Chapter 25

13. — The Original Novel Has Begun (3)

Translated by Nabi

This is bad… 

Cain’s face, the male lead, must have been more harmful than a caramel you eat before bed to Adelia Blaise, who should never fall for him.

“Adelia?”

“Ah, that, I… I’m fine.”

He never asked if I was okay, though my mouth came up with an answer that I was fine.

His low voice was fine, and his warm embrace, which had already drifted away, was fine, too. The sound of his heart tickling in my ear was fine, and even at this moment, even his gaze that was clinging to the side of my face was fine as well…

…No, it had to be okay.

“You don’t look all right.”

“No, I’m perfectly fine. Comple—”

With a very hot face, I waved my hand, saying I was okay, but his forehead suddenly touched mine. Surprised by the unexpected contact on my forehead and the narrowed distance, my eyes widened in a circle.

Meanwhile, he glanced down at me and spoke.

“It looks like there’s something going on, though?”

“….”

“Is it because of me?”

A treacherous person…

No, is he a nine-tailed fox that bewitches people?

Seeing Cain smiling slyly, I immediately realized the situation I was in. The fact that if I continue to be with him like this, there is a 100% chance that I will fall for him.

“Let’s, let’s get this over with quickly! We didn’t come here to play…”

“There is no place for humans in this town!”

At that moment, I turned back to the loud voice coming from behind. In the meantime, I noticed that I was steadily hiding behind Cain, and realized what was going on.

Dog shapeshifters…?

It was the young dog shapeshifters who were focusing and staring at this side with all of their nerves.

“Get out of here! Get out of this town!”

Then, a small stone flew from the boy along with the sharp words. I shut my eyes tightly at the stone flying straight towards my forehead. However, there was no pain. When I opened my eyes to see what had happened, it seemed that Cain had reached out and caught the stone that was flying toward my forehead.

“This is too much to be considered a joke.”

The stone that Cain had caught fell to the floor. As his eyes were as cold as his frozen voice, it seemed as if tears were about to fall from the little girl’s big eyes at any moment.

…Was, was this not a bit dangerous?

Seeing that, I hurriedly jumped forward at the sight of Cain, who was looking at the children as though he was ready to kill them.

“You… Do you know whom you’re throwing stones at now?!”

“Who cares! What, is he an emperor?”

Even though I intervened between Cain and the children, worrying that he might be angry with them, the boy’s screaming voice was more sarcastic than grateful. Nonetheless, I felt absurd at the sight of him acting as if he had nothing to do with the emperor. Even so, the emperor, however, would be merciful to the people of the empire.

Cain, this man is—!

“This man is…!”

I abruptly stopped the words I was about to spit in a fit of emotion. Nonetheless, could I reveal Cain’s identity here? If this was really the first episode of the novel, should he not be in a position to undertake an investigation in this town…?

“Who is this person?”

“S, so this person…!”

I sneaked a glance at him at the confusion that got entangled in my head. Cain’s eyes, which had been cold until a while ago, suddenly became interested as if he was curious as to what I was going to say.

“This is so pathetic. You forgot who he was, didn’t you?”

“…What, pathetic?”

“Or, are you stupid? You don’t even know who you’re hanging out with…”

“He’s a very scary person!”

“…What?”

“He’s a very scary person! So, if there’s even a scar from his head to toe, you’ll be brought to trial, and every single strand of your hair will be plucked and eaten!”

In the end, I fell for the provocation from a boy who was shorter than my waist and gushed out in anger. As though startled by my sudden shout, I came to my senses as I saw the eyes filled with tears of the children.

…Wha, what have I done now?

When I glanced at the children with a bewildered face, I could hear a shallow laugh behind my back.

“The Young Lady is more powerful than most men.”

“….”

“I almost fell for you, really.”

Unable to erase his laughter, I awkwardly raised the corners of my lips as he gazed at me.

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…Oh, why did I do that? I felt sorry for the fact that I was angry and intimidated a child who seemed to be only about seven years old.

While I was covering my face and choosing a word to say, I could feel a careful hand pulling my sleeve.

“It, it’s because my brother hates humans. The villagers who went to the Winder mansion have never returned.”

Cain’s eyes and mine met for a moment at the words of the little girl who was talking with tears in her eyes. The child continued cautiously as she saw me looking at Cain.

“We were wrong. Please, forgive us.”

Attentively, I asked, making eye contact with the girl who was sniffing.

“No, I’m sorry. I got angry, too. By the way, can you tell me more about that?”