Surviving As The Villain’s Childhood Friend - Chapter 23

At night when the darkness fell, Roziel came out of the room secretly today as well.

When everyone was asleep Roziel was able to gain some freedom.

“Here you go, young master.” 

The librarian Krel was hiding at the end of the hallway and beckoning Roziel.

Roziel looked around and carefully walked towards Krel.

Krel held a book in his hand.

“Here it is.”

“Thank you.”

Roziel smiled contentedly while holding the book.

“Oh, my. Why are you thanking me? It’s a request from the young master, of course I have to do it.”

Roziel fell in love with the charm of novels through the romance novels he received from Krel.

Wow. It was so fun. Originally, he thought all books were boring and bland.

After that, Roziel asked Krel to continue to bring novels.

And he worked hard to help Roziel.

“This time, I brought a book with the keyword ‘sweet guy’.”

“Sweet guy?”

“It means a friendly male protagonist. It’s a type that’s receiving considerable support from female readers these days.”

Roziel gave strength to the hand holding the book.

‘I think I can do well.’

He wanted to be a kind-hearted male protagonist.

He was usually a cold and cool-headed knight, but he was a man who was warm only to his woman.

Women seemed to like this type, too.

Roziel was so curious about the contents of the novel that he couldn’tstand it. He wanted to go back to the room right away and open the book, but today he had something to ask him.

“Krel.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Today… No, there is a novel I recently read… There are parts of it that I don’t quite understand.”

Roziel carefully opened his mouth.

“What is it?”

“That’s…”

Roziel wanted to get advice from Krel after explaining his story in a novel.

Although he was a servant, he was also an adult, so wouldn’t he know more about romance than himself?

“So what it is…”

Roziel recalled what happened during the day.

“The female protagonist. She confessed first that she liked the male protagonist.” 

“Oh, that’s a fresh development.” 

“Right? She publicly declared that she wants to be the main character’s lover… And she implicitly expressed that she wants to marry him.”

“It’s not a cliche, but it’s a cool character.”

“But the thing is. The male lead accepts it but … later why would she refuse then…?” 

Roziel could hardly understand Yuria’s heart.

‘You definitely liked me first.’

She even boasted to others that she had met her fated one.

But when I accepted it, you denied it.

It stung.

Roziel felt his heart throb at her words.

Why? Why did he pay so much attention to every word she said?

‘That’s… I probably…’

Roziel thought up to here and bowed his head.

Fate. Such a sweet word.

As soon as he heard the word, Roziel intuitively sensed that he and Yuria could never be separated.

‘We are very closely connected. Yuria…’

So Roziel wanted to hear some form of affirmation from her mouth.

It didn’t matter if he was a child prodigy.

Even if he was ignored by everyone, he wanted Yuria to adore him.

Just like the first time she reached out to play with him in the forest.

“She said no?”

Krel asked.

“Yes….”

It was Roziel who became even more gloomy when he confirmed it.

“So, did they even go on a date?”

Roziel recalled a cafe in the city he went to with Yuria.

“She refused even though they went on a date….?”

Krel’s expression became serious. 

Roziel’s heart began to beat rapidly in case negative words popped out of his mouth.

“Really… They had a lot of fun.”

Roziel’s voice became smaller than before.

Roziel was overjoyed when she said she wanted to play with him.

Even in the crowded city, Roziel was always alone.

Now he had a partner to eat something delicious with.

Sweet cake and warm sunlight… And a gift.

It was a setting that gave him no choice but to warm up his heart. So he really wanted Krel to give him a good answer.

“Hmm. Is there really a novel like that?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of date was it?”

“The female protagonist gave him a gift…They watched a play together.”

Roziel recalled the doll she gave him.

Lovely. He wanted to receive it again. 

And… He wanted to repay her.

It was good to see a play together and to laugh and talk.

“The contents of the date are normal.”

“Yes…?”

Like Krel said, this was what romance was all about. 

He knew. Therefore…

If Yuria didn’t reject him.

He hoped she would continue to like him.

Krel, who had been deep in thought, finally opened his mouth.

“It’s a failure.”

“…”

Was he saying their love was ruined? Roziel became sullen.

“Well, she apologized because the male lead got angry.”

“Hmm.”

“I really don’t understand the psychology of the female protagonist…”

“Then this is…”

“This is?”

“It’s a push and pull.” 

“Push and pull…?”

“Yes. It’s basically playing hard to get. It means having a war of nerves to create tension between lovers before dating in earnest.”

“A war of nerves… Why are they doing that?”

“That’s how we become more affectionate towards each other…And, well, you can maintain a longer relationship together.”

At Krel’s words, Roziel’s eyes widened as if he had attained enlightenment.

“I see. Yuria…No, the female protagonist wanted to be happy with the male protagonist for a longer time.”

“Well. I guess so. Right?”

It seemed he misunderstood something but Krel let it pass.

He was still a young young master anyway, and in fact, he was too lazy to explain more.

“Thank you. You helped me.”

“What? Hehe.”

Roziel felt organized in his complicated mind. He was positive in a strange way.

“Then I’ll be on my way. Thank you for the great work today.”

“Yes! See you later!”

Krel bowed his back 90 degrees and saw Roziel off.

As soon as he arrived at the room, Roziel turned on the light. Just in case, he opened the door again and looked out the hallway, but there was no sign of any presence.

He lay down on the bed in relief.

‘I’m a really bad guy. I don’t even know Yuria’s heart.’

This was all caused by his lack of knowledge.

‘You wanted to play push and pull with me.’

He couldn’t believe she had such a cute thought.

It was exciting but at the same time a bit bitter.

‘But what should I do. I don’t like things like that…’

Roziel wanted to throw himself in love.

Why do you have to waste your time doing such useless things? 

‘If I do, I might really hurt Yuria.’

Hurting someone you love, that was unheard of in his world.

‘I don’t want to do such a difficult thing.’

He wanted to have a romance that was more formal and honest.

It was Roziel drinking fantasy from a bowl.

Roziel closed his eyes for a moment and dreamed of romance with Yuria.

In his imagination, Yuria was wearing a light green dress that matched the color of her eyes. Then, she looked up at himself with a shy face.

Wow. It’s really pretty.

He always saw her in training clothes, but he thought it would be pretty to see her wear a dress.

Will the day come when I see that?

The corners of his mouth went up without him realizing it.

A child’s imagination had no limits. In addition, he properly put on bean pod lenses to create an expression that had never been seen before.

(TL/N: “Bean pod lenses” is a Korean expression meaning that someone is blinded by love and doesn’t see any flaws in the other person.)

Heh heh heh.

The female protagonist wore a dress on a special day. And seeing that, the male protagonist falls in love once again.

How can I fall in love with you more?

Does anything higher than this place exist?

“Well.”

However, it was difficult to advance the imagination to the next level.

It was because he had no experience.

“….I should study.”

The more you knew, the easier it was to have a romantic relationship. To avoid misunderstandings like today. So that he could understand her heart a little more.

‘I need to be a mature man!’

You can no longer act like a child. If you become a child, you will not be able to achieve love.

Roziel grabbed his pounding heart and opened the book.

〈The Wicked Woman Won’t Sleep Tonight〉

Even the title was unusual.

Krel was a man who was obsessed with the trend these days.

Obviously, he had no doubt that it would be satisfactory again this time.

Looking at the brief introduction, it was a revenge drama about a girl who lost her family when she was young. Then, it was a story of rehabilitation after meeting a handsome and friendly man.

‘This… It’s a cliche.’

Predictable plot, predictable characters, and predictable dialogue.

However, Roziel liked this kind of novel. It was as fun as it was obvious.

Roziel was a type who liked clichés.

And reading novels that proceed in a similar way would be more helpful for studying.

Roziel now vaguely knew what romance was.

In general, the process of male and female protagonists falling in love was similar. 

A chance meeting, a special appearance like the main character, and an attractive personality, but without even realizing it, they gradually become attracted to it, and fall in love.

This was what romance was.

Roziel shook his head.

He had to memorize everything, so he studied hard.

In order to have a romance, you had to know love. Love was not just about emotions.

‘Love is a two-way experience.’

Two-way! Roziel particularly underlined and drew asterisks on this part.

In order for love to come true, there should not be a one-sided love.

True love is only when the two can face each other and laugh together.

Even if Yuria wasn’t worried, Roziel was studying and learning about the right love on his own.

He wanted to have a romance with Yuria Zeos.

“Hehe.”

A smile did not leave Roziel’s lips as he studied.

Although it was only a theory, he wondered.

‘The more perfect the theory, the better it was in practice.’

He immersed himself in the book, casually saying things that would turn people over if they heard it.

The male protagonist and the female protagonist finally met for the first time.

The woman thought the man was beautiful, but the woman unfamiliar with someone’s kindness rejected him.

‘It’s no fun if you fall in love right from the start.’

From now on, the two main characters will go through numerous events and develop their love.

Boom-boom. His heart raced.

Although this place was real, he was sure that something like a novel would happen to him too.

‘Yuria.’

If it was her.

There would be a lot of events between the two in the future, so he couldn’t help but be mesmerized.

‘I have to be a good man.’

That was how he would have a more mature and deep love.

Let’s truly share our feelings for each other…

It becomes a fence. 

(TL/N: editor and I think fence means like building your relationship together)

‘It’s fun…’

There was a spring breeze in his boring life.