MPBGS 10

Chapter : 10

“What’s with the stationery? Evangeline is frail and has no friends. Who would be sending her a letter?”

“I think it’s from the knight commander we saw before.”

The knight commander? What! A letter from our male lead? I hurriedly opened the envelope. The content, written in a handwriting as flamboyant as his face, was roughly as follows:

There had been an incident with Donau before, and he wanted me to come and hear the full story in person.

When I explained the letter to Kanna, she frowned.

“I already testified back then… why now?”

About a week had passed since the Donau kidnapping incident.

Kanna seemed displeased that Gabriel would come late, but I could understand. With the villainess and the heroine both at the Rohanson mansion, even if the male lead wanted to ignore it, he couldn’t! This world seemed to have the same kind of narrative force as the original story—so even if he didn’t want to come, he’d be worried that the heroine might be harmed by me, the villainess, and so he’d have no choice but to show up.

And the situation had been predicted in the papers I had carefully organized. The male lead must be coming under the assumption that I orchestrated Donau’s actions to kidnap Kanna! Until now, he’s probably been investigating evidence like this, or checking Evangeline’s infamous reputation.

So, all I had to do now was show the male lead that I was on very friendly terms with Kanna. And I could make it clear that I supported their love.

“Miss, Lord Gabriel has arrived.”

The day after sending a reply saying he was always welcome, the male lead came.

‘He’s impressively proactive.’

I was glad I had already told the butler to guide any guests to the sitting room. Worrying that he might have waited long, I just quickly brushed my hair and went downstairs. If a villainess bothers to dress up politely, he’d probably just scoff, “Ha! Trying to look good for me?”

When I entered the sitting room, the male lead was leisurely drinking tea. It was my first time here, so it felt a bit awkward. He looked more comfortable than I did, as if it were his own home. This is a total reversal…

I lightly greeted him with my eyes and sat across from him. Hena poured tea for me too.

“It’s nice to see you again.”

“Long time no see, Lord Gabriel.”

Wow. Seeing him again in the light, he looks even more handsome. Part of me wanted to gush, “I’m happy to see you again. You’re still as handsome as ever, my lord,” but I restrained myself. No chit-chat. I couldn’t look like I was fawning over him.

“So… has a problem arisen?”

I sipped my tea, showing him that I had no interest.

“As for the details of the incident, everything was already explained before. There shouldn’t be anything unusual.”

I shouted internally, I know you came to see Kanna!

Of course, Kanna was waiting in her room. I had wanted her to come down with me, but Pudding seemed eager to play with Kanna, so I told her to come down when called. Gabriel should’ve timed his arrival better with Pudding’s walk!

“If you’re worried about Kanna’s condition, I can call her here.”

I had naturally set the groundwork. Wow, where can one find such a considerate person?

“Oh, the one who was kidnapped back then? I don’t think she was seriously hurt.”

Hey! Are you really the male lead? Seriously, not hurt? Every time Hena and I saw Kanna’s neck wound, we were miserable.

Originally, we planned to heal her with holy water, but Kanna wanted to leave her neck wound as it was, so we tearfully complied.

“The reason I came is that I want to hear Miss Rohanson’s opinion.”

Me? Yeah, it’s all my fault. I had stolen the first meeting between the male lead and the heroine. If he had seen Kanna tightly bound back then, he wouldn’t have been so indifferent.

But at that time, I didn’t even know Kanna was the heroine! Seeing a girl tied up right in front of me, how could I just leave her? I’m not some inhumane monster!

“I haven’t processed Donau Blue’s corpse yet.”

“Still?”

From what Kanna told me before, temples usually don’t accept the bodies of criminals. They are typically burned or buried without funeral rites. During the reign of the Sun God, cremation was considered especially unusual, so most criminals were burned.

Kanna even joked that Donau had already been burned, so it would be easy to dispose of him. I remembered that well.

But shouldn’t it be easier since Donau had no relatives and was a criminal?

“Yes. Two days ago, the opinion started circulating that Donau Blue should be enshrined in the cathedral.”

Hena trembled while refilling my teacup. She bit her lip to hide it, but the idea of putting a criminal in the cathedral seemed to make her shiver. Kanna would have been hurt if she heard this. Good thing I left her in her room.

“Why did this opinion arise?”

“Because his death was strange.”

“What’s strange about it?”

“You must have seen the house that burned without spreading, only blazing on its own.”

Wasn’t that just the passive building ability of another world? I was amazed at how the fire didn’t spread… Seems even in this world, it was considered unusual. Lack of common sense shows when you don’t know the original story.

“Shortly after you left, the fire went out by itself before it could be extinguished. And we found Donau’s body…”

The male lead took out a paper. Since there was no camera, he drew it instead. Whoever drew it had terrible skills.

“I drew this to explain, so please forgive its poor quality.”

I lost my words. He writes so beautifully, yet his drawing is terrible? Even a kindergartener could do better.

I couldn’t tell him that his drawing was like something my toes could do, so I just laughed it off.

“This is the head, and this is the body.”

Might as well have drawn a stick figure. The limbs are boldly omitted. With just the head and body, I almost mistook it for a keyhole.

“And behind, there were wings and a halo-like char marks.”

Wings? I thought it was a pair of ears. Now it looked like angel wings curled in a circle.

“Doesn’t it look like an angel?”

No… with just your drawing, it looks like a moth.

“So, those who saw the body started saying that Donau Blue had received God’s blessing.”

Lies! Impossible. Why would Donau be blessed? He kidnapped Kanna, ran away, and tried to escape punishment through suicide.

And what? An angel? In my life, I’ve never seen a kidnapper treated as an angel instead of the heroine. Why would they call this moth an angel? Is any creature with wings an angel?

Ah, no, it wasn’t because of the drawing, but because of the corpse. The drawing’s impact was just too strong, I had forgotten.

But everyone who saw it were knights, right? Then the male lead, as commander, could control it easily. I asked him about that.

“But weren’t those who saw it just the Paralos knights?”

“It seems spectators took advantage of a lapse in security. Originally, it was just word-of-mouth, but an artist drew the scene and donated it to the temple, so rumors spread even there.”

His subordinates are negligent… Seems the male lead isn’t as imposing as I thought.

There were indeed many spectators of the fire.

But why would someone bother to see a burned corpse, and even draw it? They finished the drawing in just a few days and donated it too. Whoever that artist is, impressive drive.

And the drawing skill was apparently better than the male lead’s. If the temple had only seen his drawing, they would have mocked him for drawing a moth as an angel.

“Because of this, the higher-ups took an interest. Just as things were being wrapped up, an order came to re-investigate to ensure Donau Blue’s death wasn’t unjust.”

The Paralos Knights are paladins. The higher-ups must be from the temple. Who can command the knight commander? There’s no saint or holy figure, so probably a high priest.

Even in a fantasy world, cases are manipulated. The “re-investigation” probably meant rewriting the scenario so Donau looked like a victim.

“The problem is, if Donau Blue is considered blessed, it will appear that Miss Rohanson dishonorably manipulated his death.”

Exactly. We testified that Donau kidnapped Kanna and ran into the fire. If Donau is treated like an angel, I’d be accused of harming him and lying.

Is this also the narrative force of the original story? They want me, the villainess, to seem bad by using Donau, because it looks like I’m growing close to the heroine Kanna.

“Miss, I ask you: is everything you told me the truth?”

“The truth…?”

He seemed to view me as suspicious. Of course he did—he’s testing me. Kanna already made excuses, so I couldn’t change my story now.

“Conversely, do you think I lied?”

From what I asked Hena and Kanna, people in this world didn’t know spirits actually existed. They exist, but recognition is almost zero. If I said Donau summoned a spirit, they’d probably believe me!

But is this my last chance? Should I just say it? Ah! Damn it! If only spirits were active in this world, I would’ve said it!

The male lead didn’t answer immediately. He remained silent, then spoke slowly:

“I don’t believe Donau Blue received God’s blessing. But I am aware that his death was unusual.”

So, Donau may be dead, but he’s still a villain. That means I’m better than him? He’s on my side, so I can speak honestly.

If I speak honestly, will I just get betrayed and end up in prison? No, they might call me a witch for causing Donau’s death while he’s treated as an angel. Beheading or burning… Why is this escalating?! Didn’t I avoid death flags by befriending the heroine?

As I hesitated to speak honestly, he looked at me steadily.

“I want to help you.”