I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 57

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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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#57
Once Perenustus slipped away with characteristic cunning, only Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, myself, and Mure remained in the chamber. Mure methodically corrected the tilted heads of the other maids, who swayed at odd angles like malfunctioning automata, before approaching me.
“If you would permit me, Grand Duke, there is something I wished to ask.”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, sprawled languidly across the bedroom, gave a slight nod. Mure hesitated, as though uncertain of her own voice, before clenching her fists with resolve.
“I was ordered to prepare the young lady for washing, but it seems to me that what you both truly wish to command is something else entirely.”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis looked not at Mure but at me, raising his eyebrows with a subtle gesture. I nodded without hesitation.
“I can wash myself perfectly well with my own hands—I simply wanted to give Mure a name, so I said whatever came to mind.”
“A name….”
“Mure is the name of a sentinel from an ancient, forgotten fairy tale. When the Goddess of Night hunts, she is the sprite who keeps watch to prevent the Goddess of the Spirit Forest from coming to interfere.”
“Then there are no orders for me… is there?”
“There is a request. From now on, we shall undertake something of utmost importance, and I would ask that you keep watch for us.”
Mure blinked.
“In this world, your role comprises four duties: grooming me, standing before that door to prevent Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike from entering, summoning Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis if anyone attempts to breach my chamber, and bathing me once he departs. Have I understood correctly?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Then do not overthink it—simply add one more duty befitting your name to your existing responsibilities.”
Mure stared out through the door where the other maids stood for quite some time, then slowly nodded.
“The ‘watch’ you speak of includes not merely the Imperial Princess’s approach, but also whether the gaze of the great ones turns in this direction, yes?”
“Ah… you can sense that too?”
“If that is my role, then it is possible.”
Mure answered as though it were obvious, then began glancing repeatedly—as though processing a minor error—between the sky, the space beyond the door, and my face. Then she stopped abruptly and nodded once more.
“Successfully integrated! I shall prepare warm water cloths for you to cleanse your face!”
As though she had never behaved strangely at all, Mure returned to her usual manner of speech. She pressed a lemon-scented cloth into Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s hand and withdrew from the chamber with proper deference.
“…Why did she give that to me?”
“Perhaps she became certain that you stand with us as well. That is why Mure, who has never entrusted my care to you before, simply thrust it into your hands and left.”
“Hmm….”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis regarded the cloth in his hand with a complicated expression before tossing it to me. While I scrubbed my face, neck, and hands with the cloth, he rummaged through the chamber and retrieved documents and ink.
“Once you are finished, come sit upon my lap. If someone suddenly bursts in, we must appear to be idling together.”
“Doing what?”
He gathered writing implements and paper, then moved toward the sofa, patting his thigh. After all the time I had spent nestled against him, his lap had become my designated seat. In that brief moment, he spread paper, pen, and ink across the table and began to whisper, his voice low.
“Consider this: for the realm to continue functioning even after the Imperial Palace crumbles and the nobility loses its power, the very structure itself must change.”
“Right.”
“Currently, the Emperor commands, the nobility squabbles before reaching consensus, the Commoner’s Assembly announces it, and the people simply obey. Top to bottom.”
“So you want me to think of a way to resolve the chaos as quickly as possible and create a system that can function from the bottom up even without leadership above?”
“Exactly. For now, utilizing the Commoner’s Assembly is our best option.”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis moved his pen without hesitation, explaining as clearly as possible for my understanding.
“I have already cast bait before the Commoner’s Assembly by implementing relief policies of my own accord. This relief effort is not merely about feeding and educating them.”
“Really? So there was meaning beyond just infuriating Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike?”
“I subdivided the regions where people live, selected representatives from each district to make them conscious of their local problems, and created a structure where those representatives gather to voice their opinions.”
When I stared without blinking, he offered a simpler analogy.
“It is rather like how you granted Mure a name, thereby giving her the will to think and judge for herself—I have done something similar on a larger scale.”
He paused briefly, then let out a short laugh.
“For those who’ve never even been conscious of how they’ve been living, this will be quite a significant change. They might even grow furious at the realization itself.”
“…And you intend to direct all that rage toward the Imperial Palace?”
“You were the one who boasted about having experience with bomb terrorism.”
I watched those large hands filling the paper with neat handwriting as I turned his words over in my mind.
‘So this is what he’s been contemplating during all those times he vanishes without warning. Where people live and how, where the gaps exist in this world, how to exploit those gaps through people’s lives…’
I regarded Leonas with an unfamiliar expression, his eyes gleaming more brilliantly than ever. This was likely due to the time we’d been left to our own devices in this world while Perenustus was captured by the Ancient Gods.
Perhaps the contrast was simply too stark—the freedom of before when no one watched us, and now, suffocating under that persistent gaze.
“Are you really alright, Aurelia?”
“What do you mean suddenly asking if I’m alright…?”
I was staring at his handsome face when I failed to grasp the intent behind his abrupt question and asked back. Leonas set down his pen for a moment and faced me directly.
“The Professor entering this world, seducing Bilateia—all of it was to protect you safely. You know that, right?”
“Well, I’m not unaware of it.”
“Then in a typical narrative structure, you and the Professor should confirm your feelings for each other and get a happy ending.”
“What?”
“Look at the structure. A hero came to rescue a princess locked in a dragon’s tower. So it should end with ‘the hero defeated the dragon and lived happily ever after with the princess.'”
Shocked beyond measure, I shook both my hands and even my head side to side in rejection. I couldn’t understand why I was denying it so vehemently, but regardless, the idea of myself and Perenustus being entangled in such a relationship was far beyond the realm of imagination.
“You’re funny. You can cling to me like this, but why can’t you do the same with the Professor?”
“No… No, we don’t see each other as romantic interests! You treat me like some pet that doesn’t listen worth a damn, so you hold me, pin me down, and bite me!”
“So you’re saying there’s considerable potential for you and the Professor to see each other romantically, which is why you’re so against it?”
Caught off guard by an unexpected attack, I gasped and began hiccupping. Leonas scoffed and picked up his pen again.
“If things continue like this, it’ll be a complete catastrophic ending with you and me on one side, the Professor and Bilateia on the other. Are you really okay with that?”
“I, I came back to the Castle because I wanted to see people’s flustered faces because of me from the start!”
“You’ve accomplished that goal quite well.”
“Yes. That was all it was! Perenustus also knows I turned the carriage around for that reason-”
“Regardless, he probably never thought you’d be clinging to me like this.”
“Clinging…?”
He playfully curved the corners of his eyes and pointed to us sitting pressed together like a single lump.
“No, this is just our role in this world.”
“Since the Professor understands that all too well, he can’t exactly vent his frustrations on you.”
He tapped his own neck with his finger.
“He’ll go in the direction of severing this instead.”
“…Surely not.”
“According to the original script, I should be the one to sever Bilateia’s neck, but circumstances have changed, haven’t they? The Professor will certainly want to seat Bilateia on the throne, which means he’ll have to eliminate me.”
Watching him casually prophesy his own death, I reflected once more on my past mistakes. Observing someone speak of their own demise so matter-of-factly was hardly a pleasant experience.

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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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