The Villain is Being Suspiciously Kind - Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Two days later, in the late afternoon, Desian knocked on the door of Citrina’s mansion.
It was a scheduled visit, but his step was lighter than usual.
Everything was perfect.

On the day that Desian visited Citrina, she was working on several design prototypes. ‘I wish a day had forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four hours’, she thought to herself.
Just as the day was coming to a reasonable conclusion, Citrina opened the door to her office and saw him enter.
“Hi, Del.”
Citrina smiled at Desian, who stood still in front of the door to her office.
“Hi, Rina.”
Her wrists ached from designing, and her shoulders were stiff from sitting so long, but seeing him brought a smile to her face.
She was even happier to see Desian, slowly walking toward her. Looking at the flowers in his hands, Citrina thought Desian was quite romantic.

“Are those for me?”
“Yeah. If you’ll accept them.”
Citrina took the flowers from Desian’s hand. The sweet scent lingered on the tip of her nose. Watching her take in the scent, Desian spoke up.
“Rina, I have a favor to ask.”
“ Yeah, what is it?”
Looking up at Desian, Citrina tilted her head.
She wasn’t used to Desian asking for favors in such a serious tone. Unaware of her slight confusion, Desian spoke seriously.
“I want to buy your time.”
There was a clear meaning to wanting to buy time. Obviously, he wants to be with her.
‘It sounds like a request for an ordinary date.’
She replied mischievously, with a slight smile around her mouth.
“My time? That’s quite expensive.”
Desian was the type to take her jokes with a grain of salt, and soon, his languid eyes rolled back into a smile.

“I’ll pay whatever you want.”
“Good.”
Citrina, still seated, gestured for him to shake her hand.
“If we shake hands, is the deal sealed?”
“Yeah.”
Desian took her hand and gave it a quick shake. Citrina found his response cute and smiled once more.
“So what do you want to do with my time?”
“I have somewhere to take you.”
“Where to?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
Citrina cocked her head. Desian never spoke without a subject, never spoke unclearly, and surely he couldn’t lead her to a bad place.
Citrina looked at him mischievously and asked.

“Why? Is it a good place?”
“…Yeah.”
Desian’s gaze was fixed on the table, his mouth set in a tight line. His mouth is set in a tight line. His face was different from usual. He looked nervous.
Citrina playfully pushed herself up.
“If it’s a nice place, what’s with that look on your face?”
“I’m preparing myself mentally, Rina.”
The tone was unexpectedly very, very serious.
Citrina tilted her head to the side.
She’d meant it playfully, but Desian had taken it far too seriously. Citrina began to wonder, a little.
‘Is it something that requires him to mentally prepare for it?’
Citrina couldn’t hide her doubt, but she was quickly persuaded. When Desian says he needs to prepare mentally, it really means mental preparation.
Her trust in him was solid.

“Then should I prepare myself mentally too?”
“…Yeah, Rina.”
“I’ll finish this up and we can leave. Wait, do you want to sit for a bit?”
“Sure, Rina.”
Desian sat down on the couch in his office, looking a little nervous.
He wiped his face dry a few times.
Dropping her eyes back down to the design, Citrina pondered.
‘I don’t know where we’re going, but when we get in the mood, I think we should bring up the engagement. Should I bring it up?’
Citrina recalled Iana’s sparkling expression, Aaron’s faint smile and Desian’s questioning look when she brought up the subject of marriage.
‘How should I do this? How do I say, ‘Let’s get engaged! And then say…ah, proposing is hard.’
Her mind wasn’t even perfectly organized yet!
She felt a little overwhelmed.
Citrina ruffled her hair a few times. When she first heard about ‘marriage talks’ from Princess Iana, she hadn’t been too interested…
Now, the number of confessions coming into Desian was starting to bother her, and she had to make a decision quickly.
Desian watched Citrina carefully.

****

A few hours later, after finalizing the design drafts.
Shortly after taking Desian’s hand, Citrina found herself standing in a sparkling crystal mine, a place she’d been searching for so long.
Citrina looked at her surroundings in wonder.
“This is amazing!”
Inside the huge mine, twinkling lights hung like stars. Perhaps magic was used, but the light made the gemstones sparkle and shine beautifully.
“Rina, I heard that you were looking for a crystal mine.”
“Yeah, that’s right! I was looking for a yellow gemstone mine. I wasn’t sure if I’d find it because it’s so rare.”
Citrina looked around and saw a star-like glow emanating from her surroundings.
The light shimmered like an aurora borealis, illuminating the gemstones, and an exclamation escaped her lips.
“Wah.”

The light was so bright, she could see the tips of Desian’s ears prickle with excitement. At first, she had thought him an unfathomable stranger, but she hadn’t expected him to be her lover, who seemed to be thinking of everything.
“Exactly. This is just what I was looking for. Thanks, Del.”
Citrina smiled and thanked him, and Desian tightened his grip on her hand. She could feel all the way down to his prominent knuckles because he wasn’t wearing gloves.
“Mines are supposed to be dark… but it’s so bright?”
Colorful lights filled the interior of the mine. Citrina looked around in slight admiration.

“I can’t wait to see what happens when we craft these…”
“Are you curious?”
“Yeah!”
Citrina spoke briefly, staring intently at the gemstones.
When he asked if she was curious, Desian had no response.
So Citrina reached out to the gemstone, watching it sparkle. Her fingertips tingled as she touched it.
Strangely, it sent a shiver of excitement through her body. Citrina smiled to herself. This could be useful in her business.
But… As always, it was Desian who made her hesitate a bit.
“I… feel like I’m always relying on you for help these days.”
“You could help me.”
“Yeah? How is that?”
Citrina turned from the gemstone. Desian held out a small velvet box. The red velvet box was familiar to Citrina.
‘A jewelry box?’
For a moment, she stiffened, unable to comprehend the situation. Why would Desian offer her a jewelry box?
Slowly, Citrina opened the jewelry box.
There it was, the ring she had imagined in her mind, already finished.
It glittered on top.

“Do you like it?”
“…Yeah. Very much so.”
Desian took Citrina’s hand. Citrina naturally offered him her left hand. Slowly, Desian slipped the ring onto her hand.
The cold metal touched her ring finger.
Even though her hand was cold, her heart was hot.
“…I’ve decided to name this gem Citrine.”
“Huh?”
“I’m dedicating it to you, Rina.”
“To me?”
“Yeah. Because you…said you wanted it.”
Desian nodded silently, and Citrina’s eyes widened. As soon as she heard his words, she suddenly remembered the conversation she’d had with Desian when she’d reunited with him.

“….”
The memory flashed through her mind.
Citrina remembered the time, so long ago, when he’d said he’d put her name on a gemstone. And how he had replied, “It will happen.
She chose her words carefully.
“I’m…happy to have a jewel with my name on it, Del.”
The corners of her eyes moistened, but no tears fell.
Citrina lowered her eyes and stared at the ring on her fourth finger.
“And it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
There was a faint note of pleasure in Desian’s voice. Citrina looked at the ring, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
‘It sparkles so prettily…’
A simple yellow gem glittered in the center of the ring.
‘Could this be…the moment I’ve been waiting for?’
Citrina decided to seize the moment she had been looking forward to all this while. She knew, subconsciously, what he was going to say next.
She decided to beat Desian to the punch, so to speak.

“Del.”
Desian was looking at her seriously. He seemed to be wondering what Citrina was going to say next.
“Yeah?”
She smiled broadly.
“Let’s get engaged.”
At this moment, she was perfectly happy.
Except for the fact that her heart kept pounding in her chest.
Slowly, Citrina waited for Desian’s answer.
Looking into his dark eyes, she realized that she would be happy to spend the rest of her life with him…
She thought to herself.
“…Yeah. I’ll always be by your side.”
Desian answered simply as if to say yes to Citrina’s proposal of engagement. Citrina nodded because it was what she expected.
“I’ll stay by your side, too. You won’t leave me?”
“Yeah. Never.”
There was a lot of heart, emotion, and love in their conversation. Citrina smiled as she listened to him.
“Del, you know what?”
“What?”
Citrina whispered playfully. She took a step toward him. Desian’s feet were right in front of Citrina’s, almost touching her toes.
As such, they were very close.
Citrina looked up at him, narrowing her eyes, her lids crinkling.
“Now would be a good time to kiss.”
Desian lowered his head, and Citrina lifted her chin slightly.
The tip of his nose touched hers. Just before their lips met, Citrina closed her eyes slowly and whispered.
“Kiss me.”
“With pleasure.”
Finally, their lips met.
Desian’s moist lips brushed against hers, his tongue flicked across her front teeth, the tip of his tongue against the roof of her mouth, and she flinched. Her toes were tingling as she held onto him with both arms and lowered her feet to the ground.
Their lips slowly parted.
It was a short kiss.
Both of Citrina’s cheeks were flushed. Desian wiped her slightly smudged lips with his fingertips. Desian looked at her and whispered softly.

“Thanks, Rina.”
“For what?”
“For not letting me go back to a meaningless life without you.”
His words made her feel a little embarrassed. Her blushing face seemed to grow even redder. So, Citrina lowered her eyes and smiled.
Her heart trembled, and even her eyelashes fluttered slightly. Still, there was a small part of her that wanted to say it back to him.
“Thank you, too, for making my world complete.”
At this moment, Citrina had made an impulsive decision.
She hadn’t really thought everything through.
But she knew she wouldn’t regret this decision today. Citrina smiled as if she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

Along with their promise for the future, the road out of the mine with beautiful, filled with crystals.
Citrina felt her heart flutter.
“So, what do you think we should do for the engagement?”
“What about you, do you want to do anything?”
Citrina began to babble to Desian. Her head was filled with pleasant imaginings, and the sweet words kept flowing.

“Well, I want to…I want to gather my favorite people and meet them somewhere cozy and pretty.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
“I want it to be warm and sunny, between spring and summer.”
“Because we met in the summer?”
“Yeah. Because we met in the summer!”
Citrina giggled as she said it.
Desian listened to Citrina’s words. He seemed to be typing everything out in his head, one by one.
Thinking that was cute, Citrina smiled.

“I want it to be simple and beautiful, outside on a beautiful sunny day, just family and friends, gathered together.”
Citrina’s mind wandered, and she bit her lip as she recognized the words ‘family and friends’.
It was because she became aware of the word ‘friends’.
“Um…”
Citrina trailed off abruptly. Desian matched her tempo and waited for her next words.
Citrina didn’t know much about the rituals of engagement. She did know, however, that a betrothal required the permission of the Senate for larger families and the permission of the family for smaller families.
Citrina paused for a moment.
‘Ah…I had a family too.’
Baron Foluin, Elaina, and…Baroness Foluin.
“You usually ask the family’s permission, right?”
“You don’t have to meet them if you don’t want to.”
Desian would need the Senate’s permission, too. But that was not a problem. That’s because the Pietro Duchy, which Desian Pietro was the head of, was a powerful family.

‘I wonder if I should meet with Baron and Baroness Foluin?’
Desian would change the legal process somehow. That’s the kind of man Desian Pietro was.
But Citrina needed one last meeting.
She wanted to wrap everything up perfectly.
She wanted to tie up all the loose ends and start fresh.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, Del…”
Citrina said as if she’d been holding it in.
“…I just want to see my family one last time.”
Citrina had already cut ties with her family.
‘Ever since Elaina left like that, I haven’t said anything to them.’
But she wanted to have the last word. Baron Foluin and Baroness Foluin made no mention of her, nor any move to reach out to her.

“Is this what you want, to see your family?”
“Yeah. That’s what I want, for I must wrap things up in order to make a new beginning.”
She didn’t intend for it to be a cut-and-dry affair. With Elaina out of the picture, it was Baroness Foluin who was on Citrina’s mind.
The way she had discriminated against Citrina and Elaina, and the way she had risked coming to her.
It was hard to believe that it was the same person, but she did try to help Citrina a little.

‘…I was supposed to meet Baroness Foluin someday.’
Whenever she thought of Baroness Foluin, she was filled with ambivalence: hateful and appreciative, happy and uncomfortable.
‘Let’s not meet the baron, but only tell the baroness that I got engaged.’
Finally, a firm decision had been made in her mind.
Seeing Citrina’s stern expression, Desian smiled cleanly as if breaking all boundaries. His hand was holding Citrina’s hand.
It was callused like a long-standing tree, but firm.
With that, they exited the mine and headed toward the Flang mansion.