The Villain is Being Suspiciously Kind

d rather than relieved.
Desian…had he changed this much?
‘Has he really become this nice?’
Four years had flown by like an arrow.
Let’s find out myself.
I’ll judge with my own eyes.’
She couldn’t make heads nor tails of her precious childhood friend.
Desian reached out to her slowly.

“You wanted to dance at the Summer Ball, Rina.”
Had she?
Citrina squinted since she couldn’t remember exactly.
“I’d like to dance, but I think talking with you is more important.”

The two of us, I think we need to talk.
Citrina laughed under her breath.
His eyes became more hazy as he looked at her.
He reached out to her slowly.
As he came closer, she smelled a familiar cologne.
Citrina had forgotten the smell of that cologne for a while.
Oh, it was weird.
The scent at the tip of her nose reminded her of the past.

****

Instead of dancing at the Summer Ball, Desian escorted Citrina into the deepest part of the garden.
There was a quiet and beautiful greenhouse.
A small shadow fell on Desian’s face from the dense tree above them.
It was a hot summer, but the temperature inside was refreshing as if it was controlled by magic.
Desian was looking at her face.
That gaze was both familiar yet unfamiliar, so Citrina broke the silence by whispering.
“I missed you, Del!”
“Me too.”

Desian replied bluntly to Citrina.
However, it didn’t feel bad.
Rather, she liked the fact that nothing had changed.
Over the past four years she had sometimes thought about this.
It felt like she was back home.
“…To be honest I wanted to watch your success, but you still have things to achieve, right?”
The words somehow seemed to be an excuse, so Citrina smiled awkwardly.
Desian looked at her face calmly.
He was originally a man who lived in the darkness of the city.
Yet the smile on his decadent face seemed more harmless than anyone else.

“It’s enough.”
“Del, you’re always so kind.”
“Did you enjoy the ball?”
“Yeah.
Ah, were you the one who sent me the invitation?”
“… I heard you had come back.”
“How did you know that?”

“The house you bought, it belonged to me.”
“How could there be such an amazing coincidence?”
Citrina’s eyes widened it surprise.
“… it’s truly a strange coincidence.”
Desian said, one beat off tempo.

Citrina nodded.
She didn’t believe Desian would care about such trifles, but she didn’t notice how else he could know she had returned.
“It’s too fascinating.”

She was still a bit curious and had questions left unanswered, but Citrina smiled cheerfully.
Desian’s response was as warm as it used to be.
The last four years had been a tough time for her.
It was fun refining gemstones and dealing with spirits, but it was sometimes difficult like pushing through a strong wind.

Citrina felt relieved, as if the spring snow was melting.
“Ah, I heard that Duke Pietro is doing a lot of sponsoring.
Is it true you’ve been cleaning up some boroughs?”
Silence followed Citrina’s words.
Desian’s expression remained the same.
Citrina tilted her head to the side.
He whispered quietly.
“Yeah, I felt bad for the unfortunates living in those conditions.”
Citrina was silent for a bit.
“Oh… you felt bad?”
“Yeah.”

He looked at her with a harmless expression.
His black irises looked like Concord grapes.
In essence, he looked quite friendly.
But… of course, she had asked because she was curious how well the rehabilitation had went, but this was pretty unexpected.
She couldn’t believe he had become such a person.
‘Has he become too nice? Desian has no reason to lie, so it must be true.’
Citrina was able to see Desian’s history of good deeds with her own eyes.
‘The Desian Pietro in the original work was not one to keep up his public image, so this is too fascinating.
Really…’
Citrina looked at him with curious eyes.
It was also gratifying to see that Desian had gained a new, normal life rather than a villainous one thanks to her rehabilitation.

“Nice.
You did a great job.
Everyone seemed to be happy.”
“Listening to your words makes me sure, Rina.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure that I’m doing well.”

The smile around Desian’s mouth deepened as he looked at Citrina’s face.
Citrina added one more thing.
“Really, you’re doing well since the four years we last met? And now we are meeting again.”
“There must be a reason why you came back after four years.”
Desian caressed the edge of his teacup.
Looking at his elegant fingertips, Citrina nodded and whispered gravely.
“You’re the only one who knows, actually, I’m here to take over the empire’s jewelry industry.”
As she finished speaking, she met his eyes.
“…Really?”
Desian’s face was serious.
“Just kidding.”

In reaction to his serious response, Citrina denied it while laughing.
“It’s a joke, really.
I’m not going to do that actually.”
Desian raised his eyebrows.
It was a habit he didn’t have in his childhood.
She felt the passing of those four years all of a sudden.
Citrina whispered softly.

“I’ve also become an adult.
So have you heard of the gemstone mine found on Count Hailey’s estate? It has the empire in an uproar.”
Citrina lightly touched on the subject.
She thought it was better to drop a small hint to Desian about the state of the empire.
“…Yeah.”
Desian already seemed to know what Citrina had to say.
Citrina spoke calmly.
“I’m curious about Count Hailey’s gemstone mine.”
It was customary for rough gemstones to go to the gemstone market and be auctioned off.
However, jewelry atelier’s with a contract got first pick of the stones.
Therefore, she wanted to sign a contract on the mine.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”

Gemma wanted superior Silmaril from the empire.
She was a bit conflicted.
With Desian’s answer, Citrina felt a bit suspicious.
When talk of Silmaril came up, Gemma usually flew around and talked excitedly, yet she was now deathly quiet.
Without giving her time to dwell to deeply, Desian answered.

“Rina, I own the Hailey family mine.”
“You? Then Duke Pietro is earnestly entering the jewelry business.”
“I decided to dive in seriously.”
Desian’s answer was succinct.
She had already heard that Duke Pietro had bought all of the gemstones.
Things were going strangely well.
“I, I’d like to take a look around your jewel mine for a bit.
Could you let me do that?”
Neither at the dwarf’s atelier nor in her past life had she seen a jewel mine in person.
She could feel her heart fluttering.

“It’s dangerous.”
“Well… I still want to go there myself.”

It was essential to inspect the mine personally before signing a contract.
By bringing the spirit Gemma there, she would have a better idea of the mine’s quality.
“Then I’ll accompany you.”

It was an unexpected kindness.
‘If I’m with Desian, I might draw attention.
Is that alright?’
It was still too early let others know she had a contract with the dwarf and that she could work with spirits.
“…Then let’s go together in secret.” “If that’s what you want.”
“When can we go? Any time is fine with me.
The sooner, the better.”
Desian replied to Citrina mischievous words.
“Then how about tomorrow?”

With Desian’s burning gaze, Citrina had a hard time opening her mouth to reply.
“Then… will you contact me tomorrow?”
She asked lightly to put an end to the conversation.
It seemed like the sun was setting and it was about time to make her exit.
‘I’m glad I didn’t hear any bad rumors about Desian.’
The Desian standing next to her was just like what she remembered from childhood.
In the distance, the Summer Ball musicians began to play the final song of the evening.
“I’ll take you there.”

Looking at her pale cheeks, Desian spoke in a calm tone.
“I’ll drop you off at home.”

Desian alluring voice seemed to resonate in her ears.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Citrina opened her mouth and agreed.
“Alright.”

The tension between the two disappeared as if nothing had happened.
Desian spoke offhandedly.
“Before we leave, I want to ask you something.”
“Yeah?”
“The day before you left, the last thing that I said.
Do you remember what it was?”

Citrina thought back to what happened four years ago.
However, it was impossible to recall what had happened after four years in vivid detail.
If it meant something to Desian, she should remember…
Citrina answered after biting her lip briefly.
“Safe travels?”
Desian laughed low when he heard her questioning reply.
She was caught in his eyes, which showed no sign of what he was thinking.
“Not that, Rina.”
Citrina flinched.
Desian looked at her and gave a small grin.
“Let’s go.”