Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Comfort (2)
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“Groooan...”
Siwoo twisted his body on the bed, letting out strange noises the moment he was laid down.
The pungent stench of alcohol wafted from him with every toss and turn, quickly filling the room.
“Ugh.”
“We should open a window.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
Odile and Odette cracked open the window for some ventilation, worried it would feel like sleeping submerged in an oak barrel otherwise.
“Assistant, wake up.”
“Ughhhh...”
“Assistant, please wake up!”
“Ughhhhhh...!”
They shook him several more times after that, but he didn't budge an inch.
Just strange groans and furrowed brows as he writhed in discomfort.
The twins gave up trying to rouse Siwoo.
“Alright, let's decide what to do now.”
“What do you think happened?”
“Maybe he got his body back and celebrated with a few stiff ones?”
“What about the associate professor, then?”
“Hmm...”
The twins exchanged a few theories on why their assistant was passed out drunk on the first floor of Tarot Town's outpost.
But with Siwoo—the only one who knew the full story—out cold with his mouth agape, it was like the blind men and the elephant.
“Anyway, we've got two choices here.”
“One is to just leave him like this?”
“Yeah, and the other is to stick around with the assistant.”
“But... we definitely won't get permission for an overnight stay.”
They had sneaked out to Tarot Town in the first place.
Holiday or not, suggesting an overnight would surely anger not just the strict Lady Galina, but even their gentle master.
“That's why we don't ask permission. Of course, they'll worry, so we'll send a pigeon.”
“Just notify them...?”
Odette jumped at her sister's bold proposal for rebellion.
Her sister's occasional wild ideas always shocked the more timid Odette.
This time was no different.
“S-Sis, can't we just go home and sneak out again tonight? I don't wanna get in trouble.”
“I'm staying here with the assistant.”
“Then I'll go alone...”
“No way!”
If Odette went back alone, Galina would ask about Odile, and the scolded Odette would spill everything.
That could ruin their secret meetings with the assistant for good.
“Why do we have to stay, though...?”
“Odette, can't you see what it means that he came looking for us even blackout drunk? He missed us that much!”
“R-Really...?”
“Imagine how heartbroken he'd be waking up to find no one here!”
“Really...?”
“I couldn't do something that cruel. I'd rather take a little scolding later—I want to be by his side!”
“I see...”
It didn't take much to convince Odette.
Plus, the conversation had already shifted away from the first option of leaving him behind.
Odette grumbled a bit, but she always followed her sister faithfully.
“Anyway, that's the plan. I'll send the pigeon.”
“Ugh... scary...”
“Odette, haven't we wasted our holiday so far? Thanks to the assistant, it's about to get meaningful! Think positive.”
“Okay, sis.”
Odile headed to the roof to send the pigeon to the Gemernai estate.
Odette, who had been gazing at Siwoo's face, called her back.
“Sis, sis. Come here a sec.”
“What? Isn't the talk over?”
“No, it's the assistant... doesn't he look different?”
“How so?”
Odile took a closer look at the sprawled-out Siwoo and noticed it too.
“Right? It's weird, isn't it?”
“Yeah?”
What was it? For one, he looked much younger than before.
Early twenties, maybe?
And it didn't stop there.
“Doesn't he look even more handsome?”
“I thought the same.”
His flushed face and messy hair had hidden it while he slept with that odd expression.
But now, Siwoo was definitely different from before.
The acne scars were gone, leaving baby-smooth skin.
He'd always been handsome, but even the subtle imbalances in his bone structure seemed refined.
Of course, only someone scrutinizing very closely would notice.
“Was he this handsome when he was younger?”
“Dunno. You go first, sis.”
“Got it.”
The room fell quiet soon after.
Siwoo, lying on the bed, clutched his splitting forehead and opened his eyes.
“I'm... dying...”
Just opening his eyes and shifting slightly made death rattles escape his throat.
Honestly, it hurt less when Ea pierced his brain.
His throat felt parched like cracked earth, and a massive bell tolled in his head.
“Where... am I...?”
He only remembered ordering the second bottle of whiskey at the White Whale tavern and popping the cork.
After that, his memory was completely blank.
Siwoo squinted and scanned the dim room.
The canopied bed and familiar layout suggested the twins' villa in Tarot Town.
He tried to sit up, but felt weight on both arms.
Left: Odile.
Right: Odette.
“...Snooore...”
“...Hnnnya...”
The twins, in loose inner dresses and drawers—their usual undergarments—curled up using his arms as pillows.
“Huh?”
Did he make some huge mistake?
Alarmed, Siwoo glanced around despite his aching head, but thankfully, the twins' clothes were neat.
Just slightly disheveled from sleep. He relaxed.
No steamy night with the twins while blacked out and amnesiac.
“Phew...”
The scare cleared his head a bit.
His heart stung belatedly.
What’s Amelia doing right now? The thought flashed unbidden.
Forcing it down, he carefully withdrew his arms without waking them.
First, water. Or he'd die for real.
Siwoo staggered to the door and down the dark stairs.
The sudden motion churned his guts.
“Urk... blegh... blergh...!”
He gripped the railing and retched.
No time for don't puke here!
He heaved until his esophagus burned...
“Huh...?”
Shit.
Just a few drops of saliva and bile on the floor.
No telling how long he'd been out, but digestion couldn't finish in hours.
“Tch.”
Siwoo wiped the dangling spit from his lips.
Normally he'd care, but not now.
His head felt like embers hissing under water, but the night air clung coldly.
Stumbling to the kitchen, he grabbed the lemon-infused water pitcher and chugged.
The stale alcohol taste washed away.
Water spilled down his chin, soaking his clothes, but he downed nearly half in one go.
“Kaaah... living again.”
Dazed, he stood there clutching the pitcher.
What to think first?
Where to start sorting?
Only a squeezing chest, blood flow cut off, accompanied him.
Don't think.
Just stay like this.
“Uh...”
Tears streamed down unbidden.
No idea why it hurt, or why cry, but they flowed.
No runny nose, stinging eyes, or choked throat.
His heart felt broken.
“Assistant?”
As he set down the pitcher to turn...
A sleepy voice from behind.
Turning, he saw Odile rubbing her eyes, stifling a yawn.
“Thought you'd vanished. Yawwn...”
She failed to cover the yawn; her inner dress rode up, revealing her navel.
“Odile...”
“Looks like your memory's back?”
“...Yes.”
The twins had been thrilled to see him, but his muted reaction stung a little.
Oh well.
Still drunk, or just sleepy.
Odile stood in the moonlight pouring through the living room window; Siwoo in the dark dining area's shadows. She hadn't seen his face properly yet.
“Water me too. Thirsty.”
She shuffled over in slippers, arm outstretched, then froze.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
Wide-eyed, she looked up at him.
“Wh-What's wrong? You hurt?”
Siwoo wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
No need for unseemly displays.
“No, I'm fine.”
“You sure?”
“Did I walk in on my own? No rude behavior?”
Steering the topic deliberately.
Odile eyed him worriedly, then nodded.
“Well, you barged into our villa and flopped down weirdly, but nothing else?”
“Got it. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Forgot already? You're the benefactor who saved our lives twice. Even if you burned the place down, I wouldn't care. Heck, I'd forgive one arson.”
To cheer the dejected Siwoo, Odile spoke lightly, patting his arm.
“I wouldn't do that.”
Siwoo gave a feeble chuckle.
Her playfulness helped—better than standing alone dazed.
“Anyway, water?”
“Sure.”
Siwoo poured from the shelf into a cup and handed it over.
Odile gulped it down.
“Ahh! Refreshing.”
Spirits didn't need water, but sleeping against the booze-reeking Siwoo had parched her throat.
Setting the cup down, she addressed Siwoo, still seeming out of it.
“Um, Assistant.”
Siwoo looked at her.
His gaze had pierced through her earlier.
Now, she truly registered.
“Yes?”
In the dim moonlight, Odile fidgeted with her dress hem, brushing back her hair.
She hesitated, lips parting.
“I won't pry. But if something's hard, you can tell me.”
She glanced at him, then away.
“I'm on your side.”
Her kind words toppled the fragile pillar holding him up.
The mental plug popped out.
Emotions gushed wildly.
Unthinkingly, Siwoo pulled Odile into a tight embrace.
Her small, soft body locked in his arms.
“Eek!”
The force squished her with a sound.
“A-Assi—! You scared me!”
Startled by the sudden hug, Odile soon felt his trembling shoulders.
He was crying.
Warmth from their contact vividly recolored his loss.
Right now, he'd cling to anyone.
Odile's shoulder dampened with his tears.
She slowly stroked his heaving head.
“It's okay, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here, Assistant.”
Patting his back, cradling his head.
Feeling her own eyes and nose tingle, she held him until he calmed, long into the moment.