The Villainess's Guide to Winning the Male Lead

Chapter 56

A silence lingered between us.

Then, the manager reached out and flicked my forehead.

“Don’t mess around.”

After that, he lay back down on the bed.

I finally let out a long breath I didn’t realize I was holding. My heart was pounding so loudly it echoed in my ears.

‘...This feels strange.’

It was an emotion I was experiencing for the first time.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up before the manager.

He was still sleeping.

“......”

I quietly observed the manager’s face.

The morning sunlight settled on his eyelashes, the same color as his hair. His usually sharp and intimidating face seemed gentle in his sleep.

How long had I been staring?

“It’s quite unsettling to be stared at like that.”

The manager spoke in a low voice.

Startled, I flinched back. Only then did he open his eyes and smile teasingly.

“Why, do you find me particularly handsome now?”

“...You’re shameless.”

“It’s because I’m getting influenced by you.”

The manager stretched and then got up. Before getting off the bed, he casually ran his hand through my hair, as if it was a habit.

“Let’s go for breakfast. I’ll wash up in the next room and come back to pick you up.”

“...Okay.”

With that, he left the room without looking back.

“......”

I touched the spot on my head where the manager’s hand had been. I could still feel the warmth of his touch.

“...I must be going crazy.”

My face felt hot. I was definitely not in the right state of mind.

It was just some strange feeling because of the manager’s antics yesterday.

I slapped my cheeks with both hands.

Get a grip. It seemed best to start the plan as soon as possible.

‘What plan?’

If I were broadcasting, the viewers would surely ask. Since I wasn’t, I asked and answered myself.

‘Of course, the Twelve Million Project.’

Though the value of twelve million points had decreased since Ian or PleaseShakeACarrot could easily donate ten thousand points, it was still a significant amount.

Since the manager’s presence had prevented me from broadcasting often, I had to extract points from him. I trampled over the manager’s request to keep his identity as Bates a secret.

I had to look out for myself first. I was quite selfish.

I called a maid and dressed as impressively as possible.

It was definitely too much for a breakfast, but for the slightest chance, it was necessary. Maybe the manager was the type to be swayed by appearances.

“......”

Not that I really believed so. It was more like clutching at straws.

People who usually didn’t bother to dress up were suddenly getting dolled up from the morning, making the maids serving them a bit puzzled.

“It’s fine.”

Anais in the mirror looked very pretty to me too. Indeed, she was someone whose beauty was powerful enough to surpass anyone’s, just by her face alone. Right, she had a status too. Anyway, if it weren’t for her personality, she would have been remarkable.

I snapped back to reality from my stray thoughts when I heard a knock.

“Are you not coming out―”

It was the manager’s voice. He seemed to have come looking for me because I was taking too long, as we were supposed to have breakfast together.

I adjusted my outfit and left the room, feeling inexplicably nervous.

“......”

The manager, seeing me, widened his eyes in surprise.

He seemed startled, but more bewildered than anything.

“Where are you going today?”

“No.”

“Then why did you dress up like this?”

“......”

It’s for you, Mr. Manager.

...was too embarrassing to say honestly.

“The books in that section are all novels written by her.”

“She’s released a lot of works...”

I knew she was a popular author, so I had thought of her as an established writer, but I didn’t realize she had produced so many works.

“Are you close with the author?”

“We just know each other, but she gifts me her new releases. So, they naturally accumulated.”

Gifting personal books like that seems quite intimate. It was clear that it was only the manager denying their closeness.

“It’s more of a hobby room.”

“It’s more of a study than that.”

It was definitely a room that would belong in the real manager’s house.

There was one more room, a bit tucked away in the corner.

As I tried to open it, the manager stopped me.

“Why?”

“It’s a bit messy in there. Not much to see, really.”

“Now that you say that, it makes me even more curious.”

“What’s your problem?”

I stared at the manager intently. He sighed and lowered the hand that was blocking the door.

Yes! I opened the door excitedly.

It was a much smaller room compared to the bedroom and study I had seen before, and it was filled with various items, both large and small.

“If you have a hobby of exploring storerooms, well...”

The manager commented sarcastically.

So, it was a storeroom. I thought he was into minimalism, but it seemed like he just crammed all the miscellaneous items into one room.

Among the large boxes, peculiar items frequently caught my eye.

Things like a giant ribbon headband or rainbow-colored sunglasses. They definitely didn’t seem like the manager’s style.

“So, you have hobbies other than reading.”

“What kind of fantasy are you having?”

The manager replied, looking baffled.

“Those guys, they only gift weird stuff on my birthday. It’s just a collection of trash.”

‘Those guys’ must be the celestial viewers, the angels. They were the only ones the manager referred to in that way.

The manager then closed the door again. It seemed too messy to show, something he was embarrassed about.

“Enough of this, let’s go out. We came here to enjoy, remember?”

Exploring the manager’s house was quite fun, albeit a bit disappointing.

But our main purpose was different. I nodded in agreement.

The manager asked me,

“Do you have a place you want to go?”

“Umm...”

I hadn’t really thought about it.

After pondering for a moment, I came up with an idea.

“I want to go shopping.”

“Shopping?”

The manager looked puzzled by the sudden suggestion.

Realizing the reason, he chuckled wryly.

“Planning another dress-up strategy?”

“Yes.”

Compared to Anais, my appearance may be modest, but I was still determined to give it a try.

“Haven’t given up yet?”

“You never know.”

“That’s absurd.”

The manager was just firm in his response.

But that was only for a moment. He then nodded.

“Alright, I wanted to give you a gift anyway. Let’s go.”

It seemed he wasn’t convinced by my strategy, but he was willing to accompany me.

We got ready to leave and stepped out of the house.

As soon as we closed the front door, the door of the neighboring house opened.

Naturally, both of our gazes drifted in that direction, and so did the person who had just opened the door.

“Oh.”

The moment our eyes met, I blinked in surprise.

The person coming out of the neighboring house was Ian.