MPBAGS Chapter 44

I finally arrived in front of the reception room. Now if I just open the door, Gabriel will come out. I took deep breaths before going in.

I'm hypnotizing myself. Alright, from now on I'm a flirt.

I need to do my best to flirt with Gabriel and overturn the villainess image that Daisy mentioned.

I only thought about escaping being a villainess, but I didn't expect I'd have to flirt. Let's think positively. Anyone can flirt, right? It's what female protagonists do. I've also slightly deviated from the villainess's fate. It can't be helped since the genre is villainess possession.

"Commander, I've brought Lady Rohanson."

After Raphaela knocked, he opened the door. Inside, besides Gabriel, there were two knights and Kanna and Henna sitting.

"Lady Rohanson."

"Miss!"

Gabriel stood up from his seat and greeted me with a silent bow, and behind him Kanna jumped up and ran to hug me. Oh, oh my.

"That's dangerous."

"I'm sorry..."

We almost fell backwards together. After scolding her once, I patted Kanna's head as she became dejected.

But strangely, Henna, who would normally stop this, was quietly silent. Henna was sitting with both hands on her knees, clenched tightly, head bowed.

"Henna?"

"Yes, my lady."

She answers right away when called, so she doesn't seem to be thinking about something else...? Did you two fight? Looking at Kanna questioningly, Kanna whispered quietly.

"Earlier, sister heard something strange."

"What?"

"I didn't hear it, but she's been like this after hearing what someone named Daisy said."

Daisy? Could it be the Daisy I just met? Did Daisy say something to Henna too, not just Gabriel? Did she say something so shocking that the sharp-minded Henna would be spacing out like this?

I turned my gaze away from Henna to the side.

Gabriel had also heard the story from Daisy, but fortunately he seemed fine. He must have heard about Evangeline being a villainess from Daisy... Is he just not showing it?

Ah! I really didn't expect an obstacle named Daisy to suddenly appear in my not-perfect-but-reasonably-well-rolling villainess escape plan. Wait, wait. An obstacle? A character that suddenly appeared? Then this is...

I thought Daisy would be a sub-heroine or the heroine's supporter or best friend since she had history with Jelly, but seeing how Kanna dislikes her, I seem to have been wrong.

Then there's only one answer, right? When I possessed Evangeline, who was the original villainess, the genre changed to villainess possession, and since Kanna, the original heroine, likes me tremendously, she wouldn't interfere with my romance route. So a supporting villainess role was introduced! To serve as a love obstacle that makes romance novels more heart-wrenching!

That makes perfect sense. I wondered why a female character with a sudden past history appeared out of nowhere. Moreover, Daisy is a nun now, right? Then she'll become a saint. A saint and a villainess? Perfect opposition.

So from now on, Daisy will frequently appear in front of Gabriel and Jelly, planning to ruin my relationship with them.

I'd like to cheer them on to love each other to their hearts' content, but Evangeline is a villainess, right? In romance novels, it's natural for villainesses to fall into ruin if they can't receive love, so I have no choice. Sorry Gabriel, I'm not flirting because I want to either.

"Let's sit down first."

Gabriel, who's scheduled to be thoroughly flirted with from now on, politely pulled out a chair for me to sit in, not knowing his own future.

"I assigned Uriel to guide the lady, so why did you come together? Where's Uriel?"

"Uriel is in the infirmary. He's not hurt, but Michel is a bit..."

"Michel?"

"Well, it's a long story to explain..."

Raphaela began explaining the situation to Gabriel. That while seeing off Daisy, he met me and Uriel. That after hearing people's voices, they ran and discovered a burning painting.

Gabriel swallowed hard after hearing that much.

"The painting burned..."

"Yes. I don't know the cause of the fire. We should hear from the people who were there at the time."

Raphaela shrugged. The cause of the fire? The fire wouldn't have started by itself, and one of the people there must have set it... Will the culprit honestly confess? Isn't it more likely they'll keep their mouth shut?

Well, even if they don't confess, there were many witnesses, so the culprit will be revealed.

"Do you have any suspicions, Lady Rohanson?"

When Gabriel asked, I was about to answer directly but hesitated. What if I say something and get criticized for suspecting innocent people? But the painting couldn't have spontaneously combusted, and someone must have set the fire. Honestly, Raphaela and Michel are a bit suspicious too. I arrived late and saw Michel already burning.

"I'm not sure."

So I just spoke vaguely and moved on. Gabriel didn't react much, as if this was the right approach.

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

This part is news to me too. Michel just jumped into the fire? Is he crazy? Why would he jump in there? So that's why people were just watching in horror!

Gabriel didn't even twitch an eyebrow after hearing about that bizarre behavior. As expected of a romance novel male lead who's only warm to his woman. He would have been even more perfect if he'd been born in the north.

"Thank you for saving Michel."

Gabriel bowed his head. This is also typical of a righteous knight male lead who takes good care of his subordinates.

Ah, fortunately. I saved him out of conscience, but thanks to that I feel like I've earned one favor point with Gabriel. This should make up for one of the evil deeds Evangeline committed.

"Still, it's fortunate that Bishop Jabanya discovered it."

"Is it...?"

"The Bishop has the same position as us."

"That's right. At least it will help cover up the incident."

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

The old-traditionalist bishop was on the side that didn't like the Donau painting, so he would help cover up the incident of the painting burning. Though there would still be serious disagreements like before, it would be much easier now that the painting was completely destroyed.

"The investigations we've been conducting to take down the painting will also be helpful."

I guess this is an appeal that he's also been working hard to support me. Good, I need to react now to manage the flirtation.

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

Is this enough? Still, there's value in being called a villainess - I can't suddenly possess a sunny heroine and go "Wow, you worked hard for me! Evangeline is so moved!" But this conversation is too short, so let me add more.

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

Right. They just said Daisy came to testify. Of course, she didn't just give testimony - she probably badmouthed me too.

Wait... Let me test this once?

"So what did you hear?"

"Commander!"

As expected of a quick-witted aide. Raphaela seems to know his superior has fallen into love's trials and is trying to give hints. When I glared at him, Raphaela was startled and closed his mouth.

"I asked you."

I looked back at Gabriel. Under his jet-black hair, I could see uniquely clear blue eyes. It was as if a person was a blue star made only of sea and sky with no land to step on. When I was reflected in those eyes, I somehow felt like I was the first person to leave footprints and dirty the star.

"What did you hear from Daisy?"

Gabriel didn't avoid my gaze. I also engaged in the staring contest while admiring Gabriel's face. Wow, I almost got mesmerized for a moment. As expected of a romance novel male lead, his face is truly amazing. Jelly is also handsome, but since he's a supporting male character, he can't beat Gabriel's face.

"She must have talked about me."

"I'm not sure. I didn't hear anything about you."

Huh? That's a lie. They said Daisy spoke about me. When I seemed not to believe him, Gabriel handed me a paper.

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

It seemed to be a paper summarizing Daisy's statement. The first page was about some convent.

The content was that the abbot used the same summoning circle as the painting hanging in the temple to summon something ominous and gain power, then used that power to commit evil deeds.

What! No, how far has my summoning circle been sold!

And he even succeeded in summoning! What spirit did he summon! Since Donau also summoned a fire spirit, is the abbot of the same type?

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

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

Wait, this... Isn't the painting burning just now connected to this? This abbot person did it to monopolize the summoning circle. Since it's a fire spirit, he somehow attacked from long range! Bad guy... He freely used my summoning circle. Well, it's not mine but Evangeline's mother's.

"I definitely want to meet this priest."

If I meet him, I'll grab him by the collar and shake him thoroughly. I made a firm resolution.

Oh, come to think of it, this isn't the important part. I almost forgot my real purpose while obsessing over spirits. I turned to the next page. Now is this the statement about me?

Evangeline Rohanson... When I read that far, my vision suddenly distorted. It started breaking like glass, and now the letters began to shatter. One letter split into dozens of fragments and got mixed up, making it impossible to read. Did the translator malfunction at this moment, seriously...?

□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□.

□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□.

What is this! Why did I become illiterate again at this point!

"I heard nothing."

Gabriel looked very confident, as if to say "see for yourself."

Gabriel doesn't know I have a translator error right now. So is he acting like that because he's really confident? I’ve seen up to where Evangeline's name was written... Was it not a big deal?

But how could that be! Daisy must have said something. This is it. Either Daisy significantly downplayed my evil deeds, or Gabriel is blinded by the villainess and can't think straight.

"You may take it."

I think it's the latter? I almost flinched at Gabriel's words. I was wondering if there was a way to read it again when the translator was fixed - did he read my mind? As expected of a male lead...

I happily tore the paper from him and handed it to Kanna. Kanna, who had been glaring at the paper as if to tear it, reluctantly put it in her bosom. Why was she glaring...? Could Kanna also be illiterate?

I thought she could naturally read since she's the heroine. Come to think of it, this is a somewhat harsh romance novel world. Maybe they deliberately added illiteracy to make the heroine suffer enough. I can't rely only on the translator anymore. Let's go home and learn to read together...

"Are you satisfied with this?"

Yes, of course. I would have felt uncomfortable if I'd just left it there, but I'm so happy he told me to take it. I'll read it when the translator is fixed.

"That's enough."

"I called you here to show you that. Didn't I tell you earlier? I want to help you."

Is this an appeal that he never intended to hide it from me? I'm supposed to be flirting, but I feel like I'm being flirted with instead. He speaks so smoothly. I was admiring the romance novel male lead's capabilities when I heard a knock.

Knock knock.

"Come in."

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

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

"Is that so? Understood, I'll go see him."

"Yes."

Jelly must have completed his errand well. He probably counted and properly prepared my holy water, right? I should go count them later.

Well, shall I go back now?