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1.

When it came to Eloa Tiphereth...

Before Siwoo regained his memory, he felt this vague sense of discomfort whenever he was facing her.

He noticed that lately, she had stopped wearing light clothes—such as pajamas—casually in front of him.

Not only that, she also stopped her late-night visits—usually to drink some booze—altogether.

Both suggested that she had been actively drawing a line between them.

Now that he could properly reflect on her past actions, it was obvious. Even the slightest strangeness that he had noticed pointed out in that direction.

She truly was determined to abide by the line that she had drawn, to not give in even to the slightest temptation, all to put in a distance between them.

After visiting the Palace of Memories, everything just became more clear.

Eloa loved him as a man.

But at the same time, she viewed him as her beloved disciple.

The guilt she felt when she mingled her body with his must have been immense, and that was probably why she made the decision to draw a line between them.

Of course, Siwoo’s view on their relationship as a master and disciple was different than Eloa’s.

Not too long ago—before the world had grown terribly sensitive—teacher-student relationship wasn’t even deemed as anything strange.

This was why he found it difficult to understand how much guilt that weighed on her heart.

To the point that she had to force herself to erase the memory of the person that she loved.

However, Siwoo understood the weight behind her decision to do that. After all, it wasn’t hard for him to imagine himself in her position—he just needed to imagine him doing the same thing to either Sharon or the twins.

“Hello, Master...”

Siwoo could tell from Eloa’s expression that this wouldn’t end with just a simple scolding, but what could he do? He just threw her that awkward greeting.

“Duchess Tiphereth— Oh my...”

Albireo, who was about to greet Eloa with a bright smile, stopped herself as she covered her mouth with her hand, surprised.

-Slap!

Because the moment Eloa’s eyes were locked on to Siwoo, she immediately approached him and slapped him in the cheek.

Of course, that wasn’t enough to hurt him, but the slap still stung.

Immediately after that, she grabbed him into a tight embrace.

“A-Ah, right...! I have a meeting scheduled with the Academic Society! Now, if you excuse me...”

Seeing this passionate reunion between the master-disciple pair, Albireo quickly stood up and left the office.

“M-Master... I-I can’t breathe...”

“Stay still.”

Eloa was still clad in her combat attire—implying that she had just come back from the Modern World.

Her pink-colored hair was tied as tightly as her embrace—so tight that it felt like she didn’t want to let him go ever again.

If Siwoo was a teddy bear, part of his body probably had bulged out already at this point.

While Siwoo was stuck with the death trap he couldn’t run away from, Eloa spent days blindly chasing Ea just because she had received a single picture of dubious origin.

She had been busy indulging in the emotions she thought she had forgotten: anger, and her desire for revenge.

Because of that, it wasn’t her who found Siwoo floating on the sea, almost losing his life, but Deneb and Albireo, who had noticed the abnormal situation early on and immediately looked for him. It was only after her beloved disciple recovered to some extent did she know that he had almost lost his life.

I...almost made the same mistake again...

I...almost lost another disciple...

Eloa tightened her hug on Siwoo—who was a head taller than her.

She didn’t do anything else, but Siwoo could feel that her whole body was trembling.

At one point, weak sobs came out of her mouth, and not long after, Siwoo could feel that his chest started to get wet from her tears.

“I’m...sorry...”

“Master, no, I brought it to myself...”

“I’m...sorry...”

Avenging Ravi was an important matter.

If Ea really was alive, it meant that she should take up her sword to hunt her once again.

But now, Siwoo was here.

Shin Siwoo was here, her beloved disciple was here.

2.

After Eloa calmed down a little, they both then went to the garden.

Out here, the conifer trees were covered with the snow that fell last night.

The master-disciple pair walked side by side for the first time in a long time. Occasionally, they’d tap on the icicles that were hanging on the trees’ pointy leaves as if they were Christmas decorations.

In the garden that had been touched by the winter, Siwoo heard from Eloa the reason why she couldn’t come to him right away.

Apparently, Bianca had used Ea’s picture as bait to separate her from him.

Coincidentally, this actually touched the topic that Siwoo was about to bring up.

“Master, I have something to tell you.”

“Do tell.”

He had peered into the Palace of Memory, so he came to know of Eloa’s feelings for him.

However, there was something more urgent that he had to tell her right now.

Regarding Ea Sadalmelik, the vile witch who had stolen Eloa’s apprentice witch...

Even though he had stolen her magic, the vicious woman was still alive.

“Before I regained my consciousness this time, I got to look into my memories.”

The moment the word ‘memories’ came out of Siwoo’s mouth, Eloa’s whole body stiffened.

She stopped treading on the thin snowy path, keeping her hands still behind her back.

“Memo...ries...?”

She looked up at Siwoo, and the look behind her gaze wasn’t the usual affectionate one that she had, nor was it the dignified one that she often wore.

Worry.

Expectation.

Disappointment for having such an expectation.

Determination to quietly swallow her longing feeling.

Her magenta eyes started to moisten.

This was the same look that Siwoo had seen in his memories.

He realized that she had probably been staring at him with this kind of gaze from the place where he couldn’t see.

“Ea Sadalmelik might really still be alive.”

But that expression of hers didn’t last for long.

Although the change in her expression wasn’t as intense as Siwoo had expected.

“Can you tell me why you came to that conclusion?”

She just nodded her head, calmly asked him that question, fully prepared to listen to what he was about to say.

Siwoo was worried that she might get a little too heated when hearing this, but the way she reacted to the news calmly left him a little surprised.

“Did you...already know...?”

“I kinda expected it...”

Eloa trailed her words into a sigh as she nodded, confirming Siwoo’s guess.

Of course, Siwoo was surprised when he saw this.

The atmosphere around her was significantly more relaxed and gentle. It was as if she wasn’t the same person who had punched him in the guts with a fierce expression on her face when she found out that he was related to Ea in some way.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“N-Nothing, it’s just...”

“I know what you’re thinking. It’s fine. Anyway, my beloved disciple found himself in trouble again. There’s no way I could just leave you alone and go to settle the score with her right now.”

Eloa smiled and passed it off as a joke, but Siwoo could tell from her eyes...

That she didn’t make much fuss because he almost lost his life, and that she must have complicated feelings inwardly.

In any case, now that the heavy topic was out of the way, he could proceed with his original plan, to tell his master that he remembered everything.

He remembered the memories of them mixing their bodies, and the memories of her confession.

Honestly, he already had an idea of what to do with their relationship.

He already had Sharon and the twins.

Not only that, he also had been entangled with other women as well.

Leaving her suffering with her feelings on her own wasn’t an option.

“Master, it’s cold here. Wanna go in?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll buy you drinks, it’s been a while, isn’t it?”

“Now we’re talking.”

But, the current atmosphere wasn’t fit to bring that sort of topic up.

So, he decided that he’d tell her after they warmed their feet a little in front of the fireplace with some booze in their hands.

At that moment, Eloa called out to him.

“Siwoo.”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember anything else?”

As soon as she finished that sentence, she made a face as if she had regretted her life’s decision.

It made her feel that she was hanging on to a useless obsession.

“...Let’s go in first, Master. We can talk about it then.”

That answer probably answered all the subsequent questions that she had.

She didn’t know if she should feel happy, sad, or somewhere in between.

Meanwhile, Siwoo noticed the change in her expression. He could tell how much she had gone through, and it made him feel even more sorry for her.

Her face had turned into a shade of pink, as pink as her hair.

3.

Feeling awkward outside, as they had no idea how to continue their conversation, the two of them found their way back inside.

Siwoo poured out some drinks into Eloa’s glass as she warmed her feet in front of the fireplace.

Eloa’s hands—placed on her blanket—fidgeted around, proof of how embarrassed she felt. She wanted nothing more but to go and hide right now.

“I know this is an awkward topic to talk about, but... Can I speak first?”

“Of course.”

Siwoo replied, then sat next to her to warm his feet too, just like her.

“First of all, please forgive me. I told you that I’d take full responsibility for my actions, but I didn’t. Instead, I ran away and erased your memories. That was irresponsible of me...”

Eloa’s words came smoothly and calmly, as if she had rehearsed it while they were walking back here.

However, her face couldn’t be any different from the word calm.

It was red enough to the point that Siwoo could feel the heat even without touching it. Not only that, her hands had also been fidgeting around without stopping for a while now.

“But, I still want you to understand things from my perspective. As you know, I...love you. However, it’s just wrong and immoral for a master to commit such acts with her disciple... The opposite is also true, of course...”

At that moment, her fidgeting stopped.

Tears started to fall on the back of her white hands—where he could see the veins visible underneath her clean skin.

“Do you think I am...worthy of your forgiveness...?”

Worthy?*

*What is she even on about?

I don’t even understand what she is trying to apologize about in the first place...

Siwoo knew how much she cared about him—everything was clear from even her slightest gestures.

There were countless things that she had given him that she never asked him to pay back

Siwoo stood up.

“Master.”

He didn’t even know if he deserved her.

Nevertheless, he still opened his arms and embraced her, after hesitating for a moment.

He pulled her small, soft body into his arms.

“...I’m an unworthy master...”

Eloa said quietly.

Siwoo then carefully wrapped his hands around the back of her small head.

“Not only did I mess around with my disciple... I also erased his memories... Out of fear of taking responsibility for my actions...”

Her usual dignified appearance couldn’t be seen as she kept on digging into Siwoo’s embrace like a child.

“And now... Just because you’re hugging me... I feel shamelessly happy...”

“Master, no... It’s my fault for not noticing sooner...”

Neither of them initiated.

Somehow, they just knew that it was the right timing to do it.

Still embracing each other, their lips overlapped.

For the first time in a long time, a familiar scent tickled his nose.

A fruity scent, just like a ripe peach.

Everything that unfolded next matched the scenes that he remembered.

She carefully reached her hands out to his collar, before grabbing in tightly.

Then, she bit his lower lip, as if nibbling on it.

Her eyelashes trembled due to her nervousness.

Everything was the same as he remembered.

He then extended his tongue, touching her slightly parted lips with it.

Feeling that touch, as if surprised and startled, she tried to pull away from him.

But...

“Sluuurrp... Chuup...”

Siwoo’s arms fully restrained her, preventing her from running away.

Then, he inserted his tongue in without any hesitation.

Eloa’s body trembled like a deer who had been shot by a tranquilizer, but soon enough she accepted the kiss of her beloved disciple, the kiss that she had been longing for.

This time, Siwoo wasn’t doing all this because he smelled her scent.

Nor was it because he was under the effect of a strange potion.

He wanted to do this from the bottom of his heart.

After a while...

Their lips moved apart as both of them tried to catch their breaths.

Eloa’s eyes trembled as she stared at Siwoo.

And Siwoo met her gaze, not even trying to avoid it.

“Master.”

“...”

“I’m fine having this kind of relationship with you. If anything, I want to have this kind of relationship with you.”

To her, who wasn’t even sure if she should be happy or sad after hearing those words.

Who had been suffering all by herself for holding all her memories about him all this time.

“If anything, I think I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you... I hate to say this about myself, but... As you know, I have a...very complicated relationship with multiple women...”

“...”

“But, just as you think of me as someone precious to you, I also think of you as someone precious to me, Master.”

He didn’t try to make any excuses.

Nor did he try to make her understand his position.

Even if it was shameless, he just wanted to tell her the truth.

“That’s why, please. Don’t run away from me, and stand by my side.”

“...”

“Let me do my part and take responsibility.”

Eloa stared at him in a daze, as if she had been struck by a curse of petrification.

Then, slowly, as if said curse was being lifted, her face changed.

But before Siwoo could see what kind of expression she was making, she already covered her face with her hands, and lowered her head.

“Master?”

“Sorry...”

The first thing that came out of her mouth was an apology.

Is that not enough to make her heart feel at ease?

Just when Siwoo started to feel discouraged by her response...

“I’m...so...happy... I-I don’t know what kind of expression I should make... I-I don’t know what kind of expression I’m making...”

That was when he noticed her soft smile peeking from the gap between her hands.

From her voice, it sounded like she was holding back tears—the tears of happiness.

Her smile at that time was the most beautiful expression of her that Siwoo had ever seen.