I Became the Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel - Chapter 22

There was a moment of stillness. There seemed to be a bird chirping in the distance.

I couldn’t push him away, but even so, I still couldn’t say a word of consent, and just stiffened.

It happened when he opened his mouth again, just as I had become a statue of stone.

“Whew~ Our Demon King is getting it on even in broad daylight.”

A voice that I had never heard before sounded from behind me. I instinctively grabbed onto Lecht due to the goosebumps I got all over my body because of his vulgar voice.

Forget grabbing onto him, rather he instead just pulled me tightly into his arms. Although thanks to that, I was lifted from my chair, I ended up burying my head into his tight embrace anyway.

A man standing at the open window sill caught my eye. 

The first thing I saw as soon as I saw him was the horn on his forehead. Contrary to what I had imagined, the horns were broken in half.

‘A demon!’

I instinctively burrowed myself into Lecht’s arms even more and clutched the collar of his shirt tightly with my hands. My body instinctively seemed to think it’d be safe there.

The man standing at the window sill with his arms crossed was still staring at me. 

Although it was quite a distance away, I could still feel the ‘interest’ in his gaze. That feeling of interest felt sticky and sinister; just all around unpleasant.

“Sir Frody. You’ve behaved insolently. Please knock on the door before entering.”

The one who was mediating the situation was Tanma, who was standing by the door.

However, the man merely snorted at Tanma’s words and jumped down from the window sill.

“Have you been living amongst humans for so long that you’ve adapted their manners to become ours as well? Since when have we ever gone knocking before entering?”

The man who spoke with a sneer walked lightly in the direction I was in. Since he was barefoot, the sound of his footsteps couldn’t be heard at all, with every step of his as soft as a banquet dancer who could captivate their audience.

Lecht turned my body slightly and tried to hide me within his embrace, as if trying to prevent him from approaching me at all.

However, such behavior of Lecht’s did not deter the man’s curious gaze.

“Who is it? A new lover?”

He poked his head out from the side and asked me with a mischievous light in his eyes. His voice was extremely thin compared to Lecht’s, so much so that it sounded like an itchy nasally voice and a soft breeze.

“Hehe~ There’s no way my little brother can do that though, right?”

He added with a snicker, as if he was genuinely enjoying this situation.

Slither—

I took a deep breath in shock when I turned my head at the sound that came from the floor by his feet, as if it was agreeing with him.

‘That’s a demonic creature! You can tell it’s a demonic creature just by looking at it!”

Of course, that also was the case with the three-headed Kelber. 

It’s just that it was my worldview and that I was also extremely formidable.

…I was so stupid.

“So you’re the saintess?”

When the man Tanma had called ‘Sir Frody’ asked such a question, Lecht’s arms wrapping around me tightened even more. 

Noticing the subtle change, the man smiled and crinkled his eyes into the shape of his fingernails.

With a charming smile on his lips, he was just like a nine tailed fox, waving its nine tails gently and beckoning me to come over. Although the way he dealt with the opponent was rather calm, he seduced them powerfully.

“The new saintess, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hello.”

“The saintess this time seems to be gentler than the last one, huh?”

“…”

“I think they’re cuter this way. It suits me well.”

As he whispered quietly, “Please take care of me”, I felt the gooseflesh erupt all over my arms and shoulders.

It was an extremely strange feeling. My whole body seemed to be enchanted by him, as if it were possessed, but at the same time, the entirety of my soul seemed to be screaming out that I had to be careful of him.

“But… this isn’t what our Demon King has been waiting for though?”

“…?”

I wondered what his comment meant. The ‘this’ he was referring to was probably talking about me, so is he saying that I’m not the one that Lecht was waiting for?

What do you mean? Didn’t Lecht wait for a long time for a saintess? But I’m a saintess though.

“Ahh, so as long as it’s a saintess, it doesn’t matter? Well, it’s true that a Demon King must have a saintess by their side after all.”

“I’ll tear your mouth… you shut up.”

Lecht, who had only been listening silently to what he had to say, growled, as if he could no longer bear to hear it. It seemed like he was in the middle of spewing some harsh words, but then he stopped and looked at me out of the corner of his eye before he turned the conversation around.

“What’s wrong? Come on, we all have the right to see the saintess, don’t we?”

He came a step closer to me. The five-headed snake by his side also slithered a bit closer. 

At that moment, the wisps of black energy began to bloom like a haze from Lecht’s feet.

“Grrrrr…”

Kelber, who had retreated a few steps at the sound of my promise to give him affection later, stopped in front of me to block me and bared his teeth. Kelber’s tail stood up sharply with his fur raised, and whether it was an illusion or not, he seemed to grow bigger and bigger in size.

Slither—

Not losing out either, the snake with five heads also opened their mouths wide and stretched out their necks threateningly.

While the two demonic creatures were fighting it out, Lecht’s eyes were still fixed on the man named Frody.

“Ms Saintess, if you already only love this Demon King so much, what about when he changes his mind? You need to meet them and give them all an equal chance.”

“…?”

Now what does that mean?

I looked up at Lecht with a puzzled look on my face, but he didn’t allow his sharp gaze to drop away from the man. Instead, he pressed my face deeper into his arms and hugged me tightly, as if he didn’t care.

His refreshing scent gave me a sense of security, so I leaned forward without resisting as the man’s voice continued to sound out.

“Aww, don’t tell me, has the enchantment worn off already?”

“…”

“I had wondered why my little brother, who would only confine himself in his mansion, suddenly set out to the capital for no reason all of a sudden… Turns out that you knew the saintess had appeared and went to make preparations in advance, huh?”

“Looks like you still have the habit of looking at the whole world by your standards.”

Lecht said in a pitiful voice, as if he couldn’t bear to listen to his nonsense anymore.

Hiss—!

“Grrrrr…”

Perhaps because it understood his words were a provocation, the five heads on the snake raised up even higher and darted their tongues out even more violently causing Kelber to growl more intimidatingly and grow even larger in size. He was no longer the size of a large dog but now became the size of a tiger.

Upon hearing that sound, the man named Frody, who was still smiling grimly, whispered.

“Our pretty new saintess.”

I had never been so creeped out from someone calling me pretty.

“I’ll let you know in advance, but you’d better be careful.”

“…?”

The tip of his finger, which moved softly like something that belonged in a dance, was soon directed at Lecht.

“The last saintess was also naive and didn’t know anything about this world, but then she was deceived by him and had her whole life ruined. Let alone her body, even the traces left of her can’t be found.”

“!”

My eyes widened. 

Wh-What, ruined? What can’t be found? Wh-What do you mean let alone? 

My shoulders stiffened as I gradually loosened my grip on Lecht’s collar, which I had been holding onto tightly.

The fact that Lecht was the Demon King suddenly came to my mind again. 

The Demon King who destroyed the Empire.

Surely it’s a little strange that he’s trying to ‘protect’ the saintess. It would make more sense to say that he was up to something instead. 

With my imagination going crazy, I suddenly began to feel extremely uncomfortable in his arms. It was actually starting to get scary, to be exact. 

I wriggled in his arms awkwardly while the man’s voice continued.

“Ah, I was hoping I’d find you first this time.”

The mournful sign that was shed was so gentle that it would also compel the listeners to shed sorrowful sighs too.

“But I’m free to hope, right?”

He whispered in a cute voice, as if begging for me to look at him, before snapping his middle finger and thumb.

With a snapping sound, petals began to scatter across the restaurant. The distinct orange flowers that were shaped like umbrellas were gold osmanthus flowers that I had once seen in a park before. The fine flowers brightened up the heavy atmosphere and spread a deep fragrance into the air. The magnificent scent that seemed to have been sprayed with strong perfume made my sense of smell as well as my head woozy.

Just as my senses were going fuzzy, I heard the sound of a tongue clicking above my head as Lecht raised one hand in the air. 

It was when he was about to snap his fingers just like the man.

“Don’t mess with Her Majesty!”

A gust of wind had blown in from somewhere and blown away all the petals and fragrance. Shocked, all of us turned our heads to see a man standing next to Tanma, panting.

Although he looked imposing, just like someone who had just finished his military conscription, he was a man with a youthful looking face. His short hair fluttered in the residues of the gentle breeze. 

On both sides of his forehead were small horns that indicated that he was a demon. It didn’t even reach a hand span, so unlike Frody’s broken one, it was cute despite being similar to it.

Next to him was Tanma, who was holding the man by the neck with a pleased smile. He was panting for breath and leaning with his whole body forward and no doubt would have rushed forward toward us if it weren’t for Tanma.

“Now just who are you trying to ‘enchant’?! Let go of me, Tanma! I’m really going to hit that bastard this time!”

Upon seeing him huff and puff with a crimson face, Lecht let out a small sigh. 

Then Frody burst out into laughter.

“Pffft! So was this useless good for nothing still alive?”

“…!”

Frody’s words made the man stiffen. His face grew even redder.

“How did my little brother, who shed neither tears nor showed any mercy, slip into the role of a clean-up crew, that’s only fit for trash?”

He giggled and stepped back. Raising both hands in the air, he showed an exaggerated ‘surrender’.

“Okay, okay. I won’t touch your toys. Happy now?”

“I-Is that damn flour boy comparing Her Majesty to a toy right now?! I’m going to beat that bastard into sujebi dough!”

“You guys really have a lack of humor.”

Frody returned to the open window sill in the blink of an eye, stepping back onto it and smiled at me again. His demonic creature, the five-headed snake, suddenly shrank again before wrapping itself around his waist.

“Then, see you next time, Ms Saintess? If possible, just the two of us.”

“Y-You…!”

He even winked as he threw himself out of the window and disappeared. The only thing that remained from where he disappeared was a strong scent of flowers.

“Your Majesty! Let me go after that bastard! This time, I’ll definitely…!”

“Enough.”

At Lecht’s words, the man shut his mouth tightly. His whole face was still red, perhaps because he couldn’t cool down.

Lecht rubbed his temple and opened his mouth again.

“Tanma, why did you bring him here? I already said that it’s not the right time to introduce them yet.”

Tanma, who was still holding onto the back of the man’s neck said with a smile.

“It’s said that rabid dogs are the best at hunting crazy bastards.”

“Ha…”

A deep torment was felt in Lecht’s sigh.

“Both of you, get out.”

“Fufu, with pleasure.”

“Y-Your Majesty, may I just offer my greetings to Her Majesty…!”

Bang!

Although the man whose name I didn’t know seemed to be trying to say something, he was quickly dragged away by Tanma.

The door closed tightly, leaving only me, Lecht, and Kelber in the restaurant. 

Lecht had let me go when Frody disappeared, so I stood a few steps away from him. Although I was facing him, I couldn’t lift my head up.

The silence felt extremely heavy.

‘I’ll let you know in advance, but you’d better be careful.’

I kept fiddling with my hands in front of me since my heart kept pounding and the floor beneath my feet felt unstable. My lips kept getting dry despite my constant licking, and with my eyes constantly darting back and forth, I finally looked up slightly.

Lecht was looking down at me with a very perplexed expression. Seeing as his mouth kept opening and closing as well, it seemed like he didn’t know what to say to me either.

After observing him like that for a while, I finally found my words first.

“Lecht. You’re the Demon King?”

It was a question that I knew the answer to, but for some reason, that question was the first to pop out of my mouth.

“…Yeah.”

A rather delayed reply came back. It was an answer that I already knew, but my shoulders still trembled.

Another short silence passed before I asked cautiously again.

“Why… didn’t you tell me?”

In fact, that was the part I was most curious about. Although of course, I was also concerned about how he was going to destroy the empire, so if the preparations for that were finished, why he was doing so, etcetera. There were a lot of things I wanted to know.

However, this was the most doubtful point.

“We’ve already been together for a month.”

Over the course of a month, he never once told me.

“Even if you were the Demon King… you still hid from me the fact that you were the ‘Grand Duke of Arvis’.”

If it had only been a week or so, it could be that he was just careless and didn’t pay attention to that. Or he just didn’t have the time to talk about it, I understand.

But it had been a month. That was long enough for the moon to expand and then fade once again. 

This was a period of time in which anyone could have called him ‘Grand Duke Arvis’ at least once, or something about him is brought up in conversation at least once.

“Why did you do it?”

There was no other explanation other than he had deliberately intended to deceive me.