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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Aselt Elapid
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Aselt Elapid.
He was the villain who appeared in the side story.
According to Mabel's memories, the side story took place not long after the Sub Male Lead exited, leaving a bitter aftertaste.
Readers who had expected the protagonists' sweet, happy daily lives must have been greatly disappointed.
Furthermore, Aselt was only 13 years old, too young for a villain in a dramatic, regret-filled romance novel.
‘His motive wasn’t even clearly explained.’
Why was that villain at the Sub Male Lead’s house?
A bewildered Mabel couldn't even think of shaking his hand; she simply held her breath.
Aselt, watching her, withdrew his outstretched hand and confirmed.
“You know me, don’t you?”
“...Pardon?”
“You’re scared because you know who I am.”
Oh, no!
Mabel quickly tried to make an excuse, saying she’d heard it from the maids.
“I gave orders, so it’s impossible for other servants or maids to have told you.”
Gasp!
Then, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to sell out Sigmund—
“I also made a separate request to Master Sigmund, so he wouldn’t have spoken about me.”
No way!
As if to prove he was truly the future villain, Aselt eliminated all of Mabel’s excuses.
“How?”
Aselt openly revealed his sharp hostility.
The outwardly gentle demeanor he had shown was nowhere to be seen.
The atmosphere was so terrifying that it felt like a disaster would strike if she said the wrong thing.
“Ah, well... umm…”
Mabel trembled and swallowed hard.
Even though he was young, a villain was still a villain; the oppressive aura Aselt exuded was immense.
Even with his eyes covered by cloth, she felt as if he was staring intently at her.
‘But what’s with that eye patch?’
Was there any mention of Aselt wearing an eye patch in the side story?
No, in his first meeting with the protagonists, Aselt was described as having white irises.
That meant he wasn’t wearing an eye patch at the time.
But why was he wearing one now?
That wasn’t the only thing bothering Mabel.
‘He’s got a wound.’
He must have been wearing it for so long that the edges of the eye patch were red and raw.
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
As Aselt bared his teeth and growled, blood oozed from the cheek chafed by the eye patch.
Without realizing it, Mabel reached out a hand towards Aselt’s cheek.
At some point, Mabel’s trembling had stopped.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“...What?”
“This, it’s all raw right here…”
Before Mabel’s hand could touch his cheek, Aselt took a step back.
Aselt’s gaze, which had been coldly glaring at Mabel just moments before, wavered.
*She just tried to touch me?*
It was hard to believe, but Mabel’s arm was still outstretched.
“What are you trying to say, you—”
“Please forgive Young Lady Mabel~!”
Just then, Ella, who had rushed over, shielded Mabel and cried out.
‘Sister Ella?’
A surprised Mabel looked up at Ella.
Ella’s eyes were tightly shut, and her body trembled just as much as Mabel’s.
“Young Lady Mabel doesn’t know yet, so please forgive her just this once~”
“Th-that’s right! Please, just this once, forgive her.”
“If you must punish, let us take it instead. So please, forgive the Young Lady.”
Behind Ella, other servants appeared, kneeling and pleading.
Every single one of them had their eyes tightly shut.
“She doesn’t know...?”
“Yes, yes~! The Young Lady doesn’t know what kind of person the Young Master is yet~ That’s why she committed such a rudeness~!”
Ella desperately spoke on Mabel’s behalf.
At her words, Aselt’s expression instantly twisted.
“You didn’t tell this child who I am?”
“Of course not~! I didn’t say anything to the Young Lady, just as the Young Master commanded~”
“It’s the same for us.”
The servants who were kneeling and apologizing together spoke in unison.
“Then what on earth….”
Aselt, muttering with a confused expression, looked at Mabel, who was embraced in Ella’s arms.
Mabel, as if suddenly unsure of the situation, merely blinked her round eyes.
“That child did nothing wrong. So there’s nothing for me to forgive.”
Aselt uttered those words and immediately disappeared deep into the greenhouse.
His small footsteps quickly faded away.
It was only after Aselt’s shadow completely vanished that people let out sighs of relief.
“Haa… I really thought something bad was going to happen…”
“Tell me about it. I really thought something was going to happen to the Young Lady…”
“Young Lady~ You must have been scared, right? But it’s okay now~”
Ella, who was holding Mabel, also spoke, her legs giving out as she sank to the ground.
Beads of cold sweat dotted Ella’s forehead.
‘Everyone was so terrified. And yet, for my sake…’
She didn’t know what exactly had happened, but it was clear that everyone had shown great courage for Mabel’s sake.
Mabel fidgeted with her hands and bowed her head.
“I… I must have done something wrong. I’m sorry…”
“No, no~! There’s no need for the Young Lady to bow her head~”
“That’s right. It’s our fault for not telling you beforehand, knowing that the Young Master was ‘that’ kind of person.”
“No one expected the Young Master to come here, you see.”
The people waved their hands, comforting the dejected Mabel.
“I’ll be careful from now on…”
“Oh, it’s fine~ From now on, I’ll stick right by your side, Young Lady~!”
“That’s right. We won’t leave the Young Lady alone like this again!”
This incident was something the servants hadn’t anticipated either.
Who would have thought Aselt would approach Mabel?
And of all times, it happened when the servants had left Mabel’s side.
So if there was any fault, it lay with them, not with a small child who should be sulking.
With Mabel, who couldn’t lift her head, in the center, the servants exchanged glances.
Ella, confirming there were no disagreements among them, cupped Mabel’s soft, warm cheeks.
“Young Lady~ You were curious earlier, weren’t you~? About why people weren’t coming~?”
“Huh? Oh, yes…”
Mabel had been worried because Ella, who had gone to find out, hadn’t returned either.
And then, Aselt had appeared…
“Let’s go~ Let’s go find out the reason right now~”
Mabel took Ella’s hand and headed out of the greenhouse.
* * *
Back in his room, Aselt was lost in thought.
‘That child… What on earth is she?’
Naturally, he was thinking about Mabel, whom he had just met.
When he heard that Sigmund had brought Mabel to the Grand Ducal Castle, Aselt issued a gag order, telling people not to speak about him.
To Sigmund, who asked why, he replied:
— I want to get close to her, but I’m worried she might form unnecessary prejudices.
Of course, it was a blatant lie.
Aselt simply disliked the idea of more people knowing about him.
Especially if that person was the daughter of Sophia Ashilonia, someone he couldn't even feel satisfied chewing to pieces.
Aselt, who had been standing by the doorway, removed his eye patch and walked towards the full-length mirror.
His handsome face, previously hidden, was reflected in the mirror.
The blood that had oozed out moments ago had dried on his raw skin.
— Doesn’t it hurt?
Did she ask if it didn’t hurt?
Of course, it hurt.
The wounds near his eyebrow and on his cheek, chafed by the eye patch for a long time, never had a chance to heal.
However, no matter how much it hurt, he couldn’t walk around without the eye patch.
At least not in front of people.
In the mirror, he saw white irises surrounding long, snake-like pupils.
People feared his eyes.
No, they were terrified.
‘Eyes that turn people to stone…’
In truth, Aselt wasn’t an ordinary person.
In the past, when magic thrived, various races coexisted.
Among them, Beastfolk were those who enjoyed magic and possessed special powers, on equal footing with humans.
And Aselt was a Basilisk Beastman, classified as a ‘legendary species.’
One who possessed the ability to turn anyone who met his gaze into stone.
Of course, Aselt handled his abilities very well, and he could also control them.
But people wouldn’t even dare to come near Aselt if he wasn’t wearing his eye patch.
‘Master told me to take off the eye patch at least until the wound healed, but…’
He disliked that.
Because if he took off his eye patch, everyone would be afraid.
He’d rather be in pain.
Rather than see people avoid him in terror.
Rather than be treated like a monster they had to be wary of, unsure when he might turn them to stone.
With such thoughts, Aselt never took off his eye patch, but there was a slight misunderstanding in this.
Of course, there were people who feared Aselt’s abilities.
But not everyone was like that.
Most of the servants, including Ella, were worried about Aselt before they were afraid of him.
Because Aselt had once gone berserk when someone tried to forcibly remove his eye patch.
At that time, Aselt couldn’t control his abilities and turned many people to stone, and he was so shocked that he even fainted.
Perhaps due to the aftermath of his berserk state, Aselt didn’t seem to remember this.
Thus, people were waiting until Aselt would take off his eye patch himself.
Waiting for the day the misunderstanding would be resolved.
Unaware of this, Aselt was still preoccupied with thoughts of Mabel.
At first, he thought Mabel had been scared because she knew his true identity.
Because he believed there was a servant who hadn’t followed his orders.
— This, it’s all raw right here…
But Mabel had tried to touch his eye patch.
That was an action she absolutely wouldn’t have taken if she had known his identity and been scared.
The servants who appeared late also claimed they had obeyed the gag order.
‘Then why was that child so terrified?’
Her wide, round eyes that sprang open the moment she saw him, her stiff, frozen expression, and her rigid body.
Later, she even trembled uncontrollably, unable to breathe…
The shock on Mabel’s face was too profound to be mere surprise.
Why on earth?
Aselt, who had been staring intently at the mirror, soon muttered quietly.
“Am I… really that ugly…?”
