The Teddy Bear Sends the Insomniac Villain to Dreamland - Chapter 52

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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 52
The atmosphere grew noticeably more tense.
I heard Ronald beside me blink and swallow hard.
Ophelia stepped back, her languid gaze shifting between me, Edwin, and Blake in turn.
“Do not touch her further.”
“I’ve never seen you like this before. Should I say it’s amusing, or that you remain as arrogant as ever—not a shred of humility to be found?”
“Think as you wish. If you believe that to be my nature, I’m afraid I have nothing to say in my defense.”
“Ah… is that so? It’s not that I dislike you?”
“I simply wish to reclaim what is mine. I’m not throwing a tantrum for something I desire—I’m merely making a just claim.”
Though Edwin appeared to be smiling, his jaw was clenched tight.
…Blake, you’re really scratching at him.
Say what you will, but I have nothing to say. Just be quiet and give me back my bear doll.
That was the gist of it.
Between the two of them glaring at each other, crackling electricity seemed to arc through the air.
Well, if I say this now, I might seem a bit irresponsible, but….
‘This feels like a romance novel.’
The original story is unfolding, but I’m a witch who doesn’t even appear in the source material.
Caught between a sweet, cotton-candy-like beautiful man and a dense, sharp-edged cold beauty.
I wish you two had done this romantic-novel scenario when I was in my true form.
Trapped between such rare beauties—and yet I’m stuck as a bear doll.
It was enough to make me feel utterly wronged.
Unaware of my darkening expression, Edwin spoke again.
“How ridiculous. Fighting over a bear doll, not even a woman. It’s a scene that would be embarrassing if anyone saw it.”
“That’s fine. To anyone watching, it would simply be a scene of me reclaiming what is mine.”
Look at that.
My capable quick-charger—no, my contractor—was firing back point by point.
This was the man who used to let misunderstandings pile up without bothering to clarify!
Everyone, witness Blake not backing down even once!
It seemed only I was moved by this, but well, what did it matter.
“…Fine, that’s enough.”
Edwin, unable to push further, gave a light shrug and tossed me to Blake.
“I can’t afford to make an enemy of the Leblanc Duchy over a mere bear doll like this.”
“….”
“I should be going. It was a pleasant time, Prince. Ophelia, shall we?”
With that, he extended his hand politely toward Ophelia, who had been waiting silently.
Ophelia turned, grasping her fluttering, thin veil-like dress, and curtsied.
Her necklace jangled loudly as she bowed her head—a long piece adorned with a shell-shaped stone and several gemstones woven together.
As Ophelia gently placed her hand over Edwin’s, she glanced at Blake and me nestled in his arms.
My pale green eyes met hers.
In that instant, I felt an intense wave of rejection.
‘…What?’
A sensation of goosebumps erupted across my entire body.
It was the same revulsion and chilling dread I felt when encountering Demon Beasts—blood surging through my veins.
I wondered if it was the flow of mana, but I sensed no mana whatsoever around her.
An instinct told me I needed to investigate.
It was impulsive yet intensely compelling.
Every cell in my body was flashing brilliantly toward Ophelia, illuminating with recognition.
There was definitely something there.
Just then, her ashen eyes turned away from me, and she surveyed the Mansion once more before turning her head.
In that instant, I chanted a spell.
‘…Tracker!’
Mana rippled and gathered, and a transparent thread adhered cleanly to the sole of her shoe.
For a moment, Ophelia seemed to pause, but it was fleeting.
Her white veil fluttered gracefully as she vanished into the carriage.
After the two departed, Ronald and the servants returned to their duties.
Blake and I stood alone in the center of the entrance hall.
That spell should have worked perfectly.
The Tracker spell was a pursuit magic that followed the target’s movements.
There were advanced versions that could track movements down to the second, but with my current mana reserves, this was the best I could manage.
‘With tracking magic of that caliber, I should at least be able to determine where she’s going.’
When we met again, I could collect it then, so until that moment, I could only hope it remained undetected and stayed attached.
As I stared at the spot where the two had vanished, Blake lowered his head to look at me.
Then he gently brushed the top of my head with light taps, as if dusting something off.
Afterward, he drew me securely into the crook of his right arm.
“Let’s go.”
Walking back to the Bedroom, his embrace was profoundly comforting.
Earlier, he wouldn’t even speak to me after seeing my true form.
It seemed he’d come around.
I felt relieved. I was worried that my real appearance would feel unfamiliar to him, and he’d distance himself.
“You spoke well back there. I was impressed—standing before the Crown Prince and speaking your mind so confidently.”
“How old do you think I am… No, never mind.”
“How old? I’d say roughly your twenties, right? Wait… now that I think about it, how old are you exactly?”
“I knew this would happen.”
I felt a surge of indignation reading the contempt in the way he shook his head.
“You have to tell me so I know! And you—do you even know how old I am?”
“300 years old.”
“Exactly.”
You know perfectly well.
Recalling a vague memory from our first meeting, I asked again from where I lay on the bed.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
Good heavens. Twenty-eight years old.
“Wow. You really are young! You’re still just a babe, aren’t you?”
“….”
He pulled off his dress uniform necktie and fixed me with an exasperated gaze, his eyes narrowing in disbelief.
He tossed the necktie onto the sofa with a soft thud and approached me, rolling up his sleeves.
I blinked as I scurried into the blankets on my short legs, fluttering about.
“What, what is it?”
“In human form, you don’t exactly look three hundred years old either.”
“Thank you. I have a youthful appearance.”
“…You know that’s actually irritating?”
And yet, he settled himself right beside me, leaning against the headboard of the bed.
The sight of him complaining while refusing to leave made me laugh without thinking.
Perhaps I was laughing because I understood that Blake Leblanc’s exterior and interior were entirely different.
I closed my eyes gently and whispered to him as he settled the lingering chaos from the commotion.
“Thank you for protecting me from the Crown Prince.”
“….”
Though he said nothing, I could discern what his silence meant.
***
Inside the carriage returning to the Royal Palace.
The carriage carrying Edwin and Ophelia rolled forward at a leisurely pace.
Edwin stared out the window, lost in thought, listening only to the rhythmic clip-clop of hoofbeats.
‘That bear doll was certainly ordinary.’
More than ordinary—it was somewhat worn. It was not the sort of thing noble children would possess.
Yet it was even less the sort of thing Blake Leblanc, the Empire’s greatest swordmaster and heir to a cursed family, would own.
So why was Blake Leblanc so fixated on that bear doll?
“…It’s curious, that’s all.”
The article he’d seen in the newspaper was dismissed as mad nonsense woven from the usual vicious rumors about Blake Leblanc.
Some young nobles had gossiped about actually witnessing it, but Edwin couldn’t believe it until he saw it himself.
Of course, seeing it directly was far more shocking.
Ophelia, who had been silent throughout, seemed to hear his murmuring and spoke gently with a slight smile.
“What did you find so curious?”
“Nothing much. Simply the pleasure of confirming rumors people spread with my own eyes.”
“Ah, so the bear doll intrigued you. It was certainly unique. Of course, the Leblanc Family is always such an interesting and peculiar place.”
Ophelia did not mention that there was something far more unique than that.
A bright and pure aura softly enveloping the Mansion.
She wondered if it was mana, but that couldn’t be. She confirmed regularly that the Leblanc Family had never produced an ‘ability user’.
This time, too, there was no mana replenishment ability user.
Had such an ability existed, she would have sensed it without fail.
A mana replenishment ability could be felt charging even from a distance.
Unless there’s another activation condition….
‘Wait. Another activation condition?’
Ophelia paused, but then tilted her head in confusion.
Though she had long collected information about those with the ability to replenish magical power, she had never heard of any other activation conditions.
Then what was that aura from earlier?
Edwin asked quietly as Ophelia gazed toward the darkening Mansion in the distance.
“Now that I think about it, why do you take such keen interest in the Leblanc Family, Ophelia? It seems you hold a particular attachment to them compared to other noble houses.”
It was common knowledge that Ophelia had periodically visited the Leblanc Family throughout the years, gracing them with her presence.
Some speculated that Ophelia, the Empire’s guardian, maintained close ties with the Empire’s greatest swordsmanship house to preserve the realm’s peace.
‘But is that truly the case?’
Ophelia never engaged in meaningless endeavors.
Edwin was curious about her true intentions—whether it was genuine interest or suspicion.
“It was merely a visit for prophecy. Since it concerned the Leblanc Family, I thought it would be worthwhile to share it with them.”
Observing Ophelia’s unblemished white hands folded neatly upon her lap, Edwin offered a thin smile.
No matter how many times he saw her, this remarkable woman remained as enigmatic as the years she had lived through. Ophelia was a rather difficult person to contend with.
Even the Royal Family could not match her—she was an absolute prophetess who could divine the very fate of the Empire.
“I see. Ophelia truly is extraordinary. You even look after the prideful Leblanc Family, who pay no heed to prophecies, until the very end.”
Ophelia offered a faint smile instead of a reply.

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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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