City ​​of Witches 448

Chapter 448 – #94_Reunion(2)

#447

1.
“Hah!”

With a gasp, Siwoo shot up, looking around.
He dredged up memories from his slowly returning consciousness.
The chaos in Tarot Town, the journey to meet Amelia, and its conclusion.

Feeling his back soaked with cold sweat, he took a deep breath, and then felt a warm sensation near his knees.

“Hmmnya….”
“Kuu….”

One on his left leg, one on his right.
He could see the crowns of the twins’ heads, who had drifted off to dreamland, using Siwoo’s legs as cushions while wrapped in microfiber blankets.
They were sound asleep, their mouths slightly open, drooling as he gently tried to move his legs.

“……”

Normally, their cuteness alone would have earned them an hour of admiration, but now was not the time.

He seemed to have collapsed from exhaustion, but he needed to know what had happened to Amelia and how things had been resolved.
Just as Siwoo was about to throw off the covers and get up, he paused.

“Huh?”

His left arm was there.
He remembered it being cleanly severed by magic up to the wrist.
Not only could he move it freely as he wished, but he could also clearly see the veins and muscles under his skin.

If it weren’t for the fact that the scene looked like a hospital room and he was on a bed, even Siwoo would have wondered if it was a dream.
And upon closer inspection….

“I can’t feel anything.”

It was as if someone had meticulously attached someone else’s hand; he had no sensation in it.
It moved as if he could play the piano right away, but he had no feeling.
Something felt very off.

“It’s a prosthetic made of porcelain that Count Kohab grafted on. Since the fundamental structure of your spirit body was damaged, the procedure was unavoidable. I hope you understand.”
“Ugh! Count? Oh, how long have you been here?”

Turning to the sound of a cough, he saw Count Deneb Geminai reading by the lamplight.
She had been so quiet and still that he was startled by her presence.

“Oh, my heart! Why are you so surprised?”

The Count, equally startled, raised her elegant eyebrows and scolded Siwoo.

“Ah, were you taking care of me? Thank you.”
“Taking care~? I was merely watching to make sure you didn’t jump out of bed and do something indecent to the twins.”
“Surely not.”
“Surely not? I even confiscated the toys you prepared for your lewd acts on the harvest festival! Why do such shameless things even exist? They must be purified by fire!”

The Count said, waving a box that looked like it had been unwrapped and then re-wrapped.

“What is that?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know!”
“But I really don’t know….”

Of course, Siwoo had no idea about the twins’ surprise item.
And of course, the Count was not about to accept Siwoo’s protests.

“I’ll be watching you closely, so behave yourself! Honestly, the lust of men….”

The Count clicked her tongue and crossed her arms.
She hesitated, her lips twitching, before letting out a sigh.
She realized that Siwoo’s expression was quite serious, unlike his usual troubled look.

Deneb knew what had happened while he was asleep, but for him, who had just woken up from a long sleep, recent events were a blank.
It was natural for him to worry about the situation of Baroness Marigold, who had a warm heart (or so it was presumed).

“Ah, thinking about it makes me angry again.”
“Yes?”

He was already dating Evergreen, the twins, Count Yesod, and even Duke Tiferet, and now he was adding another one?
And he even tempted the innocent twins to prepare such adult toys?
Deneb barely suppressed the urge to strangle Siwoo and demand, ‘Do you even have a conscience!’

If he weren’t a patient who had just woken up, she would have blasted him with magic right away.
It was definitely not because she felt awkward about laying a hand on him after the night they had spent together.

“Alright. You want to know about Baroness Marigold, right?”
“Yes, I do.”

Deneb grabbed hold of her patience again, seeing Siwoo’s subdued voice.

“She is currently detained in the dungeon and is being interrogated by Count Kohab. The interrogation started the day you collapsed, so it’s been about two days.”
“Two days?”
“They say the accumulated fatigue in her spirit body is severe. You know what that means, right?”

Normally, spirit bodies do not tire easily.
They can handle hard labor that would make a human collapse.
A witch can only feel fatigue and sleep comfortably after doing the kind of work that would require heavy machinery or after using magic intensely.

“…I have been pushing myself a bit lately.”
“I’ll introduce you to a good spirit body tuner, so get it checked out.”
“That’s secondary. What about Amelia….”

Anyway, Siwoo’s condition was not the important thing.
Count Deneb continued with the story about Amelia.

“My sister and Evergreen managed to hold off Duke Erelim’s ‘judgment’ for about 15 minutes. In that time, you managed to bring back Baroness Marigold just in the nick of time. However, her actions, which were comparable to the Gehenna invasion, cannot be overlooked, even if she is a Baroness.”
“Then?”
“An investigation committee has been formed in the Tree of Sephirot. Baroness Marigold is in custody and is cooperating with the investigation….”
“Is it serious?”

Deneb leaned back, avoiding Siwoo, who was almost lunging at her.
Then, with a disgruntled expression, she shook off Siwoo’s hand that was clutching her sleeve.

“Honestly, I know you’re anxious, but stop interrupting me.”
“I’m, I’m sorry.”
“She won’t be officially designated or exiled. First of all, there were no civilian casualties, and there are circumstances that suggest the Whispering Witch was involved.”

In Amelia’s memories, Clara had incited her to go berserk.
Deneb tilted her head at the name that had come out of his mouth.

“Did you say Clara…?”
“Did you know her?”
“No, I just happened to learn her name. That’s not important…! I can testify about how Amelia got involved!”
“…I told you not to interrupt me. Anyway, she will have to pay a considerable amount in compensation and fines, but her title will be a great help in sentencing. Don’t worry too much.”

Only then could Siwoo finally breathe a sigh of relief at Deneb’s confident words.
He asked carefully,

“Can I see her now?”
“You can….”

Siwoo disappeared before she could finish her sentence.
Deneb uttered the rest of her words in vain.

“…go. Sigh.”

What should she do with this womanizer?
Looking at the twins, who were sound asleep, she felt her anger rise again.
Deneb tucked the disheveled blanket back over the twins, clicking her tongue and sighing alternately.

2.
Sophia and Amelia’s reunion, which had been months in the making.
The two of them poured out all the conversations they had been putting off.

They talked about how they had been doing, and the details of why this had happened.
They even made plans to have tea together once the investigation was over.

Sophia’s anger at Lilith, who had instigated Amelia to cause the mess, took up about half of the conversation.
Amelia gently stroked Sophia’s hair, comforting her for the hardships she had endured because of her bad friend.

It was warm.

It wasn’t the false comfort that came from being alone.
It was a warm time, having a sincere conversation with someone who genuinely cared.

But even in this moment, Amelia felt a nagging pebble in her heart.
It was a feeling she had felt even during the investigation, and when she was staring blankly at the stone wall after the investigation.

Was it guilt? Expectation? Regret? Gratitude?

She remembered Siwoo reaching out to her in the endless darkness.
She remembered the moment his arm turned into flowers and scattered, and the moment he still embraced her.

Siwoo had said it was okay.
He had calmed Amelia, who thought she was unforgivable, with eyes and a voice that seemed to understand everything.
But Amelia had hurt Siwoo.
She had hurt him with magic that she couldn’t control properly.

Like a pointillist painting made with dozens of colors, a mixture of various emotions was forming one large emotion.
She didn’t know what expression to make when she saw him, or what to say.

She should apologize first.
For hurting his arm, and for waiting for all the misunderstandings to disappear by giving him her self-righteous goodwill.

“So, what I was saying….”
“……”

Sophia, who had been talking for a long time with tears streaming down her face, suddenly stopped.
Amelia also quietly held her breath.

-Thud, thud

Heavy footsteps could be heard from the stairs leading down to the dungeon.
They were definitely not a woman’s.
The fact that they were coming down at this late hour without any notice added to their speculation.

Shin Siwoo.
As soon as she realized that, Amelia felt her heart drop.

Dozens of nightmares and dozens of happy dreams she had had while wandering the mortal realm.
Here, nightmares were a bitter recollection of the day she had completely fallen out with Siwoo, and Amelia’s imagination about a failed reunion that had not yet happened.
Here, happy dreams were the moments she had spent with him in the cabin, and dreams about a happy reunion that might come.

The time had come to see the results.

Siwoo had definitely embraced Amelia.
He had said it was okay, and that he was sorry for being so late.

But at that time, it was right after Amelia had survived a life-threatening situation, so it was a very dramatic situation.
Human emotions tend to follow the atmosphere.
There was no guarantee that Siwoo’s feelings at that time would be the same now.

Moreover….
Didn’t he have a lover who was proudly by his side?
Perhaps what lay ahead was not a happy reunion, but like the nightmares that had come to Amelia several times.
It might be a rehearsal for a breakup.
Even if it wasn’t the worst breakup, their feelings might be diluted for various reasons, and they might end up as strangers.

“I’ll give you some space.”
“……”

Sophia gently stroked the back of Amelia’s hand.
Amelia tightly grabbed the hem of Sophia’s skirt as she tried to stand up.
But she let go of Sophia as if her hand had lost its strength.

Siwoo had come to save Amelia.
He had overcome that difficult ordeal, and had already shown courage for Amelia twice, even risking his life.
Running away here would be a betrayal of his courage, she murmured.

“You can do it.”
“Yes, thank you, Sophia.”

Sophia encouraged Amelia and then headed towards the shadow lingering at the corner of the hallway.

While the sound of their quiet conversation could be heard, Amelia quickly straightened her posture.
She sat upright on the hard wooden chair, looking down at her feet, unsure of what to do.

-Thud, thud

Approaching footsteps, a presence.
His scent, which she had only dreamed of, tickled the tip of her nose.
Calming her pounding heart, Amelia quietly looked up at Siwoo.

“…Siwoo.”

She called out the name she had always called out alone.