I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand

 

✿

 

Merria shook her head with a smile. “Don’t give your life to me. Because I want you to cherish yourself.”

 

“…Yes.” Reukis nodded slowly, feeling strange.

 

‘Cherish yourself.’

 

It was a thought Reukis never dared to think of since he was a kid. Merria stared at Reukis like that and spoke in a brighter voice.

 

“Um… Now that I’ve heard your secret, could I share a secret with you to be fair?”

 

Reukis nodded quickly with a lively face. Merria seriously thought about what to tell Reukis, but she couldn’t think of anything.

 

‘Reincarnation?’

 

That would sound so futile.

 

The fact that this place was in a novel was too shocking for Reukis, so it seemed impossible.

 

Besides, there were no secrets other than those two. There was nothing to say even when I thought about it with a frown.

 

Merria, who was always quick to give up on her thoughts, shrugged her shoulders and said. “I couldn’t think of anything. Do you want to ask me questions instead?”

 

In the end, Maria, who decided to start it as a game of truth, persuaded Reukis.

 

I’ll tell you anything without lies, so it’s no different from a secret.

 

Reukis decided to ask what he cared about the most after much consideration.

 

“Are you… close with that Dylan?”

 

“Cough…”

 

Merria, who was coughing while taking a leisurely sip of wine, pounded her chest.

 

Reukis quickly took the wine glass and put it down next to her and patted Merria on the back.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Uh… yes.”

 

Merria, who coughed a couple more times, cleared her voice and glanced at Reukis.

 

“Who?”

 

“The one we met in the hallway earlier…”

 

“Ah.”

 

Merria, who had an ambiguous expression on her face, immediately giggled and burst into laughter.

 

Merria suddenly began to laugh at Reukis.

 

Merria, who stopped laughing to a certain extent, said with a nod. “Well, Dylan was very close to me. We first met on a bench in the park on a sunny day. He was so cute running up to me and hugging me… So I held him in my arms, stroked his hair, and gave him a lot of kisses.”

 

“…”

 

As Merria continued to talk with a distant expression, Reukis’ eyes began to tremble like a thunderous sky.

 

Reukis, who had been shocked to the fullest, quickly formed tears on the corners of his eyes.

 

After a satisfactory teasing, Merria smiled smoothly and continued. “And after a while, Dylan’s owner came.”

 

“Owner…?”

 

“Dylan was the dog of the man earlier. A golden retriever with fluffy fur.”

 

“Ah…” Reukis’ relaxed body slowly collapsed.

 

Suddenly, Merria, who was pondering why he asked, closed her eyes playfully.

 

“Did it bother you because we looked friendly?”

 

“Of course, I don’t mean to force you, but I just… I think I wanted you to be less friendly with him. I never knew I was such a naive person.”

 

His voice, which became as small as an ant, crumbled at the end.

 

Reukis couldn’t face Merria’s gaze until the end and bowed his head. Reukis, feeling embarrassed for nothing, touched only the tip of her shiny platinum blonde hair.

 

Merria looked at Reukis, seeing him acting cute, and fixed his disheveled shirt collar with clumsy touch.

 

It was in the area where she grabbed while looking for a place to put her hands in the previous kiss.

 

After a few fiddles, he’s back in shape. Satisfied, she patted his chest, then moved her hand and gently pulled his collar.

 

“Even if it’s bothersome, I wouldn’t do anything like that, so don’t worry. As long as you’re my lover, I’ll always put Reukis first. Rather… Shouldn’t you be careful?”

 

“What do you mean…?”

 

“If you kiss someone other than me, would you ask that person to be your lover too?”

 

“I swear, that won’t happen.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

Merria squinted and gazed at him.

 

Reukis frowned as he opened his eyes, only to imagine a terrible thought that someone unknown would raise her face to kiss him.

Reukis, who had drawn an imaginary character, answered with a voice full of sincerity.

 

“If there were such a person, their neck would fall before they even kissed me.”

 

Lively dark energy crept up from his shoulders. He even nodded as if he were ready to cause a blood storm right away.

 

Merria, thinking that such Reukis would match her rhythm, smiled softly.

 

“I love that attitude.”

 

“I’m glad.”

 

“Any more questions?”

 

Reukis, who was looking at Merria, rolled his eyes and calmly picked out the next words to say.

 

He had a good opportunity, so he wanted to ask her about the power, but he didn’t know how to bring it up even when he tried to ask.

 

No matter how hard Reukis tried, he couldn’t get words right immediately. 

 

In the end, Reukis decided to tell the truth. “I’ve always had to stand up and live in the darkness. I had to press my dark mana all the time, so my body was always boiling, and I couldn’t sleep peacefully at night.”

 

“It must have been difficult,” Merria replied with a voice full of grief.

 

The aftermath of his mana explosion was tormenting him by sticking to his body so that he couldn’t even look away from the past.

 

It was clear that it was not easy to get away from the treatment that had not been found.

 

As he listened to the detailed symptoms, it was understandable that he called the aftereffect a curse.

 

Reukis paused and pulled Merria’s hand and leaned his cheeks on it.

 

“But, when I touch you like this, everything disappears like a lie.”

 

“Was that a metaphor?” Merria asked back, still unaware that her power was still leaking out.

 

Reukis shook his head, holding her hand tightly. “I could feel something from you. When I hold hands with you, my mana calms down and my head doesn’t hurt.”

 

“Oops.” Merria sounded as if she knew it.

 

She then gently clasped Reukis’ cheeks and let out blue energy.

 

Merria looked at him and said, “How’s it going? Do you feel something?”

 

“Yes…”

Reukis answered briefly with confusion.

 

It felt like his whole body was being washed away as if someone were pouring ice-cold water over his head. Reukis, whose long eyelashes shivered and expression relaxed, felt as if he had bitten off a mouthful of chocolate.

 

After absorbing Merria’s power for such a long time, Reukis closed his eyes deeply and calmly dealt with this situation.

 

Merria’s eyes widened at Reukis’ striking reaction. It was because she expected the level of comfort he would feel as if she was using it on Derek.

 

‘Have I gotten stronger?’

 

It’s been quite some time since she hadn’t met Derek, so this power may have changed.

 

Merria put all her strength into thinking that she had to go see Derek as soon as she could.

 

Wouldn’t it be nice if she could help Reukis? If she could alleviate the aftereffects, he could lead a more peaceful life.

 

The blue energy that was wandering in the air was sucked straight into Reukis.

 

“Stop!”

 

After enjoying the serenity for a while, Reukis suddenly shouted. At the same time, his body fell far from Merria’s hand to the edge of the bed.

 

“Wh-why, what’s wrong?

 

Reukis frowned as Merria approached him without knowing what was going on. He couldn’t hide his tearful eyes and looked at her.

 

“Reukis, what’s wrong? All of a sudden.” Merria tilted her head and asked.

 

Reukis shook his head, keeping his distance from her.

 

“Suddenly, your complexion looks so bad. Was it because of me?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Merria stuttered and gently stroked his cheek.

 

Reukis’ body, which had just been heated up by alcohol before, was as cold as a person standing outside on a cold winter day.

 

‘What’s wrong again?’

 

Merria didn’t understand the sudden situation and frowned in wonder.

 

Reukis, who was quickly examining her complexion, spoke urgently from a distance.

 

“Yo-your body, are you feeling strange? Are you not feeling well? Let’s seek a doctor right now…”

 

Merria quickly responded to Reukis, who flinched but could not approach her as a man nailed to the spot.

 

“Calm down. I’m really fine.”

 

Perhaps… Even if this situation was really due to her power, she didn’t want to tell the truth.

 

Because she didn’t want to add to the memory that Reukis had hurt someone because he couldn’t control himself.

 

Merria leaned against the bed and exhaled. She could feel her body warming up as color slowly returned to her fingertips.

 

“Now, touch it. Because I’m back to normal.”

 

There was an embarrassing silence as she held out her hand confidently. Reukis stared at her like an anxious child, still keeping his distance.

 

It was as if her hand had become something terrifying.

Merria, who had been waiting in her still posture, shrugged and frowned.

 

“How could I be your lover when you couldn’t even hold my hand?”

 

As she told him, the effects were stronger than she expected.

 

Reukis’ body fell in front of her.

 

“I want to be your lover forever. But I couldn’t hurt you like this.”

 

Merria could feel his sorrowful heart. Reukis, who came close to her, still couldn’t hold her hand.

 

Eventually, Merria, who couldn’t stand it, grabbed his face first.

 

‘What’s wrong with these mean lips?’

 

Reukis’ face heated up as she stretched out her hand and held his cheeks and was lost in thought.

 

Fortunately, Merria’s hand, which touched him, was normal, and Reukis felt a little relieved.

 

Merria said, rubbing his cheeks. “It was the first time I had used so much power, and I didn’t know it was going to be like this. It was the first time for both of us, so this little commotion could happen.”

 

“But…”

 

“But even if it’s not. Now, if I didn’t touch you like this, it’s a long way off, right?”

 

Merria said confidently. Reukis focused and closely watched how and to what extent her power was leaking out.

 

The amount of power leaking from her was almost non-existent, perhaps because she had used so much of her power earlier.

 

Reukis shrugged his stiff shoulders and placed his hands on top of Merria’s hand.

 

“Merria. Don’t take it too seriously. I need to be a little warier of me.”

 

“Okay.”

 

They both knew it was just a warning and a promise.

However, even such formal words seemed to trigger Reukis’ anxiety. Merria patted his warm cheeks and organized her thoughts.

 

‘I’m going to write a letter to Derek. I need to check something.’

 

In the meantime, after calming down, Reukis carefully opened his lips.

 

“Merria.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Are you a wizard by any chance?”

 

Merria, who rolled her eyes at his question, shook her head.

 

“Maybe not a wizard.”

 

“Maybe?”

 

“This was my power, but I don’t know exactly what it was. When I measured my power in the past, it came out that I didn’t have any magic, and so far only Derek and you have had this kind of reaction.”

 

“Oh, your cousin.”

 

“How did you know that?”

 Did I ever tell you about Derek? 

Merria muttered to herself, then soon turned her attention back to the wine again.

It didn’t matter if Reukis knew Derek.

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