Chapter 452 – #96_Travel
#451
1.
I was very worried.
The fine Amelia had to pay to get her imprisonment and deportation suspended was definitely not a small amount.
Witches are generally wealthy.
Most witches you see on the street can live a comfortable life if they exchange their gold for currency in the present world.
Even Sharon, whom I met in a very impoverished state, was a multi-billionaire before she was completely cleaned out by a class-action lawsuit, wasn’t she?
Fortunately, in Amelia’s case, the matter was settled by negotiating with the witches who had suffered losses from the committee and compensating them a certain amount.
However, that doesn’t mean the remaining debt is easy to pay off.
Unless you’ve built up astronomical wealth by running businesses in the present world like Jemina or Yesod.
Siwoo, who was about to go see Amelia right after the trial, ran into Sophia.
“Sophia, have you seen Amelia?”
“Ah, Siwoo. Well, that is…”
I wanted to see her right away.
Unfortunately, I heard that Amelia was busy with various administrative procedures and checking the inheritance left by her teacher.
“Did she go right away?”
“Yeah, I told her to at least show her face, but… she said she wanted to finish it today, so I couldn’t stop her.”
“Then, did she say when she might be free?”
“She said she’d finish it tonight and come see you in person tomorrow morning.”
“Okay, I understand.”
Come to think of it, it felt like it had been a while since I’d seen Senior Professor Sophia.
The last time I saw her, Siwoo was still a slave.
Sometimes, when I meet old acquaintances, I feel this sense of time passing.
“It was nice to see you after so long. I’ll be going now.”
Siwoo bowed politely and was about to leave.
Sophia stopped him.
“Don’t you resent me?”
When I turned around, Sophia was standing there with her hands politely clasped in front of her, avoiding my eyes as if she was ashamed.
Sophia had clearly used Siwoo for Amelia’s sake.
She often helped when Amelia was being overly fussy or giving him trials, but she didn’t offer any fundamental solutions.
If you were to ask her if she sacrificed Siwoo for Amelia’s emotional education, Sophia would have nothing to say.
Moreover, while Sophia did nothing while Amelia was suffering until she went berserk, Siwoo went into a dangerous situation and saved her.
“I’m really sorry to you. I should live the rest of my life naked without wearing any clothes as a sign of repentance.”
“I won’t do that, that kind of order.”
His tone was light, but because I could feel the sincerity in it, Siwoo laughed and responded.
In fact, Sophia was the one who contributed to Amelia and Siwoo getting involved, and to Siwoo’s slave life getting twisted.
But I don’t feel any resentment about that.
It’s in the past.
Sophia was the first to reach out to Amelia when she was struggling alone, and I had received help from her once before at the inn in Border Town, so I didn’t particularly want to blame her.
“If you need my help, tell me anytime. I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Yes, I’ll ask if something comes up.”
Leaving Sophia, who bowed her head to apologize until the end, Siwoo returned to the Jemina family estate.
2.
Siwoo belatedly came to understand Amelia’s feelings.
The cause of all her actions, her clumsiness, even her shortcomings, I wanted to embrace them all.
If Amelia still harbored ‘love’ for Siwoo, Siwoo wanted to reciprocate.
To do that, there was a prerequisite.
Polygamous harems are only plausible in fiction; in reality, the process is quite complicated.
I needed to get permission from Sharon, the twins, and my teacher in advance.
This morning, I hadn’t been able to give a proper explanation to the twins and Sharon.
Therefore, I used the time until morning to sit the twins and Sharon down and explain everything that had happened between the two of us step by step.
I didn’t want to dig up Amelia’s painful past in detail, but… I touched on it roughly.
I thought it was a necessary part to understand her actions.
“…I think that’s about it.”
“……”
It was a long misunderstanding, but when summarized, the explanation ended up being shorter than I thought.
The twins were the most angry when I talked about Count Yesod last time.
I cautiously checked the twins’ expressions first.
I was a little surprised.
Odile and Odette’s eyes were red.
“Sniff, Odette, you’re not crying, are you? Like a child?”
“Sniff, you’re the one… you keep rubbing your eyes with your sleeve?”
“I just got an eyelash in my eye. As you know, my eyelashes are long like a butterfly’s antennae.”
“I got an eyelash in my eye too. It’s especially painful because it’s as long as yours.”
I tried to convey it objectively without putting too much emotion into it, but it seems it didn’t go as planned.
Odile and Odette were clearly trying to hold back their tears, their eyes wide open, and they were bickering less energetically than usual.
“Ahem, hmm… So, the associate professor had such circumstances.”
“I thought she was just a mean person who gave us homework every day…”
This time, I glanced at Sharon…
Sharon was staring at Siwoo without blinking an eye, letting tears fall into her cleavage.
This was originally a place to get scolded by Sharon and the twins and to arrange for time to properly reconcile with Amelia.
I honestly didn’t expect them to be tearing up like this.
I honestly didn’t expect it.
Could it be that I have an incredible talent for storytelling?
That’s the kind of reaction I got.
Sharon walked over and hugged Siwoo tightly.
“You’ve been through so much… it must have been hard?”
“It’s so long ago that I don’t even remember it well… I’m fine.”
Siwoo had always subtly avoided answering when asked about his life in Gehenna.
Therefore, this was the first time Sharon had heard about Siwoo’s slave days in such detail.
Since he was a public slave, she thought he wouldn’t have had a hard time, but hearing it all like this made her feel a surge of sadness.
Besides, Sharon is naturally a crybaby.
To have worked without even receiving minimum wage, to have been assigned to a bad dormitory, and to have had to do all the chores.
I know that Amelia also had her reasons, but honestly, I don’t see her in a good light right now.
“Well, I feel a little guilty…”
“Yeah, me too…”
On the other hand, the twins were the ones who first approached Siwoo with the intention of using him, although their relationship had completely changed since they returned from Latifundium.
Even if they had helped a lot since then.
They were sweating profusely, unable to comfort him as confidently as Sharon, as they had subtly ignored Siwoo’s wishes and recklessly proceeded with ‘sex education’.
“Anyway, if you, Odile and Odette, and you are okay with it, I’d like to spend some time together, even if it’s just for a little while. I’m planning to visit my teacher separately.”
Sharon wiped her tears with a handkerchief and nodded.
She didn’t see Amelia in a good light because she had tormented Siwoo in the past, but the person himself was okay with it, he had forgiven her.
Besides, she had gone through so much for Siwoo’s life, what could she say?
“Like I said before, I’m fine. It’s a happy thing that Siwoo is getting a lot of love.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Next, the twins spoke.
“Odile, Odette.”
“I knew this would happen someday.”
“Well, Associate Professor Amelia has a history of monopolizing the boy assistant.”
“What’s one or two more now? We can’t be beaten anyway.”
The twins’ willingness to allow it wasn’t just for that reason.
They knew that Siwoo had been the most active in trying to find a cure when he had collapsed and lost consciousness.
And that he had carried out a death list to save Siwoo after that, hadn’t he?
In a way, it was thanks to Amelia that the twins were able to continue their relationship with Siwoo.
They couldn’t just ignore that and stubbornly refuse.
But it felt awkward to say all of this in detail.
Instead of saying it at length, they showed it by burning with fighting spirit.
“But when you come back, tell her to join the council! I won’t let her get away with it, even if she’s an associate professor!”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
3.
The night had deepened.
Siwoo, who had been tossing and turning all night, went for a walk.
It wasn’t a walk with a specific purpose.
As I followed my feet, I found myself at Trinity Academy.
I had visited before to find Amelia, but perhaps because I wasn’t as relaxed as I am now?
I was able to see the scenery where five years of joy and sorrow were buried in more detail than before.
“Ugh…”
First, the long, winding drainage ditch along the perimeter wall.
It was one of the reasons why I came to hate rainy days so much.
Trinity Academy was very old, so this drainage ditch had become a dungeon where even crocodiles could live.
The stable that was responsible for Siwoo’s sleeping quarters for five years.
It was a building that was already barely maintained, but when Siwoo, who was the only one who maintained it, disappeared, it became a ruin.
They say that the past is glorified?
The thoughts Siwoo had when his escape from Gehenna was imminent came back to me.
As I recalled the days when I struggled to research magic for my escape, I felt a sense of longing…
“I don’t miss it.”
There was no such thing, and suddenly I felt like I could do anything in the future.
After that, I also looked around the library, which was Siwoo’s official workplace, and the stylishly decorated corridors and teachers’ offices, as if I had to pay an admission fee.
As expected of an academy with a long tradition.
Many things had changed for Siwoo, but this magnificent teacher’s office was shining in the stillness of the night, as if it had vowed to remain unchanged even after a thousand years.
Then.
“……”
It wasn’t like we had made any promises.
Siwoo’s visit to Trinity Academy was just a whim.
But as if by fate, I saw the figure of a witch across the corridor where the candlesticks were flickering.
Amelia Merigold, holding a large book that was as big as her torso and wearing the cloak that was her teacher’s keepsake.
The two, who had been walking towards each other, stopped in the middle of the corridor.
Let’s not think too hard about it.
As much as we’ve been apart, as much as there were things we couldn’t do for each other.
We just need to do well in the future.
Of course, that’s only if ‘love’ still remains in Amelia’s heart…
A natural atmosphere for a kiss had been created, so it should be okay.
As Siwoo was thinking about this and that, he realized something.
I was nervous.
An unexpected, accidental reunion.
The fact that so many thoughts were popping up that I couldn’t handle them was clearly a reflexive reaction to not knowing how to treat Amelia.
Should I greet her, should I ask her about her feelings about the trial results, anyway, I was flustered because I didn’t know what to do.
“Siwoo.”
It was Amelia who spoke first.
Perhaps because of the setting, I was swept away by a feeling of nostalgia, as if I had returned to the past.
When Amelia was an associate professor and Siwoo was her exclusive slave.
“Yes, Amelia.”
“Siwoo, if you’re okay with it… would you like to go on a trip together?”
Siwoo was surprised to receive a sudden proposal for a trip.
A trip? Suddenly?
When I connected it to the incident that had left a particularly deep impression on me today, the imposition of a huge fine and compensation, Amelia’s bold proposal for a trip was interpreted a little differently.
Could this be a midnight escape?
As I stared blankly at Amelia with my mouth open, she added more words.
Her voice was too calm and composed to be a proposal for a midnight escape.
“I want to go on a trip with Siwoo.”
According to Sophia, Amelia had been busy running around for various administrative tasks and checking her balance.
Could it be that she had finally realized that she couldn’t pay off her debt? When I looked at Amelia with trembling eyes.
“If you’re okay with it… Siwoo.”
Siwoo realized.
Her face, which seemed calm at first glance, was a mask of composure.
Her eyes and fingers couldn’t lie.
Her hands, which couldn’t stay still for a moment and were tugging at her skirt, and her moist eyes.
She was actually struggling to say these words.
Amelia wouldn’t do something like a midnight escape.
I felt silly for having made such a foolish assumption, and Siwoo smiled lightly and said.
“I was actually going to ask you.”
And so, Amelia and Siwoo’s sudden trip was decided.
