City of Witches

1.

And so, an unexpected match between Diana and the twins started.

Though she really didn’t expect things would turn out this way, Diana wasn’t flustered.

After all, she had been studying magic as an apprentice witch for many years. Not only that, she was also confident in her skills.

“I have to say, I admire your courage in trying to challenge us.”

“Just don’t cry when you lose, okay?”

Ignoring the twins who were provoking her while smirking, Diana made her first move.

She knew that she didn’t need to mind their words at all.

Because all she needed to do was to chase them quickly and continue her revenge in peace.

-Tak!

Odile moved to occupy the center of the board.

Diana still didn’t know the extent of the twins’ abilities.

That was why she was planning to assume a wait-and-see approach while trying to keep them in check, but that plan went awry by an unexpected turn of events.

-Tak!

Odette made a move right after Odile without waiting for Diana to take her turn.

“Hey, what was that?!”

She asked that question with a frown, but what she received was a nonchalant answer from the twins.

“What? I was taking my turn.”

“That’s against the rules! You can’t make two moves at a turn!”

“There are two of us, of course we can.”

“…”

These shameless girls—!

Even as they did that, the twins didn’t act as if they were doing foul play or anything. Instead, they just smugly stared at Diana, as if trying to say ‘Why can’t you understand such an obvious thing?’.

“No, you can’t do that! Even if you’re both Geminis, you still can’t do that! It’s one move per turn for both of you!”

“I thought you’re confident in your skills?”

“That is that, this is this! This is just cheating!”

“Ms. Diana, isn’t the Witch Board a game where we could showcase our magical capabilities? Say that in the future we’ll have an actual magic battle, we’ll be doing exactly this, you know? We’ll fight together against you alone. Are you going to say that we’re cheating too when that happens?”

Of course this was nothing but sophistry.

While it was true that Witch Board was the closest game to an actual magic battle…

It still had its own rules. More specifically, the ‘one move per turn’ rule, unlike a magic battle. That was how witches from different ranks, and even apprentice witches could enjoy the game fairly.

This rule was the core of the game itself.

And yet the twins just blatantly disregarded it.

Besides, if what they were doing was actually allowed, then no witches could even dream of beating the Geminis in Witch Board.

“It’s fine to run away if you’re really afraid.”

“Mhm! We’ve seen your weird plays earlier, anyway. We know how our game will go.”

“You can pretend to remember about something urgent and go back home.”

“We’ll let you go.”

Diana let out a deep sigh.

They hadn’t even started playing yet, but she was already exhausted.

If it wasn’t for their annoying provocation, she wouldn’t even bother to challenge them like this.

She’d rather go back home, wash her feet, and go to sleep than doing all this.

“Fine, but I’ll also make two moves per turn. Using you two’s logic, by the time I become a real witch and have a magic battle with you, the amount of calculation we’re going to make is similar anyway. Our ranks should be around the same too.”

“Sure, do whatever.”

And so, they started the game with that sudden change of rule.

Now, the game’s speed became twice as fast as before and Diana was forced to think more than usual.

She squinted her eyes at the twins’ moves.

As expected of the heirs of Countess Gemini, the way they built their formation was identical.

The small-scale skirmishes that they started at the center of the board were solid and she could safely say that they were being serious when they said that they were good at the game.

It was just, unlike Diana, who had a slow-and-steady approach, theirs were erratic and wild.

They utilized the board to its fullest as they opened up skirmishes everywhere, while bouncing around like a rugby ball. With the ‘two moves per turn’ rule in effect, their moves were even harder to read than it should have been.

Moreover…

“Hmm… Should I… Move here…?”

“No, wait, Sis, it’s definitely whispers see what I meant?”

“But, Odette, won’t it whispers if I do that?”

“Sis, just trust me!”

“No, you’re just wrong, Odette!”

Diana had to deal with that kind of mental attack from time to time.

Even though they were supposed to fight her, they were busy fighting among themselves instead.

Diana, who had been annoyed to begin with, became even more annoyed the more she heard their voices.

“Can’t you play a little quieter? Why do you two need to talk so much anyway?!”

She had been trying to maintain her graceful appearance, but she ended up exploding anyway.

At that moment, the twins immediately focused their gazes on her.

The atmosphere around them suddenly turned rather eerie, making her flinch for a moment.

Before long, the twins’ expressionless lips curled up into smiles.

“Hm~ I see, you’re afraid of our strategic meeting, huh?”

“That’s obvious, Sis. Her plan isn’t going the way she wants, after all!”

“This is why you should try to gauge your opponent’s strength before you challenge them.”

“What a dummy!”

“Haa…”

Why did I do that?!

I just gave them another excuse to provoke me!

“Fine, I’ll stay quiet from now on. Just continue the game already!”

2.

Thirty minutes passed by.

“What did I tell you, Sis!? Put that one somewhere else—!”

“Odette! We ended up losing the fight because you’re being stubborn on weird stuff—!”

“Hmph.”

Diana let out a faint smile, her expression was considerably more relaxed than before.

She was finally able to put the irritating twins in their places.

Even with the sudden rule change, they weren’t particularly a difficult opponent.

They possessed a solid foundation and stable plays, as expected of apprentices of a noble family, but…

That was it.

They had zero control of their emotions whatsoever and they always let them dictate their moves.

Whenever she tried to provoke them, they’d bite without thinking and suffer the consequences, and whenever they thought they had the advantage, they’d charge ahead and implode on their own.

That alone already put up a considerable gap in skill between them and Diana, but what if their constant bickerings were added to the equation?

In short, they stood no chance against Diana. And so, she demanded them to leave the place with a triumphant tone.

“Alright, time for you losers to leave this place quietly. You didn’t forget about our deal, did you?”

“Ugh, that tone of yours is really irritating!”

“What a pretentious show-off.”

Of course, the words of the losers didn’t bother Diana at all.

If anything, they felt like a breeze on a hot day, refreshing and invigorating.

Meanwhile, Siwoo gently comforted the pouting twins.

“From tomorrow onwards, I won’t be working here anymore. We’ll have all the time we can get to have some fun, so be patient, okay?”

“Okay, Mr. Assistant. Also, don’t forget about your promise for tonight! I’ll play the piano for you!”

“Got it, Mr. Assistant! I’ll be patient!”

After exchanging such words, the twins kissed Siwoo on both cheeks, as if it was the most normal thing to do.

Seeing this happening right in front of her eyes, Diana’s eyes widened.

The faint victorious smile that had been hanging on her lips instantly turned into an ‘O’ shape.

“H-H-Hey…! Y-You… W-What did you just do?!”

I-I didn’t see it wrong, right?!

“What? It’s just a goodbye kiss?”

“A-A-A g-g-g-goodbye kiss…? Y-Y-You did that…?”

“Yeah? Why are you asking? Didn’t you see it with your own eyes?”

A light peck to the cheek was a sign of affection, Diana knew that much at least.

After all, Countess Lucy always gave one to her whenever she was about to go to sleep. Also, she knew that some witches would kiss each others’ cheeks when they met after a long time.

But the problem here was that the twins just kissed a man.

The apprentice witches of the Gemini Household had just kissed a man.

S-Sure, he is also a witch and all, b-but, how could they kiss him so closely to his lips like that?!

The scene Diana had just witnessed managed to shake her common sense greatly.

“S-S-S-Such a v-v-vulgar…a-a-act… Y-Y-You t-t-two a-are supposed to be nobles…”

She started stuttering like a broken radio.

Seeing this intense reaction, the twins tilted their heads in confusion for a bit. Then, a smirk appeared on their faces.

It was the kind of smirk one would find on a mischievous old man’s face.

They could tell why Diana was acting this way.

Because they were exactly like her once.

“Pfft, look at you. You’ve been acting as if you’re an adult all this time, but you can’t even handle something like this~?”

“You know what they said, Sis? A frog in the well doesn’t know that the sky isn’t round!”

“Right, right! I bet she doesn’t even know how babies are made, Odette!”

Hearing the twins’ continuous provocation, Diana barely managed to come to her senses.

“W-Who do you think I am…! Witches can’t make babies!”

“What? We aren’t talking about that.”

“Huh? You really don’t know…?”

The twins’ reactions made Diana stare at them dumbfoundedly.

It was as if they were unaware of how dangerous their actions were.

Even though she wasn’t particularly fond of them, she still couldn’t bring herself to see them ruining their lives like this.

Since it seemed like they were doing this because of their ignorance, she decided that she’d correct that.

“Listen to me carefully.”

Diana stared at the twins with a serious expression on her face.

“We apprentice witches shouldn’t touch men carelessly.”

“Of course, that’s a given.”

“Why are you stating the obvious?”

“If you know, why did you do…what you did?! What if you accidentally touched his lips when you…did…that…to his cheek and lost your bowls?!”

Question marks appeared on top of the twins’ head.

“What are you even saying?”

“Are you trying to say that a kiss on the lips is dangerous?”

“…A kiss on the lips…is how you’d make babies… S-Such a l-lewd act will ruin your bowl, obviously! W-Why can’t you two figure this out? Are you two stupid?!”

Diana glared at them, blaming them that she had to say all those embarrassing words out loud.

At that moment, the twins finally realized what she was getting at.

There were times when they were ignorant of such things too, so they could understand where she came from.

In the first place, a relationship between apprentice witches and a man could easily be considered as a taboo.

But, the thing here was, unlike the twins back then—who were akin to a houseplant growing in a greenhouse, Diana was akin to a seedling, completely ignorant and lacked even the basic knowledge.

“Look at this!”

“Kyaaa! W-What are you doing?!”

Suddenly, Odile grabbed Siwoo’s cheek before kissing him on the lips.

That prompted Diana to jump off her seat with a scream.

It wasn’t because she thought that this was an obscene scene.

To her, this was the equivalent of someone jumping right in front of a moving carriage.

Unable to look, she tightly closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes after a while, she could see Odile shrugging at her.

“Nothing happened.”

“Sis, you sneaky—! You took that chance to steal a kiss!”

Without missing a breath, Odette also gave Siwoo a kiss.

At this point, Diana had turned so pale and she also had started hyperventilating.

“…Huh?”

But, as time passed, she realized that nothing happened to both of them.

If an apprentice witch’s bowl was damaged, there bound to be some kind of magical reaction, but there wasn’t anything like that happening.

“Who told you that a kiss on the lips could damage your bowl?”

“It’s sex that could damage your bowl. Sex!”

Again, Diana jumped from her seat.

This time, it was out of surprise—at least as surprised as someone who had just discovered that the earth wasn’t flat—due to the obscene fact the twins spouted.

“Y-Y-You perverts…! H-How could you—! I-In front of others—!”

After that, Diana immediately left—as if running away—the host club in a stagger.

Leaving the twins to stare at her departing back blankly..