MPBAGS Chapter 18

"Jim. Please, at least eat something. You've been holed up in your room for three days - what on earth are you doing?"

I could hear someone knocking on the door and calling out to me earnestly, but I didn't pay much attention. Who was knocking on the door right now? My wife, or my mother perhaps.

Had I even gotten married? Actually, it didn't matter who it was.

What mattered most right now was fulfilling my given mission. I dipped my brush in paint and drew a line. I captured flames on a canvas that seemed to be swirling with ash. I depicted a holy angel that had been burned completely black, leaving only a body behind.

I was a painter who made a living through art. When I first debuted, I was hailed as a genius newcomer, but I quickly lost my fame and fell from grace when my work didn't suit the nobles' tastes. Now I had become a burden living off my wife. I had to complete a masterpiece as soon as possible.

Hoping to find some inspiration, I was wandering around when I discovered a strange fire. The sun-like flames had died down, and only a few knights remained while all the other knights had withdrawn.

Just when people were losing interest, someone who peered inside screamed, "I saw an angel!"

The remaining knights couldn't control the crowd. Thanks to that, it wasn't difficult to check inside. And the moment I discovered an angel in the completely burned building, just as someone had said, I could think of nothing but painting that scene.

I went straight home and picked up my brush.

I didn't even sketch. I was consumed only with the thought that I had to complete the painting before the memory faded. I had no appetite. It would have been fine if I wasted away and died.

I don't know how many days have passed. Has it been a week? Maybe a month? Or perhaps only two hours have gone by.

I was trying to finish the painting, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Was it that my painting couldn't capture that scene? How pathetic.

Anxious, I picked at the hangnails on my fingertips until they bled. As I bit my fingers with my mouth, I tasted the metallic scent of blood. And a strange impulse drove me forward.

My hands - my hands must paint. I took a painting knife and stabbed my thigh.

Along with sharp pain, drops of blood stained my pants. I dipped my brush in the blood seeping from my thigh and painted again.

The angel's halo was now perfect.

I'm done!

I was proudly examining the densely filled paper when Kanna suddenly popped up from behind me.

"Miss, what did you write? I can't read it."

"It's nothing."

Eek! Oh my, what a shock. I thought my heart was going to drop. I was so focused that I didn't even notice Kanna looking at the paper from behind me.

Thank goodness I wrote it in Korean, or I would have almost been caught. I absolutely cannot let anyone find out about this, especially not the female lead Kanna.

I casually covered the paper. This is my carefully devised villainess escape plan. I completed it after much deliberation about how I should behave going forward to extend my life, deducing as much as possible from the original work.

It took me a whole two days.

"Kanna, don't be rude to the young lady."

"It's okay, sister. The miss likes me."

Henna, who had returned with meals for two people, scolded Kanna who was clinging to me.

Rather than going down to the dining room and eating uncomfortably alone, I've been eating together with Kanna in the room to get closer to her since we started living together.

"It would be nice if sister ate with us too."

"I'm more comfortable in the dining room, so it's fine."

I asked Henna to eat together too, but she seemed uncomfortable or got indigestion, so we agreed that just Kanna and I would eat together.

"That was delicious."

I quickly finished eating and sipped tea to cleanse my palate.

Kanna has a good appetite, so when eating together, food seems to go down smoothly.

To think she brings back an appetite I never had... Is this the power of a romance novel heroine? She'd probably be incredibly successful doing eating broadcasts in reality.

Wait, then are people who became popular through eating broadcasts romance novel heroines? I was developing an absurd logic using deductive reasoning when Henna called me.

"Young lady, a letter has arrived."

What letter? According to what I know, Evangeline was sickly and had no friends. Who would send one?

"It seems to be from that knight captain we met before."

Knight captain? What! A letter from our male lead? I hurriedly opened the envelope. Written in handwriting as gorgeous as his face, the letter's content was roughly this:

There was a problem with the Donau incident from before, so I need to come and hear the detailed story. 

When I explained the letter's contents, Kanna frowned.

"We gave our full statement back then, so why now?"

About a week had passed since Donau's kidnapping incident.

Kanna seemed displeased with Gabriel coming so late, but I could understand it. With the villainess and heroine living together in the Rohanson estate, even if the male lead wanted to ignore it, he couldn't!

This world seems to have some kind of original story's compelling force, so even if he didn't want to come, he'd have no choice but to visit. He's likely worried that something terrible might happen to the heroine because of me, the villainess.

And this situation was predicted in the paper I worked so hard to organize.

The male lead is probably coming with the premise that I instigated Donau to kidnap Kanna! During this time, he probably did background research on such evidence and Evangeline's evil reputation.

So what I need to do here is show the male lead that I'm very close to Kanna. And let's strongly show the message that I support their love.

"Young lady, Sir Gabriel has arrived."