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1.

“Hah–!”

Waking up with a gasp, Siwoo looked around his surroundings.

As his consciousness began to clear up, he started to slowly remember things.

The incident in Tarot Town, his painstaking effort to meet Amelia, and its ending.

As he gasped for breath, he felt the cold sweat soaking his back and the warm sensations on his knees.

“Mmnyaa...”

“Huuu...”

One on his left leg, one on his right.

The twins, wrapped in microfiber blankets, were journeying through the dreamlands, using his legs as cushions.

Seeing how they still didn’t wake up even after he pulled his legs—and from their drools—they were clearly in a deep sleep.

“...”

Normally, he could spend a whole hour appreciating their cuteness, but sadly, it wasn’t the time for that.

He collapsed from exhaustion, he could tell that much, but what about Amelia? How did things develop after he was out of commission?

Impatience seized him as he lifted the blanket covering him. He was about to get up, when...

“Hm?”

My left arm...is here...?

He could still remember how he blew it away from the wrist up back during the incident.

And yet, here it was, completely intact. He could move it freely, and he could clearly see the veins and muscles under his skin.

If it weren’t for the room that looked like a hospital, he might’ve passed the whole incident as a dream.

But then he tried to focus on his left arm, and...

“I can’t feel anything...”

It was as if someone else’s arm was attached in place of his real arm, he couldn’t feel anything.

He probably could try and play a piano right away, it was just, he couldn’t feel anything.

It was a weird feeling.

“That’s a prosthetic arm Countess Kohav transplanted on you. The fundamental structure of your spirit body itself was damaged, so there’s nothing else we can do.”

“Woah! C-Countess?! Since when are you there?”

Surprised by the person’s voice, Siwoo’s body jolted as he turned his head towards the direction of the voice. At the end of his gaze, there was Countess Deneb, standing by the lamp.

She hadn’t been making any sounds, so it wasn’t a wonder that he thought there wasn’t anyone else here.

“Oh, my poor heart! Why are you shouting all of a sudden?!”

The countess, who was surprised by his reaction, immediately rebuked him with a frown.

“W-Were you taking care of me? Thank you...”

“Who’s taking care of you? I’m watching over you so you won’t jump on my daughters and do inappropriate things to them the moment you wake up.”

“Um, I won’t do something like that, though?”

“As if you won’t! I’ve confiscated the toy you’ve prepared for the Harvest Festival! That obscene toy! Gosh, how could such a thing exist?! Such a thing needs to be purified and burned!”

The countess grabbed a box that seemed to have been unpacked and re-packed again and waved it around.

“What is that?”

“Don’t pretend as if you don’t know this!”

“But, I really don’t know...”

Of course, since the twins prepared the toys as a surprise for him, there was no way for him to know.

But sadly, the countess refused to accept his self-defense.

“I’ll always keep an eye on you, so behave yourself! Seriously, men and their lustful thoughts...”

The countess said, clicking her tongue before crossing her arms.

She wanted to go off on him, but she eventually gave up with a sigh.

It was because she noticed his unusually serious expression

Deneb knew everything that had occurred while he was asleep, but it wasn’t the case with him. He had just woken up from a long sleep, he knew nothing.

It was only natural that he was worried about Baroness Marigold, whom he was close with (presumably).

“Ugh, thinking about it is making me angry again...”

“Huh?”

Evergreen, the twins, Countess Yesod, Duchess Tiphereth, he is seeing them all at the same time, and you’re telling me he’s adding another one?

He even prepared that indecent toy for my innocent daughters!

Deneb was barely able to suppress the urge to choke him and ask him, ‘Do you have any conscience at all?!’.

If he wasn’t a patient who had just woken up from a coma, she’d probably have unleashed her magic on him already.

Indeed. Just because they spent a night together that one time didn’t mean that she’d hesitate to hit him.

“Whatever. Are you curious about Baroness Marigold?”

“Yes.”

Hearing him answering in a subdued voice, Deneb managed to regain her composure again.

“Right now, she’s being held in the dungeon, and Countess Kohav is interrogating her. The procession started around two days ago; the day when you first collapsed.”

“I was out for two days...?’

“They said the fatigue that accumulated in your body is severe. You know what that means, don’t you?”

The spirit body usually wouldn’t get fatigued easily.

Even if it was subjected to hard labor that a normal human body wouldn’t be able to endure, a spirit body would still be fine.

In fact, the only times a witch would ever get fatigued were if they had to do something that normally required one to use heavy machineries, or if they used too much magic.

“...I’ve been treating my body a little too roughly lately.”

“I’ll introduce you to a decent spirit body tuner, so get it checked out.”

“That aside, Ms. Amelia...”

In any case, what mattered to Siwoo right now wasn’t his physical condition.

And so, Countess Deneb told him what happened to Amelia.

“My sister and Ms. Evergreen stepped forward and held off Duchess Erelim’s ‘Judgment’ for about 15 minutes. During that time, you managed to save Baroness Marigold. However, even though she’s a baroness, her actions couldn’t be swept under the rug just like that. Especially considering what she has done was comparable to her invading Gehenna.”

“Is that so...?”

“The Tree of Sephiroth had formed an Investigation Committee to deal with the case. In the meantime, they arrested Baroness Marigold, who is willingly cooperating with the investigation.”

“Is she okay? Is the matter really that serious?”

With Siwoo leaning his body forward—their faces almost touched—Deneb pulled her upper body back.

Then, she shook off his hands that were holding on her sleeve.

“I know you’re anxious, but don’t interrupt me!”

“S-Sorry.”

“Haa. They won’t brand her as a Criminal nor exile her. In the first place, the incident had no casualties, and besides, there is evidence that pointed towards the involvement of the Witch of Whispers in this matter.”

Siwoo remembered the sight he had seen in Amelia’s memory, where Clara made her go berserk.

“By any chance, was it Clara...?

Hearing the name that came out of Siwoo’s mouth, Deneb tilted her head.

“Did you know her?”

“No, I just happened to know her name— No, that isn’t important! I can prove that Ms. Amelia is innocent in this matter!”

“...I told you, stop interrupting me. Anyway, she’ll be fine. She’ll have to pay a big sum of fine and compensation, but that’s it. Her title will help her reduce her sentence, so don’t worry too much.”

Only then did Siwoo’s anxious heart calm down.

Then, carefully, he asked.

“Can I meet her now?”

“Yes, you—”

Before she could even finish speaking, Siwoo already disappeared from the room.

The rest of Deneb’s words were uttered in vain.

“...Can... Haa...”

What am I gonna do with that womanizer?!

Looking at the twins, who were still sleeping soundly, Deneb got annoyed again.

She covered the twins’ body with the now-messy blanket, clicking her tongue before letting out another sigh.

2.

It had been months since Sophia and Amelia last talked with each other.

Naturally, they had a lot to talk about, and they did exactly that.

Amelia shared the hows and whys of the matter.

Then, they made a promise to go for a tea after the investigation was over.

Half of the conversation was Sophia being mad at Lilith for what she had done.

Amelia had to comfort her, stroking her hair gently. She felt guilty for being such a bad friend to her.

It’s warm

The warmth she felt wasn’t the false sense of comfort that came from the fact that she had been alone all this time.

But a true warmth that came from having a sincere conversation with someone who genuinely cared for her.

However, even at this moment, Amelia felt this nagging feeling in her heart.

It was the same feeling she felt during the interrogation, and when she stared blankly into the stone wall after the interrogation session was over.

Was it guilt? Expectation? Regret? Or gratitude?

She remembered the moment when Siwoo reached out his arm to her in that endless darkness.

And the moment when his arm scattered like flowers, right before he pulled her into a tight embrace.

He told her that everything would be okay.

Then, he consoled her, who thought that her sin was so great that she’d never be forgiven, with eyes and voice that showed his understanding.

And yet, she hurt him.

She hurt him with her magic that she failed to control properly.

Like a pointillist painting that was made of dozens of colors, the mixture of her various emotions created one big, overwhelming emotion.

She wondered, what kind of emotion should she show him when they finally met? What kinds of words should she say to him?

In the end, she decided to apologize to him first.

For hurting him, for her selfish decision to run away until all the misunderstandings go away.

“So, what I’m trying to say is...”

“...”

Sophia, who had been talking with eyes covered in tears, suddenly stopped talking.

Amelia too, just held her breath quietly.

-Thump, thump!

Because heavy footsteps could be heard, coming down the stairs towards where they were.

They definitely weren’t the footsteps of a woman.

A man who was trying to visit Amelia in this late hour; a single name popped up in the two witches’ minds.

Shin Siwoo.

The moment his name crossed her mind, Amelia could feel her heart sink.

Dozens of both nightmares and happy dreams she experienced while wandering through the Modern World crossed her mind.

The nightmares were none other than the bitter memories that repeated themselves over and over again—the memories of the day when her relationship with Siwoo broke down—as well as her imagination about how bad their reunion would be.

While the happy dreams were none other than the memories of their happy life back at that wooden cabin, as well as her dream of a happy reunion with him.

Now, it was time to see which one of them would come true.

During the incident, Siwoo had definitely hugged Amelia.

He told her that it was okay, and apologized for being late.

But, it was a dangerous situation back then, he had just survived a situation that would normally lead to his death.

People’s emotions tended to follow their mood.

It was difficult to guarantee that his mood back then and now would be the same.

Moreover...

He already had a lover.

It was more apparent to Amelia, that what would follow wouldn’t be a happy reunion, and her nightmares would be the one that’d be realized instead.

Perhaps she’d end up experiencing the same thing as the past.

Although it probably wouldn’t be as bad as the past, there was a big chance that they’d turn into complete strangers after this.

“I’ll give you two some space.”

“...”

Sophia gently stroked the back of Amelia’s hand.

She tried to stand up, but Amelia quickly grabbed the hem of her skirt.

But soon, her grip lost its strength, and she let her skirt go.

Siwoo had come to save Amelia.

This made it the second time he showed his courage to save her, even though he could’ve just died right there and then.

Running away in this situation would be cowardly, even for her.

“You can do this!”

“Thank you, Sophia.”

Sophia gave Amelia her last words of encouragement before entering the shadow in the hallway.

She seemed to be talking with him for a moment there, and that got Amelia to quickly straighten her body up.

Now sitting upright in her chair, she stared at her feet, not knowing what to do.

-Thud, thud, thud!

Then, the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder.

His scent that she could only dream of entered her nose.

Amelia hurriedly tried to calm down her pounding heart before quietly looking at him, at Siwoo.

“...Siwoo.”

She called out to him, to the name that she always called out in her lonesome nights.