I Cured the Mastermind and Failed to Run Away - Chapter 8

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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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Episode 8

For reasons she couldn’t fathom, the Demon Beast seemed startled.
It was odd to describe a Demon Beast as appearing startled, but watching its eyes dart frantically back and forth, that was exactly what it looked like.
“What are you—”
The creature didn’t even speak human language, yet she found herself addressing it anyway.
—Kiii-eeeee!!
But then the rigid creature’s eyes blazed with sudden light, and it loosed a piercing, visceral roar.
“Gasp!”
It was praying before it ate her—it must have been!
Levelin, who had stood patiently without fleeing or attacking while the Demon Beast performed its prayer, gasped in horror.
Then a sharp light slashed across the pitch-black sky.
As the light plummeted like a meteor shower, a violent wind tore through the air.
Before her eyes could even track what was happening, the massive Demon Beast staggered and crashed hard to the ground beside her.
—Thud-thud-thud!
The earth trembled beneath the weight of the fallen creature.
‘What just happened? What on earth was that?’
As she stared at the suddenly dead Demon Beast, she heard unhurried footsteps approaching.
Step.
A shadow fell across her face.
“Someone’s here.”
Levelin lifted her head toward the voice. Against the pitch-black sky, black hair drifted like scattered silk—as if someone had torn away a piece of the night itself. She couldn’t tear her gaze away.
Her eyes met those of the voice’s owner.
‘Why—why are you here?’
Levelin held her breath. The man who had been walking slowly toward her stopped abruptly upon seeing her face.
He tilted his head, as if something beyond the haze of distant memory stirred. His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Strange.”
He lengthened his stride and stepped closer. Dropping to one knee, he leveled his gaze with hers.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
It was Chedwin who had saved her.
‘But he left the Capital—didn’t he? Why, why is he here?!’
Shock rippled through her inner thoughts.
In the Original Work, Chedwin had left the Capital immediately after the victory banquet ended!
“No, I don’t think so. Your face is unfamiliar to me.”
That day, she’d only glimpsed him half-conscious, and now he looked completely different.
His blue eyes shone with clarity, unlike that moment.
The story was diverging from the Original Work.
In the Original Work, the Knights Order had arrived late, and Chedwin naturally never entered this Contaminated Area at all.
‘Could my Purification of Chedwin’s Contamination have altered the Original Work?’
If so, had her brother’s chances of survival just improved?
“Can’t you speak?”
Chedwin surveyed her slowly from head to toe, his gaze traveling down to her feet before rising again to her face.
Hidden by her robe, the fine outdoor dress beneath and her dust-free sleeves, the unworn cleanliness of her shoes—these caught his eye first.
The workshop’s collapse had left her covered in dirt and grime, and instead of perfume she reeked of dust, yet even so her carefully maintained hair and delicate hands refused to hide their origins.
“You appear to be a Young Noble Lady from an aristocratic household.”
Chedwin had grasped her station at a glance.
“…No, it’s just—I was startled. I couldn’t find my words.”
“What should I call you, then?”
Levelin hesitated and pressed her lips together.
If she spoke carelessly and Chedwin recovered that day’s memory, it would be disastrous.
And she didn’t want to give him even the smallest opening to become entangled with her brother.
Chedwin was here in the Contaminated Area right now. If he didn’t change from this path, the man before her would eventually have his sanity shattered, dragging both the Empire and her brother into danger.
‘But still, he saved me just now. I should at least thank him properly.’
As Levelin’s silence stretched, Chedwin’s expression twisted with impatience.
He rose to his feet.
“If you’re unhappy that I saved you, then go on alone.”
Chedwin tilted his head as though he might leave right then and there, then turned on his heel.
‘This coward! I saved you from the balcony, didn’t I?! Of course you won’t remember! I’m not about to tell you, so I can’t say a word!’
“Ru… Ruby. And… thank you for saving me.”
She grudged giving up her full name, but offered the nickname just in case it might help.
‘Besides, Ruby is still correct, isn’t it? That’s what Father calls me!’
Chedwin stopped mid-stride and half-turned to look down at Levelin.
“Ruby, then.”
He rolled the nickname softly across his lips.
“Usually one mentions the household name first. Yet you’ve skipped straight to your given name. That’s rather swift.”
Chedwin didn’t press further, sensing that Levelin had no intention of sharing her household name.
“Never mind that.”
He returned to her side in an instant, extending his hand.
“Can you stand?”
Wow.
She’d thought the same thing during the Triumphal Procession and again on the Banquet Hall Balcony — this man was truly enormous.
‘He’s tall, his frame is broad, and his hands are simply enormous.’
Levelin’s unusually small hand rested in Chedwin’s large palm.
“Thank you.”
She tried to rise by gripping his hand, but the world tilted before her eyes. Her legs gave way and she sank back down.
‘I used far too much strength during Purification.’
At least she hadn’t coughed up blood like she had when purifying Chedwin on the balcony — that was fortunate.
If he saw that, it would be far too suspicious.
‘If I’d drawn on much more strength, I would have bled and lost consciousness just like then.’
She was lucky.
With a little rest, she felt certain her strength would return soon enough to move.
She hoped he would wait for her until then.
“If you could just wait a moment, I’ll be able to stand…”
“Hold on tight.”
“Huh? …Ah!”
Wind rushed past. Her body felt weightless before she was suddenly lifted into the air.
Levelin gasped and gripped Chedwin’s shoulder.
Chedwin hoisted her legs easily with one arm and nodded with perfect composure.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
He should have said that before picking her up!
‘My brother has never carried me like this!’
Beyond the embarrassment, being held higher than the tall Chedwin himself somehow frightened her.
“Leaving you alone seemed worse than this. If you object, I can set you down.”
The tone suggested he would leave her behind if she asked him to wait while her strength returned.
Levelin, reading his intent, hastily shook her head.
“No! Please, don’t put me down!”
Chedwin’s step halted abruptly. At the same moment, his thick brows twitched.
He looked up at Levelin with furrowed eyes, tilting his head slightly.
“That’s odd.”
“What is?”
“This posture feels familiar.”
Chedwin pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, fragments of memory scratching at him mercilessly.
“And yet this is the first time I’ve held a woman like this.”
She knew that much.
In the Original Work, Chedwin showed no interest in women at all. There were even rumors about complications with his ability to produce an heir.
So why was he bringing this up now?
“You said your name was Ruby. Since I’ve saved you, I’d like to ask a favor.”
Chedwin’s eyes never left her face.
“Say what you just said again.”
“Just now?”
“You said ‘please, don’t put me down’ — I’d like to hear it again.”
…Was there some hidden preference not mentioned in the Original Work?
The Original Work’s genre was an eighteen-plus reverse harem tragedy.
It was packed with eighteen-plus content tailored for such scenarios, so she had every reason to suspect and guard against this.
“…I dislike it.”
Levelin regarded Chedwin with a wary look and refused.
He nodded as though he understood her gaze, then leaned his face gently against her waist.
“Wait, wait! Why are you suddenly leaning on me like that?!”
“Then say, ‘I’ll call someone for you.'”
“How am I supposed to suddenly call someone from—” She caught herself. “Oh.”
Wait. Where had she heard all of this before?
Cold sweat trickled down Levelin’s spine.
‘These are all the things I said to Chedwin on the Banquet Hall Balcony.’
Only then did she understand what Chedwin was doing.
The way he leaned his face gently against her.
It was similar to how Chedwin had held her waist and looked up at her that night.
‘Could he have remembered?’
No. Levelin’s eyes wavered.
Should she pretend to be mad and smack herself in the head right now? There was no one watching, and they were inside the Contaminated Area anyway—no one would ever know what happened.
“Go on.”
Chedwin’s long fingers brushed her chin, then held it gently.
He turned her head to face him and held it in place.
“I won’t let you down until you do.”

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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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