The Male Lead Has Gone Mad Over the Troublesome Villainess - Chapter 32

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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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The Male Lead Has Gone Mad Over the Villainess — Episode 32
“……What is it you want?”
“First of all, a real romance.”
I said it earnestly. I wanted to experience what a genuine romance felt like. To be loved and to love in return. What a beautiful thing that would be. Then I smiled to myself.
“Everything else, I’ll figure out as I go.”
Kael smiled with an icy expression.
“……Very well. I’ll help you. Millers will send a letter to one of my aides, and they’ll handle the matter regarding you.”
“Thank you so much!”
Of course, I had no intention of leaving it at that.
“In return for your help, I’d like to share some important information with you.”
Kael narrowed his eyes. His face bore the look of someone deep in thought.
“I’d recommend that you acquire the Sapphire Mine.”
“Why? Wouldn’t the Diamond Mine be better?”
Diamonds become worthless. They dissolve in bodily fluids and become unusable. But I couldn’t possibly explain that.
“Sapphire was more fashionable than diamond in the Capital. Wouldn’t it be wiser to invest in a gem that’s more likely to sell?”
If Kael believed this flimsy reasoning and purchased the Sapphire Mine, he’d make a fortune. If not, well, that was his loss.
Kael smiled broadly.
“I’ll trust your word on this, just this once.”
I handed Kael a list of mines.
“If the Sapphire Mine brings in substantial profit later, as you’ve suggested, I’ll treat you to dinner.”
That wouldn’t be nearly enough. I nodded anyway.
“It’ll have to be a very expensive dinner!”
At that moment, wind swept through the terrace with sudden force, churning the air inside. Beyond the Western Hill, the sky was unusually dark. Our gazes turned in unison to that direction.
“Your Majesty, do you think it will rain?”
“Perhaps.”
Kael murmured softly. His eyes remained fixed on the sky, as if he were seeing something hidden there.
* * *
I awoke sometime after midnight.
At first, I didn’t understand what was wrong. I simply rose through the haze of sleep, rubbing my nose, before belatedly realizing something was amiss.
It was the smell.
A fishy, viscous odor was seeping through the window cracks. It was the same scent I’d caught a few nights before.
I bolted upright.
Even after the Expedition had settled in the Village, we hadn’t relaxed our guard. Sentries were posted in rotation along the roads leading to town and at the perimeter. Yet no Alert Signal had sounded.
Could it be that only I could smell it?
The moment I rushed outside, rain was already beginning to fall.
The clear night sky had turned pitch black. Not a single star was visible. Clouds rolling in from the west blanketed the Basin like a lid.
Far off at the edge of the Village, a few torches were moving frantically. The sentries who’d been standing watch had found something.
That was when it happened.
The sound of a Horn tore through the night air.
Blooooow—!
An Alert Signal.
Doors flew open and sleeping figures poured out. Knights grabbed their weapons; soldiers sprinted to their assigned positions.
I was about to cry out, but there was no need. Kael had already emerged outside, a cloak hastily thrown over his shoulders, sword buckled at his side.
“Your Majesty!”
A knight came running from the edge of the Village.
“We’ve detected abnormal activity at the western perimeter. A rain cloud is approaching rapidly!”
Kael struck the wall sharply with his sword hilt.
“Wake all the villagers and evacuate them to the hilltop! Prepare for combat!”
I immediately dashed toward the house where the children were sleeping.
“Get the children to the hillside!”
Vanessa herded the children toward the hill and began to run.
I scooped up Lillia, who’d awoken crying in confusion, blanket and all, and followed after them. Once I’d handed the child over to the priests and turned back, the rain was already pouring harder.
After confirming that Lillia and the other children were safe, I bolted toward the River. Seraphine was running beside me. We were heading to join the battle.
And then a chilling sound reached my ears.
“Croooak.”
A low, wet cry echoed across the entire Basin. It wasn’t just one. The calls of three or four creatures reverberated unpleasantly off the hillside.
The thicket by the River was shoved aside wholesale, and they began to emerge from the vegetation.
Their entire bodies glistened with a viscous, mucus-like coating that caused rainwater to slide off in sheets. Their backs were covered with bumps like warts.
“Don’t let them cross the River!”
With Kael’s command, the knights in the front line rushed forward, but it was for nothing.
The blade came down with all my strength, only to glide across that slick surface and slide harmlessly to the side.
“Your Highness, we cannot wound it!”
Then the enormous creature’s mouth opened wide.
Before my eyes could even follow, its tongue shot out and slapped against the shield of the knight in front, sticking fast before dragging the man bodily forward.
“Argh!”
“Let go! Drop the shield!”
Another knight beside him hauled the falling man back by his arms. The shield vanished into the creature’s maw.
Everything froze.
“Archers!”
Kael’s voice cut through the downpour.
“Loose the Poison Arrows!”
At Kael’s command, bowstrings twanged in rapid succession.
The ordinary arrows had long since soaked and warped in the rain, but those strung with Earth Spider Silk remained taut even when wet. And remarkably, carried by that tension, an arrow buried itself in the creature’s flank.
For an instant I thought it wouldn’t work. Without thinking, I murmured aloud.
“……it actually works?”
The creature struck by the arrow staggered. It tilted sideways and crashed straight into the bog. The poison had found its mark.
“It works! The poison works!”
Someone screamed the words till their voice cracked.
From that moment, the tide turned. Poison-tipped arrows began to rain down like a storm. And poisoned spears and blades rushed forward in fierce competition to meet the creatures.
Even the shields reinforced with chitin proved their worth. The tongues could not stick and slid away. The carapace surface was far too smooth.
Yet something strange remained.
The creatures showed no sign of retreat whatsoever.
As I swung my blade at them, something suddenly felt wrong. I raised my head and peered toward the river through the rain, and my breath caught.
The riverbank was entirely black.
Transparent jelly-like masses covered the water’s edge in an endless stretch. Black dots embedded within each mass were plainly visible even from a distance. It was enough to trigger a claustrophobia I’d never known before.
“Insane…….”
I murmured without thinking. Seraphine seemed to have noticed it too. She swept her hair back and spoke.
“What in the world is that?”
Her voice carried profound disbelief.
“Toad Eggs. They look like eggs, Seraphine.”
And beyond those eggs, a massive mother creature that had been lurking in the water began to reveal itself. It was hideously repulsive. Gasps and retching sounds rose from all around. Now the reason for their refusal to retreat was clear. There was something to defend behind them. The mother and the toad brood about to be born.
Seraphine’s eyes met mine. There was a reason they hadn’t fled the river. A reason they could neither escape nor stand down.
We hadn’t seen it last night, which meant they must have finished spawning mere hours ago.
The herd that had been following the mother in preparation for spawning had swept the surrounding area hunting for food. The Earth Spider corpse we’d found on the ridge must have resulted from that rampage.
And now, even after spawning, it was the same. They could not leave this place—bound by duty to protect the exhausted mother and her eggs.
“My lady, you must tell them this!”
I nodded. While Seraphine wielded her poison-coated blade against the charging toads, I ran across the sodden ground. Fortunately, Millers and Kael appeared not far ahead.
“Millers! They cannot leave the river! The eggs are there!”
“What did you say?”
“They’re protecting the eggs! The mother has finished spawning at the riverbank!”
Millers’s eyes widened. Kael, who had been directing the battle ahead, seemed to hear it too.
Kael turned and looked at me. His silver hair gleamed like light even in the dense darkness. Our eyes met for a moment—an instant, yet one that felt eternal.

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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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