The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 95

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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 — Chapter 95
“…!”
Damn. I’d been spotted. I watched something grotesque unfold in their pitch-black eyes — a crimson flash streaking across the irises of those two figures.
‘Both of them have lost their minds?’
Two mouths twisted upward in grins that looked ready to split their faces in half. No, seriously—why does every humanoid Demon Beast I encounter look at me like that and grin?
“At last! Our opportunity has come!”
The murmuring, laughter-laced voice cut through the air with a screech like metal scraping rough stone.
The maidservant-shaped Demon Beast I’d faced before had smiled at me the same way. The déjà vu made my brow furrow involuntarily.
“…Right. My opportunity too. A perfect chance to purify two humanoid Demon Beasts at once.”
Since I’d sworn not to see headlines about the Slasher Knight anymore, I hurried to gather Purification Power into my hands.
A pale blue glow bloomed like a cluster of stars, sparkling as it condensed transparently across my palm. Since there were two of them, I poured in double the power, so it took a moment to gather.
“Here they come.”
In the meantime, Barrel’s subdued voice descended softly near me. Wait, already?
I snapped my eyes up. The knights were drawing their blades and advancing rapidly toward me. Judging by the vacant pupils, both of them had truly gone mad.
“Hey, just wait a second! You’re impatient…!”
“What do you expect from Demon Beasts, Rene?”
At my grumbling, Evan chuckled and moved his body forward with long strides, blocking my path. He seized both approaching knights by the scruff of the neck and hurled them away in one smooth motion.
A harsh crash echoed through the forest, followed by coughing and spattering blood. An ordinary person would have collapsed outright, but these were Demon Beasts.
They quickly picked themselves up, shrieking grotesquely, and charged again. This time Barrel drew his blade and carved a graceful arc through the air, cleaving it.
“Now then, gentlemen, this way, please.”
His sharp Sword Aura pierced precisely through their shoulders and knees, severing their mobility. It was swift and flawless suppression.
Soon came a dull thump as they dropped. Barrel casually grabbed the napes of the knights sprawled facedown in the brush and dragged them to a nearby tree, tossing them down without ceremony.
“Rene, are you ready yet?”
Evan, wiping blood from his hands with a handkerchief after handling the knights’ necks, glanced back at me and posed the question lightly.
“Almost done.”
I gave the nearly-gathered Purification Power a small shake to show him. At that, Evan’s gaze drifted toward the fallen ones, and his drawl resumed.
“Hurry. Before I accidentally kill these things.”
His offhand tone fell dryly between the thick, densely packed trees. Accidentally, my foot—one look at his face and anyone could see he was itching to finish them right here.
“Done. Both of you, move.”
I squeezed between Evan and Barrel, who’d been standing in my way, and walked toward the fallen knights, looking down at them.
Just as I was reaching down to begin the purification, one of the knights suddenly opened his eyes and stared up at me, his voice sharp as a blade scraping stone.
“You will surely die.”
“Yes, well, I’m human, after all. So I suppose I will eventually.”
But I’ll live a long life first, so don’t you worry.
“…What?”
“Now, hush.”
I raised my palm and smacked both knights square on the forehead—thwack—with a satisfying sound.
Not that I needed to hit them, really. I just felt like it.
Soon after, brilliant blue light poured forth from the crimson handprints blooming on their foreheads, gradually enveloping their bodies.
Barrel, who’d been silently watching from beside me, sheathed his blade and spoke in a noticeably calmer tone.
“Miss Rene, you needn’t mind what those creatures say. Deliberately needling people is their specialty.”
“Does it look like I was bothered?”
“Not at all.”
Barrel replied promptly to my question, his lips curving into a gentle smile. He must have been worried about me anyway, the fool.
As the light enveloping the knights’ bodies began to fade, I suddenly felt my breath catch, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘Wait… this Backlash isn’t a joke…’
Suddenly Evan’s words from before came back to me.
‘Real combat will be far harder than this.’
He hadn’t been wrong. This was on an entirely different scale from when I’d driven out Farmer’s power that was eating away at Josh. The stamina that drained in an instant now made painfully clear what I’d just done.
‘God, I almost went to the afterlife with these two…!’
I could feel my strength pouring out endlessly in real time. My vision began to blur, and my head spun so badly I pressed my hand to my forehead with force.
But I couldn’t let myself lose consciousness before I knew whether the purification had succeeded.
“Rene.”
Evan, noticing something was wrong with my condition, quickly stepped beside me and gently drew my shoulders into his embrace.
“Close your eyes and lean on me.”
The familiar scent of a winter forest stimulated my senses, and the dizziness felt slightly lighter. Normally I would’ve pushed away in embarrassment, but I had no strength for that now.
Evan’s solid, comfortable chest—his pectoral muscle—truly made for a perfect bed.
“Miss Rene, we’ve succeeded! The purification was a success!”
As I rested my head quietly against Evan’s chest, Barrel’s clearly exhilarated voice reached my ears.
I turned hastily, and before my eyes appeared the knights, their ominous Malevolent Aura now evaporated, their complexions restored. They remained unconscious, but they were no longer trapped in that sinister presence as before.
The dark aura of Farmer scattered helplessly into the air, and I caught sight of it with a fleeting sense of danger.
“Wow, honestly I was a bit nervous doing both at once for the first time…! Evan, did you see? I did it!”
Forgetting my dizziness, I widened my eyes in wonder, and Evan chuckled softly while ruffling my hair.
“Yes. Congratulations, Rene. Though you look a sight.”
As if to tell me my complexion had gone pale, Evan’s fingertips pressed lightly against my forehead, then traced down the bridge of my nose and subtly swept across my lips.
‘Ugh, this is exhausting. I just want to pass out for three minutes. I want to go home…….’
My vision growing hazy again, Evan leaned toward me, lowered himself, and whispered softly near my ear.
“It would be troublesome if you collapsed now, Rene. You said it yourself—that you’d follow me around. You told me if you’re sitting beside me, I should use you rather than keep you locked away.”
“…I haven’t collapsed yet. I’m just resting for a moment.”
My eyes, which had been about to close, snapped wide open instead. If I let them shut even by accident, he’d tease me about it all day.
“First, let’s head back to the palace. Barrel, dispose of that.”
After issuing the order, Evan lowered himself further, supporting me behind the waist and knees before swiftly lifting me into his arms.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Barrel nodded and opened a familiar black corridor in the air, then immediately seized the two knights by the scruff of their necks and hurled them inside. Through the passage, I glimpsed what looked like a corridor of the Imperial Palace beyond.
“Barrel, is it really okay to just throw them anywhere like that?”
“Of course. Once they’re in there, someone always picks them up.”
As if he’d done this more than once or twice, Barrel answered lightly, dusting off his hands with practiced ease.
‘Ah, come to think of it, there’ve been strange rumors for some time now about people mysteriously abandoned in the sparsely trafficked corridors of the Imperial Palace……’
So it was you.

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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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