City of Witches-Chapter 413: Harvest Festival (6)

1.

The Gemini Mansion, freshly refurbished, eagerly awaited the Harvest Festival.

Beneath the darkness, before the moon rose, two small shadows darted through the annex, slipping between the flickering candlelight.

There were none other than the lively twins, the most energetic pair at the Gemini Mansion.

Even the drowsiness of midnight pressing heavily on their eyelids wasn’t enough to slow them down.

They raced along in the darkness, each dressed in pajamas they bought as souvenirs from the aquarium back in the Modern World.

For Odile, a blue shark pajama, complete with a tail and fins.

As for Odette, a fluffy pink bunny pajama with big floppy ears.

“Odette…! W-Wait up a sec.”

“Hurry up, Sis! Stop being so slow!”

“But the tail keeps getting stuck!”

Whether it was running, casting spells, or swimming.

Odette usually lagged behind Odile. But now, she was scolding her sister for being slow for who knows how many times already.

Because of the shark pajama’s long tail, Odile had to hold it in her arms to prevent it from dragging on the ground as they ran.

The tail that usually served as a cushion whenever she was sleeping was now holding her back.

As Odile adjusted the tail, Odette crouched at the corner of the hallway, peeking around like an agent on a secret mission.

“Whoa… Looks like they’re gone for now.”

“Hurry up. I’ve fixed the tail.”

The twins then took off running again in tiny, fast steps.

At this late hour, even the owls were asleep, but these two were about to begin a smuggling operation—which was why Odette was carrying a small box with her.

The Harvest Festival wasn’t just about drinking and dancing.

It was also a special day for couples to spend intimate time together and reaffirm their love.

Hence why, the twins had prepared a gift for their assistant.

If it were just a simple gift, they wouldn’t need to be so sneaky.

But the nature of the gift was incredibly dangerous.

If their master or anyone else caught them, it wouldn’t end with just a scolding.

They had to plan out an elaborate strategy to bring it here—from its purchase to its delivery.

First, they had to steal Galina’s—the head maid—ledger to obtain an order form’s template. Then, they had to identify the exact name of the item through a separate investigation.

With help from Pecha, Lena, Masha, and Vera, they smuggled the item from Border Town into the mansion without anyone realizing that they were behind it.

However, Vera, the one who was placed in charge of the final delivery, had been called away unexpectedly, leaving the box in the mailroom for the twins to retrieve.

Since Galina would check the mailroom early in the morning, they had to move quickly to retrieve it.

“Shhh…!”

Odette, leading the way, extended her arm and pressed herself against the wall.

Odile quickly followed, clutching her bundled tail to her chest, holding her breath.

-Tap… tap… tap…

From there, they caught a side view of Galina, patrolling the mansion with a lantern in her hand.

Her round glasses caught the light, glinted.

Galina was strict on a normal day, but tonight, she looked even scarier than a grim reaper.

-Tap tap tap

Not long after, her footsteps faded away, leaving the twins, trembling with their eyes squeezed shut, behind.

Only after the head maid’s footsteps were no longer audible did the two of them breathe a sigh of relief.

“Phew…”

“…That was close. Sis, let’s not do something like this again next time.”

Just as they began to chat softly, feeling relieved…

-Tap tap tap tap tap tap

“Ms. Odile, Ms. Odette?”

““Eeeek!””

The footsteps approached them out of nowhere, and Galina’s harsh voice followed.

Odile and Odette, genuinely startled, bolted, waddling away in a hurry.

“So it’s the young ladies! It’s bedtime! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Like a wandering mob that had been aggroed, Galina chased after them, her lamp swinging.

The shadows cast by the swaying light of the lantern made her look like a monster from an old horror story.

Suddenly finding themselves in a terrifying 4D horror game experience, the twins felt their blood run cold and scrambled to escape.

“Odette! We got caught because you wouldn’t stop talking!”

“No! It’s because you sighed, Sis!”

“We got busted the moment your voice echoed!”

“I only started talking because you sighed! You were the one who acted like it was all clear!”

Of all people, Galina was the absolute worst person to discover their secret gift, second only to their master.

Even if they used magic to escape now, they’d still be in trouble for running away in the first place.

The reprimand would even extend to the maids, and then everything would be over.

In short, this was a total disaster.

At that moment, the twins suddenly noticed they’d reached the mansion’s far end.

In their frantic panic, they had run into a dead end.

“What do we do, Sis?”

“We need to hide it at the very least!”

Hearing Galina’s footsteps right behind them, Odile hurriedly opened the nearest door.

Even if they couldn’t run away from her, at least they had to stash this gift somewhere—In a closet, under a sofa, under a bed, anywhere.

They burst through the door in a panic as if to break it, but then…

“Huh? What are you two doing here?”

They found Sharon staring at them with wide, surprised eyes.

“Sharon unnie!”

“Please hide us!”

The twins ran straight to the sofa where Sharon was sitting, throwing themselves onto it and huddling behind the backrest like it was their only cover.

“Ms. Odile! Ms. Odette!”

Right on their heels, Galina barged in, looking furious.

The sequence of events happened so quickly.

However, seeing the twins, unable to even hide themselves, trembling with their hoods up, and the enraged Galina, the head maid, Sharon quickly pieced the situation together.

“Oh, Ms. Evergreen. I apologize for the disturbance at this late hour.”

“No, no. It’s fine, Head Maid Galina.”

“Would you mind sending the young ladies back to bed? I’ve told them over and over again that it’s way past bedtime…!”

By now, the twins’ faces looked as if the world was collapsing on them. As if they could sense where things were heading.

Sharon gave Galina a troubled look.

“Oh dear, what to do? Actually, I’m the one who called Ms. Odile and Ms. Odette over.”

“Really?”

“I just wanted to have a quick chat with them, but it seems I’ve ended up bothering you, Ms. Galina.”

Sharon gave a slight bow with a regretful look before gently placing her hands on the twins’ heads.

“I’ll send them back to bed soon. Also, I promise this won’t happen again. I’m so sorry.”

“…”

Galina, who had been listening to Sharon with her arms crossed, closed her eyes and nodded heavily.

“I understand, Ms. Evergreen. But please make sure nothing like this happens again.”

“Yes, of course.”

Galina didn’t look convinced, but it was hard for her to press on the issue when Sharon was acting so polite towards her.

After all, Sharon was the Gemini Family’s tutor and, more importantly, a Grand Witch.

Since she had bowed her head to protect the twins, Galina had no choice but to honor her action.

As she apologized to cover up the twins’ mistakes, Galina had no choice but to honor that.

“Alright, I will take my leave.”

“Thank you for all your hard work.”

“I’m just doing my duty as a servant. Also, please, Ms. Odile, Ms. Odette, try not to stay up so late.”

“Got it.”

“Yes…”

After Galina closed the door behind her.

The twins, pulling back their hoods, glanced at Sharon.

Having overcome a major crisis, the twins’ faces were filled with relief, like people who were found by the rescue team during a distress.

“Thank you, Sharon unnie!”

“Thank you so much! Sharon unnie!”

“Haa… So, what exactly is going on?”

Sharon placed her hands on her hips, looking down at the two troublemakers.

2.

“Since a strong opponent suddenly arrived…!”

“We figured we’d need a trump card!”

The twins, holding mugs of hot cocoa, marshmallows floating in the warm drinks, explained what was going on.

Their elaborate plan wasn’t just due to the upcoming Harvest Festival

It was also to keep Duchess Eloa Tiphereth, who had recently joined the fray, in check and at the same time, to gain a strategic advantage.

The Duchess’ wealth was nothing impressive.

However, she was still one of the only three duchesses in Gehenna, and a grand witch of the 23rd rank who was respected by countless witches.

Moreover, as their assistant’s master, she had a strong connection with him. Also, although not to the same extent as Sharon, she also possessed powerful asymmetric capabilities that the twins lack.

If they stayed passive, they would end up beaten mercilessly, just like what happened with Sharon.

“So, this is your trump card?”

Sharon asked, tapping the box on the table.

“Haa~ We were planning to keep it a total secret.”

“But since Sharon unnie helped us, we’ll make an exception and show it to you.”

“Just promise you won’t copy us, okay?”

The twins then peeled away the wrapping,

Without needing to hear the twins’ explanation, Sharon quickly grasped the true identity of the item.

Between the thin layers of plastic inside the box, she saw a set of neatly arranged wooden pieces.

Jenga.

It was a simple board game where players take turns removing blocks from a stack, and the one who makes it fall loses.

“Um… Nice! Siwoo’s going to love this.”

Sharon said, keeping her real thoughts to herself.

She actually expected something special for them, but this was just a normal Jenga.

Sure, it might seem special in Gehenna—where modern items were rare—but in the Modern World, this was a common board game. People would play it for a bit then move on.

Still, it looked like they went through a lot of trouble to get it…

Siwoo will probably give them a nice reaction.

She didn’t want to spoil their excitement by being brutally honest, though.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

“Of course! But this isn’t your regular Jenga.”

“Hehehe, do you want to see what makes it different?”

“Different?”

“Just turn around for a bit.”

“You’ll be surprised, unnie!”

Does it have an automatic stacking feature?

Is this actually a magical toy or what?

Sharon felt a little perplexed but she patiently waited as the twins made a fuss over the toy.

“Ta-da!”

“It’s ready!”

As she looked at the neatly stacked blocks, Sharon tilted her head again.

No matter how she looked at it, there was nothing strange about the blocks.

“Want to give it a try?”

“Sure, it’s not that hard.”

Sharon rolled up her sleeves and tapped the wooden block in the center bottom with her fingertip.

As she had expected, the block slid out smoothly.

And just when she thought there was nothing out of the ordinary,

She noticed how the twins were giggling mischievously.

“I did it. What now?”

“Ah, you have to check the back of the block!”

“The back?”

When she turned over the block in her hand, she noticed something that was different from regular Jenga.

A piece of transparent tape with writing on it was stuck to the block.

“What does it say?”

“W-What is this!”

What was written on it was…

[Locate the opponent’s nipples over the clothes］

It was a very simple yet clearly peculiar penalty clause.

“You have to do whatever it says on the block you pull out!”

Sharon’s jaw dropped.

Indeed, the Jenga that the twins had prepared wasn’t just any ordinary Jenga.

It was an adult Jenga, designed for couples looking to spice up their nights.

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Odile in her pajamas! /genesisforsaken