Chapter 177: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 177
After a meal, there’s always a pile of dishes.
Washing them is important.
If you don’t clean the food and stains off the plates and utensils right away, it becomes a problem later.
So Yoon Si-woo focused all his attention on the task at hand.
He washed, washed, and washed the dishes and utensils left from serving porridge to Scarlet.
He scrubbed them so thoroughly that they shone even brighter than when they were new.
In truth, the dishwashing had long been finished.
After all, there weren’t many dishes to clean when only one person had eaten.
Yet, Yoon Si-woo lingered at the sink, unable to tear himself away, because unlike the food remnants stuck to the dishes, the unwanted thoughts in his mind clung like stains that wouldn’t go away.
“...Haa, this is really driving me crazy.”
The heat wouldn’t subside.
No matter how hard he tried to calm down, he kept recalling what had happened earlier, leaving him in a strange mood.
Lucy once taught him that the most important thing for a swordsman was an unwavering mind, as clear as a mirror reflecting still water.
But his mind felt like a ship tossed around in a storm.
If this kept up, he wouldn’t be able to act normal around Scarlet the next time he saw her. He had to calm himself down somehow.
Hence, the dishwashing.
When one’s mind is in turmoil, nothing beats repetitive tasks to regain focus.
Just as swordsmen swing their blades or sharpen their weapons to clear their minds, he was now scrubbing dishes to steady his nerves.
He had been gripping the same dish for almost ten minutes for that very reason.
After scrubbing it thoroughly and drying off any remaining moisture with a towel, the dish sparkled as if it couldn’t get any cleaner.
Looking at the shining dish, Yoon Si-woo felt his mind slowly settling.
Feeling oddly satisfied, he gently ran his hand over the clean dish.
The surface was smooth.
Just like Scarlet’s skin when he had wiped her sweat earlier...
Ugh, what the hell am I thinking?!
He quickly pulled his hand away from the dish and shook his head to clear his mind, but it was too late.
Once the dam of unwanted thoughts broke, they came flooding in, one after another.
He felt ashamed of himself.
What am I, some lust-crazed animal? How could a swordsman let his emotions get the better of him like this?
While he berated himself, a familiar voice echoed in his mind—Lucy’s.
[...Well, it’s only natural for a man, isn’t it? Though, from where I’m sitting, it’s a bit unpleasant.]
...Lucy, sorry, but can you just leave me alone right now?
Yoon Si-woo mumbled to himself, grimacing at her comment.
Thankfully, he felt their connection fade, as if she were respecting his wishes, but he knew she had witnessed every bit of his embarrassing display.
Despite her aloof demeanor, Lucy had a surprisingly mischievous side, so he wouldn’t put it past her to tease him about this later.
The mere thought filled him with unbearable shame, and with a flushed face, he sighed deeply, only to flinch at the sound of a door opening.
Scarlet, who had been sent back to her room earlier, had come out again.
He had assumed she would fall asleep quickly, given her poor condition, but perhaps she wanted to wash up before bed.
In any case, Yoon Si-woo didn’t have the courage to face her right now.
He was barely managing to keep his thoughts in check, and if he saw her now, he feared he might lose control.
So, he forced himself to keep his head down and pretended to focus on washing dishes.
Yet, his heightened senses couldn’t help but pick up the sounds of her footsteps approaching.
One step, then another.
He tried desperately to ignore her presence as she came closer.
But despite his efforts, she stopped right behind him.
Unable to ignore her any longer, he spoke in a shaky voice.
“...Wh-what’s up? If you’re not feeling well, you should rest.”
“...”
There was no response.
Instead—
“Eek?!”
Two arms wrapped around him from behind, pulling him into a gentle embrace.
Feeling the soft pressure against his back, Yoon Si-woo let out a startled sound, his mind going blank.
For a moment, he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
After a brief pause, he finally realized it.
Scarlet was hugging him from behind.
And as the realization hit him, Yoon Si-woo felt the flames inside him reignite.
The fire in his chest, which he had tried to suppress, flared up even stronger than before.
Unaware or indifferent to his turmoil, she clung to him and softly murmured.
“...Yoon Si-woo, Yoon Si-woo.”
Hearing her whisper his name so tenderly, he felt his patience slipping away.
He had warned her.
He had tried to hold back.
He had done it for her sake, but she kept pushing him like this...
He clenched his eyes shut.
But even so, he couldn’t stop the growing heat inside his chest.
The rising heat threatened to burn away the last strands of his self-control.
So, he pried her arms off and turned around.
He needed to warn her one last time.
To beg her to go back to her room and get some sleep.
But the moment he opened his eyes—
Yoon Si-woo sucked in a breath.
“...Hello, Yoon Si-woo.”
The girl in front of him greeted him with a smile.
She had red hair and crimson eyes.
She looked just like the Scarlet he knew.
But something was different.
The girl he knew didn’t have eyes like that.
And so, without thinking, Yoon Si-woo asked.
“...Who the hell are you?”
He stared at the girl who wore Scarlet’s appearance but was not the Scarlet he knew.
The girl responded.
“Don’t you know?”
With eyes filled with deep sorrow.
“You said you’d kill me. You said so.”
Smiling as she said it.
---
“You said you’d kill me. You said so.”
Those words made Yoon Si-woo realize.
That the entity standing before him was none other than the witch Scarlet had been so wary of.
As soon as he recognized this, Scarlet’s earlier request flashed through his mind.
‘If someday I become someone who is not myself, please kill me.’
At the time, accepting her request didn’t feel real.
He had never seen it with his own eyes.
But now, facing something that looked just like her, the thought of killing her didn’t come easily.
Am I really supposed to kill her?
Just moments ago, we were having a normal conversation.
He had promised to fulfill her request to kill her, but he never thought that the time would come so suddenly.
As a result, he found it hard to breathe.
His hand trembled as he recalled the sensation of piercing her heart with his sword.
He felt like he might vomit.
But the being that looked like Scarlet greeted him casually, showing no concern for his turmoil.
“Well, nice to meet you. It’s the first time we’re talking directly like this.”
That casual demeanor—he couldn’t tolerate it.
To suddenly steal Scarlet away like this and then act so brazenly...
“...What happened to Scarlet?! Give her back!”
When he shouted, the witch answered calmly.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s just asleep for a little while. She never usually lets her guard down, but she was so exhausted from fighting that she left an opening for me to come out.”
“...Does that mean she can come back?”
“Yes, so don’t worry. Today, I’m just here because I wanted to talk to you.”
Since it was the witch speaking, he found it hard to believe. But when the Holy Sword of Truth confirmed that she was telling the truth, a wave of relief washed over him.
Scarlet wasn’t gone forever.
That alone was such a relief.
As he calmed down a little, Yoon Si-woo began to question the identity of the being before him.
Was this really the witch Scarlet had been so wary of?
But somehow...
The presence before him didn’t feel all that threatening.
So, cautiously, he asked to confirm her identity.
“...Are you really the witch?”
“I can’t deny it. After all, that’s what people call me.”
She nodded without hesitation, which only deepened his confusion.
Could this witch be like Lucy, a good witch?
But right now, there was something more pressing on his mind.
“...More importantly, how do you know about the promise Scarlet and I made?”
The witch chuckled softly before responding.
“Well, I’ve seen and heard everything.”
“...What?”
“Just like I said. I heard everything you’ve ever said to her.”
...She heard everything?
Yoon Si-woo blushed.
He was fully aware that he’d said things that were rather embarrassing if heard by others.
But the witch continued, undeterred.
“When I hear your words, I can feel it—your sincerity. That’s why I’ve grown fond of you. I know how much you care about her and that no matter what happens, you’ll always be on her side.”
“...Ugh.”
“And because of that...”
While he hung his head in embarrassment, the witch slowly approached him.
Then, pulling him into a gentle embrace, she looked up at him and murmured playfully.
“You’re interested in this body, right? If it’s you, I don’t mind. How about it?”
“?! What... What are you saying?! Don’t talk like that while in Scarlet’s body!”
Yoon Si-woo shouted in shock, flustered beyond belief.
He knew that this was not Scarlet, but the body was still hers.
Moreover, her words echoed what Scarlet had said earlier, further unsettling him.
“Hmm, I was actually serious about it. Too bad.”
When Yoon Si-woo pushed her away, the witch muttered with a disappointed look.
Seeing her like that, she seemed like an ordinary person.
Yoon Si-woo quietly spoke to her.
“...From what I can see now, you don’t seem like a bad witch.”
The witch paused, then murmured.
“...Do I?”
“...Yeah, I mean, couldn’t you get along better with Scarlet?”
“...Get along better, huh? Heh, get along better.”
The witch laughed for a moment, then wore a sad smile as she asked him a question.
“...You know what kind of witch I am, don’t you?”
“...Yeah, the Witch of Wrath.”
Yoon Si-woo recalled what he knew about her.
A witch who appeared one day, burned the Elven forests and the World Tree, and was defeated by Astra.
The same witch responsible for creating the beast of wrath that killed his parents.
However, the person before him didn’t seem like someone who could have committed such acts.
Sensing his gaze, the witch gave him a sorrowful smile.
“If I’d had even one person like you by my side, maybe things could have been different.”
The emotions deep in the witch’s eyes grew more intense.
In an instant,
her demeanor shifted dramatically.
“But I had no one.”
And then, Yoon Si-woo understood.
“I had no one.”
How utterly alien the presence before him truly was.
“Faelin, Nia, Erica, Ronan, Eru, Riru—they’re all dead.”
He sensed the remnants of emotions she carried.
“All the people who believed in me died, and no one else trusted me.”
It was a suffocating, heavy emotion that filled the air.
“Do you know what it’s like when no one believes in you?”
It was sorrow.
“Do you know how it feels to be abandoned by those you considered family? To be condemned for something you did for the sake of everyone? To cry out in injustice, only for no one to listen? To feel the pain of hostile stares piercing you? To cling to your loved ones while burning alive? To find it more painful that no one believes in you than the act of being burned itself?”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
The tears that streamed down her cheeks were red.
Her sadness, trickling down, was the color of anger.
Yoon Si-woo did not understand her sorrow.
He could not empathize with her pain.
But he could sense that there was a reason she had ended up like this.
“I was in pain. I was sad. I hated the world that made me this way. I wanted revenge. I wanted to burn it all down, every witch who made me like this. But that wasn’t the right thing to do.”
For a brief moment, her eyes, filled with sadness, showed a hint of regret.
“Hope became a contract against myself. A shackle. As long as this world and the witches who made me this way remain, I cannot even stop myself through death. That curse constantly whispers to me. To burn it all down. And so Evangeline cannot stop herself.”
But regret always comes too late to change anything.
Yoon Si-woo realized that she had chosen a path she could never turn back from.
That she was doomed to keep running down a road from which there was no return.
As the witch, still shedding crimson tears, finally stopped crying, she wiped her eyes and spoke.
“...You said I don’t seem like a bad witch, right?”
He nodded slowly, and she responded with a bitter smile.
“That’s because I’m still incomplete. And those girls are sharing the burden of my curse. The real me is just a fool who can only mutter about burning everything. I’m sure this will be the last time I can talk to you like this.”
And so, she murmured, meeting his eyes directly.
“The next time you meet me, don’t talk—swing your sword. I’m telling you this because I like you. Though I wonder if you’ll be able to.”
Her plea to be cut down echoed Scarlet’s request for him to kill her.
At that moment, the witch staggered.
Yoon Si-woo caught her by the shoulders, supporting her, as she mumbled with a resigned smile.
“It seems I’m reaching my limit.”
He watched as her eyes slowly closed.
Leaning weakly against his shoulder, she whispered words that might be her last.
“Goodbye, Yoon Si-woo. I pray that you’ll be able to keep your promise to her.”
With that, her body went completely limp.
As he hurriedly caught her, she began to breathe steadily, as if she were asleep.
The heat that had lingered in her body had vanished.
Would Scarlet return when she opened her eyes, just as the witch had said?
Despite the reassurance of the Holy Sword of Truth, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
The only thing that truly troubled his heart...
Yoon Si-woo laid Scarlet on the bed and looked down at her, clenching his trembling hands.
Would he really be able to kill her with his own hands?
Faced with his own question, Yoon Si-woo found himself unable to give a definite answer.
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She said those girls. I have been wondering if the OG was still in there too
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