The Villain is Being Suspiciously Kind - Chapter 104

Chapter 104
“I’m also really happy right now.”The thought was almost unbearable. Desian had brought her to the teahouse at the Duke’s estate.
Aside from the slight uneasiness she had felt earlier, Citrina was happy.
The bitter tea and sweet cookies in her mouth gave her a pleasant sensation.
“Me too.”
He was a man who said he was happy if she was happy.
She wanted to be happy with Desian like this forever. Citrina spoke up quietly.
“I’m curious about something, Del.”
Desian slowly looked into her eyes. He wondered what would come out of Citrina’s mouth now.
“Tell me, Rina.”
Citrina blinked at the calm in Desian’s voice.
“It’s about the music box you gave me back then.”
Citrina’s mischievous gaze flicked towards Desian.
Citrina was starting to check all of the things Desian had presented her with one by one.
The music box that had soothed her was one of those things.
Desian’s scent was as familiar as ever. Even Citrina’s wrist smelled sweetly of the perfume he had gifted her.
At that moment, Citrina looked at Desian.
It was a quiet tea time.
Desian slowly rubbed the corners of his eyes. That’s because Citrina’s words always made him nervous.
“Why the music box?”
Citrina heard Desian’s words. Citrina lifted her teacup slightly to hide the smile on her lips.
“It only has one melody, but it’s nice to hear.”
It was the music box that Gemma also coveted, the one that always brought her a sense of calm and a good night’s sleep.
Citrina thought of the shape of the music box that Aaron and Desian had worked so hard to make.
It looked ordinary enough.
Though what was inside would be anything but ordinary.
“The song is nice.”
“….”
“Since I liked it, I thought of you while I listened to it.”
Desian Pietro smiled. It was a peaceful, picturesque smile.
But the emotions bubbling inside him were anything but picturesque.
Desian had so many secrets he hid from Citrina. And the last thing he wanted her to know was what he was up to.
“That’s a relief, Rina.”
However, there was another minor secret he never wanted Citrina to know.
It was something he learned the hard way when he was making the music box. He was not good at making such trivial objects. So… But then Citrina spoke right away. Desian’s entire attention was focused on her. Citrina slowly let the question she had held onto for some time slide out of her mouth.
“Did you cast healing magic on the music box?”
Every time she heard the melody, she felt her mind slowly floating away. The whole world seemed to be singing for her.
Sometimes after the harsh training from Oslos, or whenever someone had wronged her, Citrina would listen to it, and it would calm her down gently.
“Yeah.”
“That song and you go well together.”
Citrina smiled up at him.
“That’s good to hear.”
Desian didn’t tell her about the effort it had taken to cast that one spell. Instead, he dismissed it lightly.
“I’m also glad that you’re here with me.”
Sooner or later, a fight would erupt, but it was nice and sweet at the moment. Desian’s lips tightened sluggishly.
“It’s hard to bear it when you’re like this.” He couldn’t stand it when Citrina whispered so sweetly like this.
Citrina grinned up at him.
“Why do you have to bear it?” And she slightly closed her eyes. Little by little, his lips came down to meet hers.
As he sweetly kissed her, Citrina thought to herself.
Up until now, she hadn’t thought about what she would do after ending things with Elaina for good.
However, it was strange.
If things were to end with Elaina…
Her relationship with Desian would definitely take a new direction.
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At that moment, Elaina was in custody. She also had a grasp on how things were going.
She just didn’t want to admit any of it.
It wasn’t lost on Elaina that the winning side was closer to Desian and Citrina than herself.
Elaina paced around nervously.
“I wonder what’s going to happen. Since I can’t go out…”
That’s right.
Elaina lowered her eyes.
The attempted murder thing seemed to have been swept under the rug. Citrina didn’t seem to want to talk about it either, but you never knew what might resurface.
So Elaina waited impatiently. She hoped that Citrina’s heart would quickly break into pieces. The other methods had failed, so she had a thin layer of hope it would work.
“I’ve got all of the ingredients, Elaina-nim!”
“Sen, why isn’t Citrina responding to me? Do you know?”
Elaina wasn’t really listening to Sen now. She was talking to herself. Elaina’s hair was a mess.
The confinement had been long and it was starting to eat away at Elaina’s once high self-esteem.
“Well, I mean…I did deliver the letter.”
Elaina heard Sen’s dutiful reply.
And she worried for a bit. She stared at the sword on the table as if out of habit.
When Genfiros was alive, and even a bit after his death, the sword would speak to her.
She remembered what it said.
It used to make her feel more vengeful, but now she couldn’t recall the feeling.
‘The sword feels empty.’
Elaina used to hug the sword while she slept. But lately, she had left it on the table, not thinking about it.
It wasn’t the sword that mattered.
“I delivered the letter properly. So it must have gotten there…”
By now they should have gotten some response from Citrina. But all they had received was an unmistakable dismissal.
“Elaina-nim, I can do the rest.
Sen and Elaina used their divine power to block the surveillance. This was the only reason Sen had reached Citrina’s mansion at all.
“Maybe they’re blocking the reply? Or the content could have been distorted.”
Sen cautiously asked.
Elaina found the surveillance around her to be frightening.
“Maybe.”
This gut feeling was uncharacteristic of Elaina.
But what she didn’t realize was that the shadows around her had grown softer. Or that paladins of the Holy Kingdom were disappearing one by one.
“It’s okay, right? It’s not like I’m doing…a bad job?”
“Right. It’s okay. If you’re feeling uneasy, you’re just having some false fears.”
Elaina cut him off coldly. But she stared at the materials Sen brought.
‘I’ll never let you better than me, ever.’
Elaina’s pride would never allow this to happen.
“Then…what is it? Elaina-nim?”
“It’s nothing.”
Elaina coldly cut off Sen.
She was in the process of procuring materials and creating a reagent for the curse. Curses and divine power were polar opposites. Instead of using divine power, she was borrowing dark power. Elaina had already sacrificed her divine power.
Once her divine power was gone, she would become a mere human.
However, Elaina hated Citrina outdoing her even more.
So she wanted her sister to be in endless pain and suffering
“I haven’t been defeated.”
“Of course, Elaina-nim.”
Elaina’s voice was a bit sullen as she said those words. But Sen didn’t realize it. After all, the blind cannot see anything. [T.L. Note: Not a big fan of this sentence, but that is what the original text says.]
However, the conditions for the curse had not been met yet. Citrina was not confused.
“Genfiros-nim left his words for me. ‘Do what you do best’.”
“What? What does Elaina-nim do best?”
Elaina didn’t answer Sen’s question.
She had been doing it since she was younger.
At the academy and in the Holy Kingdom, she had cast curses to brand individuals she disliked with bad luck.
Add it all up, and Elaina was ready to strike.
She was determined not to panic, and she was actually becoming quite calm.
Up until a short time later, when Sen was arrested by the investigator.