Chapter 1246 – #290_Proposal(7)
#1240
1.
As always, the first step is the hardest.
My proposal plans, which had been vague and uncertain, took off after Sharon made the first move, and I successfully completed two more proposals in a row.
I’m confident that I executed them quite well, without any major flaws. In a way, Sharon pushed Siwoo, who was hesitant, into action.
Once I got the hang of it, everything else flowed smoothly.
“Sharon, Linne, and Teacher are done… The remaining people are Amelia, Odile, Odette, Lulue, Dorothy, and Kibel sister.”
Sharon created a variable by suddenly proposing first, but it’s not that confusing to figure out who will propose and who is waiting for a proposal.
We’ve spent a lot of time together, and each lover’s unique personality and tendencies allow me to predict their behavior patterns.
The extremely proactive and energetic Odile, Odette who explodes with action if her sister is involved, and Lulue, who competes with the twins in height, will definitely propose first.
I guess all Siwoo needs to prepare is some stretching for somersaults?
On the other hand, the two teachers would likely drag their feet with various excuses, so I decided to just go for it like a man.
After practicing making babies with my teacher late into the night, and then rushing to the academy office until dawn to finish the backlog of work.
I walked on the dewy grass, heading towards the log cabin in the cork tree forest.
Siwoo, who had been proposing (and receiving proposals) for three days straight, returned to his cozy home where his child and wife were waiting.
I wondered if she was asleep, but for a witch, sleep is a preference and a habit, and Amelia isn’t a witch who sleeps that much. Still, I had to be careful not to wake Malika.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome back, Siwoo.”
Amelia greeted me, surrounded by stacks of papers filled with notes on the window table. By the way, the left side of the oak two-seater chair is Siwoo’s designated seat, and the right side is Amelia’s.
“You were working until this hour?”
“It’s not work, it’s research. I’ve been overtaken by Siwoo, you know. I can’t just sit still.”
“What if you overdo it and hurt yourself?”
“It’s okay. I was waiting for you, so it was a good way to pass the time.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Not yet.”
The two of them talked in soft, whispering tones. Amelia brushed her trademark thick blonde hair aside and leaned her head on Siwoo’s shoulder.
Well, Sharon mentioned it during her proposal, and so did Amelia. It seems my lovers feel a sense of duty to quickly raise their ranks.
They say it’s so they can help if any problems arise.
Honestly, I wonder if such a sense of urgency is necessary in a world where only peace remains for the time being. Besides, after this war, Siwoo skipped three levels and reached the ranks of the strongest in the world, didn’t he?
You might wonder if such a cheat exists, but after the war, Siwoo had time to reflect and found a reasonable answer.
The key was the Black Knight.
He used powerful magic with computational abilities that transcended human limits, and that’s why he was the unconscious Shin Siwoo that Siwoo used to model himself after.
His methodology was a slanted staircase that couldn’t reach transcendence. However, the propellant (Black Siwoo) was such a madman that he reached a high level even with that slanted path, which meant it was magic that deviated from the norm.
From the start, if left alone, he would burn himself out until his spirit was destroyed, so it could be described as magic itself. But Siwoo had been modeling himself after Black Siwoo, so he was unknowingly killing his own strengths and going down the wrong path.
It was only after breaking free from those shackles that he found his true potential.
Anyway.
Siwoo quietly went to the kitchen to make tea for Amelia, who was concentrating.
Amelia, who had stopped drinking tea for the sake of the sprout during her pregnancy, had been drinking ten cups of tea a day as a reaction. It seemed like dark clouds were gathering, and by the time I was serving the tea, it was drizzling.
“Ah, it’s raining.”
“I’ve already taken in the laundry. Thank you for the tea.”
“By the way, it’s almost fireplace season. I need to chop a lot of firewood.”
It’s currently covered with cloth, but the fireplace is what’s responsible for the winter mood in Gehenna. Siwoo also likes it quite a bit, and personally, he likes winter the most out of Gehenna’s four seasons…
Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into my head.
“Ah, have you ever tried that?”
“Tried what?”
“Wrapping potatoes or sweet potatoes in foil and putting them in the fire. It’s a real treat.”
“Ah…! My teacher used to do that with corn sometimes.”
“Then you know! Let’s try putting them in the fireplace in the winter. And with some chilled dongchimi broth….”
“Dongchimi… Is that a dish from Siwoo’s hometown?”
Amelia, who had been leaning on Siwoo and listening as if enjoying a song, looked troubled.
Now Siwoo knows. Whenever he recommends a dish from his hometown, she would say ‘I hate you, Siwoo!’ because she’s a huge wimp when it comes to spicy food and loses her mind with stimulating flavors.
“That one will be okay to eat. It’s not spicy or stimulating at all.”
“Then I’ll try it too.”
Amelia, who seemed relieved, leaned her head back comfortably and said.
“Siwoo. There’s a place I want to go with Malika when she wakes up.”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
It was somewhat expected.
The reason Siwoo looked for Amelia early in the morning wasn’t just to see Malika.
It was past midnight.
Today was the day Amelia inherited the mark from her teacher.
In other words, it was the anniversary of Malika Marigold’s death.
2.
The drizzle that had briefly swept through the forest at dawn had left behind the clear, crisp air of an autumn day by noon.
Leaving the log cabin and the cork tree forest, passing the wild barley hill not far away, and walking along a secluded path, you’ll find an open space surrounded by trees.
In the open space, where wildflowers bloom in abundance, there’s a simple grave that’s bathed in warm sunlight all year round.
A small picture frame, bouquets of flowers that Amelia brings whenever she thinks of her, and a small tombstone with the name Malika Marigold.
It’s so neat and tidy that you wouldn’t feel that more than 150 years have passed.
Amelia tidied up the dried bouquets and replaced them with fresh ones.
Siwoo, holding Malika in his arms behind her, overlapped Amelia’s back with her memories.
The memories he had read from the palace of memories when Amelia was in a rampage.
Amelia, who had received the inheritance without knowing anything, resented her teacher.
She considered her teacher’s actions of hiding the truth for Amelia’s sake as selfish and self-righteous.
Yet, she loved her, and that’s why she was in pain.
Her grief was always expressed in a quiet form on the anniversary of Malika Marigold’s death.
Amelia, who would sit in the same spot all day, all week, or even longer, and focus only on magic, would visit this grave on the anniversary.
The terribly tangled emotions in silence wouldn’t allow Amelia to shed a single tear.
Amelia didn’t cry, nor did she utter a single word.
She would clean the tombstone, offer flowers, and then stare at the tombstone for hours.
Then she would return to the log cabin.
But not anymore.
Now that her teacher is gone, Siwoo is in the quiet log cabin.
Because Malika is here.
Because she has so much to say.
“Teacher, are you doing well?”
Amelia stood next to Siwoo, holding Malika in her arms.
Malika seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sunlight and was dozing off in Amelia’s arms.
Amelia lovingly brushed the messy hair on Malika’s cheek.
“Look. She’s already grown this much. Malika is so smart, she’s already using magic, you know? But I’m a little worried. I wish she would take her first steps, but she’s so clever, she keeps walking around with telekinesis.”
“Being a mother is really not easy. I think about it every day. I wonder if I can be a good mother like my teacher. I’m anxious and worried. So I asked Siwoo, and do you know what he said? He said he felt the same way too? What are we going to do? Did you feel this way too, teacher?”
Just like in the dream she saw in Happy Pig, Amelia became a chatterbox in front of her teacher.
She gushed about how cute Malika is, how hard it is to raise a child, how grateful she is to her teacher, and how wonderfully her son-in-law has become the Duke of Gehenna.
Amelia proudly presented Siwoo in front of the tombstone as if showing off a precious item.
“Oh, right, Siwoo, say hello. You’ve met before, right?”
“I have. I actually had a line I really wanted to say.”
“What is it?”
Siwoo knelt down and bowed his head at a perfect angle.
“Mother! Please give me your daughter!”
She might not really be here, but if it was the teacher Amelia had seen back then, wouldn’t she have burst out laughing here?
She would have said, ‘Oh my, Amelia! Your man is so funny! You’ll never be bored!’ and laughed until her face turned red.
This is proven by the fact that Amelia, who usually responded to Siwoo’s fuss with a gentle smile, was giggling with her white teeth showing.
Didn’t they say that daughters take after their mothers?
Just like Malika, who is already showing signs of growing into a tomboy like Amelia was during her apprentice witch days.
“Get up. Siwoo, your knees are getting wet.”
“It’s not a big deal to get my knees wet when I have the chance to win over the most beautiful cool beauty in Gehenna, Amelia.”
“Siwoo, you’ve become so cheesy since you became an old man.”
“Old man, you say….”
While the two were having a quiet skit.
Suddenly, the wind blew.
The birds that had been dozing off were startled and flew away, flapping their wings.
Amelia’s skirt fluttered like a curtain.
Siwoo’s black hair also scattered softly.
Malika also wrinkled her nose as if tickled.
The gentle breeze, which rustled the leaves of the surrounding trees, lovingly wrapped around the three of them as if blessing them.
As if someone was blessing the future of the three of them.
“……”
“……”
In the sudden silence, the two looked at each other with wide eyes.
“Amelia.”
“Siwoo.”
They smiled faintly, as if they had the same thought, and said what they had to say at this moment.
“Shall we get married now?”
“Do you want to get married now?”
