Rehabilitating the Villainess

I took the bottle and opened the lid.

A strange smell immediately wafted up to my nose.

Shael also frowned due to the smell. To think that she was trying to feed me something like this, yet she herself was frowning at the smell.

Drrr!

I got up from my seat while holding the bottle with one hand.

“Wha…what are you doing?”

“Let’s see what kind of juice it is.”

“…!”

I squeezed the juice into Shael’s mouth while she was eating dessert. Since it wasn’t poison, she’d be fine… probably.

Soon, there was only a little juice left. So I thought she would spit out the rest, so I said, “Swallow it all.”

After hearing my words, Shael really began to swallow the juice. It was something unbelievable!

Feeling quite strange, I asked Shael, “What kind of juice was it, did you really swallow it without any resistance?”

“The sap of the tree of obedience.”

Even from the name, the juice seemed unusual. No matter how you think about it, it wasn’t something that seemed to be used for a good cause.

“What does it do?”

“The juice can make someone obey any command.”

Somehow, it didn’t make sense for her to be this honest. It was evident that it was due to the sap of the tree of obedience.

Realizing her mistake, Shael covered her mouth with her hands, but… that was useless now.

“Remove your hand and answer.”

“Yes.”

Shael was really following my words! She couldn’t resist!

I suddenly had a thought, ‘This situation is an opportunity that might never come again!’

“Are you waiting for me to come these days?” 

It was really a cringy question, and I almost grabbed my head in shame.

I mean, even though I had received letters from many noble ladies due to my status as the heir to a ducal house, I had never really been in a relationship.

So I wasn’t used to saying these kind of words. However, I wanted to ask in order to make fun of Shael later.

If Shael was really waiting for my arrival every day, that information would be something quite useful.

Although I had a weapon called dessert, I wanted to have something else to annoy Shael.

“Yes.”

Shael couldn’t overcome the sap’s effect, and she answered my question. 

Then, I started thinking of the next question, and decided on something after giving it a lot of thought. It was a fairly unconventional question.

“Do you hate me?”

I wanted to ask if she liked me, but I couldn’t because of shame. Still, this question should have give me the answer I wanted as well.

The moment Shael was about to open her mouth and give an answer, Duke Jespen suddenly entered the room, like he usually did.

Drrr!

“Eran, Shael. I’m glad you seem to be on good terms.”

“Of course, Duke. Isn’t it natural considering that we are fiances?”

I spoke to Duke Jespen, who was looking at us with a smile, and turned to ask Shael, “Right, Shael?”

“…”

I spoke without the usual honorific that was commonly used among nobles. 

Shael just nodded her head at my question.

Duke Jespen said with a smile, “Okay, then I suppose I will get to see my grandchildren soon!”

He then gave Shael a satisfied look, and quickly left the room.

“…”

Anyway, let’s continue from where we left off. 

But, I didn’t want to repeat the previous question. I didn’t want to know Shael’s feelings using some kind of strange tree sap.

Instead, I was inspired by Duke Jespen’s parting words and I said to Shael, “If, by any chance, we have a child later…”

“…?”

“Whose personality would it resemble more?”

Of course, Shael would definitely avoid this question, since it was a question based on the premise that a child would be born between me and Shael.

But it seemed that the potency of the sap of the tree of obedience was quite great.

“It must be more like my personality.”

If that really ends up being the case, I think I’d have to go find a place to cry. 

‘My child will have such a dirty personality? No way!’ Shaking my head, I said to Shael. “Being similar to my personality should be fine. If so…”

“…”

“A name. What should we name it?”

Actually, I knew that we shouldn’t be hasty in naming it, but… I couldn’t resist the urge when I thought about my future with Shael. In the first place, me and Shael had somewhat similar personality so that didn’t really bother me.

“Name?”

“Yes, a name. I really wish it would be a girl.”

Actually, having a son would also be fine. But I think it would be really cute if our daughter ended up looking like Shael. Of course, I also hoped that her personality didn’t resemble hers.

Shael, who had no patience, quickly opened her mouth. She came up that precious name without a moment’s thought. “How about Ruelle?”

“Ruelle.”

It was only a moment of thought, however, Shael and I were convinced. We wouldn’t be able to think of a better name than that!

“It’s a pretty, cute name.”

“Isn’t it?”

“I don’t think there can be a better name than this.”

We made up our mind right away. Yes we were a bit impatient, but I was sure that we were a pair that really suited each other.