Saving You, Villain - Chapter 83

The next day, right after my morning lecture, I went to Luke’s study. I used my upcoming graduation exams as an excuse, explaining that it was becoming difficult for me to continue working as his assistant.

Although Luke expressed some disappointment, he didn’t try to hold onto me for long. Conveniently, a first-year student who showed both interest and talent in swordsmanship had recently applied for the assistant position. Since all I’d done as an assistant was organizing the attendance sheet, there wasn’t much to hand over.

“Why don’t you stay for a cup of tea before you go?” he offered.

“No, it’s alright—” I started, but before I could finish, Luke had already left to prepare the tea.

“Well, a cup of tea won’t hurt,” I thought, sitting back on the sofa. I had some time before my next class anyway, so I leaned into the backrest. The quiet made a small but nagging question resurface in my mind. I ran my hand over the smooth, worn leather of the sofa. Normally, I have trouble falling asleep in a new place, let alone on an old couch. Yet, I had slept soundly here, without even dreaming.

Even though I had stayed up all night the previous day, it was strange. It wasn’t my first all-nighter, but never before had I slept as deeply as I had yesterday.

“……”

Just as the unease started to grow, the door to the study opened. For some reason, a subtle tension washed over me. I straightened my posture, becoming more alert.

Luke placed a teacup in front of me. This time, it wasn’t the mysterious tea from the day before, but a more common floral tea. A tiny flicker of suspicion crossed my mind—had Luke put something in yesterday’s tea? The small doubts sparked like embers inside me.

However, just as I had told Camian, even if Luke had added something to make me sleep, what would he gain? I hadn’t been harmed, not even a scratch. I was completely fine.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to fall asleep today as well?” Luke said with a playful smile, snapping me out of my thoughts before they could snowball into bigger suspicions. I awkwardly chuckled as I wrapped my hands around the warm teacup.

“I don’t usually sleep just anywhere.”

“Yet you slept quite deeply,” he teased.

“I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep. I was so startled when I woke up in my own room.”

“You must have been exhausted.”

“Yeah, I guess. Oh, by the way… did Camian come by your study yesterday? I hope he didn’t cause any trouble. He’s a good guy, but sometimes his temper gets the better of him. He can be a bit reckless, but he’s not bad or anything…” I trailed off, trying to explain.

Luke hid his smile behind the rim of his teacup. “A good guy with a bad temper, huh? Sounds complicated.”

“……”

“Camian did come by my study,” he confirmed.

I quickly scanned Luke’s face. Thankfully, there were no signs of bruises or any indication that he was upset.

Camian had been in a bad mood lately, his eyes sharp like a honed blade, giving off the sense that he could snap at any moment. I was worried that, in a fit of frustration, Camian might have done something to Luke. Especially since I had gone completely off the radar when Camian was already feeling down. I couldn’t help but fear the worst.

“I couldn’t leave you sleeping on that uncomfortable couch, so I went to find someone to help guide me to your house. While I was gone, Camian showed up. I saw him carrying you out through the front gate from a distance,” Luke explained calmly.

“Ah, I see.”

“Why? Do you think Camian would’ve started a fight with me just because he saw me?”

“Well, not exactly…” I couldn’t bring myself to fully deny it. Though, there was no need to mention anything Camian hadn’t actually done. As I hesitated, a knock on the door interrupted us. Luke shifted his gaze toward the door, and I set my teacup down.

“One of the students from this morning’s class wanted to ask me something. I’d forgotten they were coming by. It’s the same student I mentioned earlier—the one who’s interested in becoming an assistant.”

“Quite eager, it seems.”

“They’re very talented too, far too skilled to let their abilities go to waste in this countryside.”

“Ah, I see,” I responded, though I couldn’t help but pout a little. His words felt slightly condescending, as if everyone living here was simply wasting away. Luke was probably just complimenting the student’s skills, but as someone living in the same “countryside,” it didn’t sit well with me.

“Feel free to stay here and finish your tea. I’ll be heading to the training grounds,” Luke offered.

“No, I should be the one leaving.”

“I need to check the student’s sword form anyway, so I was going to head there,” he said.

It seemed like a good idea to leave after they had gone. Walking down the hallway with the two of them would feel awkward anyway.

“Thank you.”

“Even if you quit being an assistant, feel free to stop by anytime,” Luke added.

“Sure,” I replied.

When Luke opened the door, a first-year student with brown hair braided into two pigtails stood there, gripping a wooden practice sword with both hands. Her face was flushed with excitement as she eagerly looked up at him, clearly itching to start swinging the sword. Seeing such a passionate student made me think that if I were Luke, I’d want to spend my time teaching her as well.

I remained seated, waiting for time to pass. My reflection appeared faintly on the untouched surface of my tea.

Suddenly, the suspicions I had buried started to resurface.

“No. Don’t think like that,” I muttered to myself.

My health had been deteriorating rapidly. Even though my once restless sleeping habits had calmed down to something resembling the stillness of a corpse, it wasn’t all that surprising. Maybe my body was preparing for death.

Thinking that way made my reflection in the tea look ghostly. I didn’t want to see it anymore, so I lifted my head.

That’s when I noticed the bookshelf I had organized yesterday. Luke must have read some books after I left, as a few of them were haphazardly placed back in the wrong spots. Ugh. My fingers twitched. Now I understood why Camian always nagged me to put books back in their proper places.

“I can’t believe I’m fussing over something like this now,” I muttered, realizing that 15 years with Camian wasn’t a short time after all.

I pulled out the books that were sloppily shelved and put them back in their proper places. That’s when my eyes fell on the black-covered book again—Killing Demons. The title was written in large, bold red letters, making it hard to ignore.

“This thing again…” I tapped it lightly with my finger, irritated, and was about to turn away when a cold shiver ran down my spine. I stopped and turned back to face the bookshelf.

“…….”

Beneath the bold red title, the author’s name was written in smaller letters.

Luke Florence.

I wasn’t blind, but I found myself reading and rereading the name. Luke Florence. Luke Florence. Could it really be the Luke I knew who wrote this creepy book?

It didn’t make any sense. According to the original story, Luke was the only human who accepted Camian, a demon, as his disciple without prejudice. Even when Camian lost control and tried to kill him, Luke hesitated, unable to strike back against his own student. And yet, Luke Florence was the author of Killing Demons? It seemed impossible.

“How can this be…?”

Was my memory deteriorating along with my health? Had I been glorifying Luke with distorted memories? I couldn’t find any way to reconcile my confusion. Feeling overwhelmed, I quickly left Luke’s study.

***

I sat crouched on the bathroom floor, knees pulled up to my chest, watching as red blood swirled away into the drain. Thoughts of Luke filled my mind.

If Luke really was the author of that book, then… did he want to kill Camian? Even from just skimming the book, it was clear how deeply the author hated demons.

It wasn’t the kind of hatred born from a personal grudge or a desire for revenge. It felt more like the blind hatred you’d find in a religious fanatic who scorns other beliefs, or someone with strong political views who shuts out and attacks anyone who disagrees with them. It was an indiscriminate, irrational hatred—like racism or bigotry.

The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. The Luke in the novel and the Luke who authored Killing Demons seemed like two completely different people, like the same poles of a magnet that could never touch.

“Something’s off.”

My mind was a jumbled mess, unable to make sense of the inconsistencies. When I thought about it carefully, there were other suspicious things too. For one, Luke had been described as someone who had no desire for material wealth, yet he had stacks of gold bars in his study. And despite being a man who supposedly fought only for justice, he proudly displayed all his medals and badges on his study walls.

I decided to reset my understanding of Luke. I would start from what I knew about him firsthand.

“So, Luke has a deep-seated hatred for demons—enough to write a book called Killing Demons. Would someone like that really just stand by, knowing Camian is a demon?”

Moreover, Luke seemed eager to leave this rural town and return to the capital as soon as possible.

In this world, demons were both revered and feared, but more often than not, they were seen as the epitome of evil. In fact, the academy’s curriculum included demon-slaying as a mandatory subject.

If someone like Luke captured a high-ranking demon like Camian and delivered him to the palace, he’d be rewarded for it. Camian could become a stepping stone for Luke to advance his career.

…And if that’s the case, then I need to reconsider how I mysteriously fell into such a deep sleep while drinking tea with Luke.

Luke might have nothing to gain from me directly, but if he planned to use me to get to Camian, the story changes. The only fortunate thing here is that Camian no longer has feelings for me.

Maybe that’s why I was able to escape Luke’s trap unharmed. Nothing happened because Camian didn’t care about me anymore.

“Was Luke planning to kidnap me and use me to blackmail Camian? But then he realized Camian wasn’t interested in me anymore and decided to let me go?”

It didn’t feel right. I wasn’t getting any clear answers. Before I jumped to conclusions, I needed to find out what exactly Luke had put in my tea.

***

As soon as my lecture ended, I jumped out of my seat. I planned to head to the library and read every book I could find on herbs and their uses.

“Where are you going?”

The deep voice stopped me in my tracks. I turned to see Camian sitting behind me, tapping the spine of his textbook with his index finger as he looked up at me.