Chapter 459: A Night of Growth
Chapter 459: A Night of Growth
That night, both of them grew a lot.
They learned and understood—
You absolutely cannot leave an unlocked bicycle carelessly parked by the roadside!
Because…
It’ll get stolen!
“Stop! Stop, damn it! That bike is borrowed! I have to return it!!!”
A thief swung his leg over the bicycle seat and pedaled off in a cloud of dust. Himekoji chased after him furiously, choking on the dirt kicked up behind the bike.
As for the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye, she followed behind Himekoji, laughing heartily, utterly delighted.
The aftereffects of his earlier hour-and-a-half-long frantic bike ride carrying the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye kicked in now. His legs felt weak and heavy, barely able to chase. He hadn’t run far before he just couldn’t keep up anymore. Soon, he couldn’t even see the dust the thief kicked up.
Which meant…
Yes!
He lost him!
The thief rode away on his borrowed bicycle! Helpless, Himekoji could do nothing!
Himekoji was furious! He stomped his feet angrily!
He was usually the one doing the stealing! Just one moment of carelessness today, and he got stolen from?!
What The Fu♂ck!
Of course, Himekoji’s “stealing” was nothing like that bastard thief’s “stealing”.
Himekoji’s “stealing” only involved taking some intimate garments of pretty girls—small items, and far below the value required for criminal charges. If you had to label it, you could call it an alternative kind of art, right?
Himekoji stood there, hands on his knees, panting heavily. As he entertained these random thoughts in his head, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye’s ringing laughter, carried by the sea breeze, reached his ears.
Clear, pleasant, and beautiful.
His mood inexplicably improved.
Still, Himekoji pretended otherwise, rolling his eyes dramatically. He snorted twice, feigning annoyance,
“What are you laughing at? What’s so funny? Our bike was stolen by a thief!”
“Stolen is stolen.”
The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye said, her bright, smiling eyes curved happily. Strangely, she seemed pleased the bike was gone.
“It was borrowed! I paid a 20,000 yen deposit!”
“Ah, so Mr. Himekoji is worried about the money?”
Worried? For Himekoji, 20,000 yen was nothing compared to Rikka’s smile.
But he still put on a show of being devastated.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. I have money. I can give it all to Mr. Himekoji.”
“Hah!”
Finally, Himekoji couldn’t help but laugh too,
“Who wants your money? Do I look like someone who lives off others?”
“Really don’t want it?”
The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye put her hands behind her back, leaned forward, and tilted her head cutely to one side. In this posture, guaranteed to make any man’s heart race, she gazed at Himekoji with clear, sparkling eyes like spring water.
Her clothes were thin, and Himekoji was looking down at her. His glance accidentally slipped past the slightly open neckline of her top, catching a glimpse of delicate, snow-white skin he shouldn’t have seen.
Instantly, his face flushed bright red, and he hurriedly looked away.
He forgot to answer.
“Really don’t want it?”
The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye asked again,
“It’s a very, very large sum of money. Enough that Mr. Himekoji wouldn’t even have to work for the rest of his life.”
Only after hearing her voice did Himekoji snap out of his embarrassed daze. Listening properly to what she said next made him both want to laugh and cry.
“Wouldn’t that just make me useless? So, better to let me keep working properly.”
“Then just work for me!”
The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye said, half-joking. She turned her face slightly away, but her eyes kept glancing sideways, watching Himekoji secretly.
“Alright, but first tell me what kind of work it is.”
“Be with me. Always.”
She stated the job description quickly and naturally.
Himekoji blinked in surprise and looked at the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.
Here, by the sea at night, under the dim light, the profile of the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye looked strangely lonely.
“That’s not work!”
Himekoji chuckled. Without asking, he reached out and ruffled the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye’s carefully arranged hair into a messy tangle.
Seemingly not minding her ruined hairstyle at all, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye squinted happily, appearing to enjoy it.
……
……
“Alright, it’s getting late. Shall we head back?”
Himekoji looked at her for agreement.
“Hmm…”
However, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye seemed strangely awkward.
“What’s wrong?”
“The magic teleportation circle… won’t work anymore.”
Blushing as if it was difficult to explain.
“Huh? Why?”
“Of course it’s because %＆%…￥＆＆……＆……!”
Himekoji’s question made the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye immediately launch into an impassioned explanation full of things he couldn’t comprehend.
“And Mr. Himekoji was the one who said he’d carry me back!”
Only the very last sentence made sense.
Anyway, it seemed she was blaming him. Himekoji barely understood, feeling both exasperated and amused.
“I couldn’t know the bike would be stolen, could I? Besides, if that’s the case, how could you laugh so happily earlier!?”
“Ah?! I… I…”
The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye looked like she choked, struggling for words before blurting out an excuse-that-wasn’t-an-excuse.
“Well, it’s because Mr. Himekoji was so funny!”
……
“The bike’s stolen. The earliest bus isn’t until tomorrow morning. And now, the magic teleport I was counting on isn’t working…”
Himekoji muttered to himself as he looked up, his face gloomy.
“So, how exactly are we supposed to get back?”
“To… tomorrow…”
A small, mosquito-like female voice came from beside him.
“Huh? What?”
Himekoji slightly turned his head.
Feeling Himekoji’s gaze on her, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye inexplicably grew flustered and turned her back to him.
“I… I said… maybe we should go back tomorrow.”
Before Himekoji could answer, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eagle anxiously started explaining herself.
“See, isn’t… isn’t there just no choice? It’s something with no choice at all!”
An odd sense of absurdity.
“Pfft.”
Himekoji couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
“Alright, alright. Then let’s find a hotel to stay at for now.”
“Yay!”
He agreed!
Her first time spending the night outside!
And with Mr. Himekoji!
With her back to Himekoji, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye secretly clenched her fist in excitement, celebrating by herself.
“Oh, right.”
Just as she was keyed up, Himekoji’s voice suddenly sounded again. Thinking he might have changed his mind, she tensed up instantly.
“Wh-What?”
“Remember to call your sister to let her know what’s happening.”
“Okay! Got it!”
…
…
“What? You only have one room left too?”
The information from the front desk made Himekoji seriously question his life.
He had asked at every single hotel nearby, but the answers were all surprisingly the same—
“Could you take just the one room?”
“Only one room left.”
“Could the two of you stay in one room?”
Himekoji looked helplessly at the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.
The Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye, however, just blushed and nodded almost imperceptibly.
“I… I don’t mind,” she told Himekoji.
“Okay then… we’ll take the room.”
Better than sleeping on the street.
Himekoji resigned himself to fate.
“My bicycle got stolen, and now every hotel only has one room… no matter what, this is way too much of a coincidence, right?”
Holding the room key in the elevator, Himekoji couldn’t help grumbling as he recalled the events.
Hearing this, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eagle guiltily averted her gaze.
…
Coincidence?
Not at all, really.
Because this was precisely the unique power of the Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord.
Under certain specific conditions, it could make certain specific wishes come true.
It seemed like a convenient, useful, flawless power, but it was the first time the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye had thought to use it.
Because…
Before meeting Mr. Himekoji, she hadn’t even known what a wish was.
It was only after meeting Mr. Himekoji that she gained wishes.
As Himekoji used the key card to open the hotel room door, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye, following close behind him, gently closed her eyes and wished—
“I wish, I could always stay by Mr. Himekoji’s side.”
“I wish, today, tomorrow, the day after… every day after this, I can remember Mr. Himekoji.”
Huh? She wished for two things at once?
Was that being too greedy?
Blame Mr. Himekoji!
Because being with him was so much fun, she got a little carried away without realizing it.
“Oh right, I almost forgot. We haven’t had dinner. Are you hungry? What should we eat?”
Looking at Mr. Himekoji who turned back, smiling as he spoke to her, the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye secretly made a third wish in her heart—
“I wish… I could make Mr. Himekoji like me.”
…
…