I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 59

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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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#59
The moment Leonas was dragged from the terrace, my status window blazed with urgent notifications.
▶ [Emergency Observation Alert] Observation range exceeded!
The Second Existence, the Fifth Existence, and the Seventh Existence are bewildered!
The Eleventh Existence rages that the Grand Duke did not use divine authority!
The Third Existence falls silent!
The First Existence voids the wager!
— Wager Error: Completely Nullified
Energy harvest surges dramatically!
Perenustus, who had been biting his lip with the premonition that something had gone terribly wrong, glared at the status window before shaking his head violently. Then he shoved through the nobility roughly, wedging himself between the Knights and me.
“Remove your filthy hands.”
“It is the Imperial Princess’s command.”
“Is this a world where one can live without hands?”
As he spoke, the Knight’s hand gripping me began to fade. I narrowed my eyes sharply at Perenustus.
‘Perenustus! Are you here as a Duke of this world, or as the Creator? Make your position clear!’
-I am Aurelia’s husband.
‘My husband is an opportunistic Duke who sided with the Imperial Princess! Not some magnificent sorcerer who can obliterate someone’s hand with just a glare!’
He reluctantly restored the hand he had erased and glared up at Bilateia. Watching his profile brimming with bitter resentment, I furrowed my brow.
It was a fury unlike anything I had witnessed before. His gaze, suffocating and bewildered, was directed at Bilateia, yet the roiling emotion was turned inward upon himself. Simultaneously, he seemed confused by the very fact that he stood in the midst of this chaos consumed by such feelings.
‘So even someone who acts as though they know everything doesn’t fully understand their own heart? How amusing.’
-Indeed. And whose fault is all of this, I wonder.
With that lament, his gaze toward Bilateia grew even sharper. Bilateia received his resentment fully and issued her command with unwavering confidence.
“No matter how distant the branch, one bearing the blood of the Imperial House cannot be sent to the Underground Dungeon. Confine that woman to the concubine’s chamber.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
-Aurelia! Why do you go so meekly! Summon Basilect at least!
As I was dragged away obediently, Perenustus’s voice resonated sharply in my mind. I turned back with a slight laugh, and there he stood with an unfamiliar expression of helplessness, his lips trembling as he looked at me.
-I entered this world to repay those who caused you suffering many times over! Knowing that, how can you walk so docilely toward death? Is that not too much?!
‘I believe you’ve already paid that price sufficiently. Just now, Perenustus remained my husband rather than a great Creator.’
-That’s hardly—
‘I’m serious. I was genuinely moved.’
In that instant, a suffocating sensation, as though my throat were being squeezed, flooded my mind. It was Perenustus’s emotion. He seemed to want to retort, yet his thoughts refused to coalesce.
I found his confusion rather amusing—this man who always possessed such composure, always knowing and prepared for everything. I continued walking.
“Do not open this door under any circumstances. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am…”
The Knights, having intimidated the Maids, threw me into the chamber and locked the door. The conversation with Perenustus that had filled my mind was severed completely.
Only then, truly alone, did I listen to the footsteps receding beyond the door. When no further sounds reached me, I drew my knees to my chest and curled into myself.
‘Will Leonas really die? I’ve experienced my own death many times, but this… I’m not fond of it.’
As the thought crossed my mind, I rolled only my eyes to survey the surroundings. I felt no divine presence. The Ancient Gods spared creatures like me not even a glance, so if I were to save Leonas, I had to escape this chamber now.
“Miss.”
Just then, a soft whisper reached my ears from somewhere. Turning my head, Mure peeked through the slightly ajar bathhouse door. She gestured with her eyes toward the wall clock.
“Go.”
“…You knew there was a secret passage there?”
“Nothing so grand as that. I simply noticed that you sometimes emerge from that spot, and the Grand Duke discovers you behind the wall clock, so I reasoned there must be a passage in that direction.”
As she spoke, Mure slipped her hand into the gap behind the grandfather clock. Beyond it lay an opening in the wall—barely large enough for a single person to crawl through. She pushed me into the yawning darkness.
“I’ll handle things here, so please leave the Palace. The Grand Duke said everything will proceed as planned once you’re outside the Palace.”
Mure quickly scanned the empty chamber, then withdrew a handkerchief from her bosom and wrapped it around my face.
“When the Grand Duke ordered me to make so many of these in secret, I had no idea what he meant—I simply did as instructed.”
“….”
“I understand now. Silence teaches you far more than endless chatter ever could.”
I was pushed into darkness by the child I had named. As the clock was sealed shut again, absolute darkness consumed me. I glared pointlessly into the void, then felt my way along the walls, squeezing my body through the narrow passage that connected the secret corridor to the Dark Space.
“Have you arrived? We have no time, so listen carefully.”
Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike’s voice emerged from the suffocating darkness of the Dark Space. The moment I heard it, I reached out and seized her by the collar before my eyes could even adjust.
“Regardless of how little time we have, I need answers! Do you understand what you’ve done? Are you truly willing to watch Leonas’s head roll on the guillotine?”
Bilateia surrendered herself to my trembling grip as I shook her by the collar, then exhaled deeply.
“I was tempted by the promise of top grades and sided with the professor.”
“Perenustus said this was never agreed upon!”
“Right. Dragging you into this was never part of the agreement.”
“….”
“But I feel as though I need to pull you in for this entire World to truly overturn.”
I furrowed my brow and released my grip on her collar. Bilateia smoothed her disheveled clothes and sighed.
“The gaze of the Divine Beings follows me relentlessly. To meet their expectations, I must remain constantly at the professor’s side without pause. We were merely fulfilling our roles without emotion, but trading grades and then pressing our bodies so close together felt wrong.”
“And you believe that justifies publicly declaring you’ll send both Leonas and me to the guillotine?”
Bilateia released a sigh so heavy it seemed to crack the earth itself.
“Is that truly why you resolved to push beloved Leonas toward the scaffold? You were seduced by the promise of top grades and sided with the talkative professor, but as things progressed, it felt wrong, so you simply decided to ruin the World in an entirely unexpected direction?”
“…That’s what happened.”
“Whether I should praise your imagination or your resolve, I’m not certain.”
“Leonas said I did well.”
Bilateia whimpered like a child.
“He’s such a model student to his very core that he can’t bear a World that tumbles forward without script or structure. He said the guillotine would be better—that’s where the true beginning lies. He said I did well.”
“Those are just hollow words he spoke to ease your burden.”
“…I know.”
In the darkness, Bilateia looked at me. I shook my head and pushed her away.
“A child who commands the attention of the Divine Beings will draw suspicion if she vanishes too long. Go.”
“What will you do now?”
“Look at me. I’m adorned with all manner of jewels and trinkets, just as you once taught me. I’ll sell them all and ensure I don’t starve, so don’t worry. Just show me the way out of the Palace.”
Bilateia frowned and extended her index finger to point the way. As I felt my way through the secret passage, it took me some time to realize I had been deceived.
‘Bilateia… You deliberately led me astray! What are you plotting?’
I clenched my teeth and swung my right hand wide. For the first time since entering this World, Basilect materialized, radiating silver light as brilliant as a torch to illuminate my path. My vision blurred from the strain of wielding a holy blade with such a fragile body, but I gritted my teeth and pressed forward.
‘If all else fails, I’ll break through this wall and escape!’
Only when my legs ached and my shoulders felt ready to dislocate did I suddenly squeeze my eyes shut against the blinding sunlight pouring down. As I slowly opened them, the familiar landscape came into focus—an alley leading to the Palace Square.
And in that place, which had been teeming with people mere moments before, a strange structure was being erected.
A tall wooden platform, and a frame from which an angled blade hung suspended.
A guillotine.

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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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