The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 82

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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 Hidden Villain, and Only I Know It — Episode 82
My cheeks burned for no reason, and I covered my embarrassment with a soft cough, turning my head away.
“I noticed before that Chahil seems quite interested in monsters… Do you know why?”
I had a vague sense that Chahil had given up pursuing Dust. Keen to shift the awkward atmosphere, I posed the question casually, and Iban answered in his usual flat tone.
“He wants to resurrect his father—the one I killed—and kill him again. To do that, he needs a newborn monster as a vessel.”
“I… see……?”
And he’s saying all this while touching my leg. I’m going to lose my mind, I swear.
“That’s hardly a rational goal.”
“Seek reason from a demon, and what do you find?”
Half-demon or not, a demon is a demon, Iban said slowly, with faint derision in his voice.
At least Dust wasn’t a newborn monster anymore—for that, I was genuinely grateful.
‘With that gentle, melancholy smile of his, I never would have guessed he carried such a burden.’
To resurrect a dead father only to kill him again—what could possibly drive such profound hatred?
I stared blankly at the empty air, my expression grave, and Iban’s hand swept softly across my knee.
“It’s not your concern.”
“I like to think I’m a merciful master.”
“Merciful twice over, and I’d give away my very breath.”
Iban’s quiet laugh carried a cool current as his hand soothed my heated skin. The skillful touch along the inside of my thigh, gentle and practiced, made my tension melt away.
Then, unexpectedly, Iban spoke.
“To a demon, a human lifetime is merely a blink. It’s little more than amusement.”
The sharp words that followed—that I should stop worrying about others and concern myself with my own fleeting life—cut through the silence.
“Then what number am I among your amusements~?”
I looked down at him, still kneeling on one knee before me, and deliberately drew out the question with a teasing lilt.
There was no real intention behind it—just playful mockery—but suddenly a hairline fracture appeared in Iban’s otherwise impassive expression.
“Do you truly wish to know?”
It was a strange look. Not quite a provocation, not quite resignation—something cooler and far more indefinable settled into his features.
A strange, weightless silence hung in the air for a moment.
I couldn’t know without him speaking, but when I looked into those deep green eyes of his, I sometimes caught glimpses of an unknowable stretch of past time—or so it seemed.
I waved my hand gently to break the silence with levity.
“Innumerable, I’d think. If you remember me at all, I’d count that as fortune.”
When humans barely lived a hundred years and demons lived at least a thousand, there was no chance he’d known only one person in all that time.
As I answered slowly, Iban let out a hollow laugh and pinched the inside of my thigh.
“Ow…!”
The pinch wasn’t painful, but I let out a sharp cry as if I were dying—it seemed only fair to make a fuss.
Iban watched my shameless dramatics with amusement, then shook his head with a soft smile and rose to his feet.
In an instant, his frame towered over me where I sat in the Fountain chair, casting a dark shadow.
“You have talent for performance.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I answered curtly and was just getting up when suddenly urgent footsteps thundered down from above.
Honestly, there’s never a peaceful moment. Wondering what it could be now, I looked up—and the heavy wooden door, which had been firmly shut, burst open with a violent bang.
Two familiar figures appeared beneath the dazzling Chandelier.
“Princess!”
“My lady…!”
Their urgent calls scattered as hasty footsteps rushed down the stairs. Lion reached me in seconds and swept me into his arms.
“Rene, are you hurt? Is anything wrong? Are you dizzy?”
After a fierce embrace, he quickly pulled back and, with an anxious expression, cupped my face in his hands, darting his eyes across my features to rapidly assess my condition.
‘He’s really frightened. I’ve never seen him look this pale before.’
His pink eyes, clouded with worry and worry alone—a sight almost unprecedented—trembled and swept across my face.
“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt. I’m not dizzy.”
“Thank goodness…….”
Assuring him nothing was wrong, I answered his questions gently, and only then did Lion exhale deeply, the tension finally draining from his body.
Even so, he watched my expression closely, searching for any sign of hidden distress.
‘Good grief. Iban was the same way earlier, and now both of them won’t take my word at face value…’
I watched Lion’s always-steady shoulders tremble faintly and could almost feel the fear he must have experienced.
Looking at it now, perhaps I wasn’t the only one left with trauma from the incident in the past.
“But how did you know to come here? You said you had business at the Grand Divine Hall. This is the Annex, so it’s quite a distance away.”
Unlike the Annex beside the Main Building where Shiana stayed, the New Annex—as this place was called—lay quite far removed. So arriving by accident or happening to stop by would have been implausible.
“This place was my business. I came to confirm whether that place from thirteen years ago still existed, and this time I intended to make certain it was destroyed.”
But not only was it still there—everything was arranged far more thoroughly and meticulously than it had been thirteen years ago, Iban said with a breath of fury.
His deep pink eyes went deathly cold, as if he were ready to set it ablaze again at that very moment.
“The Annex’s first floor has nothing but the Prayer Room. At first glance, no one would even realize it’s an ‘entrance.’ I found it odd that I couldn’t sense any magical fluctuations from below, so I poked around at various things until I figured it out.”
“It seems a fairly powerful Magic-Blocking Barrier surrounds the entire Underground. Magic won’t work down there.”
“It’s the Southern Forces’ doing. That kind of complex barrier work is their specialty.”
Lion, who’d thought he’d dealt with them all last time, seemed annoyed to learn that stragglers remained. He raked his fingers roughly through his hair.
“I ran into someone you call your servant, and that’s how I ended up down here. He was dealing with a Demonic Beast that was blocking the entrance alone, so I lent him a hand.”
“I can’t begin to tell you how much your help meant to us~!”
As Lion’s gaze flicked toward Chahil standing beside him, the other man responded at once, his snow-white eyes softening with a gentle smile.
‘When did they meet that he’s calling him “brother”? That terrifying friendliness of his really does deserve credit.’
“…Decent enough skill for a Black Mage. That part bothers me a bit. But he was definitely useful.”
‘Huh. Since when? Lion’s the self-centered type who doesn’t easily acknowledge other people—except me, that is.’
‘Though, come to think of it, Chahil’s a half-demon. He’s transcended the realm of what’s merely human, so maybe that’s why he caught Lion’s eye.’
Chahil wore nothing but a pleased, gentle smile. It seemed he’d picked up quite a few points without realizing it.
“Master, in any case, I’m relieved you’re all right. I’ll make sure to stay by your side from now on so nothing like this happens again.”
Despite his smooth words, his complexion had grown quite pale—a sign of genuine concern for me.
“Is the job finished?”
“Yes, thanks to him.”
Iban, who had been quietly observing the situation, asked the question, and Chahil answered at once. It meant that Lion had provided meaningful assistance in dispatching the Demonic Beasts blocking the passage.
“Your Highness. There seems to be a separate entity controlling those creatures. Who might that be?”
Lion stroked my hair gently as he looked toward Iban, his expression sharp with keen suspicion—the sight of one troubled by Demonic Beasts teeming in the Grand Divine Hall, holiest of all places.

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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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