Rehabilitate the Villainess

85 – Not a villain, but a moneylender

Shael is sending passionate eyes. She meant that she didn’t want to kiss her, in fact, she meant to ask me what it meant.

She, of course, didn’t do as Sael wished. She only jokingly replies to Shael’s words.

“For that reason, you asked for a few kisses first.”

“⋯⋯.”

Shael bites her mouth. It was a bonus that she glared at me as if telling me to forget about it right away.

She nodded in agreement. First of all, she needed to know why Shael was doing this.

“Okay. So what do you want to say?”

“Because I didn’t want to kiss you.”

So, what?

Shael makes her own sad expression. Then, she makes her remarks that make me look like a badass.

“I think you almost forced it.”

“⋯.”

Who is it that wraps around the back of my head so I can’t part my lips?

It was Shael. It was also Shael that she stuck with me. After that, it was Shael who asked her for a kiss.

To go further, it was Sael who seduced me.

So, as Shael said, there’s no way she really didn’t want to kiss her. Even now, when she complained about her injustice, the smile on Sael’s face did not leave.

But she suddenly became curious as to why Shael was doing this.

While she was lost in her thoughts, she heard Shael’s voice.

“So, take responsibility.”

⋯⋯How do you lose?

As if to answer my question, Shael opened her mouth.

“Please pay me back for the 10 kisses you gave me on your own.”

Unbearable laughter. I looked at Shael in admiration for Shael’s tremendous strategy.

By the way, ten kisses.

I definitely didn’t do it 10 times. I would have done it five times at most. Shael knows that too.

So it was clear that Shael was playing her lies.

Of course, I was welcome if it was such a scam. It was a scam that could have been dealt with.

But not right now. I’m worried about Sael’s blushing face.

“How about after taking a break?”

“⋯⋯No.”

“In a little while, I will pay back double with interest.”

Then, Shael nodded as if she understood.

* * *

I tried to kiss her after taking a little break. But, suspiciously, Shael, who had been clearing his throat for a long time, grabbed my hand and led me.

“⋯⋯Don’t you kiss?”

Shael did not answer that question. She just smiles and shakes her head in silence.

Anyway, it was Shael whose way of thinking was unknown. He did all sorts of things for a kiss just a little while ago.

So Shael and I set aside our schedule for the Blessing Meeting and wandered around the cathedral. From the garden of the cathedral to the park of the cathedral where all kinds of new statues are built.

In front of the huge stone statue of a woman, Shael stopped.

“Why is that?”

“A statue of a goddess that symbolized love.”

Descriptions that are listed one after another under the name.

Sael, who was reading it, raised her head. Soon, he even looks at me earnestly.

“⋯What is it?”

“⋯⋯I want to hear the old confession⋯ again.”

Shael is speechless. Just imagining it would have reminded me of the embarrassing memories of that time, so I would have been embarrassed.

I didn’t immediately listen to what Sael said. I just asked what the reason was.

“Why do you want to hear that all of a sudden?”

“Come to think of it, it was while tied to a rope.”

That’s right. But it wasn’t the person who tied me up. It was also an insufficient reason to say that I suddenly wanted to hear a confession.

Perhaps knowing that, Shael, who had not been able to raise her head proudly, opened her mouth.

“If you want to do it, do it.”

Now it was an order. The option of refusal did not exist. I had no choice but to follow Shael’s orders.

Shael started waiting for me to open her mouth. I confirmed that fact, and tried hard to open her mouth.

Only one word. A word that has already been said before. It would have been a word that I often used to show from the beginning.

It was very difficult. It was to the extent that it was not easy for me to open my mouth.

I struggled to open my mouth. I say I love you. I was going to talk to Shael.

But the voice I heard was not mine.

“I love you.”

That voice belonged to Shael. Shael, who had a shy expression on his face, spoke with more difficulty than I did.

“Me too.”

I can’t lose, so I also conveyed my feelings.

After those words, the atmosphere became awkward. In order to find something to say, I turned my head towards the sign that explained the statue of the Goddess.

“Now, turn your head.”

I couldn’t read the explanation because Shael covered the sign. It’s an awkward atmosphere because of someone.

He seldom thinks of taking responsibility and rather disturbs me.

She was intrigued because of Shael who covered up the description of the statue of Goddess, but she didn’t force herself to check it.

I’ll check it again someday. Right now, I wanted to spend time holding Shael’s hand.

I couldn’t even open my mouth because of the awkwardness and grabbed Shael’s hand. However, Sael naturally opened her mouth as if he had completely forgotten about her past.

“It’s been a while.”

It was a word that I couldn’t figure out what it meant. Before I could ask, Shael added her words.

“You paid the interest, so you decided to pay it back.”

It was about a kiss. Shael, who just asked me to repay her kiss.

I put it off because of Shael’s blushing face. As an excuse to pay the interest.

“It was ten kisses, and roughly five hours passed…. If it doubles every hour…”

“Less than four hours have passed. Even so, what the hell is twice an hour?”

It was a question spontaneously uttered at Shael’s bewildered words. I promised to pay you back twice.

That didn’t double in an hour. Naturally, it meant 20 times, twice as many times as ten times.

Shael didn’t care and passed my question. Shael, who had been focusing on her calculations in that state, opened her mouth.

“It’s number 320.”

#320. It was not an impossible number. However, 320 kisses are a bit tense.

Won’t your lips wear out?

As if he didn’t care about my worries, it was Shael who continued talking.

“Because number 320 is a bit inconvenient…”

Shael changed her expression. At first glance, the sneer of a wicked woman. However, all I could see was a cute smile in my eyes.

Sometimes he glares at me as if to tell me to be prepared. But I could see Shael giving me a lovely look.

Then Shael opened her mouth.

“1,000 Would be nice.”

I saw Shael with a bewildering expression. As I was taken aback by the unexpected shame, she said as if Shael had made an excuse.

“There is a saying “More is better.”

“⋯⋯ There is a saying that pay is too much.”

Shael did not dispute my words. As for Shael, she had the means to stop me from strangling her.

It was close before I knew it. The distance with Shael, who had grown closer. As if even that close distance wasn’t enough, Shael stuck out her face.

It was at that time that I was unable to refute Sael’s words.

It was also the moment when 1,000 kisses turned into 999 kisses.

A quiet yet warm atmosphere. I thought in that warm silence.

Whatever the situation, if Sael asks, she can kiss her.

Shael should have known that too. Even so, she had a reason why Shael created this situation.

Because Sael was shy.

I had to make this much trouble so that I could ask for a kiss while enduring shame.

The absurd way of thinking. But even that made me feel that Shael was cute.

Shael carefully removed her lips and met her eyes with mine. Shael sends a sweet smile. I, too, couldn’t help but smile at Shael.

“⋯⋯There is still a long way to go.”

Then he approaches me as if urging me to pay him back.

I keep thinking about it. The name loan shark would be more appropriate than the villainess.

As for Shael’s next words, the nickname of a loan shark fits perfectly.

“Ah, that’s number 2,000 now. Because it feels like six hours have passed.”

Of course, as Sael said, six hours hadn’t passed yet. Naturally, Shael was lying.

It was like that before, so I’ll try to put it aside. Where the hell did the kiss I just finished go?

It was clear that Sael had intentionally left it out.

This time, Shael came to stop her mouth. Again, her mouth was blocked by Shael.

“⋯.”

I thought that way.

A debt of ten turns into a debt of two thousand in a matter of hours. He even shuts her mouth to prevent her from protesting. It also makes you pay back what you paid off.

He was a vicious loan shark. It’s so absurd that anyone who sees it can say that this makes sense.

But the opponent was me. Of course, it was Sael’s behavior that I had no choice but to welcome.

‘Two thousand kisses.’

I’ve already ripped my heart out.

Since everything was taken from her, she has nothing to offer as collateral, but ⋯⋯.

I must pay it back.