Chapter 10.
I’m the Villain, but I’m a Bunny (5)
A massive spear was flying toward Illena like an arrow.
They say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die.
Just like in a movie, the spear approaching her seemed to move in slow motion.
‘Am I going to die? Again?’
Again?
Illena was momentarily startled by her own passing thought.
“Watch out!”
A large black warhorse galloped toward her, and the man on its back knocked the spear away with uncanny precision.
CLAAANG—!
The sound of metal crashing against metal tore through the air.
To deflect a spear flying at that speed with just one hand—it was an incredible feat of strength.
“Lady Oracle!”
Everything had happened in an instant.
Andre rushed over, panting, as Illena simply blinked, trying not to show how shaken she was.
His usually composed face was completely pale.
“My god, what on earth! Are you alright?”
“Uh…”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…No.”
“You must have been shocked.”
A cold voice snapped Illena back to her senses.
She looked up to see the Black King sitting regally atop the black horse.
The skittish animal snorted, startled by the loud noise.
But the man calmed the beast with a firm grip of his muscular thighs and approached Illena.
As he neared, his towering presence became more apparent.
Illena had to crane her neck all the way back just to see his face from atop the horse.
The knights who had been training came running belatedly.
“I-I’m so sorry! It was an accident during training…!”
A man who seemed to be the one who threw the spear fumbled through his apology.
He was a bear of a man, massive in stature.
“An accident, huh.”
The Black King’s voice was so cold, it sent a chill down their spines.
“I was wrong!”
The man immediately straightened and shouted with military discipline, not even attempting to make an excuse.
The Black King dismounted with elegant movement and slowly walked toward him.
The man clenched his jaw and stood stiffly at attention, as if bracing for impact.
SLAP—!
The King struck his cheek without hesitation.
It was so brutal that the hulking man stumbled to the side from the sheer force.
But he immediately stiffened his posture again.
“Kyah!”
The scream came not from the punished soldier—but from Andre, who rushed to shield Illena as if protecting her from evil.
‘…I’m fine, though.’
Illena thought indifferently as she was held in his arms.
It was partly because her emotional responses had dulled from depression.
But even before that, she had always been calm and fearless.
Her grandfather, the founder of her family’s business empire, used to praise her, saying she resembled him most in that way.
‘Not that any of it matters now.’
Illena smiled bitterly at the old memory.
‘Discipline is crucial in the military. Especially in a country under constant threat of invasion because of its mines.’
The Black King turned his head at Andre’s outburst and looked down at Illena, who remained composed.
‘She really doesn’t panic, does she?’
He couldn’t show it with so many eyes on him, but he was honestly impressed.
Even when the spear had flown at her, and even now, the Oracle’s face remained expressionless.
Beautiful, but somehow weary—that expression of hers stirred something unexplainable in his chest.
Maybe it was because she didn’t flinch like everyone else when facing him.
The Black King finally spoke, his voice cold.
“…I won’t defile the eyes of the onlookers here, so punishment will be postponed.”
“Yes, sir!”
“For now, run 100 laps around the training ground. Begin.”
“Yes, sir!”
‘…A hundred laps isn’t punishment? In this heat, they must be crazy.’
Even Illena stared at him with mild disbelief.
Despite the overcast sky, the tropical humidity was stifling.
But the soldier saluted without complaint and took off running.
The other soldiers, equally tense, quickly followed suit.
They were probably used to much harsher punishments.
‘As expected of the Black King. Just like the villain in the original story.’
“Perfect timing.”
The King lazily patted the neck of his black steed, its coat matching his hair.
‘Look at him being all unnecessarily decadent again. Can’t even have what he wants.’
Illena looked up at him with her usual blank face.
“Your eyes must have fully recovered by now.”
He examined her with a cold gaze.
‘My eyes? Oh, yesterday. Over one measly onion? That barely counts as a recovery.’
He really was a villain with oddly soft spots.
When Illena silently nodded, he turned with an icy voice.
“Then follow me.”
Is this it? Torture this time?
The place the Black King took her to was the Solar Palace—his residence.
‘There’s probably a torture chamber in the basement or something.’
Illena glared at his unnecessarily broad back as she followed.
Don’t be fooled by that sweet face.
He was like a venomous snake hiding beneath the desert sand, waiting to sink its fangs into the careless.
‘Even the kind male lead electrocuted me early on. This guy’s worse—he’s the villain!’
Whether in fiction or reality, people were cruel to those they deemed weak.
And the Black King was no exception.
The way he had slapped that soldier earlier without hesitation said it all.
I can’t trust anyone. Don’t show emotion. Don’t show weakness.
Illena repeated those mantras as she followed him.
‘If he snaps, it’s thunder and lightning time. If he touches me, we both die, got it?’
She stayed tense until the very end—only to be taken to his office.
It was a room that perfectly matched his aura.
Dark wallpaper. Massive mahogany furniture.
The only surprising thing?
A large brown dog sleeping peacefully under the desk.
Big as it was, its plump body clearly wasn’t built for hunting.
‘Didn’t think he’d have a pet. Huh. Unexpected.’
Her gaze drifted to the desk next.
It was buried under a mountain of paperwork that spilled onto the floor.
‘Why is there so much paperwork?’
He didn’t seem like the lazy type. Was he handling everything by himself?
Having one person do all the work was terribly inefficient.
‘Surely there are other people in the palace. Why not delegate? If he just set up a system—no! I’m doing it again!’
Illena shook her head hard.
‘Whew. That was close. I almost started caring again.’
Her past life had ingrained the habit of analyzing problems and fixing them as if they were her own.
But what had that gotten her?
Overwork, insomnia, depression. And electric torture from a supposedly kind male lead.
She made a firm resolve once again.
‘In this isekai world, I live easy and careless.’
“Sit.”
Unaware of her thoughts, the Black King gestured to the sofa.
Illena leaned back in the seat opposite his without a word.
‘What is he planning?’
She glared at him warily—only for the man to calmly set out cookies on the table with a dignified, solemn expression.
“Andre, bring tea.”
He gave the order in the same serious tone.
Soon, warm black tea and a plate of cookies—delicately arranged by the King’s large hands—were set before her.
The cups and plates were refined, elegant. Clearly palace-quality.
No way he picked them himself.
Illena stared at the cookies for a while before muttering dryly:
“…Strawberry jam cookies.”
It was the exact same reaction she had to his rabbit-patterned handkerchief.
“…”
The Black King froze like a stone, momentarily speechless.
Though, of course, his stern and sexy expression didn’t waver.
‘Why isn’t he saying anything? Is he going to scold me or something?’
Still wary, Illena asked flatly:
“You didn’t call me here just to have tea, right? Why did you summon me?”
“…You’re more impatient than you seem. Have a cookie.”
He leaned back and sipped his tea leisurely.
As his arm lifted, the Southern-style clothes exposed part of his sculpted abs.
Marble-like six-pack.
He looked like he belonged in a high-end rooftop bar, sipping wine or whiskey. Decadent and languid.
But in reality? Just cookies and tea.
…Yet somehow, it suited him weirdly well.
‘Looks really are everything, huh?’
Expression blank as always, Illena crunched a cookie out of courtesy.
“It’s good.”
Her flat statement made the corner of the Black King’s mouth twitch upward.
“…Is it? I was worried it might be too sweet.”
Worried?
“It goes well with the bitter tea, actually.”
“Hmm. I see. Well, it’s not that important, but still.”
“That’s true.”
Illena replied coldly.
‘Whether the cookie is sweet or not isn’t the issue. My life might be on the line here.’
The Black King seemed a bit… deflated by her comment.
Deflated? No way. A man like a black panther—how could that be?
‘What’s with me today?’
Illena chuckled to herself at her ridiculous thoughts.
“…The reason I called you here,”
he said solemnly, lowering his long lashes,
“is to ask about the Oracle.”
‘Ah. So it begins.’
