The Yandere villainess loves the useless engineer

Chapter 92: Back to normal

After Clara finished dropping off her belongings, we headed toward the dining hall.

The moment Clara entered she stopped again.

The long dining table alone was probably worth more than everything she’d owned in her life.

Candles illuminated the room while paintings and decorations covered the walls.

Clara slowly sat down.

"Rich people really do live in a different world."

A servant soon entered carrying lunch.

Two beautifully prepared steaks were placed in front of Clara and Lillith alongside various side dishes.

The smell alone was enough to make Clara’s stomach growl.

She immediately cut off a piece.

The moment she tasted it her eyes widened.

"Oh wow."

Clara consumed bite after bite savouring each second.

Lillith watched with amusement as she gently settled me into her lap.

"Turn me back."

She placed a finger against my lips.

"Shhh."

I was already began to hate that sound.

Then she picked me up.

I blinked.

"What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, she simply started gently rocking me.

A soft melody left her lips.

A quiet hum.

I frowned, but the sound was absurdly pleasant.

"Lillith."

The humming continued.

My eyelids suddenly felt heavier.

I immediately became suspicious.

"Lillith."

The humming continued and the world felt warmer, softer and more sleepier.

I fought it with everything I had.

Unfortunately my current body appeared to have other ideas.

My vision slowly blurred.

"No..."

The humming still continued.

I tried staying awake, but I failed.

The last thing I saw was Lillith smiling down at me.

Then everything faded away.

**************************

I looked down at the sleeping Leon resting in my hands.

It should be illegal for somebody to be this adorable.

His tiny arms were folded against his chest while his breathing remained slow and peaceful.

Every now and then he would scrunch up his face slightly before relaxing again.

I couldn’t stop smiling.

Even Clara had become strangely quiet after seeing him fall asleep.

How was somebody allowed to be this cute?

Especially when it was my Leon.

I carefully brushed a strand of hair away from his face.

The little purple bow was still there, exactly where I meticulously placed it.

My heart felt warm, comfortable and tranquil.

I knew he would complain endlessly when he woke up.

But for now—

He was asleep ,safe and here in my hands.

I gently hugged him against my chest and smiled, I wanted to keep him like this so badly.

He wouldn’t be able to eat, sleep and bath without me, it was exactly what I wanted, him needing me and being unable to live without me.

And the best part about this dependence on me was that he would never, ever, leave me..

Clara looked between me and the sleeping Leon nestled comfortably in my arms.

For several long seconds she simply stared, her eyes moving from his peaceful face to my content expression and then back again.

Eventually she leaned back in her chair and let out a long exhausted sigh.

"You know, I genuinely have no idea whether what I just witnessed was heartwarming or deeply disturbing."

I laughed softly.

"Why can’t it be both?"

"That answer worries me more than it should."

Her gaze drifted toward Leon again.

He looked completely harmless sleeping there beneath a small blanket I had placed on him, which only made the situation stranger considering he had been a fully grown man around a hour ago.

"You turned your fiancé into a toddler."

"He’ll be fine."

I carefully adjusted the blanket around him and brushed another loose strand of hair from his face.

"The effect is already weakening. He’ll unfortunately be back to normal by the time he wakes up."

Clara visibly relaxed.

"Oh thank goodness."

Then she paused.

"Unfortunately?"

I chose to ignore that.

The two of us continued talking while Leon slept peacefully in my arms.

The conversation wandered from academic and daily life, to Clara moving into the manor, as well as some other gossip.

She talked excitedly about her room, the private bathroom and the bed she planned on sleeping in later.

At one point she actually thanked me again for letting her stay.

I still wasn’t entirely sure why she seemed so grateful.

It was just a room.

After nearly an hour of us talking, Clara suddenly tilted her head.

"So..."

I looked up.

"What?"

"What do you plan to do after you and Leon get married?"

For some reason the question immediately silenced me.

My eyes drifted downward toward the sleeping Leon in my arms.

His tiny hands rested against his chest while he slept soundly, completely unaware of the conversation happening around him.

After several moments I finally spoke.

"There’s something I want to tell him first."

Clara immediately became interested as she leaned forwards on the table.

"A secret?"

I nodded.

The smile on my face faded slightly.

"The kind of secret that might make him hate me."

The room became quiet.

"What?"

I looked away.

"It might even make him leave me."

Clara stared at me as though I had suddenly grown a second head.

"Lillith, after everything I’ve seen from you, I honestly didn’t think there was anything left that could surprise me."

A weak laugh escaped me.

"Apparently there is."

She leaned forward.

"What could possibly be worse than all the crazy things you’ve already done?"

I remained silent for several moments.

Then I answered.

"On the night of my awakening ceremony... I did something horrible to him."

The words felt heavy leaving my mouth.

"Something Leon still doesn’t know about."

Clara’s expression slowly changed.

The curiosity remained, but now concern had appeared alongside it.

"Why did you do it?"

I closed my eyes.

Because even now, years later, the answer hadn’t changed.

The memory resurfaced immediately.

The fear, the panic and the helpless I felt when Leon told me he would most likely leave the Aldric territory and travel the world going on grand adventures.

"I convinced myself I had no choice."

My voice became quieter.

"I knew that if I didn’t do what I did that night, he would either get hurt or end up dead."

For several seconds Clara said nothing.

Eventually she asked another question.

"If that’s true... then why tell him at all?"

I opened my eyes and looked toward the window.

The stars were beautiful tonight.

For some reason they reminded me of my birthday.

The colours that rained in the sky.

The gift Leon had made for me.

The way he had stood beside me that night.

A small smile appeared before quickly fading again.

"Because eventually he deserves the truth."

Clara slowly nodded.

That answer seemed to satisfy her.

Then I hesitated before continuing.

"I want to tell him after we’re married."

"That makes sense." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"And after I have his children."

Clara immediately froze.

Then very slowly lowered her face into her hands.

I pretended not to notice.

"If he learns the truth and had thoughts about leaving me ..."

I struggled to finish the sentence.

"He’d be probably be less likely to leave if he was, not just married to me, but I know he also would be unable to leave his children behind."

Clara let out the most exhausted sigh I had ever heard.

"There is always drama around you."

I let out a small pathetic laugh.

That was probably true.

Eventually Clara stood from her chair and stretched.

"For the record, I won’t tell Leon anything."

"I don’t know what the secret is and honestly I don’t want to know."

"But if you’re planning to tell him someday, make sure you do it because he definitely deserves to know the truth."

I looked down at Leon.

Then nodded.

"Thank you."

Clara smiled.

"I’m going to bed."

Her eyes immediately lit up.

"I’ve been waiting all day to sleep in that gigantic bed."

I laughed.

"Good night, Clara."

"Good night."

A few moments later she left the room.

Silence returned.

For a while I simply sat there staring out at the stars beyond the window while absentmindedly holding Leon closer.

My thoughts wandered.

To the academy and our futures.

To all the strange things that had happened since meeting him.

Eventually my eyes drifted back down toward the sleeping figure in my arms.

He looked so defenseless like this.

So trusting.

So completely unaware of everything happening around him.

A small smile formed on my face.

Carefully, I stood and carried him back toward my room.

The manor had grown quiet by now. Most servants had retired for the evening and only a handful remained awake tending to their duties.

Eventually I reached my bedroom.

The moment I entered, a familiar sense of comfort settled over me.

I gently placed Leon on the bed before climbing beneath the blankets myself.

A yawn escaped me.

Slowly I pulled him closer until he rested comfortably against my chest.

For several minutes I simply watched him sleep.

Tomorrow he would return to normal.

And go back to arguing with me.

Back to stubbornly refusing my suggestions.

Back to building impossible machines and somehow changing the world whenever I looked away for five minutes.

A small smile appeared on my face.

Sometimes I wondered how much easier everything would be if he wasn’t like that.

If he wasn’t so stubborn.

So independent and determined to carry every burden himself.

My eyes drifted down toward the sleeping Leon in my arms.

Right now he couldn’t run away.

Couldn’t throw himself into danger or disappear into some workshop for three days because he got excited about a new material.

Couldn’t get himself hurt.

Couldn’t leave me...

A warm but guilty feeling spread through my chest.

Because if I was honest with myself...

I loved this version of him and how helpless, weak and pathetic he was.

How completely dependent he was.

How he needed me for even the simplest things.

My fingers gently brushed through his hair.

A darker thought quietly surfaced.

What if he stayed like this?

Not physically but emotionally.

A Leon who always needed me, who relied on me for everything.

That didn’t walk away and would always stay by my side simply because he couldn’t do otherwise.

My arms tightened slightly around his delicate and tiny frame.

For a brief moment I imagined it.

A future where he depended on me completely.

Where he stopped fighting and arguing against me.

Stopped trying to shoulder everything himself.

Where every single problem he had

brought him back to me.

The thought made my heart race.

Then I immediately frowned.

No.

My eyes lowered toward his sleeping face.

Leon would hate that more than anything and would despise me for it.

The Leon I loved valued his freedom and independence too much.

I remained silent for a long moment.

Then sighed softly.

"No..."

My voice barely rose above a whisper.

I couldn’t do that.

Not now at least.

Even if a large part of me wanted to.

Even if the thought was still tempting.

My fingers wrapped around his tiny hand as I felt them instinctively grip on.

I wouldn’t throw away the idea of breaking him so that he relied on me completely.

But if the day ever came where it was truly the only way to keep him safe and with me...

The only way to stop myself from losing him...

I would have to do so-

But that day wasn’t today.

Today he would still be Leon.

Stubborn but wonderfull.

And despite all the trouble he caused me...

That was still the Leon I loved.

I rested my forehead gently against his.

Then closed my eyes.

Tomorrow morning he would wake up as himself again.

And for now—

I would accept that.

————————

I woke up to warmth.

A lot of warmth.

For several seconds I just lay there staring at the ceiling, still half asleep as my brain slowly caught up with reality.

Then yesterday came flooding back.

All the humiliation I endured was coming back to me.

I immediately wished I could forget all of it.

Slowly, I turned my head and looked beside me.

Lillith was asleep.

Normally that wouldn’t have been surprising.

What was surprising was the fact that she was somehow still holding onto me even while unconscious.

Both of her hands wrapped around my head burying it into her chest, making escape impossible.

I sighed.

Carefully, I raised my hand and stared at it.

A normal hand.

An adult hand.

Not the tiny chubby toddler hand from yesterday.

Relief immediately washed over me as I checked the rest of me.

Everything else was normal.

Thank goodness.

But then I looked down and immediately regretted it.

I was still wearing Lillith’s old childhood clothes.

Apparently the spell ending had caused them to grow alongside me, despite the fact that my old cloths didn’t shrink along with me when I first got turned into a toddler.

The purple frilled shirt.

The decorative sleeves.

The ridiculous outfit.

All of it.

My eye twitched.

Then I felt something resting on my head.

Slowly, I reached upward.

The stupid purple bow was still there.

I immediately grabbed it but the moment I started pulling it off, movement came from beside me.

Lillith’s eyes opened slightly.

She looked exhausted.

Then her gaze landed on my hand.

"No..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Don’t take that off..."

I stared at her.

"Lillith."

She yawned.

"It looks nice."

"It looks ridiculous."

"No."

"It absolutely does."

Her eyes started closing again.

I immediately pointed at the bow.

"I never want to remember yesterday for the rest of my life."

Lillith responded by pulling me closer.

A second later my face was buried against her chest again.

I couldn’t even see the room anymore.

"Lillith."

"Mm."

"Lillith."

She tightened her grip.

"It’s the weekend."

"So?"

"I want to sleep."

I sighed.

"Then sleep."

"I am."

"Then why are you talking?"

She ignored the question.

Instead she buried her face into my hair and mumbled something.

"What?"

"I said stop annoying me with your useless thoughts."

I stared ahead.

"You wouldn’t be this tired if you actually slept like a normal person."

Lillith immediately made a protesting noise.

"That’s different."

"How?"

She looked genuinely confused that I even needed to ask.

"If I sleep..."

A yawn interrupted her.

"...I can’t watch you sleep."

I blinked.

"Lillith."

"Mm?"

"That’s incredibly creepy."

"It’s fine."

"No."

"It is."

"It isn’t."

She looked at me as though I was the unreasonable one.

Then she answered with complete confidence.

"You’re my husband."

She then closed her eyes again as apparently that settled the matter.

Unfortunately for me, arguing with somebody half asleep was impossible.

So I accepted my fate.

For the next hour I remained trapped.

Every time I tried moving, Lillith would unconsciously pull me back.

Every time I thought she’d finally fallen fully asleep, she’d somehow tighten her grip again.

At one point I seriously considered just staying there forever.

Eventually, however, she finally woke up properly.

Her eyes opened.

She stretched.

Then smiled the moment she saw me.

"Good morning, darling."

Before I could respond, she leaned forward and kissed me.

Then she climbed out of bed.

I sat up shortly afterward and immediately removed the bow from my head.

Lillith looked disappointed.

But I simply ignored her again.

"I’d already be gone if not for our deal."

Lillith immediately frowned as I continued.

"You wanted me to stay for a week."

"Correct."

"In exchange for letting my workers stay here."

"Correct."

"So technically this is your fault."

Lillith looked deeply offended.

Then she crossed her arms.

"Leon."

"What?"

"Shut up."

She pointed at me again.

"And stay with me forever."

I sighed.

"You’re impossible."

"I know."

The worst part was how proud she sounded.

Eventually I climbed out of bed.

"Come on."

Lillith tilted her head.

"Where are we going?"

"Breakfast."

Immediately she brightened.

Then she grabbed my arm.

And just like that, we headed off toward the dining hall.