The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 56

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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 Is the Mastermind, and Only I Know It — Episode 56
“……What, you saw it?”
“All of it.”
All of it?
His brevity struck like a thunderbolt, and my tangled thoughts went blank in an instant.
‘Exactly which part did he see, and from where to where……?’
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed he still didn’t know I’d visited the Rataniel Cult building alone——
Fortunately, it appeared Karahan and Sis hadn’t reported it to him yet. Though they wouldn’t have seen anything anyway, blocked by the Concealment Barrier.
“Where did this ‘all of it’ begin?”
Sensing that I was fishing for information, Iban simply gazed at me before reaching out to tap the slit of my dress.
‘What? That’s…where I keep the dagger he gave me, isn’t it?’
No matter how small, a dagger was still a blade and had weight, so I couldn’t carry it in my sleeve. Instead, I’d secured it in the pocket on the inside of my dress’s petticoat.
I’d positioned it so that if anything went wrong, I could reach through the slit and draw it in an instant. That’s how I’d been able to respond so quickly in front of Saha earlier.
“From the moment you carried it.”
“Huh? What does that…… Surely you didn’t monitor me through the dagger?”
“Not monitor. Protect.”
Iban corrected me in a leisurely tone. Protect, my foot——it was obvious he had something else in mind entirely.
I already tilted my head in confusion. He’d already given me mana for my supposed safety and assigned both Karahan and Sis to me, so why go this far?
“You gave me mana already, didn’t you? You said that would keep me safe. So why……”
I gestured toward the bandage still clinging to my neck and threw the question at him. He sighed with feigned nonchalance, exhaling a regretful breath.
“Ah, about that. You spilled all of my mana out, so it came to nothing.”
“……What?”
“You remember coughing up blood last night, don’t you? My mana and Pilteu’s power collided. As you can see, you won that exchange.”
“So that means…I’ve just become a person bitten by you for no reason at all……?”
“That’s about right.”
Iban smiled gently, as if to say I’d understood perfectly. No——why didn’t you tell me sooner!
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“If I had told you, would you have left?”
“……Well, no, but.”
At my answer, Iban opened his mouth as if he’d expected that very response.
“I simply avoided unnecessary arguing. Thanks to that, you gained your freedom.”
“Either way, it’s a violation of privacy. I’ll return the dagger, so let’s stop this——”
Just as I reached for the slit, glaring at him, Saha’s words suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘That dagger, you see. It’s terribly dangerous. Carrying it around like that, you could die.’
‘What…is this?’
‘Ask the one who gave it to you. Though I doubt you’ll get an answer.’
There was something decidedly ominous about the way he’d said it.
I held the hem of my dress lightly as I met Iban’s gaze, which hadn’t wavered from me.
“…Iban, what is this dagger? It’s not just a sword, is it?”
At my question, Iban paused for a moment and studied me intently. Then, with self-evident composure, he lifted the corner of his mouth.
“There’s a bit of my blood mixed into the jewel set in the hilt. Because of that, no lowly creature dares approach you. You’ve already experienced it, haven’t you?”
His words brought back what had happened that afternoon in the Rataniel Cult’s tent. Some of the believers had kept an odd distance from me, hurrying past from far away——so that was all because of this dagger?
“So all those people who avoided me were Demonic Beasts? That can’t be right. I didn’t sense anything.”
My brow furrowed involuntarily. I could detect Demonic Beasts from a distance, so how could I have failed to see through those right in front of me?
Of course, I didn’t sense every human-form Demonic Beast, but I’d always felt something since my first encounter with Iban in the Maze Forest, which made this all the stranger.
Iban then reached out and gently smoothed my forehead with his fingers, answering simply.
“They haven’t completely taken over their hosts’ bodies yet. In simpler terms, they’re still closer to human for now.”
“Wait, then we need to Purify them quickly! Before they become complete Demons……!”
“As you can see, it’s hard to distinguish them during their Incubation Period. How will you find and Purify them if you can’t even identify them?”
Iban pointed out sharply that there were limits to how much the dagger could repel them.
“But…you can’t do anything you set your mind to, can you?”
After all, the reason he’d asked for my help in the first place was that it was ‘difficult alone’——not that he ‘couldn’t’ do it.
So the words tumbled out, born of the thought that an Archdemon like him would have no trouble managing this. Iban’s eyes narrowed to slits for a moment.
“Do you really think so?”
I couldn’t tell if he was testing me despite already knowing, or if he genuinely hadn’t heard the conversation between Karahan and me——
Because I couldn’t read his true intentions, my mouth wouldn’t move easily. He was cunning as a demon, that’s for sure.
When I stared at him with furrowed brows without answering, Iban smiled and leaned back deeply into the sofa, closing his eyes. He exhaled a short, weary breath before speaking in a voice that had grown quieter.
“The amount of blood infused in the dagger is small, so it couldn’t show me everything. Your privacy has been well protected, so don’t look at me like that.”
“…How exactly am I looking at you?”
“Like I’m a sexual predator.”
“Well, that’s accurate. But then why did you say you saw everything just now? You scared me!”
At my understanding, Iban let out a soft chuckle. He opened one eye and gazed at me silently, then brushed away my long hair with his fingertips.
“You wouldn’t agree to any of my suggestions, so I was being a bit stubborn.”
“What? What did I—”
“I told you not to lie.”
As his low, steady voice dispersed softly, I remembered what he’d said days ago when he’d put a bandage on my neck.
‘Rene, don’t keep secrets from me. Don’t hide anything, and don’t lie.’
‘What person in the world has no secrets? It’s impossible.’
‘Your safety comes first to me. So cooperate.’
The moment my face went pale, Iban chuckled softly and gently grabbed the nape of my neck, pulling me closer to him.
“Your expression tells me you remember. Do you also recall what I said before that?”
In the suddenly narrowed distance, his deep blue-green eyes held only me. For some reason, my breath caught, and I slowly pushed against his shoulders.
Before that—was he referring to our conversation about the method of infusing mana?
‘If you dislike this method, there are other ways. Are you interested?’
‘No. Let’s just do it this way.’
Back then, I’d refused the alternative because I thought biting my neck was the most reasonable approach.
But now that I knew this method wasn’t working……
“If we change the method, will the results be different?”
“Naturally. The neck is one of the most vulnerable vital points in a human body. It seems your power perceived my mana as a threat and repelled it.”
“What? Why are you only telling me this now? Then I wouldn’t have chosen that method in the first place!”
“You said you had no interest in other methods, didn’t you?”
Really—! No matter what, you should just tell me something this important…!
Watching him shamelessly play innocent, I shook my head with lingering doubt and exhaled a complicated breath before continuing.
“So for me to move about safely alone, I need to receive your mana, is that it?”
“That would be better. The dagger is only a temporary measure.”
“Sigh, I understand. So what is this other method?”
Typically, the lowest-intensity approach is proposed first, so the prospect of what came after the neck already made me dizzy.
‘If it starts with the neck, would the next be the lips? Or……’
As I swallowed nervously and asked carefully, Iban stretched his arm with an unfazed expression and suddenly seized my hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Another method.”
At his answer, my jaw dropped slowly. I stared blankly at our hands, then looked back up at him.
“Is this……?”
“It is.”
He interlaced our fingers deliberately and gently shook our clasped hands in front of me.
That’s all it takes? Something this simple?
Wait, then……
“Why didn’t you just do this from the beginning?”
“Because I didn’t want to. How tedious. Who would it please?”
As our wrists met at the pulse, I felt a strange warmth seeping from him. It was his mana—the same I’d felt before.
So he really had bitten my neck on purpose, knowing this easier path existed all along?
“What kind of demon does such a thing?”

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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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