Is It So Wrong that I Like Seeing the Villain Suffer? - Chapter 13

After Juan paid Gillian for the Wensle Mine, he sent him off with a polite warning.

“House Cayenne has ears everywhere. Keep in mind that it won’t end like this if you speak carelessly.”

“Got it. Got it. Just let me out of here already…!”

Gillian, who was trembling, received a blanket from Juan and left the mansion.

Before he exited through the main gate, he glanced at me. When I gave him a bright smile, he flinched and hurriedly disappeared.

He seemed genuinely frightened, so he probably won’t spread any strange rumors for a while.

Besides, the Wensle Mine is already in Cayenne’s possession.

Thanks to that, I am….

“I’ll be waiting, so come whenever.”

“I promised to grant your request.”

He said he’d be waiting?

Does that mean he’ll do anything?

I couldn’t help but grin.

Juan, who was directing the servants to clean up the banquet hall, looked at me in shock.

“What’s with your expression?”

Huh? What’s wrong with my expression…?

“It’s very mischievous.”

Mischievous, he says.

That word doesn’t suit Lize Allenheim at all.

When I looked at Juan with eyes asking what he meant, he added belatedly.

“…I’m sorry. That was an inappropriate expression. You looked vile.”

Hey, excuse me?

That’s even worse.

But Juan seemed satisfied with his correction.

“Juan, are your glasses dirty? How could I look vile…?”

Lize was a woman who exuded a virtuous aura. Anyone who saw her would naturally think, ‘Saintess…!’ That’s the impression she gave.

But what…?

Not just mischievous, but vile?

“My glasses are clean. I wipe them thoroughly every day.”

“I don’t think so. How could you say such things looking at this face?”

“Understood. To put it simply….”

Juan, who was pondering for an appropriate metaphor, spoke.

“—You looked like someone who was having strange thoughts and grinning to themselves.”

…That doesn’t seem simple at all.

“My lady, are you really the saintess of Allenheim?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Juan, who was contemplating, adjusted his glasses.

“…The words you said to Young Master Moril, and your expression just now… To my eyes, you seem less like an innocent saintess who knows nothing and more like….”

Juan paused for a moment before finishing his sentence.

“More like a lunatic… I’m sorry for putting it this way….”

I widened my eyes and looked at Juan.

Juan thought I was offended and repeatedly apologized, saying he didn’t mean it in a bad way, but it was the opposite.

‘For the first time since coming here… someone saw me for who I am.’

Yes, that was the right title for me.

Pure, timid, angelic… those things didn’t suit me, even in my own thoughts.

‘If they saw my online library, they’d never think that.’

But here, everyone seemed to regard me as a pure being, and it was almost causing a cognitive dissonance. Juan was the first to see me as I truly am.

“I’m glad you see me that way…!”

I meant it.

To see through me at once, could he have similar tastes to mine?

You know, there’s a saying that people of the same kind recognize each other.

If that’s really the case, we could be good friends, can’t we…?

I was even excited because I was always alone in my past life.

‘It was my wish to make a friend with similar tastes…!’

I sent Juan a sparkling gaze full of anticipation, but he just stared at me, speechless.

He opened his mouth after silently moving his lips.

“…I see. …Well… I have a lot of work to do, so I’ll be going—”

And then he left without giving me a chance to stop him.

I watched his retreating figure with a sense of emptiness.

‘I was sincere….’

When people reveal their vulnerabilities, they usually become closer.

While I was feeling down, someone cautiously approached me.

It was Sylvia.

“Uh… um.”

“Oh, Sylvia. Thanks for earlier.”

“Well… um… I, I should be the one th-thank….”

Sylvia, with her face flushed red, avoided my gaze and stammered before suddenly shouting.

“I’ll cut down anyone who approaches you!”

It wasn’t what I expected, but I gave her a bright smile. Sylvia’s face turned even redder.

She mumbled as if making an excuse.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s just because I owe you….”

“You just repaid it, didn’t you?”

“F-Fine—! Just tell me if you need anything.”

“I will, Sylvia.”

When I readily answered, Sylvia’s expression brightened.

“…This life is yours.”

She said with a determined face.

“The life you saved, I’ll use it for you.”

She struggled to express gratitude, yet she said such embarrassing things with ease.

The servants beside Sylvia nodded.

I hadn’t done anything extraordinary.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I gave a faint smile.

“Everyone, I didn’t do anything remarkable.”

“Didn’t you say before, Miss Lize? That forgiveness is something anyone can do, not just a saintess.”

A maid looked at me and asked.

I nodded.

“Yes. It’s not something extraordinary, really.”

“Thinking it’s not extraordinary is what’s extraordinary.”

A servant nearby spoke up.

“We want to be like you, Miss Lize. We’re still lacking, but… if forgiveness is something anyone can do, then it must be the same for gratitude, right?”

“……”

“So we want to thank you, Miss Lize. Because you make us believe that people like us can do it too….”

I looked at them silently and then gave a bright smile.

“You’ve already done it.”

“……!”

“You’ve already done it. Your gratitude has been conveyed.”

I said with a smile, and the servants clutched their chests with an “Ugh—”.

“Oh, Miss Lize….”

“An angelic person… and so beautiful….”

“What do you see, my friend? I only see light.”

What nonsense is this now?

I was baffled, but too tired to argue, so I just laughed awkwardly.

“Miss Lize, you must be tired. Please go to your room and rest. We’ve cleaned it for you.”

“Oh, thank you.”

‘Thank you, but I have other things to do.’

I told the servants I would and left the banquet hall.

My steps quickened unconsciously as I climbed the stairs.

‘I need to go quickly… quickly!’

To Arkle…!

I ran up the stairs without stopping and reached the third floor.

There was no need to wonder which of the many doors was Arkle’s office.

Arkle happened to be coming out of the room in the middle of the hallway.

He stopped when he saw me.

“You’re here already?”

I gave him a wide grin.

“Of course.”

‘There was no need to hesitate.’

From the moment I first proposed the deal to him, I had already decided what I would ask.

“Good. I was about to come find you too. I have something to give you.”

Arkle handed me a piece of paper.

My eyes widened when I saw it.

It was a check for an enormous amount.

“Take it. It’s yours.”

“What? Why are you giving this to me…?”

“It’s for being an advisor to House Cayenne.”

“But that was a deal between the two of us.”

That’s why I came to collect the reward now.

As I looked at the check in a daze, the hair I had tucked behind my ear while running up the stairs fell again.

“Right. But that was a personal promise between us….”

Arkle, with an expressionless face, tucked my hair behind my ear and said,

“This is a reward from House Cayenne. Take it.”

If he insists that much….

“I’ll gladly accept it.”

“So, what is it that you want?”

Arkle asked in a low voice.

“I’m asking as someone who made a promise with you.”

“…Hehe.”

I chuckled and subtly pointed to the door of the office he had come out of.

“I’ll tell you inside.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“Well… it’s a bit awkward if others hear.”

When I whispered, Arkle looked like he didn’t understand what ‘a bit awkward’ meant.

“Just come in.”

I smiled brightly and went inside the room, and Arkle, who had been watching me silently, soon followed.

After closing the door, he turned his gaze to me sitting on the office desk and asked,

“It’s just the two of us now.”

“Could you come closer?”

Arkle slowly approached me.

He stopped so close that I could feel his breath and spoke,

“Tell me, saintess. What should I do for you?”

His low voice made my heart drop.

My heart was already pounding like crazy.

‘Should I say it…?’

I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Arkle… please beg.”

I said it.

“Beg? Like last time?”

I tried hard to suppress the corners of my mouth from lifting as I nodded.

‘I need to practice manifesting holy power steadily.’

Yes, that’s the reason.

It’s not because of my lust…!

“But what should I beg for?”

Arkle asked with a blank expression.

“Um.”

I hadn’t thought that far.

What I wanted was to see Arkle beg, something any male protagonist would do at least once.

‘Last time wasn’t a proper plea… this time, it’s for real. Desperately.’

But what should he beg for…?

I just wanted to see Arkle kneeling and pleading in a desperate voice, so I hadn’t seriously thought about the content.

‘What should I make him beg for?’

‘Master…?’ No matter how I think about it, this makes me feel like trash… Arkle might get furious. ‘Please….’ How about that? No, it’s too cliché. Too cliché and lacks substance.

‘Isn’t there a decent line from any novel I’ve read…?’

I’ve read countless novels like this, so why can’t I think of anything now?

Unable to come up with anything suitable, I held my forehead and, grasping at straws, asked Arkle,

“Arkle, is there anything you’d like to say to me…?”

“Something I’d like to say?”

I nodded with my mouth tightly closed.

“Anything is fine….”

After thinking for a moment, Arkle asked quietly.

“Are you really sure anything is fine?”