The Male Lead Is the Villain, and I'm the Only One Who Knows - Chapter 96

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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 Shadow Mastermind, But Only I Know — Episode 96
Having wrapped everything up cleanly (or so it seemed), it was time to return to the Palace. That was when Evan was carrying me back to Bullet.
— Look there!
Dust suddenly sprang from my sleeve and hurled himself into the air toward something in the distance.
“Hey, Dust! Where are you going!”
Whiiiish—the fluffy ball of fur sliced through the wind, speeding toward his target.
“At least he won’t starve.”
Evan watched Dust with a mildly irritated expression. The moment I furrowed my brow wondering what he meant, something stirred between the bushes.
Soon after, a wave of Demon Beast aura washed over us—emanating from beyond the undergrowth.
That can’t be right. When did it get so close? I didn’t sense it approaching.
‘……Wait. But for a Demon Beast, its aura is awfully small and insignificant?’
The moment I lowered myself from Evan’s embrace and fixed my gaze on the bushes with some apprehension, a tiny rabbit with leaves perched on its head bounced out.
Pink elongated ears, a chubby rounded body, stubby little feet.
“What, it’s just a rabbit? I think Dust made a mistake?”
Had the aura clung to the corpse of a dead Demon Beast? As I exhaled in disappointment, Dust transformed into human form in an instant.
In the dark forest maze shrouded in shadow, Dust’s fluffy gray hair gleaming with a silvery sheen captivated the eye all at once, swaying subtly in the gloom.
“No, Rene. This, Demon Beast. Not rabbit.”
Dust, still stringing words together in abbreviated sentences, immediately grabbed a nearby stone and hurled it at the rabbit. Wait, what?
“Hey, stop!”
I tried to stop him, but the stone was already flying. Had he picked up not just Evan’s appearance, but his temperament as well?
The moment the stone reached it, the rabbit opened its mouth. Yes, its mouth——
“Its mouth…?”
I didn’t get to finish my thought. God, what is that thing?
The small rabbit’s mouth suddenly yawned open to a grotesque width. Wide enough to swallow a small child without effort, it tore upward and downward into a massive, nightmarish gape that made my breath catch.
Inside that cavernous maw, rows of sharp teeth like iron bars bristled so densely that a careless foot would be shredded to pieces in an instant.
“I told you—he won’t starve.”
As I stood speechless with shock, my mouth hanging open, Evan stepped close and chuckled softly, wrapping my shoulder in a gentle embrace.
“Those creatures have small bodies and faint presence—they can’t hunt. So they lure humans with their innocent looks and devour them. Like you, someone weak to appearances.”
“W-weak to appearances, like who——”
“You like my face.”
His voice came out sharp and sudden, and my eyes flew open. His tone wasn’t that of someone asking a question. It was merely restating something already established as fact—a simple observation stripped of all uncertainty.
Besides, I’d already confessed to liking his face not long ago, so there was nothing surprising about it.
‘Still, hearing it from his own mouth feels strange.’
Since I’d lost myself staring at Evan’s face countless times, unless he was an idiot, he would have known.
Especially when he held me, I never missed a chance to brush my temples against his broad chest—ahem.
“Who dislikes something beautiful? I simply appreciate it from an aesthetic standpoint.”
“So do I, Rene.”
When I answered curtly, Evan paid no mind and reached out with a cold hand, slowly grasping my chin from below.
“Because it’s pleasant to look at.”
My chin was lifted gently, and my gaze met his impenetrable green eyes.
There was no explicit subject in his statement, but his eyes supplied the meaning his words left unsaid.
‘This demon, why does he have that look…’
Does he realize the way he’s looking at me right now?
As I stood caught in an odd atmosphere, I swallowed dryly without thinking.
“Wow. Food. Got bigger.”
Meanwhile, Dust was simply delighted watching the rabbit stretch its mouth wide open in defense.
Setting everything else aside, he seemed satisfied that the prey’s size had increased, giving him more to eat.
“Nothing’s easier to raise than a creature that looks after its own portion.”
Banel watched Dust as fondly as if he were his own offspring.
When I turned my head away and pulled my face from his hand, Evan released me without resistance.
Dust had already tossed the rabbit into the black space he called Spatial Concealment.
Keeeeek—the rabbit’s shriek, having never landed a single blow and only shown off its teeth, was rapidly absorbed into the void.
“Good that we don’t need to dirty our hands. Let’s head back now.”
Evan, who’d been watching the scene with a bored expression, quickly scooped me up and set me on Bullet.
The moment I slipped Dust—now a fluffy ball once more—into my sleeve, Evan mounted up behind me, swathed me snugly in his Fur Jacket as before, and immediately spurred the horse onward.
Thrummm—Bullet surged forward with the eagerness of a steed long-awaited, his powerful hooves churning as he bolted toward the Imperial Palace. Without a single crack of the whip, he tore through the Garden like an arrow, and a chill ran down my spine.
Beneath Evan’s skillful command of the reins, I absorbed the chaotic rush of the landscape, feeling a cool chill rise along my back where his cold chest pressed against me—a brief, shallow breath escaped my lips.
When we finally arrived before the Marin Palace, Evan dismounted first and stretched both arms toward me.
“Rene. Come here.”
Then his hands closed around my waist, and a pleasant shiver raced through me. His cold fingers trailed slowly across the thin fabric of my riding coat.
The moment I slipped from his arms and my feet touched the floor, his cool lips descended to my ear.
“You’ve forgotten it’s the monthly cycle.”
…Gasp.
My body went rigid.
‘Was that today?’
In the blur of everything else, I’d lost track of the date entirely—and now it had arrived again in a heartbeat.
It felt like only yesterday that I’d kissed Evan to receive his Mana.
He peeled off his thick fur jacket and draped it around my shoulders, then murmured low against my ear.
“Change your clothes and come to the Ruby Palace, Rene.”
“…Understood.”
“And don’t dawdle this time.”
After that, he promptly climbed into his Bullet and left the Marin Palace.
Not dawdle—meaning not to see Chahil, I suppose? Remarkable, really, that he hasn’t killed him yet when he despises him so.
“Miss Rene, it’s growing cold. Let us go inside.”
The moment Evan disappeared entirely, Sis approached from where she’d been waiting nearby and drew me forward. As I stepped into the Marin Palace, she pressed something into my hand.
“The Crown Prince asked me to convey this to you.”
What Sis handed me was a small flower bouquet. The winter blooms, in brilliant hues, looked as though they’d been freshly cut just moments ago on the way back from the Garden—their colors so vivid they dazzled the eye. I noticed a tiny card tucked among the petals and unfolded it—.
[Thanks for the good time. This is my way of saying thanks, so don’t feel burdened.]
Heavens. That wretched little demon had finally, at last, truly opened his heart to me.
I let out a soft laugh and hurried toward my bedchamber with the bouquet in hand. I’d have to put it in a vase!
“Sis, I’ll be staying at the Ruby Palace tonight. I need to bathe first, so would you prepare my things?”
“Of course, Miss Rene. Though….”
“Hmm?”
Sis’s words trailed off into a silence I couldn’t quite read. Turning to her in confusion, I saw her finger point toward the far end of the corridor—toward the door of my bedchamber.

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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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