MPBAGS Chapter 15

The footsteps that had been pacing beyond the door whetting his appetite finally disappeared after a long while.

Andras—who'd been given the ridiculous name Jelly by Evangeline—leaned his back against the door, gasping for breath. With each violent coughing fit, he vomited intestines and flesh in terrible agony. Blood flowing from eyes, nose, and mouth had already turned his face into a mess.

The wounds from being hit by the cat had healed within a few hours, but his insides were completely destroyed by the holy water Evangeline had fed him.

His tongue couldn't withstand the water it held and burned away, his esophagus melted, and his flesh felt like it was being seared. Perhaps because it was the sun god's holy water, it felt similar to when he'd been burned at the stake before.

The best Andras could do was repair his body as it rapidly corroded. If he hadn't devoured several people before coming here, his body would have died unable to keep up with the speed of destruction.

Damn cat bastard. He'd only teased him about suddenly playing pet when it didn't suit him, and he didn't expect such fury in response.

And to give Evangeline holy water at that. If it were Flauros, he could at least avoid it, but there was no escaping Evangeline's grasp.

She hadn't even gripped tightly, yet instinct made his body freeze rigid, telling him not to move. So even as the holy water was thrust at him, he could only docilely drink the poison.

The thing that had entered Evangeline Rohanson's body was quite peculiar.

It seemed to act human to match the skin it wore, yet actually made no attempt to hide its strangeness at all.

Because it was a being beyond comprehension, just looking at it made breathing difficult and frightening. Making Andras submit and turning Flauros into a fawning cat—was that possible for anything but a god? Yet that thing could never be a god.

Whoever summoned it had called forth something quite impressive indeed.

After centuries together, Flauros apparently had no interest whether Andras bled or vomited flesh. Perversely resentful, Andras stubbornly stayed by the door when told to go outside.

After not letting him sit on Evangeline's sofa saying he reeked of blood, that cat bastard was now lying there comfortable as he pleased.

"Be quiet."

As if that weren't enough, he actually got angry at Andras for moaning in pain, calling it noisy. He's the one who brought the holy water in the first place. About to die because of him, yet that heartless bastard only worried about Evangeline hearing sounds and having her sleep disturbed.

Flauros stripped of his cat guise was—if one dared judge by appearance alone—so exquisite you'd mistake an angel for descending. His curly golden hair that seemed ready to melt in sunlight and sugar-powder skin were beautiful even to Andras's fastidious eye.

If there was one flaw, it was the messily embroidered collar. Though he himself seemed quite fond of it.

Flauros rubbed his face against Evangeline's hand as if he really were a cat. A seemingly affectionate sight. It would've been better without the hundreds of thousands of eyes blooming like mold on the surrounding ceiling and floor.

The eyes sprouting everywhere made this place look to Andras not like a room but like the innards of a living creature. No wonder the cat's scent had wafted strongly from far away.

Those eyes gazed only at Evangeline. That she tolerated this disgusting spectacle suggested Evangeline quite cherished Flauros as well.

Then, all the eyes turned at once to look at Andras. No—beyond the door? As he wiped his blood-stained mouth, the door opened very quietly. Through the small gap, yellow eyes appeared.

"Sir Jelly. It's too noisy for me to sleep."

The voice from beyond the door was Kanna's.

Kanna surveyed the inside of the room, then lowered her volume upon seeing Evangeline sleeping. As if she didn't want to wake Evangeline, she spoke in a very small whisper.

The sounds of Andras gasping in pain had carried very clearly to the room directly below. Unable to bear the noise between floors, Kanna had spent some time outside, but when she returned the crying sounds still continued, so she'd come all the way to Evangeline's room.

Kanna couldn't bring herself to enter the lady's room without permission and expressed her complaint from beyond the door.

"My sister is scared, so could you please be quiet?"

The Rohanson estate at night echoed sounds particularly loudly. Henna was covering her ears against the endless moaning. While worrying 'what if my voice sounds like crying,' she'd repeatedly asked Kanna to talk to her from time to time.

Andras felt conflicted about now being ignored even by a human, then reminded himself that Kanna was a human Evangeline particularly cherished and mustered his patience.

As expected of someone chosen by Evangeline Rohanson, she wasn't quite sane either. She seemed to have sight and walked around perfectly fine—that alone showed nerves of steel—and now she's telling someone vomiting blood to be quiet. That's the second time today he'd heard such words, after Flauros.

At this point, he felt like some kind of criminal whose only crime was suffering too loudly.

Ah... sleep paralysis. Why are there ghosts in a romance fantasy world? I didn't feel like I'd slept properly after hearing a ghost sobbing by the door all night. From tossing and turning all night, I woke up late again today.

Actually, today isn't the only day I've woken late. I've gotten lazy since being possessed and always wake up when the shadows are shortest. Wondering about the time, I reached for my phone, then remembered it didn't exist and sat up to check the desk clock before lying back down.

I was doubting whether I was still in a dream when I felt the warmth of the cat by my pillow and recognized reality. But it still doesn't have the weight of reality. Not a dream, but just a world made of words, so there's no real difference.

Yeah. Let's not think too deeply. I'll get homesick at this rate. It's not like there's a way to return anyway.

After tossing and turning for a while, I couldn't fall back asleep so I just got up.

"Pudding, good morning."

"Did you sleep well?"

I greeted Pudding but got an answer from the wrong place. I definitely told him to sleep on the sofa, but Jelly had somehow crawled onto the bed and was wagging his tail beside me.

"Get down right now."

"Why do you only give him special treatment?"

Jelly threw a tantrum about why the treatment differed between him and Pudding, saying he wanted to sleep on the bed too. Well, obviously Pudding gets that because he's a child.

Yesterday I asked Jelly if Pudding could also transform into a person, and got the answer 'you didn't know that?' I felt embarrassed for having doted on Pudding all this time thinking he was just a cat, so I briefly avoided him out of awkwardness, but Pudding was so hurt that I decided to be friends again. Though I can't do things like butt pats like before.

But unlike Jelly, Pudding doesn't speak human words very well, so fortunately he seems to be a fairly young beastperson. I'm really relieved I wasn't patting a grown man's bottom.

"Get along with each other."

I awakened in this body without any warning, so I'm guessing I'll similarly disappear suddenly. When I leave, Pudding will lose his caretaker, which made me feel sorry, but at least it's fortunate he's a beastperson. Since there's Jelly, who's also a beastperson, he'll take good care of him, right?

From spending one day together, Jelly really didn't seem like a male lead no matter how I looked at it. I'd suspected because he's handsome, but rather than a male lead, generously speaking... a sub-male lead? Actually, he's just like a pet. Is saying that also species discrimination? Am I a species discriminator…

—Knock knock

As I was despairing, there was a knocking sound.

"My lady. It's Kanna."

"Come in."

The door opened and reddish curls similar to the cherry blossoms in the garden filled my vision.

I saw the optical illusion of petals fluttering like you'd see on a romance fantasy cover. It's like my wounded heart is being healed. Is this romance fantasy female lead quality?

"My lady. Look at this!"

Kanna was proudly wearing the name tag I'd embroidered on her clothes. Even though I made it, it's truly awful. Isn't that hieroglyphics? That Kanna likes even something like that warms my heart.

As I sat chatting with Kanna, Henna brought food. Even though Jelly started freeloading, only Kanna and I eat meals together. Jelly left saying he'd go eat, taking Pudding along.

"I hope he doesn't come back if possible."

Kanna spoke quietly watching Jelly's back as he departed like an idle vagrant.

Kanna had been wary of Gabriel, but she seemed to just dislike Jelly. At first when I thought Jelly was a wolf, she seemed to find him fairly cute, but the moment he transformed into a person, her eyes turned hostile. It seems Kanna and Jelly got off on the wrong foot because I discovered Jelly first.

"Still no word from Sir Gabriel."

"Right."

I'd thought he'd handle it fine since he's the male lead, but I'm somehow anxious.

Hurry up and take down that painting and give me my innocence! What, you think the male lead might fail even without any word? Not at all! That's ridiculous. How capable are romance fantasy male leads!

Romance fantasy male leads can easily recapture a female lead who fled with full force even without attaching GPS to her, condemn and execute a duke's daughter shaking the empire's power with a single word, and anyway, if they're not capable then they're not male leads.

Crown princes or dukes are fine being slightly less capable since they have money and power, but Gabriel is a knight commander, right? Then without ability, he's out. There's a reason knights are mostly sub-male leads.

Huh?

Whoa. Come to think of it, Gabriel could be a sub-male lead too!

The crown prince of this other world is middle-aged and there's no grand duke, so I just assumed he was the male lead based on looks alone, but thinking about it, knights were more famous as sub-male leads.

Since I've been a shut-in hermit doing nothing but staying home since possessing this body, maybe I just haven't met the male lead yet.

Gabriel and Kanna already seem to have fallen in love, so why am I analyzing this now? That's because…