The Villain is Being Suspiciously Kind - Chapter 113

Chapter 113

The banquet ended on a flat note.
That’s because the humble hosts of the event, the two men of the Pietro Duchy and Princess Iana, along with Citrina, had left.
Desian Pietro and Princess Iana refused to comply with the Emperor’s wishes. Neither Princess Iana nor Desian wanted the marriage, so they effectively broke it off.
Desian’s refusal was accepted by the Emperor.

That’s how…
The Emperor’s intentions to marry Duke Pietro were effectively thwarted. However, the Emperor’s other intention was well served.
There was a noticeable decrease in the number of people talking about the friction with the Holy State, and the mood was moderately elevated.
Citrina decided to keep today’s banquet as a beautiful memory.
Because Iana was cute.
From the day after the banquet, Desian often began the day at the Flang mansion.
He looked much the same as he had before the banquet. Desian wore glasses as he concentrated on his papers.
‘This is the first time I’ve seen him wear glasses.’
Citrina looked at Desian and then looked away, not wanting to break his concentration.
She heard the pleasant sound of a pen scratching across paper. Citrina closed her eyes and listened.

“Del.”
Without opening her eyes, she called out to Desian. At her words, the pen stopped scribbling.
“Yeah, Rina.”
“I heard about the marriage talks with Her Highness the Princess.”
“…Oh?”
Citrina slowly opened her eyes. In her vision, she could see a flustered Desian.
…Isn’t he too flustered?
It wasn’t often that Desian panicked.
So Citrina decided to wait patiently for him to recover. It didn’t take long.
After biting his lip nervously, Desian spoke up.
“…Yeah, Rina, there were marriage talks.”
Desian’s expression cooled rapidly. Citrina watched his cool-headed expression and marveled at how quickly he had recovered.
Desian’s expressions were quite varied these days.
Smiling, expressionless, cold. And then there was the new one, the one that shone brilliantly every time he looked at her.
Citrina liked all of his expressions, though she couldn’t encompass all of his emotions.
“It was just marriage talks that we had a while ago. That’s all there is to it.”
She stood still, looking at his face as he recited those words.

“Rina, listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
Desian put down his pen. His hand, hovering in the air for a moment, caught hers, a hand that felt a little cold, a little rough, against her flesh.
While Citrina’s attention was drawn to his hand, Desian began to explain what had happened.
“The marriage talks are completely broken off, so it’s no big deal. Nothing will happen in the future.”
Citrina nodded at Desian’s emphasis.
Citrina knew well that the two of them wouldn’t go through with it.
“Yeah. You’re not thinking about marriage yet either. I thought so.”
“Rina, I don’t intend to marry her.”
Desian seemed to have interpreted her words a little differently.

“But as for marriage.”
He paused.
“…Yeah, what about marriage?”

Citrina caught the end of Desian’s flowing sentence.
“….I’m not thinking about marriage. No, there’s plenty of time for that.”
Desian smiled at her. For the first time in a long time, Citrina thought his smile resembled sunshine.
He looked strangely happy.
But Citrina had no time to question Desian’s expression because Desian spoke up immediately.
“And what about you, Rina?”
There was silence in the air after Desian’s question.
Desian’s eyes looked at her with reassurance.
“What about me?’
Desian’s question, asking if she had ever thought about marriage, came as a bit of a shock to Citrina.
‘Do you think we…Desian and I…
will hold hands one day, walk down the aisle together?”
The thought made her feel hot from the tips of her ears.
“Um, I haven’t thought…about marriage yet.”
Citrina scratched her cheek awkwardly.
The words lover and love were as familiar as a jewel in her arms, but marriage was foreign. It was like something abstract, up in the clouds, out of reach.
Something elusive.
She didn’t want to talk about these vague feelings.
So she naturally passed the baton to Desian.
“But if I ever do… I’ll marry you, won’t I?”
This was her honest truth.
Citrina added a little awkwardly.

“…But this isn’t a proposal.”
…And with that, Citrina looked at Desian for the first time in a while. Desian’s cheeks flush with heat.
“If it’s with you, I’m good with any time, any day.”
The abstract, romantic sentence rang in her ears. Citrina couldn’t help but smile.
Hearing her lover’s tender declaration of love, she couldn’t help but smile.
His expression seemed to be a little off-kilter from his serious voice. Citrina looked at him and thought idly.

‘He’s like a flower, I suppose.’
She didn’t answer his comment. Instead, she lifted her hand and brought it to his cheek, flushing where she touched it.
As expected, it’s lovely.
As Desian spoke leisurely, Citrina felt the space this man took up in her heart.
“Still…the sooner the better, I suppose.”
“An outdoor wedding in early summer, a little past spring, would be lovely.”
Citrina took Desian’s words in an abstract way.
Early summer was the season they’d first met.
Desian would be aware of that fact.
Desian echoed Citrina’s slurred words.

“If it’s early summer, I’m good too.”
Facing him, Citrina smiled brightly.
Everything was so perfect today.
The lukewarm air, the sweet conversation, the slightly abstract talk of the future. Even the pleasant pulse of their hands together.
Planning the future was one of the typical conversation patterns of lovers.
So…
Citrina had thought that the ‘marriage thing’ would be over. By ‘thought it would be’, it meant that it wasn’t over.

***

Citrina believed that the ‘marriage debacle’ of the day was over, once and for all.
After that, she decided to resume her normal life. Little did she know, the cold wind had started blowing again.
‘My regular life is beginning again.’
As the cool air blew in, Citrina ran through the situation in her mind.
The curse master had disappeared. Life at Flang Manor had settled down considerably, save for the occasional visitor.
‘Now, back to business.’
Her clients had stopped coming in while she was busy with her work.
They’d gone to other jewelers.
So Citrina had to start serving her past customers again and bring in her potential customers.

‘I need two things: a trendy, innovative eye, and an eye for what’s going to be in style.’
Luckily, she had both.
Citrina called in her business partners, Adilac and Lita. Adilac and Lita looked like they’d been waiting for an appointment with her.

“Citrina, I’ve forgotten your face”
…They had a meal together, and Adilac was obviously a little sore.
“Sorry, Adilac. Have you been well?”
“Yes, yes, yes, I’m having fun, it’s cute how well Lita listens to me!”
“Well, I’ve been…having fun, too.”
-Look at that. That little guy is dying.

Gemma, who had been in hibernation for a long time, chimed in. At Gemma’s words, Citrina looked in Lita’s direction. Lita’s face looked very sullen.
He looked like he had enough of Adilac’s ‘too much talking’.
‘I’ll cut to the chase.’
Citrina decided to lay her cards out on the table. Adilac opened her mouth again before Lita’s face turned to despair.

“Adilac, Lita, I think we should get back to business, what do you think?”
As soon as Adilac heard Citrina’s words, she beamed.
“Finally! When shall we start? I’m good with any time starting tomorrow.”
…She must have been really bored during her vacation. Adilac was a terrible workaholic.

“I like it too!”
“That’s good to hear …we’re looking at, like, a month before we reopen.”
“A month, that sounds good!”
“I’ll need about a month to find a new gem mine and analyze a good draft.”
“Finding new mines?”
“Yes. Now that the mood in the capital has changed, we should set the trend.”
“That sounds too good to be true. Setting a trend!”
Adilac was as cheerful as ever today. Citrina smiled at her.
“Oh, by the way, Citrina!”
“Yes?”
“I think most of the gem mines that are worth anything right now are under the control of Duke Pietro.”
At the mention of mines, Citrina thought of all the big things Desian had done for her.
“I see…. let’s find out what else?”
A business plan began to form in Citrina’s mind.
“There must be a lot of undiscovered mines out there.”
“Undiscovered mines?”
“Yes. Mines that have not been touched by Duke Pietro.” We may need to borrow his power but for now…”
…Is there even a mine that hasn’t been touched by Duke Pietro? Citrina paused doubtfully.
“What do you have in mind?”
It was hard to tell, given the many twists in the original story.
But the gentry class, the “super-rich,” loved the color yellow. It’s supposed to be a positive color that brings gold into your life.
Citrina’s target this time, was the gentry. Citrina opened her mouth cautiously.
“I’m looking for citrines.”
“Citrines. Very, very rare. Few mines, and little demand.”
Adilac cast her a questioning glance.
“I was thinking we could monopolize the mines, and control the amount of gemstones available.”
“That would be great, I’ll look into it, trust me!”
Lita replied energetically. Citrina looked at Lita and shook her head.
‘You seem to be a little too energetic.’
I’m afraid he’s going to get into a bit of trouble…
Citrina looked at Lita’s uncontrollable fox tail and held her heart.
“I’ll trust you. Just don’t get into any trouble.”
“Yess!”
Lita shouted, determined.
Lita’s fox tail flicked, and it was deadly cute.
Citrina opened the paper she had organized earlier. A list of priorities appeared before her.

1. Look for the citrine mines outside the capital.
2. Ask the dwarves and Duke Pietro for assistance if needed.
3. Examine the specimens of other jewelers.

These three things seemed to be enough to make the month fly by.
What else was there to prepare?
She had to think and plan thoroughly to avoid losing money. Citrina lowered her eyes and thought.
As she did, Lita was looking at her with intelligent eyes.