Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Villa in the Tree
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On nights like this, even venturing just a little deeper into the forest draped the world in a darkness so thick you couldn't see an inch ahead.
Neither the lights from the harbor nor the moonlight veiled by clouds.
In the densely stretching oak forest, they were practically nonexistent.
That's why magical ornamental lights bobbed gently around Amelia, illuminating their surroundings.
Cloud Mushroom Village was a truly bizarre sight.
If Earth were destroyed, would it look something like this after about 200 years?
Trees sprouting through the roofs of mansions, trees blocking the middle of roads, trees standing tall amid the ruins of collapsed houses, and so on.
Oak trees, each towering over 50 meters, had overrun the residential district everywhere you looked.
The place they arrived at, following a road paved with acorns instead of stones.
In this pitch-black former housing district, it was the only villa leaking light.
Despite the twists and turns to reach it, both Siwoo and Amelia ended up wearing stunned expressions.
Because the villa they'd finally arrived at was perched midway up a tree about 20 meters tall.
This mishap had happened ten years ago, and the villa had only been built three years prior, so it was clearly constructed there on purpose.
Should they call it an exotic hotel?
Earth had plenty of those, didn't it? Hotels in the middle of deserts, beds perched alone on hills overlooking the Alps, rooms 20 meters underwater.
It felt like the villa had been built in that same vein.
"Is this really the place?"
"It might look small, but it's probably enchanted with spatial magic."
The two stood side by side, gazing up at the treehouse suspended in midair.
From down here, it looked incredibly high up.
Amelia lightly kicked off the ground and floated up like an angel, entering the villa, while Siwoo climbed the ladder lowered from above.
It was his first time scaling a ladder this high, and his nerves were on edge.
And then.
When he finally hauled himself up, what Siwoo saw was Amelia's back, frozen in place with the villa's door wide open.
"Is something wrong?"
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Siwoo hurried to her side and promptly froze just like her.
"........."
"........."
Contrary to Amelia's expectation of spatial magic, the villa was tiny.
Tiny enough that if the two of them stayed together, they'd have no choice but to see each other no matter where they were.
The treehouse, which wouldn't look out of place in rural America, had modern facilities that belied its shabby exterior.
It was spotlessly clean, without a speck of dust, and instead of Gehenna's usual stuffy interior decor, it felt like a modern hotel transplanted wholesale.
But there was a slight issue with that setup.
A candelabra with erotic pink flames flickering, and a single enormous bed.
A massive mirror was attached to the ceiling above the bed, perfectly positioned to show everything happening below in real time.
And it didn't end there.
The only thing separating the bedroom from the bathroom was a single semitransparent glass wall.
What more was there to say?
It was a straight-up love hotel.
Amelia was speechless, and Siwoo had even less to say.
"Caretaker, shut your mouth."
"I haven't said anything yet."
"Don't even think anything."
Amelia let out a deep sigh and pressed her fingers to her forehead as if her head ached.
After a moment's contemplation, she spun around to face Siwoo.
"As you know, this is my first time coming to this villa."
"I know."
Otherwise, she wouldn't be this flustered.
Amelia twirled her hair repeatedly as she spoke.
"This wasn't something I prepared, nor did I ask anyone to prepare it. It was completely outside my expectations."
"I understand perfectly, with no misunderstandings. Associate Professor."
Meanwhile, seeing the usually confident woman floundering like this was quite a rare sight.
"Fine, as long as you get it."
Siwoo changed into the slippers placed side by side and stepped inside the villa.
2.
Closing the door made it feel even seedier somehow.
Like he'd entered a love hotel alone with Amelia.
What if this was all a green light from her?
Heading to Border Town together on the day of the portal's routine maintenance, wearing provocative black lingerie, being unusually nice today, and on top of that, the villa they came to had the perfect atmosphere for lovers to have sex.
With a witch's pride—and Amelia in particular valued that highly—she couldn't outright say "serve me in bed tonight."
So maybe she was appealing subtly like this?
Siwoo shook his head, his imagination running wild.
"No way that's the case."
Anyone else, maybe, but not Amelia pulling a stunt like that.
Especially not just to spend one night with a mere slave.
Shoooo...
While sitting on the floor in meditation pose, lost in various fantasies, the sound of running water reached Siwoo's ears.
Amelia washing up.
Becoming a witch granted freedom from many things.
A stigmatized witch became an "astral body," a transcendent form unbound by nature's laws.
They didn't age and die, didn't need to eat, excrete, or sleep.
They might sweat a bit for temperature regulation, but even that could be handled with magic.
Yet witches still savored delicacies, slept in fine beds, and bathed in grand tubs.
The habits from their human days must carry over even after becoming witches.
That was probably why Amelia bothered going into the bathroom to wash.
Soon, the shower stopped, replaced by splashing sounds.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Siwoo sneaked a quick glance at the semitransparent glass wall screening the bathroom.
He could make out the silhouette of Amelia, her hair pinned up, sitting in the tub.
"Caretaker."
"Yes!"
Her muffled voice from the bathroom made him think he'd been caught, so he shouted back.
Fortunately, it seemed not.
"Bring a glass and wine from the wine cellar. And the cigarettes I bought today."
Was there such a thing? As Siwoo looked around, his eyes caught a small wine cellar tucked in the corner.
Unlike the distracted Siwoo, Amelia had somehow spotted it in the shadows.
Siwoo thoughtfully grabbed an ashtray too, even though she hadn't mentioned it.
Straining not to look at Amelia, he set everything down in front of the glass door to the bathroom.
"It's ready."
"Bring it inside."
But Amelia's order didn't end there.
She was commanding him to enter the bathroom where she was soaking.
"I-I can't do that!"
He had to stay calm.
This was Amelia's trap.
If he eagerly went in and glimpsed her bare skin, some horrific punishment surely awaited.
It wouldn't be strange to hear, "How dare a slave get excited at the thought of seeing a witch's body. Castration suits you, Caretaker."
"I won't say it twice. Come in."
Amelia fell silent after that.
Siwoo took a deep breath.
Just keep his eyes on the floor, hand over the wine, and get out.
"Then, I'll enter."
Head bowed low, Siwoo opened the bathroom door.
Thick steam diffused the flickering candlelight inside.
The air was filled with a fragrant rose scent.
And what Siwoo saw was Amelia's clothes and underwear in a basket on the bathroom floor.
Very mature lingerie with scant coverage, neatly folded and drawing his eyes magnetically from the basket.
"No need for that. There's plenty of bubbles anyway."
At Amelia's words, Siwoo cautiously lifted his head.
As she said, the tub was heaped with so many bubbles that nothing below was visible.
So all Siwoo could see was Amelia's graceful shoulder line.
With her hair pinned up to keep it dry, only her deer-like neck was exposed.
"Cigarette first."
Siwoo took one from the pack and placed it between her lips.
Come to think of it, she never smelled of tobacco usually. Was that some kind of magic too?
"Wine."
Siwoo carefully tilted the bottle to pour into the glass she held.
She closed her eyes tightly, inhaled the cigarette smoke deeply, then wet her mouth with wine.
Even covered by bubbles, it was quite revealing.
Her plump cleavage, her uncovered white arms, and even her armpits were fully on display.
"Caretaker."
"Yes, I'm listening."
"Light one up for yourself too, Caretaker."
"Yes."
Siwoo promptly put a cigarette in his mouth.
It seemed like a good way to suppress the surging wave of lust.
"Not refusing this time?"
"You're granting my request too, Associate Professor."
If she'd killed that middle-aged man back then, even the faint affection he'd felt would have evaporated.
"I hear he was a pretty capable mathematician on the outside. Is that true?"
"Yes."
Strictly speaking, an aspiring mathematician.
More surprising was that Amelia knew such trivial details about a slave's past.
He soon learned why she was bringing it up now.
"I need an assistant to organize and manage my research materials."
"Yes."
"Like I proposed five years ago. Be my exclusive assistant."
"Pardon?"
Siwoo's jaw dropped dumbly.
His mind flashed like electricity had shot through it.
Five years ago—that was when she'd asked him to attend her at night, wasn't it?
What did it mean that she'd proposed he become her exclusive slave back then?
"Associate Professor. May I ask something impertinent?"
"As long as it's not excessively rude."
Siwoo swallowed hard.
Maybe there'd been a massive misunderstanding all along.
"Five years ago, weren't you asking me to serve you in bed?"
In his memory, Amelia had approached him after work and said something to that effect.
But as a virgin who only knew math, and having heard plenty of horror stories about witches from the slave trader, Siwoo had panicked and refused.
After that, Amelia, indignant, had tormented the slave who'd rejected her with petty, persistent methods.
That was Siwoo's recollection.
"Indeed, that was an impertinent question."
Amelia frowned unpleasantly and took a sip of her drink.
"I told you to come to my chambers after work that day. I never once mentioned anything about attending me at night."
"Why go to your chambers specifically..."
"I needed to test how useful you were, and it was much closer than the research building. So, Caretaker, you've been seeing me as some loose woman who brings any man into her bed all this time?"
Amelia's voice was icy cold.
It had a slightly evasive ring, but he wasn't bold enough to press it.
"S-Sorry."
Siwoo bowed his head in apology.
The entire premise had been thoroughly twisted.
Now that he thought about it, it was obvious.
Amelia had never been rumored to bring other men to her chambers.
She was a traditional, conservative witch obsessed with magic above all else.
For such an Amelia to suddenly drag a freshly bought slave to her bed?
Falling in love at first sight, no less?
He'd been deeply deluded from the start.
Taksho had fanned the flames beside him, but it was a clear mistake on Siwoo's part.
"I'm sorry!"
"I don't even want to hear your apology. Well, that's just how males think, isn't it."
Amelia's rage, sharper than a midwinter gale, tore into Siwoo's back as he prostrated himself low.
The earlier fluttering excitement was gone.
Now he had to figure out how to soothe her and lift her mood.