The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 156 - A Sweet Smile

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“Hey, Will, what does aojiao mean?”

One morning, after class, Leah called Will out to the hallway where they often chatted. She crossed her arms, resting one hand on her forehead, and asked the question with a serious expression.

“Uh… wait, Leah, how do you even know that word?!”

“How do I know? Hmm…”

Leah pulled out a small piece of paper.

The handwriting on it looked suspiciously like Will’s.

However, the paper seemed to have been torn from a larger page, not a proper note.

When Will saw the paper, he froze, his face a mix of shock and panic.

This was the first time Leah had seen him look so flustered. Not even the time he nearly failed an exam because he forgot to check the back of the test paper had made him this nervous.

“Ah, well… uh, can I not explain it?”

“No way. This note has my name on it—my full name—and it even mentions an aojiao value, which you crossed out.”

“Dammit… I must’ve scribbled that while analyzing how to fix the ‘loser’ tendencies in my plans last night. I thought it didn’t make sense, so I tore it out… and then I must’ve dropped it when I brought it out…”

“And those letters… they don’t even look like they’re from the Entark language. Is it Elvish? Orcish? Dungeon script? You mumbled something just now.”

“N-no, it’s nothing. If I had to explain, it’s… a personality trait!”

“A personality trait?”

Leah tilted her head. It was the first time she’d heard such a term used to describe someone’s personality.

Still, being evaluated by her student left her feeling a bit irked—though, to be fair, that was just part of being a teacher.

“It’s like what you sometimes do, Leah. You reflexively deny things, beat around the bush, and avoid being honest about your feelings. You’re not straightforward at all.”

“W-what are you saying? T-that’s not me at all!”

“See? That’s aojiao!”

“Hmm? Well… I guess that does sound a bit like me. Barely, though!”

“And admitting it in such a cute way is also part of that personality.”

Leah lightly punched Will in the chest—since the second year, he had grown much taller than her, making it hard to believe they were close in age.

“Ahem. S-saying your teacher is cute… I’ll deduct points from your participation grade!”

Leah couldn’t handle Will’s direct compliments, after all.

Fine, she’d admit it—witches were, of course, the cutest in the world!

“So… is that why you kept telling me to be ‘straightforward’ and ‘honest’?”

“Exactly!”

Leah watched as Will nodded enthusiastically.

“Because aojiao is outdated now. It’s the kind of personality that always loses in love.”

“L-loses in love…?”

As a witch with over a century of singlehood, the phrase sent a chill down her spine.

“It’s simple. If you meet a really dense guy, and you keep avoiding things, he’ll never figure out what you’re thinking!”

Leah glanced at Will, evaluating him internally.

Will…

Was he dense?

Not really, she thought.

Why was he even giving her this kind of advice?

“Huh? Why wouldn’t he figure it out?”

“Because men are inherently lazy! Think about it—if a girl keeps saying she hates you and makes you guess what she’s thinking, versus a girl who’s straightforward and says she loves you…”

“—You’d obviously choose the latter!”

Leah pondered his words for a moment.

They did make some sense.

“So, Will, is that the type you like?”

“Exactly! Leah, at least for your student’s sake, become someone who says ‘I love you’ openly and honestly—”

“No one changes themselves for their student—”

—

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Leah woke up.

She had finally fallen asleep, but the dream had been vivid and brief, leaving her feeling unsettled.

“Another… another dream about Will?”

She glanced at the newspaper, her eyes landing on that one sentence.

Thump thump.

She clutched her chest, but…

The pounding of her heart, which she had managed to suppress while forcing herself to sleep, was now uncontrollable. She could feel the violent rhythm through her chest, even with her fingers.

Thump thump thump—

Will is…

Thump thump thump thump thump—

…being seriously looked at by someone else.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump—

And he responded to that gaze.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump—

You’re not the only one he responds to.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump—

“Hah… hah…”

Despite her racing heart, Leah felt an overwhelming sense of…

Emptiness.

She looked at the box at the foot of her bed, the one filled with bottles of crimson mint essential oil that Will had specially prepared for her.

“Straightforward…”

She crawled from the head of the bed toward the box.

“Honest…”

In the dim room, she fumbled to turn on the desk lamp provided by the hotel.

“Is it because… you didn’t see?”

In the soft, ambiguous glow, with her unsteady vision, she picked up a bottle of crimson mint essential oil.

“Is it because I wasn’t obvious enough?”

She held it up to the light.

The crimson mint essential oil, being semi-transparent, glowed a strange pink under the lamp’s illumination.

It matched the color of her eyes in the vanity mirror on the desk…

Her blood-red eyes now carried a peculiar pink hue.

She drank the entire bottle of crimson mint essential oil.

Will had advised against drinking it directly, saying it was usually enough to apply it topically.

Not because drinking it reduced its effects, but because it could irritate the stomach. After all, it was made from dungeon mint, and its extreme coolness carried a fiery kick that most people couldn’t handle.

But…

Leah drank the whole bottle.

She didn’t feel the icy mint oil quelling the flames in her heart.

The pink in her eyes deepened.

Her heartbeat grew even faster.

Her magical circuits surged, causing her skin to flush.

But…

Looking at herself in the mirror, Leah felt lighter, as if her entire body had become weightless.

“…I think I understand now.”

“Over these past few days… these days apart from you, I finally understand, Will.”

“Why my body feels so empty and weak.”

“And why, after seeing your photo in the newspaper, I felt like myself again.”

“Why I crave the mint essential oil you gave me.”

“As my student, your eyes should only ever…”

“…be on me.”

She stared at the mirror.

Her smile, under the dim light and framed by the dusty mirror, was unsettling.

But…

“Hmm, what a sweet smile.”

“He’ll love it.”

Leah glanced down at the newspaper. This time, she calmly read every word of the interview.

Including the most important line—

“Next, we’re heading to Yavik City. I’ve heard the Ice Queen in that dungeon is quite interesting. We plan to pay her a visit.”

tln : aojiao is kind of ‘Tsundere’ acting cute.