1.
Since she became a witch, Amelia had never felt this confused.
Even when a certain impudent slave refused her invitation to serve her during the night, she only felt flustered and embarrassed. Her mind didn't turn chaotic.
The chaos was like sailing alone on a small sailboat in the stormy sea.
There were so many issues that needed to be addressed, but she didn't even know which one she should prioritize.
"Haaah…"
She returned to her room in a hurry.
Inside, she couldn't sit or lie down, only restlessly pacing back and forth.
There was the fact that her own reckless mistake had brought Siwoo the suffering he didn't deserve.
Then, there was the matter of him studying magic on his own.
Not to mention that the purpose of him doing so was to escape from Gehenna.
All three of them were important, but the one that left the strongest impression in her mind was something else entirely.
It was the thing that happened between the twins and Siwoo inside that carriage.
"How could they engage in such a filthy activity…"
She saw it clearly using her Sensory Perception Magic, but she still couldn't believe her own sight.
Unlike the witches and their apprentices, Siwoo didn't have a spiritual body.
In other words, the place that Odile eagerly sucked was a filthy part of his body that was used for the purpose of letting out urine from his body.
Oral sex.
She still couldn't believe such a preposterous act even existed.
Not only that, Odile even kneeled before him, despite him being a slave, and accepted his semen on her face.
Amelia gulped down the water on the table.
As her shock gradually faded, pieces of the puzzle that had been jumbled in her thoughts started to fit together.
She had always believed that Siwoo hated witches.
Even considering what she had done to him, it was difficult to see his attitude as anything but unfriendly.
He also never engaged in conversation with any other witches except for herself.
It was as if he had created a wall that separated him from his colleague, another janitor who engaged in illicit relationships with multiple witches, while he remained committed to his moral code.
But recently, he became close with the twins.
Amelia had always wondered, how exactly did that happen?
And today, she managed to witness with her own eyes, the cause behind it all.
They were engaged in a physical relationship between the opposite sexes.
The three of them were involved in such an affair.
Performing such a dirty and disgusting act without hesitation.
Showing each others' naked body without any concern.
Amelia sat at her desk, nibbling on her lips anxiously like a troubled child.
The top of her desk was filled to the brim with various documents, leaving no empty space.
Holding a leather pen, she dipped it into the ink as she got ready to conduct her magical research.
"…"
'Let's start working.'
'Maybe I can resolve the part I'm currently stumped at.'
This wasn't something out of the ordinary.
Sometimes, when she found her mind in a chaotic state, or whenever she found it difficult to process her emotions, she'd sit down and think about magic.
In a way, those intense emotions she felt had helped her immensely during her research.
-Clack!
But, before ten seconds had passed, Amelia slammed down her pen to the table.
"When they went on the picnic together…"
That fact popped into her mind.
Siwoo turned down her invitation and went on a picnic to Spirit Mountain with the twins.
'What could have happened there?'
The answer to that question should have been obvious.
She imagined the scene of the three of them buck naked while staring at each others' naked bodies. The twins got down to lick and suck on his cock…
Amelia's delicate fingers were clenched into a fist. Rage surged from the bottom of her stomach.
'Why?'
'Why am I so angry?'
Suddenly, she found herself yet again confused by her own feelings.
It was like being trapped inside a vortex with no exit in sight.
"Wait…?"
She suddenly realized something. Her confusion had been enveloping her that she forgot about a certain fact.
Apprentice witches couldn't engage in sexual intercourse with a man.
If a man's mana entered their wombs, their bowl would become distorted, causing them to be unable to bear their soon to be inherited brands.
Despite this being such an obvious fact, she had forgotten about it completely. That was how much shock she received after witnessing the previous scene.
"If that's the case…"
They probably hadn't engaged in direct sexual intercourse with him.
No matter how naive the twins might be, there was no way that they'd sacrifice their future of being a witch to have a sexual relationship with Siwoo.
As she recalled this fact, the impatience in her heart started to subside.
Amelia then took out a cigarette and lit it. The atmosphere she exuded had become noticeably calmer.
Her composure gradually returned as she felt the hot smoke seeped into her lungs.
The twins had been particularly interested in the classes that Siwoo attended as her assistant.
Dense as she was, even Amelia managed to sense that their curiosity wasn't directed toward the pursuit of magic, but rather toward his body.
'Maybe he was being forced by the twins?'
"No."
Amelia realized that she was being overly optimistic.
When he ejaculated, it was clear that he was also enjoying the act.
Moreover, judging from their conversation, it was difficult to judge that they had done it because Siwoo was coerced to.
To summarize.
The three of them were involved in a physical relationship.
But, they didn't go as far as doing a full intercourse.
Nevertheless, it was because of this that they had grown closer.
As Amelia organized her thoughts up until this point, she noticed that her cigarette had burned down to its filter, making her fingertips tingle.
-Creak!
At that moment, she heard the sound of the door opening.
Though the sound was quiet, to Amelia, who was in a state of alert, it was as loud as a clap of thunder.
Siwoo had returned.
Like a herbivorous animal trying to play dead, her body froze. But, she cautiously sensed movements from outside.
His presence gradually moved from the central stairs and the hallway. It suddenly vanished as Amelia heard the sound of his room's door closing.
"Haah…"
She released the breath she had been holding.
While it was unlikely to happen, she was ready to escape the moment he opened the door and entered this room.
With her emotion still in the state of chaos, she still wasn't sure on how to act in front of him.
She turned her gaze outside the window.
And realized that she couldn't continue on being like this.
She needed help.
2.
With the morning star rising on her back, Amelia arrived at Sophia's lodgings.
It was located next to the deer forest within Trinity Academy. A quaint and charming mansion that reminded Amelia of the cabin she used to live in.
-Knock, knock, knock.
Shortly after she tapped on the wooden door latch, it opened.
"It's still early… Who is it…?"
Wearing her nightgown with a cute cat design, Sophia appeared with a drowsy voice.
She opened the door while yawning, but her expression quickly turned to surprise when she found out who her visitor was.
The reason why Amelia visited Sophia so early was because there were only so many people that she could trust.
"Oh my goodness, Amelia? What's wrong?"
Seeing Amelia's dishevelled state doubled Sophia's surprise.
Gone was her elegant look as her clothes and her hair were in complete mess.
She seemed to come in a hurry.
Just by looking at her stern expression, it was clear that the matter this time wasn't an ordinary one.
"Since you know I have a regular sleeping pattern… You know what, it isn't the time for that. Come in first."
"…"
Amelia slipped into Sophia's house without saying a word in response.
There were several cats sleeping in the cozy corners of the room where the fireplace was located.
The arrival of a visitor didn't disturb their sleep. Some of them were snoozing on top of the dressers, while some of them were under the tables.
Which was a fortunate occurrence for Amelia, since she was spared from them crowding around her, but sadly, she had no lenience to feel glad about such matters.
"What would you like? Coffee? Tea? Maybe cocoa?"
After making Amelia sit on the sofa beside the fireplace, Sophia asked her that question while rummaging through her cupboard.
"This is an urgent matter, Avenega."
"Look at you, waking someone up this early in the morning, but you are still giving her the cold shoulder."
Sophia sat on the opposite side of Amelia with a smile, not before she covered the latter with a lap blanket.
In truth, she was curious about the reason why Amelia looked so desperate.
"…"
However, despite calling it an urgent matter, Amelia kept her mouth shut.
She seemed to be struggling with how to say it.
"Can I take a guess? This is regarding Shin Siwoo, your assistant. Am I correct?"
Hearing that, Amelia opened her eyes wide.
Then, she confirmed Sophia's guess with a slight nod of her head.
To Sophia, it was surprising to see Amelia, who'd normally make a ton of excuses while flailing around, admitting to it so meekly.
And, to make the ever-composed Sophia surprised wasn't an easy feat.
"Could it be… Did he attack you? Or was it you who–"
"Don't be ridiculous. It's nothing like that."
Amelia glared at Sophia with a sharp, dissatisfied gaze. After hesitating several times, she then told Sophia everything she had seen.
"So, you're saying that your assistant managed to create a self-essence magic to escape from Gehenna? He also engaged in a physical relationship with an apprentice witch?"
"Yes."
Amelia added another thing to Sophia's conclusion.
"Since they are still apprentices, the girls seem to be doing it without any kind of penetration involved."
Sophia didn't reply to her speculation.
The genitals weren't the only hole that a man could penetrate, so they couldn't be certain about that.
Of course, she wasn't so tactless to say it out loud.
"Did I say something strange?"
"No, no, I was distracted by something else. Anyway…"
So, Sophia quickly tried to change the subject, thinking that it was too early to tell Amelia about that fact.
"What are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"You wouldn't be rushing over to me at this hour without a reason. "
"I didn't rush over to you."
"Forget about that, answer me."
Sophia waited for a while, but Amelia didn't say anything.
To be precise, she couldn't say anything.
"…I don't know."
Because she didn't know what to do, what she wanted to do.
That was why she sought out Sophia in the first place.
Her meticulous advice often annoyed her, but they would always turn out to be helpful in ways that she never expected.
"After seeing what happened, did you get angry?"
Amelia hesitated for a second, but she nodded her head in response.
Her brilliant golden hair swayed slightly, following the movement of her head.
"And why was that?"
"Because Shin Siwoo is my exclusive assistant."
Unlike before, her response was clear and she sounded unwavering.
Sophia had planned to patiently teach her about these things, as she was still inexperienced in the matter.
Getting her to be more honest with herself would be the first step.
"So, the thought of your belonging, Shin Siwoo, playing around with another woman while trying to escape from under your control didn't sit well with you?"
"Yes."
"It hasn't been long since he became your exclusive assistant. If the same thing happened before he became yours, do you think you'd be as upset with him?"
"Of course…"
Not.
Even if she had witnessed such an incident before Shin Siwoo became her exclusive assistant, Amelia would still feel just as confused. Her thoughts would turn as messy and her rage would also soar as fiercely.
Her pupils started to tremble greatly.
She discovered a contradiction in her own thinking.
Seeing this reaction, Sophia let out a slight smile.
"Human heart is so strange, isn't it?"
"…"
"According to your words just now, there shouldn't be any reason for you to be angry, but look at you now."
"…Even before he became my exclusive assistant, I would also be angry. I had been keeping my eyes on him for so long to be my exclusive assistant."
Under Sophia's warm gaze, Amelia clumsily found an excuse for herself.
'Why do I feel that my own words sound like excuses?'
"You had been keeping an eye on him? Why?"
"Why are you curious about that?"
Sophia didn't retract her warm gaze.
The gaze that somehow reminded Amelia of her master's. This made her unconsciously avoid her gaze.
"Because it's important. If it's just feeling your own emotions, even animals can do it. For example, my cat knows that they love me. But, being able to analyze the reason behind those emotions was a privilege exclusive to humans."
"I'm a witch."
"But you were once a human."
"…"
Seeing Amelia lost in thought, Sophia stood up from her seat.
"I'll bring you some tea. Our conversation might go on for a while."