Chapter 1133 – #269_Possession And Non-Possession (2)
#1127
1.
Dorothy recalled a cliché line often uttered by third-rate villains in the media.
Love makes you weak.
If she thought about it rationally, Dorothy shouldn’t have been this mentally broken.
Who was Dorothy?
A queen who once melted the hearts of countless witches and ruled over them.
A free spirit unbound by constraints.
The possessor of a composure that wouldn’t even bat an eye at most things.
That was Dorothy.
It meant she wasn’t so weak as to run away, fearing she might be caught crying during a mere argument with a mistress.
“Dorothy-nim!”
“Don’t follow me!”
Dorothy, using even her magic to enhance her physical abilities, sprinted through the Hessed Academy.
Shin Siwoo, desperately calling out to her, chased after her.
Some of the academy members, interpreting it as a simple lovers’ quarrel, were making exclamations like “Oh my, oh my.”
Could there be a bigger fool than this?
After promising not to restrain him, she had run through several simulations of being a cool older sister who generously forgave Siwoo for his imagined infidelity. Yet, she was now running away from the jeers of the Fortune Witch, whose truthfulness she didn’t even know.
However, no matter how fast Dorothy ran, she couldn’t outpace Siwoo.
It wasn’t long before Siwoo caught up to Dorothy.
The problem was that he had absolutely nothing to say even after catching up.
What Siwoo had done today wasn’t something that could be brushed off as a ‘mistake.’
Siwoo had many lovers, and even if they weren’t lovers, he formed relationships for the sake of irregular succession.
She was already being incredibly understanding by accepting that, but he, who had said with his own mouth that he wouldn’t add more lovers, couldn’t resist a moment’s temptation.
“I have nothing to say to you, darling.”
Therefore, without any excuses, Siwoo bowed his head and apologized honestly.
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“It’s entirely my fault. I will not hide anything about what happened today and will tell you everything.”
He planned to tell his lovers properly, not just gloss over it and end it.
Even if it damaged their trust, he had to take responsibility if he made a mistake.
What Dorothy found absurd about herself was that her heart, which had already shattered like an ice sculpture, was showing signs of melting away.
Just because Siwoo had followed her immediately, leaving Periwinkle behind, and had apologized honestly.
After all, wasn’t Dorothy more precious to him than Periwinkle?
She was doing this kind of rationalization before even hearing a single excuse.
Tears welled up, her nose tingled, and Dorothy thought she was doing everything a complete idiot would do.
“……”
Dorothy hugged Siwoo without saying a word.
“Dorothy-nim…”
Siwoo, regretting what he had done, felt remorseful at Dorothy’s pure-heartedness, who hugged him without a single word of complaint, when she should have been slapping him across the face.
Just like a silly couple in a romantic comedy, the two were about to kiss instinctively when…
“I’m not done talking yet?”
The mistress, Periwinkle, reappeared.
“Periwinkle-nim, I’m sorry, but let’s stop here for today…”
“Hah, I didn’t come to fight.”
Siwoo was terrified, thinking they were about to start round two, but Periwinkle sighed deeply and raised both hands, indicating she had no intention of fighting.
“I’m sorry to both of you. You don’t need to resent your darling too much. It was all my plan.”
Then, she took something out of her pocket.
It was a four-leaf clover, dyed red like autumn leaves.
“I seduced him. With magic.”
“What is that?”
“What else could it be? It’s a clover that connects the red thread of fate. I even slipped one into your shirt pocket when you were dozing off.”
As she said, a clover that looked similar to Periwinkle’s appeared from Siwoo’s pocket.
It was crumbling little by little in real-time.
“I made some progress in my magic while researching Mistletoe this time. It’s an item that literally realizes the fate of love. Your darling was being too passive, so I used a bit of a sneaky trick.”
Both Siwoo and Dorothy’s eyes widened.
According to the explanation that followed, the red clover, like Periwinkle’s other magnetic magic, had an effect that was truly magical, transcending magic itself.
An item that would make the ‘probability of Shin Siwoo and Periwinkle having an affair’ infinitely close to 1, even if it was 0.01.
It was an artifact that was like the ‘world’ itself arranging a blind date.
The fact that the two had already had a relationship made it all the easier, she explained along with complex magical theories.
Only then did Siwoo notice something strange.
He looked back at himself, who had been as excited and abnormal as if he had inhaled her scent, even though he hadn’t actually inhaled it.
“And I said I educated your darling, but you know that’s not true, right? He was like that from the start. How much have I suffered from that wild colt? Even today, he was attacking only from behind so persistently.”
“……”
Periwinkle, who had changed her attitude like flipping her palm, added one last word to Dorothy, who was still looking at her with wary eyes, and then left.
“I didn’t intend to ruin a happy couple. I’m sorry.”
2.
Siwoo kept his promise to Dorothy.
He chose to confess everything to his lovers and be forgiven.
Amelia was shocked, Sharon pinched his cheek, the twins were jumping up and down, Luelle was indifferent, Linne was accepting, and his teacher scolded him sternly.
Still, perhaps because of the red clover element, everyone accepted it relatively smoothly.
There was also the fact that Periwinkle was a benefactor who had helped Siwoo a lot.
Two days after the commotion, Siwoo went to work at the head of the academy’s office.
He was worried about how he would face Periwinkle, and he was also concerned about keeping her in the head of the academy’s office, but Periwinkle had cleanly stepped back.
She had moved her belongings from the temporary room included in the head of the academy’s office and secured a separate research building.
All the data that the two had been researching was also moved there.
“As you can see. I’m also regretting that I went too far. I didn’t intend to get this deeply involved. Let’s not be awkward and stay close like before, like sisters, okay?”
Periwinkle, whom he met again, was wearing a turtleneck sweater to cover the handprints and had on rimless glasses.
She acted as if she had completely erased the chaos of that day from her mind.
Thanks to that, Siwoo was able to treat her with a much more comfortable heart.
However, there was still an unresolved question.
“Noona, I have one question.”
“Feel free to ask.”
“Why did you do that that day?”
Periwinkle hadn’t shown any particular obsession with Siwoo until now.
No, rather, she had given the impression of drawing a line and keeping her distance?
She had given him help and sometimes joked around, but she had always emphasized ‘sex buddy’ and ‘one-night stand,’ and had maintained an appropriate distance without even mentioning the word ‘lover,’ let alone love.
Knowing her like that, looking back, Periwinkle’s behavior that day was clearly emotional.
She had prepared the red clover and actively engaged in a relationship with Siwoo, and even had a fierce emotional fight with Dorothy, although she quickly apologized.
“I made a mistake that day. How should I say it, after doing it with you, I couldn’t control my emotions properly? I’m reflecting on it. Did you get scolded a lot?”
“No, I wasn’t scolded that much. I’m not in a position to resent anyone either. It’s just that I felt it was unlike you, Noona?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t like me.”
Then, why did Periwinkle, who had never been obsessed with Siwoo, fight with Dorothy to the point of having an emotional argument, and then step back so easily?
There was no consistent context to her actions.
Periwinkle said.
“I receive the love of the world. Everything I want comes into my hands, and everything I hate disappears. I’ve never had any real hardship in my life, and it’s so easy that I wonder if life can be this easy. Ah, it would be easier to understand if I showed you.”
Periwinkle casually extended her hand.
Siwoo, realizing that she was trying to show him her inner world through touch, took her hand, and…
“This is my world.”
Soon, the room was filled with countless threads.
The threads, shining in various colors, were familiar to Siwoo.
They were the threads of fate that had scattered beautifully beneath the surface of the lake in the prophecy institution.
However, unlike then, when the threads of various colors were harmoniously intertwined, the threads of fate floating in the room were somewhat unnatural in their form.
Among those threads, only the most brilliantly shining golden threads were tightly wrapped around Periwinkle’s body like a cocoon.
“In other words, I’m monopolizing the love of fate that surrounds me. My magnetic magic itself draws only the best golden threads onto the threads of fate.”
“That’s a pretty infuriating magic.”
“It’s not that great. Do you know how boring it is?”
Periwinkle, who had been laughing like that, quickly let go of his hand and smiled meaningfully.
“Unfortunately, I can’t properly control my magic. At best, I can only use clovers as totems to achieve minimal control.”
“So… it means it’s a passive skill?”
Periwinkle nodded.
“For example, take Mistletoe. A snot-nosed boy I had once helped suddenly has a great awakening, kills the Witch of Gold single-handedly, and brings me her artifact. What are the odds of that happening? And it just so happens to be the artifact of a conceptual witch that I needed. But it happens to me like it’s an everyday occurrence.”
“Hey, that’s too much…”
Siwoo thought it was just Periwinkle’s boast or joke.
However, Periwinkle, who hadn’t been very serious even during battles, was staring at Siwoo with a serious expression, devoid of laughter.
“After having a satisfying relationship with you. What are the odds that your lover would witness the scene of you having an affair, right after I thought, ‘I want this guy too’?”
Siwoo closed his mouth.
If Periwinkle hadn’t given a proper explanation at that time, what would have happened?
He didn’t know for sure, but the misunderstanding wouldn’t have been resolved as smoothly as it had been now.
“If I really desperately wanted to monopolize you… what would happen to your relationship with your other lovers?”
“……”
“My magic certainly brings me luck. The scary thing is, it doesn’t care about anyone else but me.”
Periwinkle’s expression as she said those words was tinged with a bitter and self-deprecating smile, as if she were recalling a mistake from a long time ago.
