City ​​of Witches 1016

Chapter 1016 – #243_Scouting Is Difficult (4)

#1010

1.
The Witch of the Path.
Dorothy Sahakiel.

The owner of a super-bust that is rare even in the witch world, and a person with a laid-back nature as big as her heart.

However, Dorothy wasn’t always as laid-back as she is now.

Rather, most of her life was spent feeling a sense of futility, unable to find a reason for living, and her languid way of speaking and relaxed demeanor were closer to a pretense to hide her inexplicable anxiety and emptiness.

Why do humans often put up thorns to hide their weaknesses?

It was after meeting Siwoo that Dorothy’s mask and actual mindset became aligned.

Location Point Gwanghwamun Branch.

She not only betrayed the public world she had been a part of, but also shut down a thriving business.
Despite living a semi-retired life, Dorothy felt the greatest peace she had ever felt, but…

“Dorothy. You’re being distracting.”

Linne, who was engrossed in her newly acquired hobby, ‘poetry painting,’ with writing brushes and ink laid out, scolded Dorothy, who was pacing around the room.

“What?”
“You’ve been walking in circles.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”

Linne and Dorothy maintained a reasonably good relationship.

They were the only two people who could talk freely without any formalities, and above all, they had the common ground of being Siwoo’s lover and having a public background, so it was difficult not to become close.

Even if Linne lacked sociability, she was a person who valued family harmony, and Dorothy was naturally very sociable, wasn’t she?

“Well~ I’m just being my usual self?”

However, Dorothy’s behavior after receiving a call that she would be coming soon was something even Linne, who had become quite close to her, had never seen before.

It wasn’t just the excitement of a long-awaited meeting.
It was clear that something was bothering her.

“What’s wrong?”

Linne put down her unfinished painting and wiped the ink off her brush.
Realizing that it wasn’t a trivial matter, she decided to give her some advice, even though it was a bother.

“It’s not so much that something’s wrong, but… haaa….”

Dorothy sighed deeply and sat down on the sofa.

“Darling is coming with the ‘Witch of Faith’.”
“I heard. The Witch of Faith asked for a meeting as a condition for forming an academic partnership. Is it a bad relationship?”
“No. No, it’s not. Maybe it’s a bad relationship for her.”

Linne had a vague feeling, seeing Dorothy so restless as if she had done something terribly wrong.
Linne had always had a knack for sensing things.

“Is she an ex-lover?”
“It’s not an excuse, but I’ve never had a lover. But… she was a partner.”
“A partner?”

It was a hundred years ago, but she still remembered her name.

Arin Tiandra.

Now, she had become a respectable Mother Superior and seemed to be building her own academy, but back then, she was just a young witch who had not long finished her succession.

Again, Dorothy also had a desperate desire to fill her emptiness, and when she met Arin, she was devoted to theology.
She went on pilgrimages and even entered a convent.

If life was worthless whether one lived or died, she thought the answer might lie with an absolute being, not with humans or witches.

Then, by chance, she met Arin Tiandra, who was having similar concerns, and preached a plausible idea.
Impressed by this, Arin joined her on a pilgrimage.

The emptiness of a life with nothing to hold onto is connected to carnal desire.
Because loneliness cannot be shaken off alone, salvation is found in the momentary bond that can be obtained by touching skin.

‘Dorothy-nim, such actions are surely not permitted by God.’
‘But right now, I desire Dorothy-nim more than anything in the world.’
‘If it is true love, will God turn a blind eye?’

That’s why Dorothy accepted the kiss of the innocent nun.

‘I know I shouldn’t….’
‘Ah, please forgive me….’

She undressed the trembling Arin Tiandra and spent a night of ecstasy on the same bed.

‘May we share a bed tonight?’
‘I know I shouldn’t, but I want you.’

The impulsive relationship continued for a month, then two.
Throughout the pilgrimage, they bit each other’s bodies, indulging in a lust far from their faith.

But this relationship didn’t last long.

At that time, Dorothy was just an empty shell.
She didn’t have the emotional capacity to love another person.

It was just that the pretense created by the years she had lived was more solid than Arin, who expressed everything honestly.

There was a vast gap between the Dorothy that Arin saw and the self-portrait that Dorothy herself was aware of, as vast as a wasteland and a resort.

But Arin had been demanding the role of a spiritual pillar to fill the parts that Dorothy lacked, so it was a relationship that couldn’t last long in the first place.

Eventually, in the sixth month.
Dorothy used business as an excuse to end the trip.
She coldly brushed off Arin’s hand as she tried to follow her.

‘Are you… leaving?’
‘Are you tired of my sinful body now?’
‘I know, you’re not that kind of person….’
‘But I’ll wait. Forever.’

It would be a lie to say she didn’t feel sorry.

In the meantime, whatever her intentions and feelings were, she had seduced an innocent nun, indulged in her body, and then spat her out when the sweetness was gone.

But no matter what memories they had shared, it was a century ago.
The memory of Arin had faded dimly within Dorothy.

But now, she was suddenly coming with Siwoo.

On the surface, wasn’t it like an ex-lover asking for a meeting while holding hands with the current lover?

“In short~ I’m very troubled.”
“……”

Linne, who had grasped the general context, nodded quietly.

“I have a question.”
“Yeah, please help me.”
“Whose trouble are you feeling?”

When it’s complicated to think alone, a word from the side can be valuable.

Strictly speaking, it was both.

Although there was a difference in status, Arin had waited for over 100 years without sending a single letter after hearing that she would wait, and now they were meeting again.

The guilt and sense of responsibility she felt towards her were the primary source of her discomfort.

The second was that Siwoo was someone Dorothy truly loved.

She wouldn’t even mention the fact that she had boasted in the past in front of him, saying how skilled she was and how many witches were crazy about her.
It was a black history among black histories that she wanted to erase from his memory if she could.

In fact, back then, Dorothy had no qualms about revealing such facts.

She thought that Shin Siwoo would also become just ‘one of those people.’
She never thought she would love him like this, or that she would like him this much.

But now, she bitterly regretted her past words.

If he were to recall Dorothy’s past statements and wonder, even for a moment, ‘Am I just one of those people?’, she felt like her heart would be torn apart.

“What if Darling thinks that when he sees Arin?”
“……”

“I only have him, but what if he thinks badly of me? Women with complicated pasts aren’t popular….”
“……”

“Why did I say those things back then…! Dorothy! Are you out of your mind?!”
“……”

“There’s another thing that’s bothering me. What should I do? How should I act? What will be the first thing we say when the three of us meet for the first time?”
“……”

“Did you miss me? Do you still love me? No, maybe she’ll resent me first? Siwoo will find out about our past relationship…. I can’t not tell him about this….”
“……”

Linne was just looking at Dorothy.

It was like a monologue by a stage actor.

Dorothy, who always carried composure and ease, was now tearing at her hair, flailing her arms in the air, showing tremendous agitation.
She was speaking 2.5 times faster than usual, which was frustrating to listen to.

Unable to watch any longer, Linne threw out a word.

“I don’t think your husband would care much.”
“Really? Really?”

It wasn’t just a comforting word, she really thought so.

Just look at Siwoo, wasn’t he surrounded by countless lovers?

Given Siwoo’s nature, he wouldn’t be hypocritical, and even if that wasn’t the case, he was a person who was soft enough to melt even Linne.

The idea that he would criticize Dorothy, who he considered to be on his side, for a mere past issue…
To put it bluntly, it was Dorothy’s fuss.

It seemed that Dorothy’s pure love was preventing her from seeing the situation clearly.

“No, no. No matter how I think about it, it’s a serious problem. I’ll be hated. If Darling hates me, I’ll die…. My heart will wither….”

Dorothy, with tears welling up in her eyes, grabbed Linne’s kimono hem and clung to her.
Every time Dorothy shook the hem of her clothes while making ‘eua eua’ sounds, Linne’s body swayed back and forth.

“Do something! You’re smart! You’re a genius! Show me a brilliant plan!”
“…Haa.”

Annoying.

Linne, looking away, wanted to get rid of Dorothy as soon as possible.
She didn’t want to get caught up in this fuss, unless it was for a serious reason.

“Fine.”
“Did you come up with a good plan?”
“If your husband brings the witch, I will call her aside and threaten her not to bring up the past.”

She was talking about threatening her.
It wasn’t an option for Dorothy, who felt some guilt towards Arin.

“That’s not a good plan…. Linne-emon, help meee…. Please help meee….”
“Your clothes are coming off. Let go.”
“Euaaaang!!! What should I do!!!”

The Witch of the Sword, genuinely terrified, struggled to pull up her clothes to prevent them from falling down as she ran away.
The Witch of the Path, clinging to Linne, was being dragged around.

Both were former members of the Qliphoth, who had spread their fame and infamy throughout the continent, each at the 22nd rank.
It was a scene that would make other witches say, ‘I guess I’ve been working too hard lately,’ and go to sleep.

-Knock knock

“Linne-nim, I’m here. I heard Dorothy-nim is here.”

It was Siwoo’s voice.

“I’m not ready yet. Hide me, hide me.”

Dorothy shook her head, but Linne was now too annoyed to deal with it.

“She’s here. Take her away.”
“How, how could you do this to me…?!”

Dorothy, who had stopped crying, looked at Linne with betrayed eyes, but she didn’t have much time to whine.

-Click

Soon, the door opened.

Dorothy’s darling, Shin Siwoo, who cooked her miso stew every day in her dreams.
And next to him stood the ‘Witch of Faith,’ Arin Tiandra, with the dignified demeanor of a devout cleric.

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