Saving You, Villain - Chapter 85

“Ah… Camian’s at the academy,” I responded.

“Playing hooky, are you?” Lila smirked.

“I’m not feeling well,” I replied, deflecting her teasing.

“Playing hooky isn’t bad either. Come in.” Lila’s blunt way of speaking was something I’d never quite get used to. After a small, polite nod to her, I stepped inside.

“…You’ve got a lot more plants since the last time I was here.”

The green vines that had wrapped around the door handle seemed to fill the entire room—on the table, the bed, the ceiling, and the walls. It felt like I’d stumbled into a jungle.

“You’re wrong. These aren’t ordinary plants; they’re magical plants. And no, I haven’t added more since last time. It’s just that this one here has grown enormous.”

“Oh… I see.”

“Wait here for a second.”

Before I could ask why, Lila pulled a dagger from her belt. Startled, I instinctively tensed up. What now? She gripped the dagger tightly and began hacking at the vines. More specifically, she was cutting away the ones that had overrun the sofa.

With each cut, a shrill cry echoed through the room, as if coming from animals, children, women, and even the elderly. The grotesque mix of sounds made me freeze in horror, but Lila’s expression didn’t change as she continued to slice through the vines.

The final slash brought a deathly wail before Lila sheathed her dagger.

“No matter how much I cut them down, by morning they’ll have grown back again. Such a nuisance.”

“……”

“Hah… This was supposed to be the assistant’s job.”

“W-wait, Camian does this?”

“Of course. He’s quite good at it. You should’ve seen it—these magical plants begged for their lives when he cut them. I thought all they did was scream, but hearing them speak was fascinating. Want to hear them later? I can ask the assistant to show you.”

“…I’d rather not.”

“You’re such a stick in the mud.”

I couldn’t fathom how not wanting to hear the horrifying screams of magical plants made me “a stick in the mud,” but I didn’t care to argue the point.

“Stop standing there and take a seat,” Lila ordered.

If it weren’t for my need to ask her about the herbs, I’d have run out the door right then and there. Begrudgingly, I perched on the very edge of the sofa.

Lila left me alone for a moment, disappearing into the kitchen. I heard a sharp slicing sound, followed by a man’s short, pained grunt. She returned shortly after, placing a familiar white ceramic cup in front of me.

“Don’t worry, it’s just cold water. The magical plants have all withered, so I don’t have any leaves to brew tea with. I’d give you something better if I could.”

“Thank you…” I said, reaching for the cup. But as soon as I touched it, something sticky clung to my fingers. A stringy, clear substance stretched between my hand and the cup, refusing to come off no matter how much I shook my hand.

“What is this? It won’t come off.”

“Oh, looks like I cut off its reproductive organ by mistake,” Lila said nonchalantly.

“W-what?” I stammered, eyes wide in shock.

Lila calmly explained. “The male reproductive organ of the vine. I wondered why it was hanging onto the handle—must’ve been in the middle of pleasuring itself. What’s on your hand is its… well, its semen.”

“Y-you’re insane…!”

I shook my hand more vigorously, but the gooey substance stuck to my skin like glue.

“What kind of plant… masturbates and produces semen?!” I gasped, utterly horrified.

“It’s not just any plant; it’s a magical plant, as I told you. Now give me your hand.”

I reluctantly held out my hand, and Lila pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. She wiped my hand, and the stubborn liquid vanished as if it had never been there.

She then tossed the handkerchief into the fireplace. “This vine has a strong desire to reproduce, so it doesn’t come off easily unless you wipe it with pollen from the female vine.”

“…Where do you even get these magical plants?” I asked, still in disbelief.

“That’s a trade secret,” Lila said with a sly smile.

Whatever trade she was in, I didn’t care to know more about it. I just rubbed my now clean hands on my lap, trying to regain my composure.

“So, why did you come here?” she asked, getting straight to the point.

“I wanted to ask you about herbs.”

“I didn’t know you were interested in herbs. What’s the question?”

“I drank a tea that smelled kind of like corn tea, and it knocked me out like I was dead. I can’t figure out what it was, and I haven’t been able to find anything about it in herbology books.”

Lila listened silently, then, without warning, stood up and sat down right next to me, pressing herself close. The sofa tilted under her weight.

“Don’t be scared, stay still,” she said.

“Huh? Ack—!”

Before I could react, her long, slender fingers wrapped around my neck. I instinctively grabbed her arm, trying to pull it away, but it felt like trying to move a mountain. No matter how much I struggled, she didn’t budge.

“Calm down. I’m not choking you,” she said.

True enough, I wasn’t having trouble breathing, but the fact that she had her hand around my throat was enough to make me nervous. The mere fact that she could crush my windpipe if she wanted to left me feeling powerless.

Still gripping her arm, I closed my eyes tightly, bracing myself for the worst. But to my surprise, her hand gently loosened and fell away.

“You’ve been drugged,” she said, her tone casual.

“W-what?”

Lila spoke with her usual brisk tone, leaving me confused. I rubbed my neck where her hand had been and tilted my head in bewilderment.

“What do you mean, I’ve been ‘drugged’? With what?”

“You drank something, and now you don’t even know what it was? You really are clueless,” she said with a sigh.

A chill crept over my skin as she mentioned a gap in my memory—something I couldn’t recall, a void in my mind. What had happened to me? A sense of unease washed over me, like a shadow brushing past.

“Please, explain it in a way I can understand.”

“There’s a trace of a magical herb lingering in your throat,” she said, her voice sharp and to the point.

Not an herb—a magical plant? Fear tightened in my chest. I had my suspicions about Luke, but I hadn’t expected he would go so far as to use magical plants on me. My stomach turned at the thought.

“But something doesn’t add up,” Lila murmured, her fingers stroking her chin in thought. Her ambiguous behavior only made me more nervous.

“What doesn’t add up?”

“The plant you drank from is called Kalody, a magical herb that only grows in the demon realm. Are you sure it wasn’t a demon who gave you that tea?”

“No, absolutely not.”

I could answer that without hesitation. Luke was a human who hated demons with a passion.

“Then he must’ve stolen it from a demon. He’s not your average guy, is he?”

“What kind of effects does Kalody have?” I asked, the tension building.

Lila’s eyes met mine. “Some people call Kalody the ‘marionette herb.’ If you drink it, you lose control of your will for a set period of time. You’re completely obedient to the person who gives the first command, like a puppet on strings.”

Her words hit me like a punch in the face. I clenched my trembling hands into fists, dread swirling in my chest. What had I done while under the influence of this plant? My mind raced with possibilities.

“Do you want to know what you did while you were under its effect?”

I was terrified to find out, but I also knew that ignoring it wouldn’t help. I nodded slowly, preparing myself for whatever might come next.

“Sit still, look at me, and close your eyes.”

Her warm hand pressed gently over my eyelids. I focused on the heat from her palm, trying to steady my rapid heartbeat. The warmth from her hand seemed to seep into my eyes, then further, deeper, like it was flowing into my mind. The sensation was strange and unsettling.

“Stay calm,” Lila whispered.

I focused on her voice as the warmth spread through my body. It moved quickly through my neck, down to my heart, then to my arms and legs, filling me with a peculiar energy. Behind my closed eyelids, I saw flashes of light—bright, pulsing streaks. It wasn’t painful, but it was deeply unsettling. I fought the urge to recoil in discomfort.

Finally, the warmth began to recede, flowing back up through my eyes as Lila’s hand lifted away.

I let out a heavy breath, pressing the palms of my hands over my eyes to steady myself. The world gradually came back into focus as I blinked. Thankfully, my vision was fine.

“I can’t tell you what commands the person who drugged you gave, but I could see how you moved and what you said while under the spell,” Lila explained.

She suddenly paused, her expression becoming a strange mix of amusement and discomfort. She was smiling, but her eyes showed a hint of awkwardness.

“Oh dear, I have a feeling that if I tell you this, you might cry. And that’d make things difficult for me,” she said, watching me closely.

Before I could react, she reached over and pulled the corners of my mouth into a wide, exaggerated smile.

“Uhh!”

My stretched-out cheeks stung with a dull ache. I was too taken aback to do anything but stare at her in shock. In that moment, the thick blanket of anxiety that had been weighing me down lifted, even if only for a moment. It was so ridiculous that my fear temporarily scattered.

When I shot her an incredulous look, Lila flicked my nose playfully with her finger.

“See? A smile keeps the tears at bay.”

“I’m not someone who cries easily,” I grumbled.

But as soon as I said that, I remembered how I had cried my eyes out the first time I met Lila, after an argument with Camian. Apparently, she remembered that too, because her skeptical look told me she wasn’t convinced.

“…I mean it,” I added, though my confidence wavered. It was a little embarrassing, now that I thought about it. Did I seem like someone who would break down in tears?

“Even if you do cry, just don’t say it was me who made you,” Lila teased.

“To whom?”

“To anyone. But judging by the fact that you came here now, it seems I don’t have to worry too much about that,” she said, her playful expression softening.