Chapter 455
Chapter 455
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 455
Chapter Title: Trip (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
A refreshing wake-up at the crack of dawn, 6 AM.
Si-woo, who had somehow fallen asleep amid the excruciatingly awkward atmosphere, opened his eyes and bolted upright.
The unfamiliar scenery before him registered, and last night's events flashed through his mind like a memoir.
The embarrassing shared bed with Amelia.
They hadn't even exchanged proper conversation, just lain there separately on their beds.
"...Huh?"
He turned his head to look.
Amelia, who should have been lying on the bed next to his, was gone.
All that remained was the neatly made bedding, just as it had been when they'd first entered the hotel.
Si-woo was startled.
Could Amelia have left just like that?
"Lady Amelia?"
Si-woo hastily got up and called her name.
At that moment, the door to the bathroom attached right next to the bedroom swung open.
It was Amelia, still wearing the white dress from yesterday.
He didn't know when she'd woken up, but her blonde hair was neatly combed, and her fairy-like clear eyes looked just as they always did.
Thank goodness—his worry that she'd vanished during the night had been unfounded.
"Did you sleep well?"
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and greeted her good morning. Amelia gave a small nod.
"Were you washing up?"
There was another door inside the bathroom leading to the toilet, but as a witch, Amelia had no need for it.
And her hair was still fluffy and dry, so it wasn't like she'd bathed...
Maybe she'd been curiously peeking around the modern bathroom out of novelty?
Given her behavior yesterday, it was entirely possible.
"No, Si-woo. Come here for a moment."
Amelia gently tugged at Si-woo's sleeve and led him into the bathroom.
In that instant, a faint steam carried the calming scent of lavender, filling his nostrils.
The bathtub held warm water tinged faintly purple, gently rippling.
Moreover, on the shelf above the tub for bath goods sat a bottle of wine with glasses—and an unopened pack of cigarettes.
Was she bathing?
"I prepared a morning bath for you."
"A bath?"
"You like bathing in the morning, right?"
Si-woo looked at Amelia.
Her face, a bit redder than before, flicked glances at him with her eyes, as if expectant of praise.
Come to think of it... could this be...?
Only then did Si-woo piece together the sequence of events.
Amelia insisting on carrying her own bag.
Amelia stubbornly handling the hotel booking herself.
And now, Amelia rising early to prepare a bath.
It was like the behavior of a servant.
Her follow-up confirmed his suspicion.
Amelia drew a little closer, step by step, and spoke in a hushed voice.
"If... if you need help with your bath, just say the word. I'll wait right here."
This was definitely it.
Of course, it was hard to say there was no care or affection involved—but it felt more like atonement for the past.
Just as Amelia had once used her chin to order Si-woo around, now she was trying to give back what she'd received.
Out of guilt, out of shame.
It seemed Amelia was trying to repay it in her own way.
Before Si-woo could say anything, Amelia brushed past him.
"......"
His heart wasn't at ease.
He wanted to tell her she didn't need to feel burdened. It wasn't like the blame was 100 to 0.
Wasn't he just making Amelia shoulder all the heavy load unnecessarily?
Well, anyway, she'd prepared it for him for once.
Si-woo stripped off his clothes, hung them haphazardly, and slipped into the tub.
The water was perfectly warm, and above all, the scent of Amelia's special bath salts made even this ordinary tub feel like a luxurious bathhouse compared to the Jemernai mansion's.
Add some wine and a cigarette...
"Wait, cigarettes?"
Hotels were strictly no-smoking indoors by default. Smoking would deduct 200,000 won from the deposit they'd left at check-in.
"Lady Amelia!"
Si-woo urgently called out to her.
A startled rustle came from beyond the door.
"Do you need help?"
"Just in case—hotels are non-smoking!"
"......"
A brief silence.
"I knew that, of course."
A faint rustling sound followed, then Amelia's reply, delayed by a couple beats.
2.
"Lady Amelia. Have you been like this the whole time?"
When Si-woo emerged from his bath, he found Amelia kneeling demurely in front of the bathroom door.
She'd been waiting there, just like a real servant, the entire time he'd leisurely soaked.
"Yes."
Amelia nodded.
"......"
To an outsider, it might look performative, self-satisfying atonement—but Amelia wasn't the type to scheme like that in relationships.
She was doing this purely from the heart, for Si-woo's sake.
He still remembered suffering under her as her caretaker.
But he didn't want to be bound by the past like this anymore.
If those past mistakes born of inadequacy were to hinder their future, he'd rather pretend they never happened.
"Stand up. And don't do this anymore."
"But..."
Probably because his heart wasn't settled.
His tone had unconsciously hardened, and Amelia panicked, floundering in confusion.
She looked anxious, as if unsure why Si-woo's face had stiffened.
Deep worry that she might have messed up showed plainly.
Si-woo grabbed Amelia's wrist and pulled her to her feet.
He simply embraced the terrified Amelia, like a child who'd broken a plate.
Amelia yielded to his arms without resistance.
"I told you—it's really okay. I don't hate you anymore. I understand everything."
"But... I want to do it. As much as you suffered... I want to do it for you too."
Amelia replied in a fragile voice, as if she might shatter any moment.
It was frustrating.
Not anger at Amelia, but frustration at his own indecisiveness—making excuses with distance and keeping her anxious all this time.
"It's really okay, so don't."
"I will."
"Don't."
"I will."
The parties involved were deadly serious, but the dialogue alone sounded ridiculously childish.
With both harboring guilt, this back-and-forth wasn't getting anywhere.
They should have talked like this over wine last night.
Belatedly, he thought they needed to sort out their feelings properly.
"Alright, let's settle this cleanly right here."
"Settle...?"
"I'll start with my thoughts. Your actions like this actually make me uncomfortable. You think I'd accept apologies just because I've done good things too?"
"I did more wrong. Tormenting you when you were just standing there, trying to deceive you into forgiving me when you knew nothing..."
Deceive?
No, that wasn't it.
"It wasn't deception. You were just trying to treat me well—that much I know now."
On the contrary, he'd learned that Amelia valued him more than anyone, regretted her past mistakes, and had tried to make up for them by being kind to him during his boyhood.
He'd realized early on that what seemed like selfish greed was actually selfless kindness.
"If anything, I should feel more sorry about that. If I'd calmed down and talked back then, you wouldn't have had to suffer alone."
"No, that's not...!"
Amelia pulled away from his embrace.
Si-woo might have said harsh words and left her.
But he'd definitely left a note.
A note saying he was sorry for the harsh words, expressing willingness to talk once he'd cooled off.
He hadn't known until the Whispering Witch tampered with it—purely because his weak self had been too scared to check.
"You left a note... I was the idiot who didn't read it and suffered alone..."
"That's not true! And it wasn't pointless suffering!"
He hadn't expected Amelia not to have read the note even by then.
He hadn't known what past wounds she carried.
But if she'd really wanted to talk, there'd been plenty of time before returning to the modern world.
She'd only headed back amid misconceptions and anxiety because he'd passively conveyed his intent, avoiding her face because it was hard and awkward to see.
And she'd crossed a life-risking battle fulfilling her contract with Kether Duke, all unbeknownst to him.
How long had it been?
Since they'd clashed like this, raising their voices at each other.
"Even so, this is seriously burdensome!"
"Why is it burdensome? I've been saying I did more wrong!"
The two poured out words without pause, spilling the lumps of feelings they'd held inside.
Even the usually quiet Amelia spoke rapidly, her voice sharp and high-pitched like lovers quarreling.
Though the content was a battle of "No, my fault is bigger!"—Si-woo was earnest, and so was Amelia.
In the midst of trading words with bated breath, Amelia tired first.
An undeniable truth shackled her ankle.
"Even so, even so... the fact that I tormented you doesn't vanish..."
"......"
"Ignorance or immaturity doesn't erase the wrong... What you suffered doesn't become nothing..."
Tears fell plip-plop down Amelia's lowered cheeks.
Even in the happiest moments, the past constricted her.
Every time she recalled coldly watching him, insulting him, tormenting him with absurd chores—every time she imagined how he'd suffered.
It hurt.
The more she loved him, the more it would hurt.
"I want to repay you. Even become your slave to make it right..."
"Lady Amelia..."
Ah, so that was it.
Si-woo finally realized the distance he'd felt yesterday wasn't just his own sentiment.
They'd embraced and shed tears, but never had this conversation.
So he'd assumed Amelia was just confused about how to act toward him.
But she hadn't forgiven herself yet.
She'd drawn her own line, deeming herself unworthy of happiness.
"I hate myself... So, so much..."
Amelia was sobbing.
She wiped at her uncontrollable tears with her sleeve, stifling hiccupping sobs.
Si-woo reached out and wiped her tears.
Amelia didn't pull away, silently waiting before speaking in a soaked voice.
"...I don't know. From one to ten... I don't know any of it."
"Ask if there's something you don't know. I'll answer whatever I can."
Amelia swallowed her sobs with effort and hesitated.
A very cautious, heartfelt question.
"Can... Can I love you?"
This was the root reason Amelia could only turn away and flee.
Honestly, he didn't think he could give this answer with a clear conscience... but.
Still, he knew how to reassure her.
And a definitive answer to her question.
He'd done it before, hadn't he?
Si-woo pressed his lips to Amelia's.
He wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from retreating.
He parted her thin lips and tangled their tongues deeply.
It wasn't some light, innocent kiss.
It was an intense one, thrusting his desire for her as their tongues entwined.
When he ended it stylishly, like a youth drama lead.
"......"
Amelia was frozen, her face beet red.
Her trembling lips proved how shocked she was.
He'd kissed her out of pity and frustration, but her embarrassment and reaction left him awkwardly sheepish.
"Is that enough?"
"......"
Amelia's eyes were unfocused, overheated and dazed.
She clutched Si-woo's collar.
Her hands and voice trembled.
"One time... isn't enough to know."
And then she clung to his neck, kissing him back.
It had been five days since they'd reunited.
But wasn't this the first time they truly faced each other?
Feeling her soft, hot tongue tip, Si-woo thought so.