I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 5 Part 3

Although I accepted his words at face value, he had a strangely gloomy expression. No, it was more like a dull, colorless painting devoid of joy and sorrow. When I caught his gaze, which I couldn’t decipher, he smirked.

A kind mask was gracefully put on top of his indifferent face. The man, who disguised himself as a gentleman even though he was threatening me, asked in a gentle tone, as if he would listen to whatever I said.

“So you can do it now, right?”

“….”

Ah, yes. If some grateful crane barges into the Pope’s office and demands they hand over the key, then I might be able to do it.

I sighed inwardly, feeling annoyed. I would be better off without it, but just because this exists doesn’t mean I can enter the Pope’s office.

“Well, can I have the deadline extended a bit more?”

“Hmm.”

“Honestly, it was too short even without the crisis. You know. When I died and came back to life.”

And it was entirely this guy’s fault that I died and came back. He should do at least this much if he’s a human being.

I looked up at him, armed with a much more pitiful expression on my face and a voice I had used in my previous life when I’d begged my professor for an extension on an assignment deadline.

The man’s lips, which seemed to be contemplating for a moment, curved with a graceful line as they rose.

Could it be, is he relenting?

Just when I raised my expectations,

Keene turned his body fully towards me, leveling our gazes. It seems his gem-like eyes were directed at my forehead, and he then affectionately used his fingers to tidy up my hair.

“Should I extend the deadline for you?”

“…Really?”

As soon as the words I had hoped for actually came out of his mouth, my eyes widened involuntarily. He smiled sweetly and nodded his head.

“Well, I don’t know, extend it five days, or six days earlier?”

“……”

That’s just still the same. Anyway, you son of a bitch.

“Yeah, yeah, extend it.”

Still, I guess I have been granted a reprieve. It’s better to try something within the extended lifespan than to die tomorrow.

But as he smiled at me, he lightly tapped one side of his cheek with his finger.

Surprised, I looked at him with confusion as he said something shocking, erasing the smile that was half-formed on my face.

“Kiss.”

“……What?”

“So you were planning to take advantage of me? I should gain something too.”

…What can he possibly gain from that?

Unable to comprehend his words, I stared at him in confusion as his face came closer.

When he approached close enough that I could see my stupid expression reflected in his amethyst eyes, he sweetly asked,

“Don’t you want to, darling?”

“……”

Why the fuck is this guy acting like this toward me?

“That… um, do you know that’s sexual harassment?”

I was slightly flustered, but fortunately, I managed to say the right thing. Keene raised an eyebrow and then immediately returned to his original position.

“That’s a shame. I thought we already reached a point where we could do this.”

…A point where we could do this? With who? You and me?

I let out a gasp, stunned, and he glanced at me briefly before exhaling heavily, as if telling me to listen.

“Well, if you say that, then I can’t force you, Du.”

He grumbled with a sullen expression and stood up from his seat. I quickly reached out to stop him since it looked like he was trying to leave.

“Hey, what about the deadline?”

“……”

He looked at me with dissatisfaction, crossing his arms with an annoyed expression.

“You want me to extend the deadline even though you gave me vigra and wouldn’t even kiss me? Do I look that easy to you?”

“……”

You were being ridiculous in the first place, asking me to bring him the key to the safe!

As my frustration grew, I struggled to hold back my anger, ready to snap back. But he let out a light sigh as if he had lost it and spoke kindly.

“Okay, I got it. I’ll extend it.”

“……Really?”

“They say the one who loses is the one who likes the other more. What can I do? I’ll take the easy way out.”

He came out speaking gibberish again and locked eyes with me. For some reason, I thought his violet eyes were shining mischievously.

“……”

Keene smirked and pressed his lips on his own finger.

I watched, wondering what he was going to do, and then he placed that finger directly on my cheek. I couldn’t even respond quickly to what suddenly happened and just froze.

“What…?”

“This isn’t harassment, is it?”

He whispered in a sarcastic tone, his eyes squinted like a crescent moon.

“Huh…”

I couldn’t believe it and my mouth fell open. Keene, who was satisfactorily watching me while I helplessly cupped my cheek with my hands and my eyes wide open, lightly pinched my other cheek and whispered.

“Even if you’re right, cut me some slack. You made me take the drug, after all.”

“……”

“See you in six days.”

And he disappeared with a bright light.

As I sat there in a daze, I wiped the spot where his finger had touched. It felt like some of my skin had momentarily absorbed all of his warmth and was burning hot.

“…If you’re going to threaten me, then just threaten me.”

I really don’t know what he wants to do.

* * *

I clenched my jaw and furiously moved my fountain pen.

?Your sister is the best, you asshole. I have a stack of allowance I’ve been saving in the third drawer of my room. Don’t buy anything weird with it and use it later when you get married…?

“Con, this bastard, you’re definitely going to buy something useless again.”

Shaking my head vigorously, I continued writing the sentence I just wrote.

?Dad, if you leave my room, you’ll just cry for no reason. So please clean it up right away. You can turn it into a guest room. Oh, it can be used as a kid’s room when I have a nephew or niece.?

“Shit…”

Tears welled up in my eyes. Holding my niece had been my wish. What crime have I committed to deserve to be punished twice at such a young age?

Even if he extended the deadline, it would be impossible to steal the Pope’s key. No matter how hard I tried, no brilliant idea came to mind, so I ended up starting to write my will.

As I continued to write, my sense of injustice and self-pity grew. Honestly, I felt so pitiful.

“How did I end up getting involved with such a lunatic?”

By now, I was curious. No matter how much I thought about it, I don’t recall any lunatics like that appearing in the novel.

Could he be a character from the original work?

“Just by looking at his face, he should have appeared and left enough impression.”

The only character who had a significant presence in the novel was the ultimate villain, the master of the magic tower. Other characters might have appeared, but they have long since faded from memory.

Perhaps because mysticism was a keyword in the novel, I remember that there were a lot of scenes where the master of the magic tower was giving orders to his subordinates in the dark.

I didn’t know if later on he would reveal his true identity and make a noteworthy contribution, or if I simply couldn’t recall because I hadn’t read the ending.

“No way….”

A fleeting thought crossed my mind. But within a few seconds, I quickly brushed it off along with a smirk.

“That’s impossible. The master of the magic tower can’t be that idle.”

He was too good-looking for an extra, but no matter how much I thought about it, there were too many things that didn’t make sense for him to be the master of the magic tower.

For someone in such a high position, it seems like a waste of time for him to travel from temple to temple when he could just leave numerous magicians in the field. The tower master found amusement in threatening a novitiate like me. With such a mindset, it’s hard to believe that someone like that could have earned the title of the kingdom’s adversary.

“I feel sorry for the master of the magic tower. To have such a lunatic as a subordinate.”

He might be unexpectedly stiff in front of his boss, but judging by Keene’s personality, it didn’t seem likely. I never expected to sympathize with the tower master for the rest of my life.

“Still, I have to give it a try.”

I put my will in the drawer and stood up. It’s a waste of time to delay and give up so easily. It was time to do something, anything.

Today, I visited the West Building again, for the second time, in preparation for a class. But as I anxiously climbed up to the second floor, a familiar figure caught my eye.

“Sir Peidos?”

Isn’t this the Pope’s office?

He lightly greeted me as he came out of the office with the door open.

Memories of the past came flooding back, and my heart fluttered once again. As I approached him hesitantly, Peidos smiled and asked.

“Class?”

“Oh, no. It’s because Father Johan asked me to help with the baptism ceremony.”

I made up a plausible excuse, using the friendly relationship between Deacon Johan and me.

“Sir….”

“I have been entrusted with a task by His Holiness.”

“I see.”

An assignment from the Pope himself, which seemed extraordinary to me as a novice priest in training. I gazed at him with renewed respect, and then he spoke as if he’d remembered something.

“Is the baptism ceremony urgent?”

“What? Oh, no.”

It was true that Father Johan was busy preparing for the ceremony. If I offered to help, he would definitely be delighted, but since I hadn’t made the suggestion yet, there was no urgency.

“If you have the time, can you help me?”

“…Me? Can I?”

The answer was already determined. Whether I could help was another question.

“If I can help, it would be an honor.”

Peidos smiled at my response and opened the door further. sensing my hesitation, he spoke.

“It’s okay. His Holiness isn’t here.”

The view I glimpsed briefly was more desolate, rather than clean. Except for the exquisite Pashian rugs under the table, there were no decorations, and even the work desk was not that large, making the room seem even emptier.

I knew that high-ranking priests were striving to promote austerity, but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent. I had never really witnessed it, apart from what I had seen at a distance during the entrance procession, but I had secretly thought that the Pope’s leadership was close to calculating, the sight of the extremely frugal room was quite surprising.

If the Pope is like this, how about this person?

I wondered skeptically while glancing at the knight in front of me. Most high-ranking priests, including the Pope, reside in mansions. However, Peidos Carmel insisted on living in communal quarters, even though he was a nobleman who grew up in a wealthy environment.

While it seemed very natural, the fact that I was facing such a model priest suddenly felt burdensome. If this man knew what I was thinking, with my secular thoughts which developed due to my previous life’s influences, he would probably try to avoid speaking to me.

“Do not worry, just come in.”

“…Do you work here?”

I asked, puzzled that he’d come in and out of this office as if it were his own. I mean, sure, he’s the commander of the holy knights, but is this really acceptable?

“I handle documents that cannot be taken outside this place.”

After confirming that I had entered, he closed the door and gestured with his chin to a certain place. There, a huge safe that had been hidden from view by the door only moments before could be seen.

“That’s…”

Peidos passed by me as I stood absentmindedly, and then he approached the black vault with multiple barriers. He pulled out the pendant hanging around his neck and brought it closer to the barriers. As he did so, the light forming the barrier flickered and soon dissipated like a veil being lifted.

“There are only three people authorized to open this safe: His Holiness, Chelin Sniter, and myself.”

After finishing his explanation, he loosened the pendant around his neck.

In the center of the safe, there was a large device that resembled a ship’s steering wheel. Interestingly, as he held the pendant there, the wheel started turning on its own.

With a click, the safe opened accompanied by the sound of something releasing. I curiously looked inside and saw a pile of unidentified papers.

Perhaps they contained important information.

I suddenly wondered how Keene knew about the existence of this safe. Perhaps he entered the Pope’s room to see it.

I was a little disappointed because it didn’t contain anything as great as I expected. I had expected there to be holy relics or something since it was the Pope’s safe. But of course, holy relics would be kept under much tighter security.