The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 41

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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, But Only I Know — Episode 41
Wait… hold on a moment.
‘There’s only one bed?’
Gulp—my throat, stiffened by an ominous premonition, bobbed as I turned to look behind me. There it was, exactly as I’d feared: a single bed.
True, it was large enough for two people to sleep with room to spare, but—!
‘What was I thinking? What possessed me to agree to this so readily?’
I’d called it madness myself, but looking back now, it really was madness…
As I hesitated, I glanced sideways and saw Evan folded low onto the sofa, his massive frame arranged so I could rest comfortably against his shoulder.
When our eyes suddenly met, he relaxed his expression as if asking what I wanted to say.
“Evan, are you… planning to sleep with me tonight?”
“…I think that needs clarification.”
Evan leaned in suddenly, and his deep green eyes swept over me slowly. His brows, which had been drawn tight, now furrowed slightly as though wondering when he’d softened his gaze.
“You’re a demon, aren’t you? I thought you didn’t need sleep.”
“Ah, that.”
Evan, now understanding my concern, let out a deflated laugh and looked away.
“I’ve said it before, but I’m still human, at least for now, Rene.”
Evan watched my discomfort unfold, then reached out and slowly ran his fingers through my hair.
“Still, I don’t need to sleep every day like humans do. More than anything—”
He paused mid-sentence, pointing somewhere, then tapped the sofa’s leather lightly with his free hand.
Following where his fingers had touched, I saw a thick stack of documents piled high on the desk beneath the window.
“I plan to work overtime while you sleep.”
“Well, that works out then.”
“I’m not sure who the real demon is here.”
At my composed response, Evan smiled with amusement.
“All right, I understand. I’ll go to Marine Palace for a bit.”
“Why there?”
“I haven’t been home in a while, so there are things I need to gather. I’m planning to leave early tomorrow morning, so I should prepare now.”
As I stood to leave the sofa, Evan suddenly grabbed my dress sleeve.
It seemed he’d meant to catch my wrist—was it because of the bandages? He’d settled for gripping my hem instead.
“I didn’t assign you all those attendants for nothing,” he said sourly.
Evan complained that I could simply have the servants do it, and didn’t release the fabric he held.
“I prefer to handle it myself. Some of my materials require careful handling.”
I poked his hand repeatedly until Evan reluctantly, slowly withdrew it.
“I don’t have the patience for waiting.”
“…I’ll be back soon.”
Looking out the window, I saw the sun had set and night had fallen. The shock was that Banel, who had left early that morning, still hadn’t returned.
‘Just how much work has this demon dumped on that poor man…’
I quickly slipped out of Ruby Palace and headed toward Marine Palace with Sis, who had been waiting. The baggage was really just an excuse; I had another purpose.
‘Honestly, apart from a few materials, there’s not much I actually need to pack. I suppose I’ve truly ended up unable to return home.’
As I hurried forward and reached the entrance of Marine Palace, I noticed someone loitering near the gate.
‘Who could that be? I wasn’t expecting any visitors at this hour.’
From the silhouette—tall and slender—it clearly wasn’t Ate. Then it must be…
“Lady Rene, allow me to check—” Sis began to step forward.
I quickly caught her arm.
“Sis, could you go inside and prepare some bedding for me? I’m sleeping at Ruby Palace tonight.”
It must have sounded strange—Sis’s typically serene obsidian eyes widened noticeably.
“I think I know this visitor, so don’t worry.”
“Understood.”
Sis quickly composed her startled expression, nodded, and headed straight into the palace.
Once I confirmed Sis had disappeared, I turned to face the late-night visitor, who was already looking my way.
‘This is the first time he’s come to find me of his own accord… I wonder what’s wrong.’
Those strikingly pale eyes gleamed brightly in my dim vision. It was Chahil.
In truth, as a slave, he couldn’t simply seek me out on his own. Even if he’d tried, the servants of Marine Palace wouldn’t have readily let him through.
“You’ve saved me the trouble—I was actually planning to find you.”
For whatever reason, my other purpose had walked up to me on its own, sparing me the effort.
With only three days left until the Foundation Festival, during the Imperial Palace’s busiest preparation period, I needed to tell him I would be away from the palace.
‘More precisely, I need to tell him not to wander carelessly from the Separate Villa while I’m gone.’
If he happened to run into Evan… Chahil might end up dead.
Now that I understood Evan could kill humans without consequence, I needed to be even more careful.
‘In the original story, Evan killed Chahil because Shana suffered because of him—but now that events have diverged, I can’t predict what reason he might have to kill him.’
Still, I’ve yet to discover the method of their death.
So caution was paramount. I still needed Chahil, after all.
I approached him slowly where he stood rigid. Thanks to Sis’s discretion in dismissing the attendants, we were alone.
Though Kan was watching from a distance, naturally. My safety mattered. Right.
“Chahil, why are you standing out here instead of going inside?”
I whispered the words against his back, and he spun around in alarm—the look of someone who hadn’t expected me to emerge.
I asked again: weren’t you here to see me? Chahil hesitated.
“I—I wasn’t called for… I apologize for coming without permission, my lord.”
White hair spilled long over his shoulders as he bowed his head deeply.
Beneath the cascading moonlight, a gentle breeze stirred his hair like breaking waves.
The sight was so dazzling that my mouth fell open without thinking.
If Evan enchanted with a stranglehold on breath, Chahil possessed a beauty that ensnared the eye, freezing you motionless in place.
“There’s… something I’ve been wanting to tell you….”
“To me? What is it?”
At my question, his silver-white eyes darted about.
“I happened… to hear a rumor. That I am, my lord’s… concubine.”
My thoughts ground to a halt at the quietly spoken words.
‘How did he find out?’
Chahil was alone at the Separate Villa, and I’d received reports just days ago that no one visited him.
There was no one to relay rumors to Chahil—where could he have heard this?
─.
Had he overheard servants from another palace talking in passing?
“…my lord?”
I’d thought I’d managed to contain it, but how had something like this….
“My lord…!”
“Hm? What?”
I hadn’t heard what Chahil said in the middle of his sentence—I’d been lost in thought.
Chahil had called out to me again, his eyes clouded with worry.
“Don’t worry. There won’t be any more rumors like that. I’ve handled it.”
“You’ve… handled it?”
“Yes. I’m sorry for the trouble it caused.”
Chahil’s face darkened suddenly. Had the rumor stressed him after all?
I tapped his shoulder lightly to reassure him it was fine, and he flinched, his whole body trembling.
A man three times my size, shaking at the mere touch of my hand….
‘…It’s a pleasant sight. Why is that?’
Had a demon taken root in my heart….
No, no, hold back, get away….

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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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