I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand

His black horse, who had been with him through the battlefield, began to lower its body as he had been trained.

Thanks to the horse that did his part, Reukis’ arrival at the mansion took about half of what it would normally be.

As soon as he reached the entrance to the mansion, Reukis immediately jumped from the still-running horse.

The stable keeper rushed out to pull the rope, lest the horse would run away.

Reukis entered the mansion, making all the fuss right after he got off his horse. Harriet, who was waiting for him, took his coat and handed him a towel.

“I have prepared a simple bath. The lady was in the room on the first floor of the main building.”

“How long did it take for me to arrive?” Reukis asked, unable to stay still.

If he had made Merria wait for a long time, he was about to run right away without taking care of his appearance first.

Harriet shook his head as if he had expected his reaction.

“You don’t have to worry about it because I came to pick you up as soon as the lady arrived. Let’s hurry to the bathroom before you meet her.”

“Okay.”

After taking a shower with the least amount of time, Reukis quickly returned to his room.

Even picking and changing his clothes took time, so he picked out the most plausible clothes he could wear on his own.

Reukis, who brushed off his wet hair, naturally headed to the room where Merria was waiting, then he stopped and looked back at Harriet.

“Harriet. How do I look now?”

“It’s perfect for sniping a woman’s heart.”

If the usual Reukis had a noble feeling like a black tiger, the current Reukis, wearing light clothes and sweeping his messy hair roughly, was like a wolf.

Nodding his head to the satisfactory answer, Reukis hurriedly headed straight to the main building.

Today, the spacious mansion felt more extravagant.

In front of the room where Merria was waiting, he adjusted his clothes once again and knocked on the door.

“Merria.”

“…”

However, no matter how long Reukis waited, no answer came from inside.

Reukis, who tilted his head, once again asked.

“Merria…?”

“…”

“I’ll go in.”

He had to quickly check if it wasn’t this room and go to where Merria was.

The large door opened smoothly without making a single sound. Reukis stood still, unable to take his hand off the doorknob.

Warm sunlight was pouring into the room through the large window.

Beneath it, Merria’s soft platinum hair glistened.

Merria fell asleep on the dark green sofa, and Reukis wanted to call the capital’s best painter right away and leave it as a painting.

The wind blew through the opened door that Reukis had opened, and her hair spread across on the sofa.

Reukis, who had been silently observing the scene without making a sound of breath, quietly closed the door at a slower pace than a turtle.

He wasn’t trained to do this, but as if he had trained for this day, he slowly sneaked up to her.

Reukis approached her silently so she wouldn’t wake up and sat down on the table, staring at her face for a long time.

✿

Merria frowned, feeling the sensation of something tickling on her forehead.

Reukis’ hand stopped as he watched the change in her expression.

He was removing the hair stuck on Merria’s face lightly as a feather.

“Ugh.”

Merria, who gradually woke up and came to her senses, turned around in an uncomfortable position.

Reukis covered his smiling lips with his hands, as if he were yawning like a sleepy child.

Merria opened her eyes, there was something soft that was touching her face. It was something white that filled her vision.

‘…What’s that?’

When she touched it with her hand, she could only see a bed linen wherever she looked.

‘I looked around and found myself in a very dark room.’ (Merria)

“Are you awake?”

A dry voice leaked from Reukis’ lips, which had been holding his breath.

It was a voice she wanted to hear on a dark night or before dawn.

Merria followed the source of the sweet voice she heard. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she saw Reukis sitting on the chair next to the bed.

Reukis, dressed more comfortably than usual, looked down at her softly.

“Maybe…”

“I brought you here because I thought you’d feel uncomfortable sleeping on the sofa.”

It wasn’t just a second, Reukis immediately explained.

Merria’s face turned red when she heard that she slept soundly without waking up until she was moved from the parlor room to this place.

She mumbled as she buried her face in the fluffy pillow.

“I came without contacting you and I just wanted to take a nap…. I’m sorry. Did I sleep long?”

“No.” Reukis answered after a brief pause.

Merria turned her head. Reukis’ head tilted, watching her movements as if she were looking for something.

Merria tried to look around following the walls, but the place where there should be a window was only a black curtain.

‘No way…?’ Merria got up from her seat and ran to the window and opened the curtains.

The sun, which had been hidden behind the thick curtain, poured out all at once.

“Ow… Huh?”

Obviously it was still bright outside, but it was dim as if the windows were tinted.

“If you suddenly see something too bright, your eyes would be blinded.”

Before she knew it, Reukis, who was standing behind her, slowly removed the darkness he had scattered.

The reason why it was too dark in the room was that Reukis blocked even the thin light that leaked through the curtains with darkness.

It was to help Merria to sleep more comfortably.

Thanks to that, Merria mistook it for almost midnight.

When the darkness completely disappeared, the still blue sky appeared.

‘I haven’t slept that long.’

Feeling relieved, Merria shrugged and arranged her disheveled dress.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You haven’t slept long.” Reukis said as he naturally led her to his bed.

He wanted to sit somewhere and talk, because his room was so large that the bed was closer than the sofa.

Merria was dragged along to bed led by his hand without much thought.

“But you must have been bored waiting.”

“It was fun.” Reukis said, smiling shyly.

Merria wondered if he was reading a book while waiting for her to wake, and Reukis came closer and untangled her stuck hair with his fingers.

“I was wondering what you would say to me in your sleep, and seeing you relaxing in my room wasn’t boring at all.”

He smiled slyly, like an excited man.

The mere presence of Merria in the mansion made it different, even though she only slept.

Merria stared at Reukis and recalled him and his childhood who would have been lonely in a huge mansion with no family or siblings.

She gently hugged Reukis. There was a strong smell of soap in his chest.

“I heard you were training. Did you wash up?”

Merria raised her head looking at Reukis’ head.

Reukis’ black hair, which was usually wavy on the end, was scattered.

He looked like a dried puppy without combing his curly hair. 

Reukis nodded thoughtlessly and his hair ruffled along.

“I want to touch your hair.” Merria asked.

Reukis, who understood what she said, immediately lowered his head.

Reukis leaned his head against Merria as she laid her hand on his soft black hair.

He buried his face in the nape of her neck, which smelled sweet, warm and pleasant as the sun.

After spending a long time together, Merria found something strange.

No matter how large the building was, the guest’s room looked too good.

I didn’t want to say it but judging by the handles of the chest of drawers and the embossed decorations on the bed, this place was probably…

“This… was this your bedroom?”

Reukis’ body, who heard her words, flinched.

His gold eyes trembled as he nodded his head softly.

“My bed was the largest and most comfortable in the mansion… I just wanted Merria to rest.”

Indeed, about 80% of it was out of pure intention.

It was difficult to explain exactly what the other 20% was.

Reukis did his best to only look at Merria purely.

Merria’s cheeks were already red, unlike Reukis, who was acting casually.

‘I thought it was just a guest room…’ (Merria)

She couldn’t keep her mouth shut and gasped.

Of course, this has never happened before.

Their first meeting was in Fernando’s lounge, and last time at Count Fabro’s mansion, they were also together in the room.

But at those times there was a good reason. And right now, it was a peaceful situation for no reason at all.

Besides, this was no other place.

‘It’s Reukis room.’

Merria frowned as she breathed, realizing where she was. She decided to concentrate on something else, so she could find composure.

However, despite her efforts, the first thing that caught her eye was the spacious, fluffy bed and her carefree lover.

Unlike usual, the appearance of Reukis wearing a thin shirt caused a stir on Merria’s mind.

Contrary to his alluring appearance, Reukis was so naive, and Merria was in conflict.

Merria’s fingers trembled.

“Ugh…”

She eventually chose to block her view.

Reukis, unaware of Merria’s heart, closed his eyes tightly and was glued to her.

“Merria?”

“Now, wait… Wait a minute.” Merria said as she distance herself from Reukis.

Without time to be ashamed to stutter, Merria jumped up from the bed. She walked directly to where the sofa was.

“Phew..”

When she got out of the bed, her heart, which had been pounding, and her face, which was already red, returned to normal.

Merria beckoned to Reukis, who was sitting awkwardly on his bed.

“Oh… If I stay on the bed I might fall asleep again. We could talk here on the sofa.” (Merria)

When she reached out her hand, Reukis instantly walked over.

The two of them smiled at the same time, thinking that they each got over their insidious thoughts.