Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 27

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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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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 027

“Wait, just a moment!”

The Intruder at the front stepped forward. His face was unfamiliar, but his voice stirred recognition—he wore an apron across his chest.

‘Ah, yes… the Head Chef, wasn’t he?’

Which meant this was the man who had always laced my meals with poison.

“What is it?”

“We understand the Princess suspects us! But we have changed!”

“Changed?”

I tilted my head, bewildered by this absurd declaration.

Several Servants stepped forward alongside the Intruder.

“Though we committed unforgivable acts, we have done nothing recently! As proof, lately we have…!”

“There has been no poison in my meals.”

“Y-yes, that’s correct.”

It was true—recently, they had not attempted to assassinate me. My meals had returned to normal, and they obeyed my orders promptly.

“And what exactly do you expect me to do about that?”

I let out a hollow laugh.

“Should I praise you for doing what you ought to have been doing all along?”

Had they worked this way from the beginning, I might have felt genuine gratitude.

But I had not forgotten how they had treated me.

Handmaidens who regarded me as filth, gardeners who watched as though waiting for my death, a Head Chef who experimented with toxins and seasonings as he prepared my meals….

Some of them were people I wouldn’t mind killing on the spot.

“We… we are reflecting on our actions…”

“If you’re truly sorry, keep your mouth shut and leave. That’s the greatest help you can offer.”

“But if we go back, we’ll be killed!”

The Head Chef suddenly lunged at me.

Ivan stepped forward instantly, blocking my path.

In that fleeting moment, I caught the glint of a dagger emerging from his breast pocket and immediately stopped him.

“Don’t kill him.”

“…Tch.”

Ivan clicked his tongue at me, withdrew his hand from his pocket, and kicked the Intruder sprawling to the ground.

“Ugh!”

Ivan looked down at the groaning Head Chef as though he were filth, then spoke to me.

“Why spare him? From what I hear, he deserves death.”

“I agree with that, but the time isn’t right yet.”

I crossed my arms and exhaled slowly.

Part of me wanted to punish them as well. The resentment from the past hadn’t vanished. But if I did, I would make enemies of the Noblemen and Imperial Family Members behind them.

‘The fact that they’ve stopped the assassinations means those behind them are also reconsidering how to reestablish their relationship with me.’

Of course, I had no intention of joining hands with them. But I wasn’t foolish enough to create enemies when I lacked any power of my own.

Now was the time to make a gesture of tolerance rather than punishment, and to observe their movements carefully.

‘I must endure until I have the strength to strike back.’

However, Ivan didn’t seem to understand my meaning.

“Why go through all that trouble waiting? The Princess could just kill her directly….”

“Ivan.”

I covered his mouth with my hand, sending him a look that promised consequences if he said another word.

In that instant, Ivan’s nerve faltered and he nodded frantically.

He was likely thinking of my abilities. With power like mine, why should I care about appearances?

‘If only I could act so carelessly.’

After warning the thoughtless fool to watch his tongue, I turned my attention back to the Head Chef.

Just then, I noticed servants working outside the Lobby windows glancing in our direction.

“Emma, the curtains.”

“At once.”

Quick-witted Emma immediately drew all the Lobby curtains closed. In the darkened Lobby, standing before the terrified Head Chef, I spoke quietly.

“You said earlier that you’d die if you went back, didn’t you? What did you mean by that?”

“My, my master would never let me live.”

“Why?”

“Surely you understand? Silencing a loose tongue!”

“…I see.”

That made sense. Now that my return to High Society was confirmed, they wouldn’t want to leave any loose ends.

Even in an Empire where assassination and conspiracy ran rampant, an attempted murder of the Imperial Family was a grave crime subject to collective punishment if clear evidence emerged.

If he were truly a Spy, he would have felt his end approaching.

I swept my hair back and muttered absently.

“That’s unfortunate. If you’re going to kill someone, you should have made sure they stayed dead.”

Just then, I heard someone behind me stifling laughter.

“Pfft…!”

I turned my head to see Emma covering her mouth.

Could she actually enjoy jokes like that?

“Anyway, what happens to you after you leave my home is none of my concern. You’d better beg your master for mercy.”

‘If they’re merely ordinary spies, I’d let them live. But if they were complicit in the assassination attempt, they’ll die.’

The Head Chef’s face went deathly pale as he grabbed the hem of my dress and pleaded desperately.

“P-please! Those of us working at the Separate Palace are guaranteed our lives!”

“That’s exactly why I don’t—”

“Ten years! I’ve worked here for ten years! Surely you can’t feel no guilt when people are about to die!”

“…What?”

“People have feelings, so how can it be so difficult to help us just once? If the Princess would only help us… we….”

I stared quietly at the Head Chef. I could feel the shadows lurking in every corner of the Lobby writhing in sync with my rage.

‘Hold on. I must hold on.’

If my magical power spiraled out of control in this state, everyone in the Lobby would perish. I could not take the lives of Emma and Liribel, no matter what.

Unlike Demons, human bodies struggle to contain intense emotions—my magical power surged wildly, coursing beneath my skin.

The Head Chef, feeling the crushing weight of my magical pressure before him, could barely form words and trembled like an aspen leaf.

“Guilt, guilt, is it.”

“H-hic! Hic!”

I crouched down, meeting the Head Chef’s gaze directly.

He had been clutching the hem of my dress, but now he tried to retreat, leaning his torso backward—yet his legs refused to obey, unable to carry him away.

“When you looked down upon me, did you feel any guilt?”

“That is….”

“When you poisoned my food? When you claimed to wash my face while dousing me with water from the Well, cold as ice? When you mocked the stench of my Bedroom? Did you feel guilt then?”

“….”

“You never once regarded me as your master. You never saw me as a member of the Imperial Family. And yet you dare expect my remorse? How laughable.”

This is why I trust Emma.

Though she turned a blind eye to all of this, she performed her own duties flawlessly.

She never insulted or disrespected her master, regardless of circumstance. The nights when she attended to me were the only nights I could rest in peace.

“Listen well. The reason I’m letting you live now is to maintain favorable relations with your master.”

Of course, that’s a lie. I do not forget my grievances.

“So you must remain alive until you leave this Separate Palace. There was only ever one choice.”

This was a necessary reprieve, a mercy kept in reserve for the day of my vengeance.

The Head Chef, his face now completely drained of color, stammered as he opened his mouth.

“Th-then what comes….”

“Whether you die from your master’s kicks or get struck by a Carriage on your way out—I don’t care.”

I extended my finger, pressing it against the Head Chef’s chest. I felt the violent throb of his heartbeat beneath my fingertip.

“My hatred for you will never cool. Be grateful I’m not killing you here.”

“But if I leave the Separate Palace, I’ll die anyway….”

“Then shouldn’t you be grateful to me instead?”

My fingertips dug into his clothes and brushed against his skin. I smiled faintly and continued.

“By rights, you should be dead already, but thanks to me, you get to live until you meet your master. Your lifespan has been extended—so why aren’t you thankful?”

“Gasp, gasp….”

The Head Chef was losing his grip on reason under the weight of my demonic power and killing intent. His breathing grew ragged, his eyes clouded and unfocused. If I continued, his mind would shatter completely, leaving him unable to report properly to his master.

I withdrew my fingers and rose from my seat.

Just then, a window that hadn’t been properly closed swung open in the strong wind, billowing the curtains. Feeling the sunlight pour in, I delivered my final warning.

“If you understand, then get out. I don’t like repeating myself.”

The Head Chef’s legs had given out, so his colleagues hurriedly helped him to his feet.

The dismissed servants were the first to flee the Lobby, and the others who had been watching followed in their wake. They were so terrified that some wept, while others trembled uncontrollably.

As I quietly watched the departure of servants I’d worked with for ten years, Emma approached cautiously.

“You showed great restraint.”

“I’m not so sure. I think I acted emotionally.”

“No one will see it that way.”

I smiled bitterly.

“Emma, do you know what kind of person that Head Chef was ten years ago?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

“He brought me a cake for my birthday. It was a strawberry cake with a cat drawn on it.”

‘It was truly delicious.’

Now, not a trace of that flavor lingered on my tongue.

Instead, only the acrid, biting taste of the poison he had dissolved into the soup tormented the tip of my tongue.

That fact was deeply regrettable.

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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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