Chapter 327 – #72_I’Ll Designate You(3)
#325
1.
From the day she returned from the trip, Sharon had been agonizing alone.
“Sigh…”
As someone who lived off the Count Jemana’s stipend, Sharon decided to restrain herself to some extent from now on. In other words, she resolved to carry out the ‘distancing from Siwoo’ that Count Albireo had mentioned.
To be honest, it wasn’t entirely without ulterior motives. She had confirmed her love by being intimate with Siwoo after their reunion, and somehow, trust had grown. And because her conscience pricked her to go against the contract any further, she made this decision.
That’s why she had avoided any chance of sex even on the trip.
The incident happened the next morning.
Siwoo had appeared, sauntering, and suddenly said he had drunk alcohol and slept in the carriage. The twins’ strange behavior, as if they had sensed something. And, decisively, the footprints she had seen on the beach on the way back and Siwoo’s reaction were the problem.
The footprints, as if they had been made last night, were neither Sharon’s nor the twins’. But judging by the size, they were definitely a woman’s. Therefore, Sharon had asked.
‘You’re not lying, are you?’
To this, Siwoo had replied.
‘Why would I lie? I was really alone.’
It was a lie. The very statement that he was alone was a lie. There was a high probability that his claim of not remembering properly because he had blacked out was also a lie. Sharon, for one, had never blacked out from drinking heavily since becoming a spirit.
Still, Sharon didn’t suspect Siwoo outright. Until that point, she still had faith.
Hadn’t she already told Siwoo? That she didn’t mind if he played around with other women as long as he didn’t forget and came back. Yet, she thought there would be no reason for him to lie, so she checked the carriage on the way back.
And she had discovered it.
The bedroom in the corner of the carriage was as neatly organized as if a cleaning spell had been used. It was clearly different from when they had come.
In other words, Siwoo had drunk alcohol with some witch in the carriage the night before, and there was a very, very high probability that they had messed up the bedroom to the point where a cleaning spell was needed.
At that moment, Sharon’s heart was heavily weighed down. All sorts of thoughts popped up, and she spent the whole day curled up in bed, except for class.
“Come to think of it… I’ve never heard him say he loves me…”
Of course, Sharon had never told Siwoo that she loved him either. It wasn’t that she was waiting with a complacent thought like ‘the man should confess first!’ She didn’t want to bind Siwoo or burden him.
Still, she had believed that their feelings were mutual.
But that belief had been cracked.
-Knock knock!
Then, there was a knock.
Thinking it might be Siwoo, Sharon jumped up, fixed her gown, and hurried down to the first floor. When she quickly opened the door, a completely unexpected person was standing there.
Light pink hair and deep magenta eyes.
It was Duke Eloa Tifereth, looking drunk and utterly haggard.
2.
The reception room in the annex was more luxurious than other spaces.
This was because welcoming guests was considered that important.
Sharon, who had unexpectedly joined Eloa, who was already drunk, watched her drink one glass after another.
“Um… Duke, what brings you here…”
“Can I finish this last one before I speak?”
“Of course. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
The amount of alcohol that had disappeared with the words ‘this last one’ was already half a bottle.
As long as her autonomous defense system was working, she wouldn’t be knocked out by acute alcohol poisoning, but she had no idea what was going on.
Eloa put down her glass with difficulty and opened her mouth.
“Ms. Evergreen.”
“Please call me Sharon. I’m not that great of a person.”
“…I have something to apologize to you for.”
And the moment she heard the word ‘apology,’ Sharon’s eyes widened.
In the midst of the gloom that had been building up, a flash of intuition struck her mind.
“I… slept with Siwoo… without your knowledge.”
As always, ominous premonitions always came true.
Sharon felt her heart drop to her lower abdomen.
She was so shocked that she couldn’t even tell if this was a dream or not.
“Pardon?”
So she couldn’t help but ask back.
Eloa couldn’t even look Sharon in the eye and clutched her hem tightly.
Her ears were flushed red with shame and guilt for having to reveal her flaws.
“I thought it was right… to apologize to you… so I came here…”
“You’re not… joking… are you?”
Sharon almost dropped her glass from the dizzying sensation.
Her already complicated mind began to get even more complicated.
She knew that Duke Tifereth and Siwoo were in a temporary master-disciple relationship.
In the witch society, the master-disciple relationship was very, very sacred.
This was because apprentice witches and witches were in a master-disciple relationship and also implied a parent-child relationship.
In other words, it wasn’t just that the master was like a parent and the disciple was like a child in terms of morality, but the relationship was much deeper and more intimate than the relationship generally accepted in the world.
Of course, since the word ‘temporary’ was attached and Siwoo wasn’t actually inheriting Eloa’s mark, it couldn’t be considered a typical case, but her confession that she had had sexual relations with Siwoo sounded to Sharon like ‘I had intercourse with my stepson.’
It would probably sound that way to most witches.
Even in the midst of that shocking statement, the first thing that came to Sharon’s mind.
She couldn’t deny that a hint of reproach had unconsciously crept in.
“…Who suggested it first?”
“…I seduced him first.”
Strictly speaking, except for the first time, it was hard to consider it a one-sided seduction by Eloa.
But Eloa didn’t want Siwoo to be blamed by Sharon.
Since Siwoo had forgotten this memory anyway, and as his master, she felt an even greater sense of responsibility, she was trying to take all the blame herself.
“…Haa…”
Sharon, a non-smoker, felt a strong urge to smoke a cigarette.
In front of Sharon, who was confused about what was going on, Eloa stammered and revealed the whole story.
The reason why she first had a relationship with Siwoo and the circumstances that led to it.
The feelings that had deepened since then.
How she had seen Siwoo at the beach and made love.
And even how she had erased his memory.
When she came to her senses, she was shedding tears so profusely that she couldn’t see in front of her.
Eloa, who had been very nervous about what kind of reaction she would get.
“Hoo…”
Feeling a fear and sorrow that seemed to crush her with a heavy sigh, Eloa, who was only shedding tears like beads, felt a soft sensation on her shoulder.
She barely lifted her head and opened her eyes to see Sharon hugging her with a worried expression.
In her eyes, which shone with a brilliant mint light, there was no anger or contempt.
She was just teary-eyed like Eloa.
At first, Sharon had been so flustered and had never expected this, so all sorts of thoughts had crossed her mind.
But while listening to Eloa’s story, she had only felt sorry and pitiful.
Not being able to express her love, and having to erase even the memories she had built up.
How sad was that?
It didn’t feel like someone else’s problem, and there was no reason to be angry.
“It’s okay. Don’t cry. I’m not angry at all.”
As if relieved, or as if overwhelmed with sorrow.
Eloa’s small body trembled as if it would break.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
Sharon gently stroked the back of her head and embraced her so that she could cry to her heart’s content.
“Koo…”
After 30 minutes, Eloa, sniffling with a red nose, fell asleep in Sharon’s arms.
It seemed she was very overwhelmed both mentally and physically.
On the one hand, she felt a sense of kinship.
On the other hand, the problem that had been making Sharon agonize had disappeared.
Siwoo hadn’t lied to Sharon.
It was just that she had erased his memory, so he really couldn’t remember.
That alone made her really happy.
While listening to Eloa, it was clear to Sharon how much she cared for and loved Siwoo.
She could tell without being told what kind of resolve she had erased his memory with, and why she had come to apologize to Sharon.
Did the master-disciple relationship matter?
They said there were no borders or races in love.
She had no intention of blaming Eloa at all.
It was a strange feeling.
She thought she would feel a little jealous or possessive.
As soon as she heard that she had slept with Siwoo, her heart had ached.
But now, the fact that she was loving the same person.
The fact that there was someone other than herself who loved Siwoo so much felt like a reliable ally.
“Good night, Duke.”
Sharon quietly stroked Eloa’s hair and left the room.
3.
Rain falls on the desert.
The scene of raindrops seeping into the scorching heat, where no trace of life could be found, and causing small wildflowers to sprout was surreal, and therefore beautiful.
Amelia stared blankly at the corpse of the public enemy who had fallen powerlessly in front of her.
A witch who had been exiled for using 120 humans as experimental subjects, and who had become a public enemy for kidnapping travelers and taking their hearts even after that.
“Um… Amelia.”
Seeing Amelia standing in the rain, Clara cautiously approached.
Amelia had left on a journey to hunt public enemies again, and Clara had quietly accompanied her.
She was convinced that if she left her alone, she would definitely break down.
She hadn’t exactly asked for permission, but she hadn’t chased away Clara, who was following her at a distance, so she thought she had received at least tacit consent.
And the battle between Amelia and the public enemy at the place written on the kill list.
Amelia had unleashed magic in all directions when the fight broke out, so Clara could only come closer after the fight was over.
“Can I ask you one thing?”
When Amelia’s sky-blue eyes, which had been staring blankly, turned to Clara.
Clara flinched.
As if the aftermath of the battle lingered, or as if her emotions had been chipped away.
It was a look she had never seen before.
It was so transparent that she couldn’t fathom its depth, and therefore cold.
Clara hid the feeling that she would unconsciously shrink back and faced Amelia confidently.
This was because she could easily guess that that look was just the last struggle of a vulnerable person cornered.
“…Why do you kill public enemies?”
The moment Clara’s question was heard, a ripple spread through Amelia’s eyes.
As if she had changed, a weak and clumsy inner self emerged.
Clara took a little more courage and carefully continued.
“If it’s so hard, you don’t have to do it.”
“……”
“I’ve killed many public enemies too… but if you’re not ready, shouldn’t you stop?”
Taking someone’s life inevitably involves stress.
And in Clara’s view, Amelia was not prepared for it at all.
The way Amelia was crushing public enemies with an overwhelming difference in power only seemed to be tightening her own noose.
“Because I have to.”
To be together, but not to get too close.
Clara had shown her own consideration for Amelia, who was having a hard time, but she couldn’t help but intervene now.
It was a small consolation.
“You don’t have to feel guilty about killing public enemies… They’re the ones who have disturbed the world and caused many sacrifices. If it’s hard for you, just think of it that way…”
Amelia stared at Clara for a long time before shifting her gaze.
“I always think about it.”
The fleeting end of someone whose body had crumbled and turned into a flower, and finally been blown away by the wind.
She kept it in her heart.
“I wonder if this witch, like me, didn’t know what was precious. If she was mistaken.”
It was a bit out of the blue.
But it was the first time Amelia had revealed her inner thoughts.
“I wonder if I took away the chance to correct what was wrong…”
Amelia turned to Clara.
“Would you listen to my story?”
“Yes, I’ll listen to you as much as you want.”
Clara replied happily.
