episode_0152

[148th Episode] – Experiment to Lift the Curse (2)

While Veronica and Vivian were talking.

Titania wandered around the cabin for a while, waiting for their conversation to end. She wanted to join in the conversation, but…

‘How can I participate in this kind of conversation?!’

– Her mother felt embarrassed, so Titania reluctantly decided to wait outside until her mother and Veronica finished their conversation.

As she walked around the cabin, she heard the murmuring of dwarves here and there.

The sound of Browny singing while cooking in the kitchen, and the sound of Duharan sobbing. Also, the lively sound of dwarves running around trying to find their missing comrade’s head.

At one point, when she thought about going to greet the dwarves, who were like her younger brothers, she noticed “Catsy,” a cat swishing its tail at the end of the hallway.

Catsy swayed its tail as if beckoning her to follow. When Titania met Catsy’s gaze and grinned, Catsy began to walk somewhere with a haughty gait.

After a few steps, Catsy looked back to see if Titania was following, and seeing that she was, Titania chuckled and followed Catsy with slightly quicker steps.

They walked down the corridor, descended the stairs, and Catsy stood in front of a certain room near the entrance, looking expectantly at the doorknob, as if asking for it to be opened.

Catsy is a fairy, so she could transform into a human herself. Is this just a cat’s caprice? Unable to resist, Titania carefully opened the door that Catsy was looking at and checked inside.

“Here…”

Titania’s eyebrows involuntarily furrowed as she surveyed the state of the room. It looked like a room where a person lived, but it was indistinguishable from a garbage dump.

Cloths strewn on the floor and half-read books. The room seemed to smell of mold. Titania could tell who the owner of this room was.

When I turned my head, someone was sleeping under the covers in a disheveled corner of the bed. It was Katarina, who seemed unwilling to emerge from under the covers even though the sun was already high in the sky.

“Katarina…”

Every time I saw Katarina, I felt as if something inside me was boiling. Why was that?

Titania hesitated to visit the cabin because she disliked meeting Katarina. Although it was all in the past, she couldn’t bring herself to like Katarina, whom she had secretly lived with for two years along with her mother.

As Titania let out a small sigh, Catsby began rummaging through the linens, looking for something. Finding what seemed like a toy, she took it in her mouth and then casually slipped out of the room as if she had finished her business.

“So, she wanted me to open the door to find that thing?”

Titania sighed as she watched Catsby leave as if in disbelief. Just as Titania was about to follow Catsby out of the room, her gaze suddenly turned to the desk.

The desk was cluttered with various research journals and books related to magic. Could these be documents related to the “Fairy’s Egg,” which Veronica, Katarina, and Ainsel were researching?

Titania started reading a few of the papers scattered on the desk out of sheer curiosity. Most of the documents were difficult to understand for anyone other than a witch, but—

“This is…”

Just one.

One of the documents on the desk caught Titania’s eye. As she read it, her brow furrowed involuntarily.

…Is what’s written in this document really true?

Did my sister really research this kind of thing?

Even if that’s the case…

Titania grabbed the document and hurriedly headed towards Veronica. She needed to ask whether the research results written in this document were true.

“Come up, Vivian. I want to try the experiment too.”

Tak tak, Veronica’s figure calling me while tapping my thigh with crossed legs made me involuntarily swallow dryly. Even so, isn’t kissing Veronica dangerous?

Veronica’s question was honestly an intriguing one.

If I kiss Veronica, the ‘Titania’ from another world, will the curse be lifted just as it would if I kissed Titania? Despite different personalities and backgrounds, they are still the ‘same’ person.

Even if the curse is lifted, will it take the same amount of time? Kissing Titania takes about 2 hours for the curse to be lifted, but how many hours would it take for the curse to be lifted by kissing Veronica?

I was definitely curious.

Truly curious, but…

“If Titania finds out that I kissed Veronica, she might imprison me again…”

The thought of Titania finding out this fact was terrifying.

I was afraid that if Titania found out I had kissed someone else, her frightening nature would emerge. Titania is a very jealous girl.

It’s already over, but just because I spent two years with Katarina, Titania continues to hate her. I didn’t want to needlessly provoke Titania’s jealousy.

But will Veronica be okay? Since she’s like an older sister, won’t she be too upset? No, even so…

“More importantly, why is Veronica suddenly saying such things to me? Could it be…? Does Veronica also… like me as a lover like Titania does? Is that why…?”

As I pondered with a groan, Veronica, who had been watching me with crossed legs and chin in hand, suddenly burst into laughter.

My head froze at the sudden laughter. When I stared blankly at Veronica due to her unexpected reaction, she lightly tapped my forehead as if to snap me out of it.

“Hahaha! Why so serious? Just kidding.”

“Kidding?”

“I really thought I wanted to kiss you? Do you think I like you like Titania does? That’s just self-importance~”

Veronica, with a mischievous smile, tapped my forehead with her finger. In that moment, I felt a surge of anger. If she suddenly tried to kiss me, wouldn’t anyone misunderstand?!

With her lips curled up, Veronica continued to tap my lips and wear that mischievous smile.

“What’s wrong? Why the angry expression? Don’t tell me you wanted this? You were so eager with my daughter, now you want to do the same with me? What should I do? My lips aren’t that cheap.”

“If you really want to, you can come up and do it yourself. It’s a bit much for me to do it. Even if age is just a number, kissing a 10-year-old looking kid directly isn’t quite right, is it? Maybe if I were the one receiving it, it’d be different.”

Amidst her teasing, something in my head snapped.

I stood up, grabbed Veronica’s knees, and hopped onto her thighs like a spring.

I held Veronica’s cheeks with both hands, immobilizing her face. She widened her eyes, surprised.

Up to this point, it was an act of impulse.

But as I held Veronica’s face close, I wondered if I should continue. Just then—

Veronica’s lips curled into a smile, almost as if she was provoking me.

“Seems like you really wanted to kiss me. Not even a pervert.”

No, it wasn’t almost as if she was provoking me. She was indeed provoking me.

Twisting her head, she looked at me as if my actions were pathetic and laughed. Yes, since she had provoked, I had to respond.

“This isn’t the romantic kiss you’re thinking of.”

I tilted my head slightly and slowly leaned in towards Veronica.

“It’s just a simple experiment, as you said.”

With those words, I kissed Veronica. Our moist lips fit perfectly together in a small crevice.

As I opened my eyes and looked at Veronica, she stared back at me as we kissed, without even closing her eyes.

Whether it was Titania or Veronica, why do they keep opening their eyes while kissing? Can’t they just close their eyes romantically?

Feeling uncomfortable under Veronica’s gaze, I involuntarily averted my eyes. Concentrating on the kiss, I silently began to count seconds.

10 seconds.

I felt moisture seeping into my dry lips. I couldn’t tell if it was Veronica’s saliva or the warmth of her breath on my lips.

20 seconds.

I tried to pull away, but Veronica held onto my neck, and our lips met again, longer and deeper.

30 seconds.

As our lips firmly pressed together and then moved softly, Veronica released my neck with a wet sound. I kept my eyes tightly closed and asked her.

“Why did you hold onto my neck?”

“The report said 30 seconds. You tried to pull away before 30 seconds, didn’t you? Did you want to do more than just this with me? Huh? Isn’t that right?”

“No!”

That darn report!

I slowly opened my lightly closed eyes and looked at Veronica in front of me. She gazed at me with a bitter expression, as if expecting this outcome, and then gently stroked my cheek as she spoke.

“Looks like the curse isn’t lifted after all.”

“Yeah…”

With a snicker, Veronica pinched my cheek painfully and began to pout. She pinched both of my cheeks with an incredulous expression, stretching them out.

“You used my first kiss for such a foolish experiment. How are you going to take responsibility for this?”

“It was your first?”

“Of course! What did you take me for to say such a thing?”

“Ouch.”

As I asked if it was her first, Veronica pinched my cheek fiercely as if genuinely angry. The pain made tears trickle from my eyes.

Veronica, as if my face were a toy, this time, with both hands, she squished my cheeks and made goldfish lips. Just as I was about to tell her to let go—

Clank.

“Sister? Can we talk for a moment…”

“Squeak!”

At the sound of the door opening from behind and Titania’s voice, without realizing it, I found myself hopping up and down on Veronica’s knees. In that moment, I felt a sensation as if my heart had dropped to the soles of my feet.

It was bewildering, as if I had been caught red-handed. Slowly, with a creaking motion, I turned my head and looked at Titania, who was standing behind me and Veronica.

“……”

“……”

…I couldn’t quite decipher Titania’s expression.

It seemed like she was angry, yet gentle. It also seemed like she had no emotions at all. Titania just gazed at me and Veronica with narrow eyes.

“Titania…?”

“…Are you two ‘closer than I thought’?”

With her head tilted and a sly smile, Titania. Her expression was incredibly mild, but her calmly spoken words were not. I couldn’t quite grasp Titania’s mood, but…

One thing seemed certain. Just as I was about to speak, Veronica cleared her throat and answered instead of me, avoiding Titania’s gaze as if feeling awkward.

“…She’s mad.”