City of Witches Chapter 110

It had been a long time since they had dinner together.

After Siwoo collapsed, Amelia hadn't put anything in her mouth besides alcohol and cigarettes.

She hadn't had the time or the mood for it.

The long table in the dining room was laden with a feast fit for at least ten people.

The main course was a whole roasted suckling pig, its skin crackling crisp from being repeatedly basted with boiling oil, surrounded by a lavish spread of various dishes.

Though sharing a meal with Siwoo was an even rarer and more joyous occasion, Amelia couldn't feel entirely at ease.

It was because of Siwoo's reaction upon waking up.

That subtle distance and fear.

Even though his memories weren't fully restored, Amelia had taken such a negative place in his Unconscious that he instinctively felt adverse emotions toward her.

That fact pricked at her heart painfully.

Separate from that, however, Amelia had a duty to convey the accurate facts to Siwoo.

"So, if I understand you correctly, Amelia-nim, you're saying I was originally 28 years old, and after an accident during my recovery, I suddenly became younger?"

Sitting on a chair piled with several extra cushions to make up for his height, Siwoo spoke while gauging Amelia's expression.

Around his neck was a napkin Amelia had personally tied for him.

Judging by his expression of having heard something preposterous, he didn't seem to believe it at all.

To be honest, Amelia herself wasn't sure where to even begin explaining this.

"I see..."

But he didn't rashly try to doubt Amelia over his questions.

Though she didn't know if that was because of the instinctive fear he felt toward her.

"Then, could you tell me what I need to do? I'm sorry, but my memories are a bit... how should I put it, tangled up."

"There's nothing special you need to do. Just stay here until your body recovers."

"Is that really okay? I'm Amelia-nim's slave..."

Seeing his thoroughly cowed expression, Amelia pretended to drink water to avert her gaze.

Knowing she was the very one who had driven him to make such an expression, despite him knowing nothing properly, she couldn't bear to face him anymore.

"Slave... you're not."

"Huh?"

"I destroyed the slave certificate while you were lying down."

She had chewed over every single word he had spat out in resentment on the day Siwoo got angry at her.

There was only one thing he had wanted most, to the point of loathing.

Freedom.

Remembering that, Amelia had gone to the city hall on the day one month after he collapsed and completed the procedures to destroy his slave certificate.

"I see. Thank you."

Siwoo wore a bewildered expression.

Seeing his reaction, Amelia thought:

She had felt it for a while now, but he was remarkably mature for his age.

While most others seemed to have reverted to their childhood selves, his ability to judge situations and consider his surroundings was nothing like a child's.

Rummaging through her old memories, Amelia herself at that age had been nothing but a foolish child.

-Clink clink

After that, no particular words were exchanged between them.

Only the awkward sound of cutlery clashing filled the dining table.

Apologizing to Siwoo was something she should do after all his memories returned.

Because the current Siwoo wasn't in a state for normal judgment.

"Thank you for the meal."

As soon as Amelia put down her utensils, Siwoo put down the knife with which he had been slowly slicing the pork.

Seeing this, Amelia spoke.

"If it's not enough, you can have more."

"No, this is plenty."

Judging by his reaction, it seemed he had been pretending to keep eating until Amelia finished her meal.

In the past, she had taken such behavior of his for granted.

Why did it ache her heart so much to see Siwoo constantly watching his step like this?

After the meal, they got up and headed to the second floor together.

Whenever they used to walk side by side, his head had been much higher.

Seeing Siwoo, now so small and cute, felt extremely awkward.

"Well then, get a good rest. If anything is uncomfortable, please call me."

"Yes, Amelia-nim, sleep well too."

Just as they were about to return to their respective rooms.

Standing at the fork in the central staircase, Siwoo suddenly grabbed Amelia.

"Um, Amelia-nim."

Amelia was slightly flustered, having not expected him to speak first.

"I'm listening."

Siwoo hesitated for a moment, then said to Amelia.

"Actually, I don't really know what happened... but I wanted to say it's okay."

"What... do you mean?"

"You apologized as soon as I came to, right? Of course, I don't know exactly what it was for... but I think it'll probably be okay. I want to forgive you."

".........."

Struck as if hit on the head, Amelia nodded vaguely.

"I... see..."

"Ah..."

How must Amelia's ambiguous reaction have seemed to Siwoo?

Siwoo turned pale and hastily apologized.

"I-I'm sorry! It was presumptuous of me to say such a thing..."

"No, no, no...!"

Amelia flusteredly tried to soothe Siwoo.

After repeating several times that it was okay until he seemed reassured, Amelia watched him open his door and go in, then entered her own room with complicated feelings.

'I want to forgive you.'

Forgiveness.

Words she hadn't dared hope for.

But Amelia knew.

According to Duke Keter's words, Siwoo's body would soon return to its original state, and his tangled memories would gradually recover as well.

The forgiveness Amelia had just received from Siwoo was an empty shell.

Because it was forgiveness offered by the boy Shin Siwoo, who had forgotten everything Amelia had done to him, who feared but did not hate her.

"....Forgiveness...."

Even though it was just that, Amelia felt so saved that she stood dazedly in place for a while.

She felt like crying like a fool.

Amelia took out the rum placed on the display and plopped down on the sofa.

Absentmindedly putting a cigarette in her mouth and about to light it, she thought of Siwoo.

She seemed to recall hearing that secondhand smoke wasn't good for the body.

Smoking posed no problem for a Witch, but Siwoo was human.

Not to mention his body was that of a fragile child.

Amelia quietly snapped the cigarette and poured liquor into an on-the-rocks glass.

It seemed like it would be another night full of thoughts for some reason.

2.The night was deep, but sleep still did not come easily.

Amelia, who had been repeatedly opening and closing books, pointlessly rising and sitting back down, lying on the bed and tossing and turning, could bear it no longer and abruptly stood up.

Walking just a dozen or so meters would lead to Siwoo's room.

In truth, Siwoo still seemed uncomfortable around Amelia, so if she were to consider his feelings, it would be better not to seek him out unnecessarily.

At least until he regained his precise judgment and memory.

"...I need to check if he's sleeping well."

But wasn't Siwoo in a freshly recovered state?

It had been a sudden recovery.

Since one never knew when something might happen, it was important to keep watching over him.

Even though she knew Duke Keter likely wouldn't make such a basic mistake, Amelia stubbornly convinced herself and headed towards Siwoo's room.

Thinking that perhaps seeing his sleeping face might ease her complicated feelings a little.

Holding her breath so the sound of opening the door wouldn't wake him, Amelia stepped into the room.

".........!"

It seemed Amelia's considerate heart had ultimately come to naught.

For as soon as Amelia entered the room, she saw Siwoo on the visible bed, who had been buried under the covers up to his head, flinch.

The timing was too coincidental to be mere tossing and turning in sleep, and above all, the movement was too pronounced.

Amelia checked the pendulum clock in one corner of the room.

It was past 2 a.m., yet he still hadn't fallen asleep.

Beside the bed.

Sitting in the chair where she always watched his face and held his hand, she carefully pulled down the covers.

"Ah... Lady Amelia, I'm sorry. I know I should sleep early... Oh, wait, wasn't that something you told me?"

Siwoo, avoiding eye contact and rambling as if he had done something wrong.

Though it was she who should be feeling apologetic.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter when you sleep. Or when you wake up."

"Sor... sorry..."

Amelia, in the gentlest voice possible, waited a moment for him to calm down a bit so he wouldn't be frightened, then continued.

"Is there something uncomfortable keeping you from sleeping?"

"N-no, not that..."

"Shall I bring you some warm milk?"

"Ah, no. It's just..."

After a long hesitation, Siwoo cautiously opened his mouth.

In a way, he seemed terribly embarrassed.

"I'm a little... scared."

"Ah."

I see.

Amelia realized.

She had been so immersed in the thought that the person before her was Siwoo, and had overlooked a fact due to his remarkably mature demeanor for his age.

Right now, he is unmistakably a child.

Amelia, too, when she was young, would startle at the shadows of trees swaying in the wind and sleep fitfully.

If there was an open closet door, she would firmly close it before sleeping, and fearing monsters under the bed, she would fill the space beneath so densely that no monster could lie there.

On days when storms raged and thunder and lightning struck, that wasn't enough, and she would run to her Master's room.

At such times, her Master would read her fairy tales until she fell asleep, or sing her lullabies, or lie down with her and chat until Amelia grew tired and dropped off.

A child is an age that needs care.

Only then did Amelia understand the meaning behind Duke Keter's words, 'He'll require a lot of hands to look after.'

"Shall we sleep together?"

As she absentmindedly recalled memories with her Master after so long, an unexpected phrase escaped her lips.

It wasn't exactly her true feelings popping out, but once spoken, it seemed like a plausible thing to say.

"Ah, no... It's fine!"

Followed, as expected, by Siwoo's polite refusal.

Well, of course, feeling such unpleasant emotions and fear, he wouldn't suddenly accept such an offer.

Just as Amelia felt slightly dejected and was about to be quietly disappointed.

Siwoo spoke again.

"Um... Lady Amelia..."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Then... would it be okay to ask just for today?"

His eyes wide open, asking shyly—how utterly adorable he looked.

Amelia thought she understood why her Master had poured so much love upon her, foolish and mischievous as she was.

It was a sight that awakened the maternal instinct inherent within.

"Is here comfortable? Or would you like to come to my room?"

Gently.

Carefully, so as not to frighten him, she brushed his forehead.

At first, Siwoo seemed flustered as if experiencing unfamiliar kindness, but perhaps gaining confidence, he clearly conveyed his wish for the first time.

"That drawing over there feels somehow too eerie. I'd like to move rooms."

Where he pointed was the tree-shaped Magic Formula he had drawn.

Indeed, seen in such a dark place, it did feel somewhat spooky.

"Alright."

As Amelia nodded, Siwoo swiftly threw off the covers, got up, and slipped on his slippers.

He stood straight in an awkward posture, as if unsure how to behave around her.

"Ah."

While reaching out to retie his eyepatch, which had become disheveled from his fidgeting, Amelia realized something.

"Would it be okay to take off your eyepatch for a moment?"

"Ah, yes. Lady Amelia."

Removing the eyepatch revealed his left eye.

It didn't move, and even a slight closer look showed no vitality whatsoever.

It was an artificial eye.

Duke Keter had reversed his time, and he had become a child, yet the left eye wounded by Ea remained unrepaired.

As Amelia stood holding the eyepatch for a long while, Siwoo fumbled over his own face.

"Why, why are you doing that?"

Of course, Siwoo couldn't possibly know.

Amelia lightly shook her head and fastened the eyepatch again.

"It's nothing. Let's go."

It seemed she needed to hear more from Duke Keter regarding this matter.

Amelia returned to her room with Siwoo.

Author's Note (Afterword)

I went for a walk in a nearby park, enjoying the spring breeze—it was so nice! Recharged!