episode_0042

First, I sat down next to Kyle’s empty seat.

It was a good spot.

I could see Deron and Blund’s faces clearly from across.

Despite the cool air of Daejeon, they were sweating.

Lost pupils were wandering in their eyes.

Their pale faces, as if powdered with flour, looked somewhat pitiful, but they had fulfilled their minimal responsibility through warnings and implications, so there was no need to feel guilty or sorry.

Front-row 3D direct view of the buffet.

For this moment, I had reflected on self-examination by buying the empty seats of the Regret Trio.

Having fulfilled my own responsibility as a possessor, all that was left was to look forward to the taste of the dinner on the table and the taste of the buffet in the female-oriented romance novel.

“I wonder if it’s monster cuisine again this time.”

I want to open the lid quickly.

What kind of dish will be presented this time?

Exciting.

I’m looking forward to it.

By the way.

“Did Master Kyle really lie down?”

I asked Blund.

They were a good match, always sticking together even at the academy.

If Kyle hadn’t become a runaway ninja or a hospital guard, he would have surely come with Blund.

However, instead of an answer, a question filled with anger was thrown at me.

“Elden, did you know about this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Stop pretending to be ignorant. You noticed that the Third Lady is Elysia and declared a withdrawal, didn’t you?”

Again.

Are you trying to vent your anger in the wrong place?

I am just a bourgeois pursuing rest and romance.

In response to Blund’s sharp attitude, I shrugged my shoulders, sticking out my lower lip.

“I found out today as well.”

Thud!

Deron, who was listening, slammed the table with his fist.

Then he glared at me with a mix of resentment and regret.

“If you knew, you should have shared it with us! How can you abandon your comrades and act alone while riding the same boat!”

…Hmm.

In Elden’s memory, there was no one to call a ‘comrade.’

Can he blame others instead of blaming himself even at this moment?

They seem truly remarkable.

“As I said, I found out today as well. I was also quite surprised.”

“Don’t deceive us. Have you been sticking with Elysia since before?”

What kind of absurd nonsense is this?

I declared a withdrawal because I didn’t want to stick with her.

“Yes. There was a reason why I favored you. Tell us what you offered and stuck with her.”

I’m just curious about the dish on the table.

I just want to taste the sequel to the red long-legged roast.

Why is everyone like this to me?

Why does everyone treat me as if I can’t live.

“Tell us what Elysia is planning with you. Tell us what Elysia wants from us!”

As the annoying back and forth continued, I tried to take out the mana record.

It had only been a few days, but I seemed to have forgotten what was recorded, so I wanted to refresh my memory.

However.

“Lemian Grand Lady is entering.”

At the voice announcing the start of the ceremony, I had to stand up to greet her.

**

Dressed in a red dress, wearing red shoes, Lemian entered the hall.

It was all red, announcing the prologue of revenge.

“Please be seated, everyone.”

I followed Lemian and sat down.

For some reason, it seemed like her eyelids were slightly swollen, but I decided to dismiss it as a misconception.

The air in the chilly Daechon turned even colder with her appearance.

Or perhaps it froze.

It felt like a fierce snowstorm was brewing, but it was eerily quiet.

Deron and Blund couldn’t even meet each other’s gaze, bowing their heads since Remyan stepped in.

The sight of the two, who had raised their voices and then lowered their tails like puppies meeting a tiger, was truly pitiful.

Remyan, who was watching them, broke the silence.

“I escorted my father and returned, only to find out that Lord Kyle Bellawon has disappeared. He left everything behind – the family’s assets, honor, and reputation.”

Oh…

I wondered if Lord Kyle Bellawon had collapsed in shock.

Have you truly become a fugitive?

I commend the remarkable decisiveness and drive, devoid of caution, remorse, or reflection, that led you to abandon everything and flee.

Of course, if he fled in ignorance, it was only natural that he faced the consequences of his actions.

Deron, the instigator, was despicable, but Kyle, who forced bugs into Erenthia’s mouth, committed indiscriminate violence, and mocked her by spitting on her when she fell, was no less despicable.

No.

From Erenthia’s perspective, Kyle was the worst.

He was more detestable than Deron, who always enjoyed her suffering from behind, because he directly caused her pain.

If he had the audacity to smirk during a face-to-face meeting, how much more audacious could he be?

If the son of the hopeful Bellawon Marquis, who rose to prominence as the family’s hope, fled after betraying that hope, how much more audacious could he be?

“Everyone looks so pale. Lord Deron, Lord Blund? Are you worried about Lord Kyle?”

Remyan asked with a smile, prompting Deron and Blund to raise their heads.

But faced with Remyan’s ominous threat, they had to bow their heads again.

Deeper.

Heavier.

“Don’t worry. I’ll come back on my own. I’ve sent a letter to the Bellawon Marquis’s family. I think everyone will know the contents without me having to say it.”

In other words, the Marquis will learn about the heinous deeds committed in the name of the family’s hope.

And that was a warning that the Duke Logan Winterfell, Remyan’s father, would take advantage of his absence to exact revenge.

That he couldn’t leave this ducal seat without his permission.

If I had fled right after declaring my withdrawal, I would have tried to escape in another way.

There was nowhere to go for the designated heir after his parents’ deaths.

That method would have been impulsive and radical, causing pain to each other.

It was now proven that meticulously planning the escape was not in vain.

“Don’t worry too much. As long as Lord Kyle doesn’t just run away from his sins, everything that happens in this ducal seat, everything that happened at that academy, will be buried in the past.”

Instilling fear, then showing hope.

A strategy that tramples even more fiercely and cruelly.

“So don’t give up. In the long history of the Hon’yakdaejeon, there has never been a time when a ‘winner’ did not emerge.”

Remyan, who knew this strategy better than anyone else after three years of schooling, was the one to bring it out.

“And to that ‘winner,’ I will offer everything they desire along with forgiveness. Honor, money, love – everything.”

By promising a hopeful future that would overcome even the most terrifying fears, she encouraged their resolve to fight.

If not caught within 5 minutes, it was a promise to stop the harassment, giving hope and fleeing for one’s life, but Erinshia always had to trample on that hope, urging her deeper into the abyss, urging her to struggle.

And that was…

“Giggle. Erinshia? Don’t forget the ‘life study’ we taught you for 3 years, you have to live strong~ Got it?”

It was a reminder from Deron’s group not to forget the 3 years of teaching and to return it.

A moment later…

Thud!

A pair of knees hit the floor of the hall.

“Er, Erin…! No! Lady Remiann! I have committed a crime! Please forgive me!”

A younger brother overshadowed by his talented older brother.

A second son who has never received recognition from his father.

A viscount’s son who must prove his worth through victory.

It was Deron Kellid.

The one who always stood behind, observing the situation, was the first to intervene in the situation faster than anyone else.

Of course, he was the one who quickly took the bait thrown by the female lead.

Clack clack.

Remiann stood up from her seat and approached Deron.

Then she opened the lid of the dish that was on Deron’s seat.

A dish was revealed hidden under the veil.

‘Oh!’

It was a dish that looked quite delicious from the Monster Cooking Encyclopedia that Rachel and she had read while moving by carriage for the 2nd evaluation match.

The dish they had asked Rachel how it tasted.

Right.

‘Drake Tail Stir-fry?’

Due to the random holes in the tail meat that looked like soap bubbles, it didn’t look good as an ingredient, but the texture alone was excellent, the Drake Tail Stir-fry appeared.

However.

Just as his mouth was watering.

Remiann accidentally spilled the dish on the floor.

Right in front of Deron.

Thud!

The red seasoning spread widely on the floor.

It was probably a mistake to think it was blood.

Nevertheless.

Why did she throw away something so precious?

If you throw away good food, you will be punished.

“…?”

Deron, who was looking down at the spilled dish in front of him, raised his head to look at Remiann.

With a pitiful look that reminded him of Erinshia from the past, who begged for mercy.

Remiann gave a mischievous smile.

“Master Deron, the floor of this hall is cleaner than you. So, please lick the floor clean. If you clean it thoroughly, I might be able to forgive you.”

Soon, in Deron’s eyes, along with astonishment, a futile hope rose.

Even his gaze resembled Erinshia’s.

**

A truly tearful situation unfolded before my eyes.

Just a few minutes ago, Deron and Blund, who were trying to devour me, were now picking up and licking the spilled food on the floor.

To prove my worth.

To be a support to the family.

And.

To seek forgiveness from Erinshia.

Each of them abandoned their pride and sense of authority, and in a pitiful manner, they licked the monster dish, all for their own ideals.

Furthermore.

The image of Erinshia picking up bugs to escape the pain in Elden’s memory was vivid, an ironic sight.

Looking back, there was no sight of Elden Raphellion tormenting and enjoying Erinshia in his memory.

Instead, every time that scene came to mind, a strange feeling of resentment arose.

In male-oriented harem novels, depending on the weight of the female character’s sins, they are given the qualification to enter the so-called ‘washing machine’.

Once they enter the washing machine, they rise to the ranks of heroines…

Surely.

In the original work, Elden Raphellion takes on the role of forming a marriage contract with the female protagonist after a fierce battle at the end of the bloody banquet. Such an ending was not expected, right?

Considering Elden’s excessive obsession, there is some rational doubt, but I decided to view it as excessive speculation.

Regardless, whether it goes that way or not, there should be no disruption to my culinary journey plans.

“Ugh…!”

“Ugh….”

Meanwhile, Deron and Blund’s nausea continues unabated.

The only difference from before is that, even while vomiting, they are swallowing monster dishes for mercy.

However.

I knew that once Duke Logan Winterfell left his seat, he would destroy the restraint device and go on a rampage.

The charm of the bloody banquet is indeed blind recklessness, and the absence of the restraint device may become a trick or a trap, given the deviation in the original work and the significant change in the female protagonist’s psyche.

“I have a feeling… it’s more likely the latter.”

Clack clack.

Finally, Lemyang approached me.

He stood up from his seat and showed respect.

Even if we part ways, I did not want to violate the minimum courtesy that should be observed.

We are both in an unjust situation.

The female protagonist, who is struggling with revenge due to the sudden change in the perpetrator’s personality, and I, who have suddenly been possessed by a villainous character, are simply equal victims.

Just.

I wonder what dish I will be lying on the floor.

However, Lemyang did not grab the lid of the dish.

He just started talking suddenly.

“You asked me, right? Whether the confession in the letter was sincere.”

…Wait.

He’s bringing up the confession story in front of Deron and Blund?

Now, at the moment when the face-to-face meeting is taking place, and the real bloody banquet is about to begin?

“It was sincere.”

“Excuse me?”

“It was sincere. My support for you, my love for you, it was all sincere.”

No.

Wait a minute.

You… what?

Lemyang, who always called me Elden Master, just called me “you”?

I haven’t taken the medicine I should have taken.

I’ve taken the medicine I shouldn’t have taken.

Why are you suddenly doing this to me?

Trying to grasp the situation in the unexpected sudden acceleration, I postponed my answer, and soon, the rampage that started with the sudden acceleration began to deviate from the tracks.

Lemyang reached out his delicate hand to me.

“So, will you marry me?”

…What?

Suddenly proposing marriage?

Just a moment ago, he was giving hope to Deron and Blund, encouraging the bloody banquet, and now he’s proposing in front of them to snatch away that hope?

I shifted my gaze to where Deron and Blund were.

Tears welled up in their eyes due to the nausea, and they were looking at us with eyes that were filled with hope.

Those eyes were vibrating with the shock of having their hope taken away, and the area around their mouths, which had been licking despair, was as dirty as their past due to the red seasoning.

The two who found hope in despair.

The hope of salvation, and even further, the hope of achieving dreams and ideals, were ruthlessly taken away, and the despair that would follow inevitably engulfed them.

And Lemyang, driving a wedge between them, pushed them into the abyss.

Into the pit of tears and blood thorns where he had fallen.

“I promise to give you everything you want. The revival of the family, honor, power, forgiveness, love, anything you want, I promise. I swear on the name of Winterfell.”

I don’t know if my current proposal is to convey the despair of taking away hope from Deron and Blund, to warn me that they will catch and kill me, or if it is a twisted obsession that has caused this predicament.

Leaving to find romance and freedom, I was simply bored by the proposal that kept me detained in the palace for its preparation.

Furthermore.

The absence of the Logan Grand Duke’s restraint device did not only affect her as a last resort.

I politely bowed my head.

By doing so, I made it clear that there was absolutely no intention of surrender.

“I’m sorry, Grand Duchess.”

I raised my head.

At the same time as I saw Remyang shedding thick tears, my head turned sharply.

With a sharp sound of a slap.

Crack!

I was curious.

What is the taste of a female-oriented romance novel?

To satisfy my curiosity, I read the original work and was transmigrated into a free chapter.

Unfortunately, I can’t know what the taste of being transmigrated into a romance novel character is like, but I seemed to know one thing.

The touch of the female protagonist in a romance novel is very nice… no, it’s spicy and tantalizing.

Hmm.

Was the touch quite spicy?

I guess I got a little taste of it.

Ouch.