City ​​of Witches 878

Chapter 878 – #191_Afterglow(3)

#872

1.
There’s a common saying.
That children who grow up unloved become adults who crave the love they never received in another form.

It’s not a myth.
In fact, experiences in infancy often determine an adult’s attachment style.

Linne’s childhood was a time close to abuse, both mentally and physically.

After her succession, her beast-like life didn’t allow her time to lick her wounds, and later, she intentionally ignored those dark memories.

She didn’t wish for a happy life.
Her only goal was to blindly strive for strength.

For Linne, who had inherited the stigma and even her master’s way of thinking, past wounds and deficiencies were merely signs of weakness.

But what is suppressed always returns.

The blended Linne, created by combining the essence of affection deficiency and the essence of drunkenness, proves this.

Words and actions she couldn’t normally do, desires she had hidden deep inside and even denied herself.

In other words, the urge to act cute, be spoiled, and receive head pats had overridden her reason.

Before she knew it, she was clinging to Elroa, her eyes unfocused and hazy as she rested her head on her.

“You seem quite drunk. How about going inside to rest?”

Elroa looked at the troublesome Linne, beads of sweat forming on her brow.

She had roughly complied when Linne had desperately asked for head pats, but she never expected her to cling so tightly.

“Not at all, hiccup…! Not drunk. One more drink.”

Linne, with her tongue twisted and hiccuping, presented her crown to Elroa.
Elroa felt a great sense of bewilderment.

Of course, alcohol changes people.

Even Sharon, who is usually very polite, becomes very affectionate when drunk, obsessively seeking skinship, like kissing cheeks.

But in Sharon’s case, at least it’s consistent.
Her naturally friendly personality is just expressed in a more intimate way, right?

Then what about Linne?

“Ugh, my head is spinning…. My body feels heavy…. Like cotton soaked in water…. But I feel all floaty….”

At least, this was definitely not something a witch like her would say.

Even if they had shown each other embarrassing sides in bed, that was because Siwoo was there, and Linne always had a cold, sharp, katana-like aura.

Even her voice sounded quite husky, as if she had intentionally lowered her tone.

“That’s what it means to be drunk. You should rest.”
“Hmph! I don’t want to. I won’t rest.”

But now, Linne’s voice was not only slurred but also had a lot of nasal tones.
Like a Japanese voice actor’s characteristic nasal resonance.
Her whining was just like a child.

“C-Could you move away a little? What are you doing, it’s embarrassing?”
“Why are you trying to move away from me? Linne wants to stay close. It’s warm and soft, and it feels good.”

Even when Elroa spoke sternly, Linne wriggled her arm around Elroa’s waist.
And in the process, her first-person pronoun changed from ‘I’ to ‘Linne’.

“…Kuhuhu….”
“Linne. Hey, Linne?”

Suddenly, she blinked her heavy eyelids, and then started breathing softly as she fell asleep.
She was still firmly holding onto Elroa’s side, though.

When Elroa lightly shook her shoulder, she thought Linne would finally wake up, but instead, she laid her head on Elroa’s thigh.

“Ugh…. Ummm…. Linne likes this better.”
“Haa….”
“Head, keep patting my head….”
“Alright, alright, just stay still.”

Elroa sighed deeply but diligently stroked Linne’s black hair.

Her hair was as black as ink, yet it was as smooth as flowing silk.
Her dignified black hair was something Elroa, who considered her own hair too flashy, envied.

“Is that enough now?”
“Hmm, ummm….”

Linne, who had been showing such boisterous drunken behavior as if she was about to cause a riot, had become docile.
Her eyes were slightly open, and her mouth was relaxed.

Linne, who was always on high alert, was now purring like a cat being petted by its owner in a sunny spot.

She seemed very comfortable.

Elroa wasn’t a cruel person.
Even though she was in many ways in opposition to Linne, she had heard about Linne’s past from Siwoo.

Linne’s requests for praise from Elroa earlier, and her clinging and acting spoiled now.
She could understand it.

Linne was probably in a state of searching for what she had been deprived of.

“Elroa.”

A heavy, drawn-out voice called out to Elroa softly.

“I’m only… hiccup! saying this now. Listen and forget it.”

Linne had gone so far as to utter the worst possible thing, a drunken confession.

“What are you talking about?”
“I admired you.”
“Admired?”
“You reached the pinnacle of being the strongest witch with just a single sword. I felt jealousy, and I felt competitive.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”

Was that why she appeared so often in front of Elroa?
Linne suddenly raised her upper body.

“The sword you saw of mine. I want to hear your thoughts.”

The atmosphere changed in an instant.
Her upper body was swaying like a roly-poly toy, but her unrefined stubbornness was piercing her skin like sharp needles.

“It was excellent.”
“…….”

Linne’s serious expression remained unchanged, as if it was still not enough.
Elroa added her honest thoughts.

“Our paths are different, but if we look at the level of swordsmanship itself, there’s no way to determine who is superior. I gained a lot of insight from crossing swords with you.”
“…….”

Linne’s sharp gaze seemed to be verifying the truth.
A long silence followed.

“…Ugh…. Ugh….”
“Are you alright?”

Elroa was greatly flustered.
Linne, with her eyes wide open, had started to shed tears like a lost chick.

“I wanted to hear those words…. I wanted to hear those words….”

Linne’s face, which had crumbled along with her sobs, was like that of a child who had been severely scolded.

The person Linne wanted to receive praise from was probably not Elroa.
According to Siwoo, she probably wanted to be acknowledged by her master.

Resentment and regret that hadn’t faded even after hundreds of years.
Affection and longing that she couldn’t let go of, despite being betrayed countless times, were falling like drops, creating ripples.

Elroa had initially perceived Linne’s sudden drunken behavior as something troublesome.
Even for a bewitching witch, dealing with drunken antics was a chore.

“Linne….”

But Linne, who was sobbing and wiping away tears with the back of her hand, looked like a lost child who had been hiding her face behind a mask.

Linne was clearly much older than Elroa.

But right now, she just looked like a child craving love and attention.
And Elroa, who was revered as a stern judge, was inclined to show boundless generosity and kindness, at least to young witches.

“Come here.”

Elroa instinctively knew what Linne needed right now.
She opened her arms and hugged Linne, patting her back as she tried to hide her sobs.

“Ugh, ugh….”
“It’s okay to cry out loud sometimes. It’ll make you feel better…. Hiccup!”

As if she had been waiting for it, Linne burrowed into Elroa’s embrace.
She was hugging so tightly that it felt like her ribs would break.

Her reason, which had been trying to become overly emotional and sentimental, had regained some clarity.

However, unlike Elroa, who had regained some reason, Linne kept trying to get closer and closer, like a baby bird burrowing into its mother’s embrace.

“It’s okay, I won’t push you away, so you don’t have to hug me so tightly.”
“…….”
“Would it be okay if I stroked your head like this?”

The tension in Linne’s shoulders, which had been so tight, gradually eased, and she nodded her head.
Elroa’s overwhelming maternal affection was permeating Linne like an osmotic phenomenon, bringing her stability.

“It feels like I should sing a lullaby.”
“Lullaby…. I want to hear it….”
“A lullaby? My lullaby?”
“I want to hear it.”

Elroa had just made a light joke, but it seemed like Linne had taken it as an attractive offer.

Elroa hesitated for a moment.
But since things had turned out this way, she decided to soothe Linne’s wounded heart a little more.

Because there are sorrows in the world that cannot be healed by whiskey alone.

The last time she had sung one was when Lapi was a child, more than 100 years ago.
But Elroa quickly remembered the lyrics and melody.

“I want to sing this sweet song for you. Your skin is as soft as moss in the forest.
A young deer in a corner, a wolf is hiding in the forest, auuuuu~. A brave knight who was passing by held the deer in his arms, la la la la~ If you want, the young deer is you. Don’t worry about the wolf. We are together, aren’t we?”

As Elroa sang the lullaby in her beautiful voice, Linne’s body gradually relaxed.

“Mama…. Mama….”
“Yes, I’m here.”

The intoxication that had been swirling in her head became a little more intense.
Right now, she just wanted to let go of everything and be in her mama’s arms.

Drowsiness washed over her.

“Ugh, it’s hot…. Linne is hot.”

Linne’s actions were unpredictable, as expected of a drunk person.
Suddenly, Linne broke free from Elroa’s embrace, quickly took off her clothes, and ran into the bedroom, crawling under the covers of the bed.

“Keep singing the lullaby….”

Then she gestured to Elroa.

Elroa, who had been startled by the sudden striptease, smiled wryly and pulled a chair to sit at her bedside.

“Alright, close your eyes and listen. A sweet song for all children, a sweet song that mom used to sing. Oh~ a really beautiful story, the deer turned into a woman, la la la la~ In the arms of a handsome knight, the beautiful princess will be embraced forever. A sweet song that mom used to sing. I used to listen to the song while sucking my thumb and fall asleep.”

And soon after, Linne fell into a deep sleep.
Elroa, who had been slowly lowering her voice as Linne’s breathing slowed, also stopped singing the lullaby.

She had been flustered by the whole incident, but seeing Linne’s peaceful face, as if she would travel to dreamland even if the sky fell, she thought it was a good thing they had this drinking session.

Indeed, you shouldn’t judge people by their appearances.

“Sweet dreams.”

There would be a considerable backlash waiting for Linne when she regained her senses tomorrow….
But for now, she wanted to protect this peace.
Elroa gently tidied Linne’s disheveled hair and turned off the light.

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