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As stated before, the newly opened perfume shop was small.

On top of that, the front door on the first floor had a bell that rang cheerfully every time it opened, so it was impossible not to notice when someone entered or left the shop.

Hence, the fact that they failed to notice a visitor entering showed how focused the pair were on each other.

“I knocked on the first floor’s door a few times, but I got no response, so I came in. Please forgive me for being rude.”

The one who entered the room after knocking was a completely unexpected person.

Countess Yvonne Kohav.

Her sharp, intelligent features, and her eyes that carried the color of latte with more milk than coffee were striking, but her most defining trait was definitely her short bobbed hair.

Witches typically preferred long hair.

The reason for this wasn’t complicated.

Nowadays, everyone could grow their hair long, but 200 years ago, beautiful long hair was a symbol of wealth and leisure, only bourgeois daughters or nobles could afford it.

After all, maintaining long hair took a lot of time and effort.

Over time, long hair lost its association with wealth and leisure, but with their long lives and adherence to tradition, witches naturally still favored the style.

In that sense, Kohav’s dyed black bob was pretty unusual.

The moment she entered, Kohav noticed a subtle tension in the room.

Amelia Marigold, the witch she had once interrogated, and Shin Siwoo, the man she had fitted with a prosthetic arm.

Both of them awkwardly exchanged glances that practically screamed, ‘Why is she here?’.

A man and a woman alone at such a late hour, with this kind of mood...

Especially considering the man had risked his life to rescue the woman during the latest chaos...

Normally, one would assume that they were interrupting a couple’s private moment, but such a thought didn’t even cross Countess Kohav’s mind.

Because in her eyes, Baroness Marigold already had a lover, Baroness Avenega.

At best, their relationship was just a master-servant relationship, reminiscent of the time when Siwoo was still her private slave.

She dismissed it as him showing the baroness his exceptional loyalty.

Also, she didn’t actually care much about their relationship, so she quickly set such thoughts aside.

“What brings you here?”

Seeing Kohav opening her bag, Amelia asked, showing a subtle hint of wariness.

Inside her bag were various tools for adjusting prosthetic arms.

“The implantation process isn’t finished yet. Baroness Avenega said that he’ll be here, so I came here.”

“Ah...”

After the first implantation, Siwoo was actually required to do check-ups and adjustments for his prosthetic arm every two days, but his and Amelia’s whimsical decision to go on a trip disrupted that schedule.

Although to be fair, he hadn’t been informed about it before this.

“This won’t take long. Please have a seat.”

At those words, Amelia became considerably more relaxed, though her expression showed a mix of relief and other complex emotions. Meanwhile, Siwoo just obediently rolled up his sleeve.

After that, Amelia excused herself to prepare some tea and went downstairs, leaving Siwoo and Kohav alone in the room.

“This is late, but thank you. I heard you helped me treat my arm...”

“It wasn’t treatment, it was implantation. Also, Countess Gemini paid me to do it, I was just doing my job.”

Countess Kohav replied in a businesslike tone to Siwoo’s thanks, as she pulled out long needles and electrode-like pads from her bag.

Her tone was cold, but it didn’t sound malicious, so Siwoo assumed that this was her usual demeanor.

But soon enough, he almost let out a scream of surprise.

“I’ll do a check. It might sting a little.”

Without further warning, Kohav suddenly jabbed a long, thin, sharp needle into his hand.

The needle, easily 30 cm long, pierced right through his left hand.

“How much does it hurt?”

But, strangely enough, it didn’t hurt at all.

Not a single drop of blood came out either.

Is it because it’s a prosthetic hand?

Feeling a chill from the overly intense examination, Siwoo calmed himself and replied.

“It doesn’t hurt, though...”

“No pain at all?”

“Yeah.”

“Not even a little?”

“Yep.”

“...”

Countess Kohav stared at the needle for a moment before pulling it out in one motion.

She then rubbed her fingers lightly against his palm.

“Does it feel ticklish?”

“No. Actually, I haven’t felt anything from that hand ever since I woke up.”

Hearing that, Kohav furrowed her brows.

“The sensory integration should’ve been completed by now... Have you been using magic much recently?”

Since he had only been going on a short trip with Amelia, and working a whole day at the factory, he hadn’t used magic much.

Hearing that answer, Kohav’s expression darkened.

“Is there a problem?”

“Hold on.”

She spread a parchment with a magic circle across the desk, placed Siwoo’s hand on it, and tilted her head in puzzlement.

Seeing her reaction, Siwoo started to feel uneasy.

He wished she would consider how much such gestures could stress out a patient.

“It isn’t integrated at all. How could this be...?”

“Could you at least tell me what’s going on?”

Surprised by Siwoo’s calm question, Kohav collected herself and began to explain the anomaly.

Countess Kohav’s self-essence magic specialized in utilizing ‘dolls’.

Like the myths where humans were molded from clay, Kohav’s dolls were crafted by baking clay.

Her expertise then extended to creating prosthetics, or ‘artificial limbs,’ that not only matched human functionality but often surpassed it. Since it wasn’t a complex organ, making a prosthetic arm like this was like a child’s play to her.

“After 48 hours of implantation, the arm should’ve fully fused with your spirit body. After all, I’ve reconstructed the skeleton, major blood vessels, muscles, and even mana circuits.”

Even accounting for differences between male and female bodies, it shouldn’t have affected the arm or hand.

The procedure had gone as smoothly as usual, and all test results were normal.

Except for one thing:

The sensory integration hadn’t happened.

“I’ve used the same procedure as usual to restore your senses, so the problem doesn’t lie within the procedure. Have you experienced any unusual symptoms recently?”

“Sometimes, I get headaches when I use magic.”

It started ever since his life-or-death battle with Bianca.

Siwoo’s magic had advanced significantly.

But since then, every time he tried using high-level spells, sharp headaches would follow.

At the time, he thought it was just his body struggling to keep up with his rapidly improving abilities, but...

“Let’s observe how it goes for now. At the very least, the tests didn’t show anything wrong. Come to my mansion in five days.”

“Understood.”

Kohav then tidied up the items spread across the table. She was about to leave when she suddenly seemed to recall something.

“Are you an acquaintance of Duchess Erelim?”

It was an abrupt question, completely unrelated to the treatment.

“No, I’ve never met her. The previous hearing was the first time I saw her face.”

“...I see.”

By the time Amelia brought out the tea she had brewed, Kohav had already finished with her business.

After declining the offered tea, Kohav left Amelia and Siwoo alone again.

“Siwoo...”

There was a look of a worried puppy on her face.

Even the tone that she used to call him sounded unusually childish compared to her usual.

Sitting on the sofa, she pressed her knees together tightly, her hands clasped nervously between them.

It was clear something was weighing on her mind.

The reason why Kohav came was to treat Siwoo’s hand injury, something that was caused by her in the first place. So naturally, her visit made her guilt resurface.

“She said there’s nothing serious and told me to visit her in five days.”

But, Siwoo knew what was in her mind, so he spoke out first before she could drown in her negative thoughts.

“The treatment’s going well. They said it’s a prosthetic, but it feels like I’m having a new arm.”

“...”

But, even after hearing those words, Amelia didn’t say, ‘Thank goodness’, or at least, let out a relieved sigh.

She didn’t even smile.

Instead, she just nodded silently, with an expression heavy with guilt.

At that moment, a loud chime rang out from the first floor.

Soon after, a hurried, yet familiar sound of footsteps echoed. Whoever the owner was, they were quickly climbing up the stairs.

Not long after, the door was flung open.

“Siwoo!”

The footsteps were unmistakably familiar to Siwoo.

Seeing the pink hair and familiar silhouette that dashed in as soon as the door opened only further proved that.

After hearing Ms. Sua’s briefing, the pink-haired witch, Eloa, had gone to investigate the Gobi Desert.

There, she discovered the suspicious activity Ms. Sua had been worrying about and contacted her, but that was when she learned about the chaos that had occurred in Gehenna.

And that Siwoo had been caught up in it.

What happened after that, was obvious.

She came rushing to Gehenna to find Siwoo, not even stopping to change her clothes.

Neither Albireo’s reassurance that Siwoo was fine nor basic manners about barging into someone else’s home mattered to her.

Because all that mattered to her at that moment was to confirm that her disciple and lover, Siwoo, was safe.

“You! Why is it that every time I turn my back, you’re throwing yourself into danger?!”

“M-Master...!”

Without hesitation, Eloa pulled Siwoo into a tight hug.

After that, a relentless barrage of scolding and affectionate nagging followed like a machine gun.

Perhaps it was because this was the second time something like this happened in such a short period of time.

Her tone was significantly sharper than usual.

‘If you keep recklessly jumping into trouble at every little incident, even I wouldn’t be able to guarantee your survival!’

‘If you’re going to recklessly rely on your little tricks, you might as well live like a coward!’

But, her scolding, harsher than usual, suddenly stopped.

Then, a choked voice, trembling with suppressed sobs, escaped her lips.

“If anything ever happens to you... What would I do...?”

Unable to contain her emotions, Eloa leaned in to kiss Siwoo, but suddenly froze mid-action.

At that point, her vision that had been narrowed by her surging emotions, had finally widened enough for her to notice there was someone else here.

Bright, fine blonde hair that seemed like it could easily fall into disarray after being neglected a little.

Delicate, thin eyebrows framing pale blue eyes that wavered slightly.

Amelia. The woman she had insisted on meeting through Deneb the first time she heard about Ea’s defeat.

She was the same person who had caused the large-scale incident in Tarot Town, dragging Siwoo into the chaos.

“...Baroness Marigold.”

Hearing Eloa’s dazed call, Amelia flinched.

She didn’t even have time to correct her that she was no longer a baroness.

After all, she wasn’t a clueless woman.

She could tell that Duchess Tiphereth, who had been in the Modern World, had rushed back because he had heard the news that Siwoo was in danger.

As the one responsible for putting Siwoo in harm’s way, she couldn’t bring herself to correct Eloa’s mistake.

Even though the duchess held no ill intent, her reason for returning, and her mistaken way of referring to her felt like sharp needles prodding Amelia’s guilt.

Amelia bit her lip.

Should she step out for a bit?

Or should she give them some space for their reunion?

Maybe she should apologize to the duchess, Siwoo’s ‘lover’ for throwing him into danger?

Or perhaps she should stay and join the conversation?

The last option probably made the most sense.

She already knew that Duchess Tiphereth and Siwoo were lovers, as she now was aware of his complicated romantic relationships.

But knowing it and witnessing it directly were two very different things.

There was no way she could just calmly stay inside the room.

More than anything, Eloa and Siwoo’s relationship felt far closer compared to theirs that had just begun to bud.

It made her feel like she was an uninvited guest despite this place being her home.

She didn’t know if this feeling stemmed from her jealousy towards Duchess Tiphereth, her possessiveness toward Siwoo, a sense of defeat from being left behind, or her bad habit of wanting to avoid all uncomfortable situations.

“I’ll... bring some tea.”

When Siwoo called out to her, she just repeated those words and left.

She felt pathetic for using such an obvious excuse to flee, but...

Right now, she didn’t want to do anything but cry.