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1.

Two days passed since the incident where Baroness Marigold went on a rampage.

Since its scale was so big that it could easily be treated as the second invasion of Gehenna, they didn’t take the matter lightly.

Under Duchess Erelim’s order, an Investigation Committee was formed to decide on Amelia’s fate. She entrusted Countess Kohav to lead the investigation to find out the cause behind the incident and to confirm how much damage it had caused.

Since there was no judicial system for witches, Amelia’s fate would be announced through a hearing.

“...Henceforth, any false statement may be used against you during this interrogation. So please fully cooperate with our investigation, Baroness.”

“I understand.”

With her short black hair, and ivory eyes, filled with a hint of intelligence.

Wearing a suit and a monocle, Countess Kohav began the interrogation after reciting the precautions.

After the incident was concluded, they immediately captured Amelia and threw her into the dungeon at Countess Gemini’s residence, just in case she suddenly tried to run away.

Of course, the result of the hearing wouldn’t be determined solely from her testimony.

They’d also collect and analyze the magical pattern that she unleashed back then, and used it as evidence. She’d also have to pay the City Hall a huge sum of money as compensation.

Nevertheless, during the three-hours-long interrogation, Amelia didn’t show any agitation whatsoever.

She just answered every question that Countess Kohav asked with a calm voice.

And of course, she didn’t tell a single lie; just answered everything as sincerely as she could.

“Alright. We’ll take a break for half an hour before continuing.”

“Yes.”

Countess Kohav rose from her seat, carrying the stack of paper with her.

She announced the break time not because she needed to rest.

But because she needed to send the stack of paper to the committee for cross-checking, and to dig a little deeper on the matter.

After this, there’d be a barrage of questions that would be incomparable to the ones she had asked so far.

But Amelia didn’t seem to be bothered by this as she sipped her tea calmly.

“Baroness Marigold.”

At that moment, Albireo Gemini, who had been standing by as a mediator, stepped into Amelia’s cell.

“I’m sorry for this place’s shabby state. It hasn’t been used for decades...”

She made sure to clean the place and placed new beddings, but there was only so much she could do to make an underground prison feel comfortable.

There was nothing she could do to get rid of the musty smell and the cold air that blew through the gaps in the stone walls.

“No, I appreciate your concern greatly.”

Amelia bowed her head as Albireo stared at her.

All witches were beautiful, there was no need to explain further, it was common sense.

But even among them, Amelia’s beauty was otherworldly.

The braided part of her hair reminded one of a rope woven with golden thread, while her blue eyes were astonishingly beautiful that it’d make one shiver.

Her long eyelashes, and her slender, yet elegant curves made Albireo, who had never once in her long life complained about how she looked, felt that her looks were lacking.

Many witches had strong homosexual tendencies, but Albireo considered herself to be strictly heterosexual.

But, there was a reason why she evaluated her beauty so closely like this, even though she didn’t have such a tendency.

Because this witch, whose beauty could be described as ‘demonic’...

“Is Mr. Shin Siwoo okay?”

Was a love rival of her daughters’.

Amelia and Siwoo had a deep relationship, and she had actually shown her unrequited love for him before.

Now that Siwoo had risked his own life to save her and fix their tangled relationship, it was obvious that the Hollywood’s cliche of ‘a couple reuniting after a major crisis’ would occur soon.

Her daughters’ fighting ground was already crazy enough with Evergreen, Duchess Tiphereth, and Countess Yesod, and now Amelia was going to join in too.

As their mother, she couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh at this.

“He’s fine. He still hasn’t woken up yet, but that’s because his circuit got injured, but he’s okay.”

“...What about his arm?”

Amelia didn’t blink even once during the tense interrogation.

But, as soon as Siwoo became the topic of their conversation, her expression twisted with a heavy guilt, as if she was a huge sinner.

“Countess Kohav has agreed to provide him with a prosthetic arm. You can trust her, she’s the best person to consult in this field.”

“Thank goodness.”

Hearing that, Amelia let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in her chair.

She didn’t care what would happen to her, she only cared about matters regarding Siwoo.

Seeing this, Albireo’s worry grew deeper.

She cleared her throat before continuing.

“We won’t know for sure until the hearing is over, but your sentence won’t be light. At the very least, they’ll probably strip your title away.”

The commotion Amelia caused wasn’t just a simple incident.

Even if she had done that under the influence of the Witch of Whispers, she still had imprisoned thousands of Gehenna’s citizens and put the Gehenna’s barrier under a significant risk.

But, Amelia just nodded her head calmly.

“Fortunately, the public opinion among the witches isn’t bad. The general opinion is that, as long as you can pay the compensation properly, the matter won’t end in your exile. You’ll also be free to go after the hearing is over.”

“Thank you for looking out for me.”

‘I don’t know why I’m even doing this for you, though,’ those words crossed Albireo’s mind, but she didn’t say it out loud.

In fact, the reason why the general opinion seemed to be favorable towards her was because Countess Gemini and Countess Yesod had worked their asses off to achieve it.

As for why Albireo tried so hard to protect her daughters’ love rival—other than due to her desire to help a fellow witch, of course—it was so that Siwoo wouldn’t go on rampage.

It was obvious that if something were to happen to Amelia, he’d be the first person to roll up his sleeves and do something reckless.

“Countess.”

“Yes.”

“If, by any chance, Mr. Shin Siwoo wakes up...”

Amelia’s long eyelashes fluttered as she hesitated, but suddenly, a commotion occurred.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The sound of someone going down the stairs entered their ears.

“Amelia!”

A familiar voice to Amelia echoed from the hall.

The person who jumped down was someone with a huge—no, humongous chest swaying around as she walked.

She was none other than Sophia Avenega, Amelia’s only friend.

“Sophia?”

“Amelia!”

“Ugh...!”

She went through the iron bars in an instant and embraced Amelia tightly, as if she had been reunited with a long-separated family.

It was so tight that Amelia let out a yelp.

Just a second ago, she was drinking her black tea, acting all-noble-like, but now, she was buried in Sophia’s chest, struggling to get free.

“Thank goodness... You’re okay...”

Amelia went on her Criminal Exile hunt without telling Sophia about it first.

Of course, Sophia who didn’t know where she went to was worried, and she went around to find her.

But, even after borrowing the eyes and the ears of various animals, Sophia still couldn’t find Amelia.

It was as if someone had erased her traces; even the clues to her whereabouts evaporated into thin air.

She was scouring through the Modern World after going through every corner of Gehenna when she heard about the news.

‘Baroness Amelia had invaded Gehenna.’

The first time she heard that, she almost fainted on the spot.

“W-Was I too late...? S-Sorry... I’m sorry, Amelia...”

“S-Sophi...aa... I-It’s...okay... Ugghh...”

Holding her tightly while crying, Sophia rubbed Amelia’s cheeks.

The commotion only died down when Albireo, who noticed Amelia’s face turned blue from lack of oxygen, hurriedly separated the two of them.

2.

“A body has been found?”

[Yes. Baroness Marigold’s claim that the Witch of Whispers has been posing as Clara Scorpio is proven to be true.]

“Any other unusual findings?”

[I have organized a search party, just in case that the Class 1 Criminal, Witch of Whispers, is still in Gehenna, but... I doubt that we’ll find something significant.]

“Thank you for your hard work. Please contact me again if there is any progress.”

Countess Kohav hung up.

She had submitted the information that she managed to gather through the interrogation to the Investigation Committee.

So far, she hadn’t found any contradiction in Baroness Marigold’s words.

They raided Clara Scorpio’s lair in the Modern World and found a mummified corpse, entangled in a pile of half-melted gold there.

Putting aside the question, ‘What is the Witch of Whispers’ aiming for?’, at the very least, they had circumstantial evidence that there wasn’t any malice behind Amelia’s actions.

Of course, that didn’t mean she’d be forgiven so easily. After all, she was fooled by a Criminal Exile so easily despite her status as a baroness.

“...”

Countess Kohav walked down the stairs leading to the dungeon, deep in thought.

The world had changed.

Even all the theories that were accepted as absolute truths had been disproven, one by one.

Signs of such changes started to appear all over the world.

It was difficult to notice such things when they lived their lives normally, but looking back to the past incidents, the ominous hints were everywhere.

For example, two days ago, Duchess Erelim, someone who had always maintained neutrality, suddenly acted like that...

“Regardless...”

Doubts were doubts, duties were duties.

Kohav still had to do her duties well, so that she could repay the favor she owed to the duchess. She had to maintain her neutrality and distinguish the blacks and the whites from the evidence they had gathered.

“Huh?”

Countess Kohav tilted her head.

She could hear an unfamiliar voice echoed from the cell where Amelia was imprisoned.

Inside, she could see Baroness Avenega, crying in tears in Baroness Marigold’s arm, while the latter was busy consoling her.

“It wasn’t your fault, Sophia. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have met him.”

“Hic... B-But, I-I should’ve stayed with you...”

“No, it was all solely on me. I was foolish. You aren’t responsible for anything, Sophia.”

Additionally, Baroness Marigold’s hand was moving gently, stroking Baroness Avenega’s head.

“Sorry for always making you worry. Also, thank you for always looking out for me.”

“Amelia...”

What a touching scene.

Meeting a witch who’s under an investigation is against the rules, but... Since when have we witches abided by the rules anyway?

Kohav took out her pocket watch.

“I can wait 10 more minutes...”

She wasn’t heartless enough to interrupt such a heartwarming reunion.

Admiring her own tact and kindness, she leaned her back against the wall, cheerfully tapping the floor with the tip of her shoes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Another Bunny Eloa