I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand

With her heart and stomach full, Merria reached out to the table at the sudden thought.

The table was decorated with richly pinned lavender.

Among them, she took out a particularly pretty flower and called him.

“Reukis, come here.”

Merria’s eyes glisten with a beautiful smile.

Reukis moved to the seat next to her.

Her hand quickly reached out to Reukis sitting next to her.

Reukis quickly blinked at Merria’s touch, which tickled his ear.

After completing her work, Merria bit her lips and admired Reukis.

“Oh.”

Reukis looked cold-hearted when she first saw his expressionless face, so she thought that he would look cute if she put flowers on him.

Reukis, with a lavender on his right ear, looked like a pure god of flowers.

Merria stared at his appearance for a long time.

Reukis, who found the lavender caught in the corner of his eye, imagined his embarrassing image and blushed.

‘I couldn’t take out the flowers that Merria tuck in my ear, I could only twist my head in shame.’ (Reukis)

“You’re pretty. Really… I think you’re prettier than me.”

Merria dazed, staring at Reukis, shook herself to come to her senses.

The pinkish lips, white skin, the black hair, and a beautiful flower in between.

‘I felt like I wanted to call about 100 of the best painters of the capital just to save Reukis’ image right now.’ (Merria)

“Absolutely not. Merria.” Reukis said as he shook his head quickly.

Merria smiled cutely at Reukis, who was expressing his opinion in the midst of that.

After looking around for a while, Reukis grabbed her hand lightly as she approached to take out the flowers.

When Merria looked up, and took out the flower in his ear and put it back in her ear.

Reukis, who was gazing at Merria, who was hanging flowers like pins, said with an affectionate tone.

“Beautiful.”

“…Thank you.”

Merria looked at Reukis, whose eyes today looked dripping with honey, and hurriedly lowered her head.

‘Somehow it felt difficult to face him.’ (Merria)

It was the usual Reukis who always smiled at me, but today his smile was more dazzling.

She softly took a deep breath, pressing down on her pounding heart in shock.

“Merria.”

Merria slowly lifted her gaze fixed in the air, and she glanced into Reukis’ clear gold eyes.

Reukis continued, looking at Merria with affectionate eyes. Before he knew it, he had a bunch of lavender in his hand.

“I don’t have a ribbon or a rose, but if you don’t mind, would you like to be my partner at Coming-of-Age Night?”

Sweet words flowed from his pink lips.

For a moment, the calm wind felt a little stronger.

The strong scent of flowers coming from the lavender field swayed like waves.

Reukis’ golden sun-like eyes and softly curved lips caught in Merria’s eyes like a painting.

“…Yes.”

Merria answered, looking at the landscape with hazy eyes.

She couldn’t calm her pounding heart until the moment she got into the carriage and returned to the mansion.

✿

“Me?”

Merria, who was planning her escape today with an excuse to go out with Reukis, asked.

Lexie, who was combing Merria’s hair, nodded and pointed outside.

“She’s Lady Serinia’s assistant. She said she came for an errand.”

“But why did she come for me?”

“At first glance, it seemed that the older lady ordered it…”

Lexie didn’t listen carefully, so she blurred the ends of her words.

“Hmm.”

Merria finished her preparations and headed to the drawing room.

Thanks to her early preparations for the outing, she still had plenty of time until her departure.

When I entered the drawing room, I saw a woman wearing round glasses with tanned skin, which was unusual in the Empire.

She jumped up from her seat as Merria entered.

“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Emily, a trainee researcher under Miss Serinia.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Merria nodded at her bold greeting.

Emily spoke to Merria with bewildered round eyes.

“I’m here on Miss Serinia’s errand.”

“Yeah… But why me?”

If it’s an errand, you should go to Ruben.

Emily smiled as Merria looked at her with an incomprehensible expression.

“She told me to find the ‘Elephant in the Water’ in the lab. She said if I tell you, you’ll know for sure…”

“Ahhh.” Merria answered and burst into laughter.

‘Elephant in the water’ was one of the phrases from a book she read with Serinia as a child.

It was about a smart elephant traveling around many countries and joking around in their language.

I even read it a number of times because I liked that cheesy joke.

‘Perhaps Serinia couldn’t remember the title of the book, so she told her assistant to find me.’ (Merria)

Even Ruben wouldn’t know the contents of children’s fairy tale books.

“It’s probably in the annex. Would you like to follow me?” Merria nodded at her thoughts and continued.

“Yes!”

Merria and Emily headed for the annex.

When they were young, Serinia and Merria played more often in the annex than in the main mansion.

Perhaps it was because of the strong perception that the annex was an unknown place, or it was because of the playfulness of the two.

Although they didn’t come to it after they grew up to a certain extent.

Merria fumbled over her memories and headed for the room at the end on the left side of the stairs.

“It’s probably here.” (Merria)

They arrived in a room in the annex where she often played with Serinia.

Compared to the main mansion, the door to the annex was a little stiff, as if it was a sign that people rarely visit the place.

When I opened the door and went in, there was a pile of books and papers on the tables and chairs.

Since there was a separate study in the mansion, most of the materials Serinia had gathered here were random.

Merria pondered and told Emily.

“It’s a dark green book. It’s about the size of my palm. It’s about this thick.”

As for Merria, she couldn’t remember the proper title, so this was the limit of her explanation.

Emily immediately started looking for the book.

There was no pile of dust, but it seemed difficult to find because everything was mixed together.

“Do you want me to call someone?”

Merria asked because she thought it would be better for several people than to find the book alone.

“Oh, thank you.”

Emily replied happily, thinking it was too much to do alone.

“Then sit down in a suitable place. I’ll be right back.”

It was when Merria was about to go out of the room to call people to help them.

“Huh?”

A familiar book was caught in her sight.

There was a dark green between the brown kraft envelopes.

As soon as Merria reached towards the envelopes to remove them, the piled up envelopes spilled out.

“Huh…”

If Serinia finds out, she’ll be mad. Merria looked at Emily for a moment.

Emily was busy searching for the book from a distance.

Fortunately, the envelope was sealed so the contents didn’t fall.

She quickly picked up the envelopes and collected them.

“Where’s this from…?”

Merria muttered looking at the unknown letters written on the envelope.

“Miss Merria?”

Then she heard Emily’s call from behind.

Merria, who was staring at the envelopes in her hand, quickly put the envelope down on the table.

Then she picked up a book with a green cover.

When I turned it upside down, I saw a familiar picture.

It was the ‘Elephant in the Water’ book that Serinia asked for.

“Emily, I found it!” Merria smiled and said to Emily.

Merria handed the book to Emily, who came at her call.

“How did you find it? Thank you.”

“You said it was urgent, right? I’ll ask the butler to clean up here so Emily should go first.”

It was a big deal if Emily fiddled more and found a mess of documents.

After kicking Emily out of the annex, Merria headed straight to the mansion.

“Lexie.”

Merria, who found Lexie walking by, called her. Lexie walked towards Merria at her call.

“Lady? aren’t you supposed to be out already?” Lexie asked.

Merria prepared early to go out, so Lexie thought that she already left.

“I’ve been to the annex for a while. Do you happen to know where Ruben was?” Merria replied, shaking her head roughly.

“Um… well. I don’t know.”

She tried to tell Reuben to clean up the annex, but the time for her departure was already close.

At this rate, she would be late for her appointment if she went to find Ruben in the mansion.

Merria eventually decided to tell him later about cleaning the annex.

“I’m going out now. Was the carriage ready?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

As she stepped out of the mansion the Rackester’s carriage was waiting for her.

Merria left the mansion immediately after Lexie saw her off.

She came out just in time, but she ended up late for the appointment.

It was because she was always caught at the entrance of the crowded imperial palace.

The carriage, which arrived a little later than the promised time, stopped in front of the Crown Prince’s Palace.

Reukis, who had been waiting for a long time, came running at once as soon as he saw Rackester’s carriage.

“Reukis, have you been waiting?” Merria asked as she got off the carriage.

As soon as they made eye contact, Reukis smiled brightly and held out his hand.

“Did you have any trouble coming here?”

It was true that he had arrived a little early, but it was also true that Merria was late.

Reukis deftly changed the subject for Merria.

Merria noticed his intentions and held Reukis’ hand in gratitude. She replied in a different way with a satisfied smile.

“His highness seems to have a very good sense.”

“…You mean His Majesty Altheon?”

As soon as we met, Reukis expression turned ambiguous after hearing praise for Altheon.

Merria, who had been staring at Reukis, gently blinked.

“I couldn’t believe he gave me a certificate of entry to the Crown Prince’s library on a day when you weren’t off duty. Wouldn’t this be the ideal situation for a superior to step up and offer a half day?”

“That’s right.”

Merria was explaining the excitement of playing while others were working, but Reukis, who just liked to see Merria often, expressed infinite affirmation.

“You looked like a true leader. Besides, I loved watching you work.”

“Was that so?”

Reukis, dressed in a uniform, was a scene that made a working man feel sexy.

Merria caught sight of Reukis answering with a twitching smile around his lips.