Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 22

Chapter 22

I heard people murmuring and a woman's scream.

I grabbed my skirt and ran with all my might.

In my shaking vision, I spotted the hair I'd been looking for. It was definitely Kali. There was no way there were two people in this village with silver hair tinged with a drop of pink ink.

"Kali!!!"

Even from a distance, the man covered in blood was groaning, his collar gripped by that pink-haired head. I launched myself at Kali like a body slam.

Huh...? Wait, the view is a bit... high?

This isn't just a bit. It's a lot higher! Who is that?!

It was too late to brake. Trying to avoid colliding with him, I shifted my weight and stumbled hard.

As my vision flipped and I squeezed my eyes shut, someone hoisted me up.

"Heavy."

"What?"

I snapped my eyes open and looked at the man before me. I met familiar green eyes. I immediately checked his neck—he was wearing the same necklace as Kali's, the one containing the magic that concealed his true appearance.

"...Kali?"

The man who had been staring at me expressionlessly suddenly smiled, his eyes crinkling. At that melting, cotton-candy-like smile, my jaw dropped.

Dimples appeared on his flawless cheeks. When he was expressionless, he looked cold enough to be scary, but when he smiled, the Kali I knew emerged.

"You, you, you...!!"

"I thought it would take longer, but you came out early?"

His low voice felt crazily unfamiliar. The Kali I knew had a voice that was still cracking from puberty, which made it even stranger.

At that ticklish voice, I instinctively raised both hands to cover my ears.

"Wh-what is this girl now?!"

"Keep covering your ears."

Kali curled one corner of his mouth and set me down, as if hiding me behind his back.

"What are you still doing here? Take your friend and get lost."

"H-Hans! Hans, snap out of it! Damn it!"

The companions of the bloodied, collapsed man hesitated—neither attacking nor fleeing.

Judging by the smell of alcohol reaching this far, it seemed they'd been day-drinking and picked a fight with Kali...

"You bastard!!"

"Want to fight? Not a great choice."

Whether intimidated or not, the remaining companions didn't dare attack Kali recklessly. Bibi, who had been rubbing against Kali's legs, bared his tiny teeth and growled.

"If you're not leaving, then come at me. Huh? I said come at me."

Kali smiled and roughly grabbed the chin of the man right in front of him. The man struggled, trying to pull Kali's hand away, but his grip was so strong it didn't budge.

Amidst pained screams, the murmuring crowd grew louder.

"Huh? You're letting him run away alone? You're not fighting? If you're going to start something, see it through to the end."

Today's concept seemed to be calmly tormenting his opponent—Kali didn't raise his voice once, just shook the arm gripping the chin.

I saw the village guards approaching in the distance. Since those guys had been drinking in broad daylight and started the fight, it probably wouldn't blow up, but the process of revealing our identities and dealing with it would be annoying.

"Hey, hey! Stop it!"

Kali kept talking, as if he couldn't hear me.

Right. He wouldn't stop with just one word.

I grabbed my skirt and lifted my foot. Instead of the body slam I'd failed to execute, I aimed a powerful kick at his long legs, intent on leaving a footprint.

"Stop! I said stop!"

"Ugh!!"

Caught off guard from behind, Kali stumbled heavily. He clutched the back of his thigh and turned to glare at me.

Now the face I knew finally emerged—that prickly expression that screamed "I have a bad temper."

"Hey, you! The guards are coming—take this and go! I saw everything from start to finish, so I'll explain it properly!"

A woman who looked like a shop employee shoved a box that looked familiar into my hands and shouted. I took it without thinking.

"It fell as a whole box, so the contents should be fine."

Through the gaps in the box, I could see yellow cheese-glazed madeleines.

"Will you do that? Thank you."

The murderous attitude from moments ago vanished—Kali smiled brightly at the employee and greeted her.

"Oh, Kali. The madeleines survived. They're intact—ack! Hey!"

Ignoring me, Kali scooped me up with one arm.

"Let's go, Bibi!"

"Woof!!"

The moment we got away from the crowded area, Kali snapped in an irritated voice.

"How dare you kick me for real! My ass hurts!!"

"I didn't hit your ass! It was your thigh!"

"Well, with your short legs, it's all the same anyway!"

"What, you bastard!!"

I reached out and grabbed a fistful of Kali's fluttering hair. I didn't even pull, but he screamed as if it hurt—what a drama queen.

"How long are you going to carry me? Put me down! More importantly, why do you look like this? You look like you aged ten years!"

"Why? Too handsome for you?"

I stretched out my arms, grabbed both of his cheeks, and twisted his face around to examine it when our eyes suddenly met.

"The hair and eye colors are a shame, but how is it? My appearance ten years from now. You sometimes mutter while looking at me—'just grow up like that.' Do you think I grew up well? Huh? Ha-ri."

I quickly pulled my hands away from his face to avoid his sudden closeness, but Kali pressed closer and kept smiling, urging me to answer.

Are my hands trembling? Did he grow well?!

What kind of obvious question is that?!

I'd thought he'd grow up well even when we first met. This is, well, this is...

"You're blushing. Our little one. What were you thinking?"

"Y-y-you crazy bastard!!! Why am I your little one?!"

"Irein and Sier call you that sometimes. And right now, I'm older than Sier, so I can call you that too."

This was entirely within my strike zone. His face. Just his face!!

Regardless of hair or eye color, setting all that aside, he was a heart-stoppingly handsome man.

Hair color? Eye color? What does that matter with a face like that?

Of course, the soft pink hair and beautiful green eyes were pleasingly pretty. That's just... an option, so to speak.

If you attach pretty to handsome, you get double the handsomeness plus pretty—it doesn't diminish the handsomeness.

What if this man returned to his original black hair and dark red eyes? If decadent beauty were added as an option, the handsomeness would triple!

No one told me Czerban Caelius's face would be this handsome! Even if he was a villain, if he had a face like this, the author should have at least hinted at it!

"Your eyes are about to burn a hole through me. Do you like it that much?"

"...That magical tool Irein sent—age transformation, right? My goodness, where on earth did he find something like this?"

When I deflected without answering, Kali pouted and set me down lightly.

"Ah, I was trying to surprise you, but you weren't even that surprised. You just hit me out of nowhere. I was the one who got picked on—I was quietly drinking tea waiting for you, and those guys slammed the table I was sitting at. I'd brought out the dessert and... wait, why are you still holding that?"

Kali pointed at the dessert box the employee had given me.

"I was going to eat it with you when you found me. But those bastards ruined it. Throw it away now. It fell on the ground."

Kali took the box from my arms and tossed it straight into the trash.

"Irein sent a ton, though. There should be piles in the kitchen, so don't look at me with such pitiful eyes."

What is this crazy guy saying?!

The contents didn't spill out and roll around—the whole box just fell to the ground. Why would you throw it away?!

"You have zero respect for food."

"Why would I eat something that fell?"

Kali frowned and looked at me as if he didn't understand.

"Sometimes, you seem more like a commoner than I do, even though I grew up hiding among them."

At his sharp remark, I folded my arms and snorted.

"I just treasure all food, that's all."

"Did you starve to death in a past life?"

"Look who's talking—you're the pig here."

"Says the person who drop-kicked me for stealing a handful of your snacks."

"That handful was all of it, you bastard!"

There are dozens of reasons we fight, but food definitely takes up a large portion.

Every time I eat a snack and ask "Want some?" he says no—but the moment I start eating, he creeps over and reaches out.

If you're going to do that, just say yes from the start!

"Ha, I'm hungry after getting annoyed because of you. Do you have any money?"

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