Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 96

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 96

 

Those words clawed at my heart with an eerily chilling sensation.

 

That couldn’t be right. She had clearly said she would go up to the royal capital first and organize her belongings so there would be no trace of the room being empty for a year…

 

Belinda didn’t give up and even posted a bounty to search for Jeni.

 

Uncle also helped Belinda, sending people throughout not only the royal capital but the entire kingdom to find Jeni.

 

But Jeni could not be found anywhere.

 

“Bel, give up now. Stop looking for someone who doesn’t exist in this world, and just hire a new maid. I’ll find you a maid who’s more meticulous and skilled than Jeni.”

 

As they passed the landing, Schubel gently patted Belinda’s back to comfort her.

 

Just as she was about to nod absentmindedly, Schubel’s words pierced her mind like an awl.

 

‘Doesn’t exist in this world…’

 

Belinda roughly grabbed Schubel’s arm as he passed by her, stopping him.

 

“Why… why are you talking as if Jeni is dead? Brother, do you know something? Did you find Jeni?”

 

“Well, I’m sorry if it sounded that way.”

 

Schubel answered with a troubled expression.

 

Belinda stepped back and stared up at Schubel blankly.

 

Before she could think it through, the words slipped out of her mouth.

 

“…Did you kill her?”

 

Even as she spoke, she couldn’t understand what she was saying.

 

Why did she momentarily think that Schubel had killed Jeni?

 

Why such an absurd…

 

“Did you kill Jeni, brother?”

 

“What frightening things you say. I’m scared someone might hear.”

 

If he really thought that, why was he smiling?

 

Even while being suspected of killing Jeni, Schubel was smiling far too peacefully.

 

Belinda asked again, almost screaming.

 

“Answer me, Schubel!”

 

Say no, say it’s a misunderstanding.

 

‘Then I’ll think I made a terrible mistake. So please…’

 

But Schubel never answered her question in the end.

 

He didn’t bend his knees to meet her eyes as usual either.

 

He simply looked down at her from his high vantage point and spoke calmly, as if scolding a child.

 

“Belinda, do you know this? Some people drive others mad just by existing in that place.”

 

Schubel’s hand slowly grasped Belinda’s hand. Belinda tried to shake it off, but she couldn’t overcome Schubel’s grip strength.

 

She should have screamed at him to let go, but her entire body froze at the sight of Schubel’s smile before her eyes, unable to move.

 

“Have you ever once thought that everything you so naturally hold in your hands, put in your mouth, and wear on your body is something others would sell their souls to obtain?”

 

“Wh-what…”

 

“No, you’ve never thought about it. It was such a natural right for you. So this is my last desperate struggle to steal that status and privilege you believe was granted by God.”

 

Schubel’s hand, which had been firmly gripping Belinda’s hand, moved toward his chest. His heartbeat felt through the smooth fabric was horrifying.

 

“Let’s leave our fate to God. Let’s see who God will choose.”

 

Soon, Schubel’s body, with the stairs right behind him, tilted as if pushed by Belinda’s hand.

 

Belinda couldn’t tell whether it was Schubel or herself who had let go first of the hand that had been their only lifeline.

 

Thud!

 

She heard the sound of an overripe, heavy fruit falling from a branch and bursting, unable to bear its own weight.

 

“N-no…”

 

Her breathing became rough.

 

Screams erupted from all directions.

 

Belinda clutched the hand that had touched Schubel with her other hand and looked down the stairs with a frightened face.

 

Schubel lay as if dead, with one arm grotesquely bent.

 

The eyes of the employees who had rushed over turned toward Belinda standing on the landing.

 

Belinda stared blankly as their mouths opened in horror.

 

“M-Miss! How could you do such a terrible thing!”

 

“N-no… I didn’t do such a…”

 

It was the first day that the precious name of the Blanche family adorned the front page of a tabloid.

 

After that, page by page, her name and misdeeds filled the newspaper pages, and people’s sharp gazes turned toward her.

 

When the nickname ‘Golden Rose with Poisonous Thorns’ became widely known to people instead of her name.

 

You have obtained the special item ‘Summoning Name Tag.’

 

My consciousness plummeted like falling off a cliff.

 

* * *

 

I sat up, struggling like a goldfish that had jumped out of its bowl.

 

Then I immediately ran to the bathroom and dry heaved.

 

Even while retching, the horrible memories clung to my mind like leeches.

 

Belinda’s countless misdeeds.

 

Suspecting others and framing them for crimes they didn’t commit, making servants whip each other, and even forcing people to eat food she had trampled with her feet.

 

The terrible self-rationalization that since her own life was so miserable and wretched, others should be equally unhappy.

 

That sadism was so chilling it made me nauseous, yet there was a self that felt satisfaction and relief from tormenting others.

 

My ego, which had been frozen solid like Arctic ice, seemed to melt and mix with Belinda’s, which spread out like an ocean.

 

“No…”

 

I couldn’t bear it and ran out of the room.

 

The cold winter wind roughly scratched my cheeks.

 

The forest without a single light was dark as pitch, but I didn’t stop and ran blindly.

 

Otherwise, I felt like I would pour out this miserable resentment on innocent people.

 

I needed something to separate Belinda and me.

 

For example, yes, like the name I had when I lived in Korea…

 

Stop.

 

At that moment, my steps were nailed to the spot.

 

I barely managed to lean my swaying body against a nearby tree and stared at the pale darkness spread before me with a dazed mind.

 

“Ah.”

 

I can’t… remember my name.

 

In the memories of my past life that rose hazily like faded Polaroid photos, there were places that were pitch-black holes, as if eaten by insects.

 

The place where my name used to be.

 

Just as my breathing quickened from the spine-chilling sensation.

 

“Lady Blanche.”

 

The shadow of a demon reflected in the dim moonlight stretched long from behind me to in front of me.

 

Ah, this foolish man. Why did he have to find me now of all times…

 

I covered my mouth without turning around.

 

Otherwise, I felt like I would pour harsh words at him like venting my anger.

 

‘Calm down. I’m not Belinda. I am…’

 

…Who am I?

 

“The night is cold. In such light clothing…”

 

“Get lost!”

 

I was startled by the sensation of something touching my shoulder and twisted my body.

 

I turned around and snapped at Lord Penandel who had followed me.

 

“Didn’t you hear me tell you to get lost?”

 

“…”

 

“Come to think of it, you’re quite pitiful too. To be reduced to following around the tail of a woman like me. At this point, isn’t the Duke using you as a discarded card? That’s right. The Duke must have heard rumors about me, yet he allowed you to serve such a woman.”

 

I couldn’t tell if it was me or Belinda speaking right now.

 

If I could, I wanted to grab my throat with both hands and shut my mouth, but what dominated my mind was hatred and rage toward the entire world.

 

“Tell me honestly now, my lord. Say that following my orders was terrible. Say that being by my side is so miserable you can’t stand it.”

 

Lord Penandel, who had been silently listening to my venomous words, carefully picked up the coat that had fallen to the ground.

 

However, instead of turning away, he gently draped the coat over my shoulders with very careful hands and asked calmly.

 

“Would it put your mind at ease if I found you terrible, my lady?”

 

“What?”

 

“If that’s what you wish, I’ll try my best.”

 

His calm response stopped my thoughts that had been filled with nothing but venom.

 

The coat wrapped around my shoulders was warm, unlike before, and Lord Penandel’s gaze, which I had thought was arrogantly looking down on me, was simply watching over me as quietly as moonlight.

 

“But the Lady Blanche I’ve seen is by no means a terrible person.”

 

He continued speaking as he fastened the coat’s buttons one by one with delicate touches.

 

“You mourn your family’s death at a grave no one visits, blame yourself for not being able to trust in a servant’s achievements, yet you know how to correct what’s wrong.”

 

“That’s…”

 

It’s not Belinda, it’s me. Yes, that’s my story.

 

“I know you’re someone who provides a place for mages with nowhere to rely on, keeps people by your side without discrimination, and gets angrier at others’ pain than your own wounds.”

 

Like steady drops of water piercing through rock, each word from Lord Penandel gradually awakened my spirit.

 

“I also know that you’re someone who rarely relies on the people around you.”

 

I felt my self that had been helplessly melting away freeze solid again.

 

Something Belinda doesn’t have but I do.

 

Leo and… Lord Penandel, Vivian and Terry. And Chaser and Suga.

 

Click.

 

Lord Penandel carefully fastened the last button and concluded quietly.

 

“You are an admirable person, my lady. You’re simply not honest enough.”

 

Finally, I felt as if my two feet that had been floating in the air were touching the ground.

 

I hurriedly composed my expression and stammered out an excuse.

 

“Just now, that was… I had a nightmare…”

 

Once I came to my senses, I could see what state I was in.

 

Wearing only a thin negligee, and I was wearing only one fur-lined slipper, having thrown off the other who knows when.

 

I looked like a complete madwoman, and heat rose to my face belatedly.

 

However, Lord Penandel casually knelt on one knee in front of me and asked carefully.

 

“Would it be alright if I touched your feet, my lady?”

 

Did I nod at those words? I probably did.

 

That’s why Lord Penandel took my bare foot and placed it on his knee.

 

His hands, imbued with aura, were warm like pebbles heated by sunlight.

 

Those hands brushed off the dirt and snow from my feet, then put on the slipper he had somehow retrieved.

 

After placing my foot back on the ground, he stood up and said matter-of-factly.

 

“Night walks are fine, but please call for me next time. Am I not Lady Blanche’s escort?”

 

“…I will.”

 

I felt like I could still feel the trace of his hands on my feet, so I answered a beat late.

 

“Shall we return now?”

 

This time, I truly nodded and said.

 

“…Don’t walk behind me today, lead the way.”

 

Just for today, instead of being the one to forge ahead through this night forest, I wanted to follow someone’s back and footprints made ahead of me.

 

Lord Penandel began walking the forest path where only moonlight dimly shone, leading the way without complaint.

 

Following his footsteps out of the dark forest, in this moment at least, I was just me, not Belinda.

 

That fact gave me an unbelievably great sense of relief.

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