How to Not Love that Villainess
“Priest, what do you think love would taste like?”
Salome, daughter of Duke Kreuger, returned home after ten years of studying in a faraway empire.
And Yohan, the devout high priest of the Temple of Salute, was there to receive her.
“Let’s make a bet.”
Ever since her coming-of-age ceremony, Salome had begun sharing strange, cryptic stories with Yohan.
“What kind of bet are you making all of a sudden….”
“I promise you, Yohan—you will fall in love with me.”
Could he truly resist falling for this so-called ‘mad princess’, Salome?
***
“When I was little, I set our mansion on fire.”
“What?”
“It was late. Everyone was asleep. I brought oil from the storeroom and poured it all over the house.
Then I dropped the lamp the cook had been carrying. After that, I went around knocking over every candle that was still lit.”
At her words, I nearly dropped the teacup I was holding.
“You’re wondering why I did it, aren’t you? There was no particular reason.
I simply wanted to watch the mansion burn—like sheets of paper curling up in a stove.”
The princess lifted her cup with an air of indifference.
She dropped in several sugar cubes, then stirred them gently with a silver teaspoon.
I could see the crystals melting slowly into the heat of the freshly poured tea.
“The house was quickly swallowed by the flames, collapsing just like this tower of sugar.
Well… whether it was fortunate or not, no one died.”
Without hesitation, she took a sip.
“The tea’s quite good. Though I may have gone overboard with the sugar.”
No matter how many times I played the thought in my head,
there was simply no way I could ever fall in love with this mad princess.
