The Male Lead Has Gone Mad Over the Troublesome Villainess - Chapter 63

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Male Lead Has Gone Mad for the Villainess — Episode 063
And Gloria.
Millers stood atop the Stone Wall, gazing up at the night sky.
“……I never dreamed such a thing existed.”
Hald leaned over the edge of the wall, muttering to himself. The barrier glistened faintly in the darkness. The Toad Secretion they’d applied that afternoon still hadn’t fully dried.
Near the City Gate, Register and the knights were making final checks on their knots. They’d bound the inner side of the gate repeatedly with Troll Sinew.
“At this point, it won’t break even if struck with an axe.”
A knight wiped sweat from the back of his hand as he spoke.
They’d already prepared the ground outside the Stone Wall. Wherever the wall was near, they’d spread Toad Secretion thinly and covered it lightly with soil. Along the escape routes, they’d strung Troll Sinew low to trip ankles.
Meanwhile, Vanessa and the children, along with the clergy, had taken shelter in the Administrative Building. Millers had moved the vulnerable to what he judged the safest location.
Vanessa opened a window and peered toward the Stone Wall. Her face held not a trace of tension. She could still see Millers and Register in her mind’s eye, giggling the whole afternoon as knights hauled barrel after barrel of secretion.
‘Weapons just rolling in on their own.’
‘Indeed. These mercenaries surely possess quite a bit of gold and jewelry, wouldn’t you say?’
‘We might even salvage decent armor or combat boots. Our budget’s been tight enough as it is.’
‘Quite right, Millers. This is nothing short of a windfall.’
Recalling that conversation, Vanessa shook her head slowly. These people were losing their minds in the strangest ways. That much was certain. Yet she couldn’t fathom why their behavior reminded her so much of Rosana.
A chill ran through her at the thought: if Rosana were here, she’d only make it worse, not better. Vanessa carefully shut the window.
“Ugh, the weather’s so cold…….”
She muttered it to no one in particular.
* * *
The sound of movement came well past midnight.
Black shadows advanced toward the Stone Wall.
“They’re coming.”
Millers gave a low signal. Soldiers with bows crouched down.
Several mercenaries threw ropes fitted with Metal Grappling Hooks toward the Stone Wall. As the hooks caught fast, they grabbed the rope and planted their feet against the wall. That was the moment.
“What—what is this! My foot won’t come free!”
A few yanked desperately at their feet, their shoes stuck fast to the wall as they stumbled out barefoot. But the moment their naked soles touched the wall again, they adhered just as firmly.
“What are you doing! Climb, damn it!”
“No, I’m telling you, my feet won’t come loose!”
Those who’d stepped closer to examine the wall stuck to it as well.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
The men clinging to the wall lost their footing and fell backward. Their struggles only made it worse—more and more of them adhered face-first to the stone.
Those watching from below panicked and stumbled backward, their bodies brushing the wall. Cloth, hair, skin—everything that touched it stuck fast. The more they thrashed in alarm, the more their flesh tore away.
“Arghhhhhh!”
Some swung axes at the City Gate, but the door didn’t budge an inch.
“Curse these things!”
A handful who’d managed to avoid the Traps drew their blades. Millers, watching from atop the Stone Wall, raised his hand, and the soldiers aimed their bows. It was barely combat—more like herding prey into a snare.
Those who rolled to evade the arrows stuck to the secretion. It took little time to subdue them all.
Millers opened the gate himself and stepped outside, whistling low.
“Well, now that’s quite a sight.”
They were stuck to the walls and the ground alike—every single one looked like flies caught on flypaper.
One of the men clinging to the wall thrashed so hard his clothes tore clean away and fell to the ground, where—unluckily for him—more secretion was smeared. His back stuck fast, and his flailing limbs looked no different from an overturned beetle.
The remaining mercenaries tried to flee but were caught in the Troll Sinew Trap, tumbled over, and lay tangled in a writhing heap. Millers couldn’t contain his laughter and covered his face.
* * *
The night had passed, and the sun had risen.
When Kael and his companions emerged from the Sanctuary, the sun was already high overhead. The whiteness that had filled his vision slowly receded. It took a few moments to adjust to the light.
When Kael opened his eyes, he froze.
Scattered across the Grassland were figures bound with Troll Sinew. The ground was slicked with Toad Secretion harvested from the eggs of the toad clan. Those who’d marched out so confidently lay sprawled like flies stuck to flypaper, groaning and writhing.
And perched atop a tall Boulder sat someone. It was Rosana. Her face was caked with dirt, and her wounded neck was wrapped in a Handkerchief. Beside her gleamed a Golden Censer. At the base of the Boulder knelt Kalad.
Rosana swayed slightly as she spoke.
“So, this is all you’ve got?”
In her hand dangled a Pouch that clinked and jingled.
“Y-yes! Yes! Th-that’s everything!”
Kalad’s face had gone white as chalk as he nodded frantically.
Right up until they’d left the Sanctuary, he’d thought he’d succeeded. He’d gotten everything he wanted, hadn’t he? He’d secured the Princess, obtained the Sacred Relic. The thought of keeping a Princess with a fair face and a clever mind by his side, bending her to his will at leisure, had filled him with exhilaration.
This was how one lived!
Yes, he’d believed that too, once. But the moment he’d stepped outside, what greeted him was a fist that slammed his face and a knee driving up toward his solar plexus.
As the wind was knocked from his lungs, a Dagger was driven into the back of his knee. Rosana—whom the knights had sheltered and protected the whole time—seized his throat as he toppled forward and forced him and the mercenaries to their knees in one swift motion. Then, from nowhere, a knight massive as a bear joined the fray and suppressed them all at once.
The mysterious secretion binding his ankles robbed him of any freedom of movement. He was utterly helpless.
‘Damn it! Was it all an act?!’
Kalad clenched his teeth.
“What? You’re gritting your teeth right now?”
Rosana spoke with a casual smirk.
“This won’t do, Tenedi. Not at all.”
Rosana rose from her seat. She rotated her head side to side, loosening her neck with a fluid motion, then seized Kalad by the collar and wrenched him upright by force. In one motion, she hurled a punch that caught him square across the face, and spoke again.
“Stop gritting your teeth, would you? And if you don’t want to die, hand over everything you’ve got. You don’t have a blank check stashed somewhere? If not, spit out where you’ve hidden your money.”
Watching her beautiful, blazing eyes, Kalad found himself capitulating. He opened his mouth and revealed the location of his fortune hidden in the Underground Market, swallowing back tears as he did.
One of the knights watching this scene turned to Kael with careful hesitation.
“……Is the Princess trying to kill him right now?”
Who knows.
Kael dragged a hand across his face. It was as though some scene from long ago were overlaying itself onto this very moment.
Rosana, who had lifted her head in satisfaction, caught sight of them at once, hurled Kalad aside, and waved brightly with a cheerful smile.
“You all made it out safely! I’ve been waiting for you!”
Kael felt as though light were pouring down behind her. His heart sank with a dull thud.
A memory surfaced—words his mother had spoken long ago.
‘Kael. Your tastes really are peculiar, aren’t they.’
‘Are they, now?’
‘I suppose you could call it troublesome. Why do you find that vicious temperament so appealing?’
He couldn’t say. Why that savage, untamed fury had drawn his eye. Why such wild ferocity had captivated him. Kael closed his eyes and smiled loosely.
“Rosana.”
Rosana’s dark hair swayed brilliantly beneath the light.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————