I'm in Love with the Villainess!

"Found you—!"

I turned the corner toward what I thought was Evelina’s magical signature, and while I did find her, the scene before me was the last thing I expected.

Evelina and Kevin were both covered in blood, while a High Inquisitor knelt on the ground, his skin and eyes pale as if every trace of vitality had been completely drained from him.

What the hell happened!?

"What the hell happened here!?"

"C-Cael...!?"

Evelina turned around in surprise. She had gotten so caught up in the thrill of testing a new fighting style against her opponent that she hadn’t even noticed I was closing in on her location.

"Master! I’m glad you came."

Before Kevin could step forward and explain the situation to me, Evelina unceremoniously teleported him away—[Dark Step]—making him tumble to the floor the moment he stepped on a shadow. She didn’t even watch where he landed.

"How was your exam...?"

Evelina gave an awkward smile, her hands clasped behind her back even though the spear she was trying to hide was still plainly visible.

"It went great... but as for this...?"

"Well... no use hiding it now, huh?" Evelina sighed, dispelling the spear in her hands before crossing her arms and looking at the now-dead High Inquisitor.

Now that I was looking more closely, this was definitely her succubus magic, and judging by the mark on his forehead, it seemed to be the point of extraction she used to recover herself.

"I may or may not have dismantled some weird conspiracy those inquisitors had."

Evelina said, but I could tell she was hiding something from me. Something important, though not entirely malicious, if I had to guess...

Does she want something from me?

I mean, with the way she was looking at me, it definitely seemed that way.

But then again, unlike normal people, she was far too good at hiding her true motives, even from someone like me.

"You kept this a secret from me, didn’t you?"

"You already guessed, huh?"

"I scanned the entire academy. It was hard not to notice, considering how strange everything was. Why did you keep this a secret from me?"

I tried to corner her with my question.

"It’s not important. I just didn’t want anything to interfere with my investigation..."

That was a lie, and not a convincing one at that. If anything, I was sure she could have come up with something better...

No, she definitely could have come up with something better.

Normally, I would’ve brushed this off as her usual way of making sure no one crossed her, but with how she’s acting now, that explanation is definitely off the table...

"You want something from me... don’t you...?"

Evelina froze.

Not outwardly—her posture stayed composed, arms crossed, chin slightly raised—but there was a split-second delay in her response. For anyone else, it would’ve been invisible.

For me, it was obvious.

"...What makes you think that?" she asked, voice steady.

"Because you’re a terrible liar right now."

That got a reaction.

Her brows twitched, just slightly, and for a moment, the usual sharpness in her eyes dulled into something... uncertain.

"...I’m not that bad," she muttered.

"You are when it’s about me."

Silence settled between us, broken only by Kevin letting out a confused yell somewhere off in the distance, probably still trying to figure out why he’d been dumped somewhere random, but neither of us paid it any attention.

Evelina shifted her weight once, then again. Each movement was slower than the last, more deliberate. When she finally exhaled and dropped her arms, she let her fingers brush her own thigh, just above the bloodstain.

"...Fine. I did want something."

I didn’t interrupt, and that alone seemed to make this harder for her as she glanced at the corpse of the High Inquisitor, then at the blood on her hands... and finally back at me.

"...I handled everything on my own," she said, quieter now. "The conspiracy. The real strike force. Their plan."

"I noticed."

"I made sure none of the stronger students could interfere, isolated variables, took control of the academy, found the real target," she said, pausing only briefly before adding, "and saved your student."

"...I noticed that too."

Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Then don’t make me spell it out."

"You’re spelling it out without me asking..." I replied flatly.

Evelina clicked her tongue.

"...You’re insufferable."

Another pause followed, longer this time, before she finally admitted in a low voice,

"...I wanted you to acknowledge me."

There was no pride in it, no arrogance—just... honesty.

"I wanted you to see what I could do without you stepping in, without you fixing things halfway through. I wanted to prove that I’m not just the one who stays behind the scenes—I can stand on the front line too."

I raised an eyebrow. "You’ve never been that."

"Well..." she snapped, then immediately looked away. "Ugh... that’s not the point."

"Then what is?"

Evelina hesitated, and that hesitation alone told me everything.

"To be honest, everything I just said was just a dumb excuse. I got over all that a long time ago..."

"Right now... I just wanted to be... rewarded."

There it was. Finally.

She didn’t meet my eyes when she said it, which was interesting, considering that for someone who could casually torture inquisitors without blinking, this was what made her hesitate.

"...Rewarded?" I repeated.

So her spoiled side is showing again, huh? I didn’t think it would surface this quickly after only a few days apart.

Guess living together for a while really did a number on her.

"...Don’t make it sound weird."

"It is weird."

She shot me a glare, but it lacked its usual bite.

"I handled everything perfectly," she continued, a bit more defensively now. "Better than you would’ve, honestly. No unnecessary chaos, no witnesses, and no complications. I even figured out their real plan before it fully unfolded."

"Debatable."

"...Excuse me?"

"Considering Kevin got caught up in this and the academy’s in a pretty strange state right now, I wouldn’t exactly call that perfect."

I was grasping at straws, but it was obvious not everything had gone according to plan. Kevin being injured was proof enough of that.

Her eye twitched. "...I corrected it."

She cut herself off, inhaling sharply before turning away.

"Again...! That’s not the point," she muttered again.

I watched her for a second—blood-stained, hair slightly disheveled, breathing just a bit heavier than usual. She really had gone all out.

"...So," I said, stepping closer, "what kind of reward are we talking about?"

That made her stiffen. But she didn’t step back. Instead, she leaned into the space I’d created, just a fraction of an inch.

"Don’t ask, it ruins the point..."

Her voice was silk wrapped around steel. And beneath it, just barely audible, was the softest, neediest little breath.

She wasn’t hiding anymore.

So she wanted me to take charge, huh? I could do that...