Page 422

1.

Siwoo swallowed his saliva.

He was lucky that Albireo, someone he could at least reason with, showed up.

Currently, the two countesses were chatting in the distance.

Their conversation would likely decide what would happen to him next.

The echo made it hard for him to catch the details of what they were talking about, but Deneb’s sharp voice would raise occasionally, as clear as her current state of emotion was.

Phrases like ‘Kick him out!’, ‘I’d rather we get rid of him!’, and ‘I can’t forgive this!’ echoed clearly, making Siwoo more anxious than ever.

“Sshh! Sshh!”

Suddenly, at that moment, a hissing sound, like that of a snake, reached his ears.

At first, he thought it might just be the wind sneaking through cracks in the stone, but it wasn’t the case at all.

“Mr. Assistant...! Mr. Assistant...!”

He turned his head and found Odile and Odette crouching in the corridor, their heads peeking out cautiously.

True to their elusive nature, it was as if they had appeared out of thin air.

After glancing around to ensure no one was watching, they tiptoed over to Siwoo.

Their wide, anxious eyes darkened with worry when they saw Siwoo covered in dust, and the blood trickling down his forehead.

“M-Mr. Assistant... Y-You’re bleeding... What do we do...? This is because of us...”

“It’s okay, Mr. Assistant. Just stay still. We’ll get you out of here.”

“Ms. Odile... Ms. Odette...”

Actually, when Deneb insisted, ‘Not even the twins know about this dungeon’, ‘I don’t think so’ came to Siwoo’s mind immediately.

After all, he knew that the twins were a curiosity incarnate. There was no way they hadn’t known about such an intriguing dungeon yet.

And sure enough, the twins were well aware of the dungeon’s existence.

Not only that, but they had guessed he’d been captured and arrived armed with hefty sets of keys to rescue him.

“Odette, you take the top, and I’ll handle the bottom.”

“Got it, Sis.”

“Are you sure this is okay?”

Odile and Odette each selected a key and began testing it in the locks.

Meanwhile, Siwoo asked, clearly worried.

“Mr. Assistant, do you think Little Master will let this go?”

“Just focus on escaping for now. We’ll take the scolding and vouch for you.”

Their hushed voices and the clinking of keys in the lock sounded deafening in the heavy silence.

But, Siwoo knew running away wasn’t the answer. The situation had already escalated like a wildfire in autumn.

“I appreciate your concern, but don’t worry, just leave me here and get out quietly. I’ll handle Ms. Deneb myself.”

“Ms. Assistant, cut the crap and run.”

“If you stay, things will only get worse...”

The twins, knowing Deneb’s fiery temper all too well, decided that their first priority was to defuse the situation.

Rational conversation aside, it was painfully clear what would happen to their Mr. Assistant if they left things as they were.

Hadn’t they just seen him getting beaten and dragged away earlier?

Without the twins stepping in to mediate, the outcome was as clear as day.

“Why won’t this key work...?”

“There are too many keys, Sis...”

But there really were far too many keys.

No matter how much they struggled, the lock still wouldn’t budge.

Watching them fumble, Siwoo finally intervened.

After all, it was his own mistakes that had started this mess, and he didn’t want the twins to get caught up in it.

“I’ll figure this out myself. You don’t need to get involved because of me. Just go.”

“How can we just run away when we’re the ones who caused this mess?”

“Exactly! We have conscience, you know?”

The sound of clinking keys grew more frantic as they worked.

At that moment, Albireo and Deneb’s conversation abruptly stopped.

The twins, though were putting their all to free Siwoo, ultimately failed to free him in time.

“Ah...”

With their conversation finished, Albireo and Deneb returned.

Then, they found the twins clinging to Siwoo, desperately trying to unlock his restraints.

“Ha... You two brats....”

“How did you even get here?”

Albireo let out a sigh, while Deneb stared at the twins in disbelief.

She had definitely put them to sleep with a spell, and no one had told them about this dungeon.

Yet, here they were, standing right in front of them.

They even had spare keys in their hands.

“Master! Mr. Assistant hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“That’s right! We were the ones who seduced him! If something happens to him...”

““We’ll refuse to see your faces again!””

The twins, abandoning their escape plan and opting to face the issue directly, stood firm while Deneb gritted her teeth.

“Sis! Take the kids upstairs!”

“No!”

“We’re not leaving Mr. Assistant!”

The twins clung to Siwoo, one on each side, making their intentions clear.

Finally, unable to hold back her frustration, Deneb shouted.

“Do you even know how many women this man has played around with?!”

“We know! But our feelings for Mr. Assistant won’t change!”

“We understand! We’re loyal, just like a steadfast dandelion!”

Seeing the twins’ relentless devotion, Deneb shrieked in frustration. The anger she had just managed to suppress was reignited.

“Sis! Take them upstairs already!”

“I won’t fall for the same tricks again...! Hoaahm...”

“Using magic to solve everything is just cowardly...! Mm... Zzz...”

Seeing no other choice, Albireo put the twins to sleep with a spell.

The twins tried to resist with their own magic, but they were simply no match for Albireo.

Albireo scooped up the twins, who quickly slumped back down.

“Haaaaaa...”

Deneb let out a heavy sigh as she watched this unfold.

The twins’ brief appearance had ended abruptly, but their intentions had been crystal clear.

Even though they knew their plan would fail and they’d face punishment, the twins still snuck in to rescue Siwoo.

Their feelings for Siwoo were genuine, just like what Albireo had pointed out.

“I’ll take them back upstairs, don’t think about trying anything stupid while I’m gone, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, Sis.”

Albireo gave one last warning before leaving the place.

In truth, when Deneb brought Siwoo here, she had been determined to be relentless.

She had planned to fully expose his crimes, interrogate him about additional wrongdoings, impose a harsh punishment on him, before banishing him.

However, Albireo’s calm reasoning and the twins’ desperate pleas had managed to stop the swing of her emotions.

Although it didn’t go further than curbing her outburst, Siwoo could at least breathe a sigh of relief for the moment.

“Mr. Siwoo.”

“Yes, Countess Deneb.”

“I am very, very disappointed in you. I trusted you, Mr. Siwoo.”

“I’m sorry for disappointing you; I have no excuses. My indecisiveness caused this situation to escalate.”

Deneb snapped her fingers, releasing the Poem of Confession spell that she previously cast on him.

She also undid the restraints on his hands and feet .

“You can’t possibly understand how devastated I feel. Maybe you’ll get it someday if you ever take on an apprentice witch.”

Her demeanor was still prickly.

But the way she reached out to heal the wound on his forehead made it clear that Albireo had managed to calm her down.

“I have a lot to say to you, but... Oh, you’re already back?”

“Everything’s okay here?”

“I told you I have it under control.”

Albireo returned before long.

Her quick return suggested she was genuinely worried about Deneb’s potential outburst.

It was a valid concern, though. After all, if anything had happened to him, the twins’ weren’t the only ones they’d need to deal with, they had to also be prepared to receive Duchess Tiphereth’s wrath.

From Albireo’s standpoint, stopping Deneb’s reckless behavior was both the right and practical thing to do.

“Good job, Deneb. As expected of my little sister.”

“Could you shut up, Sis?”

Watching the countesses bicker was an unusual sight.

While he was still absorbing the scene, Deneb pushed Albireo away and stepped forward.

“Alright, fine. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you did have a physical relationship with the twins...”

-Grit!

Her words trailed off, replaced by the sound of her gritting her teeth.

Deneb sighed—her n-th sigh of the day—and continued.

“I understand the reasons and circumstances behind your relationship, and I could accept that you’ve seduced so many witches into bed with you. The twins themselves are okay with it, it’s not my place to argue further.”

“Still, Mr. Siwoo, haven’t you seduced too many witches at this point? A duchess, a countess, a grand witch... I can’t even believe it. Are you planning to wrap your crotch in gold trim or something?”

“No, that’s not what I was trying to do... Things just turned out that way somehow...”

Facing his mothers-in-law’s relentless scolding, Siwoo’s shoulders slumped.

But every crisis came with opportunity.

If he played his cards right, this might be his chance to gain Deneb’s full acknowledgment of his relationship with the twins.

Trying to stay calm, Siwoo swallowed hard and met Deneb’s gaze.

“What are you staring at?”

“N-Nothing.”

Hearing Deneb’s sharp remark, he quickly averted his gaze.

He wanted to come across as a responsible, confident man, but he was just too scared of Deneb.

Then again, who could possibly stand firm under the weight of her piercing blue glare?

“I admit, I had misunderstood you earlier. I attacked you because I believed that you, without any evidence or sense of responsibility, and with no regard for conscience, had dishonored, defiled, and committed adultery with our twins solely for pleasure, fully intending to ruin their future in the process.”

Each heavy word from her made Siwoo shrink further into himself.

“But since you’ve shown at least a bit of conscience, responsibility the size of a sauce packet, and remorse as small as a chick’s tear, along with the favor you’ve previously earned... I will reluctantly revoke your expulsion.”

“Phew...”

Albireo, who had been quietly listening, let out a sigh of relief at Deneb’s decision.

After all, even if they were sisters, she still couldn’t be sure if Deneb would accept any of her reasoning.

“But...”

The moment everyone else thought that Deneb had made her final decision, she delivered a dramatic twist, like a judge revealing a surprising verdict.

“My leniency towards you will depend on if your words were true or not. I will see to myself if your actions with the twins have affected their bowls or not. Even if you claim otherwise, I can’t just trust your words as they are. You have no objections to this, do you?”

Since Siwoo had already deceived Deneb and crossed the line with the twins, he couldn’t really complain about her stance.

Still, something about her words seemed off.

“Pardon?”

“Huh? Deneb?”

“What I mean is, I will personally verify any mana reactions and effects caused by an anal intercourse. If there’s even the slightest negative impact, I will not be lenient towards you. In other words, you are forbidden from even meeting the twins until they succeed their brands.”

For a moment there, Siwoo’s mind went completely blank from shock.

Alright, time out. What did she say again?

‘I could try to forbid you from doing it with the twins, but I know you both will just disobey it. Even if you’ve told me that their bowls are fine, I can’t just trust you. So, I want to personally verify if there’s any potential problem with your method of intercourse towards the twins’ bowls.’

It’s something like that...?

“What?”

Siwoo was stunned.

“What?”

Albireo, who was listening nearby, was just as shocked.