TSBSFVW 06

CHAPTER 06…….

Two loaves of bread. Characters, please disappear (prayer) (1)

Ellie’s face was expressionless, but her eyes were unfocused.

In an instant, her back was drenched with cold sweat.

I’m calm right now—no, I’m crazy—no, I’m flustered—no, I’m fine—no one can tell—I can handle this.

Kick him out right now? No, on what grounds?

Since they had already seen her face, drawing attention with some suspicious behavior would only make her stand out. It would be safest to remain just another common NPC. Ellie quickly came to that conclusion and blinked to hide her agitation.

The man’s expression was cold.

Male lead candidate #1, the Tower Master, Edmund Langworth.

His dazzling white hair suited his slender face and thin frame perfectly.

The description “a sickly-looking beauty” fit him to a tee.

His pale blue eyes sparkled like gems. His sharply tapered eyes, high-bridged nose, fair skin, and red lips even gave him a decadent allure.

Add in the faint annoyance and drowsiness lingering at the corners of his eyes, and you had the perfect “cat-type” beauty.

She almost stared at him without realizing it, but quickly turned her gaze away.

Strangers didn’t appreciate being stared at.

Morris grinned and said,

“You promised, remember? That you’d bring a wizard.”

“When?!”

When did I ever promise to bring this kind of disaster, you bastard?

“When was it again?”

“How should I know, you idiot—”

“Your thoughts are leaking out, Ellie.”

“……”

If she didn’t owe him money, she could’ve wiped that smug look off his face with one good blow.

“You said if we had a wizard, we could freeze the scones, right?”

Morris’s light brown eyes gleamed with a hint of mania as he talked about scones. Ellie was starting to find this young merchant lord a little scary.

“It’s getting hard to come by every day. But since I can’t live a single day without scones, I have to find some way.”

“……”

Sir, your eyes are glittering ominously.

“Still, who brings back a wizard just for that?”

“I do.”

Ellie glared fiercely at his neatly handsome face, which wore that easy, good-natured smile—the kind that knew exactly how to win people over.

But for Ellie, it had the exact opposite effect.

Just when she thought she might be warming up to him, he went and pulled a stunt that completely killed her goodwill. As expected, one shouldn’t get close to a loan shark.

Then Edmund, looking bored, elbowed Morris and said,

“Morris, I’m going to leave now.”

“You never eat enough. Just wait—I’ll get you something tasty.”

Morris glanced at Ellie with eyes that seemed to say, You get it, right?

“What. Why. What do you want from me.”

“I’ll waive all next month’s interest.”

“…Please, come in.”

If only she didn’t have debt…

A few hours later, Morris left with a heap of scones, smiling.

Edmund hadn’t eaten anything. He’d simply frozen the scones solid at Morris’s request.

“So tired…”

Morris said he’d be traveling abroad for a few days on business.

She had serious doubts about whether an idiot who mobilized a Tower Master just to freeze scones could do any real work, but at least it seemed he wasn’t completely abandoning his merchant guild.

From the very beginning you’ve been annoyingly smug, and now you dare to bring a canon character here?

And for what?

She had endured and kept her head down, living like a quiet little mouse—all to stay away from the main characters and live a safe life.

Morris Herzog wasn’t a character in the novel.

He had been introduced by Ellie’s maternal family, and since the villainess’s maternal side wasn’t even mentioned in the book, she’d never imagined he’d have any connection to the story’s characters.

The fact that Morris Herzog was a successful merchant lord had been a surprise.

Since her maternal relatives didn’t particularly like her, she had initially assumed they’d introduced her to some vicious loan shark just to be cruel.

Her mother’s family had cut ties with the McClure family after Ellie’s biological mother died.

After all, her father had sent their daughter to marry into another family, only to have an affair, bring home the child from that affair, and openly favor that child over his legitimate daughter—a truly vile act.

In the novel, Ellie never contacted her mother’s family because she wanted her father’s approval. But now, things were different.

Ellie needed an adult who could help her escape that hellish household.

Even if that adult was a swindling, loudmouthed, loan shark merchant lord.

At least I thought there’d be no entanglement with the novel’s plot…

And then he brought in a male lead candidate.

At this point, it’s worth reviewing the plot of the original story.

The heroine, Elaine, was a warrior who saved the kingdom.

When a war sparked by the Empire spread across the continent, the Kingdom of Rosso was on the brink of destruction—but the heroine, together with the male lead candidates and various supporting characters, managed to save it.

Elaine had natural talent, honed further by hard work. She was also gifted in leadership.

She endured hellish trials, lost her first love before her eyes, and grew stronger from that tragedy.

The Tower Master male lead appeared whenever the heroine was in danger—like some mountain spirit—to help her.

There was also male lead candidate #2, who stuck by the heroine’s side and went through hardships with her. But he and candidate #1 didn’t get along, constantly bickering like cats and dogs.

The male leads’ entanglements with each other were so intense, it was sometimes hard to tell if you were reading a romance novel or a BL novel.

Beneath their glamorous appearances and fine qualities, they were deeply twisted, obsessive men who could never let go of the heroine—their only salvation—causing endless drama.

Edmund Langworth was one of them.

The obsessive, tearful Tower Master.

Like the heroine, all the main characters had tragic backstories.

He was literally the head of the Mage Guild, and at a young age, his abilities were so extraordinary that people suspected he wasn’t even human.

His origins, his family—everything was a mystery.

With no past revealed, rumors abounded.

Because of his extreme cleanliness and misanthropy, those who disliked him wanted desperately to uncover his past—but no one knew it.

For good reason.

Edmund Langworth had been born as an experimental subject for wizards, imprisoned, and tortured mercilessly his whole life.

He had only been freed when he was on the verge of death, only to be captured again by slavers and sold to a noble family.

It was there he met male lead candidate #2 and became friends—but even there, he never had a proper life.

Eventually, he escaped, gained a fortuitous opportunity, and became the Tower Master—but the memories of cruel experiments and torture left him plagued by nightmares and unable to eat properly.

The heroine became his source of comfort, his love—and that love turned into obsession.

Which, for her, was the start of a new misfortune.

He begged her not to leave him, threatened to kill her if she did, kidnapped her, imprisoned her…

A dangerous man.

Obsessive men were thrilling in fiction, but in real life they were terrifying. She wanted nothing to do with him.

Ellie wrote a warning—Never bring the wizard here again—and tucked it into the scones.

If he brought him again, she’d really poison the scones.

At the very least, she’d lace them with laxatives.

Fortunately, the Tower Master, Edmund Langworth, seemed to have no interest whatsoever in an ordinary bakery owner.

He only showed irritation toward Morris, the friend who had dragged him here, and didn’t even glance at Ellie.

That was a blessing.

She wished all the characters would treat her like some roadside weed or a speck of dust—something beneath notice, never worth remembering.

As long as I keep Morris in check, there’s no reason any of the main characters—who are mostly nobles—would ever come to this tiny bakery tucked away in a corner of the market.

It should be fine now.

It was not fine.

Was my happiness only meant to last two months? Was I cursed because I offered a goddess statue instead of a pig’s head for the ritual? Stingy goddess.

“I came to buy a baguette…”

“…Pardon?”

Male lead candidate #2 looked her over and licked his lips. Was he a cannibal?

His neat features and gentle expression gave him an air of mildness.

His awkward, embarrassed look was tinged with shyness, but his green eyes sparkled clearly as he looked straight ahead.

This time, Ellie regained her composure quickly.

She smiled sweetly and said,

“We don’t have any. Please leave.”