City of Witches Chapter 357

“Kids, I want to talk to you about something. Do you have a moment?”

As usual, after class ended.

Sharon spoke to the Twins.

“Yes, we have time.”

“What is it about?”

Having returned from traveling together and come to recognize Sharon as a true rival, and having received assurance from the Assistant that they wouldn’t be pushed aside in the future, the Twins were maintaining a relatively peaceful relationship with Sharon.

Meaning they no longer engaged in pointless power struggles during class like before.

However, the moment they heard Sharon’s request for a private talk, Odil and Odette’s intuition flashed.

It was the intuition that the ‘talk’ Sharon was referring to would be related to the Assistant.

Therefore, they looked at Sharon with a slightly tense, alert expression.

“Shall we move somewhere else?”

Seeing that they moved to the carriage as expected meant a fairly secretive conversation was about to take place.

I thought things had been quiet lately.

It was just that the fight was on hold in an unresolved form.

“Unni….”

“It’s okay, Odette. It’s probably nothing. I’m here.”

Seeing Sharon walk ahead, Odette anxiously grabbed her sister’s hand tightly.

If one were to assess the progress of the battle for the Assistant, Sharon was clearly in the lead.

At least, that’s what the Twins thought.

After all, she was someone with many admirable qualities, both physically and mentally.

Even though they had heard the Assistant say ‘I won’t push you aside’ and ‘you are precious people,’ they still felt somewhat inferior to Sharon, who had secured her position first.

Therefore, as soon as she sat on the carriage sofa, Odil instead showed her spirit and looked straight at Sharon.

The ample bust that the Twins could never hold with one hand.

The refined elegance emanating from her neatly seated posture.

The greatest and most formidable rival in the Twins’ Apprentice Witch life history.

She glared at Sharon Evergreen.

“What’s the matter all of a sudden? To the point of calling us out separately like this.”

“I told you, I wanted to talk with you two.”

“…….”

Unlike when the Twins had called her out before, Sharon’s demeanor was calm.

Her expression turned blank, taking on a noble, icy statue-like appearance that even Odette became convinced.

Sharon unni is different now.

Unlike her previous soft demeanor, she had made a resolve and held a clear advantage.

She was not the same person who would fluster and scramble whenever the Twins called.

If one assumed this place was a venue for war negotiations, Sharon’s appearance, showing not a hint of agitation, was in itself a threat.

“So, what is it you want to talk about?”

“Let’s stop fighting amongst ourselves.”

Both Odil and Odette fell silent.

Let’s stop fighting.

At first glance, it sounds like a good thing.

But ceasefire agreements aren’t always made under fair conditions.

If Sharon unni had prepared a decisive move to end the war all this time, the Twins would have no choice but to sign a humiliating truce agreement.

“No! We won’t give up on the Assistant!”

“Th-that’s right! No matter how much you are Sharon unni, you can’t just arbitrarily interfere with our love!”

They had approached it with that mindset from the beginning.

The Assistant wasn’t just a lifesaving benefactor.

He was the person they wanted to be with more than anyone else.

A special person who made even the most trivial things four or five times more fun just by being together.

They absolutely did not want to lose him.

“Sharon unni is cowardly! Trying to steal the Assistant from us every day….”

“That’s right! Lying! Using that wicked chest of yours to seduce him!”

“Love isn’t supposed to be constant, is it!”

“Even if you’re closer to the Assistant now, it’s not forever!”

The Twins poured out everything they wanted to say in a torrent.

Perhaps they were just trying to hide a certain unease.

The unease that perhaps, without them knowing, the ‘contest’ itself might already be over.

Sharon’s brow furrowed deeply as she listened to the Twins.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. I didn’t call you here to fight.”

“Liar!”

“You started it every day!”

Looking at the Twins chattering away in front of her, Sharon slammed her hand on the table.

Odil and Odette, startled, fell silent.

Truth be told, Sharon had also been holding back until now.

But she didn’t want to maintain this subtle hostility with the Twins anymore and had arranged this meeting hoping to get along well from now on.

However, she wasn’t soft-natured enough to calmly let slide the lie that she had started the fight first.

“You started it first!”

“No we didn’t! Unni started…”

“You were the ones who first asked the Countess to use lessons as a price to keep your distance from Siwoo! Did you think I was a fool?”

That’s right.

The Contract proposed by Countess Albireo.

The cruel clause about having to keep a distance from Siwoo came from none other than the Twins’ side.

If one had to ask who struck first, it was undoubtedly Odile Odette.

“Talking about fighting fair and square to my face! Who was it that pretended to know nothing and used underhanded tricks!”

When Sharon, who had shouted in frustration at the fight that had turned into a mudslinging match, looked ahead…

“…?”

“…?”

The Twins were tilting their heads as if they didn’t understand.

Perfectly in the same direction and with the same posture.

“What are you talking about?”

“Price? Underhanded tricks?”

They looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

Their eyes seemed to ask, ‘Did you do it?’

And then they looked back at Sharon.

Their eyes still held unresolved questions.

“Huh…?”

“Please explain.”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A major misunderstanding between the Twins and Sharon.

The part about using the Countess to push Sharon out in the battle for Siwoo.

Sharon diligently explained that part.

“W-we never made such a request!”

“The Master did something unnecessary!”

“Y-you’re serious?”

In fact, Sharon had felt puzzled seeing the Twins’ reaction.

Of course, Odil and Odette were mischievous and constantly looked for chances to play pranks on Sharon, but they weren’t the type to lie so calmly like that.

It was just that Sharon had assumed, upon seeing the price of the contract Countess Albireo placed on the table, that it was due to the Twins’ instigation.

Suddenly, she felt somewhat embarrassed.

Hadn’t she been treating the Twins like mortal enemies and getting all worked up by herself?

“S-sorry…. I was completely convinced you two did it….”

“The Master did something unnecessary. We can capture the Assistant with our own abilities just fine.”"That's right! A victory gained that way has no value whatsoever!"

"We'll definitely take this up with Master!"

"Right, right!"

Having jumped up in agitation, the Twins now sat back down.

"It seems there was a misunderstanding until now."

"We only ever intended to face Sister Sharon in a fair and square match."

"I guess I misunderstood for no reason too..."

The knot of resentment unravels.

For Sharon, since the Twins' presumptuous and brazen behind-the-scenes scheming turned out to be mere conjecture, there was no longer any need to get worked up.

For the Twins, now that they realized Sister Sharon's provocation and actions were a defensive measure from the side that had been preemptively attacked, they weren't as angry as before.

"Ahem."

"So that's what it was."

"Indeed... It must have been a misunderstanding."

All three of them found themselves in an awkward state.

It had already been three days since becoming Diana's tutor.

If asked whether he had done anything special during that time, he would be at a loss for words because he hadn't done much at all.

"Hmm..."

The repeated cycle of Witchboard games.

Diana would emerge from her bedroom for a short while each day, engaging in about four or five matches against Siwoo.

Of course, he applied his full Combat Power.

In a situation where a thrown game had already been exposed once, it was clear Diana would fly into a rage if he gave her a clumsy, condescending match.

"I lost. This time too."

"I just got lucky."

Diana, quietly placing her stones, seemed a little different from before.

The Diana who used to bare her teeth as if slapped whenever she lost even a single game, after the first day, began humbly accepting her defeats.

The problem was not knowing whether this was a particularly good situation or not.

The mission Siwoo had received from the Countess was to somehow induce Diana to engage in external activities.

Right now, it was the early days of tutoring, so perhaps turning a blind eye to her sitting in her room playing board games was acceptable, but if the Contract soured, he could be fired from his tutoring position at any time.

He wanted to avoid that above all.

Countess Yesod's lectures and assistance guaranteed growth incomparable to struggling alone.

Anyway.

He had planned to use Diana's frustration and demands for a rematch as bait to lure her out for hunting or something...

But now that she seemed to have reached a state of acceptance, he had no leverage to draw her out.

"......"

Diana stared intently at the Witchboard.

Normally, she would either say, 'Let's play one more,' or 'I'll rest now. Good work,' and return to her room.

But this was the first time such a long silence had descended.

"...You."

"Yes, Miss."

"That..."

Diana, who always grumbled yet confidently stated her demands.

With eyes strikingly similar to her mother's, she fidgeted with her glove for no reason, gauging Siwoo's reaction.

"Th-that... Ahem... It's nothing major. Just one... um, may I ask something?"

"Yes, please go ahead."

Even after Siwoo's permission, Diana, who had avoided his gaze for a long while, shyly pointed a finger at the Witchboard.

"Th-this move... why did you place it here? Can you tell me? The move you made on the 172nd turn..."

Even though it was just that short question, she spoke so haltingly and softly that it took almost over 30 seconds.

Her cheeks, pale enough to be described as such, were visibly flushed and hot.

This was something Diana had decided upon with great difficulty.

Fundamentally, the image of Siwoo in Diana's mind hadn't changed much.

A male witch, probably not exceptionally skilled in Magic, but someone incredibly good at this one game.

They had played a total of 20 matches up to today, and Diana had not surpassed Siwoo even once.

She had studied and practiced on her own, but the result was repeated, utter defeat.

By this point, she wanted to ask what his secret was.

But asking for feedback from someone she had subtly looked down upon until now was quite embarrassing.

Thus, Diana agonized for three whole days before barely managing to speak up today.

"J-just curious..."

And then she closed her mouth again.

That one move had dramatically overturned the game's flow.

It was also the move that made Diana sense her impending defeat.

Asking a rival for the core secret of their playstyle was enough to make Diana, a serious and dedicated gamer, feel ashamed.

It was a request bordering on brazenness.

"Tell me. You're my tutor, aren't you? You should teach me something."

Diana, having decided to tightly shut her eyes and put on a bold face.

When she cautiously opened her eyes due to the lack of response, she saw Siwoo wearing a faint, ambiguous smile.

Diana, instead, widened her eyes and challenged him to a staring contest.

If she averted her gaze here, she felt her true feelings would be completely exposed.

"I can tell you."

"Then hurry..."

"But my position is what it is. How about we make a deal instead?"

"A deal?"

"Yes. As you know, in exchange for learning Magic from the Countess, I agreed to do various things with you, didn't I?"

"That's right."

"For one day, after we play games, I'll explain my moves. Then, the next day, you engage in some external activity, even if just briefly. How about it?"

For Diana, it was a suggestion that took her breath away.

External activities.

In truth, that was probably the reason her mother hired this man in the first place.

But just the thought of going outside and moving around already felt exhausting.

However, her deliberation wasn't long.

Diana acknowledged Siwoo to some extent.

At least regarding Witchboard, he was an opponent from whom she had much to learn.

"Two hours a day. I can't concede more than that."

"Agreed."

And so, a small Contract was also formed between Siwoo and Diana.