CHAPTER 503: AQUARIUM (3)

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Throughout their walk, Deneb hadn’t said a single word.

It wasn’t because she didn’t want to say anything, but rather because she couldn’t*.*

She didn’t have a problem with her social skills or conversational ability, it was just, she had no idea what to say.

To explain it, let’s rewind the time a little.

Deneb had been enjoying some ‘me time’ before bed, her way of relaxing after a long day.

But then, a sudden guest arrived, interrupting her ‘happy time’. So she greeted the visitor all annoyed.

Said guest was, unsurprisingly, Shin Siwoo, the son-in-law who, not only brazenly stole the twins, whom she treasured beyond compare, but also seduced every high-rank witches in his vicinity.

Any mother who had raised a daughter would understand why her opinion of this son-in-law of hers hovered near rock bottom.

But, that wasn’t the whole story.

She had plenty of reasons to be pissed, but there was one singular reason why she turned into a viper every time she saw him.

To put it simply, seeing him wandering around with that carefree, goofy expression brought back memories of her past disgrace.

A disgrace no mature woman should’ve let anyone see.

Plenty of time had passed since then.

By now, she should’ve forgotten about it, but the feeling always resurfaced, maybe because she was still trapped by the lingering aftereffects of her lust.

Of course, Siwoo had no clue what she had been up to in her bedroom, but standing in front of him made her feel like she was stripped bare with shame.

This time was no different.

That was why she rushed at him, kicking him in the shins, practically picking a fight with him every time she met him.

Seeing him squirming in pain relieved some of her frustration.

But soon enough, she snapped out of it and found herself suggesting a walk.

And that...

Was where the problem started.

She didn’t have anything more to say to him.

.

After all, she chewed him out enough and she felt considerably better already.

So then, why did she ask him to go for a walk?

Why did she suggest wandering around the area near the villa in Tarot Town?

She told herself that she did this to warn this jerk to be more careful with his relationship with the twins. But, she couldn’t just talk with him in the mansion since the twins would be upset if they saw them there.

Those were the excuses she made, but she knew deep down that they were just excuses.

What was hiding behind those excuses, what exactly were her real intentions, even Deneb herself didn’t know.

She just felt off, questioning her own actions, piling on justifications, but never quite pinning down why.

“Brandy or whiskey, which one?”

“Brandy, please.”

Before she realized it, they had arrived at the villa.

Deneb poured cognac into a glass and plopped onto the sofa.

She set out some cubed cheese on the table for them to nibble on.

This sofa was the same one where she first spoke to him after catching the twins sneaking back in from their little overnight fuckfest.

Looking back now, she realized that even back then, they had already been having sex. For some reason, that pissed her off all over again.

On the other hand, Siwoo put the cognac to his lips right away, as if his throat was on fire.

Seeing this, Deneb snapped immediately.

“Mr. Siwoo, that’s not how you drink it.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you work in a host club? How could you not know this?”

“Well, I’ve popped up a lot of champagne, but never cognac...”

Siwoo let out an awkward smile, looking genuinely embarrassed. But, for some reason, that irritated her even more.

She didn’t know why, she just felt that way.

But no matter how much he got under her skin, Shin Siwoo was still the Gemini Family’s son-in-law.

If he made a fool of himself with poor etiquette, it wouldn’t just be his reputation on the line, the Gemini Family’s too.

“Alright, watch me closely. You enjoy it in three ways: sight, smell, and taste. First, cover the glass with your hand. Like this.”

Just like that, an impromptu drinking lesson began.

“Once your body heat warms the drink, the aroma will get much richer. This is where you give it a slow swirl to take in the color, clarity, and texture.”

“Like this?”

“Exactly.”

Siwoo didn’t really get it, but since she was teaching him, he just copied what she did.

The cognac clung to the side of the tulip-shaped glass, then slowly dripped down.

“Next, you savor the aroma. First, take in the initial scent. Then, swirl it again to let it mix with the air and experience the second wave of fragrance.”

“Hmmm, like this?”

“Don’t sniffle.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Deneb’s dewy, petal-soft lips touched the rim of the glass.

The deep, vermilion-colored liquor then slipped between her lips.

“Finally, taste it like how you’d kiss someone. Let the liquid touch your entire tongue.”

“Oh, that tastes way better.”

“You might think this is all just for show, but there’s a huge difference between drinking with knowledge and without. Understanding its true value and enjoying it properly. That’s the essence of luxury. Even the finest liquor would be wasted if you just hand it to some drunk on the street to chug.”

Honestly, when Siwoo first stepped into the twins’ hideout, he had braced himself for an endless barrage of nagging.

Even when she poured him a drink, he half expected it to be like the last shot given to a condemned prisoner, maybe a wine laced with opium.

But unexpectedly, Deneb didn’t fly into a rage.

Her expression wasn’t exactly friendly, but she wasn’t as harsh as he had expected.

Maybe, just maybe, his decision to not mess with the twins tonight had been the right one.

“...”

“...”

But as soon as the cognac lesson ended, an eerie silence settled over them again.

His mother-in-law, with her legs crossed, sipped her drink, refilled her glass, and topped his off too, without saying a word.

If it had been Albireo, she’d at least be throwing snarky comments his way.

But Deneb didn’t do that and that made her particularly difficult to deal with. He could only guess that she was still troubled by the previous incident.

One drink, then another.

His little mother-in-law downed her drinks at an alarming pace.

Before he knew it, she had nearly polished off a whole bottle by herself.

Considering cognac usually had 40% alcohol, the speed and amount of alcohol she drank were just out of the world.

Siwoo had just been watching her, hoping to ride this out, but even he couldn’t ignore this anymore.

“Countess, are you okay? Did something happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just... You’re drinking a little too fast...”

“I’m not. This pace is normal for me.”

Despite the strange tension between them, her answer sounded perfectly natural.

It was as if they had been having a casual conversation all along.

But her flushed cheeks, like she’d been sitting too close to a fireplace, and the slight slur in her usually crisp words said otherwise.

“That day...”

Deneb paused for a moment.

After a moment of hesitation, she spoke again.

Mustering the most casual tone that she could muster.

“After that day... how was it?”

“...How was what?”

Siwoo was caught off guard.

He knew what ‘that day’ she referred to was, it was just, he never thought that she’d bring up the topic that had been pretty much a taboo for them at this moment.

“Just... How was it?”

Meanwhile, Deneb was surprised at the weird sense of relief she felt after asking.

Why did she bring this up?

What kind of answer did she want to hear?

She had no idea.

Perhaps Siwoo was right. She chugged her alcohol too quickly.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.”

Siwoo’s response, delivered with a more cautious tone, was perfectly reasonable.

There was no way he could discern the intent behind a question that Deneb herself didn’t fully understand.

But that only frustrated Deneb.

Though it was her who didn’t know what she wanted, his wishy-washy reply irritated her. But, at the same time, she was annoyed at her irritation.

“...Fine. Let me rephrase the question.”

Deneb took another deep swig of cognac, let out a sigh, and continued.

She was trying her best to sound calm, but just like the lipstick stain on her glass, there was a faint trace of embarrassment in her voice.

“How was that day?”

Siwoo’s throat tightened.

The only thing running through his mind was, ‘Why the fuck is she asking me this?’.

He closed his eyes for a moment, running through the situation.

A late-night walk, just the two of them. Drinking together in a secluded villa. And now, she was the one bringing up the topic.

It didn’t take long for him to reach a conclusion.

This was just like the test Countess Albireo had given him, where she had offered herself to ‘Take the twins’ place until they grow up’.

In other words, this was a trap for him. The moment he showed even the slightest hesitation, she’d pounce on him and declare something like, ‘I knew it! You’re exiled’.

There was no other way to explain this setup.

She really was Countess Albireo’s twin sister through and through.

Siwoo made up his mind.

No flimsy lies, no hesitation, no fumbling.

He’d be straight-up honest while standing tall like an oak.

That was the only way to pass this test.

Siwoo met Deneb’s gaze head-on and spoke without wavering.

“Are you referring to the verification process?”

Deneb paused and then nodded slightly.

“It was good.”

“...”

Her lips quivered, forming silent a, e, i, o, u’s, as if she couldn’t decide what to say next.

The hand holding her glass trembled.

She was clearly debating whether to throw it at his face.

Sensing imminent danger, Siwoo quickly continued.

“Countess Deneb, you are a stunning woman. Even if there were...circumstances beyond our control, if I were to say that I didn’t enjoy the time we spent together, that would be a blatant lie. However...”

Stunning?

It would be a lie if he hadn’t enjoyed it?

Deneb felt something tighten around her heart, like an invisible rope pulling taut, then loosening all at once.

The pent-up frustration in her chest dissolved in an instant.

Even the alcohol-fueled haze in her head cleared slightly.

Strangely, a bit of confidence bubbled up inside her.

That ephemeral feeling passed through her like a breeze, and before she even realized it, her lips spoke of their own accord.

“Mr. Siwoo... Actually... There was a problem with that verification.”

“I didn’t take it to—wait, what?”

Siwoo, who had been smoothly guiding the conversation, suddenly froze .

And then he looked at Deneb with a much more serious look.

“What do you mean by ‘a problem’?”

“During the verification...nothing actually happened. Of course, this doesn’t imply anything bad. After all, I was there personally to oversee the process.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“But every experiment has variables. Judging Mr. Siwoo’s...involvement with the twins based on a single test would be far too reckless.”

“...”

“If we don’t do this verification properly by doing it multiple times, a problem might just arise down the line.”

That was when Deneb finally understood why she had brought him here.

All this time, she had felt uneasy.

Under Albireo’s supervision, the verification had gone smoothly and perfectly. It was just, a thorough, methodical witch like her could never be satisfied with just a single experiment.

All the discomfort she had felt while watching him, and the reason she had dragged him to the villa in Tarot Town...

It was because her subconscious was too shy and embarrassed to admit that she wished to perform another verification.

At least, that was what she believed.

As if a blocked pipeline had suddenly opened, Deneb felt a rush of clear answers flowing out.

Her tone came out excited, a little passionate even.

She even almost capped it with, ‘We should do it here! Right now!’, but her throat locked up.

Because at that moment, a round blue bead floated up between them, right over the table where the alcohol they had been sipping was placed.

A small, blue orb, no bigger than a thumbnail.

Its shape and color resembled the Blue Hole, also known as the eye of the sea.

“Mr. Siwoo?”

“Countess?”

They exchanged glances, both thinking, ‘What kind of magic is this?’.

The moment their puzzled gazes met, Siwoo reacted faster.

He immediately summoned his armor, reflexively swatted the bead away.

Or rather, attempted to swat it away.

But, before his hand touched the orb.

A swirling torrent of dark mana engulfed both him and Deneb.