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People Who Are Stuck in the Past (6)

1.

There was no table in Eloas living room, so they talked in her kitchen instead.

Between them were a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

They figured that itd be more comfortable to talk over a drink, since the situation wasnt exactly a normal one.

Considering how embarrassing it was, there was a possibility that they couldnt even start talking if they were sober.

Cough

Ahem

Case on point, even after they downed two glasses of whiskey, they hadnt started talking yet.

For Siwoo, considering the context of their conversation, he definitely had to explain what was going on when he was ejaculating in detail. No matter how used he was to embarrassing situations, having to explain that kind of thing with his own mouth was still difficult for him to do.

Especially considering that they werent even that close to begin with.

I amsorry

It was Eloa who eventually broke the silence with those words. For some reason, she was holding and releasing the hem of her dress repeatedly.

Her usually straight shoulders were now curled up, as if she was losing her spirit.

Usually, shed stare right at Siwoos eyes whenever she was talking, but now, her gaze randomly fell onto the glass.

Its fine, I know you meant well, Duchess.

Thats

You came because you thought someone was attacking me, right? Thats why you brought out your Formal Wear, you thought that I was in danger and wanted to help me.

Ah

As if someone had hit her in the head, Eloa was shocked the moment she heard Siwoos words.

When she first felt that mana wave

She never considered the possibility of an assailant.

All she could think about was doubt towards Siwoo.

It was as if her words about trusting him were merely something that she used to keep her appearances. When an abnormal phenomenon occurred, the first thing she did was cast her suspicions on him.

Then again if it wasnt for that, she wouldnt just snuck into his house like a cat.

Uhwas that not the case?

He provided a convenient excuse for her, but she hesitated.

And it didnt take long for Siwoo to realize that his guess was off after he noticed her reaction.

No.

As she said so, Eloa hung her head down in complete shame.

Then

All this time, she hadnt made eye contact with him.

Her eyes had been darting back and forth randomly, like tea leaves in a hot black tea.

Seeing that, Siwoo came to a rough guess.

A vague speculation that emerged as a fact.

You didnt trust me, huh?

Im sorry.

So far, she hadnt provided him with any explanations.

Still, after all they had been through, with her putting him under her protection and training him, he had expected her to trust him a little, but

Like you said, I didnt trust you

I understand where you came from. Youve told me that part of the reason why you live here is because you wanted to keep an eye out of me, after all But still, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth

Siwoo completely understood why she did all that, at least logically.

Since the target of her revenge was dead (or at least, her whereabouts were unknown) and the only remaining link to her was himself, it was reasonable for the Duchess to keep a close eye on him.

But emotionally, it was a little different.

Just half a day ago they had shared a nice meal together and she even shared her pain with him. But even after all that, she was still looking at him with prejudice

Saying that this was shocking to him was an understatement.

Im sorry I thought Id trusted you already, but it seems like I had been fooling myself to believe so

Dont worry, I understand this isnt easy for you. I hope that we can resolve our misunderstandings one day.

Still, this is completely my fault

Suddenly, she stretched out her hand.

Gently, she held the back of Siwoos free hand.

It wasnt a firm grip, but a light touch.

I lost it for a moment. Honestly, I also dont understand why I hold so much prejudice towards you. Nevertheless, Ive wronged you and I have no excuses.

Somehow, she managed to convey her restlessness clearly.

Siwoo felt like he was feeling too self-conscious to think so, but it seemed like she didnt want him to hate her.

Its okay, I understand your feelings, Duchess.

He replied in a gentle voice as he lightly covered the back of her anxious hand.

While he was shocked by the revelation, it wasnt like he wanted to be hostile to her or anything.

In his eyes, she suffered enough already, there was no need for him to go out of his way to make her life even more miserable.

Can we get more drinks? I still need to explain something else.

Hearing his gentle words, Eloa, who had been in the verge of crying, seemed to relax a little,

Also, can you please keep everything that Ill be saying here confidential?

I swear in the name of Tiphereth, I will.

What he wanted to tell her was simple.

He didnt know the reason why, but during sexual intercourse, he could absorb the other witchs mana, amplify it and return it.

Sharon had a condition; Because of an incomplete inheritance, her rank was lower than it should be.

To fix this, they had been having sexual intercourse every day.

It took his all to explain everything and not shrink in embarrassment.

Really?

Just as he had expected, Eloa stared at him in confusion.

Then, she muttered to herself, as the gears in her head started to rotate.

I know that whenever a male ejaculates, theyd release a small amount of mana wave, but to think that yours is big enough to seep through a concealmenthow did that even happen?

His answer to that question added nothing to his previous explanation.

No idea. Its weird, isnt it? it was something along that line.

After all, he genuinely didnt know what caused the phenomenon.

I got it, I guess that could happen, huh? So you dont know why this happened either?

Yes, just as I explained.

I seewell, I understand.

Eloa lowered her head with an incomprehensible expression.

She took a sip of her drink before staring at him with a questioning gaze.

Also, I want to say something

Yes?

Before they knew it, the sun had completely risen.

The morning sun seeped through the kitchens window, revealing Eloas red cheeks.

Now that she had the time to calmly sit down and reflect on what had happened, the image of Siwoo and Sharon, mating like a pair of animals was burned in her mind.

I want toapologizefor what I had done todayforumbarging in the middle of Miss Evergreenstreatment

She let out a bitter smile in embarrassment.

I need to apologize to you for a lot of things, huh?

Well, I dont mind that, but the thing isSharonis a littleno, shes really upset

Then, Ill meet her directly and apologize.

Uh, I dont think thats a good idea. Ill tell her that you apologized

Is that so?

Eloa tilted her head, puzzled.

There was no doubt that this was the best way of doing it.

If Eloa were to apologize to Sharon directly, the latter would definitely freak out and end up hating her for real this time.

No matter how flowery her apology would be, in essence, it would still be along the lines of Sorry for barging in when youre having sex.

In any case, since he had explained what happened, he decided to move to his next agenda; Restoring Sharons honor.

Alsofor the sake of her honorthe last line you heard from her, Duchess, can youum

I already forgot what it was, so dont worry about it

Suddenly, Eloa lowered her head, an awkward smile was still hanging on her face.

Inwardly, Siwoo rejoiced over his decision to not bring Sharon here.

If he did, the poor girl woulda burst into tears and jump out of the window the moment she saw the Duchess smile.

The fact that she answered right away without him elaborating on anything was strong enough of a proof that the scene was embedded deeply in the Duchess mind.

I was the one who made her say that.

And so, he proudly declared that.

He figured that he should take some of Sharons shame.

Almost immediately, Eloa opened her eyes wide.

U-Uh, a-are you trying to say that the vulgar line wasnt a slip of her tongue? Y-You made her say it?

Yes.

He debated whether to exaggerate the case even more or not, but in the end he decided not to.

If Sharon was here, shed definitely shed her tears, moved by his sacrifice to prevent her from killing herself out of shame, or at least that was what he thought.

Still, admitting to something like that was more embarrassing than he imagined.

Now, Eloa must have thought of him as an unscrupulous man who made women say obscene lines as he fucked them.

But, after the first look of surprise, Eloa let out a gentle smile.

Why is she smiling? Is there something funny?

Since he expected her to reproach him or at least, keep her distance from him, this reaction of hers was completely unexpected, and it only added to his embarrassment even more.

You are not good at lying, do you know that?

Huh? But Im not lying.

Sure, sure.

Seeing through his lies almost immediately, Eloa grinned before standing up.

You should go back and comfort her. Like you said, if I were the one to go to her, something even more embarrassing would definitely happen. Also, tell her that I deeply apologize and I promise I wont tell anyone about this.

Y-Yes. Also, in the future, if you need to visit us, can you please refrain from going through the balcony? Um, just ring the doorbell first

I will.

She stuck out her pinky to Siwoo.

In which, he could only stare at it blankly.

Because it was quite the childish gesture, the complete opposite of her behavior so far.

Seeing his reaction, Eloa quietly lowered her hand, as if she had come to her senses.

Sorry, I always did this whenever I made a promise to Ravi

No, its okay. Please uphold your promise

With that, he intertwined his pinky with hers.

2.

After Siwoo returned, Eloa was still sitting there by herself, drinking.

In the witches world, it was normal for all sorts of bizarre things to happen, but his case was still on the bizarre side even after considering that.

Absorbing mana through sexual intercourse was already an absurd phenomenon to begin with, but amplifying it, returning it and using it as a basis to restore an incomplete brand? It was a phenomenon that was out of this world.

Anyway

Eloa had devoted her entire life to magic.

Ever since Ravi died, she had been running around the world, trying to get her revenge.

And those were the only things she did, she never bothered to care about anything else, so it was the first time she had ever seen a man and woman copulate.

Of course, she had never done it with a man either.

One could say that her life was just like the typical life of a conservative witch.

Ahem

Thinking back, it was such an embarrassing sight.

Seeing the thing that she had only ever heard of with her own eyes was quite the shock to her.

Maybe because she was a little drunk already.

Normally, shed be able to brush this kind of thought off easily.

But that wasnt the case today.

Instead, she kept replaying the scene that she had seen over and over.

How Sharon was lying face down and how Siwoo was pushing himself on her.

The sight of his particularly thick assets was embedded in her mind clearly.

She wasnt aroused or anything, though.

As far as she was concerned, she had never lusted on anyone, not a man nor a woman.

What she was feeling was curiosity.

She was amazed that something so big could fit inside such a small hole.

Sharons expression, which looked as if she had taken the sweetest drug in the world, was also embedded in her mind.

Her first impression of Sharon was that she possessed an innocent beauty, but such a person was groaning like a beast in that situation.

Moreover, she was in such a trance that she didnt even notice that another person entered the room, making Eloa wonder, exactly what kind of feeling did she experience back then?

This was the first time she had ever wondered about this kind of thing.

I need to stop.

Eloa poured some more alcohol into her mouth and shook her head.

She figured that it would be rude to both of them if she were to continue thinking about it.

Lets just forget everything that happened today.

She promised herself.

Ahem

She rested her head on her chin again and fell into thoughts.

It seemed like she wouldnt be able to erase the memory out of her head anytime soon.

Here we go, its none other than our dear MC