"Do you know how that cake is made?"
Amelia's long eyelashes blinked slowly.
Her beautiful blue sapphire eyes seemed to lay her thoughts bare.
"No way, poison...?"
It was the wrong answer.
As if she hadn't expected such a foolish response, Amelia made a slightly incredulous face.
"Caretaker, if I really wanted to kill you, I could do it right here."
"W-Well, that's true."
Come to think of it, there was no need for someone like Amelia, who wasn't just any witch but held a title, to bother with poisoning.
She had more than enough money to compensate for killing Siwoo.
So what was the point of bringing it up?
"Then why the sudden question..."
"Caretaker Shin Siwoo, you're entering your sixth year soon, right?"
"Yes."
"Slaves under city hall get reassigned after six years at one institution."
Siwoo was still puzzled.
He already knew that without her spelling it out.
But she continued without further explanation.
He chalked it up to her enjoying beating around the bush.
"The bakery that makes this cake is called 'Kipushi' in Tarot Town."
Amelia explained in an even tone.
"Since Gehenna was founded in 1338, they've been making this cake for seven centuries. Passing it down through generations, along with the recipe."
He knew.
Pitiful beings, trapped for centuries in this narrow world, generation after generation.
"For sweeter chocolate, fluffier whipped cream. They've lived their lives entirely to offer it all to us witches."
In Gehenna, any citizen who wasn't a witch was nothing more than a cog in a machine for the witches' convenience.
"That's what witches are."
With that, Amelia arrogantly lifted her chin.
She was declaring that witches were beings to be exalted, and Gehenna's residents existed to exalt them.
She asserted her privilege without so much as a twitch of her brow, as if it were the most natural thing.
It was utterly authoritarian, aristocratic thinking.
"Now do you get a little of what I'm trying to say?"
Amelia gently stroked Siwoo's furrowed forehead with her fingertip.
Understand?
He'd known it all along.
That's why he despised this city and the witches who ruled over it.
Even knowing the saying that silence is half the battle, he couldn't hold back.
"Got it. You were trying to say witches are arrogant, dogmatic egoists? Or do you want to hear me say I'll tread more carefully?"
His voice rose involuntarily.
He couldn't agree with a single thing about her words or mindset.
Amelia calmly watched Siwoo fume.
"You're not listening to my advice at all."
"Advice? Is that what witches call it?"
"Of course. Do you think I'm bragging just to stroke my ego?"
"That's exactly how it sounds to me."
Was there any other meaning in her words besides 'witches are special, so obey me, slave'?
Amelia pressed her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, her gaze was utterly annoyed.
"So dense..."
Clicking her tongue, she let out a deep sigh.
She hesitated for a moment, then continued reluctantly.
"I don't know how it sounds to you, but I've been lenient with you, Caretaker."
"...Lenient?"
That was leniency?
"Go home. This is punishment enough for missing the appointed time. Return to normal duties tomorrow."
"...Understood."
Siwoo gathered his cleaning tools and turned to leave, his back to Amelia.
"Caretaker Shin Siwoo."
Her now-calm tone stopped him in his tracks.
What she said next was profoundly cryptic.
"If you act the same way at your next assignment as you did at Trinity Academy..."
She whispered it softly, but it hit him clear as day.
"You might end up dead."
Siwoo closed the door behind him without a word.
2.
He trudged back, bucket in hand.
His mind was a mess.
As Amelia had said, in a year, Siwoo and Takasho would be reassigned to different workplaces.
What surprised him was that Amelia knew about it.
His assignment was worth less than the academy's minor supplies.
And that gratuitous 'kindness' and advice that didn't feel like advice at all.
Just moments ago, with blood rushing to his head, he'd thought she was just being spiteful.
Or trying to scare him into obeying.
But that last line as he left the room.
It was unmistakably concern.
It might be a delusion, but it felt different from her usual demeanor.
"...Am I going crazy?"
He'd probably overthought it because he'd been too hung up on Takasho's words, making him overly aware of Amelia.
There was no way Amelia, wrapped up in her sense of privilege, would care about a mere slave's well-being.
If she was that worried, she could just make him her exclusive slave.
Siwoo sorted his thoughts.
"Yeah, she's still a bitch."
The sky had cleared up nicely by then.
As Siwoo dragged his heavy steps toward the dorm, he ran into Takasho by chance.
He had kiss marks all over his neck and a drained expression.
"Brother, still doing overtime?"
"She made me clean the research wing for being three minutes late."
Takasho's wilted demeanor perked up at the mention of the research wing.
It must've been juicy gossip.
"No way, the workshop? Just the two of you?"
"Yeah, got something I wanna ask about that."
"Did you do it?"
Siwoo smacked the back of Takasho's head.
Then he spilled the whole story from the research wing.
"Hmm..."
"Why the serious act? Doesn't suit you."
"No, it's not that."
Takasho looked deadly serious as soon as he heard.
Siwoo had hoped his playboy experience with women might help.
But seeing him cross his arms and stroke his chin, he regretted opening his mouth.
"In my book, this is 100%."
"What is?"
"Associate Professor Amelia has fallen for academy caretaker Shin Siwoo."
"Same crap you say every day."
Takasho gripped Siwoo's shoulder.
The frustration poured through his tight grasp.
"No, up till now it was half-joking? Even I thought no way a witch falls for a slave. But this is for real. Amelia's head over heels for you."
"Easy to say when it's not you."
"Sigh, you're so dense to the end. Listen up."
Takasho, who'd been casually tossing Amelia's name around, now whispered in Siwoo's ear.
"Keep this between us? I got a witch who likes me too, right?"
"Chief Professor Sophia?"
"Yeah. I heard this from Sophia recently. You're not as hot as me, but you're pretty decent-looking?"
Never crossed his mind.
"Some witches call in guys they think are handsome to their chambers, you know? But why do you think none of Trinity's twelve professors have hit on you?"
"What're you on about?"
"Word's already spread among the professors. Associate Professor Amelia's got her eye on you."
Come to think of it, the only witch who chatted him up while hovering nearby was Amelia.
He'd assumed they just didn't want to mingle with lowly caretakers.
Wasn't the case?
"But that doesn't mean much, does it?"
"That's not it! Only you, me, and Amelia know she offered you night service."
"So what?"
"Means she was being so obvious other witches backed off on their own."
But Siwoo, who'd suffered plenty from Amelia, couldn't buy into Takasho's excited delusions.
The most it stirred was 'dreams mean less than their interpretations' or something.
"No way. Word is she never invites anyone to her chambers."
"What?"
"I slyly asked around the professors today. Amelia's a purebred witch who only knows magic and nothing else. Doesn't even visit Velvet brothels or bathe with anyone at Revana baths. Still don't get it? After all that?"
Takasho pounded his chest enviously.
"I'm just a well-behaved bell around here and there. A pet dog at best. But you? In a den of carnivorous witches, Amelia's a pure-hearted doe!"
"Even if she's a doe like you say, it'd be one that eats human flesh."
"No! Pretty faces have pretty hearts."
Takasho half-sobbed as he placed a hand on Siwoo's shoulder.
"Jealous, Shin Siwoo. Insanely jealous... Play your cards right, and you could be pinning Professor Amelia down, going at it, and hear her say, 'Your magic's first-class, but your looks are third-rate~'."
"Think your brain's the third-rate one."
Takasho mimicked Amelia's voice vividly as he acted out the scene.
Siwoo was horrified.
If anyone overheard this blasphemy, overtime would be the least of it.
"If it works out, hook me up. Don't even need to go back to Japan—just get me second-class citizenship instead of slave. Future pillar hubby!"
Takasho, hyped like it was his own business, slapped Siwoo's back and headed to his dorm.
"...Filter out half of that."
That Amelia liking him, a mere slave?
Even full-throttle happy delusions had limits.
It sounded plausible in words, but recalling her actions and image so far, it didn't match at all.
He pondered deeply.
Amelia in love.
The image of himself preserved in formalin, standing stiffly asleep for some reason, flashed in his mind.
Siwoo shuddered.
If anything, it was scary.
Then Takasho, who'd been heading to his dorm, shuffled back.
"Oh, forgot. Tomorrow's Tarot Town. You're coming, right?"
Right, tomorrow was Sunday.
Morning duties only—the caretakers' one and only personal time.
The rations were utter trash, so buying personal items was essential.
Lenormand Town, where the academy was, was an upper town full of high witches, so daily goods were pricey and fancy.
No way his salary could handle it, so he had to shop in cheaper Tarot Town.
Problem was, it took half a day on foot from Lenormand to Tarot Town.
If not for Takasho basking in Sophia's favor...
"Perfect, need to buy stuff. Thanks as always."
"Don't get sappy. Gotta butter you up for scraps later."
Luckily, Takasho got called to Chief Professor Sophia's mansion every weekend, letting them hitch a ride to Tarot Town.
He was out of mana paper for drawing magic circles anyway.
"Why always go all the way to Tarot Town to shop? Not hitting a brothel?"
"Only guys there."
"What? Plenty of witches into lily action like sea slugs?"
Takasho was a good friend, but Siwoo had to keep his magic a secret.
Eyes and ears everywhere.
Still, he'd take him along when escaping.
...Takasho might bolt on his own.
"Anyway, see you tomorrow."
"Front of the fountain by 1, like always."
"Got it."
Siwoo deflected vaguely, clutching his aching, fatigued head as he returned to the dorm.