Villain, Let Me Touch You! - Chapter 56
“Let’s go inside.”
We arrived in front of the building showcasing imprinting-related equipment and technology. As we entered the large dome-shaped structure, admiration naturally escaped my lips. The exhibition hall themed around imprinting resembled a glass greenhouse. Inside, various plants, from giant toothed ferns to beautifully fragrant flowers, filled the space. It felt as if a famous garden had been transported in its entirety.
In the center, a stage shaped like a stamp caught my eye. The booths were arranged in a circular fashion around it.
“There are a lot of people here too.”
Considering it was indoors, there were restrictions on the number of people allowed inside the venue. So, compared to the outdoors, there were less people but it was still pretty crowded due to the sheer number of attendees.
“Is there anything specific you want to see? Shall we take our time exploring?”
Although I initially considered heading straight to the Steel Merchants, seeing the bustling crowd from a distance made me reconsider. It seemed better to wait until the crowd dispersed a bit.
“We should take our time. It looks like there’s a lot of interesting stuff around here.”
I looked around to find a place worth visiting.
“I can help you find your destined partner, come and see.”
There was a booth with transparent orbs on the table with a rather eerie atmosphere. It was a fortune-telling booth, predicting whether you would be imprinted or not.
“Are you curious if you will be imprinted?” asked Helios.
“No, I’m not. I just wanted to ask.”
“You’re already imprinted.”
“That’s why I’m asking. I want to find out if they’re a fraud or not.”
Helios gave me a look that said he couldn’t understand me at all, but I dragged him along.
Just then, a man bumped into me. Even though I was in a hurry, I quickly realized he had done it on purpose.
“Hey!”
I blurted out, and he ducked down.
“Oh, sorry. Are you okay? Well then, excuse me.”
He patted my shoulder and walked away. I stared at his retreating figure and grumbled.
“That guy is really weird.”
I brushed off the spot where the man had bumped into me. While doing so, I realized that my money pouch was missing. I quickly checked the place where I had hung my robe and money pouch.
“My money! My money pouch!”
“Why? What happened?”
“That guy stole my money pouch. He’s a pickpocket!”
I pointed in the direction the man had gone. Helios looked stern, and a chill emanated from him.
“I’ll catch him, Rienna. Was it something important?”
“Not important enough for you to go after him, Your Highness.”
I was angry but it wouldn’t be worth it. I had another money pouch, after all.
“No, Rienna. You worked hard for that money. I’ll find him.”
“I didn’t work that hard. You’ve given me so much money, Your Highness. It’s okay. Consider it stepping on sh*t[1].”
“Rienna! Why would you step on sh*t? You should avoid it, not step on it.” Helios said seriously.
It was a valid point, but I wondered if it was necessary for him to say it with such seriousness.
“I’ll be right back. You should go ahead and visit that fortune teller.”
“By myself? I don’t want to be alone, there’s a lot of people here.”
Normally, you wouldn’t leave your lover alone.
“Our guards are watching on the sidelines. They’re here to ensure nothing happens, so just relax and enjoy yourself. Okay?”
It was even weirder to hear that. If there were guards, couldn’t they catch the pickpocket instead?
“I’ll be back soon.”
Without waiting for me to protest, Helios ran in the direction the pickpocket had disappeared. He vanished from my sight at an astonishing speed.
“Be careful,” I said but he was already gone.
I made my way to the fortune teller. I thought I was close, but it was farther than I expected.
And it wasn’t easy making my way through the crowds. Each step was a struggle.
“Excuse me.”
I clasped my hands together and wiggled through the crowd like a fish. Some people made way for me, while others, annoyed, tried to block my path. Among them, there was a particularly unpleasant encounter.
“Watch where you’re going!”
A burly-looking person grabbed my arm and forcefully pushed me.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”
Momentarily off-center, I stepped to avoid falling. The effort paid off, and I didn’t fall. But there was another problem.
“Ah, my ankle!”
My ankle twisted.
¹ The Korean idiom used here is “똥 밟았네” or “to step on poop/sh*t/dung.” It figuratively means being unluckily caught in a bad situation. I could have translated what Rienna said here to, “I was just unlucky,” but decided to use the literal translation instead so that Helios’s response would make sense.↩
