The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 60

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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 — Chapter 60
“…—, the lanterns are being distributed over there, it seems. Quite a crowd’s already gathered. Come on, let’s hurry!”
I nearly choked in surprise. Forcing a smile, I grabbed Ibahn and quickly pulled him toward where the crowds were thronging.
“Huh.”
He let out a soft, bemused laugh but didn’t pull his hand away, following willingly as I dragged him along.
The Robe that Ibahn had given me didn’t obstruct my vision, and thanks to the Magical Power woven into it, a peculiar shadow fell across my face that concealed my features completely.
His Robe was the same, so I couldn’t see his expression, but I could tell from the way he let himself be led by my hand that he was smiling faintly.
As we drew closer to the crowd, the sound of people chattering grew louder.
“Wow, Mom, look at that. It’s so beautiful!”
“The Temple priests are handing out the lanterns themselves!”
“I heard they’re almost all gone already. Must be popular!”
By the time we reached the area near the water, people were absorbed in floating red lanterns into the night sky, their happy chatter filling the air relentlessly.
Since the event had only just started, there were no lanterns that had risen very high yet, so the lower sky was spectacularly bright with color.
“Lanterns for everyone! This year, we’re specially distributing Heart-Shaped Lanterns to couples!”
At the voice calling out from behind, I turned to see the Temple priests managing the Lantern Festival booth steadily handing out lanterns to people. Watching the stacked boxes beside them, I could see the lanterns being depleted rapidly.
“Oh no, we’re going to run out of lanterns!”
My heart racing, I grabbed the still-unhurried Ibahn and rushed toward the priests.
“Are you a couple? Here, I have just one Heart-Shaped Lantern left to give you! Don’t forget to make a wish before you release it!”
Seeing Ibahn and me in matching Robes, the priest naturally handed us the last Heart-Shaped Lantern remaining in the box.
The lantern was quite cute in size, and its heart shape carved into it looked wonderfully romantic.
“Hmm. So that’s how they seduce humans.”
“…Those people are just people. They’re not Demon Beasts.”
Even so, Ibahn continued scanning the surroundings, as if searching for Demon Beasts that might be hiding somewhere.
Fortunately, my Danger Detection Sensor reported it was still functioning normally, and Ibahn grasped my hand again before striding off somewhere.
“Wait, Ibahn. Where are you going? Everyone’s floating their lanterns by the Riverbank over there…!”
“There are too many people there. I know a better place.”
A better place? I followed behind him with questioning eyes, trotting quickly. He turned away from the crowded Riverbank and headed toward a low Hill on the sparsely populated outskirts.
The view looking down from below was quite good, probably because the slope was somewhat steep.
Just as I was getting the illusion that the night sky was touching us closely, he suddenly stripped off the Robe he was wearing.
……
In that instant, his pitch-black hair was steeped in the crimson glow cast by the lanterns, burning as bright and clear as the rays of an evening sunset.
“Why aren’t you taking yours off?”
As I stood there dazed, Ibahn removed my Robe himself.
……Ah.
“Hold the lantern. Make a wish or whatever it is.”
Once I was holding the lantern properly, he swiftly pulled out the white paper tag hanging from below. With a whoosh, a small spark caught the lantern’s flame.
After lighting it, Ibahn stood motionless, as if waiting for me to release the lantern into the air.
“Won’t you hold the lantern with me? Even demons must have wishes, right?”
……
Those eyes somehow seemed to say, “I have no such thing.”
As I made a disappointed face, Ibahn let out a soft laugh and placed his hand beneath the bottom of the lantern I was holding.
The moment his large hand overlapped mine, his cool body temperature flowed through our touching skin.
“I’ll let go now.”
He nodded silently, and I released it immediately. The lantern floated into the air, and the small Heart-Shaped Lantern rose gently into the sky.
“That’s a lantern made with Magical Power for the event. Once it rises to a certain height, it’ll burst like a star. Apparently humans are fascinated because it looks just like a shooting star.”
Following his words, I saw that the countless lanterns people had released earlier burst with a pop the moment they reached the high sky, pouring out brilliant light like the Milky Way.
After silently admiring those brilliant rays of light for a moment, I smiled softly and looked up at the sky.
The lantern we had just released was also floating slowly through the heavens.
“…Wow, now it really feels like I’m on vacation.”
“Good.”
His reply seemed offhand, but I could feel his gaze fixed firmly on me. A moment later, something rather sharp followed.
“Tomorrow during your vacation too—stay by my side. I won’t let you fall into anyone else’s hands.”
……Anyone else’s hands? From his expression, it seemed he was quite displeased that I’d appeared before him alone with Carahan earlier today.
“Answer me.”
He demanded an answer and suddenly seized my hand again. His Magical Power flowed gently through our skin, sending a pleasant shiver across my flesh.
……
For a moment, a defiant question rose to the tip of my tongue—whether I really had to be with him through tomorrow, my last day of vacation—but I swallowed it back down.
Since I was the one who went all the way to the Lantern Festival platform just to see Ibahn, I had nothing to say.
“Fine. Fine, I got it…”
It was just as I smiled helplessly and lost myself in watching the lanterns again.
Someone pushed through the brush beyond the hill, and soon two figures bowed before us.
“Your Majesty, we have an urgent report.”
As they removed their robes, Carahan’s and Sis’s faces came into view. The moment Carahan opened his mouth, Sis glanced at me with an oddly circumspect expression. Carahan wore the same look.
‘……Why are they looking at me like that?’
Could they be reporting that I’d gone to the Temple earlier?
‘No, surely not. The mood was just getting good……’
Hoping it wasn’t so, I watched them in silence. Ibahn nodded with an expressionless face, granting them permission to speak.
“Go ahead.”
He made a light gesture with his hand, signaling that he’d cast a Sound Barrier to block out noise. Only then did Sis drop her hesitant expression and carefully withdraw something from her pocket.
It looked like a small stone, but when she spoke an activation word, a transparent holographic image began to shimmer into existence in the empty air.
……Wait. That’s not a Video Stone, is it? The incredibly rare ones they say there are only a handful of across the entire continent?! Where did that even come from?!
‘I’d been reassuring myself it would be a routine report, but if this is what we’re dealing with, everything changes.’
Before I could even process my shock, a faint crackling sound accompanied a fairly clear image unfurling across the Video Stone’s surface.
Among the flickering frames, Dayad appeared first, grinning at the Video Stone’s precise focal point.
As though he knew perfectly well that we were watching him.
“Wh—what……?”
My mouth moved involuntarily, bewilderment flooding through me. No—that’s the exact moment when Dayad and I encountered those Temple people!
Back then, Dayad had suddenly been looking at something and smiling, so I’d asked him what was so funny!
‘He was recording it the whole time?’
My Danger Detection Sensor screamed to life all at once.
Sensing something deeply unsettling, my gaze instinctively turned toward Ibahn.

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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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