Page 204

Those Who Almost Lost a Loved One (3)

1.

Just like Sharon when Siwoo first showed her a movie, the twins reactions were satisfying to watch.

Right now they were watching a romance movie that was screened in such a high quality that one could even count the actors pores.

The movie was known for its beautiful visuals, so it managed to capture the twins attention easily.

They had been keeping their mouths shut, pouring all their concentration on the screen while clinging to Siwoo.

Well, for the first fifteen minutes of the movie, at least.

Fuuu

Zzz

Sharon picked up the remote and turned the TV off.

When the story was about to begin, the twins soft snores echoed in the room.

As expected of twins, I guess

Its amazing that they could be so in sync. They both dozed off at the same time, there isnt a single second difference.

The twins wore one piece pajamas, the ones that required them to put their leg in first if they wanted to wear it, just like a mascot costume.

Their pajamas matched each of their personalities well, but it was still strange to see them sleeping quietly like this.

Then again, considering what had happened today, they must have been totally exhausted.

It was pretty much a given that theyd be mentally exhausted after all that, and the physical exhaustion probably followed afterwards.

This was especially the case with Odette as she had to brave the storm for the night walk right before everything else happened.

I know they said that I shouldnt call them cute, but theyre so cute! Ugh

The expression on Sharons face was like that of a woman who had just seen a tiny, cute kitty.

She covered her mouth with both hands, pressing them against her lips.

Her eyes shone, glistening with tears.

Meanwhile, Siwoo was removing the twins hands from his, carefully so that they wouldnt wake up.

Ngg

But they furrowed their brows, and held on his sleeves even tighter than before.

This didnt wake them up though.

Look at them sleeping~

Yeah, but I cant just let them sleep hereI need to bring them to my room.

Need some help?

Nah, I can do this.

Oho~ Look at you go~

Siwoo took out his ribbons and weaved them around, turning them into a hammock.

Its good that I trained myself a lot.

Thanks to his training, he could use two ribbons at once proficiently. With two of them, he could freely conjure them to more complicated shapes like this.

And this made him feel even more wronged after thinking about the beating he received because of these ribbons

Whatever, lets think about that later. For now, I need to get these twins to my room.

After he brought them to his room, he laid them down, side by side. Meanwhile, they were still sleeping like a pair of angels.

Well, they tossed and turned a couple of times, but that didnt wake them up. They were still sleeping soundly while hugging each other.

When came back to the living room again, he saw Sharon, still sitting on the couch, staring at the turned off TV while waving her legs.

What are you doing?

Uhsitting?

Sharon broke her silence as she looked at Siwoo and smiled.

Why are you smiling like that?

I just cant get Ms. Odile and Ms. Odette out of my mind! Theyre so cute~!

Well, yeah, they are.

It made him wonder though, if the twins were to become proper witches and gained more experience, would they become as quiet as the Countess?

He doubted that it would happen, though.

At first, I thought that theyd be scary. I know that was just my prejudice, b-but still

Yeah, who woulda expected theyd be like that. If they keep their mouth shut, they look like a pair of picky noble ladies that would criticize the tea you brew and throw a handkerchief on your face.

I know, right?!

Thinking that Siwoos description was right on the money, Sharon clapped her hands noisily.

Anyway, thats why Ive been spacing out! Theyre so cuteso innocentcan I take them home? They even called me Unnie and all that!

Been there before, youll die of exhaustion, dont do it.

He didnt deny that those twins were cute and pretty, but innocent?

As someone who once got played like a fiddle by them, he just couldnt associate them with that word.

Nowadays, he could play around and joke with them, but back then, just seeing them made chills run down his spine.

Im going to smoke, what about you? Movies?

No, Im going to sleep. I swear, ever since Ive met you Ive been sleeping more. Before that, I barely even slept

Well, you got to empty your head and rest more, thats good.

I guess so.

Siwoo patted her head, ending their conversation before going to the rooftop.

The typhoon had passed, but the moist air still lingered.

Well, at least the breeze is cool tonight

He took out a cigarette and lit it. The light smoke immediately filled his lungs.

Phew

He didnt do anything much after waking up, but his eyes felt heavy.

Normally, he wouldnt get drowsy even after a busy day.

It seemed like his mental exhaustion affected him more than he expected today.

He wasnt a soldier, let alone a military veteran, so it was the first time he had seen so many people die at once.

If anything, it would be strange if he wasnt affected after seeing such a sight.

Like, it wouldnt be strange for someone to puke or start having nightmares after seeing such a gruesome thing in a movie, but he had witnessed the scene directly in real life.

He was thankful that at the very least he didnt have such an intense reaction

-Buzz!

Suddenly, his phone rang.

The caller was a certain someone who had given him their phone number a long time ago, but they had never contacted him until now.

Deneb Gemini.

Hello?

[How are you feeling? Oh, leave it there.]

From the commotion coming from the other side, it was clear that the Oh, leave it there wasnt directed at Siwoo.

Such a commotion was most likely the reason why she had left the twins in his place even though they had just gone through such a horrible incident.

She already had her hands full dealing with the aftermath of said incident.

Thank you for your hard work, Maam. Its already late at night and youre still working

[Just part of the job, really. How are the twins doing?]

They ate a lot and drank a lot, after that they just went straight to sleep.

[Dont they seem scared? Or anxious?]

He was tempted to say, No, not at all. In fact, they fell asleep because they were overeating, but he refrained from doing so.

They said that they miss you, Maam. Maybe you should visit them soon.

Instead, he said that.

Saying such a flattery made him feel nostalgic.

[Yeah, right, those mischievous brats would indeed say something like that. Especially with their beloved Assistant around. Totally believable.]

Haha.

Although she could tell right away that he was just talking nonsense, Denebs voice sounded more cheerful when she said those words. It didnt make her sound any less exhausted though.

Well, at the very least, his attempt on lightening the mood was a success.

After that, Deneb said, Wait a moment, and the noise surrounding her died down a little.

[The reason why Im contacting you is not because of those brats.]

I see, please go ahead.

[I want to thank you for sending them home safely.]

Unlike the previous times, he actually wondered if things would go better for him if he didnt send the twins back, but

Hearing how thankful Deneb was, it seemed like at least he didnt make a bad decision.

[And, if I dont compensate you in some ways, Ill lose my face, so, can you please tell me if theres anything that you want?]

I dont really need anything. What youve given me is already Ah

[Well, it seems like you have something in mind already.]

He remembered that one of Sharons debtors was the Gemini Household.

Considering her reaction when she saw the Geminis ring, maybe it was safe to assume that most of her 50 billion debt was between her and the Gemini Household.

Actually, can we discuss it next time?

He didnt want to arbitrarily decide without asking for Sharons opinion, though.

Besides, the Gemini Household had already given him too much money.

It would be inappropriate for him to bring such a huge amount of money without a thorough discussion first.

That was why he decided to book the Countess time later.

[Alright, I dont have time for a lengthy discussion right now anyway. Well talk about it at a later date.]

Noticing that the Countess was about to hang up, Siwoo hurriedly asked her a question.

Maam, may I ask you something?

[Yes?]

Do you know the reason why I can use Ea Sadalmeliks self-essence magic?

[HaahI dont know that either. In fact, Im the one who wants to ask you that question.]

Deneb really didnt seem to know about it.

And it wasnt like she could stop what she was doing and help him find out about it at the moment.

I see. Anyway, sorry for taking up your time with that question, even though I knew that youre busy

[Dont be sorry. You are free to contact me if anything happens.]

After that, the call was cut off.

At some point, the fire had burned through the filter of his cigarette, and the smoke that came out of it smelled incredibly foul.

This sudden brief moment of silence reminded him of the victims of todays incident. And so, he used the occasion to pay them his respects.

Because he felt that it was the right thing for him to do.

I should go to sleep now.

Trying to shake off the depressing feelings, he stretched his bodyand froze stiffly in that exact position.

A witch suddenly appeared on the supposedly empty rooftop.

He recognized her; The same witch who mistook him for Ea and smashed him unconscious.

Duchess Eloa Tiphereth.

She stared at him without saying anything, and her blank expression made it hard for him to guess what she was thinking.

Chills went down his spine, as goosebumps appeared all over his body.

Despite this, Siwoo still managed to call out to her first.

Sorry to trouble you, but if youre going to hit me, please avoid hitting my liver. Ive been drinking a lot lately, so I dont want it to get worse than it already is.

Either because he was really concerned about his liver

Or because he just didnt want to suffer through the same experience again

He spouted such nonsense before he could even realize it.

Having saying it out loud, made him genuinely feel embarrassed.

The occasion was just so inappropriate that anyone could take it either as a sarcasm, a provocation, or a light joke.

But, the Duchess brushed his words off. Her tightly shut lips finally opened as her eyes fixedly staring at Siwoo.

Yet, contrary to his expectations, her gaze bore no ill-will.

They shook, seemingly uncertain about something.

Youwho are you, really?

Her voice was soft and high-pitched, just like what he had heard earlier.

Apart from her tightly clenched fists, red, just like a pair of snow crabs in season, there was this air of fragility that surrounded the rest of her body.

This was Duchess Tiphereth, the same person who knocked him out upon seeing him, and hurted Sharon without much thinking.

He expected her to rush at him again the moment they met, but

Her current appearance looked forlorn to the point that he couldnt even bring himself to curse at her. It was as if she could break down to pieces if he were to touch her.

Well, not that hed just start spewing curse at her, or downright attack her, of course.

Hereby, I declare a covenant.

But, the next words that came out of her mouth made him realize that it wasnt the time for him to immerse himself in such needless compassion.

At the same time of her chant, she took out her sword.

The sword looked pretty with twelve unknown letters engraved on its sides.

Bloom!

I thought the twins said that the misunderstanding has been resolved!

Come to think of itneither the Countess or this woman knew the reason why I could use Eas magic

There is nothing that can be used to prove my innocence!

The one he was up against was a great witch even among the great witches.

A 23rd ranked witch, someone who could kill him with just a single touch.

He enveloped his body with his black armor while racking his brain, trying to find a way out of this situation.

But, to his surprise, Eloa threw her sword at his feet.

This didnt reassure him at all though.

Earlier today, she had already proven to him that she didnt need her sword to subdue him.

I have no intention to fight, for now.

Noticing Siwoos anxiety, Eloa put her hands in the air.

For now, she said

Now or later, Id get hit all the same!

Cold sweat began to trickle down his neck.

I just want to talk with you. So, who are you?

As she said that, Siwoo could see a great magic being casted through the Duchess mouth.

It was the first time that he had ever seen such a dense amount of mana.

Word of power.

The kind of magic that would manifest its casters will the moment the word left their mouth.

Such a high-ranked magic was being casted right in front of Siwoo.

Three of the letters engraved on the sword shone in resonance with the Duchess decree.

The letters then surrounded both of them almost immediately.

I want to sign a covenant with you. Both of us can ask each other three questions, and neither of us can lie. Will you accept the covenant?

Fortunately, she was true to her words. The magic she casted wasnt one laden with hostile intent.

We could have spared a lot of trouble if you had just used such convenient magic last time

Siwoo let out a complaint.

Sharon and I wouldnt unnecessarily get hurt if she just casted it back then.

Well, whatever, wed still get hurt either way if the magic fails to resolve the misunderstanding.

Siwoo raised his hand and grabbed one of the strings of mana that surrounded him.

The moment he did that, an intangible force bound his body.

It was a completely different sensation than the Poem of Confession.

With the Poem of Confession, it forced his body to confess whatever it was that the caster desired. Whereas with this magic, there was a strong coercive force that made one felt subdued and willing to obey the Covenant.

I accept.

And so, under the midnight sky, the discussion between the two started.