Episode 109. Witch (5)

Vera was dealing with the backlog of paperwork as a penalty for waking up late. The amount wasn’t as much as Monica handled, but it was still related to the internal affairs of the Count Family. As the lady of the house in place of her son-in-law, the Knight Edward Yulstein-gun, she was handling quite a bit of work.

Vera was considering whether to divide the work now that Edward had learned to read and write. She would continue to handle matters concerning the maids since they were all women, but perhaps she could delegate tasks related to the male servants, at least…

Thinking of Edward brought back memories of their passionate lovemaking last night. It was as if he was solely focused on getting her pregnant, continuing their intense relations until she was exhausted and collapsed. Her back was a little stiff, but the satisfaction she felt far outweighed it, spreading from her womb throughout her body.

‘I miss Edward…’

It was a little disappointing that he wasn’t beside her when she woke up. How many hours had it been since she last saw him to be thinking like this? Edward’s seed still hadn’t dried up completely inside her. She hastily removed her hand that was unconsciously reaching between her legs and refocused her mind.

Ttokttok-

As if to warn her, there was a knock on the door. She calmly suppressed her flushed feelings and said in a dignified voice,

“Come in.”

“Nuna…”

“Euh, euung?”

Was it because she was thinking about him so intensely? As if the saying “if you wish hard enough, it will come true” was real, Edward, whom she had been thinking about, entered the room. As soon as she saw his face, all thoughts of work flew away, and the heat of last night filled her.

Before she knew it, Vera, the lady of the noble family, had disappeared, and a female animal remained in her place. The first thing that came to Vera’s mind at that moment was, ‘Did I shower and put on pretty underwear?’, but she soon remembered that Daria had brought her something nice. Feeling grateful to Daria, Vera completed her preparations to become a female animal. But the male she was eagerly waiting for didn’t seem to be in the mood.

Pook-

With a sound, Edward lightly buried his face in her bosom. It was fortunate that she was sitting in a chair with a backrest to handle her duties for a long time. She was able to accept Edward, who was kneeling on the floor. At first, Vera felt her sensuality heightened by Edward’s scent, but as his calm atmosphere grew, her excitement subsided.

“E, Edward?”

Was he sick somewhere? Normally, in this position, he would immediately lift her skirt and smell inside… No, in the first place, he wouldn’t even take this position. He would immediately kiss her, pick her up, and head to the bed. That was why she had started working next to the bed. The farther the distance from the desk to the bed, the more time it would take.

But Edward remained motionless, burying his face in her bosom. Vera called his name a few more times, but she felt it would be pointless to call him any more, so she quietly accepted him. Rather, when she stroked the back of his head as if patting him, she felt Edward’s tension ease.

“Good boy, it’s okay…”

‘He’s like a big puppy.’

The big puppy she had raised when she was young looked exactly like this when it was in her arms. Of course, Vera was much bigger than she was then, and she had never had a strange relationship with that puppy. Edward was stronger than her, but the way he clung to her was exactly the same.

How much time had passed? Edward, who had let out a deep sigh, lifted his head from her chest. His eyes were red. Was it because they had been pressed down, or was it for another reason? Without showing it, Vera quietly waited for Edward to speak first.

“…I’m sorry for suddenly being like this. I just… hoo….”

“Calm down, you can take your time.”

This was the first time she had seen Edward struggling like this. She thought he was a man with nothing but lewd thoughts and swords in his head. Had Winnie seen this side of him? She cherished her like a real daughter, but Vera was secretly pleased that she was the only one showing this unexpected side of him. Edward, who had returned to his usual calm appearance, said,

“I just think I’m really lucky to have Nuna.”

“…Did you have a fight with someone?”

“No, it’s not that.”

He had been showing how hard he was having just a moment ago, but now he was pretending to be cheerful. It was as if he wanted someone to notice. But even when Vera kept asking, Edward never told her, perhaps out of pride.

“Nuna, have you eaten?”

“Huh? Euh, no. I haven’t eaten.”

She had actually eaten as soon as she woke up. But there was no need to refuse when Edward asked her to eat together. Eating something delicious would cheer him up. She should tell the chef to put some effort into dinner tonight. To convey this order, she rang the bell to call Daria.

Ttokttok-

Was she already here? The sound of knocking on the door was so fast.

“Come in.”

Beolkeok-

But the one who opened Vera’s room and entered was not her maid, but her daughter.

“Um? What. Why are you here?”

“As a mother-in-law, I was teaching my son-in-law, who will become the lady of the house, his duties.”

Monica’s eyes caught Edward and Vera, who were close to each other behind the desk. And the documents spread out in front of them. It didn’t seem like they were doing anything particularly strange.

“Well, that’s good. You, let’s have dinner together tonight.”

Originally, Monica didn’t think about having dinner with others so leisurely. She was always busy with work, so she tended to finish her meals as quickly as possible. But today, she had some free time for the first time in a while. So, she was wondering what to do for the first time in a long time…

“Shouldn’t we also have time to strengthen our marital bond?”

She thought it was a good thing. Now that she had decided to get along with Edward, it was good to do a lot of things together. She had already been scolded by Vera a lot, so she was afraid of what she would hear later if she just let it go now. Fortunately, Edward readily accepted her request.

“Would you like to join us too, Mother-in-law…?”

“Uh… today, you two should have some quality time together as a couple.”

Vera rejected Edward’s offer, hoping that Monica and Edward would become closer. Thus, the Yulstein Count couple’s dinner was prepared for the first time with just the two of them.

He follows behind Monica. His head was complicated.

‘…This is driving me crazy.’

He had managed to sort out his feelings while being held in Vera Nuna’s arms, but Monica’s immediate appearance made it complicated again. He was trying to avoid her until tomorrow… He remembered Winnie’s answer.

‘A spell to make you hate men… is what it is.’

Winnie had tried to avoid answering in any way possible, but when I kept pressing her, she eventually gave up. When I said that she would be disappointed if she didn’t tell me, Winnie, who couldn’t bear to watch that, answered after much deliberation. She knew that I would be disappointed anyway if I heard the answer, so she tried to avoid it as much as possible, but… she seemed to think that if she had to tell me anyway, it would be better to tell me early.

And it was actually very shocking. A spell to make you hate men… Thinking about Winnie’s past actions and attitude, it was clear who she had tried to cast the spell on with what intention.

‘She was going to do it! It wasn’t completed, though!’

‘She said that it was unintentional because someone ruined it.’

‘Th, that’s… If I was really going to do it, I would have tried again after that. After that, I never, ever thought about it even a little bit….’

Monica, who was showing her back to me now, must have been the target. The goal was to make her hate men, and even if she didn’t like women, to prevent her from getting married. It actually made me very miserable, too.

‘I’m sorry….’

‘…It’s okay.’

The words “it’s okay” didn’t come out easily. Originally, it didn’t actually happen, and since it ultimately failed, I thought I could just let it go by telling her not to do it next time, but the problem was that it actually happened to me. I can’t tell anyone, and I can’t hold them accountable, but the memory that remains alone in my heart is tormenting me.

Monica, who tormented me but didn’t keep me far away. It’s hard to know exactly how much the spell affected her… If she was like that even after being affected by the spell, maybe she didn’t hate me that much. Since it was said that it basically amplified the original emotions, maybe she originally hated me a little bit. Now, meaningless questions that can’t be confirmed were floating around in my head.

Of course, I didn’t suddenly hate Winnie because of this incident. How could I hate Winnie, who was apologizing to me for something that didn’t even happen, and who had matured while carrying my child? It’s just that one corner of my heart was uncomfortable to like her as comfortably as before I knew. I wish I hadn’t known… As I kept learning secrets that I didn’t know, I felt like I had gotten caught up in the atmosphere and learned things that I didn’t need to know.

That’s why I felt even more peace of mind from Vera Nuna. The person who has cherished me without change, both before and after the regression. The only one in this family.

“You.”

Monica called him.