Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Chapter 64 - #15_고진감래(3)
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: After Hardship Comes Ease (3)
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Around 10 o'clock.
Siwoo wasn't particularly weak to alcohol from the start.
But he'd tried to keep up with Takasho's pace, tempered by his host work, and ended up puking up some expensive liquor toward the end.
He staggered his way toward Amelia's lodging.
Until just a moment ago, his head had been foggy, and all he'd thought was that he needed to crash soon. But now that he was actually facing the lodging, tension gripped him.
It wasn't for no reason. Today, he'd turned down Amelia's invitation and gone on a picnic with the twins instead.
What would Amelia think of a slave crawling in dead drunk in the middle of the night?
Siwoo, who had been shrinking back needlessly, suddenly felt a surge of confidence.
His tiresome slave life would be wrapping up in about a week anyway.
The days of fretting over whether he'd displease Amelia were coming to an end!
Of course, until the count fully wrapped up negotiations with her, he'd still need to watch his words and actions.
Siwoo slipped through the door, holding his breath so Amelia wouldn't notice.
And then he froze in surprise.
From outside, all the lights had seemed off, so he'd figured Amelia must have gone somewhere and was sleeping in her room.
But there she was, in one corner of the lobby, reading a book by the light of a single candle.
"......"
Even in the dim glow, her sky-blue eyes, undimmed in their brilliance, flicked toward Siwoo.
It couldn't be, but the way she looked made it seem like she'd been waiting for him, and Siwoo felt a pang of guilt.
He'd never seen her doing something like this at this hour.
Actually, he rarely saw Amelia outside her lab or her room to begin with.
He should probably greet her.
"I'm back."
He greeted her politely, careful with his pronunciation.
"........."
Amelia gently closed her book and stared at him without a word.
Had Count Gemernai already spoken to her?
It would make more sense if she'd stayed up specifically to wait for Siwoo on a night like this.
Sweat beaded in his palms.
"I have to start work early tomorrow. May I head up?"
Amelia finally spoke.
"Cake."
And then silence again.
Cake? Out of nowhere?
While Siwoo stood there baffled, Amelia cast her gaze downward and asked,
"Don't you want some cake?"
"Uh... yeah, sure."
Siwoo shuffled awkwardly toward the sofa where Amelia was reclining.
On the table sat a single plate covered by a silver dome.
What was this about?
"There's some left."
"Thank you."
Feeling overly self-conscious, Siwoo sat down carefully.
He was even cautious with his breathing, lest the alcohol on it make Amelia wrinkle her nose.
He had to admit, it was the groveling slave mentality in him.
Siwoo kept stealing glances at Amelia.
Was she waiting up just to give him this?
As he started eating the cake, Amelia picked up her book again and resumed reading.
There was no conversation, no apparent business—it was all mysteriously casual.
"Here."
He shoveled it in so fast he wasn't sure if it was going in his mouth or his nose.
As a side note, it was probably delicious even snorted.
Just as Siwoo was finishing up the cake, thinking she'd be lost in her book, Amelia suddenly slid something toward him.
This time, cigarettes.
Not just one, but a whole pack.
He felt like he might choke.
No matter how he thought about it, it had to be something Count Gemernai had said.
Otherwise, why would Amelia act like this all of a sudden?
She might treat him better and ask him to keep being her assistant, or maybe casually say, "I turned down that offer."
"Th-thank you."
Despite the awkward mix of feelings that wouldn't fade, Siwoo subtly broached the subject.
"Did you... hear something from Count Gemernai, by any chance?"
"Count Gemernai?"
No.
Amelia just tilted her head slightly, as if surprised to hear the name from Siwoo's lips.
Her straight brows twitched in genuine puzzlement—it didn't look like acting.
Her attitude had been oddly off lately.
They said a sudden change in demeanor could be a sign of suicide.
Having lived 150 years or so, maybe her research had stalled, and she was tying up loose ends to pass her stigma to an apprentice witch?
His thoughts had spiraled that far.
This won't do.
His head was too muddled with alcohol for clear thinking.
Then Amelia murmured quickly,
"Tomorrow, we're going to Border Town."
He called it a murmur because it was so soft and swift.
Thinking he'd misheard, he looked at her, but she calmly turned the page.
"You're saying I should come along?"
"Yes."
"Got it. I'll prepare. Thank you for the cake and cigarettes."
Siwoo hurried to his room, wary she might call him back with something like, "You didn't think you could just leave my service, did you? Heh heh!"
"What the hell is going on..."
Amelia's eccentric behavior was getting worse by the day.
If she'd just torment him straightforwardly, that'd be one thing, but these unexpected cheerful gifts only amplified the sense of unease.
*Knock knock*
Siwoo, about to shower before bed, jumped at the sudden sound.
Not for any other reason.
"Yes! Coming!"
Amelia, who until yesterday had barged in like it was her own place, had actually knocked!
On a mere slave's room!
Siwoo hastily threw his clothes back on and opened the door.
Amelia stood there, book clutched to her chest, looking up at him.
She got straight to the point.
"It's been a while since we went out, so you must be tired. Sleep in until afternoon tomorrow."
Siwoo blinked, unable to respond right away.
Had he heard that right?
"Well then, good night."
What? Good night?
To me?
Without even glancing at Siwoo's stunned, rigid form, Amelia strode back to her room with poised steps.
He couldn't make sense of it.
2.
After his shower, Siwoo sat on the windowsill, smoking one of Amelia's cigarettes.
He pondered what had sparked Amelia's sudden change in attitude.
First off, it didn't seem like she'd heard anything from Gemernai.
Right after becoming her assistant: a fancy lodging, suits, pajamas, cigarettes, cake?
Sure, that was pocket change to Amelia.
But the point wasn't the value of the gifts.
It was her attitude toward him.
How long had it been since she'd treated him like something she couldn't devour? And now this—it was almost frightening.
The most likely explanations were two.
One: She'd changed her mind and was compensating for past torments.
Two: Despite appearances, she took good care of her own once she considered someone hers.
He wondered what was up with her, but it wasn't the serious worry it used to be.
This dilemma would soon be moot anyway.
Still, he'd gotten plenty of eye candy watching Amelia all this time.
Once back in the modern world, would he ever chat with a woman as beautiful as her?
Siwoo gradually sorted out his feelings.
He'd planned to stay quiet until Gemernai finished negotiating with Amelia, but he should at least say something.
That he was planning to leave Gehenna soon.
That continuing as her exclusive slave would be tough going forward.
And politely ask for her permission—at minimum, show that courtesy.
"I'm a pushover."
There were heaps of hardships thanks to her, yet a few good days and he was softening.
It was getting late.
As Siwoo moved to close the window and hit the hay, he spotted something dangling from above it.
Strands of black thread swaying in the breeze like a dreamcatcher.
No.
Those were strands of hair.
"Come on out."
At Siwoo's call, the long, dangling hair shifted lower.
Revealing a round forehead and playful violet eyes peeking out.
"Assistant, you took forever to notice. I've been hanging here for five minutes."
No one else would come to his lodging and pull a prank like this.
It was Odile, wrapped head to toe in her cloak, hanging in the air like a bat.
Good thing she'd visited before, or facing her like this first would have given him a heart attack.
"Can't you just come in normally?"
"Should I go around to the front door? Say hi to the professor while I'm at it?"
"Ugh, come in."
Siwoo flung the window wide, and Odile flipped inside.
"Ta-da! Me too!"
Odette popped out from above the window next, landing in Siwoo's room.
The twins had invaded before he could stop them.
Even with time to spare, he probably couldn't have.
"Before I ask why you're here, Orgel's in use, right?"
"Of course. Both are active."
Odile wiggled two fingers on each hand.
A cute gesture only her looks could pull off.
"So..."
"Hold on! We wanna talk first."
His headache-inducing situation hadn't changed.
If anything, Odette piling on made it worse.
Still, maybe because of the camaraderie from cheating death together today?
Siwoo was genuinely glad to see the twins.
"We all passed out in the carriage and didn't get to chat properly on the way back."
"Yeah, we have tons and tons we wanna talk about with our assistant."
The room felt old-fashioned and a bit drab, but the twins' bubbly energy lit it right up.
"You weren't gonna send us away just like that, right?"
"Nights like this call for all-night gossip!"
"That sounds good, but... my situation hasn't completely changed. It's still a problem if Amelia finds out, isn't it?"
Odile and Odette exchanged glances, then pointed at the window in unison.
"That's why we brought the carriage for you."
"We can chat noisily all night in there."
"And we have gifts."
Not a bad deal.
He could sleep in until afternoon tomorrow anyway, and given Amelia's recent attitude, she probably wouldn't nag about a late night out.
He was a bit tired from the booze, but...
"Alright."
"Yay! Good choice!"
"C'mon, hand."
Odette bounced with joy while Odile reached out from the window.
They really had no creases.
He wished he'd gotten close to the twins sooner.
The thought slipped in unbidden.
The three escaped out the window via levitation magic and hopped the estate wall, heading to the rose garden where the twins had kidnapped him before.
"When did you park the carriage here?"
"When we dropped you off earlier. We portaled home from here."
"Ah."
So they'd planned to come back for him from the start.
"Teacher seems busy tonight, and with not many chances left to drop by like this, we couldn't just sit still."
"Honestly, we'd love if you stayed here forever."
"Odette! We said no saying that."
"But we've finally gotten close, and I don't wanna say goodbye..."
Instead of walking at a distance like usual, the twins stuck close to Siwoo's sides, bickering softly.
In the end, it was less about time spent and more about what kind of time.
Today's trust and life-risking bond had advanced his relationship with the twins leaps and bounds.
Odette especially hadn't been this clingy before; now she was practically glued to one of his arms.
Flowers in both hands.
A clichéd image came to mind.
Inhaling the fresh, pleasant scent wafting from the twins' heads, Siwoo opened the carriage door.
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