Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Self-Contradiction (1)
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1.
"Then let's put that aside. You don't need to figure everything out today, right?"
"Sigh... Okay."
Amelia stubbornly refused to acknowledge the root of her feelings for Siwoo.
For instance, no matter how Sophia led her after asking, "Why don't you want to let Shin Siwoo go?", Amelia only repeated childish answers like, "Because he's mine."
She didn't so much as mention love, let alone fondness, goodwill, or even liking him.
The rigid witch within her seemed utterly unwilling to accept that she harbored any special emotions for a slave.
Or, to be more precise, she was confused about what those special feelings even were.
"Anyway, you want Assistant Shin Siwoo to stay, don't you?"
"I admit that much."
"So what should you do? The fact that he's prepared over days—not just one or two—means his resolve to escape is rock-solid."
Amelia thought it over before speaking up.
"Confiscate his magic research materials and mana essence, and keep him under strict surveillance so he can't pull any stunts."
"Amelia, do you really think that's the right move?"
Sophia wore a look of dismay.
"But he's a slave, even if he can use magic..."
"And then what? Sure, he'd be stuck with you, unable to leave. But he'd hate your guts—intensely. Didn't you ask me last time how to get along better with Assistant Siwoo?"
".........."
In the midst of it, she caught on.
No matter how childish Amelia acted, she couldn't possibly be oblivious to such an obvious truth.
She was just throwing a tantrum because the answers weren't coming easily.
No point in talking further.
Sophia decided she'd rushed things.
"This seems like the last advice I can give you."
"What's that?"
"Do things he likes. Show him you're reflecting on your past mistakes and regretting them. Show him you want to be close."
"...You think that would actually work?"
One trait of those who've lived alone too long is their ironclad stubbornness.
In that sense, Sophia hadn't expected Amelia to swallow her advice wholesale.
Still, someone had to give her a nudge, right?
"Of course, it's your choice."
The consultation dragged on far longer than expected before wrapping up.
Sophia stood by the small window, gazing at Amelia's retreating figure.
Her steps looked terribly heavy.
Even as she passed through the door, Amelia showed no sign that her frustration had eased.
Witches couldn't have children, but if she had a daughter hitting puberty, wouldn't it feel just like this?
Amelia was an emotional infant.
Eons of isolation had turned her into one.
She had no clue how to build proper relationships with others—or even how to recognize her own feelings.
Love was the trickiest of human emotions.
There was no way Amelia could grasp its complexities in one go.
And no one could simply teach it to her.
You had to learn it firsthand—sometimes from sleepless excitement, sometimes from heartache, sometimes from headaches born of utter confusion and torment.
Which was why Sophia's advice consisted of nothing but commonsense platitudes.
Spell it all out, and Amelia would just come crawling back the next time trouble hit.
"At least we parted on good terms. Hope it works out for her."
What Sophia could offer wasn't the answer.
Just a direction.
How Amelia navigated from there was up to her.
Mistakes were inevitable, of course.
Unexpected snags would crop up, things would veer off course.
"Makes me anxious..."
But what could she do?
"That's love for you."
2.
She'd thought seeing Sophia would lift her spirits a bit.
While Amelia outranked her in magic, Sophia's worldly travels had armed her with plenty of sage counsel.
Yet after the talk, Amelia's head felt more tangled than ever.
It was like she'd shouldered a bunch of angles she hadn't even considered.
Before she knew it, she was back at the mansion, ascending the central staircase awash in morning sunlight.
Left led to Amelia's room.
Right, to Shin Siwoo's.
Standing at the fork, Sophia's advice bubbled up unbidden.
Maybe because her gaze had drifted unconsciously to his door.
'Do what he likes.'
What he liked.
Her mind instantly replayed Siwoo lost in ecstasy, receiving fellatio from Odile.
Do what he likes?
In her hazy fantasy, Odile's figure morphed into her own.
Revulsion.
Amelia scowled fiercely and stormed into her room.
"Think I'd stoop to that?"
She muttered to thin air, huffing indignantly.
It was a vulgar act.
Kneeling beneath a man solely for his pleasure, sucking on his filthy member.
"........."
But he'd loved it so much.
That was probably why he'd warmed up to a witch he'd previously ignored.
Amelia sank into thought.
Of course, no way in hell was she sucking his cock—not even if the sky split in two.
A glance.
"...Ahem."
What caught her eye was a glass vial crammed onto the shelf—thick and cylindrical, like a blunt pillar.
An essential oil she'd extracted from plants and animals herself, one of the ingredients for her perfumes.
Amelia rose on tiptoe to pluck one out.
Its round shape, girth, length...
No turtle head, but roughly comparable to Siwoo's member?
She'd observed his erections plenty of times—not just yesterday, but in multiple lessons.
Do what he likes.
Do what he likes.
Do what he likes.
Do what he likes.
Sophia's words echoed and howled endlessly in her skull.
Cigarettes hadn't worked. Neither had clothes or cake.
What about this?
Was she being stubbornly obtuse in the weirdest way, just like Sophia implied?
Amelia swallowed hard and parted her lips just a touch.
This absolutely wasn't practice.
A baroness witch like her would never debase herself with something so lewd for him.
She was just curious. What did it feel like?
With that settled, Amelia flicked out her tongue and lapped at the base of the oil-filled vial.
Her soft tongue slithered over the smooth glass.
No spark, as expected.
Amelia ramped up the intensity a notch.
Recalling Odile's motions, she figured it went something like this.
She gripped the vial with both hands and gingerly slid it into her mouth.
It was quite the mouthful.
She had to gape her jaw to the limit, and with her mouth so cramped, she could only breathe through her nose.
"Hss... Hng... Hm..."
Like this?
She steadied the vial—oil sloshing within—with her hands and bobbed her head experimentally.
A few unpleasant clinks of glass, but the motion itself wasn't tricky.
*Slrp... Schlp...*
Frankly, the act wasn't hard in terms of technique.
Just disinfect his cock thoroughly, then suck it like this vial.
That firm, massive, oddly erotic thing of his, gripped in hand...
A weird sensation hit her out of nowhere.
Something she'd never felt in her life.
An itch crawling through her veins like insects.
Tingling at her fingertips and toes, her lower belly twisting uncomfortably.
"...Hm..."
Amelia pondered, vial still in mouth.
Then she started bobbing her head back and forth in earnest.
*Schlrp... Sluuuurp... Slurrrp...*
The sounds were just like when Odile had sucked him off.
Teeth on glass felt gross, so she kept her mouth pried wide and worked diligently.
With each motion, that ticklish bodily sensation grew stronger.
True to her status as a top-tier witch, Amelia's mind had already vividly recreated last night's tryst.
Whenever Odile bobbed like this, Siwoo's face twisted in pleasure.
Keep stimulating, and he'd probably spray that milky baby batter.
Maybe because her mouth was full, her breathing grew labored.
It felt like only half her lungs were working.
Unbeknownst to herself, Amelia had hunched awkwardly, thighs clenched tight.
Her hand drifted instinctively between her legs.
It itched down there, somehow.
Scratching it wasn't ladylike, but it promised sweet relief.
Just as her hand stretched toward the thin nightgown fabric...
A voice from behind.
"Lady Amelia."
"Eek!"
Reality crashed back, like waking from a stroll in a dream garden.
Amelia yanked the vial from her mouth and whipped around.
There stood Siwoo, flustered mid-sentence, words dying on his lips.
"........."
"........."
How deep in the zone had she been?
She hadn't even shut the door when she entered.
Heck, she hadn't heard him open it or walk down the hall.
*Crash!*
The vial slipped powerlessly from her hand and shattered.
Still salvageable.
Her back was to the door.
He'd just come in—he couldn't have seen exactly what she'd been doing.
"I'll clean it up."
Siwoo rushed over upon spotting the broken glass.
"Ah... N-No! No need!"
"Pardon?"
So flustered she raised her voice to stop him.
Seeing Amelia like this for the first time, Siwoo halted abruptly.
With the vial shattered, saliva marks would be obvious.
What if he noticed while picking shards?
Even without seeing details, he might piece it together.
"I'll handle it."
Amelia chanted a spell, and the scattered shards along with the oil puddle vanished neatly into the trash bin.
She let out a quiet inner sigh of relief.
"What is it?"
Pulling off her best nonchalant face, Amelia sat with legs crossed.
Regrettably, it was a nightstand, not a chair—and a sub-lamp sat right there.
*Crash!*
Pushed by her rear, the lamp tumbled and met its end against the floor, just like the vial.
Lack of a rug there was the main culprit.
"........."
Amelia sighed, then tidied it with magic as before.
She crossed her arms casually once more and eyed Siwoo.
Siwoo hesitated briefly before speaking.
"I did have something to say... but you look busy. Sorry. I'll come back later."
"........."
"Then, see you later."
*Creak... Thud!*
The door shut.
Watching Siwoo's painfully awkward exit, Amelia knew instinctively.
He'd seen the whole thing.
"Uuu..."
The absolute worst scenario.
Amelia stared at the floor, face beet-red, on the verge of tears for a good long while.