City of Witches Chapter 258

What in the world is happening?

Siwoo froze for a moment, staring blankly.

When humans encounter the unexpected, their thoughts grind to a halt.

Siwoo, having discovered something he hadn't anticipated in the slightest, was in a state of complete mental shutdown.

The pajama top was so thoroughly undone—as if he had unbuttoned it himself—that it could no longer function as clothing.

Out of five buttons, three were unfastened.

“…….”

He knew he should look away, but he couldn't.

Just as one becomes entranced by a beautiful work of art, he found himself unable to avert his gaze.

The pale, defenseless breasts of his beloved Master, Eloah Tiferet, were on full display.

He had anticipated their size from the cleavage visible when she wore a sports bra or the natural way her pajamas lifted, but they were larger than he'd imagined.

Was it the sheer impact of bare breasts?

By rough estimate, they seemed to be around a D-cup.

They had a lovely shape, like ripe peaches sliced in half and placed cut-side down.

At their tips, cherry-like, tiny nipples glistened, proudly displaying their color, while faintly gradated pink areolas lay beneath like plates holding the fruit.

The combination of the half-removed top—not fully taken off, but pulled aside as if hastily undone during lovemaking—and the peach-like breasts was intensely captivating and bewitching.

“…….”

“…….”

Then, belatedly, his slow, half-beat-late thoughts caught up with reality.

Breasts exposed by an accidental mishap.

Just how would the duke react to this?

As he tensed up at the thought of the awkward and embarrassing explanation time that lay ahead, a sound came from below his knees.

“Snooore… Snoooore…. Snoooooore…..”

Siwoo closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Eloa had fallen asleep at just the right moment.

Her snoring was particularly loud today, but given that she showed no reaction even in this situation, she must have been in a deep sleep since she closed her eyes completely earlier.

“Phew… Thank goodness.”

Siwoo’s low mutter to himself.

“……”

Eloa, feeling the thump-thump-thump of her pounding heart, lay stiff as a board, pretending to be dead like a rabbit playing possum.

Her heart was beating so fast she worried he might hear it.

No.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t time to relax yet.

Eloa had only succeeded in pretending to sleep; her breasts were still exposed.

And right in front of Siwoo, no less.

Stay calm, stay calm.

Nothing has changed.

Nothing has changed at all.

Wasn’t the whole point of asking for a massage to stop seeing him as a man in the first place?

Even now, she could just act as if she’d briefly dozed off, wake up, and behave as if it were nothing.

Eloa repeated this endlessly in the narrow gaps of her frantic thoughts.

But having already panicked at the unexpected exposure and pretended to sleep, the likelihood of her resolve holding seemed slim.

Once someone flees, facing the situation again is difficult.

“Hmm….”

While Eloa anxiously watched for the right moment to wake up, Siwoo’s hand slipped out from under the back of her neck.

At that moment, the scene that bloomed cloud-like in Eloa’s mind…

Ironically, it was the image of Siwoo fondling and playing with Periwinkle’s breasts as if they were his own.

The memory of him roughly thrusting into Periwinkle while squeezing her breasts hard enough to distort them, sucking and pulling on her nipples, even slapping them with his palm as if striking her cheek—why was this surfacing so vividly now?

Eloa, who had been fluttering her eyelids, pondering when to wake up, froze completely.

Why was this memory suddenly resurfacing here?

Right.

It wasn’t because she saw Siwoo as a member of the opposite sex; it was because that shocking scene she witnessed had been etched in her mind.

Eloa desperately tried to reason it out in a way she could understand.

Then, Siwoo’s low voice reached her.

Even the sound of him swallowing his saliva echoed like thunder.

“Master, are you asleep?”

That question felt like a kind of crossroads.

She could pretend to have just woken up now, open her eyes blearily, and show the “unfazed Master” she had originally planned to be.

Or she could continue pretending to sleep, avoiding half the awkwardness of the moment.

Eloa definitely intended to get up.

But once again, her body wouldn’t listen.

Honestly, she had no confidence she could act composed after opening her eyes.

She didn’t even know how to look at him.

Normally, she wouldn’t wake from just having her breasts fondled in her sleep.

At least to Siwoo, Eloa would appear completely defenseless.

Just what would he do?

Suppressing her anxious heart, Eloa waited for his decision.

Would he grab them, thinking she was fully asleep? Would he touch them?

That shouldn’t happen… it really shouldn’t… she stomped her feet internally, even as her unspoken imaginings grew clearer.

-Rustle!

She sensed him moving.

Even with her eyes closed, the presence of someone moving nearby was surprisingly noticeable.

From the warmth heating the surroundings, the sounds, the shadows—she could roughly tell what posture he was taking.

Siwoo’s hand reached toward Eloa’s chest.

Holding her breath, harboring anxiety about what would happen next, it felt almost silly…

“Must be having another bad dream.”

Siwoo fumbled with the fabric, then carefully began fastening the buttons, taking great care not to let his hand touch Eloa’s skin.

His constant fumbling with the clothes made the process oddly slow.

Eloa realized why.

It shouldn’t take this long to fasten a single button.

Siwoo was tidying her disheveled clothing while deliberately averting his gaze to avoid seeing her half-naked state.

All out of consideration for an unconscious Eloa.

‘Siwoo….’

Eloa couldn’t help but be moved.

She felt ashamed of herself for having presumptuously assumed he might harbor lecherous thoughts while she slept.

Wasn’t she a Master inferior to her own disciple?

After meticulously fastening the last button, Siwoo finally let out a deep sigh.

Soon, an arm gently wrapped around Eloa’s legs and back.

Siwoo had scooped her up in a princess carry—she had been lying perpendicular to the bed—and laid her down properly.

Now it was all over.A strange mix of relief that she could fall asleep without worry, and a peculiar sense of defeat that she had broken her own resolve in less than an hour.

A thick hand gently stroked Eloa's hair as it tangled in complex ways.

At first, Eloa had tensed, wondering what this was about, but she soon calmed down at the emotion contained in that hand.

"......"

This was a comforting touch.

Just as Eloa had done for Raphi when she was struggling, it was a touch filled with warm affection and concern.

Unaware that Eloa was awake, Siwoo must have thought her stiff posture or tense expression was due to a nightmare.

For a first time, it was a touch that felt too familiar.

Since when had he been doing this?

Siwoo sat sideways on the bed for a long while, stroking Eloa's hair.

The hair flowing slowly through his fingertips.

The cool sensation whenever his fingers occasionally touched her scalp.

Above all, the strong feeling of affection and the bond between the two.

Whether master and disciple saw each other as man and woman, or what kind of gaze he held for Eloa.

At this moment, none of that felt particularly important.

The tension melted from Eloa's body.

The earlier nervousness and embarrassment dissolved like snowflakes under the spring sun, and sleep gently crept in.

Soon, Eloa fell completely asleep.

"Kuu..."

That day, Eloa did not have a nightmare.

Instead, she dreamed of riding a horse with Raphi across the wide, grassy expanse of the Mendel Hills.

It was a comfortable sleep, the likes of which she hadn't known in how long.

Siwoo opened his eyes.

It seemed he had slept a little longer than usual today.

If it were a normal day, dawn would just be breaking, but judging by the pleasant sunlight streaming through the window...

"Hmm?"

Squinting his eyes and looking up, he saw a pink silhouette shimmering.

And he belatedly felt the hand calmly stroking his head.

"Are you awake?"

"Is something the matter?"

Siwoo was momentarily bewildered.

The person who continued to caress Siwoo's head was Eloa.

With an apron over her pajamas, she was sitting on the edge of Siwoo's bed, idly smoothing his hair.

"Nothing's the matter. I just wanted to try it, that's all."

Usually, when Eloa looked at Siwoo, she wore a faint smile that seemed to say just looking at him was enough.

But the expression she wore now was a much more tender, benevolent smile.

It was an expression that made one think... if Eloa's Apprentice Witch were alive, she might have looked at her with such a face.

"Your sleeping face looked just like a baby's."

Feeling oddly embarrassed by Eloa's words, Siwoo sat up, smoothing his tousled hair as he asked.

"How long have you been watching?"

"Not long. You were sleeping particularly soundly today, and I felt bad waking you. It's good you're up now. Come out, I've prepared breakfast."

Eloa got off the bed and headed to the kitchen.

Following slowly, he saw a pot bubbling on the induction cooktop.

It was the smell of chicken noodle soup, one of the dishes she was confident in making.

It was a dish they'd been eating almost every morning lately because it wasn't too stimulating and was said to be easy on the stomach.

Next to it was bacon emitting a faint smoky aroma, and bread toasting to a golden brown inside the toaster.

"Wait a moment. It'll be ready soon."

"Can I help with anything?"

"You always ask, even though I always say it's fine."

Eloa bustled around the kitchen, serving a breakfast made with great care.

Siwoo, as always, set the tableware and milk.

"Thank you for the meal."

"Eat as much as you like, there's plenty."

As one could see, the amount of food was clearly not for just two people.

Whether Eloa had a generous hand or not, whenever she cooked, she made enough to feed an entire family at once.

Even though, as a Spirit Body, she didn't need to eat food at all.

Was it always her wish to make sure Siwoo ate his fill?

Of course, there was no reason to refuse Eloa's signature breakfast, perfect from presentation to taste.

As usual, he waited for Eloa to take the first bite, but...

"...Is something wrong?"

Eloa wasn't picking up her utensils, just looking at Siwoo.

"Siwoo."

"Yes."

"Thank you."

The sudden expression of thanks made his head tilt slightly, but he could roughly guess what it was for.

Since meeting Siwoo, Eloa had gained a sense of ease.

It was as if the feeling she had during their first meeting—like a bowstring pulled taut, ready to snap at any moment—had vanished.

For her, who had experienced the pain of loss, Siwoo was likely serving as a kind of companion, filling a void.

Perhaps this gratitude was for that? He vaguely surmised.

"Truly, thank you."

Eloa clasped her hands and prayed that this happy peace would continue into the future.

A prayer that would likely go unanswered.

So fleeting.