Chapter 699
Chapter 699
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 699
Chapter Title: Torment and Choice (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Three full hours had passed since she'd lined up the lidded food boxes on the table and waited for Si-woo.
The unpleasant agitation she'd felt when she first headed to the Pavilion of Fragrant Moon with the dishes had finally subsided.
Now she could observe the current situation with cooler composure.
First, there was the matter of the wedding ceremony.
She had no intention of making it grandiose or inviting guests.
To vow a harmonious marital bond like the harmony of drum and zither, performing a simple rite in the Pavilion of Fragrant Moon's courtyard according to propriety would suffice.
Of course, she needed to show Shin Si-woo her best side before that.
It wasn't as if she could force a marriage on him just because of their strict master-disciple hierarchy.
Preparing this meal for once was part of that effort.
Linne, who had meticulously sorted everything from start to finish like savoring tea leaves, belatedly recalled one fact.
Come to think of it, according to Yebin, Si-woo had gone to Roji Alu's mansion.
She had vaguely decided to just wait upon hearing that, but she'd completely forgotten why he'd visited the mansion.
On the surface, Si-woo had added excuses like wanting to build connections since he'd be living in Hexennacht from now on.
However, Linne remembered every word he'd said without missing a syllable.
"I've heard the Witch of Silence owns Manya and Malisha."
"And?"
"Since it's a rare chance, I'd like to sample those two as well."
Why hadn't she thought of it until now?
It was a crucial fact that drew an absurd sigh from her lips.
"Sample them."
Linne now knew well what that vulgar expression meant.
Si-woo had headed to Roji's mansion none other than to entwine his body with Manya and Malisha.
"......"
Linne's fine brows furrowed slightly.
Greedy Roji wouldn't provide those two women for free.
From an objective view, Si-woo's appearance and physique were at the peak of male perfection.
If Roji had loose notions of chastity, it was natural for her to feel desire.
If she demanded sexual favors in exchange for stripping Manya and Malisha bare, her wastrel disciple would eagerly comply with a "What a windfall!"
As far as Linne knew, Si-woo harbored no hesitation when it came to indulging in women.
Just from the skillful way he'd trained her that night, it was hard to guess how much experience lay behind it.
In Linne's mind flashed an image of Manya, Malisha, and Roji tangled with Si-woo, creating a harmony of moans.
Her brows furrowed involuntarily at the obscene vision overflowing with flesh tones and flushed mucous membranes.
"......"
Linne was surprised to realize she felt considerable displeasure.
And even more surprised that this displeasure was different in nature from before.
That Si-woo was a utter wastrel was no new information.
She had long recognized it from his lecherous gazes and demands toward Alice, Dorothy, and herself.
Her impression of him had been one of disgust.
How could she look favorably upon a barbarian incapable of tempering his raw desires?
If she hadn't known of his special ability to amplify magic power...
If she hadn't sensed it contributed to the strength of Tiferet Duke, whom she admired and saw as a rival...
Linne would have sold him off long ago.
"...This is..."
But now, something was different.
It felt like a fishbone from an eel stuck in her throat, an irritating discomfort she couldn't dislodge.
A strange impulse surged up, urging her to bolt from her seat and chase after Si-woo to Roji's mansion.
It was an irrational impulse.
Linne's goal was to form a marital vow based on the pure devotion of a wise wife and loving mother, and ultimately to keep him by her side forever as her husband.
In that case, it wasn't right to go seeking out a husband who was late returning from a rare outing.
Didn't that imply reproach and scolding?
A wise wife should turn a blind eye to her husband's faults and support him from behind.
Yet why was anxiety spreading after just a few hours of such resolve?
"I see."
Linne finally pinpointed the source of the whirlpool in her heart.
The key was magic amplification.
He had revealed that it occurred when he had satisfying sex matching his tastes.
Afterward, he'd proven his words true by having vulgar sex with Dorothy.
In contrast, Linne had not received any magic amplification from Si-woo.
At this point, Linne was surprised once more.
Until just now, she'd completely erased from her mind the very purpose for accepting Si-woo: whether or not she gained magic amplification.
In any case, judging from his words, her "slender body" apparently failed to sufficiently arouse his sexual excitement.
Or perhaps for some reason, she hadn't drawn out enough excitement from him.
"......"
Linne's fine brows wrinkled a bit more.
Dorothy had received magic amplification, but Linne had not.
It wouldn't be surprising if that extended to it working for Roji, Manya, and Malisha but not for her.
What if, at this very moment, he was reveling in an orgy of debauchery, unleashing bursts of magic amplification?
Would lustful Si-woo truly accept marriage with Linne, who couldn't provide sexual satisfaction?
"Just how much longer..."
Even after she'd shown him that disgraceful sight, Si-woo hadn't been satisfied.
To match his tastes, just how far did she have to debase herself...?
Linne let out a shallow sigh amid the dizziness and conflict of peering into a darkness she shouldn't.
2.
Si-woo followed Roji's guidance into what served as both her playroom and workshop.
There was nothing particularly different from before, but the moment he stepped in, a wave of discomfort hit him.
Was it the embodiment of twisted innocence?
Unlike before, it wasn't just the discord between the interior and its user that felt off-putting.
It stemmed from inevitably recalling the "collection" inside.
Mama, the toy pierced densely with piercings in sensitive areas, who had submitted to Roji for ten years to save her apprentice witch.
Pina, the apprentice witch locked in another room.
And the original targets, Manya and Malisha.
No matter how affectionately Roji treated Si-woo, this was why he could never condone her.
Her sadism and cruelty in banishing others to utter despair for her own amusement were nauseating.
According to Roji, thanks to Mama's sacrifice, she hadn't touched Pina after the third day, and in about a month, she'd release them both—so he could only hope she kept that promise.
He knew full well there was nothing he could do about it anyway.
"Lady Roji, shall we play the game?"
Si-woo had already received the uncomfortable offer to let him violate Mama.
If he gave her more time, he'd undoubtedly have to witness that sinister torment up close again, so he hurried her a bit.
"Why so rushed? We've got plenty of time. Don't you want to play with Mama? You've been glancing at the door since earlier... Pervert, pervert."
Roji burst into giggles.
Si-woo forced his stiffening face aside and changed the subject.
"More importantly, why keep your collection in the workshop?"
This had been a lingering question.
The walls of this seemingly ordinary playroom were inscribed with complex magical runes even his golden eye couldn't fully discern.
He'd vaguely sensed a connection between Roji's collection storage method and the room's structure.
In other words, her abuse might not be purely an extension of her hobbies.
"This is a distillery."
"A distillery?"
"What do you think is the most intense emotion?"
The response and question came out of left field.
Si-woo answered nonchalantly while setting up the position board.
"Anger, isn't it?"
"Wrong! Too bad."
Roji formed a big X with her arms and grinned.
"The answer is despair."
Her tongue, licking her lips as she continued, resembled the sly serpent from myths.
"Despair has no bottom. Unlike anger, it doesn't consume energy, and unlike love, it doesn't need an object.
Despair is complete in itself, eternal in itself, and with just a little heat, it boils up infinitely."
"......"
"The combustion that flares up when you light long-distilled pure despair—it's pure catharsis. Like an orgasm."
Roji's dazed eyes gleamed with sinister intoxication and pleasure.
The fine hairs on her nape were standing on end; it wasn't acting.
"My workshop is a despair whiskey distillery that extracts that very despair. My magic grows stronger by absorbing it."
No matter how elegantly she packaged it, Roji was still a lunatic.
Clarity returned to her previously hazy eyes.
"Right. I should show you too."
"I'm fine."
"Put that down and come here. It's related to our bet too."
"I really decline."
Roji's expressionless face turned toward the vehemently refusing Si-woo, her smile vanishing in an instant.
"Hurry."
"......"
Then, as if she'd never been serious, she beamed brightly.
"Hehe, I'll show you Pina. She's so tiny, pretty, and cute."
An unwelcome queasiness.
Yet the proposal drew him in to a certain degree.
His worry about whether Roji had kept her promise not to touch the apprentice witch was meddlesome at best, but without seeing for himself, the unease would linger forever.
"Sigh, alright."
Roji didn't seem like she'd back down easily anyway.
With light footsteps like new feathers, Roji approached the door and knocked primly.
"Pina! I'm coming in!"
No response came.
The moment a specific pattern of magical energy flowed from her hand, the door's lock disengaged.
-Click!
Beyond the heavy iron door lay a girl's room brightly decorated.
A translucent glass partition blocked a full view, but compared to Mama's room—which evoked an SM chamber of some perverse tycoon drowning in wealth—it was a comfortable prison.
"Come in."
"......"
Even so, Si-woo felt his heart pounding harder.
It was Roji's expression.
Her pure smile, brimming with excitement like someone eager to show off a toy, gnawed at his insides like a centipede.
"Actually, I have a confession."
"What is it?"
"I broke my promise with Mama."
"Pardon?"
"Ta-da!"
As Roji flung open the partition, Pina lay on the bed with her eyes closed.
Apprentice witches didn't age past a certain point, so witches' appearances weren't vastly different.
But Si-woo could distinguish them by their unique aura.
Pina, lying on the bed with eyes shut, looked even younger than the twins.
She would remain an eternally young apprentice witch.
Si-woo, who could read magical flows, saw it at a glance.
"......"
Pina was dead.
She'd merely been magically preserved fresh as in life.
It was obvious this freshness wasn't out of respect for the deceased.
Her disheveled clothes, tossed aside like a discarded doll, exposed patches of skin here and there, bearing traces of Roji's torments.
The pitiful apprentice witch, unable to become a full witch, was even in death merely toyed with as a plaything.