I'm in Love with the Villainess!-Chapter 213: Evelina’s Weakness...?

Huh.

Her reaction was cute.

But...

No matter how I looked at it, this was probably the most devastated I’d ever seen her. The jealousy? The soul merging? The idiots from the Cold Iron District? All of that?

None of it compared to how Evelina was reacting right now.

It was something simple—but to her, it wasn’t.

And that surge of emotion...

Right now...

It let me catch a glimpse of her thoughts through the magic flowing from her.

[Succubus’s Link]

She was devastated...

Devastated that she’d been so busy with her own work that she barely knew anything about me beyond my devotion. She knew about my past life because of Trish. She knew I was powerful. She knew I loved her.

But... beyond that, did she know anything else?

My favorite color? My favorite pastime? My favorite dish?

"This is ridiculous."

Evelina sighed, and without even thinking, the entire counter in front of her split in half, cleaved by a dense concentration of—

Cursed Energy...?

"I’m a bad lover, aren’t I?"

Evelina let out a small chuckle, crossing her arms as she turned her gaze toward me, a faint tear sliding down her cheek.

This was a new kind of vulnerability, something she’d never shown before—something that struck at something deep inside her.

And—

[Succubus’s Link]

With another surge of magic, everything shifted back to our first date in the Emperor’s Tomb.

So...

That was it.

She was disappointed in herself. Even after finding a man willing to risk everything and love her despite everything, she realized she didn’t really know that man—only the surface-level parts of him.

"Cael..."

I could hear Evelina’s voice tremble.

Even I was caught off guard. After everything, both my knowledge of the future events of the novel and the weeks I’d already spent with her, nothing had prepared me for this.

Something so small had hurt her so deeply that it stirred up enough negative emotion to form such a dense amount of cursed energy.

More than that, it had pushed her to the brink of tears.

I moved before she could say anything else.

Not fast.

Not dramatic.

Just... enough.

I closed the distance and caught her wrist, gently, stopping whatever magic she was about to let loose next. The cursed energy flickering around her fingers hesitated, then settled, like it suddenly wasn’t sure what to do with itself.

"Hey," I said quietly.

She didn’t look away.

That was the part that got me.

Evelina D’Arclight, the girl who could stare down nobles, monsters, and whole districts without blinking, was looking at me like she was waiting for a verdict.

Like I might actually say yes.

"You’re overthinking it," I said.

Her brows pulled together.

"That’s not an answer."

"It is," I said. "Just not the one you want."

I stepped in a little closer, raising a hand to her face before she could pull away. My thumb brushed the tear on her cheek, wiping it away before it could slide any farther.

"You don’t know my favorite food?" I shrugged. "Okay. And?"

Her lips parted, but nothing came out.

"You don’t know my favorite color?" I went on. "Huge crime."

"That’s not—"

I laughed, then tilted my head, giving her a lighthearted smirk.

"You know as well as I do that we aren’t exactly ordinary people, so why compare what we have to them? Julius and Lillian’s relationship? Fuck them. We have our own."

Evelina bit her lower lip, her eyes doing their best to avoid mine. I kept her head gently in place with my hand, wiping away the small tears that threatened to turn into a full-on cry.

"It’s just..." Evelina sighed, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

She knew I was right—of course she did. Even in something like this, she still held on to her pragmatism. But this was also her first genuine connection with someone. Most of what she knew about relationships came from old stories she’d read, people she’d observed, or her father’s lectures about manipulation.

So when something didn’t fit into any of those patterns—even if she knew there was nothing inherently wrong with it—it cut her deeply in a way she couldn’t fully understand.

"Y’know what... just don’t dwell on it. We’re still too young to regret something like this."

"But—"

I just smiled at her.

"Want to know everything?" I asked.

Evelina only nodded.

"Then I’ll tell you everything, so don’t cry about it, okay? And honestly, I can’t say crying doesn’t suit you. Everything does."

I kissed the back of her head.

"So instead of saying something generic, how about I say this instead..." I paused for a moment. "If you’re going to cry, then I’d rather be the one who makes you cry from joy, yeah?"

I stood up again.

"Let’s move dinner to later. For now, how about we talk—really talk—just like you wanted?"

Evelina didn’t answer right away.

For once... she wasn’t calculating a response.

She just stood there, staring at me like she was trying to memorize every word I’d just said.

"...You’re so unfair," she muttered.

"Hm?"

"You say things like that so easily..." Her voice dropped, a little steadier now, but still fragile at the edges. "Do you even realize what that does to me?"

I tilted my head. "Makes you emotional?"

"It makes me feel stupid. Like... irrationally so. I mean, who almost starts bawling just because they didn’t know someone’s favorite food?" She let out a shaky breath. "It feels like something out of some old romance novel..."

I snorted. "Stupid? Really?"

Her glare came fast, but it fizzled out just as quickly.

"...I always thought I was the smart, rational type. But somehow your stupid self keeps messing me up," she said, almost to herself.

"Guess I need to reevaluate my psyche..." She let out a small, bitter laugh.

The cursed energy around her eased, thinning out and fading into the air like it had never been there in the first place.

A little closer to normal.

Or...as normal as we ever get.