I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand

Themis, who didn’t know where part Merria was surprised, grabbed her hand tightly.

“Now do you understand? Probably nowhere in the world would a father want to send his daughter next to such a dangerous person.”

“Father…”

Merria could now understand the feelings of Themis.

At the same time, however, Reukis’ face came to mind.

There’s no way she could abandon Reukis after hearing this story.

Merria didn’t want to leave him alone even more.

One good thing about this was that she knows what’s to come in the future.

Reukis was taken over the darkness obsessively from that day forward, and now Merria was by his side.

Even in the original, there was no mention of him having a runaway again.

She was rather concerned that he would cause treason.

So what Themis was worried about won’t happen.

But I didn’t feel like explaining all this.

It was not that she was ignorant of Themis’s heart, but the more she explained it, the more his anxiety would grow.

There would be no parents who would react calmly to the fact that their daughter was executed indirectly.

So I had to speak firmly.

“Don’t worry. He’s not dangerous at all. Really, it’s okay.”

All she could say now was this.

“…”

“…”

Themis stared at Merria for a long while.

Merria with such a determined face has been a long time since the day she refused to make her debut as a child.

Objectively, it must be the appearance of a daughter who defies her parents’ words.

The emotions felt in Merria’s eyes were the opposite.

It feels like Themis was acting up without knowing the situation.

Although her daughter, who does not even know her father’s heart, was rebelling, he wondered how she was so confident.

Raven said that Merria’s stubbornness resembles him.

‘I didn’t know I would experience it at a time like this.’ ᵀʰᵉᵐᶦˢ

Themis shook his head, tearing down his eyes.

“I’m going back for now. I need to rest, too.” ᵀʰᵉᵐᶦˢ

“Yes. Take a good rest.”

Merria left the office without saying anything.

Thudㅡ

As she walked blankly down the hallway, she realized she had arrived in front of her room.

Perhaps I reached here thanks to my unconscious desire to organize my thoughts alone.

Merria entered the room, leaving behind even the dinner that Hans had carefully prepared.

She bit her lip and headed for the terrace on one side of the room.

Even if she catches a cold, she wants to cool her head right away.

Her mind was complicated by the information Themis poured out at once.

Reukis’ runaway, the aftereffects, and the suspicious person who appeared at that time.

And a few years later, Merria probably met the same person.

‘Are you a wizard?’

‘I’m not just a wizard.’

The old woman in the alley who gave her the ring said the same thing.

It felt like playing with someone’s hand for a long time.

Merria pressed the ring on her left hand.

“Who are you…” ᴹᵉʳʳᶦᵃ

Unwilling to think any further, so she gathered her knees and buried her head on them.

Merria’s head was pounding as she thought about it.

She thought it was a moment, but when she lifted her head again, the sun had already risen.

Merria clenched her fists as she looked up at the sky dyed with faint light.

“Not yet.”

If I could, I wanted to ride a horse alone and run to Reukis in the middle of the night.

She had a headache, and wanted to whimper that her chest was pounding.

She wanted to say it would have been better not to receive a ring like this.

Nevertheless, the reason why I didn’t run and thought about it all night was because I was worried about Reukis, who would find out about this.

It was only that.

If his runaway was caused by someone’s intervention…

What about the despair and anger that Reukis has suffered, his heart that has been bruised and darkened for a long time?

Merria, who knew the weight of that time, couldn’t raise this problem to the surface.

If I tell Reukis about this fact right away.

He’s a capable man, so he’ll get some clues.

But if he gets to the end of all this and it’s nothing, he would fall to despair again.

If that happens, wouldn’t it be like showing only a glimmer of hope to someone in a difficult situation and pushing them off the cliff again?

Merria didn’t want Reukis to suffer anymore.

She didn’t want to cover his eyes with uncertain hope.

At least after figuring out what the old woman’s intentions were.

If I thought there was a good reason to dig out his wound, I wanted to say it then.

The loss of his parents and the suffering of his whole life as a result.

Because it was Reukis who had endured that despair and sorrow.

✿

Meria, who gave up thinking for a while with overloaded thoughts, trudged to the bed.

I crouched up all morning without sleeping, and I felt like I woke up after riding for about 14 hours last night.

Merria collapsed helplessly onto the soft bed.

Merria’s platinum blonde hair was scattered around in the white bedding.

Knock, knock.

After a while, Lexie came to wake Merria from her sleep.

“Miss.”

“…Yes.”

Merria, who was still unable to fall asleep after moving around the bed, replied in a weak voice.

Lexie, who opened the door, came up to find Merria lying on the bed.

“Are you not feeling well?”

Lexie knew that Merria would open the window when riding a carriage.

She was worried that she might have a cold because she went out a lot recently and the evening air was chilly.

However, Merria’s body temperature was very normal.

‘I just feel dizzy and feel like my head’s going to explode.’ ᴹᵉʳʳᶦᵃ

Merria shook her head and asked.

“Lexie, what about father?”

“The duke? He left early in the morning. It’s Wednesday.”

Recalling the conversation with Themis last night, Merria let out a sigh.

They had a quarrel, not a fight, so it was awkward to face him in the morning.

Relieved in not having to run into her father, Merria thought she was such a bad daughter, and slowly got up.

She had a pile of things to deal with, and she felt like she didn’t know where to start.

Merria, who fell in the middle of the burdens, swept her flowing hair.

“Please get ready to wash up.”

“Yes.”

After Lexie left for the bathroom, Merria, who was left alone again, circled around the room.

It was an unconscious act that kept her immersed in thoughts.

She sorted out what had to be done first.

I need to find out about the magic board that turned purple, and find people who could feel the power of the ring. Also…

While walking slowly, she stopped at the sudden memory that came to mind.

“Secret library!”

Just as all nobles value history, there was also a library in the Rackester family that collected family data.

Since it was also used as a place to keep top secrets, only immediate family members knew the existence of the room.

Unlike ordinary rooms, you could only enter through the Duke’s office.

Only the owner knew the exact location.

For this reason, Themis often referred to it as ‘The Lord’s Room’.

Gaithia would tell Themis, and Temis would someday inform Serinia of the door to the room.

But Merria knew the approximate location of it.

She stumbled upon it as a child during the hide-and-seek with Serinia.

Merria, who was hiding under Themis’ desk that day, was discovered by Serinia because of Themis who suddenly appeared.

Merria burst into tears at her resentment that she lost in the hide-and-seek game.

Now that I think about it, the reason Themis was embarrassed at the time was not because of the crying Merria, but because of the ‘Lord’s room.‘

Merria frowned and nodded

As she pulled out hazy memories of her childhood, her expression became serious.

She imagined the office of Themis she visited last night.

‘It was somewhere on the right side of the desk…’

Gaithia was meticulous and cold-hearted.

In addition, it was a secret order of the Emperor, so it would have been properly investigated.

If there’s any data about the Emperor’s orders left by Gaithia or the runaway of Reukis in the room.

At the very least, a follow-up report about that suspicious woman.

That alone was worth sneaking into Themis’s office.

Besides, Themis had gone to the imperial palace early in the morning, so his office was empty.

Merria was determined by her will, clenched her fists.

Just in time, Lexie, who finished preparing her bath, came out of the bathroom.

She whispered, twisting the corners of her lips slightly.

“Lexie. I have something to do.”

After a while, Merria, who finished taking a bath, was sitting in front of the dressing table and drying her hair.

Lexie, who had left for preliminary investigation at Merria’s request, returned.

“Lady! I’m here.”

Lexie approached in full stride.

When Merria welcomed her, Lexie began to report.

“First of all, Madam’s going out soon, and Lady Serinia was still sleeping after she came back from staying in the lab late.”

“What about Ruben?” ᴹᵉʳʳᶦᵃ

“I think he’s in a separate room to take care of his duties. The maid who delivered the urgent telegram last time told me directly.”

“Then, no one would be passing by the office for a while, right?”

“Yes. The Duke’s office was managed by the maid, but Lynette cleans up the room as soon as the Duke leaves for work, so it must be over by now.”

“Good.” ᴹᵉʳʳᶦᵃ

Merria nodded with a satisfied smile.

She changed into an inconspicuous dark blue unpatterned dress and left the room. Lexie also followed her.

The two quickly entered the hallway on the second floor where Themis’ office was located.

Lexie glanced at the net at the end of the hallway, and Merria took advantage of it and walked quickly to the office.

The door to the well-maintained office opened without the slightest noise.

As soon as the door closed behind her back, Merria walked over to the desk, fumbling with her memories.

She even sacrificed her knees to match her childhood eye level.

As her field of view lowered to a height similar to her memory, she looked carefully at the bookshelf.

It was common for the secret space of a noble mansion to have stealth magic.

It was to keep important data out of the reach of outsiders.

‘Even in a magical space, there’s got to be a handle. My father’s not a wizard either.’ ᴹᵉʳʳᶦᵃ

Rackester’s was not a family where wizards were frequently born.

Therefore, it must be designed so that even those who couldn’t handle magic may use it.

She skimmed through the bookshelf on the rightmost side.

Her gaze, as she was looking at the densely stacked books, stopped in the second row from the bottom.

[Cherish every moment]

Her smooth fingers slowly swept the back of the book.

The book, consisting of a total of three volumes, was written by Parque Rackester, the first Duke of Rackester.

Looking at the title alone, it looks like a self-development book to split time, but in fact, these three books were a collection of poems about fate.

The subtitles of each volume, ‘Clotho‘, ‘Lachesis‘, and ‘Atropos‘, contain poems written on the subject of the past, present, and future, respectively.

‘It’s no wonder that the first Duke’s book was in the Duke of Rackester’s office. However…’

The original version would be kept in the safe, so this was a publication sold on the market.

No matter how it was published, did you put the first Duke’s collection of poems in a place like this at the bottom, not where you could see it?

Even the order was messed up.

It was very disappointing that it would fit exactly if only one position was moved.

Merria reached out her trembling hand and pulled out a book on the rightmost side with a flower, called ‘Lachesis.’

Then, the book was inserted between ‘Clotho‘ and ‘Atropos.’

Click.

As soon as I pushed the book all the way in, I heard a small sound of some lock being released.

“I found it.”

When I pushed the bookshelf with weak force, a secret room appeared in front of me.