The Villain is Being Suspiciously Kind

It was the day Citrina had promised to meet Desian in the garden.
She decided to check her dress one last time before she opened the gate to the garden.
Today instead of her normal cotton dress, she wore a more voluminous white dress. And she wore a hat with a veil tilted at an angle, which partially hid her face. The butler Harold handed her the ducal dress mechanically.
‘This is Elaina’s favorite style.’
Citrina knew Elaina’s taste better than her own. Elaina’s taste was as lovely as she was.
And…
the family lavished money on Elaina. She was the princess of the family.
Therefore Citrina was not able to wear the same clothes as Elaina.
Once more, Citrina carefully smoothed the frills on her dress.

She thought. You can change your future just as easily as you can change your style of dress.
Citrina opened the door to the garden.
‘Will Desian be here already?”
By the time she arrived, it was a little bit past the hour.
The garden was still beautiful even though no one would have been here to care for it in the past few days. No, it wasn’t quite right to say it was still beautiful.
Even the trail to the garden and the bushes along the trail remained perfectly unchanged.
‘I left my book here last time.’
<The Book of Spirits> had been left on a garden chair by a tree, right next to where they had previously sat . She decided to retrieve the book later.
“We’re meeting at the cabana in the garden.”
Citrina crossed the path and reflected on the details of the promise.
Citrina turned her gaze around. The only thing that caught her eye was the bushes.
No, they weren’t bushes.
Was it because of the hot weather in summer? Was that why there was a haze blooming from the ground?
The mist surrounding the spring looked like a mirage. All together, it was as beautiful as a fairy spring.
On the first day she met Desian, she hadn’t seen the cabana. It was a place she had heard of in snippets of conversation from the servants, but it was more beautiful than expected.
Citrina stepped into a magical space that looked like it was hidden by the bushes. And then Citrina saw Desian.
‘Found him.’
He was standing in front of the water. He was standing with his back to her like on that first day.
Citrina took a step towards him.
‘Let’s talk to him now.’
It was like deja vu from their first meeting.
All she needed was a bit of courage to talk to him. Citrina opened her mouth to call to him. However,
“Citrina.”
This time he turned his back first and looked at her. Desian strode over to her.
“Desian nim..”
“Yes, Citrina, I will escort you.”
Desian was smiling like yesterday.
Citrina felt a bit strange. It was a smile quite different from Aaron’s. Kind and sweet, but it’s as if it is hiding something…
Wait, she came to her senses as if pouring cold water on her head.
Citrina was brought back to the present after being lost in his smile.
‘Desian, how do you know how to escort someone?’
Ah, she had forgotten about Toloji.
Toloji tried to turn him into the most perfect and fascinating but emotionless killer. His escorting was perfect thanks to Toloji’s teachings.
In the book she read in her past life, <Elaina’s Flower Garden>, Toloji had succeeded. But now Citrina was trying to make him into a ‘human’.
“Yes, that sounds good.”
They went inside the cabana that was next to the spring. There was a quiet atmosphere.
Inside the cabana was a classical-shaped table made of rattan.
Likewise, there were two rattan chairs on either side of the table facing each other.
“Sit down, Citrina.”
“Yes.”
Desian escorted Citrina to one of the rattan chairs. Citrina sat comfortably with her back to the water and spoke to Desian.
Instead of beating around the bush, she wanted to get straight to business.
“Desian.”
“Yes.”
Desian seemed indifferent. She realized she was alone with the novel’s villain. Her mouth went dry.
Citrina licked her lips with the tip of her tongue. To elicit emotions from him, she had to first bring up happy memories first.
“Did you have a good day?”
“I don’t know.”
Citrina responded to the honest answer.
“I feel good when I sit under the warm sun and I feel good when I read one of my favorite books. In those situations, a smile comes out naturally. What about Desian?”
His mouth was strangely open while he looked at her.
“… these day, I feel…”
“Yes?”
“…I like it.”
By speaking in intervals, it sounded like he was confessing to her.
He didn’t exactly say he was in a good mood at some point. It might have been because it was still difficult to describe his feelings.
Citrina nodded and smiled.
“That’s a relief.”
Desian’s candid gaze looked at her.
‘Won’t I be able to rehabilitate him quickly if things progress like this?’
The smile on his face was not one of boredom, but instead it was pleasant and a sincere response to her.
Citrina’s heart swelled with hope.
It was then.
There was a strange sound from the shore.

It was a sticky, loud noise that was easy to hear.
It was strange. She had a hunch that it was something in the water, especially since it was a windless day.
‘What was that? Ghosts? A corpse? A person?’
A few possibilities flashed through Citrina’s mind.
After coming up with a number of scenarios, Citrina laughed quietly. She doubted it could be any of those things. Apparently, she’d watched too many gory movies.
Citrina didn’t know that Desian was looking at her closely.
‘If I’m curious, I can check it out.’
She was turning her back to look at the water.
“Citrina.”
However, as she turned her head, Desian called her.
Desian was looking at her with a painted smile. It was a little decadent, but the smile on his drowsy face was beautiful.
But at that moment, Citrina felt a sense of discomfort.
“Desian nim, by any chance…did you hear a sound?”
“Nothing.”
“Yes?”
“Perhaps there was nothing.”
Desian said as if he was certain of something.
‘The timing is a little odd, but it really doesn’t matter, right?’
To change the subject, Citrina spoke again with a small smile.
“Well, it’s just the two of us here, so it must have been the sound of the wind.”
Listening to her, Desian’s smile widened a little more. It wasn’t a pleasant smile.
At that moment, the sound of wind came up as if someone had called for it.
“Yes, it was the sound of the wind since it’s very windy.”
Citrina nodded slowly at his clear answer.
Desian whispered as he watched Citrina nod. He seemed to be talking to her, but his gaze seemed to be on the lake.
“Citrina, you know what?”
“Yes?”
“I’m curious about something.”
“…What are you curious about?”
Desian’s piercing gaze was on her.
“So at this time, no one will be able to enter here. Particularly the servants or a mage.”
“There is nothing here that can threaten us. You can relax.”
His eyes were fixed on her.
Now, the desire that was not seen in the original story’s Desian was very apparent. It seemed like the possessiveness of a young boy.
Nevertheless, what was certain was that Desian was not looking at world with a bored face.
“Us..is that right?”
“Yes, us.”
Citrina nodded slowly, listening to Desian’s sluggish voice.
It made her hopeful that he showed curiosity, and it was even better that he used the word ‘we’. The fact that he was including her within his boundaries was a good sign too. But there was one thing she had to be sure of.
“Desian nim, I’d like to ask you something.’
“Anything, Citrina.”
The desire that had been raw before was toned down. To Desian who replied in a clear and friendly tone, Citrina said.
“If someone came into your space, what would Desian nim do?”
‘He said that no one could enter our space, so it is likely he is concerned with space. How would Desian react to someone coming into his space?’
“I don’t want to imagine that.”
Desian’s attention fell to the shore. Citrina looked at him with a bit of expectation.
“I would kill them.”
“…What?”
“Why, Citrina?”
His voice as he asked back was extremely sweet and friendly. Citrina felt a rare sense of embarrassment by his innocent question.
‘Right, don’t panic, Citrina Foluin. This is just another barrier to go over. He didn’t say he would kill you!’
“No, you can’t kill people.”
“Why can’t I?”
It was a voice filled with doubt. Citrina was at a loss for words.
‘Why isn’t this working? Is he just a bad person?’
Wait, she was being prejudiced. You can’t do this, Citrina Foluin!
“If you kill a person, they feel pain….”
“If I kill a person, does Citrina suffer?”
Desian stared down at her.
“Um, I wouldn’t be in pain, but wouldn’t the dead person feel pain? Then the other people who know the dead person will suffer.”
“I see. Citrina would not be in pain.”
Desian looked at her and smiled. It was a friendly smile like yesterday.
Well it was very strange.
She could clearly hear the wind, but it sounded like someone’s dying scream was mixed into it.
Whether he knew what she was thinking, he kept looking down at Citrina. Looking into his eyes, Citrina thought briefly.
‘Your solution is death. And you don’t even know why killing is bad. This is a very serious and profound problem. I need to teach you not only emotions, but also morals.’
She thought her life was safe for the time being given that he seemed to feel positively about her…of course, his affection could flicker out like a candle in the wind.
She would need some more time for rehabilitation.
“You can’t kill people, Desian. This is beyond just your personal feelings.”
Desian was watching her. Perhaps he was reflecting on her words.
But Citrina felt that he had not fully understood what she said.
While Citrina and Desian were talking, the bodies in the water were slowly sinking. In that dubious way, the servants that were watching over the annex met their end.
Of course, this was a secret Citrina was unaware of.