Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guest (4)
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1.
"How about considering my proposal as well?"
Ea responded to Odile's offer with a lilting, song-like tone.
At least she wasn't completely unreasonable—a small mercy amid the misfortune.
She furrowed her brow deeply, as if lost in profound thought, before finally speaking.
"I absolutely despise those Gemernai bitches. Five years ago, they smashed my mana plant, which was my main source of income, to bits."
Her voice bubbled like churning mud, oozing with thick malice.
She must have harbored a mountain of grudges, because even the refined facade she'd been maintaining crumbled, twisting her face into a snarl.
"What's your name?"
Ea exhaled softly, like an actress regaining her composure, and asked.
Odile straightened her shoulders, fighting the urge to shrink back, and replied.
"Odile. Odile Gemernai."
"Alright then, Odile. If you obediently follow me and make your sacrifice, I'm willing to let the rest of them go."
"What's your proposal?"
A sinister smile crept across Ea's lips.
"First, I need to test if your courage is genuine."
"No need for that. I'm not afraid of death."
"Calm down and hear me out, dear. This is what lies ahead for you. Ignorance breeds courage sometimes, doesn't it? Or who knows—maybe once you hear it, that fledgling bravery of yours will crack."
Ea wagged her finger briefly, tilting her head, then began laying out her words calmly.
It was a scenario for a brutally cruel revenge play.
"First, I'll rip out your uterus raw. No anesthesia, of course.
Though inferior to a full stigma, an apprentice witch's vessel is still valuable research material. Don't worry too much about this part—I've done it plenty of times before. No matter how agonizing it is, you won't die. I'm curious what pretty cries you'll scream with."
Even in words alone, her threat reeked of blood as she eyed Odile's lower belly.
Odile shuddered under that gaze, as if stripped bare.
"After that, all you'll have left is a pretty little body marred by a tiny scar. I'd normally dispose of an exile like that, but as I said, I have scores to settle with Gemernai. And that's not all—I'm a natural cheapskate. So, to make the most of you, Odile, I'll turn you into my wallet."
She licked her lips.
Her body trembled as if ecstasy from imagined revenge alone was sending her into orgasmic bliss.
"I love wandering the mortal realm. Raising travel funds on-site is always a hassle. And that's when you step in! With your delicate looks, sell your body to the local men and bring back the cash. Easy, right?"
Witches generally amassed vast wealth even in the mortal world.
Inheriting a stigma from their predecessors often came with generations of accumulated fortune.
No witch of her power would ever lack mere travel expenses, exile or not.
In other words, her scheme stemmed purely from sadistic cruelty—a vicious pastime.
"A day has twenty-four hours, and apprentice witches need sleep... Hmm, twenty men a day should suffice."
Ea asked as if seeking Odile's agreement, then barreled ahead on her own.
"I'm so excited. What to do? My heart's already racing...
Oh, and! If you fail to meet your quota, there'll be punishment.
How about a toe for each failure? Once your feet are stumpy like tree stumps, we'll move to fingers. Then arms and legs, eyes and tongue... I'll chop you down bit by bit."
The flush on her cheeks wasn't just from gleeful fantasy.
It was unmistakably tied to sexual arousal.
A cruel ecstasy and sadism incomprehensible to Siwoo or the twins bloomed like poisonous mushrooms amid her words.
Odile's legs trembled as if she might collapse any second, while Odette let out choked sobs, tears streaming down.
"What do you think of my proposal? Even for Gemernai, seeing their apprentice witch turned into a world-touring whore might make their eyes roll back, no?"
"You mad bitch..."
"Ugh..."
The words slipped from Siwoo's lips unbidden.
Odile couldn't endure the palpable malice and retched onto the floor.
Odette's legs gave out, and she crumpled to the ground.
As the delusional rant ended, Ea clapped her hands, somewhat regaining her senses.
As if the petty torment was over.
"...On second thought, I'll withdraw the offer. No need to take just you, Odile—grabbing both twins gives me two wallets.
If you miss your quota, punish your sister, and vice versa. That sounds way more fun.
Sisterly love in tears—I want to see that touching drama."
Siwoo was convinced by her flip-flopping after sowing terror.
This woman was insane. Fighting was the only path left.
Ea's crimson eyes, chin raised, swiveled toward Siwoo.
They no longer seemed like cursed jewels.
Only visceral revulsion, like guts pulled out and mashed together, remained.
Siwoo twisted open another bottle of mana essence.
He gulped down its contents entirely.
This was a life he'd already considered lost.
Pleading to spare the twins was long gone.
This ruthless witch brooked no half-measures.
He would fight.
Egg against rock, futile thrashing like a circus trick.
Clinging to the slimmest hope, he would fight.
"Pierce."
In the fear-frozen air,
Siwoo raised his spear of pointless resistance.
The spear he'd honed over three years fleeing injustice.
Now aimed at evil itself.
2.
Amelia was curled up tight.
In Gehenna's nameless grove of paper trees.
She'd fled to the small cabin where her master's memories lingered.
Huddled on the rocking chair where her master always sat reading,
face buried in the blanket she'd always used, clinging desperately like a baby burrowing into its mother's embrace.
"Master..."
No matter how tangled things got, coming here melted it all away with warmth.
She could cling to fleeting fragments of the past, weep and laugh in dreamlike escape.
No amount of time could erase the illusion of gentle hands stroking her hair.
"I'm back, Master..."
She needed none of it.
Not the dizzying array of desserts, the bittersweet tobacco smoke, the flashy clothes.
None of it.
Relationships with others only brought wounds.
Clutching her tearing heart, she repeated that Amelia Merrygold belonged here.
"I won't go anywhere anymore..."
Rubbing her cheek against the blanket, curling tighter, Amelia squeezed her eyes shut.
And...
"Sigh, I knew it'd be like this."
The one time Amelia had been truly happy.
A firm voice snagged her dive into those shared memories.
Amelia whipped her head around to look behind her.
There stood Sophia, arms crossed, wearing a pitying expression.
"Wh-who told you to barge in here? And how did you even know about this place..."
"If things went well, I wouldn't have needed to trek to the mansion, and if they went south, you'd never come crawling back to me with your personality. Obvious."
In truth, had she followed Sophia's advice to the letter, reconciliation would've gone smoothly.
But Sophia never overestimated Amelia's emotional skills.
Anticipating disaster, she'd leisurely turned into a crow and flown to the cabin.
And here she was—things had derailed faster than expected.
"I want to be alone. Please leave."
Sophia spotted the tears welling in Amelia's eyes.
She sighed deeply and approached.
"Tell me what happened."
"Wh-why should I tell you..."
"We're friends."
It had been ages since Sophia last saw Amelia look this forlorn—since returning to Gehenna, at least.
The always emotionless wax doll finally feeling something was a relief as a friend.
But how could she ignore her clutching the old master's blanket and sniffling pathetically?
"Spill it. I'll listen. No mocking or thinking it's funny."
"........."
"Of course, if you deserve a scolding, I'll give it. But trust me—it'll feel way better than bottling it up."
Sophia squatted on the floor, matching eyes with Amelia slumped over the armchair.
Amelia's quivering lips parted.
"A mere... slave... dared to... spout such nonsense at me... He... insulted me... And I, for him... I suggested gifts he'd like... proposals too..."
Amelia stammered in a thin, cracking voice.
Her tone teetered on the edge of bursting sobs.
"He insulted you?"
Sophia's jaw dropped.
As someone close to Amelia who'd observed her slave many times, she knew.
He wasn't some revolutionary saint or hero—tough and eccentric.
Setting intellect aside, he was just an ordinary guy: timid, cautious, with a kind streak.
The idea of him cursing at Amelia point-blank didn't compute.
How badly had things spiraled for this?
"I can't forgive him... No, I won't even care anymore... No apologies... I hate it all... I'm done... I listened to you again this time, and..."
"Did you even apologize properly?"
"...I was going to... I wrote it on paper... practiced... but..."
Amelia poured out the whole messy story to Sophia.
From what she gathered, Amelia had proposed making him her assistant.
And pushed the apology aside to ramble her own agenda first.
"This is just..."
Shattering his sole hope of going to the mortal world, then dangling compensation like charity? No wonder he'd snapped.
"...I can't get mad... I wanted to, but I couldn't. He was crying... I made him cry, right? Because of me?"
Tears finally spilled from Amelia's eyes, trickling down her cheeks.
Poor Amelia.
Sophia reached out and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Amelia, Amelia... Aigoo... I should've explained more."
"...Hic..."
Amelia, who would've shoved Sophia away from pride alone, stayed still and nestled obediently in her arms.
Sophia stroked her small, round head.
"I don't know how to face him now... I hate him, yet... remembering him crying... my chest feels weird... It aches, hurts, burns... I can't do this or that..."
"It's okay. Everyone messes up. What matters is owning it."
"I can't... I won't anymore..."
To Sophia, it was a laughably feeble swing.
But to Amelia, it was her best shot on tiptoes.
Seeing that haughty girl reduced to this stirred pity first.
Still, pity aside, some truths had to be told.
"Amelia."
"........."
"There's one story I want to share with you."
A petty tactic that felt like cornering her, one she'd hesitated to use.
But now...
"It's about the day you went on that date with Assistant Siwoo to Border Town."