The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 94

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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 Mastermind, and Only I Know It — Chapter 94
“Brother!”
As I stepped into the Garden, Ate, who had been waiting for us far ahead on a white horse, approached quickly.
The crisp sound of hoofbeats striking the stone path was pleasant to the ear.
Contrary to my worries, the ride seemed quite comfortable; Ate was handling the horse with considerable skill.
“Wow, that’s a Bullet, isn’t it? He’d be thrilled if we took him out to the Plain.”
Ate knew Bullet well too, keeping a safe distance rather than approaching too close. Or rather, maintaining quite a bit of distance.
“Go on ahead, Ate.”
“Yes, brother!”
Ate disappeared into the broad Plain beyond the Garden, delighted simply to be in our company.
At that moment, Evan unfastened the buckle of the Fur Jacket he was wearing and wrapped me gently in his arms, drawing me against his collarbone and tucking me smoothly into the inside of the jacket before fastening the buckle again.
With the soft click of silver fittings coming together, Evan’s languid breath scattered slowly over my head.
The soft, thick cashmere jacket Evan wore pressed distinctly against my back as we fit together seamlessly.
The entire sequence was so natural that I had no time to protest. Evan rested his jaw naturally against the top of my head and began to guide Bullet forward slowly.
“What… what is this, all of a sudden…?”
“Winter wind is cold. Better to share warmth this way than waste mana on Thermal Magic.”
Hmm. A plausible answer. And admittedly, it was quite warm.
If Thermal Magic simply heated the surrounding air, this was a direct sharing of warmth, so the texture of that heat felt subtly different.
Once I nodded in understanding, Evan gradually increased the speed at which he guided Bullet.
Before long we entered the Plain beyond the Garden, and I could see Ate far off waving at us with an excited expression. In moments like these, he really did seem like a ten-year-old child.
“Adorable, really.”
I was about to let out a small laugh, thinking that a child is just a child, when—
Suddenly Bullet snorted and let out what could only be described as a shriek before bolting like he’d gone mad.
‘Did Bullet just spray snot? That wasn’t my imagination, was it?’
Something definitely moist touched my cheek!
Barrel had been right. Without warning, acting on impulse was completely true to form—the horse was just like his master.
“Aaaaah…!”
“Reacting like that just excites Bullet more.”
Before Evan’s languid voice even finished, Bullet swerved this way and that, galloping wildly in his own haphazard way. Oh no. Someone help! There’s a poor Possessed One here!
“You can’t just—I mean—what am I supposed to do! Stop right now!”
My words kept breaking off as I held my breath in panic. Evan wrapped his arms tightly around my waist beneath the Fur Jacket and whispered softly against my ear.
“Rene, ask nicely. Then he’ll stop.”
“You’re a real demon!”
“Hmm. That’s also quite pleasant to hear.”
Then Evan gave the reins a light, firm pull. Bullet’s fierce pawing at the ground slowed gradually, and with a dull, abrupt recoil, he came to a halt. The impact drove my body even deeper into Evan’s chest.
Under Evan’s firm control of the reins, Bullet pawed the ground in frustration, snorting heavily onto the earth.
“Gasp… haah…”
“If you’re frightened, we can turn back. That one over there seems too busy playing with his horse to pay attention to us.”
His voice carried an easy confidence. When I looked up, Ate truly wasn’t looking our way at all, happily playing on his own.
“Let’s just go back—!”
The moment I was about to consent, a familiar unease crawled up my spine. Even inside the Fur Jacket, the sensation sent chills across my skin, and my brows furrowed instinctively.
‘That’s… Monster Aura.’
Why now, of all times.
“Evan.”
“Yeah. The Maze Forest again.”
Far across the Plain, the Maze Forest, which lay under the Imperial Family’s management, was within reach. It was the very place where I had first witnessed Evan’s ‘disposal’ in action.
“Sis, I’m counting on you to look after Ate.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
While Sis hurried off on horseback toward Ate, Evan turned Bullet without hesitation toward the Maze Forest.
Given how fast Bullet naturally was, we reached the entrance to the Maze Forest in mere moments. With evening approaching, the sky reddening gradually, the forest below appeared dark, red, and dense—quite an eerie atmosphere.
“I sense two auras inside.”
“Rene, keep your head down inside the jacket.”
At the calm voice from above, my gaze automatically shifted upward. All I could see was Evan’s smooth neck and sharp jawline.
“Why. Trying to let me see only good things again?”
“Yes.”
Just as always, it was the same reason. Every time something like this happened, Evan would cover my face so I couldn’t see ahead.
When I think about it, it’s rather inconsiderate, but subtly affectionate. I honestly can’t tell which side is the real one.
“You said it yourself before. If I’d intended to see only good things, I wouldn’t have become engaged to Your Highness.”
“…Is that so. Have it your way.”
For a moment, a positive fracture appeared in his composed breathing. When that stark answer came back, tinged with strange silence, I lifted my head stubbornly above the jacket and fixed my gaze forward.
“Your Highness, four o’clock direction.”
Barrel, who had been steering the black horse just behind, pressed close and began rapidly briefing on the target’s condition.
“Based on shadow reconnaissance, both are humanoid monsters. They’re absorbing a monster’s corpse.”
— A monster’s corpse!
At Barrel’s words, Dust suddenly burst out from inside my sleeve. He’d been sleeping the whole time, apparently jerking awake at the mention of food.
— I want some too!
“Ah-ah. You don’t eat what someone else’s mouth has touched. I’ll catch you a fresh one later, so eat that instead.”
“Wow, Rene. You just said something awfully inhuman.”
I brushed off Dust’s whimpering, and Barrel glanced over with interest, letting out an exclamation of admiration.
“Well, there are so many demons around these parts. You pick up their ways.”
The moment I replied casually, I felt Evan’s gaze from above, looking down at me.
“That sounds like you’re blaming me.”
“I heard it well.”
I gave back exactly what he’d said to me just moments before. Evan let out a low chuckle.
“You’re spiteful, Rene.”
“I prefer to be thorough about these things.”
I’ll repay it all, piece by piece. Once again, it was what Evan had said to me earlier.
“…Kh.”
The corners of his mouth bent helplessly upward. Soon a small laugh spilled out, drifting pleasantly above my head.
“They’re coming.”
But only for a moment—Evan quickly stopped laughing, his gaze fixed on something, and naturally deployed a Barrier. Shortly after, two Imperial Family knights emerged from the undergrowth, limping.
Drenched in blood that belonged to no one knew whom, they saw us and opened their mouths with faces flushed with relief.
“Gasp. Your… Your Highness! We survived, we survived!”
“Ugh. Your Highness the Crown Prince, please save us. We were ambushed by a monster during a supply convoy…!”
With faces mixing relief and awe, their eyes glistening with tears, they desperately pleaded and slowly approached us.
Squelch-squelch. The pitiable sound of their limping steps treading the grass in broken rhythm sadly filled the surroundings—
“They came through.”
“They look just like real people on the surface.”
The two knights had stepped into Evan’s Barrier—something no ordinary human could ever penetrate. Since I couldn’t ignore what I saw with my own eyes, my inner unease had been acute, and now my tense breath leaked out softly.
At that moment, the two knights, as if by prior agreement, fixed sharp gazes directly on me.

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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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