Epilogue: A nice visit to the villain’s house

Translated by: Miss Ruby

–

“Mr. Lakis, you look like you’re in a good mood.”

I looked at Lakis who was practically shooting sparkles everywhere.

Lakis’ complexion was undeniably brighter than when we were in Grey Ferret. Of course, that might only be natural in a sense.

The land that Lakis and I stood on right now was the West.

The surrounding landscape was similar to a desert because this area was a little far from the city where people mainly lived. As the wind blew past me, a familiar smell brushed past my nose along with the dryness of the air.

Carnot was my hometown, but it was also where Lakis lived. So maybe he was happy to be back in the West after a long time.

“Yes, I am.”

Lakis turned to me, his face gleaming like jade despite the dusty sand around him, and his eyes curved as he smiled.

“I haven’t been alone with Ms. Yuri in such a long time, of course, I am in a good mood.”

His smile that seemed to be dripping with honey struck me directly and I paused.

Like he said, there were only two of us, Lakis and I, here right now.

Odin, Leo, and Siren who joined us went to check out their new home first. Lakis and I decided to stop by where the ruin fragments were first discovered so we separated from them.

“We’ve arrived. There it is.”

While I was thinking of what to say because I was blinded by Lakis’ especially dazzling smile, he turned his head and pointed somewhere.

I followed Lakis’ hand with my eyes and turned to look. And the sight I saw was…

I slowly opened my mouth.

“It’s empty.”

“Yeah, it’s empty.”

Lakis calmly replied.

The area before me right now was as desolate as the area we came through. The only difference was a hollow pit in the ground as if the area had been bombed.

The radius of the hole was quite wide and according to Lakis, there used to a considerably large ruin here.

“Did you get rid of it?”

“Yup, I did.”

Lakis once again refreshingly replied to my question.

When I looked at him with a brow raised, Lakis put on a strange smile.

“You didn’t ask so I didn’t say anything, but it’s already been a few years since I did that.”

To be honest, I somehow had a feeling that would be the case before I came here. I expected it to some extent when Lakis told me he knew the location of the ruin.

After all, Lakis was the person who came to the research institute himself and blew it up so I didn’t think he would just leave the ruins alone if he knew its location.That said, it did feel a little pointless now that I had seen it with my own eyes. I thought there would be some debris at least…

But there was not a single trace of the ruin in this place.

“You didn’t leave any dust, huh.”

“I’m a bit of a perfectionist.”

That wasn’t a compliment.

Lakis acted bashfully like he was embarrassed so I glared at him. I felt a little deceived but when I thought about it, Lakis never lied to me in the first place.

I only asked him if he knew the location where the ruin was first discovered, and he only answered that. I was the one who didn’t check with Lakis to know if the ruins were still there.

But even if I asked and Lakis responded honestly, I doubt it would have changed much. Because I wouldn’t think that it was wiped completely clean. I would think there ‘might’ be something there so I would have come to check it out once anyway.

Not knowing that the ‘might’ had been a trap, I looked at the empty plain before me and clicked my tongue under my breath.

“If you’re curious about anything, you can ask me.”

Right then, Lakis looked at me and said. And his following words surprise me a little, so I turned to look at him.

“Because I lived there for a few years, so I know more than most people.”

Lakis lived in the ruin? I had no idea about this.

Lakis then continued in a casual tone.

“And although I haven’t exactly looked for it, there should still be some data from the research done by the previous generation in the castle.”

“The Carnot castle?”

“Yes.”

At my reaction, Lakis curled his lips softly and smiled differently from before. His golden hair fluttered gently in the air as he tilted his head to me. Even his blue eyes that were exposed underneath had a beautiful smile in them.

Lakis whispered to me in a sweet voice that was difficult to refuse.

“So it would be nice if you went with me to the Carnot castle.”

* * *

Once again, I fell for Lakis’ beauty trap. In the end, I decided to go to the Carnot castle.

Initially, I was planning on staying with my fellow teammates. Lakis had been telling me to come to his castle ever since the topic of moving came up but I wasn’t that interested. It wasn’t just me, Lakis also invited Odin, Leo, and Siren to come to his castle. He readily said they could stay as long as they wanted.

However, when Odin and Siren heard his invitation, their eyes shook like there was an earthquake and they couldn’t easily say yes or no. That was only natural since the two of them did not look comfortable interacting with Lakis, the king of Carnot.

Although, Leo didn’t seem to care much as usual.

Anyway, the three of them decided to stay somewhere other than the Carnot Castle in the end and I chose to do the same thing.

But in the end, I was following Lakis to his castle right now.

“Welcome to my castle, Ms. Yuri.”

Lakis flashed me a smile much brighter than what he had before. Seeing such a smile drawn on that beautiful face made me feel like I was seeing a beautiful painting.

“Hk!”

“Hiik!”

However, the people around me reacted like there were seeing a ghost.Right now, Lakis and I had just passed through the gate that led to the huge castle and people that seemed to be workers had lined up. Like there were here to greet their master who just returned.

But as soon as Lakis spoke, the people who were respectfully bowing their heads with their ears strained in curiosity, swiftly lifted their heads, and their eyes either widened in shock or they gasped like they had choked on something.

The ones who saw Lakis’ radiant smile went so white that they looked like they were going to faint at any moment.

“Thank you, Mr. Lakis…your castle is quite nice.”

I replied to Lakis, feeling odd.

At that, the people standing around looked at me with shaky eyes. Their mouths fell open like they couldn’t believe it.

“I renovated it not too long ago, do you like it?”

“Yeah, this is the first time I’ve been somewhere like this, but the castle does suit you a lot.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

At that, Lakis once again whispered sweetly to me like there was honey in his mouth.

Lakis’ beauty was truly sky-piercing today. I thought I had gotten pretty used to him but apparently not. Whenever I saw Lakis, I kept forgetting what I wanted to say.

“You’ve cleaned the room, right?”

“Yes, yes, yes! hic!”

However, the people in the castle seemed less adapted to Lakis than me.

When Lakis turned his head and asked a question, the recipient of his gaze stumbled over his words and even hiccupped.

“Shall we go up then? I prepared the best room for you, Ms. Yuri. I think you’ll like it.”

However, Lakis didn’t seem slightly bothered by the reactions of other people.

Lakis took my hand.

As he smiled brightly like an excited boy, I felt like I could almost see flowers blooming around him.

I couldn’t help but stare at him.

My room.

The fact that an average citizen like me was invited to the Carnot castle was fascinating enough but there was even a room for me in it.

I felt very strange.

There was something else that made me feel strange too.

I wasn’t used to having someone purposefully make space for me to stay like this.

But I definitely didn’t hate it. Rather…

“I’m sure I’ll like it since Mr. Lakis prepared it.”

I said while walking along with Lakis.

Even I could tell that my voice was softer than usual.

Lakis looked at me with wide eyes, seemingly a little surprised by what I said. That expression was so innocent and unlike Lakis that it was adorable.

After which, I noticed Lakis’ exposed ears slowly getting red.

The next moment, Lakis gave me his prettiest smile so far.

“I hope you do.”

His smile was contagious, and I smiled a little too.

And as expected, I really liked the room that Lakis prepared for me.

And so, my life with Lakis in the Carnot Castle began.