Chapter 12: 12

The opportunity to test what he had found in the library came easily.

It was at lunch the next day. He had finished reading the book he took from the bookshelf yesterday. The time passed quickly.

-knock knock-

Then, there was a knock in front of his room. Desian had very weak expectations for this.
“Brother!”
And this was a bit more disappointing. Aaron looked in at Desian who was lounging and reading his book from yesterday.
Aaron poked his head into the room and said,
“Brother, let’s have lunch together in the dining room. What do you think?”
It was an exceedingly doubtful proposition.
The annex was completely isolated now, and he had mind-controlled the attendants to bring meals to their rooms. Aaron had no reason to visit the dining room.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.  But I wanted to eat lunch together, so I prepared a meal. Ah, should we invite Citrina as well?”
Aaron’s expression became even brighter as he mentioned Citrina. Desian nodded, staring at the smile on Aaron’s face.
That smile was the sort of expression you make you are fond of someone.
Desian decided to express his affection for Citrina. For the first time, people did not seem like inorganic things. Curiosity was seeping into his mind.
“Yup! See you later, Brother!”
Desian sluggishly closed his eyes, listening to Aaron talk.
It was strange.
Thinking of her, emotions swelled up in his lungs.
Was it true what had been said about him liking Citrina?
In that case, he is….

***

Citrina overslept for the first time in a while. It was Aaron that woke her up.
She blurrily opened her eyes when she heard a knock on her door.

Knock, knock, knock.
Aaron knocked slowly on here door
“Citrina, are you sleeping?”
“Yes. I woke up just now.”
“Oh…. Perhaps, then, do you want to eat lunch together?”
“Yes. I’ll be right out, Aaron nim.”
Citrina got out of her comfy bed, took off her pajamas, and put on a cotton dress.
It was an outfit that showed the impoverished conditions of the baron’s house.
Even though they had known Citrina was going to the duke’s house, a dress had not been prepared for her.
Citrina didn’t care. In any case, she would succeed in becoming a world-famous jewelry designer, and then she would be rich. She would buy a lot of clothes when she became a really rich person,
“I don’t need it either, but it’s nice to have a mirror here.”
The baron’s household did not have a mirror. A mirror was a precious object, so it was expected that the baron’s house would not have one considering they couldn’t even afford to have many servants.
Once Citrina was all dressed, she checked herself in the mirror.
“Alright. This is pretty good.”

With the dress on, she opened the door. Aaron was standing in front of the door and smiled brightly at her.
“Citrina, let’s go. Brother is waiting for us.”
“Yes? Alright.”
Citrina nodded and skillfully hid her embarrassed face.
“Desian was waiting? That’s unexpected.”
Citrina followed Aaron to the ducal dining room.
However, Citrina was quite surprised.
With Aaron as her escort, Citrina walked lightly inside.
This wasn’t in the original work, but she didn’t really care. She didn’t mean to ruin the original work, but she didn’t intend to follow it exactly either.
To be honest, Citrina was tired of supporting and caring for other people.
Her only concern was whether Desian could be rehabilitated and her death could be avoided.
While her mind sorted itself, Aaron pushed out a chair for her and smiled brightly.
“Citrina, sit here!”
“Good day, Citrina.”
Aaron’s bubbly voice contrasted with Desian’s languid voice.
“Yes. Did you all have sweet dreams?”
And Citrina, her voice added to the mix..
With three different voices, the dining room came to life.
Citrina sat in the chair Desian had drawn out and greeted Desian lightly, smiling.
Desian nodded. His face was still expressionless. It was an expression that didn’t care about society, and indifferent look.
‘Well. Every journey begins with a single step.
‘Well, Desian just needs to become a little more nice.’
With her heart composed and a smile on her lips, Citrina looked down at the table. Her plate was still empty in preparation for the meal.
“Citrina, Brother, wait a minute!”
Citrina sat still and looked at Aaron’s retreating back. Desian’s eyes followed her persistent gaze. Until Citrina faced him.
“Desian?”
Noticing him watching her, Citrina gave him a slight wink. An uncharacteristically strange expression was revealed. Did that really happen? Citrina didn’t know yet.
“Yes, Citrina.”
Desian responded drowsily. So Citrina tried to talk to him.
But unfortunately for her, Aaron arrived before she could say anything.
As soon as Desian finished speaking, Aaron walked in with a plate in one hand and a pail in the other. He began putting a simple dish on the table with a proud face.
“This is the appetizer.”
As Aaron gave an explanation of the dish, he served up an appetizer consisting of three eggs and a Cesar salad.
“This is the stew I worked very hard on.”
After Aaron spoke, he brought out bouillabaisse (TL Note: A fish stew with fish, shellfish, onions, potatoes, etc) and bread soaked in the stew.
The smell of food began to fill the duke’s dining room.
Citrina was impressed. Aaron seemed determined to enjoy the situation before he faced death.
Citrina knew about the future, so she was able to stay calm. However, what if she was in Aaron’s position?
Citrina wasn’t confident she could be so positive.
“Thank you, Aaron! Thank you for the meal.”

Of course, Citrina started with the appetizer. She didn’t know the exact name for this dish. Half-boiled eggs were in it, and it seemed like she would use a fork to pop them out.
‘Ah, I’m getting choked up because I suddenly remembered the food at the baron’s house.’
Despite being the respected daughter of an aristocrat family, Citrina had struggled doing difficult work until now. Compared to the burnt bread and cold chunks of bacon the baroness had served, this was heaven. There was not a bit of putridly sweet or burnt smell.
‘I will make more money and outdo the baron.’
Citrina strengthened her resolve with her fork held in the air.
“Citrina, what do you think? It’s delicious, I’m sure!”
Aaron’s sudden voice interrupted her thoughts. Citrina blinked in surprise.
“Yes. I think it’s delicious. Thank you.”
She grinned and tapped at the egg.
-tap, tap-
‘Why isn’t it breaking?’
Aaron said you needed to press on the egg, but the white and the yolk were not separating.
‘What is it?’
Citrina glanced at Aaron. Aaron was looking at her with anticipation. With that look of anticipation, Aaron picked up a fork and reached for the egg.
At that moment, the fork hadn’t been touching the egg, but it still popped open. It felt unnatural.
‘Oh? What was that?’
Citrina tilted her head to the side. Then Desian spoke briefly.
“It looks delicious, Citrina.”
“That’s true.”
She took a bite of the egg. Citrina was oblivious to Desian’s gaze, which was focused on her.
Anyway, as Desian had said, the food was certainly delicious. She was normally nervous, but her body was relaxed now.

By the time they finished the meal, the atmosphere was more harmonious than she would have imagined. Desian’s demeanor was also mild. He didn’t even seem to be blackening or turning into a villain.
The table was neatly cleaned. All of the tableware was taken away by the attendants brainwashed by Desian.

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They had eaten all of the appetizer, and the stew was certainly delicious. The warmth and fullness made her feel languid.
Citrina was happy. Except Desian’s attention occasionally, no often, was on her.
And just then, Aaron…
“Oh, wait, I’m going to bring my cookbook back to the library !”
…walked out of the dining room without saying another word.
“Yes, Aaron nim?”
Aaron’s attitude was somewhat unnatural. There was no need to bring the cookbook to the library.
It seemed more like a trick in order to get Citrina and Desian alone in the same space.
‘It’s a misunderstanding, right?’
Aaron was already out the door before Citrina could retort. Only empty echoes rang out through the dining room.
‘This leaves me and Desian alone together.’
The circumstances were not bad. But when Desian began to speak to her, a little bit of tension caused her to straighten up.
“Citrina.”
“What?”
“It seemed like you had something to say. Before.”
Come to think about it, there was something she wanted to say a minute ago. Aaron had interrupted her skillfully, but Desian seemed to have remembered it now. It felt strangely like consideration.

Citrina nodded her head lightly.
‘The mood is good, so it’s time for the first attempt at rehabilitation.’
It wasn’t what she was going to say earlier, but that didn’t matter.
Citrina needed to first see where his morals currently stood. That way, she would know where to begin.
“Ah, that’s….”
Citrina took her chance. As Citrina spoke, Desian looked at her persistently and silently. As ever, his face had no color to it.
‘Since I don’t know when Aaron will be back, I need to have an objective to find out Desian’s circumstances right now. Should I try and go with that?’
Citrina slightly turned her neck.
‘Yeah, let’s think about this, Citrina.’ She just needed to get a little closer to him…
“Desian, perhaps do you remember our first meeting in the garden?”
“Of course.”
“Yesterday, when I opened my window the flowers were in bloom.”
“The flowers were in bloom.”
Citrina was secretly surprised because his face looked so serious. She hid her surprise and nodded.
“Yes. The flowers were also pretty, and I remember Desian saying he liked summer as well. Is that right?”
As Citrina finished her question, she felt slightly doubtful.
‘Was that not right? Is that actually what happened?’
Since so much had happened, it was impossible for her to remember everything.
Surprisingly, Desian who had been listening to her talking, opened his mouth.
“I didn’t know at that time, Citrina.”
Desian paused, looked at her lips, and hesitated. If she hadn’t known he was the original villain, she would have thought he was acting shy.
“I think I’ll like it.”
It was a sentence that could be easily misunderstood because there was no subject. Nevertheless, Citrina understood that the person saying it was Desian. He was unfamiliar with the outside world now.
‘That’s good. Let’s go talk in the garden together now.’
She was glad for the positive response. It was really good that Desian liked summer. The odds of him accepting her suggestion went up.
“Yes. The flowers in the garden…”
‘…let’s go see them together.’ Citrina couldn’t finish her suggestion.
She hadn’t done it one purpose. It was because she was flustered.
Her excuse was terribly simple.
He, the original villain, ‘that’ Desian Pietro had laughed.
“I want to see it. Together.”
Citrina was shocked to see the bright smile on Desian’s usually expressionless face.
Several possible conclusions floated in her head.
1. It was a warning.
2. He was about to sneeze.
3. It was ridiculous, and she couldn’t believe it, but he was laughing.
Surprisingly, the third conclusion was the one that seemed correct after consideration.
‘What caused this change?’
Citrina stopped her thoughts from flowing down a strange direction.
Citrina decided to play it cool for now and respond.
“Yes, alright.”
Citrina was used to strange things these days, so she was luckily good at hiding her astonishment.
‘I’m sure he’s changing for the better.’
There was a spark of hope. Somehow in this dire situation of survival, the chances of survival had risen from 1 percent to 10 percent.
‘I definitely see room for rehabilitation.’
But everything had to go well. Citrina did not have much time left before she had to leave for another county to find the gem spirit, Gemma.
Citrina slowly opened and closed her eyes. Desian was till looking at her like that. He spoke in a low whisper.
“Citrina.”
“Yes?”
“Humans have various ways of expressing emotions, I read.”
The man who was described in the original work was wearing a mask had just used the word “emotions”.
Citrina opened her mouth slightly.
It was a series of amazing things. ‘I never thought I would get so lucky.’
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Feelings.”
Desian paused briefly. Citrina was a little nervous.
“Let me know. I’m curious. Why do I feel strange?”
It was obvious that his daily life had been turned upside down when there had been nothing there before.
Citrina’s gaze went to Desian’s face once more. He still looked half-dazed, a little tired, with the familiar expressionless face.
But there was still a slight smile around his mouth, as if to prove she was not mistaken.
Citrina spoke in a small voice.
“If Desian wants, anytime.”
‘Anyhow Desian’s ability to empathize and feel emotions was an essential part of the rehabilitation, even if she had not expected it to work out so well.
His smile grew a little wider after Citrina spoke. Citrina smiled back at him.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow at the cabana in the garden.”
When he said that, she thought it sounded a bit like a date. If he was asking her out on a date, wasn’t it too cliche?
She was not that old fashioned. Citrina thought for a moment.
As Citrina finished her lunch and the tea made from the baron’s tea leaves, she was lost in thought.
The meal with Aaron and Desian went well. Their conversation also ended in a completely positive way.
Desian was cooperative and Citrina was able to get back to her original plan. She had ended the conversation with a kind and polite manner.
‘So the place we are meeting tomorrow is the flower garden, and the time of day is mid-afternoon.’
In essence, Desian and Citrina would meet the next day in the flower garden, the same place where they had first met.
With a sip of the lightly sweetened tea, Citrina fell into thought.
‘The original story can’t have changed that dramatically, but it’s worth it to try and push for a better ending.’
Today Desian had listened to her stories and suggestions with unexpected ease. In the original story, this situation would have been unimaginable. Her body would already be a corpse like the wizard Toloji just for speaking nonsense if this was the original Desian.
Looking back on the events of the day, Citrina renewed her commitment.
But no Desian always exceeded her expectations.
It was a point that Citrina overlooked.
…consequently, when she went out the next day to meet Desian, she became a little embarrassed.

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