The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 83

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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 Actually the Mastermind, and Only I Know It — Episode 83
“Well. I’m curious myself.”
Evan smiled faintly and pulled my hand toward him in one smooth motion.
“Everyone head upstairs. I’ll clean up down here.”
“Master, I’ve already tidied the path on the way up, so have no concerns.”
Chahil attached himself to my side with practiced ease, saying he’d escort me safely to the upper levels. And then, just as he pressed his lips to the back of my hand with a soft sound—
Whoosh. Snap!
A hand cut through the air so swiftly it seized Chahil by the collar in an instant.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“S-Sir Lion… I was merely showing proper courtesy as a servant favored by the master…”
“Favored? Do you think I don’t know what filthy schemes run through you southern dogs? I’ll give you a special lesson in manners myself.”
There goes all the goodwill I’d managed to build up.
Lion dismissed Chahil’s excuses with icy indifference, his pink eyes blazing with contempt as he turned sharply away.
Chahil’s feet dragged helplessly across the ground as he was hauled away by the collar.
“Masteeeeer…!”
His plaintive cry echoed through the Underground Auction House like a lament. I never would have imagined seeing someone of his size dragged away so pathetically.
“…Just think of him as a natural disaster, Chahil.”
Dayan had said something like that once: “The elder is a natural disaster. There’s no avoiding him if you cross his path.”
As the distant, fading voice echoed off the walls, Evan approached me and lifted the hand Chahil had kissed, then began rubbing it briskly with a handkerchief.
‘Here we go again with this demon.’
He’d done the same thing in the carriage before.
Well, so be it.
When I didn’t protest and simply offered my hand, Evan scrubbed it even more ostentatiously.
“Evan, what are you planning now? Are you going to burn this entire Underground Auction House down?”
“If you wish it, I will.”
He released my now-clean hand slowly. Then he lifted his gaze to meet mine.
“What do you want, Rene?”
Just say it.
As if he would grant me anything I asked, Evan drew out his voice and waited for my answer.
“Burning this place won’t erase my past.”
I paused and looked around. The memories from my childhood dreams had only returned in fragments—a handful of broken pieces, nothing more.
And of all things, the fragments showed me that moment: being dragged onto the center of the auction block, my body put up for haggling.
“Lion originally meant to burn this place down. He failed, but…”
Lion had been only ten years old then. Even for a genius, it would have been impossible to dismantle a space protected by dozens of layers of barriers woven by gathering mages.
But the situation was different now.
“I want it gone. Completely this time.”
If I left the space standing, it would inevitably be misused for future crimes. As I stated my will clearly, Evan leaned close to my ear.
A chilling sensation emanated from him and traced down the nape of my neck.
“Then ask me, Rene. Tell me what you want me to do.”
“Burn it, Evan. Leave no trace.”
Somewhere between a request and a command, I spoke in a tone both gentle and commanding.
“As you wish.”
Evan’s lips curved with satisfaction, but only briefly. He took my hand and began climbing the stairs with long strides toward the hall where Chahil and Lion had vanished.
As we ascended the small steps onto the platform, his fingertips moved with fluid grace.
In the blink of an eye, a crimson Fire Demon Magic swept across the entire Underground Auction House. A merciless inferno began melting everything in its path.
“How do you like it, Rene? Does it please you?”
His voice was warm and captivating. The breath I’d been holding released in a soft, low exhale.
Was there anything more to say?
It was the most perfect fire I’d ever witnessed.
“It’s hot. We should leave.”
“Let’s go.”
Satisfied with my calm observation, he smiled and pulled me outside with renewed pressure on our clasped hands.
Now that I’d incinerated the remnants of my past, it was time to return to the present.

* * *
Shortly after, back at the Daesinjeon main mansion, Evan showed Rene into the Reception Room, listened briefly to the commotion created by Lion, Chahil, and Rene inside, then closed the door with a soft thud.
Barrel, who had approached nearby, quickly bowed his head.
“Your Highness, preparations are complete.”
“Show me the way.”
The smile that had played at his lips moments before, in Rene’s presence, faded to cold stillness.
His weary green eyes, devoid of emotion or sentiment, fell forward with an elegant gait.
The nest had been dealt with. Now came the real hunt.
“Your Highness…!”
Deep in the Underground Dungeon Prison of the Daesinjeon, all darkness and damp air.
When Evan entered the remote cell in the deepest corner, Dante—bound to a chair with his hands and feet shackled in Mana Chains—rasped out his voice.
Clank, clank—the chains rattled harshly, vomiting forth their grievance.
“You must have misunderstood something. I was faithful only to the deal!”
Words tumbled out in urgent desperation, insisting his innocence. Evan did not sit; he leaned his back against the cold wall and raked his gaze over Dante’s ruined form.
Those wood-colored eyes bereft of reason, hair caked with blood and sweat, and that stupid head pouring cold sweat—as if uncertain just how much had been revealed.
“Perhaps I’ve grown too used to beautiful things of late.”
The words that followed were contemptuous, spoken with leisurely indifference.
A great demon who dealt death without pause ought not to have weak sensibilities, yet Barrel stepped forward without hesitation and kicked the chair from beneath Dante, sending it skidding away.
“Hnngh…!”
With a crash, Dante’s face slammed into the floor.
“Barrel.”
At a slight gesture from Evan, Barrel drew a long Parchment from his coat, seized Dante by the hair, and forced his head toward it.
“This is a list of everything you’ve done beyond those ‘deals’—all the unauthorized work. Under our protection, you somehow managed to approach other demons, peddled information, and committed all manner of foolishness.”
His voice held no regret whatsoever, merely laying out facts. Barrel released both the Parchment and Dante’s hair in one motion. With a thud, Dante’s head struck the floor again.
With his limbs bound, he could do nothing but suffer helplessly—a pitiful sight to behold.
“Your Highness, what reason could you have for this now…! You already knew everything!”
A moment later, his voice, choked with rage, echoed violently through the Underground Dungeon Prison.
It was true enough. Dante had spent all this time capturing humans and selling them to demons, and Evan had known of it long ago.
But since humans harming one another fell outside his purview, and he had no wish to interfere, he had simply let it be.
“You touched something you shouldn’t have.”
“You mean…?”
His voice came cold and clipped—no intention whatsoever to elaborate.
With his life hanging by a thread, Dante clawed desperately at the edges of comprehension and raised his eyes to Evan with brutal effort, his gaze uncertain.
“…Was it because of that woman? Rene Astel. Is that why you’ve come here in person?”
Though his words were nearly a confirmation, they amounted to asking: ‘Is that woman your weakness?’
Though blood dimmed his vision, Dante’s eyes blazed with the feral light of a predator that has caught the scent of prey.
Dante sensed that everything to come hinged upon the answer of the merciless great demon standing before him.

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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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