City of Witches Chapter 116

A week had passed.

Amelia and little Siwoo's daily life was peaceful.

Amelia took care of him, giving him five drops a day of the potion Duke Keter had handed over.

Just as her Master had done for her.

It wasn't that she was doing this in hopes of being forgiven when he regained his memories.

It was Amelia's affectionate feelings toward Siwoo and her desire to pass on the love she herself had once received to someone else.

The fact that she could do something for him, that Siwoo trusted and relied on her, made her unbearably happy.

Perhaps thanks to Amelia's efforts.

Siwoo, who had initially been frightened just by the sight of Amelia, gradually began showing her familiarity.

"Lady Amelia."

"Siwoo, have some cake."

Siwoo, who had been diligently scribbling something at the desk in his room, saw Amelia and hopped down from his chair to greet her.

His body was growing day by day.

While it's said that children grow quickly, Siwoo's case felt abnormally fast.

It seemed his height increased by about a centimeter each day, and his memories were also returning rapidly.

His memories of Magic, in particular, were recovering especially quickly.

"Thank you."

"Let me know if it's not enough. I'll bring more."

"No, this should be plenty. Would you like some too, Lady Amelia?"

"Shall I?"

Amelia set the cake down on Siwoo's table and glanced at the paper he had been diligently scribbling on.

On it, basic magic knowledge was organized in Siwoo's own way.

"Is your studying going well?"

"It's really strange. Magic comes to mind like these are very old memories."

"...That's probably because your memories are gradually returning."

"Lady Amelia, I have a question. Why does this part lead to this formula? I tried proving it my own way, but something... it's not working out."

"Let me see."

Amelia picked up Siwoo's solution, which filled the entire paper with writing.

It was advanced.

The formula he was deriving was the 'Yesod Mana Field First Law' created by Countess Yesod, also known as the essence of Reverse Field Dynamics.

While there seemed to be variation in which memories returned at what speed and depth, even considering that, it was a complex and notoriously difficult formula to prove—one that a young Amelia wouldn't have been able to touch.

"........"

Until now, Amelia had always given Siwoo very appropriate answers whenever he asked.

Not giving him all the answers, but observing how far he had reasoned on his own and only providing clues to help him realize things himself.

But this time, even Amelia was left speechless.

She could certainly recognize the early part of the formula proof.

It was solved and written using common, basic Magic Formulas.

But from the middle onward, a completely different interpretation and approach was written.

It felt familiar.

This was the same feeling she had when she saw the draft of a Magic Circle Siwoo had written in the past.

A situation where a third party like Amelia could only grasp the outline because it was constructed using his unique approach and interpretation method.

Although it wasn't as distinctly original as back then, it was clear that 'his own formula' was mixed in.

"Lady Amelia?"

Siwoo's innocent eyes looked at Amelia with a puzzled expression.

Amelia looked back at Siwoo with a slightly confused gaze.

"Why did you write it like this?"

"I just wrote it down as it came to mind, like I've been doing. Actually, I was looking at that tree when this approach suddenly flashed into my head."

Where Siwoo pointed with his pen was the Fractal Tree he had engraved like a mural when he had transcended human limits.

It was also a deformed Magic Circle that deviated so completely from existing forms that Amelia couldn't understand it in the slightest.

What this suggested was clear.

Siwoo's memories were gradually returning.

"Did I do something very wrong?"

"Siwoo, why don't we take a little break?"

"Huh? Why? I was just getting to the interesting part where I don't understand something..."

Amelia calmly soothed Siwoo, who seemed genuinely disappointed.

"If you focus too much on one thing, your efficiency might actually drop."

"Yes, Lady Amelia."

"I'll spread a mat in the garden. Let's have tea together. I'll bring the cake too."

"Yes."

Stepping out of the room a step ahead of Siwoo, she gathered her confused thoughts.

She needed to prepare the mat, and the black tea Siwoo would drink with the cake...

While rummaging through the cupboard to prepare the tea set, Amelia let out a deep sigh.

"Hoo..."

It felt like waking from a sweet dream.

The reality she had briefly forgotten pressed down on Amelia's chest once more.

These past few days.

Amelia had been so happy that if asked to choose the happiest moment recently, she would unhesitatingly pick this past week.

Watching Siwoo grow steadily and learn Magic, seeing his height increase each day, and observing their relationship grow closer day by day had helped her overcome some of the loneliness and solitude of the past.

Every moment—waking up with him, strolling through the garden, sharing various small talks over meals, eating Kipuishi's cake that she loved most, and falling asleep together—was a small, precious happiness for Amelia.

Siwoo, who trusted and followed Amelia.

Siwoo, who smiled when he saw Amelia.

Siwoo, who slept tightly hugging Amelia.

And.

Siwoo, who didn't hate Amelia.

She knew all of this was a momentary Miracle created by Magic.

However, the past had not been settled, and the reality Amelia feared still crouched, waiting for its time.

The established fact she had forcibly forgotten during these warm, blissfully happy days surfaced the moment she saw Siwoo's formula proof.

It had been five years.

Siwoo's resentment was long and deep.

The same was true for Amelia's own karma.

She didn't harbor the naive thought that a mere few days of peaceful life could overturn it all.

She just wanted to savor it for a while.

The warmth of family she felt for the first time since her Master passed away, the comfort of peaceful days, this moment of joy in being together.

She was merely fumbling endlessly in foolish attachment.

But even that would soon end.

Amelia reached into her pocket and pulled out the potion Keter had left.

The potion, already about one-fifth gone.

This was the fuse that determined how long Amelia could enjoy this empty happiness.

And even now, Amelia could cut that fuse, could stop it.

What if she stopped giving him the potion like this?Will his memories never return?

Or perhaps, could the happy moments spent with him last just a little longer?

An imagination truly selfish, despicable, and repulsive—merely evading, turning a blind eye, and endlessly postponing the fundamental problem.

Like the sweet coaxing of a serpent, the impulse of misguided desire fills her chest.

"Lady Amelia!"

Siwoo's voice, calling for Amelia, reached her ears. He had apparently already stepped out into the garden.

It seemed she had lingered too long.

The bright, friendly voice momentarily washed away the delusions that had been drifting like dark clouds.

Amelia gazed at the potion bottle for a moment before tucking it back into her bosom.

That would be wrong.

Amelia had always run away.

She realized that even this hesitation stemmed from an impulse to flee.

Repeating past mistakes is the act of a fool.

Amelia had learned from Siwoo that she couldn't keep running away forever.

"I'll be right there!"

The day had ended.

Gazing at the star hanging on the edge of the horizon, Amelia retrieved the long-neglected violin from a corner of the room.

It had been carefully stored inside a case enchanted with preservation magic.

Magic is a discipline for which the term 'fusion study' is not at all an exaggeration.

Given that a Witch's nature almost forcibly demands artistic cultivation and discipline, Amelia too had once diligently played the violin.

The Master on the piano, Amelia on the violin.

Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Bach, Fritz Kreisler.

They didn't discriminate by composer if the Master procured the musical score, and if there was a concerto, they played them all.

For the young Amelia who disliked Magic, it was also her happiest time.

"........"

She rested her chin on the chinrest and grasped the neck.

It felt unfamiliar in her hands after so long.

Thanks to the preservation magic, it hadn't rotted away, but it wasn't properly tuned either.

Amelia adjusted the bridge's position, tightening or loosening the strings to tune them.

-Screech

The violin, which hadn't been taken out since she became a Witch, whined resentfully as if complaining about its owner who had returned after far too long.

Her fingers, once moving freely, had stiffened, and even her posture for holding the bow felt awkward.

But after drawing the bow across the strings a few times, a performance remembered by her body began, as if old memories were reviving.

The tremor at her fingertips transmitted through the strings.

Even the beautiful melody lingering in her ears.

Forgotten things were coming back to life.

She herself didn't know why she had found the courage to play this violin again now, or what whim had taken her.

Amelia closed her eyes, surrendering to memory, and continued playing for a long while.

"Wow..."

When she opened her eyes at the sudden intrusion of noise, she saw Siwoo's figure peeking from beside the door.

At the interrupted performance, Siwoo apologized with a crestfallen expression.

"Ah, Lady Amelia... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"It's alright, the sound isn't like it used to be. I was about to stop soon anyway."

Siwoo stepped into Amelia's room with a much more informal attitude than before.

He didn't even ask the polite question of whether he could enter now.

Feeling that their relationship had grown that much closer, Amelia felt a slight sense of pride.

Simultaneously, she also felt a pang of sorrow.

"Are you tired?"

"Yes, I think I studied Magic too hard today."

It was getting late.

Just seeing Siwoo's half-closed, sleepy eyes and his sleepwear indicated it was nearing midnight.

"I'll tidy up. Do you want to wait in bed first?"

Siwoo now took it for granted that he would go to bed with Amelia.

Even Amelia, who usually didn't sleep well, also took it for granted that she would retire to the bedroom for Siwoo's sake.

"Before that..."

Siwoo hesitated for a moment, then sat on the sofa placed before Amelia.

"Lady Amelia, I'd like to hear you play a little more. It sounded so good."

"Really?"

Such a simple conversation was something that had become unfamiliar to Amelia, and something she had missed.

Enough to somewhat fill the void in her heart created by fragmentation and loss.

Amelia approached Siwoo, stroked his head, and asked.

"Is there a piece you'd like to hear?"

"Any piece would be fine, I think. Honestly, I don't know any."

Watching Siwoo sit up straight, preparing to listen attentively, Amelia gently moved the bow across the strings again.

Throughout the performance, the melody didn't reach her ears.

If only this moment could last just a little longer...

That small wish, like a lament.

She merely repeats it, over and over again.