The Teddy Bear Sends the Insomniac Villain to Dreamland - Chapter 40

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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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Chapter 40
Blake gently stroked the back of the teddy bear cradled in my hands.
Within my trembling grip, I felt the soft, plush texture of the toy.
My heart, which had been racing wildly, gradually began to settle back into its normal rhythm.
“Blake?”
I heard Vivian’s drowsy murmur calling my name, though she’d been chattering away moments before, but I didn’t answer.
“What’s wrong with you? I haven’t even finished my apology yet. Shouldn’t you at least hear me out before scolding me?”
Vivian struggled to break free, rustling against me as if she couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t loosen my grip.
She knew she’d done something wrong.
From the moment we first met, Vivian had always been quick to apologize.
I bit my lip hard. I was angry—truly angry. Yet somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to scold her.
The moment I saw Vivian, a wave of relief washed over me, and without thinking, I pulled her into an embrace.
“You really….”
I pressed my lips together tightly.
Did this witch know that I’d sliced through every Demon Beast blocking my path to calm my anxiety?
Terrified that she might be hurt.
Or worse—that she’d broken her promise and returned completely to the Demon Realm.
I couldn’t breathe the entire time I wandered aimlessly through the streets.
She probably didn’t know.
The thought made my head burn hot again.
‘This anxiety… it’s only because the one solution to breaking my curse has disappeared. That’s all it is.’
I told myself this, but my own heart betrayed me with its innocent racing, and irritation suddenly surged through me.
I tightened my grip around Vivian even more.
“Ow, okay! I’m really sorry! I had something to do, but I didn’t expect a Demon Beast to show up suddenly. But I handled it well, didn’t I?”
“….”
“I should have listened to you, though. I’m really sorry. Are you upset? Your heart is beating so fast.”
I need to calm down. At this rate, I’ll develop arrhythmia.
I grabbed Vivian’s side and pulled her away from my chest, revealing her wide, surprised eyes—round and clear, a pale green.
“Ugh, I was suffocating!”
I had so many questions.
What was that magic circle Nix saw?
Where exactly did you disappear to?
Are you hurt anywhere?
“Hey, where exactly did you go alone…”
I was about to ask Vivian.
Vivian, who had been breathing in the fresh air with a soft sigh, suddenly felt a presence nearby and closed her mouth with a start.
Someone was approaching.
“Commander Leblanc.”
I confirmed the Guard Unit surrounding me and slowly turned around.
The Capital Guard, lined up in perfect formation, saluted me in unison.
“We responded to a report from the Young Noblewoman of House Everett! We’ve dealt with several demon beasts in the square and are currently collecting the wounded and deceased.”
“How quick of you to arrive.”
Blake spoke without so much as glancing in their direction, his tone utterly indifferent.
In truth, he was indifferent. They were useless fools who had arrived after the situation was already resolved.
His attention belonged solely to Vivian.
I was far more curious about where Vivian had gone alone.
Yet at his cold words, the Guard Unit members’ faces fell as they scrambled for excuses.
“That is… there was no prophecy of demon beasts appearing, so we didn’t know. We certainly never imagined they would manifest in the Capital!”
As Blake listened to their rambling excuses, he turned his head. Those beautiful violet eyes swept slowly over them from top to bottom.
Then he let out a soft laugh.
From the way his lips curved upward at an angle, it didn’t seem like genuine amusement.
“No prophecy, so you didn’t know demon beasts would appear, hmm? You’re all nothing but puppets dancing to Ophelia’s strings.”
“How dare you speak such words!”
“Am I wrong? Judging by your appearance, you don’t even look prepared for battle.”
At his muttered comment that you would have been useless anyway, the Guard Unit bristled with indignation.
Yet they couldn’t bring themselves to attack, only clenching and unclenching their fists repeatedly.
“The Young Noblewoman of House Everett left to deliver her message quite some time ago. The Capital Guard, which should always be on patrol, took far too long to arrive here. Why is that?”
It was a fact they couldn’t refute.
The Capital Guard, true to its name, was supposed to maintain constant vigilance with patrol units ready for any incidents that might occur in the Capital.
The fact that they arrived only after the incident was resolved meant they had deliberately delayed their response.
“That’s not it. If we had engaged the demon beasts without preparation, we could have suffered grave casualties, and our unit couldn’t be properly mobilized…”
“No. You were simply afraid of dying a meaningless death fighting demon beasts without a prophecy to guide you.”
It was a direct hit.
For them, a predetermined death was far easier to accept.
I felt sickened by their selfishness.
They would rather offer sacrifices to dispose of demon beasts.
They were the sort who would simply follow fate if it was already written.
I despised cowardly humans like this.
Blake clicked his tongue softly and extended his hand to Nix, who still lay exhausted on the ground.
“Commander?”
“Take it.”
Nix, hesitant about whether she dared accept Blake’s hand, carefully rose with his support.
“This child risked her life to fight the moment danger arose. You are all inferior to her.”
The Guard Unit members’ gazes fixed on Nix.
Feeling their stares upon me, Nix lowered her head and hastily turned away.
Nix’s body was already drenched in blood of unknown origin, and her face was deathly pale.
Her condition was not good.
Blake, noticing that Vivian’s gaze in his arms remained fixed on Nix, gave a slight nod toward the alley.
“The Shadows will have come to collect you. Go. You’ve done well.”
Nix seemed to understand his words and moved toward the alley.
No, I spun around instead of heading that way.
Nix’s gaze shifted toward Vivian, nestled against Blake Leblanc’s side.
At that piercing stare, Blake Leblanc’s brow twitched slightly.
It was as if she were asking him to hand Vivian over to her.
He felt the surrounding gazes converge on himself, Nix, and Vivian.
Though no one spoke, their eyes betrayed their curiosity about the identity of the doll he’d been holding all this time.
Normally, Blake Leblanc would have entrusted her to Nix.
The rumors and suspicious looks that followed whenever he was with Vivian were predictable enough.
Even today, hadn’t Lea Everett looked at him as though he’d lost his mind, despite trying to hide it?
Yet he merely gripped the soft bear doll tucked against his side more firmly.
“….”
Watching Nix, who remained motionless until given an order, he exhaled softly.
With that single sigh, the Guard Unit members felt their hearts drop.
They were terrified that the ringleader of these vicious rumors might draw his sword at any moment and slit their throats.
Blake Leblanc spoke to Nix, who was hesitating.
“I’ll take care of my doll myself, so you’re free to go.”
…My doll?
Question marks floated above the Guard Unit members’ heads.
Of course, they had eyes.
They’d noticed the doll in Blake Leblanc’s arms long ago, but they’d simply pretended not to see it with all their might.
The Guard Unit members, stirred by this shocking declaration, exchanged glances without uttering a word.
Blake Leblanc nodded at Nix once more, as if telling her to leave.
“Yes, understood.”
Nix answered curtly, her voice hollow with resignation.
In the darkness beside a remote alley, her subordinates waited for orders.
Nix would have her subordinates escort her safely back to the Mansion.
Blake Leblanc spoke quietly as he passed the dumbfounded Guard Unit members.
“Once the cleanup is finished, there will be a meeting to review whether the measures taken regarding the Demon Beast were appropriate. As the person ultimately responsible, you should prepare yourselves to report to me as well.”
Though they didn’t understand what “preparing to report” meant, the Guard Unit members’ faces drained of color.
Blake Leblanc gently gathered Vivian’s soft form from his side and cradled her in his arms.
Lest she fall, he handled her carefully even as he mounted his horse.
Those who witnessed this tender gesture either froze like ice or rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
Some even trembled and scratched at their bodies as if they’d seen something terrifying.
Contrary to their misunderstanding, the moment Nix disappeared, Blake Leblanc gazed down coldly at Vivian, who was pretending to sleep, and issued a warning.
“If you’re going to cause me this much trouble, you’d better stay attached to me and not wander off. It’ll be less bothersome that way.”
***
“This is absolutely massive news!”
The president of Letters, the Empire’s most renowned and widely-subscribed newspaper, waved his feathered quill with unbridled enthusiasm.
The mere fact that a Demon Beast had appeared in the Capital yesterday would have been sensational enough, but an even more explosive tip had just arrived.
“Write faster! We need to break this story first!”
〈Yesterday afternoon, the Capital was thrown into chaos by the appearance of a Demon Beast.
Fortunately, Commander Blake Leblanc’s swift action suppressed the situation immediately,
…
(omitted)
…
Yet immediately after the subjugation, eyewitness accounts emerged claiming that a small, adorable bear doll was nestled snugly in the Commander’s arms as he returned—and the controversy has spiraled wildly out of control…
.〉
Pizoni, the newspaper president, read through the hastily written article, a radiant smile spreading across his face.
“Ahahaha!”
Ah, our newspaper is about to sit on a mountain of gold!

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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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