Chapter 599
Chapter 599
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 599
Chapter Title: I'm Home (7)
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While Odil was spending some long-overdue intimate time with Siwoo after three months apart.
"Assistant, you're being so stingy! It's just a kiss. If you keep turning me down, I might just strip naked right here? Hehe, if someone caught me showing off my bare body in a place like this... you know what would happen, right?"
Just as Odette was threatening to unbutton her blouse and expose her breasts.
"Siwoo!"
"A rival has appeared!"
"Duchess! We got here first!"
Eloa burst in after driving off Rurue, only to stumble upon the chaotic scene.
"Siwoo... Siwoo... haah... haah..."
"Deneb... you lunatic..."
As Deneb's wandering hands grew bolder, and Albireo shed tears of anguish along with something else.
"Cheers."
"You got it."
Sharon was drinking in her room with Amelia.
If one had to describe Sharon's position amid Siwoo's harem—which was starting to grow too large to count on one hand—she'd be the harmonious mediator.
She'd built a cordial friendship with the twins, who used to bicker endlessly due to mutual misunderstandings, and she remained a supportive ally to Eloa, who was still hopelessly clumsy in social matters.
But even Sharon struggled to maintain smooth relations with one person: Amelia Merigold.
Her cool aura, like she'd been sculpted from ice, combined with her fairy-like beauty, made it hard to strike up a conversation first.
To make matters worse, Sharon had a history of making a major blunder with Amelia, which only made things more awkward.
'Sharon.'
'Yes?'
'Shall we have a drink?'
So when Amelia, back in Gehenna, suggested a private drinking session, Sharon was utterly shocked.
Of course, the saying "bonds form through shared hardships" rang true—they'd built up quite a bit of inner closeness while tackling tough tasks together.
Amelia had quietly draped a blanket over Sharon when she dozed off from exhaustion, and they'd encouraged each other with words like "Nothing bad will happen, so don't cry."
With things turning out that way, Sharon never expected the seemingly antisocial Amelia to make such an offer.
'Sure!'
And since Sharon had been hoping for a calm chance to chat anyway, she gladly accepted the unexpected invitation.
The mood at the drinking session in the annex of the Jemernai residence where Sharon was staying was...
"......"
"......"
Exactly as expected.
No, even worse than expected.
No meaningful conversation between them, no snacks, and already half a bottle of liquor emptied.
The longest exchange so far had been:
'Lady Amelia, what kind of wine is this?'
'Mendel Hills vintage.'
'1989? Looks like an incredibly expensive bottle.'
'Does it? I just brought it along.'
'Ah.'
Nothing more needed saying.
What should they even talk about?
Thinking back, even when they'd been left alone together during searches (excluding the progenitor witches), they hadn't had a real conversation.
Wishing for lighthearted chit-chat now might have been too greedy.
Their one common topic was Siwoo, but that was a minefield riddled with unknown dangers, so off-limits.
With things at this point, Sharon mustered a bit more courage and brought up the perfume she'd bought from Amelia recently.
It was the extravagant purchase that had made her wince at the price, and with Siwoo's disappearance right after, she'd only spritzed it a couple times before carefully storing it away.
Clearing her throat after the long silence to steady herself, she continued.
"Ahem, anyway. Lady Amelia, that perfume of yours smells amazing."
"Thank you."
Silence again.
Was this level of effort not enough to keep the conversation going?
But Amelia hadn't invited Sharon for a one-on-one without reason.
Loving the same man and staying by his side inevitably meant competing for his love.
At first, she'd just felt jealousy and regret that Siwoo's affection was divided.
But in a situation where they couldn't even confirm if Siwoo was alive, leaning on each other had shifted her perspective a bit.
If she'd been thrown into the search alone, she wouldn't have endured.
She'd have broken down repeatedly from mental exhaustion, like during that public enemy hunt wandering the desert.
But now, Amelia wasn't alone.
Sharon was there. Eloa was there.
Even in situations she couldn't have overcome solo, she'd drawn courage from them—especially Sharon.
She'd realized that rivals were competitors in one sense, but companions walking the same path in another.
That's why Amelia had set up this meeting—to grow closer to Sharon.
The other lovers could wait; friction with Sharon had always been particularly frequent.
So as Sharon started to despair, Amelia grabbed the thread of conversation this time.
"Your skin seems so soft, Sharon. It must carry a lovely scent."
"Ah! Thank you."
"Like sensuality blooming from beneath innocence? I enjoyed crafting it."
Skin? Innocence? Sensuality?
It was a chilling assessment coming from one woman to another, but it was praise, so Sharon smiled through it.
"Glad you enjoyed it."
And then it hit her.
Why hadn't she thought of this simple fact?
Praise makes even whales dance.
Exchanging compliments would surely oil the stiff gears of their conversation.
"You're beautiful too, Lady Amelia. Oh, not just flattery. Truth be told, I was awestruck by your fairy-like grace the first time I saw you."
"Really?"
Amelia's eyes widened slightly, unaccustomed to compliments.
After seeing her so often depressed, exhausted, angry, or expressionless, this surprised look revealed yet another charm.
It was still a bit awkward, but the conversation flowed!
The proverb "silence is golden" was clearly nonsense.
Who knew exchanging words could feel this liberating!
Buoyed by the rare back-and-forth, Sharon started chattering away, emboldened by the alcohol.
"Yes, your hair is such fine, thick blonde. Even among witches, that shade is incredibly rare and beautiful."
"You're stunning too, Sharon... I actually felt quite intimidated. Your figure is so much more womanly..."
Amelia's gaze flicked briefly to Sharon's chest.
"No, no. There are witches with bigger chests than mine. But none with skin as flawless as yours, Lady Amelia."
"No, you have your own charms, Sharon. Your eyes especially... like gazing into a clear lake."
And so the compliment relay continued.
But compliments on specific features are finite.
Praising each other's beauty works as an opener, but dragging it on looks weird.
It'd turn into the kind of talk that'd make Siwoo think, "What are they up to?" if he overheard.
Still, just as one feels obligated to reciprocate a gift, ending the chat after receiving praise felt off.
As Sharon tried to wrap it up with her own praise...
A massive derailment occurred.
"What? Honestly, I've always gotten chills whenever another witch flirted with me. But with you, Lady Amelia, I'd actually be happy about it."
Alcohol + straining for compliments + a dash of sincerity.
The result: something like a coming-out praise.
"Pardon?"
Amelia's interpersonal skills were near-nonexistent, but she wasn't completely oblivious.
Instinctively sensing the off-kilter vibe, she reacted with uncharacteristic surprise.
Seeing her clear blue eyes tremble directionlessly, Sharon belatedly realized her slip and scrambled to fix it.
"No, no! Not in a sexual way! I meant you're so attractive that even imagining kissing you wouldn't feel off-putting..."
True to her weakness at improv, it was a textbook failed recovery.
This was disaster.
She had Siwoo, yet she'd tossed a pass at Amelia like some Delilah.
"......"
Meanwhile, Amelia pondered Sharon's words deeply.
She was finally stepping beyond just Siwoo and Sophia, venturing into broader relations.
Sophia would have wept tears of joy at the sight.
But resolving to change didn't magically improve her social skills overnight.
So even with Sharon's slightly boundary-crossing remark, Amelia misunderstood oddly.
Imagining a kiss without awkwardness...
To Amelia, it was overly sensual, spine-tingling praise.
But unlike Amelia, who'd holed up in her cabin, Sharon was a witch long immersed in the modern world.
The world Amelia had seen was far more open than Gehenna, wasn't it?
Judging that such culture might be common there, Amelia played along.
"Hehe, did I overdo it? I'm not usually like this, but the alcohol..."
"Me too."
"Pardon...?"
"Your lips are pretty too, Sharon... They'd probably feel soft to kiss."
Sharon, unaware of Amelia's true intent, went wide-eyed in shock.
Feel soft to kiss?
Was this her brushing off the slip as a joke?
Sharon scanned Amelia's face, but...
"......"
Amelia stared fixedly at Sharon's lips, not a hint of amusement.
Not a joke, then.
'Whatwhatwhatwhat' echoed endlessly in Sharon's mind.
A smooth pivot from catching the slip into a flirtatious advance.
Something straight out of a foreign film.
Especially those bar-table scenes.
"Have you... kissed a lot, Sharon? I can't get used to it. I don't really know how."
And to top it off, Amelia gently touched her own lips as she asked.
Of course, to Amelia, she'd responded well to the praise, and with kissing on topic, she'd simply shifted the subject.
Kissing was lighter to discuss than other acts, and she'd always struggled with it alongside Siwoo.
Biting the lower lip and sucking the tongue—did that even feel right?
Sharon, who'd likely kissed Siwoo far more, might know—and Amelia quietly wanted honest advice.
But to Sharon, already gripped by misunderstanding,
'I wouldn't mind kissing you, Lady Amelia.'
'Me too. So, Sharon, would you teach me how to kiss directly?'
It flowed all too naturally.
Did Amelia have strong bisexual leanings like some witches?
Wasn't that basically asking to kiss for real?
No, wait—they both had Siwoo already, and she was saying this?
Come to think of it, she'd heard tales of palace maids, deprived of the king's favor, turning to same-sex love in their isolation.
"L-L-Lady Amelia... I-I... even so, that seems wrong. Somehow, it'd feel like betraying Siwoo..."
"......?"
As Sharon's face flushed crimson from her racing fantasies, and Amelia tilted her head at the odd reaction,
-Clunk!
"Hm, even a place like this exists."
Rurue opened the door and stepped in.