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Curled up on her side like a fetus, Deneb panted heavily, clamping the bedsheet between her teeth.

Her slender fingers, slick with fragrant oil, were plunged into her tight rear, shamelessly exploring its depth.

There was no need to explain what she was doing.

“Mm... Aah... Nghh... Ah....”

This all started from her attempt to bury the humiliating memory of that day, the day full of shame and disgrace.

She managed to fool her sister and Shin Siwoo with a clever lie and smooth talking.

As far as she was concerned, neither of them suspected that her disheveled state that day was nothing but an act.

But she couldn’t deceive herself.

For a grown witch! To be touched by a man! In such a dirty place! And enjoying it, no less!

Outraged by the absurdity of it all, she drowned herself in strong liquor day after day.

And then, on one drunken night...

She could swear to the Gods right now that her hand wandered to the very place that guy had defiled by accident.

Then, she felt it. Her body flushed with heat, her mouth became dry, and her breaths turned into husky moans as they scraped against her throat in delight..

It was a sticky, electrifying pleasure, as if every nerve in her body had come alive.

Though it was like a drop in the bucket compared to the intense pleasure she felt that day, it was enough for her to add a new task to her routine.

Although, it could barely be called a routine.

Whether during a relaxing bath, right before bed, or when her head became heavy after an intense magic research, she indulged in brief, secretive play.

At first, she hated herself for it.

After all, the hole she was using wasn’t even the proper hole for such a thing. Not only that, the way she discovered that such a pleasure existed was far from ordinary.

But her vague self-loathing was no match for the sweet and raw pleasure that her flesh felt.

Of course, she wasn’t gonna seek him out again—she wouldn’t betray her dear daughters.

Then, using the fact that it was common for witches to explore such pleasures as part of their more ‘personal research’, she decided to go for it.

And so, she treated this newfound activity as another form of indulgence, like enjoying fine wine or a sumptuous meal.

Whenever her carnal hunger rose, she’d convince herself with a few words and indulge in her new ‘hobby’.

Deneb narrowed her eyes, glancing at the bed.

...Now that I think about it, this is the place where I did that ‘verification’ with Shin Siwoo.

She had thoroughly cleansed it with magic, but it felt as though his masculine scent lingered, tickling her senses whenever she lay here.

“Haa...”

Letting out a mournful sigh, Deneb unintentionally recalled the sensations she felt back then.

The moment his soft tongue fearlessly explored her insides...

And the searing heat and thickness of his member, solid and unyielding, exploring her in a way that her fingers could never replicate.

It had been a moment of ultimate disgrace and humiliation in her life.

He had pinned her down, ignoring her resistance, and ravaged her with such ferocity it felt like he wanted to devour her whole.

“How dare he...? How dare he...? Nghh...”

In that moment, she stopped being the proud countess or a wise grand witch.

She was reduced to nothing more than a helpless prey.

Who else could have treated her like that?

Even here in Gehenna, only a handful of witches had the guts to disrespect the Gemini Household.

Ironically, despite her rising resentment, Deneb’s body heated up even more intensely.

She squirmed again, biting the sheet tightly.

Frankly, compared to that day, the sensation she felt was trivial.

It was like comparing an extravagant fireworks display to a single, lackluster sparkle.

Even so, her underwear grew damp and her body trembled with euphoric bliss.

“Ah... Oh...”

Accompanied by the strange sounds slipping out from between her lips, her body went limp as all her strength was drained away.

Then, with her body sprawled out lazily, like someone savoring their drowsiness after a satisfying meal, she used magic to clean both her body and the sheets.

But she didn’t stop there and cast another spell.

A soundproofing spell.

For Deneb, whose self-essence magic related to singing, this spell was as simple as a child’s play.

Then, in the next moment, came the inevitable surge of hysteria.

“AHHH!!! So damn annoying!!!!”

She screamed at the top of her lungs and pounded the pillow on the bed with her fists.

Ignoring the feathers fluttering like a gentle snowfall, she thrashed around, letting out her rage.

Even with all her justifications, she was still a proud countess of Gehenna.

Now that her thirst had been satisfied in her happy time, the fragile illusion she had built began to crack.

The shameful truth of the act itself and the mortifying steps that had led her there flooded her mind, gnawing at her in the midst of her post-nut clarity.

To shield herself from the relentless storm of guilt that were piercing her like arrows, she latched onto a scapegoat.

“Shin Siwoo! You wretched bastard!”

She spat out the name of the man who wasn’t even there, but had haunted her thoughts just moments before.

“This is all your fault!”

Indeed, if it hadn’t been for that man, she wouldn’t have to worry about the twins’ love life. As a result, she wouldn’t have had to go through the verification thing, and wouldn’t have been left to endure this shame all alone.

She vented her frustrations by pounding the pillow harder, releasing her anger.

All while thinking that she would kick him in the shins the next time she saw him.

2.

Snowflakes, stubbornly holding their ground against the winter sunlight, clung to the barren branches as they froze to create delicate blossoms.

These wintry flowers—visible only during this season—had their own charm if one stared at them long enough.

Amelia and Siwoo strolled along the path between them.

Walking hand-in-hand, they exchanged lighthearted laughs and whispers.

“...”

But, unbeknownst to them, three pairs of eyes were secretly watching them.

Those were Sharon’s, Odile’s, and Odette’s.

The room where their Elemental Magic Class was held had a clear view of the countess’ garden.

At one point during their class, Odile—whose seat was by the window—spotted Siwoo and Amelia walking in the garden, and so, at that exact moment, everyone ditched the class.

Both the teacher, Sharon, and the students, Odile and Odette, were completely engrossed in spying on the couple’s date.

“What do you think?”

“They look good together.”

Odile and Odette whispered to each other, like hunters on the prowl.

They were so focused that it felt as if they each had real hunting rifles in their hands.

Meanwhile Sharon, standing awkwardly behind them, also had her eyes fixed on the pair.

Amelia Marigold, the Witch of Perfumes.

When Siwoo shared his stories about his past as a slave, there were always those peculiar gaps in them, like pages torn out of a book.

And she could tell that the woman she saw in the distance was in those missing pages.

There was a saying that exceptional beauty could be spotted from a mile away, and now she got to experience that saying directly.

Duchess Tiphereth and the twins had their unique charms, and Sharon had always believed hers wasn’t lacking, but watching this scene made her falter just a little.

What kind of storm lay ahead of our relationship now...?

As she let out a deep sigh, Sharon heard the twins muttering their complaints in low voices.

“Ugh... Another rival to go up against...”

“Calm down, Sis. We know this is gonna happen sooner or later.”

“Yeah... I guess there’s no way Mr. Assistant would leave Associate Professor Amelia alone, considering how much of a womanizer he is...”

“Right? Nothing’s changed. We just need to keep on doing what we’ve been doing.”

The two had been muttering and chatting like this for a while now.

But, there was one thing that stood out from their behavior.

“Hey, kids.”

“Sharon unnie, we’re kind of busy right now.”

“Yeah. Can you turn our classwork for today into homework?”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m surprised you two are sitting still for once.”

Indeed.

Sharon wasn’t expecting the twins to storm in, ruining those two’s date or doing something dramatic like a vehicular manslaughter out of jealousy.

It was just, knowing how they usually acted and remembering how they had once seriously fought her over their love, she had been expecting them to at least run to Amelia and Siwoo’s side.

The fact that they were sitting still while observing the pair was so unlike them.

At Sharon’s comment, the twins stared at her, as if she had just said something silly.

“W-What? Did I say something weird?”

Seeing Sharon’s flustered reaction, Odile nodded knowingly.

Beside her, Odette did the same, almost in sync.

The twins’ signature half-bonnets swayed slightly, stirring up a faint breeze.

“Oh, right, Sharon unnie hasn’t met the associate professor yet, huh?”

“Sharon unnie, do you even know how scary the associate professor is?”

“Scary?”

The twins nodded in unison.

“Yeah, she’s like an ice queen.”

“She’s ruthless in her grading, her voice is scary, and her gaze...”

“It feels like you’d get a death sentence if you ever interrupt her...”

“Exactly... And let’s not forget that she’s a witch; she’s older than us.”

The sight of the twins—who’d usually rush in with their eyes wide open at anything related to their assistant—being this cautious as they relegated themselves to just observing the situation was unfamiliar to Sharon.

And then, an unforgettable memory flashed into Sharon’s mind.

“Huh? What about me then? Aren’t I scary?”

She vividly recalled their past brawl in this very classroom, where they had yanked at each other’s hair and rolled around on the floor.

To that question, the twins stared at her blankly for a moment before they started grinning mischievously.

“Oh, come on, Sharon unnie is just Sharon unnie.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Now that I think about it, Sharon unnie really isn’t scary.”

“Hey, at least pretend to be scared of me!”

Even as they exchanged these playful remarks, their eyes were locked on Siwoo and Amelia who, at this point, had started to disappear from their sights.

Now that it got to this point, it was clear that they weren’t gonna continue their lesson.

“Alright, let’s just call it a day.”

“Odette, time for another Emergency Response Committee meeting!”

“Yes, Sis!”

Sharon watched the twins scurry off without even saying proper goodbyes with a bitter smile.

“Seriously...”

Sharon wasn’t exactly in a sentimental mood to appreciate how cute the twins were.

Oddly enough, she had come to feel some strange happiness in their petty squabbles over Siwoo.

By now, it wasn’t just Siwoo that she cared about.

During the years she had spent struggling to pay off her debts in the Modern World, she had missed out on experiencing friendship and camaraderie, and ironically, she found those things in the women who loved the same man she did.

But the arrival of a new rival threatened to upset this delicate balance, filling her with unease.

“I wish things could just stay like this forever...”

As she muttered this to herself...

-Knock, knock

There was a knock at the door.

Thinking there couldn’t possibly be anyone else coming at this hour, Sharon glanced at the table, wondering if the twins had forgotten something and come back.

“Excuse me.”

But then the door creaked open, and standing there was none other than Amelia, who had been strolling through the garden just a moment earlier.