The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 36

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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’s True Identity is the Mastermind, and Only I Know It — Episode 36
Rosebelle’s crimson eyes, blazing with fever, caught me without a gap.
Certainly, it made no sense for so many candies to cling to a dress unless someone had orchestrated it as a prank.
‘To think she’d suspect me so openly—how rash.’
Of course, I understand why she’d blame me, given that the candies came from my side.
“Ah, Rene…!”
The moment Rosebelle seized my wrist, Sys’s expression turned savage. He looked ready to charge forward, but I gave a quiet shake of my head.
I let the chill fade from my eyes and slowly curved my lips upward.
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Rosebelle. It wasn’t me.”
“Don’t make excuses! How could you do something so vulgar to the benefactor who taught His Highness his preferences? You should be grateful, not pull tricks like this!”
I smiled with an innocent gaze as I spoke, and Rosebelle seized the opening like a hawk. Hailey, watching this unfold, furrowed her brows and opened her mouth.
“Rosebelle, what are you talking about? Do you have proof that Rene did this?”
“R-right. And besides, Rene was sitting across from us the whole time. How could she have d-done such a thing…!”
Siana, who had been watching us with anxious eyes, timidly came to my defense. Diana said nothing, though her gaze toward Rosebelle was sharp.
“……Ha!”
When no one took her side, Rosebelle’s brows narrowed and she let out a harsh laugh. Then, looking at the others, she raised her voice again.
“You all know it! This woman is a mage. She must have used dark magic to cause this trouble!”
Rosebelle deployed a plausible logic, questioning how these candies I’d never seen before today could possibly stick to her dress otherwise.
At the same time, she gripped my captured wrist even harder. But was my skin really so fragile? Blue bruises were already forming on the flesh she held.
‘I can’t wrench this arm free by force here.’
There was a high chance Rosebelle would perform a dramatic fall worthy of an actress.
That infamous “I’m the Victim Anyway” technique—one of the annoying self-defense tactics Rosebelle used often in the original work.
‘A hallmark of reverse-harem romance: if the villainess acts like a victim, everyone dies for plausibility and logic.’
A villainess’s misdeeds are an unavoidable catastrophe, after all. That’s how the story progresses with everyone taking the villainess’s side….
Rather than watch the tables turn as everyone pitied a pushed-over Rosebelle, it seemed wiser to let her have my wrist and treat it later.
‘I can’t complain about a few bruises.’
Did she think I’d become a sacrificial lamb for the plot? Zero chance. My life has no cringe moments in it!
Perhaps sensing my resolve to endure, Rosebelle’s grip tightened even more.
‘……Ugh, wait. This hurts too much.’
Just as I was about to gasp from the mounting pressure, hoping she’d push me away—
Crack—!
Suddenly, a sharp friction sound rang out, and Rosebelle’s grip released. The moment warm blood began trickling down my pallid wrist, someone yanked me backward.
“─!”
The familiar scent of a winter forest—descending from behind—brushed against my nose. At the same time, a sharp whisper reached my ear.
So quiet the surroundings couldn’t hear it, utterly secretive.
“Should I kill her for you?”
If you wish it, right now.
The chilling sentence drifted through my suddenly alert ears in a hazy, disembodied voice—as if spoken directly, or echoing within my mind.
‘Impossible…!’
I lifted my head quickly, and the owner of that soul-freezing scent immediately consumed my vision.
‘Iván?’
It can’t be. Iván should be away on a covert mission. How is he here?
As if he hadn’t just said something terrifying, Iván regarded Rosebelle with a composed and proper face.
“To show such disrespect to my betrothed. I am greatly disappointed in the Herrit Family’s integrity.”
At the low register of Iván’s voice, Rosebelle’s face went slack with shock.
“Y-Your Highness…? When did you arrive here…?”
“We greet the Empire’s Star…!”
While Rosebelle froze completely, everyone in the Greenhouse quickly bowed, showing proper deference to Iván’s sudden appearance.
“Wasn’t His Highness going to the Prayer Hall to offer prayers…?”
“I heard he was at the State Council Hall…?”
The astonished servants murmured; they had been too focused on Rosebelle and me to notice Iván’s approach.
Though it was likely he had deliberately muffled his footsteps as he came near.
In the silence, Iván drew out a handkerchief and gently wrapped my wrist, marked with red fingerprints.
Only then did the sharp pain, numbed until now, strike me all at once.
“Ugh….”
Hearing my small whimper, his voice grew even more subdued.
“To dare lay a hand on what is mine.”
“I-I am wronged, Your Highness! I had no such intention…!”
Before Iván’s words had even finished, Rosebelle immediately bowed deeply. Her trembling shoulders seemed almost pitiful.
Regardless, Iván didn’t spare her a glance and opened his mouth again.
“For the next year, the Herrit Family is banned from palace entry.”
“Your Highness—!”
At the decisive pronouncement, Rosebelle gasped. Only then did Iván lift his head, and turning to regard those standing behind him, he gestured curtly at the maids who stood frozen in place.
“What are you doing? Obey the order.”
At his word, the maids hurried forward and seized Rosebelle, dragging her toward the exit of the Greenhouse. Unable to wrench free from their grip, Rosebelle’s face twisted in anguish as she pleaded desperately.
“Your Highness, Your Highness! It’s all a misunderstanding! I’m the victim here! Please, just listen to me once—!”
Rosebelle’s voice faded as she was pulled away. Before I could even speak, everything had been resolved cleanly in an instant.
I watched the entire affair unfold with a hollow feeling in my chest.
‘No, no, no…! Of all things, a year-long ban from palace entry? This is exactly like the Original Work!’
In the Original Work, Rosebelle had been caught tormenting Siana and subsequently received a ban from palace entry by Iván, after which the narrative spiraled into a Character Blackening arc.
‘She’s already plenty wicked, and now this will make her worse—?’
And I was supposed to deal with that blackening myself?
‘This is… this is a disaster.’
It was only a slight bruise—wasn’t the punishment excessive? I was thinking just that when I caught sight of the skin exposed between the folds of my handkerchief.
‘Wait… when did this happen?’
The bruise that had been blue moments ago had somehow filled with blood, now a dark crimson.
‘No, can my skin really be this fragile…? Seriously?’
What’s more, the pain was no ordinary bruise—it was a sharper, deeper ache. If Iván hadn’t shoved Rosebelle away, my wrist might well have snapped.
‘I’m going mad. Now I can’t even ask him to go easy on Rosebelle…!’
So I had fragile skin—such a useless characteristic to be cursed with! Why did I have to be saddled with this of all traits?
As I was wallowing in despair over this newly discovered bodily truth, my body suddenly lifted into the air.
“…!”
Caught off guard and cradled in his arms, I looked up to find Iván gazing down at me wordlessly. His eyes grew cold as he turned to address the others.
“It seems my wife has been greatly startled. I must take her to rest. I beg your understanding.”
His expression was stiff—a look seldom seen from him—yet his voice and tone remained as warm and gentle as always.
“Of course, Your Highness. Treatment of the young lady takes priority.”
“Rene, I’ll write to you. Rest well!”
“R-Rene…! Don’t push yourself, you must take proper care to recover…!”
Diana, Hailey, and Siana offered their encouragement in turn, and Iván promptly turned to leave.
“See our guests safely on their way.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Having received the servants’ reply, Iván departed the Greenhouse without another word, cradling me silently in his arms.

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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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