Chapter
City of Witches Chapter 290
Three days had already passed since the formal lessons began.
To counter the newly emerged rival, Sharon Evergreen, the Twins successfully implemented the following strategies:
Demonstrating the model of a mature Apprentice Witch in front of Sharon to intimidate her.
Playing pranks through swaps.
Staring intently during lessons to make her uncomfortable.
Though the Twins were self-praising, calling it quite a tricky countermeasure…
However, during a conversation before bed last night, they suddenly realized something.
The conversation began with Odette’s remark.
“Sis, but what changes by doing this?”
“Huh? What do you mean, what changes?”
“Even if we work hard to counter Sharon like this, if you think about it, isn’t it kind of meaningless?
If she doesn’t notice the swaps, it ends there anyway… And even if we show her the model of an exemplary Apprentice Witch, it’s not like Sharon will stop seeing the Assistant… And staring intently during lessons—won’t she just think we’re focusing on the lesson and that’s it?”
“Oh?”
Until now, the Twins had been so excited about the fact that they were “doing something!” that they lacked self-objectivity.
Odette’s precise observation was enough to make the two Twins toss and turn all night.
Thus, Odil and Odette spent the night half-awake, discussing future plans and guidelines.
“Lady Odil, Lady Odette. It’s time to wake up.”
As usual, when it was time to wake up, Head Maid Galina entered with precise, sharp footsteps.
Following her, four maids opened the windows for ventilation, combed their tangled hair from the night, and helped them into their slippers—all part of their daily routine.
“Haaam…!”
“Huaaaam…!”
“Now, let me brief you on today’s schedule.”
Due to the prolonged discussion late into the night, the Twins listened to the day’s schedule while yawning and having their hair combed, barely able to keep their eyes open.
After washing up and getting dressed, they would receive piano lessons from Teacher Kelvin in the morning.
After that, a reading session until lunchtime.
And after that, the terrifying five-hour lecture by Sharon awaited them.
“I’ll be going to Taro Town today for the fireplace and chimney repairs, so please follow Lena’s instructions for the rest of the schedule.”
“Haaam… Okay, have a safe trip, Galina!”
“Huaaam… Have a safe trip.”
As soon as they heard that the Head Maid would be away from the mansion, the eyes of Pecha, Lena, Vera, and Masha, who were tidying up the room, all lit up at once.
Galina, who was practically the only one supervising the maids, being away was the perfect opportunity to dote on the Apprentice Witch Twins and chat to their hearts’ content.
“Lena! Make sure to stick to the schedule.”
“Yes, understood.”
Galina sighed deeply, seeing Lena already on the verge of breaking into a smile.
And so, the daily morning routine of bath time.
Originally, bath time was set for one hour, but Lena boldly skipped breakfast and extended it to two hours.
The reason, of course, was to play pranks on the Twins.
Even without Galina, there were many eyes and ears in the mansion, so gossiping openly was risky.
For the Twins, who also needed to consult with their personal maids, it was a rather welcome situation.
“Lena, I have a question.”
“Yes, yes, ask anything. The magnificent and gallant Lady Odil!”
“Pecha, I have one too.”
“Yes, yes, what is it? The gentle and adorable Lady Odette!”
Lena and Pecha diligently shampooed the Twins’ hair as they sat on the bath chairs.
With their faces flushed red from the skillful scalp massages, the Twins confided in the maids about the monumental dilemma that had kept them tossing and turning all night.
Namely, the sudden appearance of their love rival, Sharon, and the tactics they had used to counter her.
The four maids diligently washed Odil and Odette’s bodies while listening intently to the Twins’ story.
“Is that all?”
“Yeah, anyway, we’ve been working hard to counter her.”
“But when we think about it, it feels like we haven’t really done much.”
“You guys have some experience with romance, so we wanted to ask for advice.”
“Our next plan is to serve Sharon tea with a little more water than usual to make it taste bad.”
They were girls of an age where romance was of great interest.
Although romance among the mansion staff was technically prohibited, like any workplace, there were quite a few love lines, and having meticulously read romance novels, they had their own solid knowledge on the subject.
“…….”
As soon as Odil and Odette finished speaking, the maids fell silent simultaneously.
“Wh-what? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Did we make some kind of mistake?”
Confused by the sudden silence, Odil and Odette couldn’t even open their eyes to check the situation because their heads were covered in shampoo foam…
“Kyaaa! Lady Odil is so adorable!”
“As expected of Lady Odil! You’re so clueless, it’s cute!”
“Lady Odette! Lady Odette should be designated as a cultural treasure of Gehenna! It’s too much of a waste for us to be the only ones seeing this cuteness!”
“Lady Odette! Can we tell the other maids about this? It’s okay, right???”
To think that what they called a love rivalry involved such adorable tactics!
And to talk about it as if they were subtly bragging!
Just imagining the Twins huddled together all night, discussing strategies with serious expressions, was enough to melt their hearts, so the maids hugged the Twins tightly.
“Gah! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! Whose hand is this!”
“Sha… Shampoo got in my eyes… Shampoo!”
Odil struggled to breathe under the hands reaching from all directions, while Odette whimpered from the shampoo in her eyes.
After the commotion subsided, the maids sat the Twins down and began earnestly lecturing them on how to win love.
“That can’t be called countering!”
“That’s right! Matters of love should be resolved with love!”
“Hmm… First of all. Shouldn’t we figure out exactly what kind of relationship the Witch has with the Assistant?”
Vera was the first to speak up.
In fact, based on the Twins’ words and the surrounding circumstances, it was clear that Sharon, the Witch, and the Assistant, whom the Twins were head over heels for, had a close relationship.
However, since the Twins had barely even talked to boys, let alone experienced romance, there was room for misjudgment."I think it probably wasn't just a simple friend. Vera, I heard you told Odette. That cohabitation between male and female friends is impossible."
"Good heavens, that's what this was about?"
Who would have thought that Odette, who suddenly started asking about cohabitation, actually had this kind of backstory!
"Ahem, we can't just sit here and take this. We'll give you special coaching."
"That's right! With Odile Odette's cuteness and our staff's strategies combined, there's absolutely no way we'll fail!"
Masha clenched her fist as if it were her own matter.
"Alright, I'm listening."
Odile and Odette, with the most serious expressions in the world, listened attentively to the advice as today's bath ended.
The Witch who threw herself to rescue Amelia, who had been momentarily swept up in terrible thoughts.
The Witch with deep blue eyes and long reddish-brown hair introduced herself as 'Dragon Witch, Clara Scorpia.'
Amelia had vaguely heard stories about her too.
"...Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I just did what was natural."
After all, she was famous as the Witch who arbitrarily interfered in a war in the Mortal Realm, got thoroughly beaten by Keter, and returned to her workshop.
In truth, many Witches have been stopped by Duke Keter.
Among them, the 'Dragon Witch' particularly became a subject of gossip likely because she was the only one who faced Keter and still preserved her life.
Of course, it probably helped that Clara was neither a public enemy nor an Exile, and her intervention in the war wasn't due to personal greed either.
The workshop she described as her 'nest' was a cave carved out of a towering sandstone cliff in the middle of a desert.
While the scale itself was large, the interior decor couldn't be called splendid even as a joke.
Inside, various Magic documents and other miscellaneous items lay scattered about. As little artificial interior work had been done, fine sand clung thickly to both the walls and the floor.
However, one thing that slightly surprised Amelia was the pile of gold ingots, seemingly weighing tons, stacked in one corner of the cave.
At first, because they were so carelessly left about, she thought they might be brass or alchemy materials.
The moment Clara saw Amelia's glance flicker towards the gold ingots, she shrugged her shoulders.
She seemed proud.
"Impressive amount, right? I worked hard to gather it."
"......"
But her audience was Amelia.
Amelia, who was closing the gates of her heart with deep fatigue and disillusionment.
Without showing any particular interest, she merely gave a slight nod.
"Sit here and rest for a bit."
"...Thank you."
"Save the thanks. I'm also in a good mood from meeting a Witch after so long."
Clara, who had tossed out a joke to lighten the mood, didn't receive a reply. She sat Amelia at the table and went to prepare tea.
Amelia, half-forced to come to her workshop and now being served tea, was able to cool her head a little.
But that didn't mean everything became as if it never happened.
A deep shadow still clung to her face like a body scent, casting a gloomy light.
Before long, Clara returned with a teapot, teacups, and some simple madeleines to accompany them.
The tableware was very clean, as if properly stored.
She sat opposite Amelia with an informal attitude.
"Drink."
"Thank you."
Amelia's mind was foggy.
The burnout that followed the whirlwind of intense emotions seemed to have partially paralyzed her brain functions.
Since coming here, her only lines had been three extremely formal 'thank you's.
"You're really pretty."
While Amelia lifted the teacup to moisten her lips for the first time in months, Clara, who had been waiting, spoke up.
It wasn't because she had some other meaning.
Golden hair so beautiful it seemed spun from melted gold, elegant sky-blue eyes that felt like they could stop a heart just by meeting them.
Even among Witches, famous for having many beauties, Amelia's appearance was unparalleled.
Though Amelia wasn't pristine due to a harsh wandering life and sleeping rough, even that couldn't hide her beauty.
"If I could be reborn as pretty as you, I'd give all my gold for it."
"......"
Not knowing what reaction to show.
Amelia, who couldn't reply because she just wanted to rest right now.
Clara subtly checked Amelia's mood.
And quickly grasped that she didn't have the energy for conversation either.
Well, if someone who was trying to end themselves just a moment ago suddenly became talkative, that would be a more dangerous sign.
Watching Amelia silently sip her tea, Clara cleared her throat and cautiously made a suggestion.
"If you go over there, there's a bathroom using water drawn from an oasis. You can wash up there. Further in, there's a container with a bed; you can use that too. It seems hard for you to talk now, so we can talk gradually later."
"...Okay."
"But promise! Absolutely no bad thoughts! When you feel like telling me what happened later, you can tell me. Until then, think of this as your home and rest comfortably."
Amelia looked at Clara with slight surprise.
Feeling warm kindness for the first time in a long while, she gave a small nod.