The Villain Has Gone Mad For Me - Chapter 35

It was Edan as usual.

Everything was the same except for his neatly ironed tunic shirt being severely wrinkled.

The fine blonde hair, the eyes that shimmered more brilliantly in the darkness, the elegant yet arrogant gait.

“I’m not doing anything.”

Edan leisurely walked over and stood in front of me, as if he had nothing to rush about.

Then he glanced at the crumbled castle wall and naturally cupped my face, as if there was nothing out of place.

As I widened my eyes at his warm touch that spread through our connected skin, Edan smiled gently.

“Were you thinking of running away again?”

I couldn’t feel any force from the large hand lifting my chin.

Rather, Edan’s touch was more careful than ever, feeling pleasantly soft due to his body heat.

“I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Why not? You should.”

Edan, who had given a dry response, scrutinized my face with sharp eyes while slowly moving his head from side to side.

Normally I would have told him to let go immediately, but I know that when Edan has this expression, nothing I say will get through.

And I can’t push this man away by force anyway.

“Then you’re going to threaten me again.”

Edan, who had been focused on my face with quite a serious expression as if checking for any wounds he might not know about, paused at my delayed response. He moved his eyes that were on my right cheek to meet mine.

Although I had obediently stayed still as he pleased, I had quite a serious expression, but he let out a small chuckle as if something was funny.

“I’m not threatening you.”

“Liar.”

You always do.

“Yeah, it’s a lie. Alright, check complete. No wounds.”

Edan smiled, his eyes curving, and released my chin. And then.

“No matter where you go, you’ll end up in my hands anyway, so don’t even dream of such things.”

I knew he would say something like this. At his words that might not be a joke, all of Edan’s actions towards me until now flashed through my mind like a panorama.

Ruben knowing about me. Calling me for breakfast. Appearing at the exact timing when Hillstain tried to take me away.

Suspicions arose about all the strange and odd days of the past.

What if Edan really knew that the effect that calmed his headache wasn’t pepper, but my healing power?

If he had been keeping an eye on me because of that…

‘Everything fits together strangely well, his actions and attitude towards me.’

I stared at Edan intently.

“Master, I’ll apologize.”

Edan, who was standing askew with his hands in his pockets, stopped in his tracks.

“For what.”

“I actually lied.”

Edan tilted his head slightly, twisting his lips crookedly.

He looked down at me with a relaxed gaze, one corner of his eye wrinkling as if asking what my intentions were.

“So what.”

“It wasn’t pepper.”

“…”

“Actually, I… was a candidate for the Holy Maiden who should go to the temple.”

Edan said nothing.

“It wasn’t pepper, but I put my healing power in your breakfast, and that was the effect.”

As I spoke, I stared directly into Edan’s eyes without blinking once, more steadily than ever before. There’s no way to escape anymore like this. First, I needed to know why Edan was doing this to me, and how much he knew about me.

“Is that so?”

Although there was an awkward atmosphere for a moment, Edan soon responded calmly as usual.

Seeing Edan’s attitude as he put his hand back in his pocket that had stopped, I was convinced.

‘As I thought. He knew.’

If he hadn’t known, there’s no way he would react like this. Edan wasn’t surprised or flustered at all.

It’s not just anything, but healing power.

The power that has calmed the pain of the ability that has tormented me since awakening my power.

Even if it’s Edan, he should have been at least a little surprised when I said I was a Holy Maiden candidate and that I had used it on him. But Edan was indifferent, as if my confession was no big deal.

I continued speaking to him.

“It was also me who healed you when you came back severely injured last time.”

Edan smirked as if it wasn’t anything new.

“Really? Then now that you’ve honestly confessed, should I give you some compensation for saving me?”

At those words, it was as if a light bulb went off in my head.

“Will you?”

“Didn’t you say it to ask for it? To confess on your own what you’ve been lying about as pepper all this time.”

“Then will you listen?”

“I’ll think about it.”

It’s shocking in its own way that Edan has known about my healing power and pretended not to, but I can use this.

I took a breath while contemplating how to bring it up.

My relationship with Ivy…

I should at least say as much information as Hillstain knows. Edan could find out that much even if I don’t say it.

“Ivy the Great Holy Maiden and I are friends who grew up in the same orphanage. And when Lord Hillstain came last time… he said Ivy was looking for me.”

Edan, who had been tilting his head as if it wasn’t a big deal, stopped as he was taking his hand out of his pocket, as if waiting for my words.

I swallowed hard.

“Help me meet with Ivy.”

Edan, who is not on good terms with the Crown Prince, cannot enter the temple now. That’s why he received the potion as a gift from the Emperor. Ivy cannot leave the temple without the permission of the Imperial Family, and Edan cannot enter.

I know it’s not a good situation.

But Edan is the only person I can cling to and ask for help.

Edan… if he wants, he can approach Ivy anytime. There must be plenty of ways.

If I can’t run away right now, I need to meet Ivy, who is the cause of all these problems, and end it. I need to tell her to stop looking for me.

“There’s something I want to ask.”

“Yes?”

Edan, who suddenly changed the flow of the conversation, took something out of his pocket and slowly approached me.

“A Holy Maiden candidate who should be in the temple coming all the way to a rural town in the east to get a job means she ran away, right?”

“…”

“Why did you run away?”

“That’s…”

While I hesitated to answer, Edan opened the object in his hand with a click.

Unconsciously looking at his hand, I saw it was the lip balm he had applied to me in the morning.

Wait a minute. He had this in his pocket? Why? Don’t tell me he was going to apply it to me?

I took a step back with a start.

Edan, as if he didn’t care about my reaction at all, stepped forward boldly, not just as much as I had retreated, but even more.

“I know that quite a large reward is given to Holy Maiden candidates when they go to the temple. There must be a reason why you didn’t go to the temple and ran away instead.”

“Well, that’s…”

“Seeing that you got a job at my castle, it means you needed money, and wouldn’t it be more comfortable to live as a Holy Maiden than work as a maid?”

“W-wait a moment… mmph.”

While throwing questions, Edan casually grabbed my chin again and started applying the balm to my lips.

Why is he so gentle when touching my skin when his actions and words are so rough?

In contrast to his cynical expression, Edan’s fingers stroked my lips very slowly.

The tips of Edan’s fingers, softened but calloused from holding a sword, brushed roughly for a moment. At that raw sensation, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Lati. Open your eyes.”

No! It’s too burdensome to make eye contact this close!

“I said open your eyes.”

But I opened my eyes immediately. Because Edan’s voice had lowered deeply.

I quickly opened my eyes and made eye contact for about 0.1 seconds before immediately rolling my eyes to the side.

It’s only in this situation that I remember again, but last night Edan said some incredible things.

Until now, I could somehow escape because of the reason that I had a fiancé.

Come to think of it, I don’t have a fiancé anymore. Actually, since it was a fraud, I never had one in the first place.

“Now, let go, will you let go?”

“I don’t want to.”

“As I said this morning, it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Do you only apply medicine when it hurts?”

What? What nonsense is this again! When do you apply medicine if not when it hurts?

I looked at Edan with incredulous eyes.

“I’ll apply it if I want to.”

Edan smiled, lifting one corner of his mouth as if amused, then pressed his fingertip firmly against my lips.

“So, what’s the reason you ran away?”

This is strange.

Edan, who had been bombarding me with questions, had a look in his eyes as if he already knew the answer, not curious at all.

Rather, it felt like a question to confirm something.

“…Because the temple is scary.”

“Why?”

Edan, who had carelessly shoved the balm back into his pocket, calmly waited for my answer.

“Because… I’ll die if I go.”

I thought he would be surprised by the answer, but this time too, Edan was nonchalant.

“How did you know? That Holy Maiden candidates who go to the temple die.”

I pressed my lips tightly shut.

Did Edan know too? Well, someone like Edan might know. But he probably doesn’t know about becoming a mummy and dying.

This was an absolute secret.

The worst secret that the temple is absolutely hiding from the empire’s people.

If such a secret leaked out, no one would come to the temple.

Even if there were Holy Maidens with healing powers, they wouldn’t sacrifice their lives unless they were crazy about money.

I had no way to explain to Edan how I knew such a secret.

“The Great Holy Maiden can’t leave the temple. You know you have to go to the temple to meet her, right?”

“I know.”

I nodded.

“I don’t really want to let you meet her.”

No! I jerked my head up.

“Why?”

“Because you’ll die if you go?”

That’s true, but how dare you use my own words against me!

“Didn’t I tell you? That my headaches disappeared after you came.”

“…You did.”

“I thought it was pepper, but.”

“…”

I frowned at Edan, who spoke as if teasing. If you knew everything.

“Have you changed your mind now? What. Are you prepared to die?”

“I don’t intend to die.”

I want to live. That’s why I’m saying I’ll go. I have no choice here.

Die from using up my healing power, be dragged to the temple and die as a mummy, or die by burning!

No matter what future I think of, all that’s left for me is death! Meanwhile, the most promising path is to meet Ivy.

I realized it clearly from Jenald’s incident. I shouldn’t trust others easily. I won’t be fooled anymore.

“I must meet Ivy.”