Translator: Nox

While Others Became Female Leads In Romantic Fantasy Novels, I Became A Closet Monster

Chapter 24

The novel had described the contents of this fairy tale in quite a bit of detail.

The story went like this:

One day, an orphan suddenly appears before a prince. The orphan falls in love with the prince at first sight and follows him around every single day.

However, the prince pays no mind to the orphan of lowly birth.

Even so, the orphan does not give up, believing that anything can be achieved as long as there is love.

The orphan strives to be as helpful to the prince as possible within their limited means.

And as it turns out, the orphan was more helpful to the prince than expected.

They stayed by the prince’s side when he was lonely, gave him laughter, and offered him blind devotion.

Eventually, the prince gradually falls for the orphan.

However, they could not break down the wall of social status.

『Prince, I am alright. Just watching over you from your side is enough for me.』

That was a line spoken by the orphan while saving the prince from danger.

Faced with the thought of never seeing the orphan again, the prince feels an ultimate sense of anxiety and finally realizes he cannot live without them.

The story ends happily with the prince breaking down the wall of status and marrying the orphan.

‘Honestly, it makes no sense. How would an orphan even meet a prince, let alone stay by the side of a prince who doesn’t even like them?’

Well, I suppose that’s why it’s a fairy tale.

Anyway, the reason I knew this fairy tale was that it was Joanna’s favorite book.

‘Since she was a significant villainess, there was quite a bit of description about her.’

Joanna dreamed of a fairy-tale love.

To her, the prince was Dedrick, but the “orphan” he wanted was someone else.

In the end, Joanna became the villain instead of the orphan in the fairy tale.

There was even a scene where she wailed while tearing that favorite book of hers to shreds.

‘I actually quite liked that scene!’

Confronting herself, having become a terrible monster instead of the person she wished to be—Joanna had utterly collapsed when her childhood romance turned into a nightmare.

“Don’t you like it?”

When I didn’t say anything, Dedrick asked while gauging my reaction. I shook my head and answered cheerfully.

“No! It’s perfect. I think the story will be fun.”

“It is fun. It’s a story about an orphan and a prince breaking down the wall of status to marry and live happily ever after.”

I nodded vigorously as if I were hearing it for the first time.

Dedrick tentatively offered his own opinion.

“The wall of status… it’s not really that important, is it? As long as they like each other.”

I lightly agreed with his words.

The other fairy tale book was ‘The Vampire and the Human.’

This, too, was a story about a vampire and a human falling in love and living happily.

Come to think of it, why are all these books romances?

Did Dedrick like this kind of thing?

Expressing his thoughts on the books again, he asked me cautiously.

“……I don’t think there’s a law saying you have to love the same species, whether you’re a monster or a human. What do you think?”

“Me too. I don’t have any prejudices about things like that.”

At my cool response, Dedrick let out a sigh of relief and opened ‘The Orphan and the Prince’ with a bit of excitement.

“Let’s read through it all step by step first, then start transcribing it.”

“Great, I’m ready……!”

Bam!

At the sound of the door being thrown open violently, Dedrick and I hurried apart.

Somerset marched in with a grim face and immediately grabbed Dedrick by the collar.

“Hey, you……!”

Dedrick held up a hand to stop me from coming closer.

“What on earth did you do to Joanna?”

Joanna? Why was Joanna being mentioned?

Seeing my confused expression, Dedrick squeezed his eyes shut as if he had an inkling of what was happening.

Then, the hurried sound of heels followed, and someone rushed into the room.

It was Joanna, trailing a faint scent of flowers.

Having rushed into Dedrick’s room, she panted for breath. Then, seeing Somerset and Dedrick, she covered her mouth.

“What insolent behavior is this…….”

Somerset flinched and hurriedly let go of Dedrick’s collar.

“Jo, Joanna. H-how are you here…….”

Despite his restlessness, Somerset didn’t forget to glare at Dedrick.

Wait, what is all this!

Seeing me unable to follow the situation, Dedrick hung his head like a guilty man.

Before I could even say anything, Joanna walked over with elegant strides and stood in front of Somerset.

Somerset stared at Joanna, who stood as if shielding Dedrick, with eyes full of disbelief, but she seemed slightly angry.

“I thought it was strange. Since you didn’t come to find me after breakfast, I had a hunch!”

Looking at the furious Joanna, Somerset’s face filled with hurt.

With a face distorted as if he were about to cry, he spoke.

“But Joanna! You’re saying things that don’t make sense……!”

“I told you I would seriously consider the engagement, so what doesn’t make sense?”

“So I’m saying, it’s not with me, but…….”

Somerset bit his lip and pointed at Dedrick.

“You said you’d do it with that guy!”

At the unexpected remark, I let out a strange sound in spite of myself.

“……Eh?”

What is all this about?

Joanna said she would get engaged to Dedrick?

At this turn of events that wasn’t in the original work, I looked at Dedrick with a slightly bewildered face.

Honestly, since I had intervened in the original story, I expected the development to change.

What surprised me was Joanna’s attitude.

In the original, Joanna only falls for Dedrick after they meet as adults…….

‘Did the two of them have any contact this time?’

When? Joanna only just arrived yesterday.

Seeing me looking puzzled, Dedrick turned pale to a pitiful degree and hurriedly denied it.

“No…… it’s not like that!”

He was so flustered that he shook his head at me while still in front of Somerset.

“Just tell me what happened in a little bit. I can’t be caught, so look at Somerset and…….”

He turned his head according to my words.

The look in Dedrick’s eyes, which looked like they were about to cry just a moment ago, turned chillingly cold for a split second as they brushed past Joanna.

It was so brief that I rubbed my eyes and looked at him again, but his gaze had returned to normal.

“It is not like that, hyung-nim. There must be some misunderstanding……. Primrose-yang, please explain.”

Joanna glanced at Dedrick and blushed.

Then, shifting her expression instantly, she glared at Somerset.

“I never said I would! I just meant I wanted to hear Dedrick-nim’s opinion regarding the engagement! I am not so foolish as to push things forward as I please!”

As if refusing to lose, Somerset shouted.

“That’s the same thing!”

Joanna flinched at the voice loud enough to ring through the room. Her long eyelashes trembled.

“Did you just…… yell at me?”

Somerset bit his lip hard.

“This is exactly why I’m like this! If things don’t go your way, you barge in recklessly like this and put me in a difficult position.”

“……Joanna.”

Watching Somerset bite his lip and suppress his anger, only one thought came to mind.

‘He’s a lost cause.’

Things are ruined between him and Joanna forever.

She spoke firmly while looking at Somerset.

“Please leave.”

This is Dedrick’s room, though.

You need to leave too.

As if representing my thoughts, Dedrick spoke up.

“Primrose-yang, please leave as well.”

“……Ah.”

Joanna turned around to face him.

Seeing that face full of clear regret, I marveled once again. If one were to see a girl in love, would it feel like that?

She was fresh and lovely. She had a charm that made you look twice.

No wonder Somerset was losing his mind.

“I’m sorry, Dedrick-nim. I’ve interrupted your studies…… Oh?”

Joanna’s gaze slid down and landed on ‘The Orphan and the Prince’ sitting on the desk.

……Oh boy.

I was so flustered I forgot to hide it.

I never imagined Joanna would already be so smitten with Dedrick that she’d come looking for him.

I watched Joanna anxiously.

“That fairy tale book…….”

Dedrick pulled away as if he didn’t want even the slightest contact with Joanna and stood subtly beside me.

Then, covering his mouth, he whispered in a very tiny voice.

“It’s a misunderstanding. I’ll explain everything in a bit…….”

I nodded and scratched my cheek.

That’s not the problem right now…….

Dedrick’s gaze looking down at me was so blatant that I was worried he’d be caught, but then Joanna’s voice rang out, pitched even higher.

“The Orphan and the Prince! Have you read this fairy tale?”

Looking at the bewildered Dedrick, I shouted urgently.

“No, say no!”

Though he looked puzzled, he faithfully followed my command.

“No.”

“Then why is this book……. Ah, you brought it to read it!”

Joanna was desperate to be linked with Dedrick in any way possible.