The Heroine Who Hoards All Attention
A drop of sweat trickled down my forehead.
"Huh?! What's wrong?"
Nadia looked at me with worried eyes as I flinched back. Taking in her appearance, I finally realized it.
This crazy bitch!
Her big sparkling eyes, strawberry-like lips. The perky nose between her plump cheeks. Even the dark brown headband over her black hair that fell to her shoulders. A 100% match.
It matched the description of this novel's protagonist from The Lady Monopolizes Attention, the romance fantasy novel I'd transmigrated into.
"Oh no, are you feeling unwell? Or maybe the fruit doesn't suit your taste...?"
Nadia Luminis. The woman staring at me with those concerned eyes was the one who drew everyone's attention in this world I had entered. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she "monopolized attention," just like the novel's title.
Fuck.
I should've been suspicious from the start when this stranger with a monstrous body like mine was met without any disgust. Her innocence and down-to-earth nature—that was one of the reasons why Nadia, once she entered high society balls, captured the interest of countless people.
"Or maybe you're sick or—"
"D-don't touch me!"
"Ah."
I startled back from her reaching hand, and Nadia immediately made a pouty face like she was about to cry.
"I-I was just worried—"
"N-no, it's not that!"
I frantically waved my hands to soothe her.
"It's d-dirty! I'm dirty!"
"A-am I dirty?!"
"No no no! M-me! Look at these salt stains here! And the mud and sand on my legs... I haven't shaken it all off yet..."
There was only one reason I was babbling nonsense like this while pointing at my body, freshly swept in from the sea, toward the teary-eyed Nadia.
Fuck!
In this world's lore, the one thing that could fuck you over if you got tangled with her by mistake was this woman named Nadia.
Whether it was a misunderstanding or not didn't matter. There were more than a few characters who never even appeared in the original novel after giving her the slightest offense.
Of course, right now we were still in the novel's early stages—the royal ball hadn't even started yet. Most of the monsters who got involved with Nadia appeared after the royal ball...
Except for one.
...There was exactly one monster whose connection to Nadia wasn't specified in the original novel—not even when it started.
Drakan watched from afar, stroking his white beard, as the mercenary captain pestered Nadia. It was after that day. The mercenary captain, quite famous in the area, vanished from the city.
That was just the first description that came to mind. There were more.
The caravan accountant at the lakeside pavilion tried to force an expensive necklace on Nadia. Drakan watched, tapping his fingers. It was around then that rumors started circulating on the northern trade routes: "The accountant has gone missing."
The etiquette academy director, teaching "social manners" on a golden carpet, placed his hand too intimately on Nadia's waist. The next day, after Drakan raised an eyebrow from the shadow by the fireplace, the director left only a note saying he was going on a sudden trip and vanished.
The palace knight who stepped on Nadia's ankle three times during "dance partner verification" at the ball rehearsal hall and laughed about it. After Drakan, arms crossed in the corner, offered a curt "Ankles are precious," the knight left a mysterious "manual" and his resignation at the training grounds the next dawn.
At minimum, that's how many there were. Guessing at the off-screen actions the novel glossed over, those people probably met gruesome ends beyond description. And among them was even a palace knight.
In this world, palace knights were monsters among monsters. Drakan was the kind who would grab and crush even them if they acted out of line in front of Nadia.
Of course, I haven't done anything that bad—
But I couldn't relax. You couldn't predict that psychopath monster's triggers.
And so, right as I finished my desperate excuses to escape from this Nadia—whose connection to that monster was unknown—
"...That's why. My body was just too dirty."
"R-really?"
"Of course. What if a noble and wonderful lady like you gets too close to a guy like me and dirties your clothes? I'm fine."
"What kind of talk is that!"
Nadia, who had been on the verge of tears moments ago, yelled and pointed at me accusingly.
"'A guy like me'? From what I see, mister, you're plenty cool yourself?!"
"M-mister...?"
"I won't ask why you washed up here. But no self-deprecating over a little dirt on the outside!"
Fatigue crashed over me as she stared with determined eyes, gearing up for a speech.
Ha, first I need to shake her off somehow—
Priority one: figure out where I was. Judging by Nadia's presence, probably the northeastern continent where the Luminis family was...
That was when it happened.
"Undine! Got time right now?"
Nadia called out toward somewhere on the beach.
Shruk.
A water spirit materialized in midair.
- Hi? My friend Nadia.
......
Shwaaaaa—!
A shower—no, a stream of water from the low-grade water spirit poured down on my head. I thought to myself as I got drenched.
Ah... right...
This world had spirits. Ones that peeked into the human realm from the spirit world and occasionally befriended interesting humans.
"Hehehehe."
And the Nadia grinning proudly in front of me with arms crossed was the protagonist second to none in affinity and purity. It was only natural that spirits took an interest in her, not just humans.
Still, just a low-grade one for now.
I glanced at the water spirit humming as it poured the stream. Its size and power weren't anything to worry about yet.
Yeah, it's not time for spirit king level yet...
At least that was a silver lining. The salt all over my body was finally gone, leaving me refreshed.
Huff puff. Like a wet dog, I shook my long hair back and washed my face with both hands.
"Whoa, mister, you're handsome!"
- All clean now, my friend Nadia.
"Thanks!"
- Anything fun happening?
"I might go to the royal ball soon!"
- Will you call me?
"Of course! I'll summon you again when I get to the palace!"
- Great, I'll wait.
"Yeah!"
- Gotta go, busy today, my friend Nadia.
"Bye!"
Undine vanished quickly.
Royal ball—no way in hell I can get near that.
As I urgently prepared a farewell to the Nadia who'd sent off the low-grade water spirit,
"Thank you. You gave me food, helped me wash up... Well, then I'll be—"
"Ah, wait a sec?"
This time, Nadia looked up at the sky and shouted.
"Sylvia! Can you hear me?"
......What?
"Help me out if you have time!"
Suddenly wind stirred in the air, and a hazy wind spirit appeared.
Crazy?
She'd already contracted with two spirits by this point?
- Nadia.
"This person got really wet—can you dry them off a bit?"
- Of course.
The low-grade wind spirit coolly replied and blew gentle breezes from all directions.
Whoooosh—
The water droplets covering my body flew off rapidly.
Fluffy and dry. The sticky discomfort I'd felt since waking up from washing ashore vanished, replaced by a slight drowsiness.
Okay, that's enough.
I couldn't get more involved from here. Tangling with this pure, reckless, dangerous girl alone could lead to worse than what I'd faced on Monster Island.
Whoooosh—
Still, no need to burn bridges, so I carefully started expressing my gratitude with as much courtesy as possible before leaving.
"Um, Nadia?"
"Yes!"
"I didn't greet you properly earlier, but thank you so much. Food, a proper wash... I owe you big time."
"Hehe, owe me? It's nothing!"
"No. A lady I just met showing this kindness—I can't forget it."
"Huh? No, really, it's fine!"
"No. I'll repay this favor, absolutely..."
I was trying to play the nice guy and slip away casually when—
"I'm really embarrassed, but I have somewhere urgent to be right now, so I'll come back later to—"
"What bullshit."
Cold sweat broke out instantly.
That low-frequency growl stabbed into my ears, far more threatening than any roar from the monsters on Monster Island.
"In my life, I've never seen a single decent human who said they'd repay a favor someday."
"!"
I slowly turned my trembling eyes.
And there he was.
.........Fuck.
The overwhelming real-life presence of Drakan, one of this world's top powerhouses—the psycho old man.