Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 34
I froze for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“No matter how I look at it, it seems like more than just motion sickness.”
My eyes snapped wide open.
“I said it was just motion sickness!”
But worry gnawed at me.
“Do I smell like something?”
Days had passed since arriving at the estate, so that foul stench from before couldn’t possibly still linger.
Yet when Sherkan abruptly ordered a bath prepared and buried his nose in my neck, I couldn’t help but grow suspicious.
Sherkan answered at once.
“You do smell.”
It was a response that made me doubt my own ears.
“Really? From me? I smell?”
“Of course. You’re a person, aren’t you?”
……!
Heat flooded my face.
Right—Sherkan was part Wild Folk, so sharper senses than most would be natural for him.
In this place, the nobility typically bathed before sleep, with just a quick wash and tooth-brushing in the morning being standard.
But I had never, not once, thought I smelled of anything!
Of course not.
I was scrupulous about hygiene!
As a terminal patient in my past life who frequented sterile rooms without hesitation, I even suffered from mild obsessive cleanliness.
Since that was still true, his words struck me as doubly shocking—and deeply mortifying.
“Put me down.”
Embarrassment grants people superhuman strength.
When I violently shoved against his chest and struggled to get down, Sherkan furrowed his brow and asked.
“Why so suddenly?”
“I want to bathe.”
So I smell, do I? I’d never said such a thing before, and my eyes burned with humiliation.
Being told to your face that you reek—who wouldn’t be mortified? I certainly was.
But instead of setting me down, Sherkan only tightened his grip.
“What’s with this sudden bathing?”
“You said I smell!”
“So?”
“So? So?”
Sherkan tilted his head slightly. His expression was genuinely confused as he added.
“You’ll smell either way. Why bathe again?”
“You—!”
This time I truly opened my eyes wide.
As embarrassment crossed its threshold, anger suddenly surged up to replace it.
Does being the male lead excuse everything?
Is being absurdly strong a license for personal attacks like that?
“Lorel.”
Sherkan gently blocked my fist and asked.
“Did you just call me ‘you’?”
He burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking.
“Ah, really. I felt it from the first meeting, but you’re quite the spirited young lady. All right.”
A deeper smile played at his lips. He brushed the tip of his nose lightly against my cheek and spoke softly.
“You always have a gentle scent.”
“You—”
“Come on, call me ‘you’ again just like you did.”
“You think I won’t? You. You. You! You!”
Sherkan chuckled and set me down gently in the second-floor bedroom.
“Wait. I have something to tell you.”
Thud.
Hah.
I stood trembling with rage, my skirts clutched in my fists.
I was going to earn money.
Lots of it.
Let me see if I can trick Sherkan after I’ve paid off all of Gonnet’s debts.
Even so, Bridget and the handmaidens were dutifully trailing behind me.
The handmaidens kept their distance, but Bridget stayed close—probably to respond quickly to any command.
‘She heard everything just now.’
From the corner of my eye, I could see Bridget deliberately looking away, her expression strained with the effort.
“Bridget.”
“…Yes, madam?”
“Go on. Laugh freely….”
The moment I said it, Bridget and the handmaidens—whose faces had turned a shade of red about to burst—all fled. I collapsed onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow.
‘Why did I say it like that?’
“You always smell so soft.”
Did every male lead feel compelled to twist their words that way to satisfy themselves?
And then, the moment another woman drew near, didn’t they turn cold as ice, acting as though the heroine alone existed in all the world?
‘This is driving me insane, truly….’
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Bathroom.
Splashing water and rising steam.
Ratku moved through the air like a creature swimming through space, slipping silently forward.
“Ratku!”
Being a Spirit, Ratku could pass through nearly anything unless the wall had undergone special Magical Processing.
And so Ratku glided toward the Bathroom where Sherkan was bathing.
Unlike Lorel, who nearly boiled herself in scalding water every night, the air here felt notably cool.
Ratku could sense the heat of all things in the world.
Which meant Ratku instantly recognized that the water in the bathtub was only lukewarm—a stark contrast to the almost unbearably hot water Lorel immersed herself in each evening.
“This male reeks of Barbarian blood.”
Ratku tilted his small head, ears fluttering.
“Fascinating that he still carries such scent about him.”
Apart from Lorel, there was almost no one in the world who could witness Ratku in this form. So Ratku felt free to flutter about without concern for any watchful eye.
Having forged a new pact with Lorel and severed ties with the previous master, Ratku—now liberated into a freer existence—seemed to delight in exploring every corner of the place.
“But he’s hiding something, I’ll bet!”
Ratku’s black-pearl eyes darted about before fluttering slyly toward the discarded clothes.
They reeked of dust and wind. As Ratku’s tiny hands rummaged through the deep folds, his eyes gleamed.
“Wow! Such an enormous Spirit Stone!”
Ratku clutched a Spirit Stone eagerly to his chest.
Upon closer inspection, they varied in size, but all were Recovery Spirit Stones. It was clear this man deliberately sought out only the most treacherous places.
“Since they’re all for Relly, let me pocket just one more!”
As Ratku enthusiastically rifled through Sherkan’s clothes—
Ratku’s round, innocent eyes suddenly turned sharp and chilling.
“Yip!”
Ratku reflexively tumbled away. Where he had just been, a wooden bottle of Fragrant Oil came rolling past.
Startled, Ratku turned to look at Sherkan.
The man who was supposedly Lorel’s husband had a faint, puzzled furrow between his brows.
“What was that?”
Can he see me?
Surely not!
Ratku, thoroughly frightened, cautiously approached Sherkan.
“Byoo! Byoo! Byoo-byoo!”
Ratku busily kicked at the air above Sherkan’s head, but the man didn’t even blink.
“…What was that?”
Yes, this was normal.
Ratku was invisible no matter what he did. He left no impact. He must have been unseen.
And yet, just now, Sherkan had thrown that object with pinpoint accuracy straight at where Ratku stood.
The precision rivaled that of a Dagger thrown to pierce an assassin’s throat.
Ratku circled above Sherkan for a moment, then came to a decision.
“Strategic retreat!”
Ratku had no idea why, but fear was reason enough!
With Ratku’s tactical withdrawal, the Bathroom fell into absolute emptiness.
Only Sherkan remained, water dripping from his wet hair, his eyes cold and grave.
His brow furrowed, he stepped out of the bathtub.
Splash.
Water streamed down her long legs and spilled over the rim of the tub, pooling across the bathroom floor.
With each step he took, droplets fell from his body with soft patters.
Sherkan paid it no mind, examining the clothes he’d shed, when he suddenly tilted his head.
“……What?”
A moment ago he’d sensed something odd and reflexively thrown whatever his hand found, but there was nothing there now.
He thought it might have been his imagination, but when he searched the clothes again, a Spirit Stone had vanished without a trace.
Sherkan narrowed his eyes and stared hard at the empty air.
The journey back had been far from smooth.
He’d told Lorel he had to transfer the Allied Forces’ seal to her, but the real purpose was to repair the main road between Gaiard Imperial Capital and Gonnet Territory.
Every other route was in such disrepair it was practically impassable.
During that work, he’d lost a horse to bandits he’d culled, discarded two swords, and one of his knights had taken a serious arrow wound to the shoulder.
Busy as it had been, this was ordinary for Sherkan.
He had a habit of always keeping Spirit Stones in his deepest pocket. He’d never imagined he might lose one.
Recovery Spirit Stones weren’t cheap, but he’d never once considered selling one.
If he died in battle, there was no point to wealth.
Only by always carrying such a precious stone could he survive whatever might come.
Survival was what mattered.
Only by living could he keep taking his enemies’ heads, keep gathering plunder.
That was why.
Sherkan washed his face with cold water from the basin.
Lorel came to mind. There was no reason. It had always been this way, so there was nothing strange about it anymore.
Then Sherkan let out a low sigh.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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