City of Witches

1.

Diana began to read the third volume of the Devil’s Delivery Service.

Before that, she already skimmed through the entire book and she became more convinced that it was her mother who wrote this book.

Both her elegant handwriting and the ink and quill on the table was enough to prove it.

[Chapter 1]

[Crime and Punishment.]

[Under the influence of love, the witch became even more beautiful than before.]

[Her hair, previously scorned and mocked as being dirty, had a luster that would remind one of a wolf’s fur. Her lips, with their captivating colors, and her eyes, glistening with dreamlike luster, stole the attention of all the witches walking down the streets.]

Those were the first words that Diana had read off the book.

It looked just like a romance novel one could find anywhere.

A story of love between a man and a woman, just like ‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’ or ‘The Red and the Black’.

“The protagonist’s hair is gray…”

Diana noticed the most-distinguishable feature of the witch—who appeared to be the main character of the novel; her ashen-gray hair.

She quickly assumed that her mother was projecting herself onto this character.

It was a little strange, but Diana was open-minded enough to accept it.

The first half of the story proceeded with nothing special happening.

There was a summary of what happened in volume one and two, which were about 3~4 pages long, telling the story of how the witch fell in love with an ordinary, yet attractive delivery man.

Apparently, the witch was rejected by him somehow.

In the summary, there was even a description of the witch letting out a sigh under the dazzling moonlight, unable to forget the appearance of said delivery man.

[“That detestable person, why did he refuse to meet me? Can’t he ease this loneliness that’s darker than the night, relieve me of this pain that’s sharper than countless blades…”]

“…He rejected the witch?”

Diana knew that this work was purely fictional, but she was still left dumbfounded due to how absurd that notion was.

It was just like all those lines uttered in theater that no one would ever try saying out loud in real life.

Although, if she had to describe her current expression in a single word, it would be…

“Hmm…”

Excitement.

Because this book wasn’t the kind of book that Countess Lucy would allow to be stored in the mansion’s library, the so-called ‘controversial book’.

Normally, a book depicting a relationship between a man and a woman would end in vague terms, as if the author refused to give a clear ending to their work.

But this book should be different. To Diana, it was like she was entering a whole new world entirely.

She was just like a chaebol who had tasted fast food for the first time and relished in the cheap and savory taste of such food.

That expression actually wasn’t further from the truth, since she actually felt the same excitement that she felt when her mother brought her those strange snacks from the Modern World when she was reading this book.

Since there was still some time before the countess’ return, Diana decided to sit down and read through the book in earnest.

[After much thought, the witch finally decided to meet the delivery man. Yet, she was greeted by his cold and humiliating words instead of a warm embrace.]

[“Didn’t you tell me that you’d never sought for me again?”]

[“I did.”]

[“Didn’t you say that you hate those who break their promise?”]

[“I did.”]

[“Then, why are you here? Is it because the weight of your promise to humans is less than that of your promise to witches?”]

“Aha…”

From that, Diana was able to tell that it was the witch who had left the man first because of something and she declared that she’d never meet the man ever again.

But, she was unable to bear the loneliness and in the end, she went against her own words and sought after the man.

Up to this point, she could follow the plot perfectly.

The summary was pretty clear and it didn’t seem like there was a need for her to read the first and second volume first.

After that, the witch and the delivery man talked back and forth.

[“Lying is a great sin. Even if you utter it with your beautiful lips until they bleed, it still won’t erase that sin.”]

[“I know. Hence why, I am here, to accept any punishment you’d bestow upon me, to atone that sin.”]

[The witch covered her face out of shame.]

[A mix between embarrassment and humiliation was shown in her face, stemming from the way she humbled and carried herself as a lowly person despite her identity as a noble witch. But there was a third emotion mixed in; anticipation.]

[The witch, who had been averting her eyes from the man’s, opened her mouth again.]

[“Please, tell, what kind of punishment awaits me?”]

[“Could it be that’s the reason why you came here, Ms. Witch? To receive that punishment from me?”]

[“That isn’t true.”]

[“Lying is a sin.”]

[“…”]

“Punishment?”

Diana tilted her head.

Up until this point, she was able to follow the plot without any difficulties whatsoever, but that word in particular left her bewildered.

A man? Punishing a witch?*

*

The witch is even looking forward to the punishment…?

What’s going on?

“Would he hit the back of her hand…? Or maybe force her to walk around outside her mansion?”

This part of the book left her stumped. Even though she had been reading the lines without any problem so far, now she was scratching her chin in confusion.

Then, she shook her head left and right.

[The delivery man then asked the witch for a kiss.]

[And so, the witch knelt down before his healthy male body, sticking out her lips that were filled with her desires and lust, as if begging for him to come.]

Kiss.

The word that had been keeping Diana awake for days, the word that described the act of love between a man and a woman.

She was still unable to get over her initial shock over her first exposure toward it.

But she gritted her teeth, telling herself that she was already mature enough to not be shaken by such a thing.

Though, the problem here was that the kiss presented in the book wasn’t exactly a normal kiss.

A witch…!

Knelt down!*

*

In front of a man!*

*

Demanding for a kiss!

It was only natural that Diana’s eyes widened at this.

Because this scene alone tainted the honor of the witches.

If this book wasn’t written by her mother, she’d probably have taken it to the authorities and appealed for it to be buried or burned.

“…”

[“A kiss before punishment?”]

[“Every night, I’ve always dreamed of kissing you while nestling myself in your arms.”]

[“That isn’t the case for me. You’ve never even crossed my mind once, Ms. Witch.”]

[“!”]

“T-This arrogant man—!”

A mixture of repulse and shock enveloped Diana’s heart.

Though, her hand still flipped through the book’s page, just like a soap opera watcher, curious to see how the flow of the story would go on next.

And then…

If the passage involving kiss was like a bump on the road, then the next passage was like a huge crater.

[And so, the witch, who had been kneeling so pitifully, raised her body.]

[Without hesitation, she threw away the clothes that were wrapped around her noble body slowly, just like a snake, shedding its skin.]

[As the soft clothes slowly piled up on the dirty floor of dirt, the witch emerged in her birthday suit.]

[Her chest, plump and healthy, just like a ripe fruit, with a perfect size that could fit a man’s hand…]

-Slam!

At that moment, Diana slammed the book closed, as if she had just glanced through a forbidden grimoire.

“C-C-C-Clothes… S-S-She threw away…”

The story developed into something that Diana could never have imagined.

It was as if she had opened Pandora’s Box.

Diana just couldn’t understand what was going on. How exactly could a witch willingly kneel down in front of a man, beg him to kiss her and then casually undress in front of him?

“T-That just isn’t right! A witch should never do something like that!”

Saying such words to no one in particular, Diana’s breathing had turned ragged at some point.

She clenched her small fists before gritting her teeth, expressing her utter disbelief.

Are you trying to tell me that mom wrote this book?

My mother, the witch whose nobility and grace is unmatched—well, except when she tries to dote on me—wrote this kind of book?!

It’s one thing if she’s just a reader, but she’s the author of this book?!

“…”

Diana’s gaze, which had been wandering around the room for a moment, suddenly focused on the red leather cover.

Her breathing was still ragged.

And her heart was filled with great discomfort.

But, there was this itch that was plaguing her head; the itch that stemmed from her curiosity.

The word ‘punishment’ that had been mentioned several times in the book.

“Ahem…”

Just like that, a clash between her discomfort and curiosity ensued.

Unsurprisingly, it was her curiosity that won the brief clash.

And so, she glanced around the room before opening the book’s cover cautiously as if she was handling a bomb or something.

After going through all sorts of vulgar and explicit descriptions of the witch’s body that were packaged in sensual words…

The identity of the ‘punishment’ she had been curious about was finally revealed.

[The countess, both hands bound to the bed, just like a butterfly specimen, stared at the delivery man with sorrowful eyes.]

[Accompanying that sorrow was obscenity and servility.]

[She reflected on her current appearance, unsightly and disgusting. The fact that she ended up like this because of her pathetic love just added to the misery she felt.]

[But at the same time, she felt this sweet and thrilling ecstasy that accompanied such feelings.]

[Shy, light pink color, just like a blooming sakura, painted her face.]

[Though she still hadn’t felt the man’s breath touching her body, her shame was thrown out of the window the moment the soft quill in the man’s hand stroked her—]

At that moment Diana averted her gaze away from the book.

“What is this even…?”

Contrary to what Diana had thought, the punishment that the delivery man mentioned wasn’t something that was overly obscene.

If anything, it was less shocking compared to when the witch stripped her clothes without any warning whatsoever.

The delivery man only tied the naked witch into the bed.

Then, he gently tickled her body with a quill feather.

She tried to picture that scene in her head, but she still failed to find something strange with it.

“…I guess I’ll have to read more to tell…”

And so, she continued to read the book further despite the heat rising to her head.

[The feather tickled every nook and cranny of the witch’s body, even the deepest part where no one but herself could touch.]

[“I can’t…take this anymore… Please… Embrace me…”]

[“But the punishment isn’t over yet.”]

[“Please… Just embrace me… If this goes on like this… I can’t…”]

“…”

For the first time, Diana could somewhat relate with the witch.

She thought that if she were to be tickled that heavily with a feather, she’d also feel so suffocated that she might die.

Of course, she had no intention of letting anyone tickle her with a feather to begin with.

In any case, she managed to understand this part of the book quite easily.

Though the book used sultry words to describe the part where the delivery man tickled the witch, aside from the passage where it said ‘The witch made strange nasal sounds’, it was just a tickling punishment more or less.

[The witch’s body, trembling pitifully, now covered with glistening beads of sweat, akin to that of morning dew.]

[Her hot breath, sweet, just like tropical fruits and her body, now so hot and excited, even a light brush of the feather gave her the sensation of a deep caress.]

[“You’re wet down there, Ms. Witch.”]

[“Don’t mention that…”]

[“Did you really enjoy being caressed by this feather that much?”]

[“A-Aa… Ah…”]

[The delivery man swung the feather at the witch’s most precious protruding spot.]

[That evoked a reaction from the witch, as her body swayed and a lewd, beastly moan escaped her lips.]

[Her groin, all soaked because of the strokes of the feather, stank in the vulgar scent of a woman.]

“…”

The novel, which started out like a cliche romance novel, became more and more racy as it progressed.

As she read further, Diana found more sentences that she failed to understand.

But…

One thing she knew for sure was…

The fact that this novel was an extremely obscene one.

Just imagining what was going on already made her chest tight, it was so vulgar that she felt some aversion as she read it.

After that, the book showed her a scene where the delivery man took off his clothes and climbed onto the bed.

The passage depicted the naked body of a man—that Diana obviously had never seen before—in vivid detail.

Like how hard the man’s muscles were, thanks to all the hard labor he had been doing all these years, or how his copper-colored skin was rougher than that of a woman’s.

But, the most detailed part of the depiction was none other than the man’s male-specific organ.

[Down below was his rigid spear, made of flesh.]

[Its tip was round, as big as a child’s fist. Thick looking veins covered its shaft as it stood proud and tall, showing no sign of wilting any time soon. The man had no qualms pressing this hard object against the witch’s lower abdomen.]

[“Is this what you want?”]

[“Yes… That… I want…”]

[“Say it properly, that you want it.”]

[“Your cock… That hot, hard spear of ecstasy… I want it deep inside me…!”]

Diana, who had been holding her breath as she read through every word with bloodshot eyes, stopped at the last sentence.

[“Alright. I’ll put it in.”]

The part where the man’s genitals…

Was inserted into the witch’s own genitals…

“Eep…!”

Almost immediately, Diana lifted her hand from the book, as if she had just touched a hot pot by accident.

Then she shook her head wildly from side to side.

If Gehenna was just any other city in the Victorian Era, not the City of Witch…

And if Diana was an ordinary young lady of a count’s family instead of a witch, she would have held her social debut and had gotten engaged two or three years ago already and she’d probably think that this kind of stimulation was rather exciting.

But, she wasn’t and instead, she was raised by Countess Lucy, who had planted the seed of man-hating in front of her. This kind of stimulation was too much for her.

“This dirty—!”

She quickly closed the book, put everything back into its place and left the library quickly.