Chapter 103 – #23_The Price of Loss (2)

#101
One.
A carriage stopped with the force of crashing into the fountain in the garden in front of Amelia’s inn.
The carriage door with two birds engraved on it is wide open.

“Odette! Get off quickly!”
“Wait a minute! My shoe is off!”

Who could have imagined that the two girls chirping as loudly as birds were apprentice witches who would succeed the high-ranking Countess Jemonai.

“Hurry! Hurry! Hurry up!!”
“Ah! Be quiet, sister!”

As if running, Odile kicks out the carriage door and stomps his feet in place to urge Odette.
Odette jumped out on her feet, with one finger in the heel of her shoe.

“Would you mind urging me? My sister is always impatient, which is a problem!”
“What? Did you already forget that you were half an hour late because you skipped your violin lesson?”
“Uh, that’s because my sister is noisy last night, so stop practicing and grow up!”
“So you should have practiced on the weekends like me!”

Odette and Odile wearing straight shoes.
While the two of them were constantly bickering, the dodo also ran at a brisk pace.
It was said in such a hurry that Galina would have been scolded if she had seen it.

Lunchtime today.
Words I heard from a teacher I hadn’t seen in a long time.
Two days ago, Assistant Xin Siu woke up.
Right after hearing that, the twins were filled with the thought of rushing to Amelia’s mansion after work.

To think that he, who hadn’t opened his eyes once a week during 16 hospital visits, came to his senses.
How could I not run straight away?

He brilliantly saved the twins’ lives twice.
Besides, even sacrificing himself.
It is a grace that must be repaid in a lifetime.

“How is my sister?”
“How is Odette?”

Before opening the door of the mansion, the hesitant twins look back at each other at the same time and say.
Before arriving, the attendants were adorned with flowers.
Pecha even put on pretty makeup with an excited expression.

“The bonnet is crooked.”
“I think the brooch will fall off too.”

Her sisters got along and tidied up her messy clothes from the frantic run.
Already, her chest is pounding.
The twins nodded sadly and walked slowly toward Amelia’s room.

It was because her desire to run to Siwoo at her first month seemed like her opposite, but it was the right procedure for her to say hello to her first.
There was no change in the relationship between the twins and Amelia, who seemed a little awkward over the love potion.

Amelia stood at the podium and lectured with a calm expression as usual.
It seemed to her that she wouldn’t bother asking about it.
Of course, it was revenge or something… The tactical nuclear bombardment was dropped, but I accepted it sweetly, thinking it was self-inflicted.

-Smart

I knocked, and after a while the door opened by itself.

“Hello professor.”
“I heard that assistant Siu woke up, so I came to see his face.”

In the room, Siwoo’s doctor, Yebin, and Amelia were talking.
Both of them look bad as if they were having a serious conversation.

“…What’s going on…?”

Amelia put down the glass she had been sipping on and thought for a while before opening her mouth.
I thought the twins would find out soon anyway.
So, I only ask for it.

“Assistant Shin Si-woo hasn’t fully recovered yet. Please be careful.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Let’s go. Professor.”

Amelia beckoned her to go, and in a blink of an eye the twins quietly shut the door and went outside.
After staring at the closed door with mixed feelings for a while, Amelia took out one of her cigarettes.

“Whoa…”

A cloud of smoke spread and Amelia wrinkled her brow and breathed heavily.
Yebin, who had bowed her head like a criminal in front of him, drank from her glass with her trembling hands.

“So this abnormality is incurable.”
“Yeah… I tried two more times… But I tried really, really hard… But…”
“It’s not your fault.”

Yebin lowered his head as if he had no face.
When she saw her trembling with guilt as if she had committed a mortal sin, she even lost the will to rebuke her.
Is there anything I can do to change Yebin’s scolding to take out her anger here?

Afterwards, Yebin made two attempts to enter Siwoo’s palace of unconsciousness.
The results are all failures.
Even from her second time, she couldn’t even set her foot in her space.

If this happens, complete healing of Siwoo will be impossible.
Only 70% of what Yebin was aiming for was her limit.

“Is there any chance of self-recovery? From the circumstances, it appears to have absorbed some of your magnetism magic.”
“Maybe… I don’t think so. Because you won’t feel the need…”

Now Siu’s body was simply perfect from a magical point of view.

It is literally autism.
He cuts off communication with the outside world and is immersed in his own world without being caught up in his wandering thoughts.
Through her power, she is showing wonders that even Ye-bin can’t understand with her ridiculous concentration and calculations.
Moreover, it seems to be very satisfied with it.

This is proved by his repeated refusal of Ye-bin’s treatment.
I don’t know if it was Siwoo when the emotions existed, but Siwoo now doesn’t feel the need for treatment.
When the treatment is over, he will be out of ‘high functioning autism’ and he will be magically ‘incomplete’.
For the current Siwoo, this state is recognized as an optimal condition that does not require any further interference.

Giving up humanity, emotions, and contact with the outside world, he acquired his diabolical magical talents.
In his distant horizon, he has no intention of returning to his normal routine.
This was Yebin’s conclusion.

Amelia closed her eyes gently and smoked her cigarette.

“You’ve worked hard in the past. If Avene goes to her Baron, he will give you a decent reward. And here.”

Amelia handed over a silver ticket that had been tucked away in her book.
It seems very simple, but in reality it is not.
This is the ‘Egg of Gnosis’ artificially created by the hands of Duke Keter.
It is the citizenship and pass of Gehenna.

“I’m really, really sorry… Baron… If only I, if I had been a little more competent…”

Amelia shook her head.
No more apologies than this.
Yebin did her best, and the trouble was caused by Siwoo’s strange and unpredictable talent.

“When I feel better, I will seek help again.”
“Yes….”

Amelia held on to her fragile heart and barely saw Yebin off.
Grabbing her dizzy head, she sat back on her desk.
She tried so hard, but it all came to an end.
Now, I really have no choice but to leave it to heaven.

“Siw…..”

If she had been another witch, she might have jumped up and down and liked it.
No, she would have been subtly delighted if Amelia had obtained such a mysterious slave in her hands.

But her chest is completely empty.
Because that slave is Siwoo.
Because he is the only person with whom he has given her heart and she is the man Amelia thought she loved.

Even his foolish appearance.
The unexpected moment of kindness.
Even getting angry.
Now I can’t see

Amelia expressionlessly took out a stack of papers from the top shelf of the drawer.
It was a healing magic research conducted for Siwoo before inviting Yebin Smyrna.
You probably won’t be able to make it in time.

Even if Amelia reaches the level where she can heal Siwoo with her genius skills, he will already be dead and not in the world.
Because she is not a witch with eternal life, but a mortal.
Even so, Amelia took out this paper because it was hard to bear her helplessness of not being able to do anything.

Square square.
The nib that scraped the paper was weak today.

2.
“Do you want to go in through my sister’s window?”
“I’m just going to go, so why do you keep arguing?”
“But that makes it even more impressive.”

The twins finished preparing their minds by having a short conversation in front of Siwoo’s door with pounding hearts.
Woven with a nice bouquet! And appear, and it’s over.
As soon as I opened the door nicely, I jumped vigorously and landed at the same time.

“Jap! Jam! Jam!”
“Assistant! Congratulations on your discharge!”

A performance where they stand back to back and stretch their arms out to different sides.
While the fine dress was not disturbed in the slightest, it appeared woven with dynamic movements, but something was strange.

“Assistant, are we here?”
“Assistant…?”

There’s no way I wouldn’t have heard this loud sound.
Still with his back to his twin, he was drawing something, digging through the wallpaper with his fingertips.

“Five….”

It was a fractal figure in the form of a tree.
A tree that started from the root is added with repetitive branches to form a large tree.
Thinking that the assistant was paying attention, the twins quietly walked behind him.

It’s a bit unfortunate that there isn’t a touching reunion, but where is this anyway?
It seems like just yesterday that he was lying on the bed looking like he was about to die.
How can you stand up and draw like this?
The twins were sensitive to that alone.

– Crunchy square

“……”

Without an inch of hesitation, the magical fingertips dug through the wall.

“What the hell are you drawing…”
“Shh Odette, stay still.”

Odette was the first to notice the strangeness of the painting.
It was not simply a beautiful geometric model.
It is strongly felt that each branch line and each hanging leaf have a ‘meaning’.

But that’s all I can think of.
No matter how different the shape is or try to implement it in 3D in the image, I can’t figure out what it is.
This drawing was Siuman’s system, which did not match any form of magic that Odile knew.
Of course, assuming that this is a magic formula.
Siwoo finished the mural work by drawing the last leaf with his fingertips.

“Assistant, we are here.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Odette pulls on Siu’s one sleeve to show off her presence.
Finally, Siu looked back.
As soon as they saw his face, the twins, who were supposed to jump in and cling to his neck, hesitated.

“……”

Siu looked perfectly fine except for the black eyepatch covering his left eye.
But.
Joy, joy, or bewilderment, surprise.
The moment I looked back at the twins with an expression that showed no emotion whatsoever.
I couldn’t help but feel a little scared.

“Why, why? We came Aren’t you happy?”
“I prepared a bouquet like this for my assistant…”

Odile hesitated at the unexpected reaction, and Odette pushed out a bouquet of colorful gypsophila.
However, Siwoo doesn’t even look at the bouquet and just looks at the twins alternately.
Then, slowly, he reached out and touched Odile’s cheek.

“What! Suddenly! I hate things like this, assistant.”

Odile, who thought it was a boring prank, was heartbroken.
He didn’t shake his hand as it touched his cheek.

“As for me, assistant?”

When Siwoo only shows interest in Odile, Odette also flirts and pulls Siwoo’s hand.

“Sniff sniff.”
“Bird, is this a new welcome?”

Siwoo sneaked up on Odile and sniffed the top of her head.
Odile is frozen motionless over an incomprehensible matter, and Odette looks at her disapprovingly.

“Sniff sniff.”
“Assistant, does that hair smell good?”

This time, he changes his seat and smells Odette, not Odile.
In any case, Odette’s grinning expression, probably thinking it was an expression of friendship, soon hardened.

After smelling her twins for a while, he turned around.
After that, I started to immerse myself in the tree picture made of fractal that I thought was completed again.
The twins tried to talk to Siwoo several times after that, but he didn’t even look at them.