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1.

There was a saying, ‘It’s better to see something once than to hear about it a hundred times’.

While learning through theory and listening to explanations was a good way to absorb new knowledge in an indirect way…

It still could never reach the depths of the knowledge that one could gain from directly learning said knowledge with one’s eyes and senses.

The moment the countess shared her vision to Siwoo, it felt like a new horizon opened up before him, one that he had never known.

All the concepts that previously felt vague to him became more clearly defined.

“Ah….”

It cleared up those that were unclear.

Made uncertainties certain.

Turning what was once blurry into something distinct.

It was as if he finally found the missing piece of a puzzle.

The mere act of ‘recognizing’ caused a tremendous expansion of his understanding of the magic.

For a brief moment there, he felt like his worldview overlapped with the countess’.

His mind buzzed with such a sensation.

The thrill of receiving a sudden ‘enlightenment’ surged from the tip of his toes to the top of his head, numbing the sensation in his limbs.

“Ahn…”

Just as his thoughts were branching out, multiplying like roots, something stopped him from going further.

It was none other than the lustful sigh of the countess, whom he was still embracing in his arms.

That sigh seemed to flip a switch in his mind, redirecting his focus somewhere else.

The area of the countess’ bare skin that he didn’t touch, directly contacting the room’s cold air, like a winter night without a lit fireplace.

His limbs stopped becoming numb, as he could clearly feel the hard floor under his feet, supporting his weight.

He could also feel the warmth of the countess’ body that was pressed against his chest.

The ecstatic softness from the slender, yet delectable-looking female body that he had unconsciously grabbed.

Perhaps the overwhelming thrill he felt just now was the thing that created this dizzying situation.

His arms, which had only been holding her gently before, were now tightly wrapped around her waist and chest.

But, the thing that he was embarrassed the most about…

Was his rigid manhood—hardened by the rush of blood, firmly pressed between her buttocks before he realized it.

While Siwoo was a researcher by nature, he wasn’t the kind of pervert to get sexually aroused by a major discovery.

The reason why he was in this state was because he unknowingly had whiffed the countess’ scent a few times as he forgot to breathe through his mouth.

This was another cold splash of water that brought him back to his senses.

Because this could easily be considered as him crossing the line.

After all, the countess only allowed him to get this close to share her vision with him.

And yet, he wrapped his arms around her body tightly like this, all while showing her the shameful state of his lower body.

“I-I’m sorry…!”

He quickly let go of the countess, as if her body was a burning bamboo wife1.

Luckily for him, his sexual urge didn’t overwhelm his mind this time—who knows if it was because of the shock or he just hadn’t inhaled her scent deeply enough though.

In any case, he ended up stumbling back a few steps, completely flustered. Meanwhile, the countess casted a subtle glance at him.

“Your face is all red.”

“C-Countess… Y-You might not believe me, b-but, I swear it wasn’t intentional. I-I have no such thoughts towards you—”

“It’s okay, we’re not children. I understand that this is just a natural physical reaction.”

The countess let out a slight chuckle before adjusting the strap of her dress that had turned disheveled from Siwoo’s rough embrace.

Even that small movement looked irresistibly seductive to Siwoo in his current state.

“It’s surprising. With your handsome face, I thought you’d have plenty of experience with women, but it seems like you’re pretty innocent, Mr. Siwoo.”

It was only after he saw her nonchalant reaction did Siwoo finally let out a sigh of relief.

This was the kind of matter where he wouldn’t be able to justify himself even if he were to have ten mouths. Seeing that she was just treating it as a simple mishap made him feel an immense gratitude to her.

“Oh my, I didn’t mean to tease you, you know?”

Countess Lucy covered her mouth with her hand, pretending to be surprised.

Almost immediately though, a slightly mischievous smile appeared on her lips.

“Then again, you did try to play a little prank on me, Mr. Siwoo, so we can call it even. In that case, there’s no need for you to apologize.”

“It really wasn’t my intention at all…”

Siwoo wasn’t a naive virgin, and there really was no need for him to get so worked up over a back hug.

But the problem here was that he did it with a woman that he wasn’t particularly close to.

And that woman was a countess.

To make things worse, she was a countess who allowed him to do such an intimate contact purely to help him.

“So, what did you feel?”

The countess asked as she sat back down on the sofa, as if trying to ease his discomfort.

She’s asking about the scene I just witnessed, right?

The grandeur scene that I—

“Of course I’m not talking about the feeling of my buttocks.”

“…I’m really sorry…”

Apparently, her teasing wasn’t over yet.

And so, Siwoo was stuck there, all flustered while the countess playfully teased him from time to time.

They ended up taking twice as long as needed to discuss his impressions of the barrier magic and wrap up the lesson for the day.

2.

“Thank you so much for today… Also, about that awkward incident… Please forget it ever happened…”

“Well, that depends on how you behave from now on~”

Even up until Siwoo was about to leave the room, the countess still teased him.

She stared at his back as he respectfully bowed at a 90-degree angle before leaving the room.

After sensing that he had left the vicinity, she let out a long sigh.

It was a hot sigh that stood out against the chilly night air.

“What am I even doing…? Acting so childishly…”

She let out a half-self-deprecating, half-bitter smile.

Then, she reached into the cupboard, grabbing her best companion during these lonely times; a glass of brandy on the rocks.

In truth, Siwoo was right, just a simple hand-holding would have been enough for her to share her vision with him.

It was on her own whim that made her choose to go further; making him remove his shirt and press his chest against her back.

As for why she did that, she didn’t want to make excuses for herself.

It was because she simply couldn’t shake the memory of his firm muscles and abs that she had touched before.

We’re adults for goodness sake. This shouldn’t be a big deal.

She felt an intense sensation that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Even now, the part of her back that had been pressed against his chest felt as if it was burning, as if his body heat and his pounding heart was imprinted on it.

“There’s also…”

The moment when she pulled his arms closer and felt the significant weight of his manhood resting between her buttocks came to her mind.

There were layers of barriers between them—her dress, her panties, his pants, and his underwear—but she could still feel its weight clearly.

For a moment there, she was left dumbstruck by this revelation.

She never expected that he’d be hiding such a monstrous thing behind his polite and composed demeanor that even managed to captivate her.

But at the end of the day, it was just an accident. An accident that was brought partly by herself even, so she didn’t think too much of it.

She just passed it off by praising its thickness and size in her mind briefly.

Or at least that would be it, if the situation didn’t end there.

When their vision-sharing was about to end…

He suddenly began to move.

As if trying to stop her from escaping, he wrapped his thick arms tightly around her waist.

He also slid his other arm under her chest, denying her of any routes of escape if he really wished to thoroughly explore her body.

Then, she felt a firm pressure against her buttocks.

A heavy pressure that made it hard to believe that it came from a penis.

The thing that she felt was enormous, thick, heavy, and hard.

It reminded her of an iron rod.

She could already tell that its full size would be quite something since the thing already managed to impress her when it was still soft, but when she actually experienced its majesty firsthand, she found her breath involuntarily turned erratic.

Thoughts of him undressing her, touching her in lewd parts of her body before continuing into a full blown sex popped up in her mind.

And that was probably what would happen if he didn’t let her body go in such a hurry in the middle…

“No.”

There’s no way.

Knowing him, he wouldn’t cross that line so easily.

Countess Lucy stared at the mirror placed on one side of her study.

In there, she could see a reflection of a witch who possessed such a perfect beauty that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a goddess.

She remembered that the moment Siwoo pulled away from her, he immediately apologized to her.

Which meant that everything he did, he did it unconsciously, as if he were under some kind of spell.

Recalling how flustered he looked when she teased him made another smile appear on the countess’ face.

“Hehe, he was so cute.”

She realized that she had judged him unfairly because of his appearance. When she first saw him, she really thought that he was the type of man who’d flirt with women left and right since he had such a handsome face.

But, contrary to his appearance, he seemed inexperienced.

With that in mind, she could safely assume that the reason why such an innocent man would unconsciously reach out to her was because of her own charm.

“I’m just too much, aren’t I? Being this irresistible sure is a sin, tsk tsk~”

Brimming with newfound confidence, Countess Yesod once again recalled his strong and healthy body that was holding her tightly.

Then, she touched the statue on the bookshelf, opening a passage that led to a secret room.

She felt like she was overflowing with inspiration today.

So, she figured she’d pour every bit of it onto the blank paper in front of her.

3.

As they had planned before, Diana kept her promise with Siwoo.

Since Siwoo spent four hours yesterday giving her advice on Witch Board, today she followed him outside for outdoor activities.

Siwoo actually had prepared various ways to persuade her, just in case she refused to hold the end of her promise, but she easily tagged along with him.

“Are we almost there?”

“We are. Actually, I think this spot will do.”

Donning an outdoor dress and a white parasol, Diana’s beauty radiated strongly. The word ‘young lady’ suited her perfectly.

One might wonder why she even needed to carry a parasol mid-November, but this parasol was probably the reason why both she and her mother had such fair skin.

The picnic spot Siwoo had chosen was located along the lower reaches of the Rabbit River; a river that stretched through Lenomond Town and Border Town.

It was a beautiful river that flowed gracefully between the hills that were covered with dense maple trees.

The carpet of fallen leaves, the cool yet pleasant breeze, the clear sky, and the pearlescent water shimmering like scales under the sunlight made for a refreshing sight, but that didn’t erase the displeased face on Diana’s face.

“C’mon.”

Because even though this place looked beautiful, it was a no-man’s land, not belonging to any town.

Naturally, the path they could walk on was rough, as it was untouched by human hands.

“I can go by myself.”

Siwoo reached out to escort her closer to the river, but Diana just shook her head and hopped down the sloping hill on her own.

With a large backpack that resembled a snail’s shell and long fishing rods sticking out of it, it was clear that the man had brought Diana here to fish.

Siwoo figured that rather than getting her to do a sporty outdoor activity, it would be better to just get her to fish, since she’d only need to sit down while waiting.

And so, last night, he bought fishing gear at a Contact Point in Border Town before looking for a perfect location to fish.

If he just wanted to prevent Countess Yesod from firing him, he didn’t really need to go this far, but…

It’s better to do it thoroughly.

While Diana stood idly by, Siwoo set up a folding chair and offered her a seat.

“They say there are as many fish as water here. You’ve probably guessed it already, but we’re here for some fishing.”

“It already took me forty five minutes to get there. Considering the time limit we agreed on, I’ll only be doing this for thirty minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll prepare everything quickly then.”

Today, Siwoo planned for them to fish with a lure.

He had tried this a few times during his college days with his friends.

So, he used his experience to give Diana some advice.

“You hold this part, cast the hook, let it flow with the current, and then set it at the end. Also, I’ve adjusted the weight of the lure beforehand for you.”

Since this was downstream, the water was considerably shallow, unless they were to go to the center of the river. That was why one needed to wade in until the water reached thor calves.

Diana, who had been listening intently to the explanation about the rod’s component and how to hold it, was left startled when she saw Siwoo rolling up his pants and stepping into the water.

“Wait, do I have to go in too?”

“Yep. The water is shallower than I expected, the lure will probably get stuck on the riverbed often.”

Diana ran her finger across the river with an extremely disgusted expression.

The water was cold.

If she were to take off her shoes and go in, who knows how cold it would get.

“No. You never told me about this.”

“Well, normally you’d stand on a rock or something to do it, but… As you can see, there’s nothing to stand on here.”

“Who in their right mind would wade into a river in this kind of weather? I’m not going to do this. Do this on your own.”

After saying that, Diana plopped down onto the folding chair that Siwoo had set up and crossed her arms.

He thought about trying to persuade her, but they only had thirty minutes worth of time.

It was his fault that it came to this since he hadn’t done enough research beforehand, so he couldn’t really argue against her.

“Well, that’s a shame… Alright, fine.”

Since they came all the way here together, he preferred for them to enjoy this together, but it wasn’t like he could help it since she clearly didn’t want to.

Feeling a bit disappointed, Siwoo cast the float into the flowing river.

1. It's a bolster made of bamboo.