Chapter 386
Chapter 386
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 386
Chapter Title: Shared Secret (2)
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Just like the guest rooms in the Jemernai Countess's residence, Diana's room was called a "room," but it was actually an enormous space boasting two living rooms, one parlor, one bathroom, one bedroom, and even a front garden attached.
Given its vast size, it was stocked with just about every amenity imaginable inside.
A quite professional-looking three-tier first aid kit sat on the shelf, so he pulled it out.
Diana had boldly proclaimed she was seizing his weakness and gone in for a peck—not even a full kiss.
She had slipped right in front of Siu in a picture-perfect slide and ended up with a massively swollen ankle.
Siu scooped up Diana, who could barely stand, and laid her on the sofa where he usually set his Wizboard.
"Are you okay?"
"……."
Perhaps mortified by her self-confessed crime of presumption + surprise peck to claim his weakness + undignified belly-flop escape combo, she had been hugging a backrest cushion and refusing to show her face ever since.
He hadn't expected a reply anyway.
He set Diana's leg on the sofa armrest, asked permission, and carefully lifted her skirt.
"Oh, dear…."
Her ankle was swollen and bright red.
It didn't seem broken, but it had to hurt like hell.
How badly did her leg have to twist for even a semi-spiritual body to swell like this?
The sound when Diana face-planted had been particularly loud, after all.
"Let me know if it hurts."
Training with his master often led to minor sprains here and there.
So he had a rough idea of the magical treatments for them.
Siu reached out and gently wrapped his hand around her ankle.
Spiritual bodies were trickier to attune than one might think.
But the farther from major organs and closer to the body's extremities, the easier it was to control—even for someone with Siu's level of mana regulation.
"Heal."
Siu drew out his mana and enveloped her ankle.
He intended to reduce the swelling and soothe the shocked muscles.
The process wasn't complicated, but it would take a little time.
Her feet were really pretty, though.
Incredibly white and pristine.
As small as his palm, yet her slender, elongated toes hinted at refined genetics.
When he gripped a bit firmer to infuse his mana, her toes wriggled as if enduring the pain.
"Why did you do that? You didn't have to…."
"……."
Diana, who had maintained a long silence, mumbled from behind the cushion still buried over her face.
"Mom said that for safe negotiations, you need to hold more weaknesses than your opponent…."
"I, I see."
A truly Machiavellian reason.
Though choosing a peck as her method was still pretty bizarre.
Come to think of it, back in Border Town, she had bolted off alone for some inexplicable reason too….
She could be unpredictably capricious at times.
"…Siu."
Her earlier wild flailing had left a strong impression, but Diana's usual demeanor was that of a proper noble lady.
The natural shift to that familiar form of address—mimicking her mother—didn't feel out of place at all.
"Yes."
"Can I ask you one thing?"
"Go ahead. It'll take a bit anyway."
"It might be a little… weird question."
"…Sure, what is it."
Diana continued the conversation using the cushion as a shield over her face.
Even with it covering her, she hesitated for a long while before her cute toes spread and clenched as she finally asked.
"How long have you been with Mom?"
"…An important question, huh?"
"Yes, very."
It was a yes-or-no question with no middle ground—and an incredibly awkward one—but staying silent felt wrong too.
"One day."
"Liar. Everyone just lies to me."
"It's not a lie. Yesterday was the first time."
"…Really?"
The cushion covering Diana's face slowly slipped down.
Her earnest eyes, scrutinizing the truth, turned toward Siu.
Blood ties ran deep, it seemed.
The way her eyebrows furrowed was the spitting image of the Yesod Countess.
"Do you… like my mom?"
"……."
A tough question.
The answer was obvious.
But voicing it straight out was another matter.
"Mom likes you too, doesn't she?"
"…I'm deeply honored."
With that cryptic exchange concluded, the cushion snapped back over Diana's face.
Just in time—the treatment was done.
"All set. Want to check it?"
"Feels good now. Thank you."
"No problem. If we argue technicalities, it's partly my fault anyway."
Unless it was a magical injury, external wounds healed easily on spiritual bodies.
The swelling was completely gone, and Diana nodded approvingly after flexing her ankle.
"Siu."
Diana carefully sat up, mindful not to flip her skirt, and settled beside him. For some reason, she now seemed remarkably composed.
It was hard to believe she had been so flustered just moments ago.
"Can you… completely seduce my mom? Make her fall head over heels."
"Pardon?"
Had he misheard?
"You heard right. I said seduce my mom."
"No, I must have misheard."
Asking him to seduce her mom out of the blue.
It had been a wholesome rom-com up until now, but suddenly it veered into soap opera territory.
Diana murmured softly, then stared straight at Siu, firming her resolve.
"Please do it."
2.
Diana's outfit of the day centered around a sable long coat.
The fluffy fur coats that rich housewives often wore in dramas were sable coats.
Even those were usually mixed with mink or cashmere to cut costs, as pure sable was exorbitantly expensive.
Moreover, Diana's coat was made from black mink fur yet white as fresh snow.
She explained it was skinned from an albino specimen.
He couldn't even guess the price.
Anyone wearing such an outfit without the means would instantly look like a parvenu.
Diana pulled it off effortlessly as she strolled through Tarot Town's streets.
Diana's out-of-left-field request to seduce her mother.
He hadn't even gotten a proper answer before she dragged him out to the plaza market.
The season was winter, and last night's rain had left the streets chilly.
Rainwater frozen along the roadside gutters had formed layer upon layer of ice sheets.
Yet the plaza market bustled with its usual energy, undeterred by the cold.
"A bundle of perfectly dry firewood to last all winter for just 10 pennies! Buy now and get a flint striker free!"
"Rose water to make your fair skin even whiter, ladies! Take some home!"
"Folks! Look here! Ducks plump with fat!"
The hawkers' calls rivaled a concert hall.
Vendors had spread their wares right up to the awnings lining both sides of the road, leaving barely room to walk amid the chaos.
But the path cleared like magic whenever Diana in her parasol and Siu in his suit passed.
To ordinary citizens unfamiliar with albino mink coats, Diana's outfit screamed wealth.
They knew even a splash of muddy water would saddle three generations with dry-cleaning bills.
"So, why did you suddenly drag me out here?"
"Just follow me for now."
There was plenty of amusing sights just from glancing around, but what surprised Siu most was that Diana was the one who suggested this outing.
Navigating the spiderweb of narrow alleys brought them to quieter buildings.
Diana scanned around and picked a three-story one to enter.
"Oh, a bookstore."
"I've been meaning to check it out."
Gehenna's citizens lived quite medieval lives, but considering their average living standards, it was incomparable to actual history.
Magic-supplied plumbing ensured high hygiene, infant mortality was under 1%, and crime rates were remarkably low.
As indispensable to witches, they enjoyed more comfort than most Third World countries.
The absence of a single beggar in such a crowded market was proof enough.
Basic education was also readily available, so plenty of citizens read books as a hobby.
This shop catered to them.
From the entrance, haphazard towers of unsorted books greeted them, and the shelves throughout carried the scent of aged paper.
Dust motes floated lazily in the dim lamplight filtering through the twilight indoors.
Siu had long known of the store's existence.
But he had never shopped there.
As a slave, he had no time for novels, nor much interest.
And scouring for rare magic tomes was unnecessary—his workplace was Trinity Academy's magic library.
No need to visit.
"Looking for a specific book?"
"Wait here."
Diana brushed past the dozing shopkeeper without a word and looked around.
Since they were here anyway.
Siu passed the time flipping through various books.
Every kind imaginable.
Basic herbology guides.
A food recipe scribbled densely in crude handwriting, as if paper were scarce.
Even someone’s unknown diary.
"Hmm…."
Diana rummaged through the piles—easily over ten thousand volumes—unfazed by dust on her coat, selecting books.
She already had several tucked under her arm.
"Hm?"
What caught Siu's eye was an unusually large book thick with dust.
It had nearly fallen behind the shelf and been abandoned.
Worn and frayed, the faded title became visible after he wiped off the dust with his hand.
"Oh."
Untying the leather strap binding it like a belt, he opened the book to surprisingly clean pages.
As the title suggested, it chronicled various Public Enemies.
Their deeds, key incidents, hierarchies—even snippets of Nature Magic they used.
Like Wizpoint's database, it seemed a way to share Public Enemy intel.
"……."
He had already tangled with two Aquarius witches and two Cowardice witches in his life.
More unwanted encounters lay ahead.
Like knowing boss patterns in an RPG, skimming this might help.
"Though it probably won't be much use."
By the time Siu found one potentially useful book.
Diana had nearly ten crammed under her arm.
"That's a lot."
Diana stared blankly at Siu.
Hesitating whether to say it or not.
After biting her lips several times, she finally spoke.
"Everything I say from now on… is a secret just between us. Got it?"