Chapter 453 – #96_Travel(2)
#452
1.
Amelia didn’t jump for joy in front of Siwoo, who accepted the travel proposal.
She didn’t smile as if she had expected it, nor did she blush and twist her body.
She just turned away with a blank expression, just like when she asked to accompany him to Border Town in the old days.
Amelia’s profile as she walked side by side was so expressionless that it was impossible to grasp her thoughts.
It was Amelia’s most familiar self-defense magic, the poker face, that had been activated.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
Amelia responded to Siwoo’s gaze.
This is…
The atmosphere is a bit different from what I expected.
Last night, Siwoo and Amelia had a sincere conversation and resolved the misunderstandings and grudges that had not been resolved for a long time.
The old animosity turned into affection, and the gap between the two, which had been unyielding, became close.
How could a lover who had broken up badly, repenting and regretting, and finding out that they had gone to Russia to catch crabs to pay for surgery, just stand still?
If Kohab and Count Albireo hadn’t come in the middle, the atmosphere would have been so affectionate that they would have continued a deep kiss.
Surely that’s the case…
What is this distance?
I’m walking side by side with Amelia, but I don’t even know where we’re going.
Moreover, Amelia doesn’t even make eye contact, but keeps looking ahead and walking steadily, so the silence has been going on for more than 5 minutes.
“Ah…”
Maybe.
Isn’t this timing completely messed up?
Let’s think about it again.
The relationship between Amelia and Siwoo was never smooth.
First, during the days as a public slave and the early days as an assistant professor.
A cold war period when they disliked each other.
Next, during the days as an exclusive slave and the days as a supervising professor.
A transitional period when Amelia and Siwoo almost got close but eventually went wrong in the worst way.
And then, during the days as a boy and the days as a guardian.
A slump where they seemed to have gotten the closest but eventually broke down, and even the period when they didn’t see each other for a long time.
While Amelia and Siwoo were apart, their relationship repeatedly regressed rather than stagnated.
If they had kissed while riding the atmosphere, it would have been fine, but after being interrupted from their dramatic reunion and going through a big event like the trial, they were in a difficult situation where they didn’t know which of the three relationships to focus on.
“……”
If not that…
Maybe?
Takasho’s love discourse accumulated over 5 years.
If he was bored, he would chatter so much next to me that the database was fully accumulated in Siwoo’s subconscious.
Takasho’s brain-melting rant, stemming from that, began.
‘Hey, Shin Siwoo. You still have a virgin-like way of thinking.’
He said, stroking his beard.
‘Clearly, the assistant professor was eager to see Shin Siwoo. In fact, when they finally met and talked, she showed a pretty good reaction. So much so that the picky and scary Amelia-nim was looking at you with a ‘Please kiss me here’ expression.’
‘Hmm… that’s right.’
‘But you. Do you know about the Romeo and Juliet effect?’
‘Romeo and Juliet effect? Didn’t you make that up?’
Takasho crossed his arms and struck a pose.
‘Humans are animals that seek freedom. The instinct to regain repressed free will is so strong that it disregards life! In other words, Amelia, who couldn’t meet Shin Siwoo, has been wanting Shin Siwoo more than ever, as if rebelling against that environment!’ And last night, her long-cherished wish was fulfilled.
However, Amelia, who was interrupted from her dramatic reunion where dopamine was exploding in her cerebral cortex and had enough time to think calmly, realizes.
‘Huh? I’m not as happy as I thought? And you’ve made so many girlfriends…?’
To put it simply, it’s the psychology of shoes that you wanted so much in your dreams, but when you actually wear them, they’re not that great!
Those who advocate that love is eternal are nothing more than idealists!
Love is just a candle that flares up at the slightest thing and goes out at the smallest thing!
Romeo and Juliet might have divorced in two weeks if their families had arranged a marriage for them!’
Takasho, who had been ranting, faded out.
“……”
It’s a violent theory that I would never tell the person involved, but somehow it makes sense.
It seems too plausible in the current situation.
But if that’s the case, isn’t it strange that she proposed the trip first?
The moment Siwoo was confused.
Amelia was…
‘Travel with Siwoo… travel with Siwoo… travel alone with Siwoo… travel alone with Siwoo…’
The travel proposal that she had written down what she wanted to say to Siwoo and barely managed to say was accepted.
The heart-pounding tension stemming from that was making her stiffen like a robot.
2.
Was it just arrogance to think that I had completely understood Amelia Merrygold?
It feels like I have a stone on my chest.
I told Sharon and the twins as if it were a foregone conclusion, but in fact, it feels like the relationship has been completely reset.
In the first place, the period when the two of them shared ‘love’ like lovers was from the time when Siwoo, who had lost his memory, became physically an adult until before Siwoo regained his memory.
It’s only a few days.
Maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree and drinking the kimchi soup from the reservoir.
But without knowing Siwoo’s burning heart, Amelia came with the luggage she had packed in advance.
It was a large travel bag that could fit an adult man if he curled up.
“I’ll carry that for you.”
It seems that the inertia of action + the atmosphere of the place also had an effect.
Regardless of the confused mind, my body moved first and tried to take Amelia’s luggage instead.
At that time, Amelia turned her body away.
“Ah…”
It was a movement as if she was trying to protect the luggage from Siwoo.
Amelia, who was holding the luggage tightly with both hands, said guardedly.
“I’ll carry it.”
“I can carry it for you.”
“No, I’ll carry it.”
With a resolute gaze, Amelia flatly refused Siwoo’s favor.
She even turned her body and moved the luggage to a place where Siwoo couldn’t reach even if he reached out.
This was a kind of expression of intent.
Walking through the space where the two people’s past was contained, it was not only Siwoo who felt new emotions.
Amelia also looked back at her foolish actions in the past.
The days when she couldn’t honestly admit her feelings of liking him, tormented him, and nonchalantly brought up the class system and used him as a slave.
Thankfully, he understood Amelia’s childish tantrums and torment.
But Amelia couldn’t end it there.
Even if you throw a stone on a calm surface, ripples remain.
Moreover, there is no way that a grudge between people can be resolved so easily.
She will never treat him like a slave again.
Self-reliance, doing everything herself, not relying on him.
Rather, she is even thinking of volunteering as a slave to pay the price to Siwoo, who has been suffering for the past 5 years.
Amelia, hiding such a firm will, held the luggage behind her.
She glanced at Siwoo.
“Huh?”
Seeing Siwoo’s expression, which seemed to be in great shock as expected.
A sense of accomplishment like a huge cake rushes in.
It was a cake with a bittersweet regret as a topping, saying, ‘I should have done this sooner.’
Siwoo, who was bewildered, not knowing the situation, tried to calm himself and asked.
It’s still just speculation.
“By the way, about the trip… where are we going?”
Even while asking, I inwardly think that it’s already decided.
The place with the warmest memories with Amelia is the cabin in the cork tree forest.
“The present world.”
But Amelia gave an unexpected answer.
“I want to go to Siwoo’s hometown.”
She said with an embarrassed smile that would clear up Siwoo’s misunderstanding.
3.
The worry that Amelia, who was in a state of probation, would be able to leave for the present world was unfounded.
It seems that the witch society’s trust in the ‘nobility’ is great.
Well, Amelia has become a ‘former’ noble.
Anyway, there was a minor incident where Amelia had to face the immigration office directly, but the two were able to cross the gate without waiting even an hour.
After feeling a swaying distortion in her vision for a while.
The scenery of the lobby of the immigration office made of marble was gone, and the two were standing on the Han River park.
“Ugh…”
It’s a pleasant night breeze, but as always, I feel nauseous while enduring the warp sickness.
They get paid quite a lot, so I wish they would improve the ride quality.
Meanwhile, Amelia was so engrossed in the surrounding scenery that she didn’t notice Siwoo’s abnormality.
“Ah…”
Even though Amelia had traveled around the present world to carry out the death list.
The travel routes themselves were limited to harsh and extreme places such as the Antarctic, the Arctic, and the desert.
She had visited a city briefly just before meeting Siwoo, but it was nothing compared to the splendor of Yeouido, which boasts the highest land prices in Korea.
At least, there weren’t buildings standing like a folding screen that you had to look up at until your neck broke.
Of course, it also played a part that she had much more mental space than before and had the ability to look around.
Extremely developed science is no different from magic.
That was the thought that Amelia had while looking at the building decorated with reinforced glass on the front.
The lights of artificial lighting shining on the black Han River water.
Siwoo’s words brought back Amelia’s distracted consciousness, which was feeling bewildered while listening to the sound of cars honking and passing by.
“Then… I’ll book a hotel first.”
Hotel, reservation, Siwoo.
It’s natural to decide where to stay when you go on a trip.
But just a little while ago, didn’t Amelia make a decision?
That she wouldn’t pass the work on to Siwoo.
That it was the very least atonement.
“I’ll do it.”
“Huh?”
Amelia, who couldn’t pass the work on after only three hours of making up her mind, snatched the smartphone from Siwoo’s hand with a fierce momentum.
Amelia, who received the cell phone that Count Jemina had opened under an outsider’s name, was once again wide-eyed.
Amelia is seeing a smartphone for the first time.
She had just snatched it because Siwoo seemed to be trying to book a hotel with this machine.
It’s small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, but the screen is shining so brightly and clearly.
When you rub the screen with your hand, it reacts immediately like the crystal screen of a state-of-the-art magic experiment facility.
Looking at the contents in detail, there is a screen that seems to have been made by taking pictures of the accommodations in this area.
While Amelia’s eyes were spinning around in great confusion at the civilization like an artifact.
Siwoo was embarrassed and tried to take the cell phone back from Amelia.
At least, in Siwoo’s memory, Amelia had never used modern civilization other than a smartphone, so he naturally assumed that she wouldn’t know how to use it.
“I’ll do it. I know this area well.”
But Amelia hugged the smartphone to her chest like a squirrel taking away food and shook her head.
“I can do it. Enough.”
Amelia, who took a deep breath and looked at the smartphone, calmly read the letters.
Seeing that Siwoo was trying to book a hotel here, this is a catalog.
And seeing that it reacts to the movement of the fingertips, it should be treated like an experimental facility.
After clicking on each one and roughly learning how it works, Amelia clicked on the most beautiful picture of the most beautiful-looking hotel scenery.
When she pressed the reservation button, a payment window and a password window appeared.
“……”
Amelia is loading…
Since Amelia was working with her back to the screen, Siwoo, who was peeking, belatedly discovered her standing blankly in a state of brain death for a while and said.
“I think I should do it from there. I know the password.”
She said in a firm voice.
It was a voice that even felt a subtle joy, so I was a little puzzled.
“If you tell me, I’ll do it.”
“Then, it’s 3821.”
“Three, eight, two, one…”
Amelia, pressing the buttons carefully as if defusing a bomb.
Then, with a slight vibration, a message appeared saying that the reservation was complete!
It’s done.
I helped him with my own strength without receiving Siwoo’s help.
“Here you go.”
Siwoo received the cell phone from Amelia.
She seems to be looking at this side with a blank expression, but the so-called ‘Amelia Reading’, which reads her emotions through her subtle facial expressions, is a skill that Siwoo had maxed out during his slave days.
It hasn’t been used properly for the past few months, so the reliability has decreased a bit, but it was very useful when Amelia showed visible reactions like now.
Slightly quickened breath.
The lower lip rolled inward.
Rounded eyes and the left eyebrow raised 15 degrees.
Below is Amelia’s emotional component table.
[Joy 25%]
[Self-satisfaction 10%]
[Pride 25%]
[Slightly tired 40%]
Something is strange.
Siwoo looked at the accommodation that Amelia had booked.
“Oh, you chose a good place.”
“Of course, I can do this much on my own.”
Sure enough.
She had booked a hotel in Jeju Island.
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Little Amelia and Teacher
Drawn by Godji Eunbap
