MPBAGS Chapter 26

I thought Daisy must be a sub-female lead or the female lead's helper or best friend since she had backstory with Jelly, but seeing Kanna dislike her suggested I'd guessed wrong.

Then there was only one answer, wasn't there? When I possessed the original villainess Evangeline, the genre changed to a villainess-possession story. And since Kanna, the original female lead, adores me, she wouldn't interfere with my romance route. So they'd inserted a supporting antagonist role! To serve as a romantic obstacle that made the romance more heartrending!

That made perfect sense. I'd wondered why a female character with random past connections suddenly appeared. Daisy was a nun now, right? She'd become a saint later. A saint versus a villainess? Perfect opposing forces.

So from now on, Daisy would appear periodically in front of Gabriel and Jelly, working to sabotage my relationship with them.

I'd love to cheer them on to love freely, but Evangeline's the villainess, right? In romance fantasy, when the villainess can't receive love, she spirals downward—that's the natural order, so I have no choice. Sorry Gabriel, I'm not stringing you along because I want to.

"Let's sit first."

Gabriel, who was scheduled to be thoroughly strung along enthusiastically going forward, pulled out my chair with good manners, unaware of his fate.

"I asked Uriel to guide the young lady—why did you come along? Where's Uriel?"

"Uriel's in the infirmary. Not because he's hurt, but Michel is a bit..."

"Michel?"

"It's a long story to explain..."

Raphaela began explaining the situation to Gabriel. That he'd been seeing Daisy off when he met us and Uriel. That afterward they'd heard voices and rushed over to find the burning painting.

Hearing that much, Gabriel swallowed hard.

"The painting burned..."

"Yes. I don't know what caused it to ignite. We'll need to hear from the people who were there."

Raphaela shrugged. The cause of ignition? The fire didn't just start by itself—one of the people there must have set it... Would the culprit honestly confess? Wasn't it more likely they'd clam up?

Well, even if they didn't speak, there'd been plenty of witnesses, so the culprit would be revealed eventually.

"Do you have any idea what might have happened, Lady Rohanson?"

When Gabriel asked, I hesitated before answering directly. Would they accuse me of suspecting innocent people if I said this? But the painting couldn't have spontaneously combusted—someone set the fire. Honestly, even Raphaela and Michel were a bit suspicious. I'd arrived late and seen Michel already burning.

"Who knows."

So I just answered vaguely and moved on. Gabriel showed little reaction, as if this was the right approach after all.

Raphaela continued explaining. How Michel, locked in a room, had suddenly appeared and been engulfed in flames. How I'd poured holy water to extinguish the blaze.

This part was news to me too. Michel had just jumped into a fire? Was he insane? Why would he leap in there? No wonder people had just watched him burn!

Gabriel didn't bat an eye even hearing about that bizarre act. Just like a romance fantasy male lead who's only warm to his woman. If only he'd been born in the North, he'd be even more perfect.

"Thank you for saving Michel."

Gabriel bowed his head. Also just like a righteous knight male lead who took good care of his subordinates.

Ah, what a relief. I'd saved him out of conscience, but thanks to that I felt like I'd stacked up a favorability point with Gabriel. This should make up for at least one of Evangeline's past misdeeds.

"Still, fortunate that Bishop Jabaniya discovered it."

"Is it...?"

"The bishop shares our position."

"I suppose so. At least he'll help cover up the incident."

As expected of a male lead. Even though Gabriel hadn't been at the scene, he explained to me based only on what he'd heard from Raphaela how things would likely proceed.

The traditionalist bishop had been on the side disliking Donau's painting, so he'd help cover up the burning. There'd be heated debate as before, but since the painting was already destroyed, it would be much easier.

"Everything we've investigated to remove the painting will also help."

Was he appealing that he hadn't been idle either, that he'd been preparing to take my side? Good, now was the moment to react and maintain those romantic options.

"Is that so? I'm curious what efforts you made."

Was that enough? At least I had the villainess reputation—I couldn't suddenly possess a sunshine female lead and go 'Wow, you worked hard for me! Evangeline is so moved!' But this alone was too brief, so I added more.

"You called me here because a witness appeared, didn't you?"

Right. Daisy had just come and testified about something. Though she probably didn't just hear testimony—she'd have heard slander about me too.

Wait... should I test this?

"So what did you hear?"

"Commander!"

As expected, a perceptive aide. Raphaela seemed to realize his superior had fallen into romantic trials and was trying to give a hint. When I shot him a glare, Raphaela flinched and shut his mouth.

"I asked you, Sir."

I turned back to Gabriel. Beneath jet-black hair, exceptionally clear blue eyes appeared. The person seemed like a blue planet floating in space, composed only of sea and sky with no ground to stand on. When I was reflected in those eyes, I somehow felt like the first to leave footprints on that planet, dirtying the star.

"What did Daisy tell you?"

Gabriel didn't avoid my gaze. I engaged in the staring contest while admiring Gabriel's face. Wow, I'd almost been entranced for a moment. As expected of a romance fantasy male lead—his face was truly exceptional. Jelly was handsome too, but as a second male lead he couldn't beat Gabriel's looks.

"She must have talked about me."

"I wonder. I didn't hear a word about you."

Huh? A lie. He'd said Daisy spoke. Seeing my disbelief, Gabriel handed me a document.

"This is the statement from the witness who just left."

It seemed to be the paper organizing Daisy's testimony. The first page summarized something about a convent.

That the convent director had summoned something ominous using a summoning circle identical to the one in the temple painting, gained abilities, and committed evil acts with that power.

What! Wait, how far did my summoning circle get sold!

And she succeeded in summoning too! What kind of spirit did she summon! Donau had summoned a fire spirit, so was the convent director the same type?

Why am I the only one without a spirit! This is so unfair! She summoned a spirit and went around doing all kinds of bad things. I wouldn't do that...

I don't need a werewolf! Swap it for a small cute spirit! And how did she know how to summon! Why am I the only one who doesn't know!

Wait, this... wasn't the painting burning also connected to this? This convent director person must've wanted to monopolize the summoning circle. Since it was a fire spirit, they could whoosh from a distance! Evil bastard... they used my summoning circle freely. Well, technically it was Evangeline's mother's, but still.

"I'd really like to meet this priest."

If I met them, I'd grab them by the collar and shake them down thoroughly. I vowed firmly.

Oh wait, that wasn't the important part. I'd gotten distracted by the spirit obsession and almost forgot my real purpose. I turned another page. Was this the statement about me?

Evangeline Rohanson... The moment I read that far, my vision distorted. It began fracturing like glass, then the letters started breaking apart. A single character split into dozens of pieces then mixed together, making reading impossible. Of all times, the translator was glitching now...?

□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□.

□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□.

What the hell is this! Why did I revert to illiteracy at this exact moment!

"I heard nothing."

Gabriel looked utterly righteous, as if daring me to challenge him.

Gabriel wouldn't know my translator had glitched right now. So was he acting like that because he was truly being honest? I'd seen Evangeline's name written there... had it been nothing important?

But how could that be! Daisy must have said something. This was one of two things: either Daisy had greatly downplayed my misdeeds, or Gabriel was so smitten with the villainess he couldn't think straight.

"You may take it."

Wasn't it the latter? I almost flinched at Gabriel's words. I'd been wondering if there was a way to read it later when the translator worked again—had he read my mind? Was this because he was the male lead...?

I contentedly tore off the page and handed it to Kanna. Kanna, who'd been glaring daggers at the paper, reluctantly tucked it inside her clothes. Why had she been glaring...? Could Kanna also be illiterate?

I'd assumed the female lead could obviously read, but thinking about it, this was a somewhat harsh romance fantasy world. Maybe they'd deliberately made her illiterate so they could work the female lead harder. I couldn't rely only on the translator anymore. We should go home and learn to read together...

"Are you satisfied with this?"

Yeah, of course. I'd have been bothered if I'd left it behind, but I was so pleased he'd told me to take it. I could read it later when the translator was fixed.

"That's enough."

"I called you here to show you that. Didn't I tell you before? That I wanted to help you."

Was he appealing that he'd never intended to hide it from me? I was supposed to be stringing him along, but I felt like I was being romanced instead. He certainly had a silver tongue. As I was admiring the romance fantasy male lead's capabilities, a knock sounded.

Knock knock.

"Come in."

"Commander. Bishop Jabaniya sent someone with a message."

"He said he's delivered Lady Rohanson's holy water well to her escort. And he'd like to see you briefly."

"Is that so? All right, I'll go out."

"Yes."

Seemed Jelly had finished the errand well. He'd probably counted out my holy water carefully. I should check the numbers later when I got back.

So, time to go?