City of Witches
chapter-77

༺ Self-Contradiction (2) ༻

*Note: We decided to change some of the character noble titles to the female equivalents. E.g. Count -> Countess and so on. It’s more fitting to the context.

1.

After escorting the twins to the portal, Siwoo immediately fell into a deep, long slumber on his bed.

Or not.

‘I think I slept for about 4 hours?’

Thanks to his regular habit that he maintained for five years and the morning sunlight pouring through the window, he woke up from his sleep earlier than he’d like to.

-Creak.

He heard the sound of the door opening and closing.

Aside from Siwoo, there was only one person who was living in this unnecessarily huge mansion, Amelia.

His drowsy eyes quickly opened.

He remembered the plan he had been thinking about since yesterday.

The plan to inform Amelia about the truth.

‘Countess Gemini told me that as long as I hide my ability to use magic, they would allow me to go back to the modern era.’

‘As long as Ms. Amelia gives her consent, I should be able to go back.’

‘While I’m grateful for everything that she has done to me for the past few days, my desire to go back home is still stronger.’

Since there was something scandalous involved, he felt that it would be better for him to talk with Amelia first before the Countess gave out their proposal.

It would also help her to save her face, not to mention that it would make it easier for him to smooth things out so that she could agree to their proposal.

Though it might not happen the way he wished it to be.

In normal circumstances, Amelia would definitely let him go, but there was a possibility that she wouldn’t because her exclusive slave made a deal with Countess Gemini without her knowing about it beforehand.

“Actually, it’s more than possible…”

Even though Amelia had become quite gentle and docile lately, Siwoo had known her long enough to know about that side of her.

That was why he wanted to reduce any potential variables.

He could use his magic as a last resort if Amelia were to reject the Countess’ proposal, but there was no guarantee that his research would be successful.

There was also the possibility that someone might have found out about his research and they ended up stopping all his research.

Even if that wasn’t the case, if Amelia were to reject the proposal, his escape would be delayed for at least a whole year.

That was why, he’d rather come clean now than having to deal with a year delay.

“Haah…”

Siwoo rushed to the bathroom, splashed water on his face and tidied his hair.

‘Don’t get too worked up and just speak properly.’

In the past, Siwoo might have felt a little uneasy about his current situation.

According to Takasho, if Amelia were to have any kind of affection for him, she wouldn’t let him go that easily.

But, to Siwoo, there was no way that was true.

Siwoo had misinterpreted things about Amelia’s offer to let her serve her at night when they first met, so he wouldn’t let that happen again.

Since he couldn’t just go meet her in his pajamas, Siwoo dressed up in a stylish suit before heading towards her room.

This time, her door was wide open, unlike usual.

Like his room, her room was symmetrically structured.

He expected her to find her sitting at the table, but instead, she was standing by the side of the room in an awkward pose.

Her back was turned against the room and she seemed to be doing something strange.

She tilted her head upwards and swayed it back and forth gently.

At first, he thought that she was drinking water.

Then he heard the strange noises she made.

-Sluurp! Smack! Slurp!

His pupils narrowed in surprise.

What had just passed his mind was an act that had no connection whatsoever with her.

But, before Amelia could show him an even more unsightly scene, Siwoo instinctively called out her name.

“Ms. Amelia.”

As one might expect, chaos transpired afterwards.

2.

The plan for him to go to Border Town with Amelia was canceled.

When Siwoo was tossing and turning on his bed with a troubled mind, a folded letter flew toward him.

It contained a note saying that all of their plans today were canceled.

Thanks to that, Siwoo got another day off that he could use to spend his time lazily on his bed.

But, he couldn’t stay calm at all.

“What was it?”

He spent the day recalling the incident he accidentally witnessed.

‘Why was she doing something like that?’

Back then, he was unable to see it clearly, but it seemed like she was sucking on a glass bottle.

And when he called out to her, she seemed to be extremely flustered.

To the point that she accidentally broke the bottle and an unrelated lamp.

The scene of the back of her head moving back and forth was still vivid in his mind.

It was like…

“Huh?”

Then, a particular memory resurfaced in his mind.

Back when he was cooling down after the intense night with the twins, he remembered hearing the sound off the door closing in a hurry.

It seemed that he was the only one who heard that sound, so he dismissed it at the time.

But after recalling the sight of the back of Amelia’s head…

“Her posture made it seem like she’s giving a blowjob.”

Siwoo finally recognized the source of the deja vu he had just experienced.

He let out a chuckle.

“I guess I’m finally going insane.”

Perhaps the excitement about the newfound freedom he would soon experience caused him to lose half of his sanity.

‘I need to stop deluding myself.’

There were more than a few things that didn’t add up to his previous speculation.

‘Say that she really witnessed me and the twins doing all that, then why did she just let it be and went to sleep?’

‘She’s their professor, is she not?’

‘The issue doesn’t only concern the fact that we were engaging in an immoral activity, it also concerns the twins’ future as witches.’

‘There’s no way that she would stay silent after witnessing that scene.’

‘The thought of her trying to imitate a blowjob while sucking on a glass bottle feels even more ridiculous.’

“Come on.”

Siwoo burst into laughter.

It would be more realistic for Takasho to become a girl, turn into a witch and come to suck his dick.

“If that’s the case, then…”

Her action must be related to some kind of magical ritual that was related to her research.

If it wasn’t that, then it was probably some kind of strange habit she developed.

‘I recall someone told me that children who couldn’t suck on breast milk when they were young would yearn for motherly love as adults… Maybe her case is similar to that?’

Truth to be told, it was hard to imagine that either case was the truth either.

That was why, it would be better to keep his mouth shut so that he wouldn’t unintentionally set off a landmine.

After all, when he caught her in that state, she displayed the most flustered expression he had ever seen in his life.

It was like an expression that someone would make when they found out that they weren’t alone inside the lift they were in after letting out a big nice fart.

“I’ll just pretend that I didn’t see anything.”

‘There’s no need to make a fuss and create unnecessary tension before the big event.’

With that thought, Siwoo suppressed his sense of curiosity.

It seemed too early to talk to her right now.

She was probably too embarrassed to talk with him after being caught in such an awkward situation.

So, Siwoo decided to take a nap and wait for the right time to talk to her.

3.

Amelia spent the whole day cooped up in her room.

She couldn’t figure out how to face him after that incident.

Remembering the vulgar action she had done, her face was burning with embarrassment. There was no way that she could face him in this state.

The scene of her sucking on a glass bottle.

What came to his mind when he saw her in such a foolish state?

Whatever it was, her dignity as a noble witch had been completely shattered.

“Ugh… Uh…”

Trying to forget all the shame, she sprayed the perfume of fatigue on herself and laid down on her bed.

She decided to take a nap.

With sleep, she could momentarily forget everything.

But even under the perfume’s effect, she couldn’t fall asleep. Instead, she found herself tearing the clean bed sheet in frustration.

A lot of things had fallen apart in just a few days.

Everything that she had believed in and taken for granted.

And amidst the chaos, she found herself creating a dark history.

Her mind was in a disarray. Her mood was akin to a shake that was being trapped inside a blender.

“This can’t go on.”

Amelia abruptly sat up from the bed.

One thing was clear; if she left things as they were, she would forever be branded as a weirdo in Siwoo’s mind.

That was the least of her worry, he might even think of her as a pervert or a mentally ill person.

‘I can’t let that happen…! I need to give him a proper explanation…!’ As she pondered such, a thought suddenly popped out in her mind.

“Huh…?”

Why?

Why was she so concerned about how Shin Siwoo perceived her?

When it came to rumors that were circulating in the witches’ social circles, or whatever gossip that was being talked about by the witches behind her back, Amelia never gave them much of a thought.

To her, someone who wavered under other people’s judgments wasn’t fit to be a noble.

She didn’t need others’ acknowledgment, just herself.

In her eyes, someone who didn’t have confidence in themselves was merely a coward and nothing more.

That was why her current thinking was strange.

After all, what transpired was merely him catching her acting a little weirdly.

Regardless of what he might think of her, it didn’t matter.

“…”

As she was lost in thought and immersing herself in self-reflection and anguish…

-Knock, knock.

The sound of her door being knocked echoed through the room.

For someone like Amelia, who had no friends other than Sophia, this was an incredibly rare occurrence.

The reason why she knew that the person outside the door wasn’t Sophia was because Sophia would never knock on her door. Instead, she’d transform into a crow and tap on her window.

“Well, this is a good thing.”

Though she might not know who it was, she needed a distraction because her mind was so tangled up that she couldn’t know how to describe it.

-Snap!

With a flick of her finger, the perfume of fatigue lost its effect.

Amelia then walked to the lounge leisurely to greet her guest.

“It’s a nice day today.”

“I hope you don’t mind we’re coming here without an appointment.”

Standing in front of the door were two witches wearing small, veiled hats.

Though, strictly speaking they were counted as one, the Gemini, Albireo and Deneb Gemini.

“I don’t mind. Please come in.”

Amelia froze at the unexpected appearance of her visitors.

She had assumed that her visitors would be either one of the professors or the assistants from the academy. In any case, she guided the Countess to the reception room with a puzzled expression.

“It’s been five years since we’ve met personally like this. Back then, it was to entrust our babies to you, wasn’t it?”

“Have you been well since then?”

“…What brings you here?”

Although it would have been appropriate to call Siwoo and make him serve the guest, Amelia didn’t want to show him to the Countess.

She had an intuition that there was some kind of connection between them judging from their past interactions.

So, she didn’t even try to hide her suspicious gaze.

There were multiple suspicions that she could bring out from her mind.

Their gazes met. Realizing that Amelia displayed a more hostile attitude than they expected, the Countess spoke up.

They knew that Amelia wasn’t exactly the sociable type, so they went straight to the main point.

“Have you heard anything from Shin Siwoo?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Let me cut to the chase then. I want to obtain the ownership of Miss Marigold’s exclusive slave, Shin Siwoo.”

Hearing that, Amelia’s eyes widened.

She wondered why they suddenly visited her, never did she expect that they wanted to seize the ownership over Siwoo.

“But, why?”

She responded with a sharp tone without her realizing it.

The Countess ignored that and continued their words.

“During their previous picnic trip, Shin Siwoo saved Odile and Odette from a Homunculus attack.”

“So, as a reward, we offered to grant one of his wishes and he expressed his wish to return to the modern world. It’s an unprecedented situation, but we can handle it on our end…”

“Not only that, we also plan to provide sufficient support for his reintegration to the modern world. However, as he is your exclusive slave, Miss Marigold, we can’t just arbitrarily decide that. That’s why we’ve come here, to seek your consent.”

She had no idea that such an incident occurred during the time they went on a picnic.

Amelia already knew that Siwoo wanted to leave Gehenna so badly to the point that he conducted a whole research about it.

But she never expected things would progress to this extent without her knowing.

“We are aware that you assigned him as an exclusive slave because you want to keep him around as your assistant.”

“That’s why we’ve prepared adequate compensation. We don’t have any ulterior motives, we simply want to grant his wish.”

The Countess placed a jewelry box that they had prepared in advance on the table.

“You may check it if you don’t mind.”