Chapter 289
Chapter 289
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 289
Chapter Title: The Twins and Sharon (2)
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1.
"Haa... This is really suffocating."
Sharon let out a deep sigh as she headed to her newly assigned quarters after finishing her first lesson.
Even though fall was nearly over and the nights had grown quite chilly, she felt sweat beading on her forehead.
It had truly been an exhausting time.
Teaching itself wasn't the hard part.
Drawing from her experience lecturing Siu, she was able to progress much more smoothly.
The twins boasted a solid foundation befitting heirs to a prestigious noble house, and since teaching them the most standard methods was more than sufficient, the lesson itself had gone off without a hitch.
But that was just a work issue. The stress from interpersonal dynamics was an entirely separate beast.
Throughout the class, the prickling stares aimed at the back of her head had left her scalp tingling, as if lumps were bulging out on it.
The twins responded with curt one-word answers, showing not a single opening and drawing a firm line between teacher and student.
That invisible pressure had subtly made Sharon anxious.
In the end, her plan to chat a bit and get to know each other had failed, leaving her to rush through the lecture and escape.
In truth, it was far more civilized than the over-the-top K-dramas and movies Sharon had binged.
No paper wads soaked in spit had flown at her head, and Count Albreo hadn't slapped her with kimchi.
Still, she couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed.
The twins who had sweetly called out "Sharon unnie! Sharon unnie!" had been so adorable.
She was realizing for the first time just how terrifying a love rivalry could be.
As melancholy set in, Siu's face came to mind.
"I miss Siu."
I wonder if the drowned witch was handled properly.
There had been some big incident in Seoul— is his body okay?
Does he miss me like I miss him?
She had so many questions.
She had finally achieved her long-cherished dream of returning home, but without Siu, it felt unbearably empty.
Sharon opened the door to the annex within the count's estate.
It was a grand three-story building that served as both workshop and quarters.
The moment she stepped inside, candelabras lit up automatically, revealing lavish interior decorations rivaling the main hall's lobby.
Seoul real estate prices were high, people always complained, but compared to Sharon's quarters, they'd seem like a steal.
She had heard that Siu would be returning to Gehenna soon.
Seeing his face would be nice.
She could even call it happiness.
"Haa... If only that were all..."
Unfortunately, Sharon had made a promise to Count Albreo.
To give the twins a fair chance, she would keep her distance.
The fact that she could teach them magic now and repay her debt hinged entirely on that precondition.
"Just how much distance are we talking here...?"
Unlike the debt contract Sharon had signed over a decade ago, the verbal agreement with Albreo was frustratingly vague.
He had left it entirely to her discretion, but feeling uneasy, Sharon had sought out the count herself for a second meeting.
'What exactly do you mean by keeping distance? Does it mean treating him like a total stranger?'
'Hmm? It's hard for me to explain precisely since there are so many ambiguities. I don't know the exact nature of your relationship with Siu, after all. I'll leave that to your judgment, Miss Evergreen.'
But the count hadn't specified any clear boundaries.
He had drawn only the faintest line, slippery as an eel slithering over a fence.
If he had laid out firm terms like 'Hand-holding is fine, but no sex,' Sharon could have just followed that.
"Is holding hands okay? Talking should be fine, right...?"
Sharon was already buried in worries.
This was both a measure to ensure minimal intervention—so that if Siu found out, his resentment wouldn't extend to the twins—and a ploy to keep the diligent Sharon second-guessing herself.
Of course, Sharon never imagined such intricate scheming lay beneath.
The twins' blatant wariness was plain as day.
The count's ambiguous contract terms were baffling.
That alone was enough to complicate things, but Sharon had one more worry.
To be honest, it was hardly a worry other witches would sympathize with.
During her recent coma, she had awakened to the 20th hierarchy.
Overcoming the incomplete succession was an unmitigated blessing—it shed the premature label and allowed her to carry on her master's legacy.
And Sharon was pouring her efforts into magical research to assimilate the vast new knowledge she had gained.
"Come to think of it, Siu helped with that too..."
Left alone, the incomplete succession wouldn't have resolved so easily.
It was only possible because sustained intercourse with Siu had delivered pure mana to every dormant corner of her stigma.
She had confirmed it with her own eyes back in Ain.
Until now, Sharon had used restoring her stigma as an excuse to flirt with Siu.
Now that excuse was gone, which was its own kind of dilemma.
"Well, it's not something to worry about right now anyway..."
Sharon shook her head vigorously to clear her mind.
She would have to keep her social distance from Siu regardless.
Growing gloomier for no reason, she headed to the workshop within the annex for her magical research.
2.
The five-hour marathon lecture ended without a single break.
Sharon assigned homework to the twins and left first.
"Puhaaah..."
"Huaaah..."
About a minute after Sharon had fully departed, the twins' doll-like rigid postures finally melted away.
Odil, slumped to the edge of her chair in a spine-wrecking pose, sighed as she spoke.
"Professor Marigold was tough, but this is on another level..."
"Sis, you think this homework load is reasonable? This is apprentice witch abuse!"
Elemental magic had fallen behind other subjects due to Amelia's sudden resignation, but the relentless pace from day one was brutal.
Sharon had pinpointed key points and explained in detail, so there wasn't much she didn't understand.
But even that harmful-looking Professor Marigold had scheduled proper breaks.
Who knew the seemingly friendly Sharon would deliver such apprentice-hating lessons?
"Even Assistant Professor Amelia gave us some breathing room..."
"Right? This has to be some new kind of mental attack! While we're drowning in homework and classes, Sharon unnie plans to hog Siu all to herself!"
"Hmm... You think so?"
Odet channeled the mindset of Gongsun Zan detecting an enemy ambush, piercing Sharon's intentions.
Based on discussions from the 'New Siu Assistant Special Protection Task Force (Director: Odil Jemernai)' held the day before yesterday, Sharon Evergreen had become the twins' arch-nemesis.
But as always, though their goals aligned, they differed on specifics.
'Odet! Even if Sharon unnie is trying to steal Siu, we don't need to be that hostile! Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?'
Odil, the moderate faction, argued there was no need for overly aggressive checks since they had cared for Siu so diligently in the present world.
'Sis! With that soft thinking, we won't protect anything! As long as Sharon unnie is a potential threat, we have to stay vigilant and check her, or poof—she'll snatch Siu away!'
Meanwhile, Odet, the hardliner faction, criticized such indecision and insisted on a strong response.
They had bickered nearly all night debating future actions, but today's horror from Sharon seemed to have solidified some guidelines.
"See? I was right."
Odet, eyes wide as the situation unfolded just as she predicted, launched into a passionate rant.
Her fervent tone and clenched fist evoked a freedom fighter.
"I told you! Big-chested girls are all vixens! Vera said they pretend otherwise but are super jealous and possessive!"
Normally, Odet would gloat about being right.
Normally, Odil would argue back out of spite.
But not this time.
Awakened to her own mistaken views, Odil spoke glumly.
"I'll admit you were right this time, Odet. It makes total sense. Sorry, I must have naively thought the world was a beautiful place."
Odet's delicate hand gently rested on Odil's shoulder.
There was no mockery or scorn in it.
It was the reassuring touch of a rival comforting her after transcending political divides to find shared ideals.
"Sis, don't be too down. I make mistakes too, and so do you sometimes."
"Odet..."
Odil gazed at her suddenly mature little sister with moved eyes.
The twins shared a fierce, warm hug.
"Besides... we didn't just take it in class today."
"Yeah, you landed a solid hit."
"Not 'you'—'we' did it."
Today was the first lesson.
Sharon never suspected, but the twins had dug a trap.
Of course, it was Odet the hardliner who had pushed for it.
But she didn't claim it as her own merit.
She generously shared the credit with her rival Odil.
Odil held back tears.
When had her tag-along little sister grown so much?
"Heh, right? She didn't notice a thing."
And what was that trap?
"Even Baron Marigold didn't catch it for years—how could Sharon unnie?"
"Exactly."
It was the twins' classic switcheroo.
Sharon had called them up to the blackboard one by one, but they didn't obey straightforwardly.
When she called Odet, Odil stepped up.
When she called Odil, Odet went.
They successfully fooled and pranked Sharon.
Recalling the thrill of pulling it off multiple times, grins spread across their faces.
"Hehehe... Sharon unnie's not so tough."
"Let's keep this up, sis."
"Of course, Odet."
Of course, Sharon had no idea she had been pranked, and even they couldn't explain what good it did if no one noticed.
With the twins' heated handshake, the first skirmish came to an end.