I Became the Villain of a Romance Fantasy

Chapter 38: Uninvited Guest (3)

Merohim is a city that flourished around the Tower of Dawn and the Winter Castle located in the center.

Although it was a city built in a frigid, snow-covered region where warmth could not be found, as the largest city in the northern region, its size was impressive, comparable to any other major city.

The white snow falling from the sky was not an obstacle to their lives but only a thing that made the surrounding scenery more delightful.

Perhaps was it because the city developed around the Mage Tower?

In addition to the automatic magic lamps that I had seen before, there were various items made by the technology of the Tower of Dawn in Merohim, which were all convenience facilities prepared for the people living in the city.

Considering the convenience facilities located throughout the city, Merohim boasted a higher standard of living than Sarham and other cities in the south, despite the marginally colder climate.

Of course, all of this was thanks to the grace of the Mage Tower, so it would have been an unimaginable sight if someone other than Edelweiss had been the owner of this place.

The citizens of Merohim were also aware of this fact. I could feel the firm loyalty in the eyes of those who looked at Elena as she was walking down the street with me.

“One grape honey candy and one apple soda candy.”

“Yes~”

When the Bingdanghoro in her mouth disappeared, leaving only the stick that was holding the center, I noticed a different kind of sweet treat that caught her eye. More accurately, I observed the sparkle in Elena’s eyes as she watched the children nearby nibbling on the candy.

Elena, who thought she would have consumed all the sweets of the Merohim, was looking at the candy with curious eyes, so I had to find out the source of the candy.

It wasn’t difficult to find the store.

As I continued walking in the direction the children had just left, I soon found a store selling the candy I had just seen.

The owner of the candy shop noticed Elena standing next to me, her eyes widening in surprise. She quickly put on a warm smile and began retrieving candies directly from the machine.

The purple mass that emerged from the machine was stirred a few times by the owner using a stick, gradually transforming into the common shape of a round lollipop I knew. While I had seen cotton candy in Sarham before, witnessing the candy being made right before my eyes was a first for me.

In any case, it was evident that cities with mage towers possessed a distinct charm.

Initially, when we arrived at the night market, I anticipated a similar experience to wandering the streets of Sarham with Elena in the past. However, the atmosphere of the two places differed greatly from my expectations.

Looking around, I could see that each stall on the street had a variety of mechanical devices. As a city developed around the Mage Tower, the level of magic engineering penetration was so different that it was incomparable to other cities.

That being said, it didn’t mean Sarham was a run-down town; it simply had its own unique ambiance.

If I were to describe it, the night market of Merohim looked like a modern-day scene from my memories.

However, even though I had lived in a similar modern society, the appearance of Merohim was unique to me, perhaps because I had become accustomed to the appearance of Sarham.

“Here are your grape honey candy and apple soda candy.”

By the time I looked around, the candy I ordered was ready. 

Matching the colors of the respective fruits, the grape candy had a deep purple color, and the apple candy had a light green tint. I handed all the candies I received from the owner to Elena.

“Elena. Here.”

“Ah, thank you.”

As soon as Elena received the candy, she promptly put a purple one in her mouth without hesitation.

Fortunately, the taste of the candy seemed to have met her expectations.

I had been biting sweet things in my mouth until just a moment ago, but she put that sweet thing in her mouth so casually, that I, who couldn’t eat sweet things and had heard many times others saying “What’s wrong with your tongue?”, also thought that her tongue was wrong in a different way from mine.

After a while, Elena took out the candy she was holding in her mouth with a satisfied expression.

She turned to me, looking excited, as if she wanted to tell me her impressions of the taste she just experienced. However, when our eyes met, I burst out laughing.

“Hmph!”

The corners of her mouth were stained purple, like the color of candy, as if the paint had been spilled on a blank sheet of paper. Come to think of it, some candies had pigments that would stick to the tongue. I guess the candy Elena just ate was one of those.

“Damian? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

Seeing my sudden laugh, Elena tilted her head and spoke to me.

But there was no need for me to answer her question. Because a child eating the same candy as us had passed by our side.

He was the one who had led us to purchase the candy earlier. Perhaps due to the passage of time, unlike Elena’s pristine appearance moments ago, the corners of his mouth were also stained with the color of the candy he had been nibbling on. Elena, realizing her own situation, swiftly covered her mouth with her hand.

“Damian…”

“Yes? Why is that?”

Elena looked at me with resentful eyes, but I stood confidently.

It was true that I had taken her to the candy store, but it was her who said she wanted to eat the candy first.

Of course, she didn’t say it out loud, she just conveyed it with her eyes.

The bone-chilling north wind that had dug into my bones suddenly began to warm up to the point of suspecting if it was still in the same place as before.

It seemed that it was being influenced by the magical power Elena exuded, as her emotions were becoming stronger, and the snow that had accumulated under our feet suddenly began to melt away. I didn’t know how the surroundings would change if I made fun of her in this state, so I took out a handkerchief, which had been my habit since I became Damian.

“Stay still.”

I gently took her hand that was covering her mouth, which had turned purple, and delicately wiped away the color that had stained her lips, moving my hand carefully as possible to not smudge it.

Whether it was because the handkerchief was a high-quality item or because the pigment was easy to remove in the first place, fortunately, the stain on Elena’s lips was completely removed without leaving a trace. The handkerchief was inevitably stained with the purple color from her, but since it was originally intended for that purpose, I didn’t feel too bad about it.

“T-Thank you…”

Even after wiping away the stain with the handkerchief, Elena’s face was still colored differently than before.

Perhaps not wanting to display her face in such a state, Elena briefly lowered her head. However, upon noticing the handkerchief in my hand, she swiftly snatched it away and held it in her own hand.

“I-It got the stain because of me! I’ll clean it up right away!”

“What?”

I couldn’t quite understand Elena’s hurried words, but when I saw the handkerchief shining in her hand, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten.

“There! It’s all clean now!!!”

Elena handed me the newly bleached handkerchief.

‘Yes, She is a wizard after all.’

Not just any wizard, but a highly skilled one who could effortlessly perform low-level magic such as [Clean] without using a chant.

As I stared blankly at the handkerchief she handed me, she tilted her head, wondering what had happened, and then her face turned redder than ever, as if she remembered what she had done.

White snow began to fall from the dark night sky. As the cold wind picked up, people passing by swiftly bundled up in their thick coats.

But for some reason, the wind blowing around me was only warm.

***

We went into a nearby store to avoid the snow falling from the sky.

Walking through the streets in the snow had its own romantic allure, but if we continued, the snow would melt and refreeze, creating a slippery and treacherous path.

Since it was a particularly busy night with a lot of people, if something had actually happened, there wouldn’t be such a nuisance.

“Elena, are you okay…”

I stopped talking in the middle. It seemed like it would take some time for her to really calm down and be able to meet my gaze. Speaking at a time like this would only add unnecessary embarrassment.

After sitting down in a suitable place, I decided to take a look around to see what kind of place we had entered.

Since it looked decent from the outside, I hadn’t checked what kind of store it was. However, looking at the books displayed and the people around, I thought this was a place that was a bookstore and also played a role similar to a café.

Just then, someone who looked like an employee came up to us and handed us a menu.

She looked at Elena, who was still lowering her head, and made a surprised expression, but quickly returned to her previous state and handed me the menu with a calm face.

It seemed that the fact that service workers were good at controlling their emotions was a truth that didn’t change even if the world changed.

As expected, most of the items written on the menu were desserts, with simple dishes as the main focus. Since Elena had been eating sweet candy, it was fortunate that I could give her something else to taste.

“One rosemary, one jasmine for Elena, and one pancake, please.”

Elena lifted her head slightly, glanced at the menu, and used her finger to indicate her selection. When she met my gaze again, she quickly averted her eyes toward the window.

However, to me, even her shy demeanor appeared adorable.

When the waitress took our order and left with the menu board, I glanced at the sky through the window that Elena was looking at. The snow seemed to show no signs of stopping. If it continued like this, we would have to use a communication crystal to contact the Winter Castle, but I wasn’t ready to end this time just yet.

I turned my gaze back to the books on display and spoke up.

“I noticed earlier that you can borrow and read books here. Would you like to take a look?”

Elena stood up without saying a word in response to my offer. She still couldn’t meet my gaze, but she gently took my outstretched hand and followed my lead as we walked toward the bookshelves.

When we arrived in front of the tightly packed shelves, Elena quickly scanned through the titles from top to bottom before turning her gaze to the next block. Although it seemed like she was just casually looking around, she probably checked all the titles of the books in that block within that short period of time.

I didn’t have the same talent as Elena, so I slowly browsed the books on the opposite side of her.

Maybe it was when I looked at half of the block. She had already checked all the books in this place, so she disappeared from my sight to look at the next bookshelf.

Perhaps it would be faster for her to browse through all the books here than for me to browse through the books in this block.

I thought it would be better to take one more look before going to her side. If I stayed separated from her like this, it would defeat the purpose of looking around together.

As I read through the titles of the books in front of me, one thin, old book caught my eye. It was so worn and thin that I might have passed by it if I didn’t look carefully, but the title of the book triggered a memory in my mind.

<The Dragon in the Snowfield.>

There are many legends about dragons, but considering the location of this place was Merohim, the title of this book was enough to stimulate my original knowledge.

I reached out my hand to take the book. But perhaps because I was too focused on this, my usually sharp senses had dulled and I didn’t notice the other presence approaching the same book.

“Oh.” “Uh.”

I accidentally collided with someone else’s hand, realizing that I wasn’t the only one interested in picking up this particular book.

At that moment our hands touched, and I felt an indescribable sensation that pierced my entire body.

It wasn’t like static electricity. It was an instinctive aversion engraved in my body, mixed with a strange sense of affinity.

I hurriedly turned my head to find the owner of the hand.

The person whose hand touched me was also standing there and looking at me, probably feeling the same way as I did. As if looking into a mirror, very familiar eyes met mine.

With a puzzled expression, the person in front of me spoke up.

“What are you…?”

That was the same question I wanted to ask.

[TN: Hi, everyone! I’d been in talks with the Readingpia team for some time now, and finally decided to TL ‘Incompatible Interspecies Wives’ for them. 

Don’t worry though; the release rate of Villain of RF won’t slow down, as I’ll be translating ‘Wives’ only on weekends or in my free time.