City ​​of Witches 363

## Chapter 363 – #78_Outdoor Activities(5)

#361

1.
The fishing was enjoyable.

Under the glittering night sky.
We cast our fishing rods over the slightly less glittering water, sharing the same time as if we were one.
Although there were no strange events and I couldn’t see him flustered by my lewd jokes.
It was very enjoyable.

What word would best describe this experience?
A secret rendezvous?
No, that feels too intense.

A date.
Yes, a fresh and exciting word like that would be perfect.

The delicate gesture of draping a jacket over my chilly shoulders.
The way he avoids my gaze even when I subtly try to tempt him.
Even the way he turns his head slightly and breathes through his mouth, perhaps because he’s embarrassed to inhale my scent.
It was something I had forgotten for too long, and I was both longing for and glad to experience it again.

Even though the weather is so chilly, I feel a lingering warmth even after returning to my private library.
My heart is still fluttering, as if I’ve just returned from a very enjoyable trip.

“Maybe… I can indulge a little.”

The years of pretending not to know what I already knew were long.
For Diana’s sake, for the Count’s honor, I had only ever unraveled things alone in my secret library.
It wasn’t that I regretted it, or felt sorry about it, or that I particularly felt any disappointment.

“I’m not sure.”

The Count smiled wryly and sat down in the secret library.
Relationships between people can change quickly and relentlessly.
Just like how, after taking on a ‘male witch’ who had previously meant nothing to me as a tutor, I’ve become interested in him in just a few days.

A turning point in the relationship.
Lucy Yesod is the one holding the key.
I was certain that this relationship would change depending on how she acted.

“Honestly… she’s so passive.”

If she had suddenly hugged me from behind or even tried to kiss me while we were fishing today, I would have allowed it.
She really only does exactly what she’s supposed to do.
But that clumsy side of her was also what I liked.

“Should I have given her more leeway?”

But there’s no need to be disappointed.
Although there’s a slight longing, I like this too.
It’s good to gulp down hot black tea, but there’s also a certain charm in tea that’s cooled just enough to wet the tip of your tongue.
Especially if it’s the first cup of tea you’ve had in decades.

On the table was the third volume of the Lewd Delivery Man.
It was a book that had recently been a companion to soothe the loneliness of Countess Lucy.
But today, rather than any blatant emotion, I wanted to bask in this sentimental afterglow.

The Count took out a new book.
It was a blank book with nothing written in it yet.
Perhaps this book would become a secret book that I would never show to anyone.

Remembering the pounding of his heart, I wrote down what happened today as if I were writing a diary.
But that alone was not enough.
A text that simply transcribes reality cannot be called a novel.
The Count added a little seasoning and a different plot development.

A witch who went night fishing with her apprentice witch’s tutor.
The tutor who held the fishing rod together from behind.

Eventually, the tutor, unable to resist the beautiful witch’s seduction, tries to kiss her.
At first, she coldly pushes him away, but eventually accepts his tongue.

“Hmm…”

The Count continued to write at a rapid pace, with the feather constantly fluttering and moving.
What if he had done this?
What if he had acted like this?
A fiction based on those premises.

It was different from relying on very old memories and imagination.
Even though I was just writing as if this had really happened, my heart was pounding.

“Haa…”

The Count’s white hand, without a glove, slipped inside her dress.
The Count curled up, her body trembling, and let her imagination run wild.

2.
It was already quite late.
Diana hurried down the hallway towards the secret room.
It was a rare deviation from her routine, but her heart was still pounding.

To describe that feeling…
It was like when I was a child, pretending to sleep and then sneaking off to the candy jar I had hidden from my mother.
It felt like I was doing something bad, and I felt a very small amount of guilt, but the anticipation was greater.
So, it was a subtle tension that made other problems seem secondary.

-Creak!

I quietly opened and closed the door.
On the desk, the cover of the Lewd Delivery Man, like a red cloak, caught Diana’s eye.

“Hoo…”

My mother has a very good memory, so I can’t afford even the slightest carelessness.
The slightest crease from turning a page incorrectly, or even the subtle difference in the angle at which the book is placed, could reveal this secret peeking.
I leaned against the wall for a moment, checking for any signs of movement, and then slowly opened the book.
I slowly turned the pages, scanning the previous plot, and then opened the latest chapter.

“Huh…?”

It was blank.
While Diana had been waiting for the novel, her mother hadn’t written a single chapter.
Diana stared blankly at the empty page, feeling like a raccoon that had washed its cotton candy in water.

“Haa…”

I dragged my tired body here after a strenuous hike and dive, only to come up empty-handed.
To think that my wait would end like this.
Diana leaned back in her chair, feeling dejected.

Then, her gaze fell upon a drawer in the table that was slightly open, unlike usual.
When I had thoroughly searched the secret room, this drawer had been empty, but today, a book could be seen inside.

“……”

I was inwardly startled.
Until now, I had been secretly entering the secret room as if it were natural, so I hadn’t realized it.
It suddenly dawned on me that my mother was constantly coming and going from this place.

Diana carefully took out a book from the drawer.
It didn’t have a title, or any gold leaf decoration on the spine.

-Rustle!

When I opened the book, there were about 30 pages of a novel written inside.
Strangely, there were no chapters 1 and 2, and it went straight to chapter 3.
The space for chapters 1 and 2 was left blank.

“When did she write this?”

The title of chapter 3 was ‘Under the Orion Constellation’.
Diana, feeling disappointed, started reading from the beginning, just to see what it was like.
Her eyes widened.
Her heart rate instantly soared to around 200.

This was because the place described at the beginning of the book was exactly the same as the place where she had gone fishing with Siwoo earlier that day.

“Wha…wha, wha, what’s going on…?”

Diana muttered to herself with a magnificent vibrato, her eyes unblinking as she read the book.
She was so shocked that her lips and eyelashes were trembling.

The overall situation was as follows.
The witch and the tutor, having put the apprentice witch to bed, go on a secret rendezvous.
Somehow, it was already clear who the female protagonist and who the male protagonist were, and Diana continued to read without stopping.
In a romantic atmosphere, the couple, clinging to each other, fish together as if they were one.

In the process, the witch constantly throws herself at the man.
As if she wants to be loved and is acting coquettishly.
Finally, after repeated temptations, the tutor, who had only been refusing, moves.

The tutor’s hand, which had been placed over the witch’s hand, subtly slips into her body, penetrating even the secret places that should never be allowed.

The two men and women, unable to contain their hidden lust, throw down their fishing rods and kiss, dancing towards a nearby field.
They undress each other, kiss until they are breathless, and press their naked bodies together.
Against the backdrop of the sound of the river crashing against the rocks and the chirping of crickets, they explore each other dreamily and passionately.
The affair ends with a hot climax.

Diana closed the book with trembling hands.
She didn’t know what kind of expression she was making, but she was sure that her lips were twitching.

“……”

The apprentice witch’s tutor.
The perfectly described Rabbit River at night.
The process of explaining salmon fishing and the man’s personality.
Even if you put a complete idiot in this place, they would know what this novel was based on.

“No…”

Is this really a ‘novel’?
Even though it was said that imagination was added, the tutor’s appearance was too consistent with Diana’s image.
Moreover, the descriptions of the crimson eyes and the ashen silver hair, which were described here and there, were undeniably her mother herself.

In fact, if you only look at this, you could say it’s just speculation.
However, the detailed points described in the text contained details that would be difficult to make up without seeing them with your own eyes.

The witches in the Lewd Delivery Man and other erotic novels written by her mother also had a feeling of projecting herself to some extent, but they were clearly created characters with completely different personalities from her mother.

But this is different.

My mother usually writes less dialogue and focuses on psychological descriptions.
But this text has a lot of dialogue, as if she were writing a transcript.
Moreover, in the conversations they have with each other, her mother’s voice can be heard vividly, including her way of speaking, her speech habits, and even her difficult-to-understand jokes.

Then, Diana came to a reasonable conclusion.
This book is definitely not a novel.

After class, Siwoo receives private lessons from her mother.
After that, her mother first suggested night fishing to Siwoo, and they went on a secret rendezvous together.
Not only that, but she seduced him and ended up making love on the grass.

And that was.
Right.
Tonight.

It’s about 2 a.m. now.
Since Shin Siwoo’s private lessons start around 9 p.m., the timing is about right.
After making love like that, her mother returned to this secret library and recorded it.
The text written in this book was not a novel, but an autobiographical essay that recorded what happened today.

“Ah…”

To think that they were in this kind of relationship.
Only then did all the puzzles that didn’t make sense fall into place.

The reason why her mother, who always told her to avoid men, suddenly assigned a male tutor to Diana.
Because she wanted to keep a man she liked by her side.
The reason why they held classes in the private library every night.
Because she wanted to be alone with him.

The feeling of intercourse between characters in a novel and actual intercourse was different.
The thought of two people I knew, pounding and being pounded like beasts, made me feel nauseous.

A sense of betrayal, disappointment.
And at the same time, a desire to understand my mother.
Impurity.
Dangerous curiosity.
And…
The man’s body, that is, Shin Siwoo’s body, which was much more vivid than when it was just a novel.

All of that swirled in my head like a mess, and Diana staggered out of the secret room.

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The Witch’s City, Baby Days