon, who was lying down and wriggling out of his suit jacket, looked at the ceiling.

He sighed involuntarily, wondering how long he had to live like this.

[Constellation, ‘The Staff of Purification’ looks at you worriedly, asking if you can’t just ignore your grandfather.]

“Probably not.”

It probably wouldn’t work.

If Kang Ihyeon stopped obeying, it was obvious that grandfather would harass the people around him.

Like Kang Sujin, or Min Jaewon, or Min Jaeyun. And now Mr. Rude too.

“So I have to endure it…”

In the midst of dismissing his Constellation’s concern that he didn’t have to go that far with a smile, a ringing sound was heard.

Kang Ihyeon’s eyes widened as he checked his cell phone.

“…It’s Ms. Nari.”

There was a message first. It was the first time she sent a message asking about his well-being for no reason.

Kang Ihyeon giggled without realizing it and continued the conversation.

[Constellation, ‘The Staff of Purification’ looks at you with an expression asking what you’ll do if your grandfather gets this data.]

“It’s okay. The data is deleted periodically, so he won’t know about Mr. Rude.”

Not even paying attention to his Constellation’s worries, he continued messaging, but he paused for a moment because of Nari’s last message.

[If you’d like, want to hang out together?]

“…”

Kang Ihyeon couldn’t answer anything after seeing that message.

Even when the Constellation sent an indirect message asking why, he remained silent.

Kang Ihyeon’s eyes were slightly half-closed.

“…I’d like that.”

But grandfather probably wouldn’t like it. Kang Ihyeon swallowed those words and closed his eyes, hesitating to answer.

I want to hang out with Ms. Nari. In fact, as the Archangel said, he wanted to spend a pleasant time without worrying about this family.

But would that be possible? He had to endure.

In this position, he had to endure all kinds of hardships so that his aunt, Uncle Jaewon, Jaeyun,

and Ms. Nari could be safe. Otherwise, he didn’t know where his grandfather’s ire would strike.

Just as he was biting his lips tightly and slowly trying to type a rejection, a ringing sound was heard. It was a phone call.

“Huh?”

Maybe she was worried that he was late in replying to her. After hesitating for a moment, he answered the phone.

Aunt told Ms. Nari about the wiretapping, so she probably considered that point when calling him as well.

“…Hello? Ms. Nari?”

[What, why aren’t you replying?]

“Ah, well, I’m at grandfather’s house. He called for a moment.”

Ah, a voice of understanding was heard over the receiver.

Thanks to aunt, Ms. Nari must have found out that grandfather wasn’t a very good person.

Feeling embarrassed, Kang Ihyeon gripped the hem of his clothes tightly.

[Then you can’t come now?]

“Yes… I’m sorry. For making you worry. Actually, I was pondering a bit because I’m at grandfather’s house.”

[It’s fine. Then. I’m okay. But what’s wrong with your voice?]

“What?”

Kang Ihyeon unconsciously touched his neck.

Since the recovery speed of allergic reactions was a bit slower, his throat was still quite swollen.

[Your throat seems very swollen?]

“Ah… This is.”

Ms. Nari was silent for a moment over the phone. Ms. Nari was really quick-witted at times like this.

After seeing Ihyeon have an allergic reaction from eating dairy products just a few days after joining the company, didn’t she always bring him lattes with soy milk or oat milk without fail?

[You… ate milk?]

“…Yes.”

Kang Ihyeon had a premonition that he couldn’t lie to Nari. Nari spoke with a puzzled expression.

[But why? If they’re people close to you, they should all know that you have a severe allergy. You’re also extremely careful, so there’s no way your grandfather wouldn’t know…]

Nari was silent after that. Kang Ihyeon suppressed the urge to cry slightly. Nari spoke in an urgent voice.

[Where is your grandfather’s house?]

“Ms. Nari. I’m really fine.”

[Tell me quickly. Before I get angry.]