City of Witches

༺ Divination (2) ༻

1.

Their conversation continued until Periwinkle became pleasantly drunk after downing more after-dinner alcohol.

Summarizing his five years of life still took Siwoo quite a long time even after he omitted the parts that he wasn’t comfortable telling anyone.

After they finished eating, they agreed to take a leisure walk through the city for a change of atmosphere.

“That was fun.”

Periwinkle tilted her head with a smile after hearing the conclusion of his story with him going back to this world with the help of Countess Gemini.

She never exactly enjoyed hearing someone else’s life story, but the man in front of her was special, so it was a different story.

Hearing him retell his life from back when he survived a plane crash, becoming a slave and going back home gave her enough entertainment to enjoy.

“As expected, you’re indeed special.”

“Everyone said that, but I honestly don’t know about that. It feels like I’m just being me.”

“That means you’re just special since birth. Didn’t you say that you were a math genius ever since you were young?”

“You made it sound as if I’m a noble or something…”

“Not really, you’re just downplaying yourself too much. Sure, it’s annoying to hear someone gloating over nothing, but hearing someone downplaying their things isn’t any less annoying, you know?”

To put it in another word, personality wise, he was boring according to her standards.

She could tell that he was kind, but he didn’t know how to please a woman using his words. To put it another way, he lacked the charm of a ‘bad boy’.

Still, it didn’t mean that she’d let him go just like that.

While his personality might be a little boring, that didn’t make him any less handsome, nor did it make his self-essence magic disappear.

As they were walking while talking, they arrived in front of a certain hotel.

It was a fancy-looking five-star hotel with the word ‘Periwinkle’ sprawled on it.

Siwoo didn’t notice it since he was busy talking, but it seemed like she was trying to bring him here from the very beginning.

“I don’t think I’ve drunk enough yet, so why don’t we come inside and drink some more?”

Her soft arms enveloped one of his arms.

Since the sight in front of him roused his curiosity, he looked up.

He expected that she’d pull something like this, but he didn’t expect that she’d be this brazen about it.

The urge to scratch his head rose, but he held it in.

“Let’s go in and chat, shall we? They got all kinds of high-quality alcohol inside~”

When she saw him standing stiffly, Periwinkle didn’t get discouraged, instead she clung to him while poking his side with her finger.

2.

Periwinkle Seoul.

It was a fifty one story five-star hotel, with two banquet halls, six restaurants and 320 rooms.

The interior looked sophisticated, with the modern interpretation of Belle-Epoque Era as its base.

It made one feel the dignity of a noble instead of the vain arrogance of a rich person. The hotel was famous for attracting tourists to the point that it was especially hard to book a room throughout the year.

From the lobby to the fourth floor, there were various auxiliary facilities that everyone could enjoy.

Then, from the fifth to forty seventh floor, were the floors where the guest rooms were located.

And then there were the last three floors, a massive room dedicated for a single person.

For the CEO and owner of the hotel herself, Cybele Periwinkle.

As soon as he got off the private elevator, Siwoo froze at the sight that he saw.

In front of him was a glass wall, covering up three stories from the bottom of the forty eighth floor to the ceiling of the fifty first, showing him the perfect view of Myeong-dong.

Beyond it was a large private swimming pool, large enough to hold an actual swimming competition there.

The subtle lighting from inside the swimming pool added to the night view, resembling a halo of some sorts.

Rather than a hotel, it felt more like he was standing on a bridge of a space fleet.

“Wow…”

Even Siwoo, who had gained some degree of immunity to fancy things like this after visiting some high-end facilities in Gehenna, couldn’t help but let out a sigh of amazement.

He didn’t make a loud sound or anything, but due to how big the place was, his voice echoed through the space.

‘How much money do you need to spend a night here?’ He asked in his mind.

The three chandeliers, shining brightly, hanging on the ceiling only added to the atmosphere.

“Come in, change your shoes into these.”

Seeing his reaction, Periwinkle smiled in satisfaction before stepping forward.

On one side of the room, there was a modern-looking bar. From how it was decorated, they probably occasionally let the regular guests come here to drink.

The bartender wasn’t here at the moment, but Siwoo assumed that normally this wasn’t the case.

He dazedly followed Periwinkle.

At one corner of the room, several luggage bags were piled up neatly in the corner.

It gave off the impression that she’d leave Seoul soon.

”So, what do you think?”

“It feels like I’m in a different world.”

“Really? I was the one who designed this whole building, you know?”

Perhaps if the fanciest villa in Gehenna were to be placed on the top floor of the fanciest hotel in Gehenna, it would look like this.

Periwinkle picked up a few bottles of wine from the wine cellar inside the bar counter and took out a cigarette.

At the same time when she sucked on its filter, sparks flew on the other end of the cigarettes and smoke started to rise.

“It’s fine to smoke if you want to. We have an air filter installed.”

“Ah, okay, thank you.”

Hearing her words, he didn’t hesitate and took out a cigarette of his own.

He imagined people smoking inside this magnificent room.

While sitting side by side, with an expensive cigarette and luxurious wine that your average office worker could never afford.

Such an experience wouldn’t come by often, so he gladly took it.

“I saw some luggages up the front, are you going somewhere?”

Since their conversation stopped at one point, Siwoo took it on himself to start a new one.

“Yes, I’ll be leaving Korea soon.”

“Where are you going?”

“Anywhere that isn’t here. You know it, don’t you? All the troubles that have been going on here.”

“Yeah.”

He did hear from Sua that something dangerous would happen.

About how the Cowardly Witch was planning on doing something truly heinous.

“Actually, a few days ago, I tried to read my fortune and the result wasn’t very good.”

“What is it?”

“If I’m still here within a month, I’ll die.”

A completely unexpected answer came out of her mouth.

Unlike Siwoo, whose body was completely stiffened after he heard that, Periwinkle nonchalantly emptied her glass before adding more alcohol into it.

‘She read her fortune…’

If it wasn’t obvious already, the fortune she read wasn’t the kind of fortune that was given by a random old man who was setting up a stall in some corner of the road.

Her divination stated that she, a 20th rank grand witch, would die.

It wasn’t hard to think that some kind of great crisis would happen in this place.

“You read…your own…fortune…?”

“Yes, that’s why I’m going somewhere, so that I wouldn’t die. I assume that this place will turn into a mess because of the Cowardly Witch.”

“How accurate is it…?”

“It’s rare for my reading to miss. What? Do you want me to read yours too?”

Periwinkle turned to face him, resting her chin on the table, looking at him with a curious gaze.

Without waiting for his answer, she snapped her finger.

Then, several cards appeared in her hand.

“I can do it for you. Just take it as a fun drinking game.”

Even though she knew that a terrible disaster would happen.

She acted as if it was someone else’s problem.

“Let’s see…”

She placed the twelve cards in her hand face down before turning them over one by one.

They had the same size as playing cards, but instead of colors, pictures and numbers, there were magic circles scribbled on the cards.

And that was why he could somehow tell that those cards were different.

“Oh my…that’s pretty crazy, isn’t it?”

“W-What happened?”

Periwinkle, who had been looking carefree, suddenly had a stiff expression on her face.

This made Siwoo nervous.

She turned to face him wordlessly before smiling.

“Kiss me and I’ll tell you.”

Though she set up the mood perfectly, by her standard at least, Siwoo couldn’t help but feel disheartened.

He narrowed his brows.

There was time and place for everything, or so he believed, but it seemed like the witch in front of him didn’t believe in such a thing.

He thought that this aspect of her was quite attractive, but because he was in a serious mood due to the shocking news, he couldn’t say that he appreciated that she acted this way.

“Is it related to the Cowardly Witch?”

“I can’t read that far.”

“What about the hotel? Are you just going to leave it alone?”

“Well, I’d just need to rebuild it if it collapses. If I were to die, then everything ends for me. Anyway, you can’t just ask me like this, it’s against the rules. So, try not to do it again, okay?”

“…”

“So, will you kiss me? Or not?”

It wasn’t like he could refuse her at this point.

Besides, her attractive face made Siwoo feel drawn to her instinctively.

But, somehow, Sharon’s face came to his mind.

Doing this while she was still lying unconscious made it feel like he was cheating and it didn’t sit well with him.

“Ah, by the way, I’ll just say that it’ll be better for you to hear it. It’s for your own sake.”

She said, licking her upper lips. Perhaps, she felt the need to say that because Siwoo was making a displeased expression.

“If you can’t kiss me, I can just kiss you instead, what do you think?”

Siwoo, who was thinking for a moment, leaned his face forward slightly.

Her face got closer and closer to his.

On her red lips, the lip gloss that she applied shone enticingly.

Before their lips met, her tiny red tongue peeked out from between her lips, as if trying to seduce him.

“Mmh…”

With a hint of guilt, Siwoo overlapped his thick lips with her soft, thin lips.

At the same time he was doing that, a soft tongue entered his mouth.

Periwinkle didn’t even hesitate for a second.

His tongue, which was chilled by the wine, suddenly felt like it was caught on fire when her tongue, coated with the fragrance of wine, was pressed against it.

“Mm…sluurrrp…”

As they got closer and their kiss got deeper, her scent invaded Siwoo’s nose.

Almost instantly, as if a button had been pressed, an intense lust began to envelop his mind.

His rod started to grow taller, alongside with the urge to push her down and rape her.

Barely holding to his senses, he managed to push her away.

At that point, Periwinkle’s hand was already exploring his thighs, so if he was just a moment late, they would be at the point of no return.

“Already? I’m not satisfied yet, though…”

Periwinkle whined, as if she was disappointed.

Meanwhile, Siwoo tried to calm himself down before opening his mouth again.

“You’ve promised, so please tell me.”

“So boring…”

Realizing that he was serious, Periwinkle shrugged her shoulders before continuing.

“According to my reading, you’ll die. Sooner or later, you’ll die.”

“What…?”

“Your arm will get cut off and you’ll die. Not sure which one though.”

“You aren’t just making this up so that I’ll kiss you more, right?”

“Of course not.”

She let out a chuckle before standing up.

Though she didn’t say anything, her body language seemed to be telling him that if he wanted to hear more, he should follow her.

And so, he followed her to the rooftop pool.

‘I’m going to die?’

That revelation shocked him so much that it felt like he was just hit in the head.

But the confusing thing here was the way Periwinkle acted. She looked so carefree as if it wasn’t a big deal.

If she were to wear a serious look like a doctor announcing a death sentence, he might have believed her more.

“Why would I die suddenly? My arm will get cut off? Why…? Just what exactly would happen?”

“You suddenly became all chatty.”

“Obviously! You told me that I’m going to die, of course I can’t just stay silent after that!”

At his outburst, Periwinkle only waved her hand slightly.

“No need to take it seriously. If it doesn’t involve myself, the accuracy isn’t that high.”

“What’s the accuracy then?”

“Fifty-fifty.”

“That’s still quite high!”

Fifty-fifty percent of him dying and she acted as if it was a low probability.

Siwoo looked like he was fed up by all this.

“Well, I do have the power to get you out of the danger.”

These words made his ears perk up.

Finding it amusing, Periwinkle drew herself closer to him.

“Curious? Want my help?”

“…Yes.”

She tapped his chest teasingly.

“Alright, if you can entertain me today, I’ll help you out. Since you’re supposed to keep me company for two days anyway, it isn’t such a bad deal, right?”

Siwoo didn’t know if Periwinkle was lying or if she really had the ability to help him.

But, as she had said, he was supposed to entertain her and fawn over him anyway.

Since he had nowhere to run to anyway, he decided to face it head on and do whatever he could.

“Then, why don’t we play in the water together for a bit? I’ll change into my swimsuit and come back quickly.”

“But I don’t have my swimsuit.”

“I’ll have it prepared for you. Follow me.”

After saying that, she walked away. Her buttocks swayed with gentle movements.