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Chapter 6 …
“Really? You, you believe me?”
What kind of jackpot was this?!
I was so moved that Blake believed me so easily that my round eyes sparkled.
“You only get one chance. If you’re proven to be lying, you won’t escape death.”
As if trying to make me believe he wasn’t joking, a flash of killing intent briefly flickered in his previously lazy, irritated eyes before disappearing.
But I was already bouncing up and down like I was about to shoot into the sky.
“Yes yes! I won’t escape death.”
“…Stop repeating me.”
“Yes yes, yay!”
“…A deranged teddy bear.”
Max, do you see this?
Even though your master is on sabbatical, she’s still surviving in the human world without dying!
There was still a lot I had to accomplish before returning to where I originally belonged, but even this alone felt like a huge achievement.
My ears perked up in satisfaction.
Is everything going unbelievably smoothly?
I thought convincing Blake would be the hardest part, but he gave me a surprisingly clean chance.
‘Compared to being the original villain and sub male lead, he feels a bit… careless.’
Honestly, he didn’t seem to have much hostility either. It looked like he naturally assumed I wouldn’t be able to make him sleep.
But unlike his expectations, putting him to sleep wasn’t completely impossible.
‘If I can just restore a little more mana, I can definitely use a curse-dispelling spell.’
A curse can only be broken by the one who cast it.
However, a curse could be weakened if one knew the proper spell.
‘The problem is, hardly anyone knows that.’
Curse-weakening spells were extremely high-level magic, formulas found only occasionally in ancient, musty books that were hard to even interpret.
On top of that, one had to expend their own innate mana to temporarily weaken another’s curse.
Naturally, for human magicians who borrowed mana from everywhere, it was nearly impossible.
‘But for me, it’s possible. Hehe.’
For me—a witch (and a great witch at that)—if I had enough mana, it was something I could pull off with just a simple activation word.
Now then.
What do I need to do from here?
‘Stick tightly to Blake!’
That way I can restore my mana, meet his expectations, and return to my original form.
‘And I can casually observe the original novel world too. Ahem.’
What had been a bleak and depressing reality just moments ago now didn’t seem so bad.
A grin slipped out.
“No, Commander! Even if you’re exhausted, isn’t this decision too impulsive?”
“Rain, don’t spread this anywhere else. From now on, I’ll look into it myself.”
“But…”
Rain, who had been staring at me with wary eyes, stepped forward to stop Blake.
But once again, he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“Blake! There you are!”
A light, familiar voice called his name as the terrace door swung open.
At the same time, I flopped onto the floor.
“Leah?”
At the slowly spoken name, a woman with brown hair brightened and practically threw herself into Blake’s arms, exclaiming happily.
“It’s been so long! I missed you!”
That woman!
Seeing the woman who had jumped into Blake’s arms, I was overwhelmed with emotion.
The female lead! The real protagonist of this novel!
The woman in Blake’s arms was Leah Everett.
The beloved youngest daughter of the Everett Count family and Blake’s childhood friend!
‘As expected of the heroine—she’s so pretty!’
Leah Everett had the kind of appearance worthy of a true female lead.
Her light brown hair, soft as if diluted with water, was braided neatly, and a flowing silk dress that revealed her neckline drew every eye.
But the most striking feature was her golden eyes.
They shone brilliantly like molten gold stored deep in the Holloway basement, fixed only on Blake.
“Blake. I thought you wouldn’t make it to my birthday banquet. You got my letter, didn’t you? You rushed here immediately after reading it?”
Blake pulled Leah off his shoulder and shook his head.
“I didn’t rush.”
What did you just say?!
That was another off-target answer.
At a moment like this, saying “I came flying because I missed you” would still be an understatement—how could he say he didn’t rush?
I almost shouted That’s not it! at his absurd honesty.
If you asked me, the self-proclaimed romance novel expert Vivian, I could’ve written the perfect line here!
(Though Max would always click his tongue whenever I confidently provided “correct answers” while complaining about the protagonist.)
For example:
-
“Yes. I ran here with my heart about to stop because I missed you, my love.”
-
“Yes. Time apart from you was hell itself. But even hell, I would step into if it meant being with you.”
-
“Leah, if you ask such an obvious question, I’ll answer it a hundred times. I would run here for you on my own two feet.”
Pick any of these three, romance idiot!
But I swallowed those words.
Instead, I pressed my paws firmly against the ground and subtly pushed myself closer to Blake.
Haa… calm down and stick to Blake a little longer.
Forget that romance idiot—first, I needed to survive.
If he suddenly asked me to cast a sleep spell tonight, I needed mana for it!
Rain’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of me, but whatever.
If I’m going to die otherwise, of course I should move quickly.
Leah, focused only on Blake, didn’t seem to notice me.
“I really hoped you’d come. I’m so glad. I didn’t hear you came to the banquet—Lady Clara said she saw you heading out to the terrace earlier.”
“Yeah.”
“Honestly, you came all this way and didn’t even show your face. Did you want me to come find you myself?”
“I saw you, so that’s enough.”
“Fine, fine! Anyway—Blake, where’s my gift? It’s been five years since we last met, you must’ve prepared something, right?”
“Gift?”
At that moment, Rain, who had been silent behind us, shot Blake an intense look as if to say See? Of course gifts matter!
I could practically hear it.
More than that… ugh, this is exhausting.
My limbs are so short I get out of breath just moving a little.
Finally, I let out a sigh and clung tightly to the long leg I had reached.
Haa, this is better.
Perhaps feeling the sudden weight, Blake’s amethyst-like eyes lost focus, drifting into space before dropping down to his leg.
“……”
“……”
A brief silence followed, and then his sharp gaze landed on me.
What are you doing?
That’s what his eyes seemed to ask, so I awkwardly looked away.
Wow, what an intense stare. But I’ve got to survive somehow.
While I pretended not to care, I heard Leah’s startled voice.
“Oh my?”
Following her gaze, Leah tilted her head after noticing me attached to Blake’s leg.
“…Come to think of it, when did that get stuck there?”
I had tried to approach secretly… but somehow everyone’s attention was now on me.
“Is that my gift?”
Leah’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
And then I remembered why Blake originally bought this teddy bear.
Right—he said it was meant to be a birthday gift for Leah!
He almost gave up due to Rain’s strong opposition, but seeing Leah’s reaction, it didn’t seem like a bad idea after all.
Then… was Blake going to hand me over to Leah as originally intended?
No, no way.
Absolutely not!
Clinging to Blake without dignity, I tightened my grip, and I felt his leg twitch slightly.
“When did you even prepare something like this? And why is it hanging there? If it’s such a doll, it’s adorable!”
Already convinced it was her gift, Leah stretched out her hand eagerly.
“Come on, pretend you didn’t see anything and hand over the gift.”
With her eyes closed and hand outstretched, she looked so adorably like the heroine that my gaze was involuntarily drawn to her.
Probably the original novel’s Blake’s deep unrequited love.
The Blake who gave his life for her until the very end would have no problem handing me over.
But Blake.
You just said you’d give me a chance.
Don’t forget that. Huh? Huh?
I waited anxiously for his decision.
Was this how wine bottles feel, waiting to be chosen from a wine rack?
If so, I owe all wines an apology.
Sorry, wines. I’ll choose you more evenly in the future.
My thoughts tangled chaotically in my nervousness.
And then, in what felt like an eternity—
“No.”
What came out of his mouth was unexpected.
His slow voice echoed softly across the terrace.
