I thought I had tamed the villain

Chapter 20   “I thought I had tamed the villain”

‘No way, no way, look what I’ve become.’

I shook my head with a worry smile.

I looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to explain Frey’s existence to Theo.

“…….”

I clamped my mouth shut.

“Nope. That’s right. Why the hell is this playing in the background between the three of us?!”

The mood was unmistakably one of politeness.

I looked at Frey and Theo, wide-eyed, as if I didn’t understand.

They were looking at each other like they were going to eat each other without anyone saying anything.

“No, I mean, why is there this atmosphere?”

Whatever the reason, it didn’t look like it was going to get any better until I stepped in.

“Ahem!”

I coughed loudly to break the ensuing silence, and both of their eyes focused on me.

“Theo, this is Father Frey, the tutor I briefly mentioned the other day.”

“…….”

“And this is my friend, Theo.”

“Nice to meet you.”

In the silence, it was Frey who spoke first.

Frey wore his usual gentle smile.

Was this guy just flustered?

It was still awkward for him to stare at anyone.

I hadn’t quite figured him out yet.

“…….”

The problem was Theo.

Theo stood stiffly and glared at Frey wordlessly.

“That, that! Theo, since you don’t seem to like it, I thought I’d tutor just me….”

“Me?”

Theo looked back at me with a murderous look on his face.

“You said so!

I swallowed hard, almost screaming in frustration, and nodded slowly.

“No, I want it too.”

“Oh?”

What the hell is this?

Apparently, after fighting with me about not wanting to be tutored by the three of us, Theo was now saying something else.

“I’ll join you. Tutoring.”

He looks like he was gritting his teeth hard when he says “tutoring.” ….

“Ahhh, ahhhhhh….”

I smiled awkwardly and turned away from Theo to look at Frey.

I gestured uncomfortably, like a broken puppet, and asked for Frey’s permission.

“Um, if you don’t mind, I was wondering if I could bring my friend to class with me? He’s supposed to take the entrance exam with me….”

Frey looked at me and smiled wistfully.

I saw that smile and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was unlikely that Frey would turn down this request.

“What should I do? I don’t think I can do that.”

……. Yet again today, my predictions were mercilessly wrong.

At this point, I realized that I should have just stayed put and not tried to guess.

“Why?”

Theo’s brows narrowed at Frey’s answer.

But Frey didn’t seem to notice or care about Theo’s reaction.

He was smiling the whole time and saying things that made Theo’s stomach churn.

“That’s… My heart, right?”

“…….”

I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop it from falling open in surprise.

How could a man called a priest be so childish?

“Oh, come to think of it, Frey is only seventeen.”

It was a battle of egos between a child and an even younger one.

In Frey’s eyes, he had every reason to not like this stranger who was acting up from the start.

He was a priest, not a bodhisattva.

Theo didn’t say anything, either because he was dumbfounded or because he lacked logic.

Then he turned to me and asked if I thought it was worth the trouble to argue with Frey.

“Why are you tutored by someone like that?”

“Theo. I can’t believe he’s like that.”

I don’t consider Frey to be an unconditionally good person either, so I didn’t bet on that.

But there was a part of me that didn’t want Theo to build his ego on Frey.

No matter how you look at the situation, we were in a position to get help.

But I didn’t want him to be nice. We know Theo’s temper.

But I wanted him to at least be civil.

“I apologize for being rude, but can you please reconsider?”

I apologized to Frey instead of blaming Theo.

After all, I was the one who knew best that Theo’s social skills weren’t very good yet.

“I’m sure he’ll be studying hard, even if he’s being a jerk, so I won’t be distracted….”

“…….”

Frey paused in thought at my request, then nodded with a small sigh.

“Well. Iris, I can’t help it if you say so.”

“…….”

“Thank you so much!”

Theo didn’t look happy about this, but he didn’t stop me.

I think he realizes that if he opens his mouth any further, Frey might change his mind again.

“That’s good. I’m glad you changed your mind.”

I purposely sounded exaggerated to Theo, trying to soothe him.

“Don’t think about being alone.”

Theo said to me in a low voice.

I understood why he had suddenly changed his mind.

He was worried that someone else might take me away from him.

And he seemed to be channeling that anxiety into negative emotions.

‘I’ll just have to keep letting him know that I’m not going away.

I patted Theo’s head, thinking to myself.

“Put it away.”

Theo shrugged off the touch, though he didn’t seem to like it.

“Sensitive, anyway.

I took my timid revenge by glancing at him while he was looking elsewhere.

“So, shall we start class?”

Frey asked, smiling awkwardly at me and Theo.

The class, which started later than expected, flowed as naturally as Frey’s skill.

‘I wonder if she was a teacher in her previous life?

I thought to myself, furiously scribbling down notes.

“Uh….”

Then I realized that my ink bottle was empty.

I had forgotten to bring any extra ink.

“What the hell…

I bit my lip and glanced over at Frey.

Whether he liked it or not, this was my fault, so I didn’t know what to say.

“You’re out of ink, aren’t you?”

My hand froze, and Frey quickly realized my situation.

I looked up at him and apologized.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away during the explanation. I said I was going to prepare for class on my own….”

“It’s okay, do you want to stop by my room for a minute?”

Theo’s head snapped up at Frey’s words and he grabbed me.

“You can write to me, what are you doing?”