MPBAGS Chapter 28

"Ah... I had sleep paralysis. Why are there ghosts in a romance fantasy world? I don't think I slept properly all night listening to a ghost sobbing by the door. Because of my restless sleep, I woke up late again today.

Actually, it's not just today that I woke up late. I've become lazy since possessing this body, and I always wake up when the shadows are shortest. I reached for my phone to check the time, then realized it wasn't there, so I got up to check the desk clock and lay back down.

I wondered if I was still in a dream, but feeling the warmth of the cat by my pillow made me realize this was reality. But it still doesn't feel as heavy as reality. It's not a dream, but it's just a world made of letters, so it's not much different.

Yeah. Let's not think too deeply about this. I might get homesick. It's not like there's a way to go back anyway.

I tossed and turned for a while, then couldn't fall back asleep, so I just got up.

"Pudding, good morning."

"Did you sleep well?"

I greeted Pudding, but the answer came from somewhere else. I told him to sleep on the sofa, but somehow Jelly had crawled onto the bed and was wagging his tail beside me.

"Get down right now."

"Why do you give only that guy special treatment?"

Jelly threw a tantrum, asking why he and Pudding were treated differently and wanting to sleep on the bed. Well, of course it's because Pudding is a child.

Yesterday I asked Jelly if Pudding could also transform into a human, and he responded as if asking didn't I know that. I was embarrassed that I'd been doting on Pudding thinking he was just a cat, so I briefly avoided him and was distant, but Pudding was so hurt that I decided to be friendly again. Though I can't do things like patting his bottom like before.

But unlike Jelly, Pudding doesn't speak human language well, so fortunately he seems to be a young beastman. I'm really glad I wasn't patting a grown man's butt.

"Get along well."

Since I woke up in this body without any warning, I assume I'll disappear just as suddenly. I felt sorry thinking that when I return, Pudding will lose his caretaker, but it's somewhat fortunate that he's a beastman. Since there's Jelly, who's also a beastman, he'll take good care of him.

From spending a day together, Jelly definitely doesn't seem like the male lead. I suspected him because he's good-looking, but rather than the male lead, he's more like... a supporting male character at best? Actually, he's just like a pet. Is it species discrimination to say things like this? Am I a species discriminator...

*Knock knock*

While I was despairing, there was a knock at the door.

"Miss, it's Kanna."

"Come in."

The door opened and red curly hair similar to cherry blossoms in the garden filled my vision.

I saw an optical illusion of flower petals fluttering like you'd see on a romance fantasy cover. It felt like my wounded heart was being healed. Is this the quality of a romance fantasy heroine?

"Miss, look at this!"

Kanna was proudly wearing the name tag I'd embroidered on her clothes. I made it, but it's really awful. Isn't it hieroglyphics? My heart warmed that Kanna was happy even with something like that.

While I was sitting and chatting with Kanna, Henna brought food. Even though Jelly started freeloading, only Kanna and I eat meals together. Jelly said he'd go eat and left, leading Pudding away.

"I hope he doesn't come back again."

Watching Jelly's back as he disappeared like a vagrant, Kanna said quietly.

Kanna was wary of Gabriel too, but she seemed to just dislike Jelly. At first when I thought Jelly was a wolf, she seemed to find him cute, but as soon as he transformed into a human, her eyes turned fierce. It seems like Kanna and Jelly got off on the wrong foot because I discovered Jelly first.

"There's still no word from Sir Gabriel."

"Right."

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

Hurry up and take down the painting and give me innocence! You think the male lead might fail when there's no word? Not at all! That's nonsense. How capable are romance fantasy male leads!

Traditionally, romance fantasy male leads easily recapture heroines who fled with all their might without even putting GPS on them, turn ducal daughters who shake the empire's power into traitors with a single word and have them executed, and anyway, if they lack ability, they're not male leads.

Crown princes or dukes have money and power, so it's okay if they're a bit less capable, but Gabriel is a knight commander, right? Then if he lacks ability, he's out. There's a reason why most knights are supporting male characters.

Huh?

Whoa. Come to think of it, Gabriel could be a supporting male character too!

The crown prince of this other world is middle-aged and there's no grand duke, so I just looked at his face and was convinced he was the male lead, but thinking about it, knights are more famous as supporting male characters.

Since I've only lived a shut-in hermit life after possessing this body, I might not have met the male lead yet.

Gabriel and Kanna already seem to be falling in love, so why am I analyzing this now? That's because...

Of course, if Gabriel is a supporting male character, my guilt would be reduced. There's a difference between stealing Kanna's husband and a one-sided love interest who liked Kanna starting to like someone else. The feeling is different.

Pushing aside the uncomfortable feeling, I gave half-hearted responses to Kanna's chatter, and before I knew it, the topic had shifted to the painting.

"The painting?"

"Yes. I heard it was donated to the temple."

"Really? If it's a painting of Donau's death, I'd like to see it once."

Right? I'm curious about just how sacredly it was painted for people to call a corpse painting an angel or whatever.

"Want to go see it? I can't go though."

"Why? I'd like to go with you, Miss..."

"Kanna!"

Just as Kanna was about to suggest we go together, Henna urgently interrupted. Nice, Henna!

Kanna, who was puzzled, nodded seeing my disgusted reaction.

"That's right... You'd find it uncomfortable, Miss."

Right. I'm curious, but going to see it is a bit different. I don't really want to go look at a painting of someone's corpse. A corpse painting - as a modern person, it's a bit... doesn't it seem like a crime?

Of course, romance fantasy residents like Kanna and Henna would have a different perspective. The era is in the past, and there are cases where death itself has sublime religious meaning. Here too, the temple is saying it's an angel, God's blessing, so maybe that's it?

"If you're going to see it, you'd better go quickly."

Since Gabriel seemed to want to take down the painting, it might be discarded soon.