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1.

“Let’s take a closer look at it.”

“Yes, I’ll unbind it.”

Siwoo carefully unwrapped the ribbons, which were inside the force field that were enveloping them under numbers of layers like a croissant.

At that moment, the Red Branch, which had been left to rot without anyone wielding it for so long, finally saw the light of the day again.

Ever since he first acquired it, this was the first time Siwoo had removed all the ribbons covering it.

He had always sealed it under several layers of ribbons—adding new layers every time the ones beneath them got corroded, because he was unsure of what the distortion field might cause.

From the blade—shaped like willow leaf—to its shaft, the weapon seemed seamless.

True to its name, the ‘Red Branch’ was clad in a sinister shade of red, like fresh blood.

-Sizzle!

The moment all the ribbons were stripped away…

A red ripple spread out as if it had been waiting for that very moment.

At the same time, thin barriers, shaped in the form of the roots of a plant, shot towards the countess with a menacing force.

As if it was a venomous snake, lunging at the trainer who had been keeping it trapped in a jar.

-Clang!

But Countess Yesod managed to react with the calmness of an expert trainer.

Before Siwoo could even react, the force field surrounding the lab quickly contracted and wrapped itself tightly around the Red Branch.

This happened a few more times until the Red Branch was encased under nineteen layers of thin fields, stopping its rampage.

“W-What just happened?”

“This is what happens when you seal something like this up thoughtlessly. The distortion field inside kept building up. Think of it like shaking up a bottle of soda. It’s like the foam that bursts out of the can when you pop it open.”

The countess explained as such with a calm tone, but Siwoo felt a chill down his spine.

While the countess had blocked it so effortlessly, the intensity of the distortion field and the barrier was far from ordinary.

If Siwoo had unwrapped the ribbon carelessly on his own, he would’ve been seriously hurt at the very least.

As he reflected on that close call, a sudden question crossed his mind.

“But, I’ve only been wrapping it with the most basic cover. If it had been building up its distortion shield all this time, it should’ve been strong enough to burst out on its own, no…?”

“I assume that it was probably waiting. Waiting for the moment when the shield weakened even slightly, so that it could burst out all at once.”

“…”

But, her response only birthed more questions in Siwoo’s mind.

It was waiting…?

But, it’s just a mystic code.

A tool.

But, the way she said that, it was as if this thing had a will of its own…

As Siwoo wondered about that, Countess Lucy kept examining the branch carefully.

She even reached her hand into the force field to touch it directly.

“This…is no longer something that can be categorized as a mere artifact or mystic code. Fascinating… For a single artifact to generate such diverse patterns of force fields… Even now it’s trying to break free from my restraints… What material is this made of, I wonder? Probably not something from this world, I assume…”

Her elegant voice carried the inquisitive curiosity of a witch, mixed with awe.

“What do you mean by that?”

“A typical mystic code is nothing more than a tool. It operates passively, following the processes that the user had programmed or designed in advance.”

Yesod withdrew her hand from the field, prompting a surprise look from Siwoo.

Because one of her fingers was twisted in such a grotesque way, as if it had suffered multiple fractures at once.

This meant the ‘distortion’ was powerful enough to alter the structure of her spirit body, causing this kind of mutation.

“But this one is different. It’s like a virus responding to an immune system, trying to corrupt its surroundings in various ways on its own. If you were to tell me that this is a witch’s curse taking the form of a spear, I’d believe it.”

“Huh…? Now that you mention it…”

After hearing her words, Siwoo started to piece everything together.

He remembered that the Cowardly Witch had sacrificed countless humans’ souls and threads of fate to unlock the full potential of the Red Branch.

And so, he did his best to relay this information to the countess.

“…Maybe something like an evil spirit managed to get in it…?”

“Hoho, no, I doubt that was what happened, evil spirits don’t exist, after all. In any case, I can see that this is a special mystic code…”

The Countess chuckled as if she had heard a good joke and casted another spell.

Her abnormally twisted finger returned to normal.

Even after that, the Red Branch kept thrashing around, trying to release more barriers from inside the force field, but the Countess easily defended against everything it tried to do.

“This is interesting. It’s been a while since I’ve found a research subject that excites me so…”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Alright, why don’t we set up the schedule now. Five days a week, excluding holidays and the day before.

“Please do your best to tutor our Diana for at least four hours a day.

“After her tutoring is done, we’ll hold two hours of private tutoring between you and me, and on holidays, I’ll personally help out with your research.”

24 hours a week as a tutor and research assistant for Countess Yesod.

The deal was extremely good. Too good even, making him wonder if such a deal was appropriate or not.

After all, just from that brief encounter, he could see how skilled she was in barrier magic.

He nodded eagerly in agreement.

“That sounds perfect.”

Seeing him nodding, the countess let out a smile before removing her glove.

Then she extended her hand.

“In our family, we’d celebrate in this way when a contract is made.”

“A handshake?”

“Yes.”

Siwoo took the countess’ outstretched hand.

Her hand felt warm and soft, reminding him of a sweetfish.

“Alright, I’ll look forward to working with you, starting tomorrow.”

“Likewise. Oh, I’ll seal the Red Branch for you.”

“I’d really appreciate that.”

The countess offered to seal the Red Branch without even thinking twice about it, and then she left the Gemini Mansion.

2.

Meanwhile, Diana had been locking herself up for almost a week now.

She cocooned herself under a blanket, hiding from the sunlight like a vampire whose HP would drain away if it touched her.

How babies were made…

The process of reproduction between men and women…

How far a witch could degrade herself just for the sake of pleasure…

All the sexual knowledge she had gained from reading her mother’s book, ‘The Devil’s Delivery Service’ had turned her world upside down.

At first, only shock and disgust filled her heart.

Because the content of the book was so vulgar and provocative that she felt a deep sense of disillusionment towards her mother.

After all, it was her mother who had always preached about how a witch—especially a noble witch—was a chosen being whose purpose was to pursue the truth of magic, and they had to maintain their chastity and proper conduct. And yet she had secretly written dozens of such books.

The level of disgust she felt almost made her nauseous.

However…

If she were to say that she only felt disgust and revulsion, it would be a lie.

“…”

After the first time she sneaked into that secret room, Diana had gone back there several more times.

To read the rest of ‘The Devil’s Delivery Service’.

If she really found it that filthy and repulsive, she could always turn away and avoid it altogether.

There was no need for her to deliberately look into the abyss.

But her curiosity won her over.

Every night, even though she had continuously told herself ‘I’m not going back tomorrow!’ while laying her head on her pillow, her eyes would stay wide open.

She couldn’t shake the curiosity over what kind of outrageous and explicit content was waiting for her next.

This time, too, she couldn’t resist the urge to find out what kind of vulgar conversation the witch and the delivery man would exchange in the novel.

In the end, she read all the currently written parts of the third volume of ‘The Devil’s Delivery Service’.

“This world…isn’t beautiful at all…”

The last scene that she read was etched in her mind.

Though what she read was just a bunch of text, she had a vivid imagination that made it feel like she had watched the scene unfold right before her eyes.

The scene of the witch making love next to the delivery man.

Shockingly enough, they were doing it right next to her sleeping apprentice witch.

[T-The child is sleeping… P-Please, c-can we j-just move elsewhere…]

[Your mouth said so, yet your other lips said otherwise. They’re squeezing it so tightly.]

[N-No! It’s not what you think!]

Whenever she recalled scenes like this from the novel, Diana would feel her heart start pounding, as if she experienced a sudden arrhythmia.

She was just lying there, not doing particularly anything, yet her hands and feet tingle, as if she had just escaped the freezing cold and was sitting down in front of a warm fireplace.

Except that tingling sensation crawled over her entire body, as if they were tiny ants.

According to the novel…

This sensation meant that she was aroused.

But, she was completely unfamiliar with such things.

That was why she couldn’t really put a finger on this vague, iridescent feeling, much like the shifting hues of a silkworm’s cocoon.

“Ugh… .”

She buried her head deeper into the pillow.

“There’s no way…”

She tried to deny it.

In her mind, the values she had grown up with, together with the rigid beliefs drilled into her by Countess Yesod’s education, were clashing with this new, disturbing knowledge, creating some sort of mental implosion.

She was stuck in the loop of thinking about the novel, trying to forget it, getting her curiosity roused by it, and feeling disappointed in herself for being intrigued by something so vulgar.

Just like that, days after days passed for her.

-Knock, knock, knock

Today, she heard a knock on the door.

Since she had ordered even her personal maid not to enter, the visitor at the door was undoubtedly Countess Lucy herself.

“Baby, may I come in?”

“…Yes.”

Her heart felt heavy.

Ever since she first started reading that novel, she didn’t know how to face her mother.

This was why she had been avoiding eating dinners together with her for the past few days.

“The morning sun is so lovely today, why are you sitting here in the dark?”

“…I feel more comfortable like this, Mom.”

Countess Lucy approached Diana’s bed with a concerned tone.

She pulled up a chair and sat down next to the head of the bed.

Lucy then began to gently stroke Diana’s hair, her voice was soothing and kind as always.

“Diana, has mommy been pushing you too hard lately?

“…No, that’s not it.”

“I think I’ve been too stubborn all this time… I just wanted the best for my lovely daughter, but I realize now that it might have been too much for you… I’m sorry, Diana…”

She was showing the tenderness that she had always shown.

But, she had completely misunderstood the situation.

Even so, seeing her apologizing so sincerely, Diana, who had always been a dutiful daughter, couldn’t just turn away from this situation.

For a moment there, she hesitated, but in the end, she turned to face the countess slowly.

Only then did she see the gentle motherly smile on her mother’s lips, as well as the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

“Aaah… It feels so good to see your face again after so long. Come here.”

“Yes.”

When the countess stretched out her arms, Diana leaned into her embrace.

“Oh! Who do you take after to be this adorable! You little rascal! You little rascal!”

“M-Mom! That tickles…”

After the playful scene of Diana blushing from the shower of kisses on her cheeks while the countess was grinning broadly passed…

The countess cleared her throat and got to the point.

“Anyway, Mommy noticed that you’ve been down lately, my baby. That’s why mommy has prepared a little surprise for you!”

“A surprise…?”

She’s giving me a gift…?

Diana was surprised, but she had no reason not to be happy about this development.

“Yes! This is something that you haven’t received before, so I think you’ll like it, my baby! Come in.”

“Yes.”

-Thump, thump, thump

She heard a deep male voice, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.

It didn’t take long for Diana—who was still in the countess’ embrace—to open her eyes wide.

“It’s been a while. Ms. Diana Yesod. I’m Shin Siwoo, your new tutor.”

Wearing a clean butler’s uniform and slicker hair…

Dressed so immaculately that it was almost annoying, the man bowed politely to her.

Standing there was her greatest enemy in her life.

The male witch who had humiliated her with both crushing defeats and victories through his hospitality at the host club.