“Pardon?”

Parden?

What did you say?

The curved corner of his mouth looks quite satisfied.

“…I’m glad.”

What exactly are you glad about?

“I realized today that I love you too.”

F*ck, what did you say?

What nonsense is this?

Am I perhaps in a parody novel of the original, or in some spin-off like ‘Giving a New Life to the Villainess!’?

That might make more sense, actually.

Serena thought seriously.

“Ah, um…?”

Serena’s lips quivered.

“Don’t you think that might be a misunderstanding? Like your heart racing because you hate me so much.”

“No, I think about you all day long.”

“You’re probably worried about what kind of trouble I might cause.”

“I actually didn’t like you going on a date with another man today.”

Magnus, seemingly quite satisfied that their feelings were mutual, laid out his emotions rather honestly.

“……”

Serena made a terribly displeased face.

Seeing Serena’s distorted expression, Magnus also frowned.

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“I think it’s not me who’s unwell, but you.”

“As I said, I’m in extremely good health.”

I don’t think so.

It’s because you look like you’re very sick somewhere!

“Was your meal inadequate?”

“No, it was delicious……”

“And what’s that necklace?”

“Ah, Bartolin gave it to me as a gift.”

“Barto… what?”

Magnus frowned deeply. His aura began to fluctuate again.

“The chairman!”

Serena answered hurriedly.

“The chairman of the Imperial Merchants Association gave it to me as a gift.”

“…I see.”

He glared at the necklace with displeasure.

“Why…? Should I, should I take it off?”

When Serena asked cautiously, Magnus slowly shook his head.

“No, I’ll give you better ones, so you can wear whichever you like among them.”

Your expression is clearly saying ‘choose mine even if it kills you’, right now.

It’s an expression that says you’ll kill me if I choose something else!

“Then from today, it would be good if we use the same room.”

“…Huh?”

“We’re not going to divorce, and normal couples share a room, I hear.”

Serena’s expression instantly turned gloomy.

“Who told you such nonsense……”

“Your guard, Drukan.”

“Ah…, Drukan.”

Right, this was a world unfavorable to villainesses.

A world where no matter what, the villainess falls into a strange abyss.

I knew all of this, but this is a bit… unexpected.

‘I never thought it would be a world that screws me over like this.’

Serena thought with a somewhat depressed expression.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing……”

Serena tried to play dumb for now.

She decided to go with feigning ignorance.

At that, Magnus raised his lip slightly.

“……”

At his contemptuous, ridiculous smile, Serena felt a surge of anger for a moment.

But who is she?

She’s someone who has mastered the art of cursing inside while maintaining a smiling face without changing her expression.

She skillfully hid her rising irritation and acted innocent.

“As I thought, you know nothing.”

“Haha……”

“Couples share one room. That’s natural.”

It would be natural.

But why are you saying that so proudly and confidently?

The fact that Magnus, as he spoke like that, looked like the most clueless person was something only Magnus didn’t realize.

Serena was smart.

That means, even if she hadn’t experienced being in a relationship, she knew well how relationships progressed.

‘…Could this person possibly be a v*rgin?’

Serena thought as she looked Magnus up and down.

“And couples eat meals together.”

“…We always do that.”

“Couples can hold hands while walking.”

“…Well, sure.”

They even make children, so why wouldn’t they be able to hold hands?

“Couples hug and kiss every day.”

“…What’s with these v*rgin-like statements.”

Serena couldn’t help but mutter softly.

Pamel, who was right beside her, heard those words but decided to pretend he didn’t.

Because he had never seen a case where interfering in someone else’s love life ended well.

And it was to maintain the dignity of his master and mistress.

The experienced butler Pamel made a very accurate judgment, as cold and quick as his years of experience.

“Hm? What did you say?”

“…No, well… I guess so. Since we sleep in the same bed……”

“…What?”

Magnus asked back stupidly.

He had heard from Drukan about ‘sharing the same room’, but not about ‘sharing the same bed’.

“…The same bed, you say.”

He had a shocked expression.

‘Why are you surprised at that point?’

Serena couldn’t hold back anymore and looked at Pamel beside her.

Seeing that reproachful gaze asking how on earth they had educated this child, even Pamel’s gaze wavered.

Because even he hadn’t expected his master to be this innocent.

‘Well…, the only person he could have dated was the madam……’

Since his relationship with his only fiancée and now wife wasn’t very good, he had come to think of it as natural.

“Do you perhaps have a problem with that?”

How on earth did you manage to hold back until now?

“What……”

“Or maybe, have you met someone else or something……”

“I told you there’s no one else!”

Ah, I touched a nerve.

At his sudden shout, Serena blinked and quickly nodded.

“Right, that’s true. I must be making a mistake because I’m tired.”

She quickly backtracked.

“Anyway…. I see, we’ll even share the bed.”

He nodded heavily.

“Pamel, prepare the necessary things immediately.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Already?!”

“Yes, we should do it right away while we’re in the mood. Now, can I hold your hand without asking permission?”

“Ah… um. Well……”

Black Rabbit hopped behind them.

[Excellent, Serena! You truly are the best contractor!]

Seeing the rabbit jumping around excitedly, Serena smiled faintly.

“Serena.”

“Yes?”

As she shifted her gaze from Black Rabbit to the voice, he was right in front of her nose.

It was close enough for their breaths to touch.

‘Oh my… goodness.’

‘This is really crazy. I must tell everyone around about this.’

Magnus smiled faintly on his stern face.

“I love you.”

Dropping those words casually, he took her hand and started heading up to the second floor.

“……”

Belatedly understanding his words, Serena’s face turned bright red.

“Ah……”

Serena felt a hot flush rising from her neck to her earlobes.

That’s right.

Serena had no immunity to this kind of emotion.

No one had ever said such things to Serena.

No one had ever treated Serena so affectionately like this.

For her, affection was something that only came back if you gave something.

It was like that in the orphanage, under Kim Chul-soo, and even Lemerun only praised her when she did well.

Affection is give and take.

You receive as much as you give.

This proposition had never changed for Serena.

It had always been like that for Serena, whether when she lived in South Korea or in Gosteina.

“……”

She soon raised her free hand to press her eye sockets, with the heat rising up to her eyes.

‘What did I… do for him?’

Serena tried her best to rack her brains.

Serena hadn’t done anything for Magnus.

‘Does he feel sorry that I was cursed because of him? Is he giving me this in return?’

But does the compensation need to be of this kind?

She took a deep breath and tried her best to find a reason.

In her world, there is no affection without reason. If you lean on affection without reason, you get hurt.

If there’s no reason for affection, the other person is bound to leave. Because they get bored and tired.

“My room is the largest and best, so would it be alright if we stay together in my room?”

“Actually, sharing the same room is a bit……”

Serena said cautiously.

‘I don’t have confidence in waking up at dawn.’

That’s right.

Apart from everything else, Magnus’s wake-up time was far too early for Serena.