City of Witches Chapter 112

A boisterous voice cutting through the leisurely garden of Amelia's mansion.

The Twins, who had emerged from the Academy via a Portal, were running across the garden, generously using Water Lizard Step.

“Run, Odette! Odette! Why are you so slow!”

“Sissss! Wait for me a little!”

Something similar had happened before.

The Twins who had come panting and stumbling upon hearing that Siwoo had woken up,

what they discovered was a Siwoo as blunt as a puppet.

After that, the Twins, submerged in sorrow, grabbed Countess Gemernai as soon as they returned to the mansion and threw a tantrum, begging her to teach them healing magic.

Gemernai, who could guess the Twins' feelings, had no choice but to open the mansion's secret library and let the Twins in, and they threw themselves into their studies.

How long had they been groaning while flipping through incomprehensible professional books there?

Good news was delivered through the head maid, Galina.

The news was that none other than Duke Keter himself had personally stepped forward to treat Siwoo.

As soon as they heard that, they threw down the piles of books and papers and came to find Siwoo.

Because they were confident that if it was Duke Keter's treatment, this time he must have been completely cured.

The Twins, who rushed up to the second floor as soon as they opened the front door and entered, went straight to Amelia's room and knocked on the door.

“Associate Professor! Associate Professor!”

“May we come in?”

The door sliding open.

Amelia, who they faced like that, had a rather bright expression for the first time in a while.

Actually, she wasn't the type for emotions to show on her face, but the atmosphere was like that.

If just a while ago the atmosphere was like dark, heavy clouds floating above her head, now it was as if a rainbow was floating with clear sunshine.

“Is it okay to meet the Assistant?”

“We heard the Assistant has recovered!”

““We want to go play with him!””

Amelia, who hesitated for a moment at the Twins' words, spoke.

“You don't need my permission anymore. Assistant Shin Si-woo is no longer a slave.”

“Huh?”

“Go see him.”

At the curt guest expulsion order without detailed explanation, the Twins quietly came out.

Not a slave? What does that suddenly mean?

“What's going on?”

But seeing the Assistant's face is the top priority, over pondering deeply.

Besides, no matter what happened, isn't it a story that they can freely play with him without permission anymore?

“I don't know. But is that important?”

“No. Isn't it actually a good thing?”

The Twins, like baby rabbits out for a stroll, hopped and skipped and flung open the door to Siwoo's room.

“Assistant, we're here!”

“Assistant, we've come!”

Inside the room bathed in unusually warm spring sunlight today.

Siwoo, who had been diligently writing something down at the table, flinched in surprise and looked at the suddenly opened door.

And the Twins saw.

A tiny little kid sitting in his place, instead of the sturdy young assistant Shin Siwoo.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

A moment of silence.

Siwoo tidied the paper he had been scribbling on, got down from the chair, and greeted the Twins.

“Hello.”

Black eyes and black hair.

Exactly the same as Siwoo's.

Moreover, even wearing an eyepatch over the left eye.

Even the strangely similar appearance made the Twins tilt their heads, wondering what this was about, and they asked.

“Kid, do you happen to know where Assistant Shin Si-woo is?”

“Ah, I am Shin Siwoo... though...”

“......?”

“......?”

The Twins, who had been looking at Siwoo's face for a while, looked at each other.

Before their confusion could deepen, Siwoo explained.

Though the exact details are unknown, he went through some ordeal and his body has become like this now.

His memories are also partially mixed and blurred.

But he says he can recover soon.

The Twins, who had been listening calmly, shook their heads in unison.

“Aha, so the Assistant has become a kid?”

“Yes, yes... it seems so.”

“Assistant, do you remember who I am?”

Siwoo pondered for a while, then said to Odette.

It was like recalling a math formula memorized long ago.

If he desperately concentrates, something like a faint memory floats up.

“Lady Odette, is that correct?”

“Correct!”

“Then, what about me?”

Odil also placed a finger on her own chest and asked.

Siwoo answered this time too with a bright voice.

“You are Lady Odil.”

“As expected, you don't forget me?”

Odil nodded with a satisfied expression.

Once the simple verification and situation assessment were over, the Twins quietly looked at Siwoo's appearance anew.

As the initial awkwardness of the first meeting was swept away by his explanation, Siwoo's current state began to sink in clearly.

Odil and Odette walked lightly over and stood in front of Siwoo.

Once they confirmed his safety with their own eyes, a lively little Siwoo review session erupted for a while.

“Your height became shorter than mine?”

From the small height that barely reached Odil's chin.

“Sis, look at his skin. It's totally baby skin!”

The clean skin without a single scar, due to having reverted to childhood.

“Assistant, your pajamas suit you so well!”

Light blue polka dot pajamas.

They fit perfectly without any sense of incongruity.

To the point it was hard to believe this person was that tall, handsome Assistant Siwoo.

So they poked and prodded at this and that as if admiring a doll.

They grabbed his arms and spun him around, and poked his cheeks.

While Siwoo was dumbfounded by the Twins' boisterous welcome ceremony and stood dazed.

Odil, who belatedly came to her senses, cleared her throat.

“Assistant.”

“Yes, Lady Odil.”

Because as soon as she saw this appearance, something she really wanted to hear popped into her mind.

Odil, with a face flushed red with excitement, spoke clearly.

“Say 'Odil noona' for me.”

“Huh? Me too! Please say 'Odette noona' for me!”

“Stay still, Odette, I'm going to hear it first!”

“Let's do rock-paper-scissors, Sis! This is unfair!”

“What are you talking about? I came up with the idea first, didn't I? It's your attitude of trying to butt in now that's unfair.”

Before Siwoo could even give one answer, watching the Twins start bickering back and forth, he smiled awkwardly.

That appearance was exactly like Assistant Siwoo, making them think once again, 'So this is the Assistant's childhood.'

“Odil noona, Odette noona.... Like this?”

As if to stop the Twins' pointless quarrel, Siwoo spoke almost without a gap, very quickly.

“........”

“........”

The Twins, who had been noisy about who would hear 'noona' first, tightly closed their mouths.

Staring intently at Siwoo's face, they simultaneously fell quiet.Wondering if he had done something wrong, Siwoo repeated himself in a different order.

“Odette noona, Odil noona. I was worried you might fight for no reason...”

“........”

“........”

Even after the correction, the Twins just stared at Siwoo with their mouths half-open.

Though Odil and Odette were Apprentice Witches, first and foremost, they were girls who liked cute and sweet things.

Siwoo’s cute and sweet, unintentional aegyo was firepower enough to melt the Twins’ hearts, which had been cracked by division.

“Kyaa! Little assistant, you’re so cute. Look here, look at these soft, squishy cheeks.”

“So cute, so cute! Assistant, you’re adorable!”

Odil clung to Siwoo, pinching his soft cheeks and rubbing her own against his.

Odette also made a fuss, hugging Siwoo, letting him go, and stroking his head.

After stroking Siwoo for a long while and exclaiming “cute” about two hundred times each, Odil and Odette hugged him tightly.

The Twins, who had been fervently adoring Siwoo, clung to him, their lips melting into smiles.

“Holding him a bit brings peace to my heart...”

“Unnie, let’s take our assistant home and raise him...”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep hugging him between us?”

“Ung...”

They smiled warmly, as if they had already brought Siwoo to their mansion in their minds.

Meanwhile, Siwoo, sandwiched between the Twins, floundered, his face turning red.

“Assistant, so your memories haven’t really come back? How much do you remember?”

“Do you not remember playing with us either?”

“No, I only remember your names and that you’re Apprentice Witches... But, could you please let go of my neck?”

“Ah, sorry, sorry.”

Only after seeing Siwoo’s discomfort did the Twins finally release him.

“Assistant, you saved our lives twice.”

“When you were an adult, Assistant, you were really cool. But I think I like you like this now too...”

Siwoo felt inexplicably shy at the Twins’ appearance, as if they were dying of cuteness, and averted his gaze.

The Twins tugged at Siwoo’s sleeve, urging him.

“Anyway! That’s not the important thing.”

“Right, Assistant! Don’t you want to go play with us?”

“Play...?”

“Yeah! Don’t hesitate. Let’s buy clothes and go to the grand bathhouse together.”

“Unnie, that’s a great idea! Assistant, assistant! Do you know how beautiful the grand bathhouse is? I really want to go with you. We go at least once a week too.”

“But...”

To Siwoo, the Twins were practically strangers.

After all, all the memories he had built up were currently Sealed.

However, he felt a strange sense of familiarity, and because they treated him so well, he didn’t feel the same sense of rejection he had when he first saw Amelia.

“Yes, I’ll go.”

“Yay!”

“Good thinking, Assistant! Ugh~ so cute.”

Odil stroked his head vigorously just for giving one answer.

Thanks to the Twins, who exclaimed “cute, cute” no matter what he did and bounced around excitedly, Siwoo’s mood lifted a bit too.

After all, at his young age, no one dislikes praise.

“But first, I need to get permission from Lady Amelia.”

“Huh? But Assistant, you’re not a slave anymore...”

“Hold on, Odette, that’s right.”

“Okay.”

Since the only clothes that fit Siwoo were the pajamas Duke Keter had dressed him in and sent him back with, he went out in his pajamas.

“Unnie, why do we have to get permission?”

“First of all, it’s a matter of courtesy.”

Crossing the corridor, he heard the Twins’ chatter through the closing door.

-Knock knock

When he knocked, the door slid open.

Amelia was sitting at the table, catching up on her research backlog.

In truth, she had gained a lot by leaping over the wall of the 22nd Hierarchy once more.

Now that Siwoo’s condition had somewhat stabilized, she was finally organizing it all.

“What is it?”

Clearly, he had agreed to play with the Twins, but seeing Siwoo slip in alone, Amelia tilted her head and looked at him.

“Lady Amelia, would it be alright if I went out to play with the Apprentice Witches?”

Compared to yesterday, a sense of ease was felt in Siwoo’s attitude toward Amelia.

She had taken care of him so devotedly, like a mother, leaving a good impression.

Moreover...

The memory of fondling Amelia’s chest yesterday came to mind.

He didn’t know what he was thinking at the time, but looking back now, it was an incredibly embarrassing act.

That sensation kept resurfacing, making it impossible for him to look her straight in the face.

Even though she herself acted completely unfazed, as if it didn’t bother her at all.

“You may go.”

“Thank you.”

As Siwoo bowed politely, Amelia added.

“And Siwoo, you don’t need my permission anymore. You are neither my slave nor anything else now.”

“But you’re still the one looking after me. I thought it was proper to ask out of courtesy.”

Taken aback by the unexpected reply, Amelia paused for a moment, then nodded lightly.

“In that case, just let me know your destination when you come and go from now on. There might be problems otherwise.”

“Yes. Then...”

“One last thing, Siwoo.”

“Yes?”

Amelia called Siwoo to a halt.

Because something had just flashed through her mind.

Namely, the image of his past self, who, if not full-on intercourse, had engaged in physical relations with the Twins.

After hesitating for a long time about whether to say it or not, she finally spoke in a very roundabout way.

“...Don’t do anything too naughty with the Apprentice Witches.”

Siwoo tilted his head.

He showed no sign of understanding, but in truth, he didn’t think anything would happen.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll be back, Lady Amelia.”

Siwoo bowed again from the waist and left the room.

Amelia rose from her seat and stood by the window.

Looking down at the garden, before long, she saw Siwoo being led by the hand by each Twin, running toward the Academy.

Watching him, she somehow felt as if she had become the previous generation Marigold.

After all, everything she was doing for him were things she had received from her Master.

She had no intention of seeking forgiveness through this.

So why did she keep wanting to do something for him?

Lost in deep thought, Amelia watched as the three figures grew distant.

Author's Note (Afterword)

In my estimation, Amelia's redemption arc is less than 30% complete.