The Guidebook for Villainesses

Aphrodisiac?

Do I really need to look into this?

Lara kept thinking.

No matter how hard she thought about it, it seemed like a rumor or fraud, but it felt suspicious to completely ignore it.

Why is he the only one whom I can ask for such a favor? We used to be the saintess and king of the lawless area.

Aphrodisiac?

Lara stood in front of Demian’s room and took a deep breath again.

After returning to her past, she got used to everything else, but she was still nervous about meeting this man alone.

“How are you?”

The warden passed by Lara, giving her a nod with a smile.

At this point, the warden had become accustomed to her visits, so much so that he did not make a fuss even after seeing her.

But the arena guests were not like that.

“…I’m going to get a hole in my face.”

It felt like the back of her head was burning with a mix of curiosity, jealousy, fondness, and contempt.

The news of Lara and Demian saving Princess Sonnet’s life circulated throughout Hautean.

Before this, she only got the attention of the ladies, but now everyone’s attention was on her.

Click.

Once again, Demian opened the door and showed his face before Lara knocked.

Seeing that his hair was wet, he seemed to have been outside and got rained on. His shirt was damp with water splashed here and there.

Before Lara could say anything, he held out his hands and gently wrapped her neck with his palms.

“Demian?”

“Should I kiss you on your cheek?”

“What?”

Lara wondered what in the world he was talking about, then realized that it seemed he remembered her request from last time. Lara rolled her eyes and looked around, then she nodded with a bitter face. Demian looked like he was having fun with how Lara acted.

“What about other places besides the cheek?”

“The cheek is enough… No, actually, just do it on my lips.”

She was already rumored to be prodigal. A kiss on the cheek would not have much effect.

Lara wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes. Her thin gown spread out and swayed softly.

Demian gave a light kiss on Lara’s lips.

It was a short and plain kiss that made Lara—who would be nervous if it had involved tongue— felt vain.

Their moist and soft lips interlocked without any gaps and then moved away leaving only deep regrets.

Regrets?

It was a strange feeling.

It was not the first time she had kissed a man, but after the kiss with Demian especially, her heart throbbed, leaving her feeling like she was in pain.

“Come in.”

He opened the door and pulled Lara inside.

She thought he would be packing, but everything still remained the same.

He did not really have anything to pack, but she thought he would at least take his weapon and clothes.

“Demian.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to accept what my mother suggested?”

“Maybe.”

He shook off his wet hair once and sat leisurely on the sofa.

“Why don't you want to get paid?”

“Because she’s giving me too much money for something that doesn’t even count as work.”

“If it’s not work, then what is it?”

“My specialty.”

Demian gave such a weird answer.

Unable to find what to say, Lara looked at him with eyes expressing that she could not understand him at all.

“I already promised to be with you for six months anyway. If I get paid by your mother, it would be a double contract.”

“Why are you being fussy about things with our relationship…”

“What is our relationship?”

Demian asked.

His eyes were gleaming.

Lara noticed that he was looking forward to her answer.

I have to live up to his expectations.

A short answer came out of her mouth.

“A relationship where we go to buy aphrodisiacs together.”

Swoosh.

The sound of rain was loud.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

It rained more and more as the night fell.

It was already damp in the summer, and with the addition of the rain all day, Lara’s originally curly hair became even wilder.

Ximena said the man who sold the aphrodisiac appeared under the bridge. Under the bridge here meant the red-light district built along the lower Tender River.

Lara went there with Demian.

She probably could not hold on to the seller at once, but she thought she could at least get some information about him.

“So this is the famous nightless city.”

Konny snorted again.

Clinging to the window, Konny murmured, “I was always at home, but recently I got to go to the arena for the first time. I was not enough with the Night Ball and the Watchmen Station’s jail, now I even get to come to the red-light district.”

“Milady, if I could finally go to the casino, I would have no more regrets in this life.”

“I already told you not to follow me.”

“Well, I can’t send you to such a dangerous place alone!”

“What are you so worried about when Demian is with me?”

“All the more reason I should go with you.”

“What?”

“A man and a woman should not go out together every night. I’m sure Her Ladyship also wanted me to follow you.”

Konny has become a straight arrow.

When Lara mumbled, Demian let out a light laugh.

They were riding in the carriage slowly down the road decorated with colorful magical lights to get to the bar most visited by the nobles in Hautean these days.

Demian said that he still could not believe about the man who sold the aphrodisiac.

At first, he thought Lara was joking, so he did not even talk back.

“Hah, he must have made a contract with the demon with his life on the line. But after learning black magic, all he did was make and sell aphrodisiacs…”

“Don’t ask me such a question with such a dumbfounded face. I was also flustered.”

Lara and Demian had a conversation.

The sound of the rain was so loud that it was noisy even though they were sitting in the carriage.

“Demian, stop being stubborn and just come to our house. Sebastian said he would set up your residence in the annex building.”

“Later.”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

“When your mother gives up on paying me.”

This man is so stubborn.

While Lara was mumbling to find something to say, Demian made her flustered by saying that he would still protect her even without money.

“Milady…isn’t it there?”

Konny, who was attached to the window, snorted and whispered. Using her small hand, she rubbed the window that was all steamed up and pointed in one direction.

“I think so.”

Lara murmured.

There was an alley lined with expensive carriages to match the fancy red-light district.

There was a luxury bar lit with yellow lights there.

There were dozens of carriages waiting.

The place where the family crest was placed was covered with black cloth and the windows were all covered with curtains. Even the horsemen were wearing masks.

“Milady, I think there's an aphrodisiac there.”

“Right?”

“I think there are more than aphrodisiacs there. You’re not trying to get in there, right?”

Konny asked.

She looked like she would tie Lara up and take her home if she said she would go in.

“I’m just going to watch.”

This time, Lara clung to the window.

Demian sent a signal to the horseman and the carriage was ordered to stop at one side of the alley.

The family crest on their carriage was also covered and curtains were hung on the windows.

The horseman pulled down his hat and moved under the roof of the carriage to escape the rain.

There were a lot of customers in the bar. It was a place full of alcohol, gambling, prostitution, and drugs.

Lara, Konny, and Demian clung side by side to the small window and persistently stared at the people coming in and out of the bar.

“Can’t see.”

“I can’t see.”

Demian and Lara uttered words one after another.

Not only was it raining hard, but the customers were hiding in the carriages, making it hard to figure out their faces.

“Let’s just go…”

When Lara, who had become frustrated, was about to ask Demian to just go inside, someone knocked on the carriage’s window.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

It was a man in black.

Wearing a large raincoat, he looked around nervously before approaching the carriage and standing in front of the window. His face could not be seen. When the suspicious person appeared, Konny got nervous and bent down to the floor. After exchanging gazes with Demian, Lara opened the carriage window as large as the size of one finger crease.

The man said.

“How much?”

What does he mean by how much?

Lara blinked quickly.

The man approached the carriage to sell something secretly and abruptly asked her how much she would pay.

Dark alleys, carriages with covered family crests, a suspicious man and his goods.

Lara smirked and said.

“300.”

“…Wait a minute.”

The man moved fast.

Through the rain, the same behavior was repeated in other carriages.

“The auction is in progress.”

“Hah.”

Demian almost burst out into ridicule.

The man came back in no time.

It seemed that the nobles in other carriages could not bid higher than Lara.

Looking around like he did when he first came, the man stood under the window and pulled out a potion bottle.

Then, with his other hand, he spread out his hand through the gap on the window.

“Pay first.”

This guy knows his business.

Demian muttered.

Lara handed the money to the man and received the potion.

She thought she should buy it first to know whether it was a real aphrodisiac or not.

But the moment she looked at the small, cold, glass bottle in her hand, she stopped breathing with a hardened face.

It was a black ink bottle.