Chapter 9
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 9
Had Canna seen the cat’s eyes, too? Hena glanced back, worried her younger sister might be frightened, but Canna wasn't looking at the cat. She was staring blankly into space.
“Canna?”
“It’s nothing, Sister. Oh? That cat…”
Canna seemed to have only just noticed the animal. She tilted her head, glanced at the cat’s collar, and then ran toward the Young Lady with a bright smile.
“Is this your cat, My Lady? So this is where you were.”
As Canna stroked its chin, the monster purred as if it were a genuine cat.
Hena felt a desperate urge to snatch Canna’s hand away and hide her sister behind her back, but the scene was so deceptively peaceful, so picture-perfect, that she couldn't bring herself to move.
The only reason the creature acted so docile was that Canna didn’t know its true identity. The fear that it might turn violent the moment she moved rooted Hena to the spot.
Oblivious to Hena’s anxiety, Canna followed Lady Evangeline through the door.
“Sister? What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”
Canna called out, urging Hena, who was still frozen in place. For a fleeting moment, her beloved sister felt like a stranger, but Hena eventually shook it off and stepped inside.
Lady Evangeline went upstairs first, saying she was tired and that they needn't prepare her bed for the night. Fearing Canna might follow her, Hena took her sister’s hand and led her up the stairs as well. Recalling the layout of the mansion, she opened the door to the room directly beneath the Young Lady’s.
As she suspected, her memory hadn't failed her; this was the room the late Countess had once occupied. Since Hena had only been hired after the Countess’s death, this was her first time inside.
Although the Count had strictly forbidden anyone from going near his late wife’s room, the space was in remarkably good condition, as if someone had been secretly cleaning it against his orders. In fact, it felt lived-in.
While Hena surveyed the room, Canna, who had already changed her clothes, flopped onto the bed. At home, she always insisted on sitting up because she hated lying down, but she must have been exhausted.
She had only just recovered enough to move, and now she was injured again. In her pajamas, the wounds on her neck and the chafed marks from the ropes were even more visible.
“Sister, I can hear the Young Lady walking around upstairs.”
Canna, who had seemed to be resting with her eyes closed, suddenly spoke.
A sound? Hena focused, listening intently, but she couldn’t hear a thing. The Rohanson mansion was exceptionally quiet at night, and the floor above was covered with thick carpets. Besides, the Young Lady was light on her feet. How could Canna possibly hear her?
As Hena glanced up at the ceiling, she noticed the chandelier swaying as if caught in a draft. She figured Canna had mistaken that for footsteps.
“Maybe it’s just the chandelier swaying?”
“Really? I guess so. Anyway, I’m glad we picked this room. I like it.”
Canna didn’t argue. She simply nodded and changed the subject.
“The bed is big enough for both of us, too.”
Lady Evangeline had offered Hena her own room, but Hena had desperately refused, terrified of leaving her sister alone. The Countess’s room was larger than their entire house, and as Canna said, the bed was more than big enough for two.
Hena finished preparing for bed and lay down next to her sister. It had been a long time since they had slept side-by-side like this. They faced each other in the darkness, their hands clasped together. The day had been so long that sleepiness washed over her quickly. Just as she was about to drift off, Canna spoke in a soft voice.
“You know, Sister… thank you for coming to save me today. I was really scared.”
Hena squeezed her sister’s hand tightly. A pang of guilt struck her. She had thought her sister a stranger, even for a moment, when in reality, Canna had just been forcing herself to act brave while still terrified inside. No matter how Canna acted, she would always be Hena’s precious little sister.
* * *
My goal has officially changed: I’m going to get close to Canna. Trying to approach the Knight Commander, the male lead, would just make me look like a typical obsessive villainess. I don’t want to date a fictional character anyway. The real shortcut to escaping my villainess fate is to get on the female lead’s good side!
I’m betting my life on Canna!
Considering she was kidnapped during her very first meeting with the male lead, this world seems pretty dark for a RoFan novel. Canna is bound to have a rough time ahead. I asked if she’d like to stay at the mansion, thinking it would be good to be nearby to save her whenever an incident occurred while we bonded. Thanks to the favorability I’d built up, Canna readily agreed. And as a bonus, I got Hena, too!
When I went to tell the Count that the two of them would be using the third floor, I was told he was away on business. That’s odd. His lights were on just last night. Did he pull an all-nighter and sleep in?
As I glared at the butler in silence, he bowed his head and apologized. Sigh. What’s the point of taking it out on him? This is all the Count’s fault.
“If you have a message, I will deliver it.”
Hena said she would speak to the butler herself, so I couldn’t exactly jump the gun. If I spoke first and ruined the favorability I’d worked so hard to build, I’d be the only one losing out.
The butler asked me to write a letter instead, so I had no choice but to send a note to the Count saying I’d be using the vacant rooms on the third floor. Thank goodness for this language patch!
Fearing he might just coldly refuse, I tore a page from the Countess’s diary and attached it. The page was filled with her cursing her husband after being scammed into marriage. What a jerk! If he has even a shred of a conscience, he’ll approve. I handed the letter to the butler.
“Don’t you dare open this. Just deliver it. I’ll be watching.”
I gave him the classic “teacher has eyes in the back of her head” warning. If the butler saw the diary entry, he might try to remove it. I couldn’t let that happen.
I thought a reply would take a day, but it took three. The Count’s scribbled response told me to do whatever I wanted, but he added that next time he was away, I should go through the butler and never send him a letter like that again. Well, maybe you should meet me in person so we can talk, then?
The next day, the lights in the Count’s room were on again. He must have returned. I didn’t bother going to greet him, knowing I’d just be turned away at the door.
When I broke the news to Hena and Canna, who had been living uncomfortably for the past four days, Canna was delighted. Hena still seemed a bit uneasy, but Canna—perhaps because she’s the female lead—possessed extraordinary adaptability.
* * *
“Jim. Please, at least eat something. What on earth have you been doing, holed up in your room for three days?”
I heard a voice knocking at the door, pleading, but I paid it no mind. Who was it? My wife, or my mother? Was I even married? It didn’t matter.
Right now, fulfilling my mission was more important than anything. I dipped my brush and drew a line. On a canvas that looked as if it were covered in fluttering ash, I captured flames. I depicted a holy angel, burned black until only a hollow shell remained.
I made my living as a painter. When I first debuted, I was hailed as a genius, but my work didn’t suit the tastes of the nobility, and I quickly fell from grace. Now, I was a parasite living off my wife. I had to complete a masterpiece, and soon.
While wandering in search of inspiration, I discovered a strange fire. The sun-like flames had died down, leaving only a few knights behind as the others withdrew. Just as public interest was fading, someone who had peeked inside screamed, “I saw an angel!”
The remaining knights couldn’t control the crowd. Thanks to the chaos, it wasn’t hard to see inside. The moment I saw the angel in the scorched building, just as the person had claimed, a singular thought consumed me: I had to paint that scene.
I returned home immediately and picked up my brush.
I didn’t even sketch. My only thought was to finish the painting before the memory evaporated. I had no appetite. I didn’t care if I withered away and died.
I don’t know how many days have passed. A week? A month? Or has it only been two hours?
I tried to finish the painting, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. Was my art too feeble to manifest that vision? How miserable. In my anxiety, I picked at a hangnail until it bled. When I put my finger in my mouth, I tasted the tang of iron. Then, a strange impulse seized me.
My hands… I need my hands to paint. I snatched up a palette knife and stabbed my own thigh. A sharp pain shot through me as blood blossomed through my trousers. I soaked my brush in the blood seeping from the wound and began to paint again. Only then was the angel’s halo perfect.
* * *
“Done!”
I was proudly admiring the page I’d filled to the brim when Canna suddenly popped up from behind me.
“My Lady, what did you write? I can’t read it.”
“It’s nothing.”
Eek! You scared me. I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. I was so focused I didn’t even notice her looking over my shoulder. Thank goodness I wrote it in Hangul, or she would have caught me. I can’t let anyone find out, especially not the female lead.
I covered the paper, acting casual. This was my carefully devised plan to escape my villainess fate. I had completed it after much deliberation, deducing everything I could from the original novel to figure out how to extend my life. It took me a full two days.
“Canna, don’t be rude to the Young Lady.”
“It’s okay, Sister. The Young Lady dotes on me.”
Hena, who had returned with trays for two, scolded Canna for clinging to my side. Since I didn’t want to suffer through eating alone in the cavernous dining hall, I had started taking my meals in my room with Canna to get closer to her.
“It would be nice if you ate with us, too, Sister.”
“I’m more comfortable in the dining hall, so it’s fine.”
I had invited Hena to join us, but she seemed so uncomfortable around me that she ended up with indigestion. We agreed it was better for just Canna and me to eat together.
“That was a good meal.”
I finished eating quickly and cleansed my palate with some tea.
Canna has a great appetite; whenever I eat with her, the food seems to go down much easier.
To think she could restore an appetite I didn’t even have… Is this the power of a RoFan female lead? If she did mukbangs in the real world, she’d be incredibly successful.
Wait. Does that mean popular mukbang streamers are all RoFan female leads? Just as I was spinning this nonsensical theory, Hena called out to me.
“My Lady, a letter has arrived.”