City ​​of Witches 449

Chapter 449 – #95_Reunion(3)

#448

1.
Sophia Aveneu, Amelia’s close friend and head professor, bowed deeply, almost touching her forehead to her toes, as soon as she met Siwoo.
She apologized profusely, thanking him for stopping Amelia, and repeatedly bowed her head, promising to provide definite compensation for any damages caused by her mistake in the future.

Considering that Siwoo’s actions were partly responsible for Amelia’s rampage, he had nothing to say.
At least, Head Professor Sophia seemed to feel responsible for her actions.

“I have no intention of interfering with your reunion, go ahead. I just want you to know that I’m truly sorry.”
“Yes, I’ll see you again next time.”

Siwoo nodded in acknowledgment and stepped out of the corner.

“……”
“……”

Amelia was sitting demurely on a chair.
Her beauty was so captivating that one could hardly notice the shackles around her ankles.
She looked exactly as he remembered her.

Siwoo glanced at Amelia.
Amelia also glanced at Siwoo.

A heavy silence hung between them.

The time that had stopped between them had clearly begun to flow again.
Like a valley that has melted in the spring, there was still an awkwardness and unfamiliarity, like a thin layer of ice.
But could they not grow closer again, like the melting ice with time?

It seemed like it could be, and it seemed like it couldn’t.
Honestly, he didn’t even know why he came here.

What kind of comfort should he offer Amelia, who had only suffered while they were drifting apart? Did he even have the right to offer comfort?

But things couldn’t progress like this.
Whether they resolved their misunderstandings or reconciled, they needed to face each other and talk.

“Are you…?”
“Are you…?”

Perhaps Amelia had the same thought?
Amelia, whose slender shoulders were trembling, spoke at the same time as Siwoo.

“Y-you go first. Yes.”
“Y-you go first…”

Unfortunately, even the words that followed were the same.

“……”
“……”

It was a situation that felt very familiar.
It seemed like there were many awkward moments like this with her when she suddenly became kind after being assigned as Amelia’s exclusive assistant.

Amelia suddenly stretched her arm forward, like a poorly oiled ball-jointed doll.
With a trembling hand, she took Siwoo’s left hand.
It was done very carefully and cautiously, like a believer asking for a handshake from the Pope.

Amelia, with her teeth clenched, asked in a low voice.

“Siwoo, is your arm okay?”

Her voice was very cold.
It was businesslike, similar to Amelia’s tone before they lived together in the cabin.
And Amelia’s eyes widened as if she was surprised by her own voice.

That wasn’t her intention.
She had tried to suppress her voice as much as possible, fearing that she might end up with a thin, trembling voice.

“Yes, I’m fine. Are you okay, Amelia?”
“I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Amelia quickly let go of Siwoo’s hand.
Her actions felt somewhat distant.
It was an attitude that was at odds with a passionate reunion hug.
If it were in the past, he might have misunderstood her intentions and become even more estranged.

But Amelia wasn’t distancing herself because she disliked or avoided Siwoo.
She was being cautious because she wasn’t sure if the past resentment had been resolved, and she couldn’t simply be happy about the reunion after having injured Siwoo’s arm.

It felt like he could now see Amelia’s subtle actions that he hadn’t noticed before.

“Amelia.”

Siwoo pulled a chair and sat in front of Amelia.
At the same time, Amelia quickly lowered her head and looked diagonally down.
Siwoo could feel her slightly quickened breathing.

“I’m sorry.”
“I’m more…!”

Amelia immediately raised her head and shouted at Siwoo’s apology.
In between her golden hair, her eyes were filled with dewdrops.
It was too late.

She failed to speak first again.
Foolishly, she had waited for him to speak first.
Even though she had decided to be brave.

“…I’m more… sorry. I’m sorry for hurting Siwoo… I’m sorry…”

Amelia said, as if her suppressed emotions were exploding.

“I’m sorry for… tormenting Siwoo… I didn’t know anything… I didn’t know I was making things so hard for Siwoo… And trying to be nice… it wasn’t like that. I didn’t want to hurt your arm either…”

The words she had chosen and refined countless times.
Things she needed to apologize for, things she wanted to say, words to correct misunderstandings, and new apologies that had arisen.
The words poured out like a dam had burst, all jumbled and disorganized.

Her words were fragmented and hard to hear due to her agitated breathing.
Honestly, there were many parts that just flew by without being understood.

But he knew.

Amelia simply didn’t have the eloquent words to package her current emotions.
She had spent too many years alone, so she was just clumsy at conveying her true feelings to others.

From her pained expression, from the gaze in her eyes, from her tears, from the way she wanted to hug him but couldn’t and just tugged at his clothes.
Her heart was clearly conveyed.

“Amelia, I know everything.”

He spoke in the kindest voice possible, as if soothing a wary herbivore.
So that she wouldn’t get scared.

On the day he regained his memories, Siwoo had failed to listen to Amelia properly.

In a moment of betrayal and anger, he had packaged all her kindness as deceit and rejected Amelia’s desperate pleas to explain.
Amelia wasn’t the only one who ran away.
Siwoo, who was also caught up in his emotions, had turned his back on her.

If the two of them had had the maturity to have an honest conversation, these tangled misunderstandings wouldn’t have happened.
If he had just listened to her for a moment, there wouldn’t have been any miscommunication.

What if he had said this back then, even if he was angry and resentful?

“I’ll wait here until you’ve said everything you want to say.”

He gently stroked the back of her hand, where tears had fallen.

“I won’t leave you alone, and I won’t close my ears and run away.”

He stood up.
Amelia was startled and tried to figure out Siwoo’s intentions.

He carefully reached out and embraced her.
Amelia’s round head was in his hand and nestled in his arms.

During her slave days, Amelia always seemed bigger than Siwoo.
Of course, she was small at a glance, but her rigid and overbearing attitude must have caused psychological intimidation.

But now Amelia was very small.
She was so small and weak, and she had been suffering alone.

“Let’s talk about it one by one.”

2.
Amelia kept burrowing into Siwoo’s arms.

Even though they couldn’t get any closer, she grabbed his collar with trembling fingertips and rubbed her cheek against his shirt until tears soaked through it.
Siwoo also held her tightly and waited until Amelia had cried her fill.

Amelia still couldn’t express her feelings fluently.

Because she had cried so much, her cheeks and the tip of her nose were flushed, and she would repeat what she had said, or sometimes jump from topic to topic, making it all jumbled.

Siwoo forgave Amelia for her clumsy and ignorant mistakes.
Siwoo also honestly confessed his feelings and immaturity at the time when their relationship had broken down.

He told her that Amelia wasn’t the only one who had run away.
That he had also just wanted to turn a blind eye to things he didn’t like.

He also told her about seeing Amelia’s memories.
About how he learned what kind of wounds she had been carrying and what kind of life she had lived.
About how the content Amelia had seen in the note was different from the truth.
About how Siwoo hadn’t looked for Amelia first because he thought she had given up after reading the note.
About how he couldn’t meet her when he decided to go look for her.
He said it all now.

How much time had passed?
Amelia’s body, which had been stiff in his arms, had also relaxed like a sugar cube in coffee.

“……”

A comfortable silence settled in.
After they had shared everything they needed to, all that was left was the warm, comforting feeling of each other’s presence.
Amelia looked up at Siwoo and asked.

“Siwoo.”
“Yes.”
“……”

Like someone who had encountered the ideal world they had only dreamed of, like someone looking at a mirage that would disappear if touched.
Amelia’s delicate fingertips lightly touched Siwoo’s cheek.
Amelia, looking a little tired, asked after biting her lip several times.

“Am I… not hateful?”
“No.”
“Even though I tormented you so much, made your life miserable… and made you do pointless chores… even though I knew you had lost your memories and still forced you to forgive me…”

In fact, this question had come up several times during their conversation.
Amelia must have been so insecure that she needed to be reassured several times.

“Even though I didn’t read the note you left… and even though I hurt your arm, you don’t hate me…?”

Siwoo brushed the hair that was stuck to her face with tears.
This current position.
A distance so close that he could count her eyelashes, and a distance where her pink lips stood out.

He somehow knew the best way to calm Amelia’s anxiety.

“……”
“……”

Their breaths stopped at the same time, and their gazes intertwined.
Amelia’s trembling sky-blue eyes closed.
But just closing her eyes didn’t hide all her agitation.

Amelia, who had relaxed, became stiff again, like a wooden block, and tugged at Siwoo’s collar, her eyelashes trembling incessantly.
The throbbing of their hearts was transmitted through their touching skin.
Like two different meteors whose trajectories had accidentally overlapped, they both wanted the same thing.

A kiss.
An exchange of breath.
The best way to express and confirm affection and trust.

The two of them quietly closed their eyes as if whispering, and drew closer like snowflakes falling on a quiet night.
Just as their lips softly met.

-Screech!

Both Amelia and Siwoo quickly pulled away from each other like startled crows.
The sound of the dungeon door opening was heard, and the sound of footsteps and voices came down the stairs.

Amelia, her face flushed red, sat upright on the chair, and Siwoo, who was also embarrassed, sat stiffly and kept clearing his throat.

“Siwoo, you’re awake? How are you feeling?”
“I’m very well, thanks to you. Yes, well, ah. Thank you.”

Count Kohav and Albireo had come to the dungeon late at night.
The reason, of course, was to continue the interrogation.

After all, the witch didn’t need sleep, and everyone wanted a quick and smooth resolution to this case, so the interrogation had been going on for almost two days with hardly any breaks.

“Haa…”

Albireo looked back and forth between Amelia and Siwoo and sighed as if he understood.

“We will now begin the final interrogation of Baroness Marigold. Outsiders, please leave.”

Kohav, who had tilted his head at the strange atmosphere between Amelia and Siwoo, gave a cold order.