Chapter 1134 – #269_Possession And Non-Possession (3)
#1128
1.
Somehow, the conversation had taken a serious turn.
Periwinkle took out warm black tea, added a generous amount of brandy, and placed the cup in front of Siwoo.
“You know the Mrashvich Theory, right?”
“Of course.”
The Mrashvich Theory is one of the basic theories applicable to most magic, stating that there is a trade-off between the ‘power’ and ‘precision’ that a particular magic generates.
Let’s use a simpler example.
Suppose you use fire elemental magic with 100 units of mana.
In this scenario, we only consider the correlation between mana, power, and precision independently.
If you precisely control the flames to create an elaborate flower shape, the ‘power’ of the flame is limited to 50.
Control and stability, i.e., ‘precision,’ have been exchanged for 50 units of ‘power.’
On the other hand, let’s assume that you use the same 100 units of mana to create an explosion with minimal control.
In this case, the ‘power’ of the explosion will be close to 100.
However, control and stability, i.e., ‘precision,’ will be significantly reduced.
“The Periwinkles of the past have always accepted this limitation. Since it’s a magic that deals with such an ambiguous concept as luck, they ended up maximizing its power instead of trying to control it.”
The ‘Witches of Luck’ developed their magic based on the Mrashvich Theory.
“So, they succeeded in converting 100 units of mana into 200 units of power, almost completely abandoning control.”
If the past Periwinkles had been witches who dealt with fire, as in the example, there might have been a terrible tragedy where they burned themselves to death.
However, as luck would have it, for the ‘Witch of Luck,’ magic that was almost impossible to control was, well, just luck.
Luck where you couldn’t control whether you’d win first or third prize in the lottery.
Luck where you couldn’t predict which would be the bigger hit between bonds and stocks.
Nevertheless, her predecessors always warned Cybele.
‘Be careful and stay vigilant.’
‘Oh, come on, teacher, do you really need to be that serious? Well, I guess if I get too rich, Duke Keter might get angry.’
‘It’s not just flames that can burn you.’
‘Stop nagging.’
Periwinkle tapped the edge of her teacup and continued.
“There’s no way a young apprentice witch would take those words to heart. Can you even imagine how reckless I was when I first inherited the title?”
“You’re still quite… never mind.”
“I’m sharing a difficult past that you can’t even buy with money. I’m not going to talk anymore?”
“Please, continue.”
For Cybele Periwinkle, who had just inherited the title, the world was a playground.
The minor happenings during her apprenticeship, like ‘when she answered all multiple-choice questions correctly by guessing, they gave her essay exams,’ became truly minor.
The world and fate favored her.
“I raked in money like crazy. Everything went the way I wanted. Investments yielded double the profit, and if I invested that doubled profit, it doubled again.
Traveling was my hobby, so I built a hotel, and it became a venue for celebrities’ parties, establishing a luxury brand image. New York, Las Vegas, Monaco, Paris, London… Every one I built became a landmark in its respective area.”
She had already inherited a considerable fortune at that point, but her aggressive investments generated enormous wealth.
So much so that she thought, ‘My teacher was a bit out of touch with the world. Why didn’t she do this easy thing?’
“My magic research progressed rapidly, and I reached the level of a Great Witch within ten years of inheriting the mark from my predecessor. Other young witches were busy just trying to digest the mark they received from their predecessors.”
What Periwinkle created when she reached the level of a Great Witch was the four-leaf clover.
Just as Lydia controlled concepts with gold coins, she reached the point of controlling luck with the totem of a four-leaf clover.
“The only drawback of the past Witches of Luck was that they didn’t have a proper way to protect themselves. They all lived in hiding. But what would it be like to have an artifact of luck that even allowed you to avoid the fate of death? I was the protagonist of the world.”
Now, Periwinkle roamed the present world as if it were her own home.
She casually traveled through South and Central America, where other Gehenna witches didn’t even dare to go.
“I was attacked several times, but everything ‘somehow worked out.’ Well, I was the Witch of Luck, after all?”
All misfortunes miraculously avoided Periwinkle.
The traps set by enemies who gathered to capture the Witch of Luck and use her as a totem of luck were avoided thanks to a ‘coincidentally’ delayed flight.
A witch who tried to approach her at a hotel with a suspicious potion ‘accidentally’ drank the lye she had prepared and died.
When she was kidnapped by three exiles, a conflict broke out among the conspirators, and they killed each other, while Periwinkle walked out of the prison unscathed.
“If I were to describe my personality and actions at that time… hmm, there are no mild words to express it.”
Once you become a Great Witch, you are treated as a VIP and revered wherever you go.
However, Periwinkle’s arrogance, her flaunting of wealth, and her haughty contempt for everything except herself made her isolated, like a self-repelling magic.
People would smile at her face but would gossip and tear her down behind her back.
“So, what do you think I was like?”
“Did you reflect on your actions?”
“No, not at all. I thought, ‘Those pathetic losers are just jealously hating on me.’”
Since she showed no sign of remorse or reform, her friends, former lovers, her teacher’s friends, and others around her turned their backs on her one by one.
Even those who had approached her to exploit her luck eventually spat at her and left.
But there was one person who didn’t.
“Valentina Ruthspell. She was my friend since my apprentice witch days. Even as everyone else got tired of my misdeeds and left, she remained by my side, unfazed.”
The aristocratic culture of Gehenna at that time was much more demanding and hierarchical than it is now.
In some ways, it could be said to have been much more childish than it is now.
“Playing with an outcast was like inviting ostracism, but she stayed by my side consistently. Just because we were friends. She couldn’t ignore the accusations that she was just acting like a maid to pick up scraps…”
Valentina was a very rare witch who couldn’t say harsh things to others.
She was said to be very sensitive.
However, despite the criticism she heard from those around her and the arrogant and rude words that Periwinkle often uttered, she always approached her with an embarrassed smile.
Saying silly things like, ‘But we’re friends, right?’
“She kept nagging and trying to reform me.”
Surprisingly, Valentina’s efforts moved Periwinkle’s heart.
She, who never listened to anyone, tried to be a little less arrogant, a little less conceited, and a little less venomous.
Every time, Valentina would give her a harmless smile and praise her, saying, ‘That’s a bit better.’
Periwinkle, who was dumbfounded, would eventually chuckle and pretend to ignore it, but secretly she was pleased with her praise.
Objectively, Periwinkle was superior in terms of hierarchy, wealth, and ability, but the two became as close as sisters.
They would research magic together, always drink together, and Periwinkle would take the trembling Valentina on the Central American tour she had always wanted to go on.
Then one day.
‘Cybele, there’s someone I want to introduce you to.’
‘What?’
Valentina blushed and introduced a human man as her lover.
He was a handsome French naval officer, and it was clear at first glance that he loved Valentina very much.
But that wasn’t important.
“Yes, it wasn’t important.”
What Periwinkle felt was an indescribable, sticky possessiveness.
To express that feeling as closely as possible in one sentence, it would be, ‘Who do you think you are, trying to take away the most precious luck I have?’
The ‘luck’ that had been the only one to understand and be with her.
Periwinkle had no desire to share it with anyone else.
‘Oh, really? That’s great. Have a beautiful love.’
But she barely managed to compose herself and blessed the couple.
After all, fate would bring luck to Periwinkle.
Human life is short, and the moment of beauty is more fleeting than the moment when red flowers are in full bloom.
Periwinkle waited silently.
Until Valentina lost interest in him and they could go back to enjoying their lives together as before.
Until Valentina ended her short amusement and returned.
But after 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years passed.
Valentina married that human man.
Valentina’s attitude towards Periwinkle didn’t change at all after she started a family, but it was inevitable that she contacted Periwinkle less and less.
“It was a childish heart. I was impatient and anxious. I wondered if we might never be able to go back to those happy days. So, at some point, I started to rationalize.”
Humans grow old and die.
Witches escape the mortal curse and live forever.
Their love is an incomplete relationship.
Valentina, like Periwinkle in the past, was caught in a foolish delusion and was forgetting something important.
When her long contemplation took a clear shape.
Periwinkle secretly, sincerely wished.
“I prayed that I wanted to possess her exclusively.”
The troublemaker disappeared.
The man who had been dragged to the battlefield was torn to pieces by a German shell and became one of the countless soldiers whose remains could not be recovered.
To put it very harshly.
It was luck.
Because Valentina eventually returned.
“I tried to think like this. He was going to die someday anyway. Maybe it was a ‘coincidence’ that had nothing to do with my magic. Now that Valentina is by my side, that’s enough… or so I thought.”
The two of them, who had promised to go on a trip under the pretext of holding a funeral and recovering,
What Periwinkle found when she packed her travel bags was Valentina, who had taken her own life, and her suicide note.
“She had noticed.”
Valentina, who had been close to Periwinkle, left a note speculating that the death of her beloved man might have been due to someone’s ‘luck.’
Suspicion turned into resentment, and resentment soon turned into hatred.
Valentina vowed revenge on her longtime friend, Periwinkle.
“She couldn’t be that cruel of a friend. She ended up forgiving me. But I guess she couldn’t forgive herself for even thinking that way.”
Valentina, who had tried to kill Periwinkle, did nothing and took her own life, hating herself.
This too.
To put it very harshly.
It was luck.
Only then did Periwinkle look around.
When she made a huge profit by shorting stocks.
She belatedly saw the news that hundreds of thousands of people had committed suicide due to the Great Depression.
When Periwinkle had acquired a good artifact by chance.
She saw that several witches who had fought over the artifact had become lost souls.
Periwinkle’s fate was already burning her body.
It was just too late to realize it.
“Periwinkle.”
Then Siwoo got up and carefully wiped away Periwinkle’s tears.
“This time, I will help you.”
