BJ Villainess Chapter 362

* * *

Fear, in a sense, is like a daydream. An absurd dream. Experiencing such a dream for a brief moment and then waking up—that was all it was, nothing more, nothing less. At least, that’s what Ilya thought before experiencing the Fear. And even now, he still did.

 

But why, then…? For something that was supposed to be a fleeting dream, the afterimage just wouldn’t fade. It must have been because he had experienced it while retaining his original memories.

 

It doesn’t make sense.

 

The emotions and actions he felt as a human were, to be honest, difficult for him to understand now that he was once again an angel.

 

Why did I tell her to wait?

 

Ilya had barely been influenced by human life. His thoughts and judgments while living as the human Ilya would have matched exactly with those he made now, having returned as an archangel. His experience of the Fear was especially vivid, but even so, it felt distant, as if it were someone else’s story.

 

Naturally, his rationality grew even stronger, and he could no longer relate to his brief moments of desire for Theresa, as if he had been out of his mind. It was to be expected. He had known things would turn out this way from the start. But why did he say such a careless thing as ‘wait for me’? And then he even placed a signet ring on Theresa’s ring finger. That was… in effect, a proposal.

 

Why did I do that?

 

Theresa was human. Though now, after absorbing the evil god, she had become something beyond ordinary.

 

Ilya declared the completion of his Fear and resumed the daily life that had been on hold, yet thoughts of Theresa never left his mind. He wasn’t even aware of it.

 

The questions only grew without being resolved. But one thing was clear: his judgments were never wrong.

 

“I suppose I need to confirm it myself.”

 

Ilya immediately descended to the human world. It was an impulsive act, done without notifying anyone, but he felt a strange sense of liberation.

 

It was in the deep hours before dawn. She would likely be either at his mansion or the Holy See at this hour.

 

Ilya thought it would be easy to find Theresa in the human world. After all, with the evil god’s power concentrated in her, that wicked aura should be easy to sense. But he couldn’t feel any immense evil aura anywhere.

 

Ilya crossed the quiet mansion where everyone was asleep. Theresa was most likely in his bedroom. Silently opening the door and entering, and as expected, Theresa was lying on the bed in the room he had used as a human.

 

“…”

 

He turned on the lamp on the bedside table and sat next to the bed, looking down at Theresa. She looks worn out. Her cheeks were slightly sunken, and her eyes were red and swollen, as if she’d been through severe distress.

 

Without thinking, he gently brushed her eyes and healed the inflamed skin. “Theresa,” Ilya called her name softly.

 

Theresa’s eyelids twitched, and she slowly awoke. Her hazy eyes seemed to scan her surroundings before following Ilya’s clothes upward.

 

“…! Lord Ilya!” Recognizing him, Theresa sprang up without hesitation and hugged him tightly.

 

Theresa smelled wonderful. She should have reeked of the evil aura she absorbed, but he only sensed her soft scent. It was fresh, like unripe fruit.

 

What was this sense of relief? What was this feeling, as if he had finally found something he kept losing?

 

“I knew you’d come back. You weren’t dead… it was just the Fear, it ended…” Theresa sobbed, clinging to him tightly as if she’d never let go.

 

She’s still wearing the earring. While holding her, Ilya noticed the pearl earring and felt satisfied. To think something like this could make him smile. Was he truly in love with this woman?

 

Ilya found himself a bit surprised as he observed his own changes from a more objective state. For now, the thing that surprised him most was how much he wanted to kiss her.

 

He comforted Theresa in his arms as if it were the most natural and familiar thing to do. Once Theresa calmed down, she told him what had happened.

 

“We held your funeral until yesterday. Oh, the fact that Lord Ilya is an angel is still a secret, but it’s been leaking out little by little.”

 

Ilya listened quietly, though he already knew everything from his aide’s reports. “And?”

 

“It was also announced that the evil god had been annihilated. No one knows that I absorbed the evil god, though.”

 

“Well done.”

 

Humans might not understand what made Theresa special and could try to kill her out of fear. That aside—

 

“It seems like the evil god’s power is changing somehow. Since I absorbed it, its nature has been transforming.”

 

He ran out of patience.

 

“We should study it in detail—”

 

“Sorry for interrupting.”

 

“Huh?”

 

A kiss began suddenly. Their lips met, their bodies pressed and embraced. With their breaths mingling hotly, a tingling excitement spread through both.

 

Theresa wrapped her slender arms around his neck. Their bodies naturally pressed together, and their posture shifted. It was an unbelievable sense of fulfillment. The feeling of wanting each other was so sweet, it was almost destructive. Stopping now was impossible. Not that he had intended to, anyway.

 

I see. He hadn’t come to check. He had come to take her with him. Ilya realized he had fallen in love with the same woman all over again.

 

Ilya fiddled with the loose signet ring on Theresa’s ring finger. He needed clearer proof that this woman belonged to him. And among angels, such a ritual existed.

 

“Shall we imprint?”

 

Imprinting was a ritual of eternal binding between two. It was supposed to be possible only between angels, but Ilya thought Theresa might also be able to be imprinted. The rules of this world didn’t seem to apply to her. It was a trait he really liked.

 

“You know what that is, don’t you?”

 

Theresa, her face flushed, nodded. “…Yes. I do.”

 

Her black hair, a slightly different shade than his, fell aside, exposing her slender neck. Ilya caressed the smooth, white nape of her neck with his fingers.

 

“Eek.” She shrank her shoulders, as if it tickled.

 

“I’m going to bite here.”

 

Theresa, tense, only nodded in silence.

 

Ilya brushed her hair aside once more and sank his teeth gently into her delicate skin.

 

“Nngh!”

 

Ilya hugged Theresa, who had tensed up in anxiety, and soothed her gently. “Relax. Don’t tense up. It’s okay.” Even as he reassured her, he continued to nibble at her nape.

 

For something that angels—who valued rationality and dignity—did, it was a very animalistic act. But strangely, he liked it. This primal act felt as if it laid bare the depths of each other, and so it seemed the perfect union.

 

And thus, Ilya’s imprinting was completed. As he expected, even though Theresa was not an angel, they matched perfectly without even checking their compatibility.

 

Ilya kissed the back of Theresa’s hand. “With this, we’re husband and wife.”

 

She was now his wife. He was now her husband.

 

“It’s perfect.”

 

Ilya was someone who never uttered the word ‘perfect’ in any situation.

 

Kissing Theresa again, she smiled at him with so much love. Words of love circled in both their mouths, again and again. It was their first night as a married couple.

 

* * *

The world without the evil god became a bit livelier. Now that the great common enemy was gone, there was room to do new things—and that included me.

 

I remained in the human world. Since many had witnessed Ilya handing me the signet ring before his ‘death,’ I needed to take responsibility for the family. And everyone was subtly catching on. That Ilya’s death wasn’t really death.

 

Deina spoke offhandedly, “They say angels go through the Fear. Apparently, it’s sort of amusement for them.”

 

I was caught off guard by the sudden topic and just blinked. “Uh… really?”

 

“They say if they live a lifetime as a human and die, they just return to being angels?”

 

“Oh….”

 

Hmm. It’s already that late?

 

“I should get out of work.”

 

“Huh? Already? I haven’t even managed to use magic properly yet.”

 

“Practice on your own.” I, as a teacher, carelessly got up after saying that.

 

“You can’t do that! You’re the only one who can teach me about magic and mana.”

 

Deina was right, I was the one who came up with those concepts. The evil god’s power had changed, and I’d gained some strange, surreal abilities. I called that energy mana, and the way to release it was called magic.

 

“That’s why I wrote a book. Study with that. Anyway, I’m going.”

 

“Master!”

 

Snap! To avoid Deina grabbing me, I snapped my fingers, and my view changed. I had teleported from the Holy See to my home by magic.

 

“Welcome, Master.”

 

The butler now called me master, not Ilya. It had felt strange for a while, but now I was used to it.

 

“Yes. Nothing happened, right?”

 

“Of course. And… he is here. I haven’t seen him myself, though.” The butler looked truly delighted as he said this.

 

“Aah.” I smiled awkwardly.

 

The ‘he’ the butler spoke of was Ilya. Every time he came to the human world, he put up a barrier around the main house so no one could approach. Naturally, everyone noticed. That the person was Ilya.

 

“Handle things so no one gets unnecessarily curious.”

 

“Don’t worry. Just uttering this glorious moment’s name carelessly would be blasphemy—everyone is being discreet.”

 

“Thanks… Ah!”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“It’s nothing. The baby just kicked and startled me.” I held my round, swollen belly.

 

“Shall I call the doctor?”

 

“It just moved, so it’s really fine.”

 

“That’s good to hear.” The butler, looking very pleased, took my coat.

 

I had never revealed who the father was, but everyone naturally assumed it was Ilya’s child. Which, in fact, was true.

 

I walked alone into the softly glowing barrier and opened the bedroom door. There, Ilya was waiting for me after finishing work.

 

“You’re home early today.”

 

Ilya came up, kissed my lips, and said, “How can I focus at work when I’m worried about you?” He checked me all over, making sure my belly was okay and that nothing was wrong. “Isn’t it about time you came to the heavens? As you know, things are getting crazy.”

 

That had indeed been on my mind lately. For me, this was simply the result of the love between me and Ilya, but to the heavens, it was the ruler’s child. And it was being carried in a woman who wasn’t an angel.

 

Ilya hadn’t explained in detail, but I was sure he was suffering quite a bit. Still, knowing his personality, if he didn’t want to, he wouldn’t pay it any mind.

 

“Isn’t this what you want?”

 

Ilya wasn’t fond of being apart from me while commuting for work.

 

“Your magic research is drawing a lot of attention in the heavens, too, so it’s a good opportunity.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

“I’ve even set up a nursery.”

 

“That I am curious about.”

 

He stroked my belly to feel the baby’s movements, then said with a shameless smile, “Our baby seems to want to be with their dad all day. See, they like it.”

 

“What… They were moving earlier, too, you know?”

 

I laughed incredulously, and he kissed me again and again. He was so affectionate, it was almost funny—and cute.

 

“Alright. I was going to quit work anyway, so let’s get serious about magic research.”

 

Finally, Ilya looked utterly happy as if he’d gotten the answer he wanted, and hugged me tightly. “I love you.”

 

“Mhm, I love you too.”

 

It was truly a perfect, supremely happy ending to this trial.

 

<The End of Ilya Special Story 2>