I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 56

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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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#56
“What in the world did I just hear?”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, who had been ignoring Perenustus entirely, raised one eyebrow with a sharp flick and clicked his tongue. As if genuinely bewildered, he tilted his head—and a crooked smile played at the corners of his mouth.
The moment I recognized it as an unpleasant smile, he suddenly swept me into his arms as I lay docile and began pressing his lips against the bridge of my nose.
“Come now, look at your husband.”
Leonas devoured my face with his affections while issuing an absurd command. As his lips traced from the bridge of my nose to my cheeks, across my eyelids, to my forehead, the blue veins at Perenustus’s temples writhed visibly.
“Did you understand what your husband said?”
Unable to bear the ticklish sensation, I shook my head and pushed him away. Leonas pretended to yield, withdrawing his lips and flashing an impudent smile.
“Since the Grand Duke apparently didn’t understand, allow me to spell it out plainly.”
“I would be delighted to listen.”
“You are not so remarkable a person that I need to deliberately provoke you.”
▶ [URGENT OBSERVATION ALERT] Grand Duke and Creator in a Battle of Wills!
Energy Harvest Event X2 Activated!
The Second Entity and the Eighth Entity are laughing uproariously.
The First Entity is observing the Creator’s reaction.
Leonas glanced at the status window, its contents shifted once more, and hurled an even more arrogant remark.
“Even if, by some remote chance, I were so desperately bored that I wished to provoke you, I would never resort to something as crude as a direct confrontation.”
And the moment he finished speaking, he pressed his lips firmly against the corner of mine.
‘No! If anyone sees this, they’ll think we’re kissing!’
I recoiled in disgust, but Leonas didn’t budge an inch. Strangling his neck with this body would require at least three more deaths to accomplish. Seizing the moment while others were off guard, Leonas orchestrated this peculiar scene and, with a satisfied expression, raised the tip of his nose and deliberately provoked Perenustus.
“So remember this, Grand Duke. A man who clawed his way up from the bottom like me doesn’t engage in such hollow displays of combat.”
“I am grateful for this valuable instruction. I shall take this experience as a lesson and keep it firmly in mind going forward.”
While Leonas nodded as if benevolently imparting wisdom, I hastily escaped his embrace and gathered the scattered receipts scattered across the bed, handing them to Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike. This time, a vein bulged visibly at her temple.
“Sigh… Grand Duke. How foolish of me to have brought these absurd things here. I must return and clean up this mess ourselves.”
“A wise decision.”
The moment Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike and Perenustus turned away as if there was nothing more to see, heading toward the door—
“Mure.”
At my sudden call, a silence fell over the chamber like water poured over flame. Undeterred, I called out once more to the Maid waiting by the doorway.
“I wish to wash my face. Prepare water for me, Mure.”
The Maid, who had been prostrate on the floor and had only just made her way back to the doorway, opened her eyes wide and stared at me.
“Did you just call me… Mure?”
It didn’t take long for her to realize that Mure was her own name. Leonas urged the bewildered Mure, whose eyes darted uncertainly in every direction, unsure what to do.
“Mure. How much longer will you find the name your master gave you to be unfamiliar?”
“Y-yes?”
“Stop standing there like an idiot rolling your eyes and come wash your master at once!”
“Ah, yes, Grand Duke!”
Only then did Mure bow her head and rush forward. Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike stared at Leonas with an expression even more shocked than when she had burst into the chamber with the receipts.
“You actually call the Maid by her name?”
“Who else would call a name I gave but me?”
He countered her question. Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike parted her lips slightly, regarding me for a moment, then shot Leonas a look of utter disapproval before leaving the chamber.
▶ [Observation Notification] A unique designation has been granted to the Extra Data!
The Third Existence and the Seventh Existence are perplexed!
The Eleventh Existence is displeased!
The Existences begin an emergency search into system changes!
Whether they had rushed off to investigate something urgent, those persistent gazes that had been relentless vanished as if washed away. Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike, visibly relieved, strode away with long steps. Just before the door closed, Perenustus, who had been following behind her, spoke directly into my mind.
—Aurelia! Did you know Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis was going to do something like this?
‘Of course. I turned the Carriage around specifically to provoke him into it.’
—Ha… So not only did you side with Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis without consulting me first, but you even gave the Maid a name?
‘I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t understand which aspect you’re angry about, or why you’re angry at all.’
—Is that your answer, Aurelia? To me, who came into this World by exploiting every loophole in the regulations out of concern for you—is that truly all you have to say?
His voice, lower and colder than usual, carried unmistakable reproach.
‘I’m genuinely asking because I don’t understand. Are you saying that because Perenustus came here out of concern for me, I should report my every move and action to you?’
—Ha.
Instead of an answer, only a short, sharp scoff came back. I shuddered at the unfamiliar sensation of Perenustus’s derision lingering in my mind, my brow furrowing.
‘I really don’t understand why he’s angry. Is it because I’m a bug? Because I’m an error that requires his special management?’
That was the moment something stopped in my mind.
The words I had just spoken—that I was a bug, an error. The fact that I had thought this might be why Perenustus cared about me suddenly felt unbearably strange.
‘Am I displeased…? Or is my pride hurt…? That kind of feeling… But why do I feel this way?’
—You’re saying exactly what I wanted to say.
Perenustus responded with a distinctly cold tone, as if he had been waiting. Unable to bear the confusion of my own emotions that even I couldn’t understand, I found myself oddly relieved by his answer.
If even a great Creator like Perenustus didn’t fully understand his own feelings, then it was only natural that I didn’t understand myself.
‘So that means Perenustus doesn’t know why he’s angry either, right? Correct?’
This time, no answer came. Only the sound of him clicking his tongue in disapproval, repeated several times over.
This too was a strangely unfamiliar sensation. And it was strange that the unfamiliarity didn’t feel like something bad.
‘But isn’t it a bit funny that you’re angry because I didn’t give you advance notice? Did you and Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike team up and tell me about it?’
—Ha, enough of that. Let’s hear why you gave the Maid a name instead. You should be able to answer this one.
‘That was… just…’
—Just?
‘Ever since Perenustus gave me a name, my thoughts and actions seem to have become clearer.’
—What did you say?
‘Well, that’s really all there is to it. Since Mure is the person who helps me most closely, I wanted to become closer by calling her by name, and I wanted to hear what she was thinking.’
After a brief silence, a wave of astonishment from Perenustus washed over me.
—So you’ve realized that when you assign meaning to something, it gains presence, and when it gains presence, it obtains autonomy.
‘Yes? No? I didn’t do it with such grand intentions…’
—And you grasped this instinctively?
Another brief silence followed.
I could feel Perenustus’s emotions, which had been roiling with irritation and anger, gradually shifting into something different. It was difficult to explain exactly what or how it was changing, but a faint sense of his thoughts transforming came through to me.
The temperature of the reproach that had been so clearly conveyed until moments ago melted away like snow, and I felt a chill run through me. I could vividly read even Perenustus’s embarrassment at his own rapid change of heart.
‘Ah… So he wasn’t angry because I’m an unmanageable error? He wasn’t angry as an administrator?’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my heart beat strangely once. I couldn’t tell if my heart was racing because Perenustus’s emotions were so vivid, or if it was his heart that was racing. Just as I was about to ask which it was, a voice even lower and quieter than before let out a sigh.
—That’s enough. It’s done. Let’s just say Aurelia provided a convenient excuse.
‘What is he talking about now?’
—If this world ends in an absurd conclusion, I’ll use Aurelia as the scapegoat. I’ll claim all these anomalies stem from the great ones showing her unusual interest, and that she gained insight by riding on their attention. I’ll pin it all on her. Absolutely.
‘…If I’m caught by that massive hand again, it sounds like he’s saying he’ll use me as an excuse.’
—That’s how jokers are meant to be used, after all.
With those words, the conversation ended with bitter finality.
What is this? Why is he being so spiteful?

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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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