Chapter 864
Chapter 864
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 864
Chapter Title: Common Drama (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Magic was no different from a comprehensive academic discipline.
For a witch, it wasn't just reasoning and computational ability that mattered.
Those born into a witch's bloodline possessed an aesthetic eye and sensibility surpassing even seasoned artists, and they refined their cultivation ceaselessly to keep it sharp and untarnished.
Deneb was no exception.
Distinguishing the crude from the refined was the bedrock of an artist's cultivation.
From the moment she first laid eyes on Siu, she had thought him extraordinarily handsome.
But a beautiful appearance wasn't necessarily a prerequisite for love.
Deneb hadn't harbored feelings for him from the start, after all.
She admired him aesthetically, yet as in every moment of her life, she felt no romantic affection toward the man named Shin Siu.
Hers had been a life honed solely to glorify magic and her family name.
Matters of love between man and woman held less value than the office supplies scattered across her desk.
So when had Deneb begun to hold him in her heart?
When had this forbidden love, which should never come to pass, taken root?
The first time they verified things from behind?
Or when she ended up feeling pleasure and making a fool of herself?
When she replayed that joy alone in her handplay?
When she casually dropped hints to Siu late at night, using further verification as an excuse?
Or was it some other time?
When they were both captured in the aquarium?
When that beast who couldn't resist his desires and touched the twins risked his life to protect Deneb?
During their honeybee sex to recharge mana?
Or when she finally crossed the line, wrapping her legs around his waist?
She couldn't know.
No matter how many times she pondered it, Deneb's first love felt just like this downpour.
She thought it had barely touched her, but before she knew it, it had soaked her to the bone—a slow, insidious trap that drew her in, from which she could never escape.
The difference was that unlike rainwater, no spell existed to cleanly wash away the heart's feelings.
"At least cover up with this."
"I'm fine. It's not that cold."
"Why are you letting yourself get soaked like this?"
"I just... wanted to try it once."
Deneb snapped her fingers, flicking away the water.
Siu and Deneb stood side by side in the gazebo prepared for tea parties on pleasant days or when admiring the garden.
Siu took off his outer coat and draped it over Deneb's shoulders.
Since Siu towered a head above Deneb, she looked utterly swallowed up inside the garment.
"...Thank you. Oh, you can keep smoking if you want."
"No, it's fine. I just finished."
Deneb subtly buried her nose into the fabric, pretending otherwise.
The faint scent of tobacco and his body odor mingled with the chill of winter rain.
"......"
"......"
For some reason, a brief silence fell between them.
Deneb and Siu gazed at the rose vines that bloomed year-round.
What was he thinking?
In that very short silence, Deneb could hear her own heartbeat echoing in her ears.
This was the first time she had been alone with him since that day.
The fantasies that had replayed endlessly clashed against the far more merciless and solid wall of reality.
She felt that boundary more sharply than ever.
The real him had kindly draped his coat over her, but he didn't devour her rain-soaked form with greedy eyes, nor did he lure her to a secluded spot by suggesting they warm up by the fireplace.
Deneb parted her heavily bitten lips.
"I heard about your thesis. Impressive."
"It's nothing. I'm still miles away from matching you, Lady Deneb."
"Even so, congratulations. Now the twins..."
Deneb hastily cut herself off.
She had meant to say, "Now you'll be a match even the twins won't be ashamed of."
But uttering those words would make the wall between her and Siu—far higher and more unyielding than the one separating fantasy from reality—take on solid form.
She feared that.
"You're a proper witch now too, Siu."
"No, I'm too late to the game. All this time, I've been nothing but trouble, and now I finally feel like I'm pulling my weight. Or should I say, doing my duty as a witch?"
Deneb laughed at the empty joke, despite not feeling like it.
Siu had probably forced it out to dispel the overly damp mood.
"By the way..."
Siu cleared his throat and hesitated once.
Deneb stiffened her shoulders, unable to even look at his face.
"You're really okay, right? Nothing's wrong?"
Contrary to Deneb's expectations, he let the pause linger a bit longer.
Was he trying to confirm something?
Or checking if she'd changed her mind?
This game of fire wasn't easy for him either, after all.
So he was leaving these hints only they could understand, waiting.
Until the strange current flowing between them solidified into certainty, no longer a mirage-like illusion.
"I know it might sound presumptuous, but... if something's up, tell me. I might be able to help."
"N-No, it's not... presumptuous at all. Thank you for worrying."
Her heart beat just a fraction faster at his follow-up words.
He couldn't possibly be unaware of Deneb's recent "troubles."
He wasn't pausing; he was naturally steering the conversation.
And the words that followed were just as she'd anticipated.
"Oh, right. The sample you asked for... I wasn't sure how to send it, so I've been keeping it for now."
"I see."
Deneb's heart ignited with optimistic crimson.
Like a sunset plummeting into a deep abyss.
Vermilion flames burning bright even knowing doom awaited.
"Should I give it to you now? Keeping it around feels a bit awkward, you know."
"......"
"Where... did I put it?"
"In my room for now."
Deneb's heart was no longer merely pounding.
It thrashed wildly, as if it might leap from her throat with each beat.
Without magical control, he would have heard it clearly.
"Siu, is anyone else in your room?"
"...Pardon? Oh. No one's there. Don't worry. I packaged it well."
From the context, "In my room" meant he wanted to invite her there.
His ready "No one's there" to her question about others meant they could be alone without interruptions.
Her hunch had been right.
He had been waiting for her to make the first move.
She didn't resent him for it.
It couldn't have been an easy decision for him either.
The weighty burden of her heart lifting lighter than a feather in an instant—that rare sensation could only come from love.
"Let's go."
If she'd known it would come to this, should she have dressed up a bit more?
Was it really okay to follow him like this?
She'd drunk so much that she reeked of alcohol—wouldn't he think it was just impulsive drunkenness?
Was she truly committing an irredeemable sin against the twins?
Momentarily, conflicting emotions twisted within her.
Her head screamed NO, while her heart rejoiced YES.
"...Siu."
"Yes?"
As Siu opened the umbrella, Deneb recalled a faint possibility she'd hitherto dismissed.
"I want to hear the truth. No more lies."
She voiced the question she'd truly, truly never wanted to utter.
It was a desperate plea for that final word to sever her hesitation.
"You knew all along, didn't you?"
She pressed on quickly.
"You knew that sex toy was linked to me by Dorothy's magic. And you used it every day? Because of me..."
Raising her bowed head, Deneb felt a dizzying plunge, as if the ground had vanished beneath her.
Siu, holding the umbrella, wore the expression of someone about to be crushed by a speeding dump truck.
Siu hadn't given any real answer yet.
Deneb hadn't even finished speaking.
But the moment she saw his face.
She realized it had all been her delusion.
A woman's intuition, sharp only in such moments.
"Ah."
Her tangled thoughts began rewinding neatly.
Now she understood.
Shin Siu hadn't noticed despite all the openings she'd left.
His obliviousness stemmed not from personality or temperament, but from trust in her.
He hadn't been sending signals through the onahole.
He hadn't pretended ignorance after realizing its true nature.
He simply hadn't known.
Deneb had spun her fantasies alone, hardening her confirmation bias toward what she desired.
"......"
Siu remained frozen in the pose of opening the umbrella.
As if a massive boulder had jammed the gears of his thoughts.
"Haha..."
Deneb realized she was laughing.
Better this way.
She could brush it off as a joke.
Seeing her laugh, Siu's rigid expression softened slightly.
He, who had always thought, "No way little mother-in-law would do that," would take her shocking words as an over-the-top joke.
Then everything could go back to normal.
Better this way.
The forbidden love would end as an unrequited dud, letting her stand a bit more upright before the twins.
Deneb truly believed that.
"I've always thought, Siu."
But as the last flicker of hope burst like a bubble.
The instant she realized it had all been a mistake.
Deneb felt an impulse she could no longer contain.
"Ahh... How nice it would be if there were an emergency brake to pull when you realize your feelings are wrong."
Siu's eyes widened gradually.
At some point, Deneb was embracing his waist fiercely, pressing her lips to his.
A soft, pliant tongue forced its way halfway in.
Ending the sorrowful kiss, Deneb felt a shock like cold water dumped on her head.
"Odil... Odet..."
Her cheeks, which had been hot against Siu moments ago, hardened.
She looked no different from a mother caught in incest by her children.
In truth, it wasn't much different.
Blood aside, master and apprentice witch were like mother and daughter.
"Little Master... I'm so disappointed..."
Odet's tears mingled with the raindrops.
The twins turned and vanished without a chance to stop them, leaving Deneb alone in the downpour.
At her feet, the gift box containing the fountain pen rolled across the rain-slicked ground.