Guide to tamming vilanesses

After walking back and forth for so long, Shin lay down on the ground beside Liza’s grave. Obviously, his clothes got dirty, but at that moment, he didn’t care about that.

He had no idea why that grave was there, but the fact was that it existed. Amid the chaos of the surprise of seeing that grave, he ended up forgetting what mattered most.

"It’s been a long time, hasn’t it... Liza," he murmured, looking up at the clouds in the sky. The weather was overcast, and rain was about to fall at any moment. "A lot has happened..." Shin had hoped he could control his emotions better, but with every word, his voice grew more fragile.

No matter how much time passed, he couldn’t forget her completely. His chest tightened just remembering her smile.

As if on cue, raindrops began to fall, hiding his tears as he continued murmuring incoherent words.

It wasn’t easy to form coherent sentences, and he wasn’t too concerned about that.

Lilel watched everything in silence as the rain grew heavier and heavier.

It was impressive how quickly the weather could change.

"Don’t you think we should get going?" Lilel approached him slowly, murmuring.

"Yes..." he replied, but he didn’t move. He didn’t want to part ways with Liza just yet.

I wish I could see her again... he thought silently.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the rain pouring over his face suddenly stopped. Looking up, he saw a familiar face.

Kaho was holding an umbrella above him, the rain hitting the fabric in a steady rhythm.

For a moment, Shin simply stared at her, as if trying to confirm she was really there. Her black hair, now soaked, no longer hid her face as before.

Strands clung lightly to her skin, revealing soft features he had never observed so clearly. She was truly beautiful.

"Y-You... you took so long to come back, so..." she couldn’t finish her sentence.

The girl had grown worried after waiting for so long, and in the end, she decided to go out and look for Shin.

She had brought an umbrella, but in the end, it was almost useless against the fierce rain that had settled in.

Her body trembled slightly from the cold, and her clothes were soaked, clinging to her figure.

"Y-You’ll catch a cold," Kaho said softly, hunching slightly as if trying to make herself less noticeable. She seemed to have noticed his gaze.

Shin blinked a few times, as if returning to reality.

He finally stood up and thanked her for coming to get him. Then he looked one last time at the grave. Once again, he hesitated to leave that place.

Why did he have so much difficulty letting go of the past? He shouldn’t let his emotions control him like that.

"Sorry for taking so long..." Shin said with a slightly frustrated tone, clenching his fists. "It’s okay..." Kaho replied quickly.

Then her eyes shifted to the grave. She had no idea who had been buried there, but she could feel how much Shin cared.

"It must be a difficult goodbye," Kaho said empathetically.

She hesitated for a few seconds, but finally stepped closer to him. Then she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she wanted to give him strength somehow.

"Adiós, my love..." Shin said, leaving the grave behind.

As they finally arrived back at the hotel Eva had rented for them, Kaho couldn’t sense any negative emotions from Shin anymore.

It was as if he had completely locked away all his sorrow inside, and he didn’t seem willing to let any of it out.

But was it really okay to bury everything like that?

Kaho was worried about it, but she didn’t have the courage to interfere in someone else’s life. She didn’t want to be a nuisance.

"You can go take a shower first. I’m sorry for making you go out in the rain like that," Shin told her with a gentle smile.

Normally, Kaho would have insisted that he go first, but she was really trembling from the cold. She also wanted to change into dry clothes so she could feel more comfortable.

Like a startled cat, she quickly ran into the bathroom. Once she was alone, her body and mind seemed to relax.

She slowly removed her clothes and stepped into the hot water.

She couldn’t help but remember Shin’s expression when she found him. His eyes had seemed so lost, how could he return to normal so quickly?

"So even he has problems..." she wondered to herself.

To Kaho, Shin had always seemed like an untouchable god. Even Eva showed insecurities from time to time, but ever since she met him, all Kaho had seen was Shin being confident.

He always knew what to say, never seemed afraid of anything, and Eva spent half her time praising him, so her view of him was extremely positive.

Anyway, Kaho finished her shower quickly. She didn’t want to make Shin wait, but she still needed to get dressed before leaving the bathroom.

She carefully dried her body, then put on a simple bra, made for support and modesty rather than appearance.

She wore a loose shirt and loose pants. Then, over everything, she put on a baggy sweater, though this one at least showed a bit of her shape.

It was one of the most fashionable outfits she felt comfortable wearing. Eva had worked hard to find something her friend could wear comfortably while still looking good.

Kaho had chosen these clothes almost unconsciously. But as she looked at herself in the mirror, she found herself thinking about adjusting her hair.

It was strange. She had never cared about her appearance before. All she ever did was try to avoid attention, so why was she thinking about it now?

The shy girl did her best to ignore the lingering question in her heart, left the bathroom, and told Shin that he could go next.

She had exchanged messages with the scientists, and they would have a face-to-face meeting the next day.

For the rest of the night, she spent time playing chess with Shin. Then they slept in separate beds.

Kaho felt nervous as usual, but she felt more at ease with Shin than with any other man she had been with. Maybe it was because she knew he had so many beautiful women around him that he would never look at her.

♡♡♡♡♡

Eva was in a fancy cafeteria with Kotoha, who had quickly become her "friend."

"But enough talking about my lame sister..." the woman said after finishing a long rant about Kaho.

Eva didn’t need to do much to make her run her mouth. In a short time, she already knew a lot about her friend’s situation in her own home. And this alone was enough for her to never want to let Kaho go back to that. Her family seemed to have a really bad and unfair view of her.

"Did something happen?" Kotoha asked, scared, sensing Eva’s mood change.

Of course, the queen was furious with the situation. But she still planned on getting more information, so she couldn’t blow things yet.

She forced a fake smile and talked with the woman for a few extra minutes. But from this point on, she just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"I’m sorry, I need to go." And because Eva wasn’t the type to waste time on people she didn’t care about, she said it abruptly.

"Why? We are having so much fun..." Kotoha said hopefully.

"I just need to go," Eva answered in a colder tone.

"Is everything seriously okay? Did I do something wrong?" Kotoha asked, her voice laced with worry this time.

"No, but if you keep nagging, I may need to change my answer." Eva checked her smartphone. "It’s almost seven already, and I told you that it would be just a quick chat because I didn’t have much time."

"Yes, but..."

"Look, I already need to go. We had fun, so don’t think too much about it. We will go out again in the future when I have more time. But don’t try to hold me here when I already told you in advance I had a tight schedule."

"Okay," Kotoha finally gave up.

Eva left without looking back. She actually had more time, but Kaho and her King would be arriving at any time, and she wanted to be waiting for them.

♡♡♡♡♡

"So, how was the meeting with the researchers? Did the two of you have fun on your trip to the US?" Eva jumped to hug her best friend as soon as they stepped back into Japan.

"Everything went well; the chief researcher was a very lovely old lady," Shin took the lead explaining things.

Aside from visiting Liza’s grave, the trip had been useful. Even with all of her shyness, Kaho was able to talk about her work and forge a connection.

"They... they gave me access to some scans of the old scrolls that are not available to the public..." Kaho said in a low mumble.

"Oh! This is great!" Eva said. "I bet you are dying for the chance to just dive into your work already and study them as much as you can."

"Actually, she will need some equipment for that. Mostly some expensive computers for analysis and simulations," Shin said.

"Wait! I asked you not to tell her about it!" Kaho screamed in a high-pitched voice. "Eh... Eva, you don’t need to worry about it... I don’t want to cause you any problems. You don’t need to buy me anything."

Ignoring Kaho’s mumbling, Shin stepped forward. He gave Eva a paper with a list of items.

"I asked some researchers at the institute what they used. I don’t know what she will need or not, so just buy all of it."

"Okay, leave it to me," Eva said with a big smile.

"Wait... Don’t do that! Many of these pieces of equipment are things I don’t even know how to use."

"So you can just learn," Shin commented.

"Besides, stop worrying about all of that. Just let me pamper you a bit. You know I have more money than I will ever need," Eva said, pointing to all the expensive things around them.

In the end, Kaho was convinced. Or, at the very least, she gave up on opposing Eva. She also agreed to sleep at the Queen’s mansion again.

She thought she should go back home after being away for so long, but Eva wouldn’t let her. When she sent a message to her mother, she was given permission, so Kaho decided to stay just a bit longer away from them.

Because she was tired, she went to sleep right away. Besides, she also wanted to fall asleep as early as possible so she wouldn’t risk listening to anything she shouldn’t.

Meanwhile, Eva approached her King, with whom she wanted to talk.