City of Witches

༺ Before Regret (1) ༻

1.

Inside a certain cabin, in a certain oyster tree forest.

Amelia checked the content of her large suitcase for one last time.

It was her Master’s keepsake, enchanted with a space and lighting magic. Inside, there were her clothes, magic supplies, a letter, and a note.

Season had passed, and the heat of the summer had gone already.

If she were to pass by the clearing, filled with lush oyster tree branches and wildflowers, she could smell the scent of autumn.

“…”

Once upon a time, Amelia had summoned Yebin to Gehenna to heal Siwoo.

However, she failed to heal him completely, only his body and part of his brain, and she failed to restore his personality to its original state.

After that, it was Duchess Keter who stepped forward.

She was the one who restored Siwoo’s personality and even went out of her way to give him a potion to ensure his complete recovery.

In return, she asked Amelia to do one thing for her.

But, ever since then, the Duchess never contacted her again…until a while ago, when she was focused on her magic research after Siwoo’s departure from her life.

‘It’s time for you to uphold your promise.’

Duchess Keter, the same person who went to seclusion for 82 years, had come out to see her in person.

Since the matter was important enough that she even came out of her tower, needless to say it must have been an arduous task.

But Amelia wasn’t afraid.

Because to her, her life was already meaningless. Everyone who was important to her had already left her life.

She nodded her head, reminiscing all those vague, sweet and painful memories.

Reassuring herself that she had nothing to lose anyway.

‘My clumsiness…my ignorance…my stupidity…my inability to cherish everything that was dear to me…’

‘It’s all meaningless…I’ve lost everything…’

“Still, why did she…?”

Before Amelia closed her suitcase, her eyes wandered to a certain book inside.

It was a book, as thick as a dictionary, covered by an ominous color of black; The book that was handed to her by Duchess Keter herself.

When the Duchess handed the book over, she told her something.

‘What is this book?’

‘The book contains everything that you need to do.’

The Duchess’ tone was relaxed and calm.

‘Rather, everyone you need to kill.’

Despite the content of her words, the way she uttered it sounded like she was a waiter reading off a menu.

The Duchess departed after a while.

Amelia then carefully examined the content of the book.

In it were various criminal records and the locations of various Homunculi that were hiding in the various parts of the world.

The modern world, to be exact.

What the Duchess was trying to tell her was to go out there and to purge the modern world instead of herself.

If this was the past Amelia, she would definitely refuse to do this.

But now, even after she finished packing up and getting ready, she didn’t have any particular feelings for it.

She looked around the cabin for one last time.

Her gaze was a little different than usual this time, since she expected to never come back here again.

To this small and precious cabin, where her happy memories with both her Master and Siwoo were buried.

Suddenly, Siwoo’s shirt, hanging on the armrest of the chair, came to her sight.

Originally, she planned to let it stay there.

Because this cabin was like a treasure chest to her, the place where she could store all her precious things.

But she decided to take it with her, so she opened her suitcase again and folded the shirt neatly.

Then she brought it closer to her face, and took in its scent carefully.

She could barely smell his scent there, but his unforgettable voice and face came to her mind.

After that, she placed the shirt inside, closed her suitcase again before leaving the cabin for good.

The wind chime, hanging on the eaves, wept as it was being blown by the wind.

2.

After Duchess Tiphereth calmed down, Sharon and Siwoo saw her off.

She told them that she’d be back later to compensate them before disappearing into the dark city.

“It’s tough…”

Sharon, who was watching the scene from behind Siwoo, said so quietly.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for her to forgive the Duchess, after all, she was the one who hurted Siwoo and almost killed him.

In fact, her heart still palpitated when she remembered about the blade that was about to dig into his flesh.

But, aside from that, she forgave her completely.

“Yeah…”

A normal person lived through the day to think about tomorrow.

This also applied to witches.

But it wasn’t the case for Duchess Tiphereth.

No one could change the past, she was aware of this, but she was still trapped in that swamp of her past, and suffered through it.

Siwoo tried to soothe the complicated feelings that he felt with a cigarette.

As he did so, Sharon sneaked in beside her, trying to lighten the mood.

“Is that tasty?”

“Tasty? This? It’s a cigarette…”

“You know, I usually smoke too, for my magic, but…it doesn’t taste good…”

“Well, I’m doing this to empty my head, also I don’t have to worry about getting lung cancer now, so I can smoke as much as I want.”

“What’s that?”

Sharon chuckled, her body slumped a little, as if feeling ticklish.

Seeing this, Siwoo remembered something.

“By the way, thank you.”

“For what?”

“You were trying to help me, weren’t you?”

“You—! Stop teasing me! I really thought that something was gonna happen to you! You didn’t come back for a while…”

When she saw the Duchess, Sharon was ready to fight and protect Siwoo.

And her display of bravery, disregarding her own safety to save him, actually amazed Siwoo.

But, she seemed to take his genuine praise as a tease.

Her face was dyed a deep red color, and she slapped him in the shoulder.

“I’m not teasing you, I’m thanking you for real…”

“…”

He gently said while grabbing the wrist of her hand that she used to slap his shoulder. When she felt his touch, her whole body stiffened.

Then she averted her gaze, muttering something in a small voice.

“Y-You don’t need to thank me…I-I owe you more than that…”

Her reaction…

Made it hard for Siwoo to reply to her…

Coughing awkwardly, he threw the remaining of his cigarette butt into the trash can and walked inside with her, side by side.

Then, he changed into his sleepwear, laid his body down on the couch, just like yesterday. And then he felt someone’s presence.

Sharon’s.

“What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?”

“Nothing…it’s just…are you going to sleep on the couch again?”

She sat down next to his head, before stretching her body.

Then, she leaned down, swiping his hair away from his forehead.

“Come to my room instead. My bed is wide enough for the two of us.”

“What? You want us to sleep together?”

“Don’t you want to?”

“You don’t really need to be this considerate with me. This couch is as comfortable as a bed. I mean, this thing costs a million.”

“But…whatever, I won’t sleep tonight then.”

“Well, I can do the same.”

The same, familiar banter.

Ever since the twins came, they barely had moments to themselves like this, so it felt like it had been a while since they last did something like this.

“Anyway…do you want to do it tonight…?”

Sharon asked Siwoo in a shy voice.

One didn’t need to be a genius to know what she was trying to say here.

Her ‘reward’.

“The twins are here, though.”

“Who cares, they’re sleeping.”

‘Is this what it feels like after you put your children to sleep and suddenly you have all the time in the world to spend with your wife?’ Siwoo thought to himself.

“No, really, you should just rest. You had a rough time today too, no?”

Siwoo wasn’t the only one suffering during the incident, Sharon too.

Besides, it wasn’t like he was feeling particularly horny, and he definitely didn’t want to bother Sharon too much…

“But I want to do it!”

Contrary to his expectations, she didn’t back down.

Though, the words that followed sounded almost like a whisper, he could barely hear them.

“I-I’m the one who wants to do it, okay…?”

“Um…if that’s the case, then…”

He didn’t know why she suddenly acted like this, but if that was what she wanted, that was what she’d get.

There was no way he’d refuse if she went this far.

Like, if he were to refuse, he simply wasn’t a man.

So, he followed her to her room.

The room was dimly lit, and it smelled really good.

After they settled in the room, Sharon took off her top.

The moment he saw part of her chest that was slightly protruding outwards from the side, he already got a reaction.

Just like Pavlov’s dog, maybe he was already conditioned to react this way.

Under the moonlight, Sharon’s green hair glowed mysteriously.

It reminded him of forest fairies that came out in legends.

“Do you want to sit on the bed?”

“S-Sure…”

Sharon offered shyly, covering her chest with one arm.

In truth though, she wasn’t covering anything.

Because the majesty of her chest was insurmountable. Two arms wouldn’t be enough to cover it, let alone a single one.

In the end, she could only cover up her nipples.

And the sight only excited Siwoo even more.

She squatted down, taking off Siwoo’s pants, along with her underwear.

This wasn’t the first time she had done this, and he was pretty much used to it by now. He raised his hips to make her job easier.

His rod had been gathering up heat for a while, and when Sharon pulled his underwear down, it unilaterally hit her chin.

She stared at the hot rod for a while with a red face before standing up again.

Then, she nodded with a determined expression on her face.

“Huh?”

Siwoo’s eyes instantly widened.

Because Sharon suddenly gripped the elastic part of her shorts and threw it away.

Her skin that was exposed was as white and smooth as snow.

Even after he scanned through it, he couldn’t find any blemish or scars, just like a nude sculpture made by a master craftsman.

Her smooth, silky hair fell down to her waist.

Just above her tummy were a pair of plump, matured breasts, with a pair of beautiful nipples hanging on their tips.

Her tummy itself was smooth, without the slightest excess fat.

Decorating it was a tiny, lovely belly button.

There was a heart-shaped mark on her pelvis.

It was her brand, proudly showing itself to Siwoo.

Because he was sitting on the bed, he could see her tightly closed lower lips from below.

With the moonlight as a backdrop, Sharon’s skin glistened.

“…”

The sight made Siwoo at a loss of words.

Maybe if one were to take the most beautiful of curves in the world, and weave them into a single entity, this was what would come out of it.

That was how shocking the sight in front of him was.

“T-Today was so scary…”

She said as she rubbed her fleshy thighs.

Her calves shook while her toes wiggled.

It was clear that she was nervous about all this.

However, this just showed him the depth of her determination.

“I-I was…so afraid that I’d lose you…t-that I’d never see you again…”

“…”

She approached him, slowly.

Each step he took, a filter was taken off Siwoo’s mind.

Making him stop thinking of her as a friend…

And making him treat her properly as a woman…

That was how much impact her naked body brought to Siwoo.

She climbed onto Siwoo’s stiff thighs, and seated herself on them.

Then, she proceeded to push his erect rod down with her lower lips.

He noticed a stark difference between her cold thighs and her hot lower lips, as if they were on fire.

“I-I know that…I’m not equal to you yet…”

She said before she hugged him, treating him as if he was the most precious thing in the world.

Her breasts, the manifestation of her motherhood, were being pressed against Siwoo’s hard chest.

“I know…that I shouldn’t do this…I know…that I’ll come to regret it later…but, even so, I don’t want to regret everything later!”

“A-Ah…”

Her twinkling eyes met Siwoo’s trembling eyes.

Even in this darkness, he could clearly see the lust and desire in her eyes.

At that moment, her tongue slipped inside his half-opened mouth, like a burrowed snake.

Reflexively, he accepted her tongue, entwining it with his own.

Her sweet, lively tongue skillfully explored his mouth.

The tip of his rod rubbed against her entrance, sticking close, as if refusing to let go.

Slowly, the temperature of the room began to rise.

Eventually, she broke the kiss and said…

“B-But…can we forget the fact that we aren’t equals for the moment…? Can you embrace me…even if it’s just as friends…?”

Her voice sounded pitiful.

“C-Can you turn me into a woman, Siwoo…?”