The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

“M-my conscience? Of course I have one! I’m the Saintess, after all! Besides... I actually think this kind of thing is pretty exciting...”

Liya’s gaze began drifting around guiltily, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Muen.

But Muen refused to let her escape.

Step by step, he closed the distance until both hands rested on her shoulders.

Forcing her to meet his eyes directly.

“Have you thought about what’ll happen if Ariel finds out about this?” Muen asked heavily.

“If Ariel... finds out?”

Liya thought seriously for a moment.

Based on Ariel’s personality.

Based on the anticipation she showed yesterday...

“If she discovered that while dating her, you secretly did this kind of thing with another woman...”

Liya spoke with absolute seriousness.

“She’d probably chop your head off.”

“...”

Muen’s cheek twitched violently.

“So you clearly know that, yet you still want to do this?”

“I already told you, she won’t find out...”

Liya’s eyes wandered away again.

“Look at me when you say that.”

“She seriously won’t find out! This is the cathedral. It’s ridiculously far from the western district. Ariel can’t possibly find this place.”

Liya puffed out her chest proudly.

“But what if Ariel thinks something’s wrong because I’ve been gone too long and goes looking for me in the washroom?”

“...”

Her chest immediately deflated again.

Although it still remained extremely impressive.

“See? You little idiot, you didn’t think this through at all!”

Muen poked Liya hard on the forehead, making her lift her head with a pained whimper.

Yes.

Although Liya’s spatial power truly made it impossible for Muen to escape her grasp—and unlike An, she did not even need to lie in wait—

This method also possessed an enormous flaw.

For example, Muen was currently inside the cathedral. If he and Liya really did something “fun” together, what happened if Ariel came looking for him midway through?

Here in the cathedral, he could not reassure Ariel from outside the way he had in the fitting room earlier.

And once Ariel discovered Muen was missing, even as dense as she sometimes was, a girl deeply in love would definitely realize something was wrong.

At that point, even if he and Liya somehow grew three mouths between them, they still would not be able to explain themselves!

“Eh? Th-that actually does sound kind of problematic...” Liya muttered while rubbing her forehead.

“Not kind of problematic. Extremely problematic!”

Muen let out a long sigh.

“So not only are you trying to steal your best friend’s happiness, you’re also trying to put your own lover in mortal danger?”

“Uuu...”

Liya lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong.

“I-I wasn’t trying to...”

“Of course you weren’t. At least not yet.”

Muen took Liya’s hand and once again revealed his handsome smile as he comforted her:

“It’s not too late. As long as you send me back now, then nothing will have happened, right?”

“Muen...”

Liya slowly raised her head again in a daze.

“Be good.”

Muen bent down and lightly kissed her forehead.

“We’ll have plenty of opportunities later. There’s no need to care so much about this one or two missed chances, right? When it’s your turn later, I’ll spend proper time with you.”

“...Alright.”

Even though she was reluctant in every possible way, Liya still had to admit that Muen was right.

If they continued, the risk really would become enormous.

After all...

She was Ariel’s best friend.

Her childhood friend who had grown up beside her.

One or two accidental incidents were one thing, but how could she let Ariel witness something so cruel over and over again?

That would be far too unfair to her.

“...I was here first.”

Liya puffed out her cheeks unhappily, yet still reopened the spatial passage and watched Muen step toward it.

“Bye-bye.”

“Bye-bye.”

“When we meet next time, remember to wear those black stockings again.”

Muen waved at Liya with a charming grin before disappearing into the other side of space.

“Damn it...”

Meanwhile, although Liya had chosen to let him go...

A duck already at her mouth—

No, a blond pig already at her mouth—

Had suddenly flown away.

How could she possibly feel satisfied with that?

Unfortunately, dissatisfaction changed nothing. Liya could only return to the Goddess statue in a huff and resume her daily prayers.

...

“Hm? Wait.”

Halfway through praying, Liya suddenly looked up.

A crafty light flashed through her beautiful eyes.

“What Muen meant just now was...”

“As long as Ariel doesn’t find out, I can do whatever I want?”

...

...

Muen pushed the door open once more.

Along with the deliberate creaking of the restaurant’s old wooden door, Muen finally saw the girl in love who had been waiting for him.

“You took forever!”

Ariel crossed her arms unhappily.

“If you’d been two minutes later, I was seriously about to go looking for you.”

“Haha... sorry. Yesterday’s wheel game upset my stomach a little, so I needed extra time.”

Still feeling lingering fear, Muen wiped the sweat from his forehead. Only after confirming that every trace of Liya’s scent had been removed from his body did he finally sit across from Ariel with a smile.

While Muen had been gone, the private room had actually been rearranged slightly.

The large dining table originally meant for several people had been replaced with a smaller table set face-to-face. Music drifted softly through the room, curtains remained tightly closed, and red candles flickered gently, creating an exceptionally romantic atmosphere.

“This looks beautiful,” Muen praised sincerely.

“Right?”

Ariel twisted proudly in her seat.

“I had them redecorate it according to my instructions.”

“You’ve got good taste.”

Muen gave her a thumbs-up.

“Ordered yet?”

“Yep. Just waiting for you.”

Ariel rang the bell sitting on the table.

Ding-ding.

Several waiters entered in orderly succession, respectfully presenting tonight’s food.

But as the silver covers were lifted one by one, Muen froze slightly.

“It’s all desserts?”

Inside the silver trays sat exquisitely crafted sweets. The rich sugary aroma alone was enough to make one’s appetite stir.

The only problem was...

There were way too many.

As pre-meal desserts, the quantity had long surpassed the category of “pre-meal.”

“You’re eating only desserts?”

“As if.”

Ariel waved dismissively.

“The chef here is ridiculously slow. He kept saying every dish had to be carefully prepared and would take forever, so I just told them to bring ten desserts first.”

“Ten... can you even finish all that?”

The instant the words left his mouth, Muen realized he had asked something idiotic.

Maybe ordinary people could not finish them.

But who was sitting before him?

Ariel Bugaard.

The original protagonist.

The favored child of destiny.

And just like most overpowered protagonists, Ariel naturally possessed the classic “bottomless stomach” attribute.

...It simply had not been obvious before because she used to be poor.

“If you can’t finish yours, give it to me. A woman’s desserts go into her second stomach anyway, so they won’t affect the main meal at all!”

Ariel proudly patted her belly.

“...”

Don’t say something so adorably feminine in such a heroic tone!

Muen silently complained inwardly, though he did not say anything aloud.

After all, before House Campbell went bankrupt, “big eater” still counted as an adorable personality trait.

“Come on, hurry and try this one first. You have to eat it before it melts.”

Faced with so many desserts, Ariel had already reached her limit. Forget romantic conversation before the meal—she immediately pushed one especially unusual dessert toward Muen.

“This is...”

“The waiter said it’s a brand-new specialty they invented here. It’s called ice cream.”

“Ice cream?”

Muen raised an eyebrow and examined it carefully.

Mm. It really did resemble ice cream from his previous world.

A frozen mixture of cream, chocolate, and nuts molded into an elegant cylinder shape.

The only difference was the lack of a stick. Instead, it sat gracefully inside a silver container.

“You’re supposed to lick this, right?”

“Huh? You knew?”

“I guessed from the shape.”

Muen smiled lightly.

It seemed humanity’s creativity regarding food transcended worlds.

“Then I’m digging in!”

Ariel clapped her hands together excitedly.

Among all these desserts, the one she was most curious about—and most eager to try—was naturally this brand-new item she had never seen before.

In weather just on the verge of winter, tasting a frozen dessert like this was enough to fill anyone with anticipation.

She wanted to know exactly how delicious this “ice cream” had to be for the waiter to recommend it so passionately.

Thus, without hesitation, she lowered her head...

And gave it a gentle lick.

“Hss...”

Sweetness mixed with icy coolness instantly spread across her tongue before quickly traveling upward, straight into her head.

Mm.

The sensation truly was wonderful.

The chill stimulated her taste buds, making the sweetness stand out even more vividly.

But what surprised Ariel at this moment was not merely the deliciousness of the ice cream.

It was—

“What’s wrong with you?”

Ariel lifted her head in confusion and looked toward Muen.

Because the sudden “hss...” sound just now had not come from her.

It came from Muen.

And not only that—his whole body had trembled strangely.

“N-nothing...”

Muen’s fingernails dug sharply into his palm as he forcibly steadied the abnormal reaction surging through his body from some unknown stimulation.

Maintaining a calm smile with visible effort, he said:

“It’s nothing... really nothing. It’s just that my ice cream... got licked once.”

“Of course your ice cream got licked once. Weren’t you the one eating it? What are you talking about?”

Ariel felt Muen’s reaction was bizarrely excessive.

Sure, the ice cream was delicious, but was it really enough to shock him like this?

Hmph.

What a sheltered rich boy.

The thought that even the son of a duke had been stunned by this dessert made Ariel feel the ice cream tasted even better.

Thus she immediately lowered her head again and took another lick.

Slurp.

Her tiny tongue brushed across the icy dessert, producing that soft sound.

Muen heard it too.

But for him, the sound seemed to come not from one source—

But two.

The second came from...

Damn it!

That shameless little tramp really couldn’t hold herself back after all?!

Muen’s heart nearly stopped from fright. Furious, he still pretended outwardly that nothing was wrong while taking advantage of Ariel’s focus on her dessert to suddenly lower his head and yank up the tablecloth beneath him—

Yet...

There was nothing there.

Completely empty.

Under the table, there was only Ariel’s two little feet swinging back and forth excitedly because the dessert tasted so good.

Those tiny feet were extremely cute too.

Cute enough to make one want to savor them like ice cream themselves...

But now was obviously not the time to think about that.

How was this possible?

Muen’s eyes widened.

If nobody was under the table, then the very obvious sensation just now came from—

“Mmm, delicious!”

Ariel licked the ice cream again.

Slurp~

Muen instantly jolted as though electrocuted.

And at that moment, he finally realized something. His expression turned horrified as he stared downward toward a certain part of his body...

He reached down and touched it.

Nothing.

Cold sweat exploded from Muen instantly.

No way...

Spatial power...

Could be used like this too?!