Chapter 12

Considering all the events so far, Desian more likely has not lost all of his emotions due to the elixir. So for Citrina, a little bit of help was enough. If she let him know about basic morality, there will surely be a good ending.

“I don’t like the knight.”

“Because it doesn’t look normal?”

“Will you kill me if I thought so?

“No! I won’t kill you.”

…It seems like the elixir was not in full effect, she’s relieved but still awfully frustrated about the unexpected events.

There’s still a long way to go, isn’t it?

She blinked her eyes rapidly, “You won’t kill me…”

Desian looked at her as if testing her. And Citrina has a faint interest in his insensitive look.

“No, Citrina. I won’t kill you.”

He still decided to keep her alive.

However, it wasn’t the time for CItrina to feel relieved. She doesn’t know if he’s kind to her for some reason, but her mental health is in jeopardy.

“Citrina.”

“Yes?”

He held out his hand. Although it was a hand that kills, it didn’t have any color.

“Give me your hand.”

She held her other hand that was not holding the roses.

What does he intend to do?

Desian led Citrina into her room. Soon, the door closed slowly without any squeaking sound. Inside the door, CItrina closed her eyes.

‘Yes. Desian didn’t kill the knight, so it’s going to be fine.’

It would be nice if she could start the villain rehab project soon.

***

Citrina looked at the tea sets she had secretly brought from the outer residence’s kitchen, which was left on the table. The tea ceramic was carved with beautiful patterns and was shaped beautifully, the glaze being well applied.

With all three white cups in hand, she headed for the parlor.

The door was closed. The awkward tea time was about to begin soon.

In the common room, Desian and Aron were already in there since she could hear voices.

“I found the tea.” She went in, holding the sealed bag of tea in her hand, and whispered lightly, sitting down on the sofa.

“Now, shall we talk about interesting stuff?”

As time passed, a little warm dew formed on the surface of the teapot.

‘Ah, I’ll be able to drink now.’

She picked up the teapot and poured tea on their cups. ‘Don’t overflow. Careful. Don’t bump the glasses. Very careful.’

“Now, let us have a cup of tea.”

“Okay, Citrina!”

“… If you want.”

The tea leaves she secretly brought from home was better than she thought. No, it wasn’t personally brought, she brought it with the cost of her labour.

‘Citrina, or per se I, didn’t drink a single leaf considering that I worked so hard for the baron household.’

She swallowed a grubby laugh and took a sip of tea.

‘This is delicious.’

She swallowed the tea in her mouth—a bittersweet taste lingering on the tip of her tongue.

There was a pleasant silence for a while.

“Oh, the, you know.”

It was Aron who broke the silence. He put down his cup and said, “Shall we read a book after tea time? In the study! Oh, and I can cook for you, and it would also be fun to go to the garden and play together, and…”

And his words flowed endlessly.

She understood Aron. He thought that the present time was only a momentary peace before the duke comes back. And so, the thoughts in the boy’s head were in a mess.

‘You want to enjoy the blessed period happily. When the duke comes, he thinks Desian will die, and the peace that was momentarily made will be broken.’

Citrina swallowed another sip of tea. To begin with, Aron was wrong. The duke will die in the hands of Desian, anyway.

Aron was being impatient and that made his loveliness disappear, it made her a little sad.

‘I can’t tell you about the future of the original story, but I can read books with you. Let’s do that, me.’

“Let’s do it all together. Just like the usual… right?” asked Desian expressionlessly. His eyes were on Aron.

‘Desian spoke a very long sentence.’

Citrina felt a rare spark sprouting in her mind. Perhaps, it was also what he was curious about.

Only because of his boredom that he became a bad guy and a villain, so she can’t believe he asked this.

‘Yes, there may be hope.’

In fact, she knew the odds were extremely low; however, she still looked at him with anticipation. When Desian tried to say something, Aron shouted with a wide grin, “Yes! We should all do it together because we’re family! Me, you and Citrina.”

Family.

Aron remembered what she said in the study the day before. She said That she’d be his family.

‘I told Aron that we were family.’

The thought seemed to make Aron ecstatic.

‘I shouldn’t get too close. I’m leaving anyway. It’ll be okay.’

She picked up the cup and drank some tea. Unfortunately, this would make Aron sad, but she had no intention of getting herself in the eye of the storm.

It also seems like Desian was embarrassed by the word family.

“Family?” Desian asked slowly, even the way he looks was strange.

“Yes. Citrina is our family.”

“You can’t be family without blood relations,” he spoke in a strangely cold manner.

Citrina felt like the spark of hope that was ignited a while ago, slowly died down again.

‘Yes, a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step. It’d be more suspicious if he were to admit that I’m a family from the start.’

Whether or not Aron knows Citrina’s mayhem, Aron still asked doubtfully, “Huh? But you like Citrina. Why can’t we be family?”

Even with his innocent question, Desian’s expressionless face has not changed.

“I like her?”

That was strange. His voice came out a little more different.

Citrina was nervous. She felt her body had gone soft.

‘It’s as if he’s asking, ‘I like dogs’?’

I never asked you to like me. I just want you not to kill me.

After seeing the ever so joyful Aron, she had a powerful feeling that she was about to go to the underworld.

“En! Because we all like each other. Right, Citrina?”

“Oh, yes, young master.”

Citrina smiled candidly, not.

“You like Citrina, that’s why you gave her roses.”

…He did it because he likes me?

She doesn’t know how Aron knew, but in Citrina’s eyes, he seemed like a real palace woman; good at knowing everything.

Desian’s sharp gaze turned towards Aron while Citrina hid her nervousness.

Like? Me? Damn us all. What would she do if she got her head chopped!

“If you like a person, you will want to give everything to that person. You would want to protect and treat that person nicely!”

Desian was giving a rare look, embarrassed and a little confused. His expression was the opposite of Aron, who had the look of being clear of everything.

‘In this case, I think it’s better to leave it alone.’

“Yes. Because we… like each other. We do a lot of fun things.”

“Oh! Let’s do a lot of fun things before the duke comes back."

Compared to the original plot, Desian’s expressions become more and more vivid. And which direction would her rehabilitation lead? The method had also been decided.

‘Even so, we still need to break it down.’

Citrina smiled while Desian’s gaze on her became strange.

“I have something to ask, Citrina.”

She thought it was over. He asked her slowly, like a person telling her a story for the first time.

“What is it to like?”

She would never have thought that she would hear such a thing from Desian Pietro.

Desian’s gaze… was looking straight at her. This means that the rehab project raises the expectation of getting completed.

“Always curious about that person, always missing and wanting to see. And when you do, you become ecstatic and want to protect that person with all your might… isn’t it?”

She came up with an ambiguous answer, but Desian was still expressionless. That’s not confusing since he learned manners from Tuloji as he would always speak formally to Citrina.

But before, he didn’t understand others. His understanding of others was like an empty void.

She wished Desian would start to like people.

Citrina became very, very desperate. It wasn’t long before he killed Tuloji and the manservant, she knows it’s a good idea.

“Oh, I see.”

“… yes?”

“I understand perfectly. I like you.”

Desian still expressed himself with an expressionless face. His eyes, sharp and cold, but they contained something different.

“… I see.”

But she could not interpret what it was. Just today, there was no other way but to wait for Desian to organize his thoughts.

Aron asked her quietly, “T-this, have you experienced it numerous times?”

“… I’ve experienced it numerous times.”

“I see….”

With a gloomy Aron in front of her, she suddenly realized.

This was the first time they had tea time with someone else, as if equal to other nobles having their friends over.

The afternoon went by without them realizing it.

She’ll try something a little different tomorrow. She’ll have to think of something that can somehow stimulate Desian’s mind.

***

Meanwhile, Desian spent his tea time in a somewhat chaotic, perhaps confused feeling.

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