When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 64

Lionel, who heard a mumbled answer, didn’t ask a question in return and smiled happily.

“It’s an honour to be your partner to play hooky. There’s something I’d like to ask you, since I’ve already met you now, should I refrain from visiting you tonight?”

Lionel listened to her words simply, and would definitely endure the urge to seek out Atalante as long as she said not to come.

She could have answered ‘yes’, but for some reason, she didn’t respond immediately.

“Do as you please.”

“Then I’ll visit you again today.”

Lionel replied with a smile, and spoke while taking a step back from her.

“Since you’re playing hooky, may I offer you a cup of tea on a day like this?”

“What kind of tea is it?”

“It’s Duran tea, made by blending tea leaves from the northernmost region. You can detect acidity and sweetness at the same time, making it perfect to drink on a day when you find everything troublesome.”

“I’ve felt this from a while ago, but the Grand Duke…….”

“Grand Duke?”

Atalante sighed and corrected the way she called him.

“Lionel seems to be quite well versed in tea.”

She’d even imitated the aristocratic young lady’s manner of speech that she’d learned from her etiquette instructor. Smiling in response to her cute trick, Lionel continued.

“The late monarch was very interested in tea. Naturally, I picked it up by watching him.”

“If it’s the late monarch…”

Was he referring to his father?

Lionel laughed awkwardly and changed the subject naturally.

“Come to think of it, my tea-making skills aren’t that bad.”

“Grand Duke Blanc and ceremonial tea-making? My apologies but they don’t match at all.”

“You can understand it as having various charms.”

After he pulled on the rope and ordered a tea set, Lionel whispered as he sat Atalante on the sofa.

“I wonder if a decent man that’s good at ceremonial tea-making will suit your taste.”

“Rather than someone that grabs and wrings others out, a man that’s great at brewing tea would be better.”

“I’ll do my best to present to you a side of me that’s better than you’d expected.”

After sending the maid that brought the tea back, Lionel began using the utensils for ceremonial tea-making skillfully.

The large hand, which seemed as though it was made to swing a sword, matched the delicate teacup unexpectedly well. As Atalante looked at his white hand like she was bewitched, an unexpected question was raised from overhead.

“Ah, have you decided which body part you want?”

Come to think of it, the special ceremony will be held tomorrow.

‘How could I have already decided?’

Unable to hide her perplexed expression, Atalante mumbled hesitantly that she hadn’t.

“It doesn’t matter where, so please choose wherever you’d like. I heard from Agnes that you actually wanted to have it, and I’ll give it to you if you require it.”

“No! I don’t need it. What are you taking humans for?”

At the words he’d added, Atalante yelled and glared at Lionel with red eyes. But he was far from being frightened and the playfulness written all over his face had only intensified.

“It’s a pity. It was a chance for me to prove my true feelings.”

“…don’t make fun of me. From the beginning, the one that’s saying things that’ll cause me to misunderstand was you, Lionel.”

The grumbling Atalante continued to frown as she took the cup that he handed her.

However, the tea she drank thoughtlessly suited Atalante’s taste more than she’d expected, and she continued to sip the tea, unlike her stiff expression.

Lionel looked at her with satisfaction, and followed her lead in picking up a tea cup and moistened his throat.

“There’s still a day left before the ceremony, so please think about it carefully.”

“It seems like you keep forgetting who I am. What would you do if I told  you to give up your neck?”

As she said that, Atalante, too, often forgets what the man in front of her was like.

As Lionel gulped down the purple-coloured tea, which resembles Atalante’s eyes, whispered languidly.

“You don’t seem to believe the words that I’ve said. No matter what you choose, I’ll give it all to you.”

“You’ll regret treating me like this later on.”

Lionel seemed to have written it off as a joke, but it was her first and last warning, and words that contained her sincerity.

‘The marriage that’ll take place in two days will remain as your one and only disgrace and blemish, Lionel Blanc.’

It was also what would happen if Lionel woke up from the drug one day.

However, until that day came, Atalante intended to do her absolute best.

She’d already made up her mind when she accepted this absurd marriage.

Until Argo’s safety is guaranteed and his secrets are revealed, she will use Lionel Blanc thoroughly.

Of course, she wouldn’t know how things would turn out, now that she’d ordered the antidote.

It was Lionel’s humourless voice that woke her up from her complicated state of mind.

“Regret, you say. Atalante, you’re someone that’s very compassionate, but you just don’t seem to trust me.”

“What do you mean….”

“You came to assassinate me, believing in the price the emperor would give you, and in that short amount of time, you felt pity for that aspiring knight that lived in the West.”

The aspiring knight that lived in the West.

Before she had the time to feel surprised that Lionel knew about Archiralph, he continued.

“Rubel, Madame Delica, Paul, and now the servants of the Grand Duke. There weren’t just one or two people that have won any amount of trust from you.”

He leant his upper body forward above the table, stared straight at Atalante and concluded.

“Why can’t I win your trust? Even if it’s just a tiny amount.”

Atalante kept her mouth shut.

She’d never thought that Lionel had such thoughts.

However, she obviously couldn’t trust him. She knew that it was all a lie, so there’s no way that she’ll believe it.

Lionel slowly rose from his seat as he looked at her distorted face with an odd gaze.

Before he knew it, he approached Atalante and lowered himself down.

“I didn’t mean to blame you. If you don’t believe me, it’s all… It’s because of my track record.”

“Track record?”

“So far, I’ve only ever done things that’s opposite of Miss Atalante’s taste.”

Unexpectedly, Lionel seemed to be well aware that the actions he’d taken were vicious. Just like Atalante.

Lionel, who gently tucked her red locks behind her ear, opened his mouth to Atalante’s side profile, which wasn’t facing him still.

“But rather than giving up, I want to think that I still have a chance. I’ll be a good husband, dearest Atalante. So that someday, you will trust me, and love me.”

Lionel’s whispering voice was like a white cloud of breath on a winter day. It lingered in front of her and disappeared in no time, so he kept creating it unknowingly.

The ear that his fingertips brushed against felt warm. Perhaps that day, Atalante had also swallowed the love potion.

Otherwise, she couldn’t explain this constant tickling sensation.

“Although you won’t change your mind in an instant, the words you’d once said about leaving me some leeway, I hope that you’ll also keep them.”

After uttering words that were like a spell, Lionel sat across from her like he had never been next to her.

“Until our tea has finished, would you like me to continue telling you about yesterday’s unfinished old story?”

With an awkward smile, he changed the subject like he wanted to change the atmosphere, and Atalante nodded slowly.

However, she couldn’t easily concentrate, even though she was listening to the latter part of the story that she was rather curious about.

She was too scared of the ‘leeway’ that he’d mentioned.

By leaving him leeway, she felt like she would end up being drenched by that man, like clothes that had been dampened by a drizzle.

Atalante blinked slowly, thinking that maybe her toes were already soaked.

He, who was moving his lips with a comfortable smile, felt distant. To the point where she had the dangerous thought of wanting to get closer.

The reason she felt this way was probably because no one has ever shown such blind affection for her.

That’s why, don’t be mistaken.

‘I’m a… a villain.’

Atalante, who kept asserting her nature, soon erased the stupid expression that was unbefitting of a villain.

Use and throw away. As always, for herself and the gang’s sake.

Atalante suppressed her emotions and made eye contact with Lionel, who finished the story. Then, she forcibly pulled up the corners of her mouth. It was to the point where her cheekbones tingled.

“That’s an interesting story.”

Lionel looked at Atalante for a while, before smiling at the woman that said it was funny with a dull expression.

He hoped that she would recall the tea time with him positively.

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The Grand Duchy’s traditional attires were largely divided into thick, elegant-feeling clothes called ‘Havre’ and ‘Latte’, garments with cloth draped around.

You may wonder what’s with Latte in a country with a freezing climate, but the  Grand Duchy’s heating technology was excellent enough to offset the cold, so it was common to dress lightly indoors, even in winter.

Also, it was customary to wear white Lattes regardless of the season during a married couple’s ceremony on the eve of the marriage.

A soft cloth was wrapped around her body and a delicate lace fabric was added on top.

The sight of Atalante wearing elegant pearl earrings under the half-updo that drooped down naturally caused the maids to exclaim with admiration.

“You’re so beautiful!”

“You’re like the goddess of beauty, Your Highness!”

“……it’s not Your Highness. I’m not married yet.”

Atalante frowned at the outpour of praise, turned and left the room first.

The maids that noted her red ears from behind grinned at each other.

“She’s so lovely.”

“I can’t believe such a lovely person is a villain. There must have been some misunderstanding in the Empire.”

“Yes, yes, she’s the goddess of healing that melted His Highness’ heart.”

The women, who were whispering praises of Atalante, followed behind their vanished master only after hearing the call of Agnes, the head maid.

Today was the eve of the wedding, which meant that it was the happy day where the grand duke and the soon-to-be grand duchess will hold the married couple’s ceremony.

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