City ​​of Witches 599

## Chapter 599 – #121_I’M Back (7)

#599

1.
“Hey, assistant, it’s okay. I told you, no one’s coming. *Chuuup*… *Jjuup*… *Sss*, assistant. You came all this way, are you really going to keep pulling away?”

Just as Odile was about to enjoy some long-awaited alone time with Siwoo after three months.

“Assistant, you’re being stingy! It’s just a kiss. If you keep refusing, are we going to have to strip naked? Hehe, if we’re caught showing our bare bodies in a place like this… you know what will happen, right?”

Just as Odette was threatening to reveal her chest by unbuttoning her blouse.

“Siwoo!”
“A rival has appeared!”
“Master! We were here first!”

Just as Elroa, having defeated R’lyeh, burst in and discovered the chaotic scene.

“Siwoo… Siwoo… *Haa*… *Haa*…”
“Deneb… you crazy thing…”

Just as Deneb’s handplay was accelerating, and Albireo was shedding tears of anguish and something else.

“I’ll enjoy it.”
“Of course.”

Sharon was in her room, drinking with Amelia.

If we were to discuss Sharon’s position in Siwoo’s harem, which was slowly becoming difficult to count on one hand, she could be described as a smooth mediator.

She had built a harmonious friendship with the twins, who had previously bickered due to misunderstandings, and she maintained a supportive role for the clumsy Elroa.

However, there was one person with whom even Sharon found it difficult to maintain a smooth relationship: Amelia Merrygold.

Her cool demeanor, as if she were carved from ice, and her fairy-like beauty made it hard to approach her first.
To make matters worse, Sharon had a history of making a big blunder with Amelia, making it difficult to interact with her.

‘Sharon.’
‘Yes?’
‘Shall we have a drink?’

That’s why Sharon was surprised when Amelia, who had returned to Gehenna, suggested a private drinking session.

Of course, they had grown closer while working together through hardships.

Amelia had silently covered Sharon with a blanket when she fell asleep from exhaustion, and they had encouraged each other with words like, “Nothing will happen, so don’t cry.”

Things had turned out that way, but Sharon never expected Amelia, who seemed to have no social skills, to make such a suggestion.

‘Sure!’

Moreover, Sharon had been wanting to have a calm conversation, so she accepted the unexpected invitation with a bright expression.
And the atmosphere of the drinking session that took place in the annex of the Gemini House where Sharon was staying was…

“……”
“……”

Exactly as expected.

No, it was even worse than expected.
Without any meaningful conversation between them, half of the wine bottles were already empty without any snacks.

The longest conversation they had was:
‘Amelia, what kind of wine is this?’
‘It’s Mendel Hills wine.’
‘1989? It looks like a very expensive wine.’
‘Is it? I just brought it.’
‘Ah.’

There was nothing more to say.

What should they talk about?
Come to think of it, even when their search locations overlapped and they were alone on the ship (except for the True Ancestor Witch), they had never had a proper conversation.

Perhaps it was greedy to expect a pleasant chat now.

The only common interest and topic of conversation between the two was Siwoo, but that was a minefield where any danger could be buried, so it was out of the question.

Since things had turned out this way, Sharon decided to be a little braver and brought up the perfume she had bought from Amelia a while ago.

It was an item that had cost Sharon a fortune when she had splurged, and she had only used it a couple of times before Siwoo went missing, so she had kept it carefully.
She cleared her throat to fix the squeak that came out from not speaking for so long and continued.

“Ahem, by the way. Your perfume smells really nice, Amelia.”
“Thank you.”

Silence again.
Was it impossible to continue the conversation with this much effort?

However, Amelia hadn’t asked Sharon for a private meeting without any thought.

Loving the same man and staying by his side meant, in a way, an inevitable competition for love.
Therefore, at first, she had simply felt jealous and disappointed that Siwoo’s love was being shared with someone else.

However, in a situation where they couldn’t even confirm Siwoo’s safety, they relied on each other, and Amelia had changed her mind a little.

If Amelia had been thrown into the search alone, she wouldn’t have been able to endure it.
Like when she wandered through the desert for a public hunt, she would have repeatedly collapsed from the depletion of her mental strength.

But now, Amelia was not alone.
Sharon was by her side, and Elroa was there too.
Even in a situation that she couldn’t have overcome alone, she was able to receive courage from the two of them, especially Sharon.

She had come to realize that a rival was, in a way, a competitor, but also a companion walking in the same direction.

Therefore, Amelia had arranged this meeting to get closer to Sharon.
She had had more friction with Sharon than with any other lover.

So, when Sharon was about to despair, Amelia grabbed the thread of conversation this time.

“Your skin is so soft, Sharon, I thought it would smell nice.”
“Oh! Thank you.”
“Shall we say it brings out the sensuality hidden within your purity? I enjoyed working on it.”

Skin? Purity? Sensuality?
It was a bit of a creepy compliment to hear from another woman, but Sharon smiled, since it was a compliment.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

And then she realized.
Why had she missed this simple fact?

They say compliments make even whales dance.
Mutual compliments would surely be a good lubricant for the stiff gears of conversation.

“You’re very beautiful too, Amelia. Oh, I’m not just saying that. Actually, when I first saw you, I was amazed at how fairy-like you were.”
“Is that so?”

Amelia’s eyes widened slightly, as if she was awkward with compliments.
Seeing her surprised expression, after only seeing her depressed, struggling, angry, and expressionless, made her feel a different kind of charm.

The conversation continued, even if it was still a little awkward!
The saying that silence is golden was clearly a lie.
The liberation that came from having a conversation was amazing!

Excited by the rare conversation, Sharon started to ramble under the influence of alcohol.

“Yes, your hair is so fine and thick, and it’s blonde. It’s definitely hard to find such beautiful blonde hair even among all the witches.”
“And you too, Sharon… you’re really beautiful. I was actually very intimidated. Your figure is much more feminine…”

Amelia’s gaze flickered towards Sharon’s chest.

“No, no, there may be witches with bigger chests than me. But there’s no witch as beautiful as you, Amelia.”
“No, you’re attractive too, Sharon. Especially your eyes… it’s like looking into a clear lake.”

And so began the compliment relay.

However, even if they complimented each other’s features, the number of things they could compliment was limited.
Praising each other’s beauty was only suitable for the beginning of a conversation, and if they kept doing it, it would look very strange.

In other words, it would turn into a conversation that would make Siwoo think, ‘What are they doing?’ if he were to see it.

However, just like how you feel obligated to return a gift you receive, it felt awkward to end the conversation after receiving a compliment.
Just as Sharon was trying to end the conversation with her own compliment,

A major derailment occurred.

“Honestly, I’ve always been creeped out whenever I’ve been hit on by another witch. I even thought I’d be happy if it was you, Amelia.”

Alcohol + a situation where she was desperately trying to find something to compliment + a bit of her true feelings.
As a result, she ended up giving a compliment that sounded like a coming out.

“Huh?”

Amelia’s interpersonal skills were close to non-existent, but she wasn’t completely oblivious.

She instinctively felt that something was off and was more surprised than ever.
Seeing her clear sky-blue eyes trembling aimlessly, Sharon belatedly realized her mistake and tried to fix it.

“No, no! Not, not in a sexual way! I meant to say that you’re so attractive that I wouldn’t feel repulsed even if I imagined kissing you…”

As expected of Sharon, who was weak at improvising, it was a perfect example of a failed cover-up.

This was a real disaster.
Sharon had Siwoo, but she had just thrown a line at Amelia like Della.

“……”

Meanwhile, Amelia pondered Sharon’s words.

Amelia was finally trying to take steps outside, not just with Siwoo and Sophia.

It would have been a sight that would have made Sophia cry tears of joy, but just because she had made up her mind didn’t mean that Amelia’s interpersonal skills had improved dramatically.

Therefore, even with Sharon’s slightly over-the-line comment, Amelia made a strange misunderstanding.

Not feeling awkward even if she imagined kissing her…
To Amelia, it was a very cheesy and spine-chilling compliment.

However, unlike Amelia, who had been holed up in a cabin, Sharon was a witch who had lived in the present world for a long time.
Wasn’t the present world that Amelia had seen much more open than Gehenna?

She concluded that this kind of culture might be common there and played along with Sharon.

“Hehe, I was a bit over the top, right? I’m not usually like this, but I had a bit to drink…”
“Me too.”
“Huh…?”
“Your lips are pretty too, Sharon… I think they’d be soft to kiss.”

And Sharon, who didn’t know Amelia’s true feelings, was surprised.

Soft to kiss?
Was she trying to smooth over her earlier mistake with a joke? Sharon looked at Amelia’s expression, but…

“……”

Amelia was staring intently at Sharon’s lips without a hint of a smile.

In other words, it wasn’t a joke.

An infinite chorus of ‘whatwhatwhatwhat’ consumed Sharon’s mind.
A smooth comment that seemed to naturally throw a line after catching her mistake.
It was a scene she had often seen in foreign movies.
Especially in places like bars.

“Have you kissed a lot, Sharon? I can’t seem to get used to it. I don’t know what to do.”

To make matters worse, Amelia asked, gently stroking her own lips.

Of course, Amelia had responded well to Sharon’s compliment, and since the topic of kissing had come up, she had simply changed the topic of conversation.

Compared to other actions, kissing was a relatively light action to talk about, and Amelia had always had difficulty kissing Siwoo.

She would bite her lower lip and suck her tongue, but she didn’t know if she was doing it right.
She wanted to ask Sharon, who had probably kissed Siwoo much more, how to do it.

However, to Sharon, who was already caught up in a misunderstanding,
‘I don’t think I’d dislike kissing you, Amelia.’
‘Me too, so would you teach me how to kiss, Sharon?’
It was a flow that seemed to follow too naturally.

Could it be that Amelia had a strong bisexual tendency like other witches?
Wasn’t that a request to teach her how to kiss directly?
No, more than that, they already had Siwoo, so why would she say that?
Come to think of it, she had heard that there were cases of court ladies who couldn’t receive the king’s favor and fell into homosexuality after being left alone.

“A, a, Amelia… I, I… I don’t think that’s right, even if… I feel like I’d be sorry to Siwoo…”
“……?”

Sharon’s face turned red as her imagination went into overdrive, and just as Amelia was tilting her head at Sharon’s strange reaction.

-Clunk!

“Hmm, so there’s a place like this too.”

R’lyeh opened the door and entered.

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Here is an illustration of Elroa Tiferet

Drawn by John Kafka

The original will be posted in the announcement

I recommend viewing it on a large screen