Chapter 653
Chapter 653
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 653
Chapter Title: Spy (4)
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1.
“Hng…!”
Alice bolted upright in bed.
The cold sweat from last night's nightmare met the chilly air of the room, doubling the chill that seeped into her skin.
Her pounding heart. An unfamiliar landscape. The brazier that had burned low through the night and finally gone out. Glorious moonlight.
A gust of cold wind slipped through the slightly open window and into her sleeve, snapping her fully awake.
“Ah…. Right, that's what happened….”
This wasn't Lodge's mansion.
It was the Sword Witch's Fragrant Moon Pavilion.
She had been sold at auction and become Si-woo's maidservant, ordered by Rinne to seduce him and extract information.
As Alice caught her breath, sorting the boundary between reality and dream, something occurred to her, and she flung back the covers.
She checked her body.
First, the indoor dress she'd been given temporarily.
It was a bit disheveled, but only from tossing and turning in her sleep.
Her undergarments were fine. Untouched.
No unusual heat or pain in her lower abdomen, either.
“Haa….”
She'd feared being assaulted while asleep last night, but it seemed nothing of the sort had happened.
Relief washed over her, mingled with disappointment.
If it had to happen anyway, it would've been better unconscious…. That lingering thought fueled her letdown.
Come to think of it, there was no one around.
The bedding was neatly tidied except for hers, and there were no signs of life.
Alice rose with a lightness she hadn't felt in ages and walked the corridors.
The hallway was spotless, without a speck of dust, just as it had been yesterday.
As she walked, clutching her collar against the draft, a sharp clanging echoed from afar.
-Clang! Clink-clang!
Following the sound, Alice came upon Rinne and Si-woo locked in combat.
Si-woo wielded a spear, Rinne a sword, clashing in the center of the training grounds.
It didn't look like they were going all out—more like sparring or training.
If they were serious, Alice, unable to use magic, wouldn't even catch a glimpse of their shadows.
A master and disciple sparring wasn't unusual.
Back in her apprentice witch days, Alice had dueled her own master in magical combat.
Rinne was a famed swordswoman known as the Sword Witch, and Si-woo had proven his spear skills against her before. It made sense they'd become master and disciple.
Alice leaned against a pillar and watched their practice for a moment.
“……”
But Si-woo—that man was truly strong.
Who was Rinne?
A freak like the Tiferet Duke, dancing with a blade amid witches who fought with magic—a sword demon.
Even holding back, Si-woo's unflinching exchanges with her made Alice think her own defeat had good reason.
However.
“What the….”
Just five minutes into eavesdropping on the spar, Alice couldn't hold back her shock.
-Thwack!
The spear shaft whipped in a ferocious crescent, striking Rinne's shoulder.
A sound too massive for human flesh rang out, staggering Rinne's form.
It wasn't a mere feint—the blow had aimed for her temple but glanced off.
What shocked Alice more was Rinne's reaction and Si-woo's attitude afterward.
It had to be an accident.
Too much force beyond their agreement, leading to mishap.
At that point, stopping would've been natural….
But Rinne, recovering her balance masterfully from near-collapse, exploited the opening to swing her sword at Si-woo's wrist.
-Slash!
Alice couldn't follow the exact exchange.
But after tangling repeatedly, kicking, elbowing, and swinging deadly weapons, they parted.
“Hoo…. Hoo….”
Si-woo's arm hung limp.
Pain furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction.
Beneath his rolled-up sleeve, his forearm was torn open.
Blood gushed, dripping from his fingertips to scatter on the ground, yet he didn't drop the spear.
He wedged it under his armpit, aiming it slantwise at Rinne.
Rinne tested her shoulder a few swings, then switched the sword to her other hand when it wouldn't obey.
Neither's battle intent had waned.
Far too brutal for cozy master-disciple exchange—like watching two gladiators.
The bloody sword dance ended with Si-woo, struck by an unseen technique, rolling across the dirt.
The surreal scene didn't end there.
An Eastern witch appeared from somewhere and began treating them.
The wounds closed in seconds—she was a specialist healer or tuner.
After finishing with deft hands, Yebin Smirna passed Alice on her way out.
2.
Her situation was grim, but she couldn't just sit idle.
Back in her room, Alice spoke with the witch who'd introduced herself as Yebin Smirna.
Unlike Si-woo, recently captured, Yebin had stayed at Fragrant Moon Pavilion for quite some time, taking on healing duties lately.
As someone who'd watched Si-woo for a week, Alice decided to probe her.
“That was sparring just now?”
“Yes.”
“Spar twice like that and you'd kill someone. Blood everywhere? Injuries bad enough for healing magic?”
“It's close to real combat, apparently….”
According to Yebin, Rinne and Si-woo repeated those spars sixteen hours a day, six days a week.
An insane schedule that'd rot your breath with exhaustion.
No wonder—with that level of madness, he'd become a public figure, and she his disciple.
“What do they do the rest of the time?”
“At night, I give him about an hour massage….”
The word “massage” from Yebin's lips confirmed Alice's suspicions.
She had piles of questions about Yebin and the Si-woo she'd observed.
But with her mission, she couldn't be too direct.
The witch seemed mild-mannered, but who knew her true nature?
She might have orders from Rinne, like Alice.
“What kind of massage?”
She asked casually, and got a bite immediately.
“Just applying healing salve all over his body…. That's it. He falls asleep exhausted right away.”
Yebin's prim face flushed pink, and she averted her eyes.
Of course.
If not for nightly trysts, why share a room?
No mixed bathing, either.
And with no real duties, stuck in this ambiguous healer role, it was obvious where the power tilted—between detainee Yebin and nominal disciple Si-woo.
High chance demands for intimacy.
“Tough job.”
No need to climb to the treetop to test the waters.
She shook a branch instead.
“Don't hate it?”
“No, better to have a role like this.”
“Hm…?”
“No work, no one to talk to—having something to do eased my mind a bit.”
Alice nearly let contempt show and barely schooled her expression.
Selling her body for safety and calling it “better.”
No different from what Alice had done—or what she must do.
Her frown at Yebin's words was self-loathing projected outward.
The rest of the talk yielded little.
Yebin, tipped off to withhold info from Si-woo, was cautious; Alice, lost in thought, too.
3.
Night fell.
Hexennacht was always night, so by the clock.
Nominal maid to Si-woo, but he'd sparred all day, leaving her idle.
Feeling eyes on her for lounging, she grabbed a rag and bucket to scrub the floors.
For Alice, who'd never clipped her own nails, it was her first menial chore.
The mansion, smaller than her villa, felt vast cleaned solo—even with Yebin's help, her hands blistered.
“Urghhh….”
Finishing the hall before her room, she spotted Yebin and Si-woo at the far end.
“Lady Alice, we'll pass first.”
“Yeah, I'll drop this off and head in.”
Si-woo, slumped like a zombie, blind to her; Yebin supporting him to the room.
Peeking through the door crack, Alice saw him strip and flop onto the bed.
She'd guessed, but naked, his body was vicious.
Muscles like a murder weapon, clashing with his pretty face.
“Sorry as always. Just me lounging.”
“It's fine, mana depleted, and this is secretly… Hot! Nothing.”
She should've cleared the bucket, but….
Alice held her breath, observing.
“No issues?”
“Nah, same old. Oh, helped Lady Alice clean today.”
“Explains why it's extra tidy.”
“Liar, you didn't notice.”
“Ahaha….”
Yebin mounted his back, kneading from shoulders down naturally.
Their talk and actions defied Alice's expectations.
No sexy banter—just plain chatter.
The massage was ordinary, like ones Alice knew. No intimate touches.
Minding her presence?
But why insist on buying her as maid, sharing a room, if that cautious?
“Just a mask that'll slip soon….”
It wouldn't be long.
Alice had two days.
She figured he'd pounce somehow within.
Yet day broke, another passed.
Nothing between them.
“This is trouble.”
Twelve hours left.
Only then did Alice realize something was wrong.