Chapter 15
For a while, the footsteps prowling beyond the door, whetting their appetite, finally faded away.
Andras, given the ridiculous name "Jelly" by Evangeline, leaned his back against the door frame and gasped for breath. Each time he coughed violently, he writhed in agony and vomited his insides and flesh. His face was already a mess from blood streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth alike.
The wounds from being beaten by a cat healed within hours, but the holy water Evangeline had fed him had completely destroyed his insides.
His tongue, unable to withstand the water it held, had burned away, and his esophagus had melted, making it feel as if his flesh was being seared. Perhaps because it was the Sun God's holy water, the sensation was similar to when he had been burned at the stake before.
Repairing his rapidly corroding body was the best Andras could do. If he hadn't devoured several people before coming here, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with the speed of his body's destruction and would have died.
Damn that cat bastard. He only teased asking why it was suddenly playing pet when it didn't suit it, but he never expected it to get this angry.
And to think it would hand Evangeline the holy water. If it were Flauros, he could have at least dodged, but he couldn't even escape from Evangeline's grip.
She wasn't even gripping tightly, yet the instinct that he shouldn't move froze his body. So even as the holy water was forced upon him, he had no choice but to quietly swallow the poison.
That thing inside Evangeline Rohanson's body was truly bizarre.
Wearing a human skin, it seemed to behave accordingly like a person, yet in reality, it didn't even try to hide its strangeness.
Being an entity beyond human comprehension, just looking at it was suffocating and terrifying. Was it possible to subdue Andras and make Flauros fawn like a cat unless it was a god? But that thing could absolutely never become a god.
Whoever summoned it certainly called forth something extraordinary.
Having shared several hundred years of connection, Flauros seemed uninterested whether Andras bled or vomited flesh. Annoyed for no reason, Andras had told it to go outside, but it was lingering at the door.
It complained about the smell of blood and wouldn't even let Andras sit on Evangeline's sofa, yet that cat bastard was lying down comfortably, which was infuriating.
"Be quiet."
As if that wasn't enough, it snapped at him for being loud while he was suffering in pain. Who brought the holy water in the first place? Because of it, he was dying, yet that heartless bastard was only worried that Evangeline would hear the noise and have her sleep disturbed.
Flauros, having shed his cat guise, was so beautiful that if one judged by appearance alone, one might mistake an angel had descended. Golden curls that seemed like they would melt in sunlight and skin like powdered sugar was beauty that even pleased Andras's discerning eye.
If asked to pick one flaw, it would be the horribly embroidered collar. Though apparently, he himself was quite fond of it.
Flauros rubbed his face against Evangeline's hand as if he really were a cat. At a glance, it appeared very affectionate. It would have been better if not for the hundreds of thousands of eyes blooming like mold on the ceiling and floor around them.
Because of the eyes blooming everywhere, to Andras, this place didn't look like a room but like the innards of a living creature. No wonder the cat bastard's scent had been wafting from afar.
Those eyes gazed only at Evangeline. To tolerate such a grotesque sight, Evangeline must truly cherish Flauros.
Just then, the eyes all turned simultaneously to look at Andras. No, was it beyond the door? As he was wiping his bloodied mouth, the door opened very quietly. Through a small gap, yellow eyes appeared.
"Mr. Jelly. It's too noisy, I can't sleep."
The voice coming from beyond the door was Kanna's.
Kanna surveyed the room, and seeing Evangeline asleep, lowered her voice. Not wanting to wake Evangeline, she whispered very softly.
Andras's gasps of pain could be heard clearly even in the room directly below. Kanna, unable to bear the noise between floors, had spent time outside for a while, but upon returning and still hearing crying sounds, she had come all the way to Evangeline's room.
Kanna, unable to enter the room without the young lady's permission, voiced her complaints from beyond the door.
"My sister is scared, couldn't you please be quiet?"
The Rohanson mansion at night carried sound particularly loudly. Hena was covering her ears at the ceaseless sounds of suffering. While worrying 'what if your voice sounds like crying,' she kept asking Kanna to talk to her from time to time.
Andras felt bitter at being ignored even by humans now, but reminded himself that Kanna was someone Evangeline particularly cherished and summoned his patience.
As expected of someone Evangeline Rohanson chose, this one wasn't in her right mind either. From what he could see, her eyes seemed to work, yet she walked around normally—from that alone he'd thought she had thick nerves, but now she was asking for quiet while someone was vomiting blood. After Flauros, this was the second time he'd heard such words today.
At this point, he felt like a sinner for being in pain.
***
Ah... I had a nightmare. Why are there ghosts in a romance fantasy world? I don't think I slept properly all night listening to a ghost sobbing by the door. Having my sleep disturbed, I woke up late again today.
Actually, today isn't the only day I woke up late. Since being possessed, I've become lazy and always wake when the shadows are at their shortest. Curious about the time, I looked for my phone only to realize it didn't exist, so I got up to check the table clock and lay back down.
Suspecting I might still be dreaming, I felt the warmth of the cat at my bedside and acknowledged reality. But it still wasn't as heavy as reality. While not in a dream, it was merely a world made of letters, so there wasn't much difference.
Yeah. Let's not think too deeply about it. I might get homesick at this rate. It's not like there's a way to go back anyway.
After tossing and turning for a while, sleep still wouldn't come, so I just got up.
"Pudding, good morning."
"Did you sleep well?"
I greeted Pudding, but the answer came from somewhere else. I had definitely told him to sleep on the sofa, but Jelly was wagging his tail beside me, having crawled onto the bed at some point.
"Get down right now."
"Why does only that guy get special treatment?"
Jelly threw a tantrum asking why he and Pudding were treated differently, wanting to sleep on the bed. Well, naturally, Pudding is a child.
Yesterday I asked Jelly if Pudding could also turn into a human, and got back an answer asking if I didn't know that. It was embarrassing that I'd been affectionate with Pudding thinking he was just a cat, so I avoided him for a while, but Pudding was so hurt that we decided to be close again. Though I can't do things like spanking his bottom like before.
But unlike Jelly, Pudding didn't speak human language well, so thankfully he seemed to be a younger beastkin. I'm really glad it's not a full-grown man's bottom I was patting.
"Get along."
I woke up in this body without any warning, so I assume I'll disappear just as suddenly. When I return, Pudding will lose his keeper, which is sad, but it's fortunate he's a beastkin. Jelly, being the same beastkin, will take good care of him.
Having spent a day together, Jelly didn't seem like the male lead no matter how I looked at him. He was handsome enough to be suspicious, but rather than a male lead, being generous, a secondary male lead? Actually, he's just like a pet. Is saying this also species discrimination? Am I a different-species discriminator...?
Knock knock.
Just as I was despairing, there was a sound of knocking at the door.
"Young lady. It's Kanna."
"Come in."
The door opened, and reddish curly hair similar to the cherry blossoms in the garden filled my vision.
I saw an optical illusion of flower petals fluttering like something from a romance fantasy cover. It felt like my wounded heart was being healed. Is this romance fantasy female lead quality?
"Young lady. Look at this!"
Kanna was proudly wearing the name tag I had embroidered on her clothes. I made it, but it's truly terrible. Is that hieroglyphics? Seeing Kanna like even that warmed my heart.
While sitting and chatting with Kanna, Hena brought food. Even though Jelly had started freeloading, only Kanna and I ate together. Jelly said he'd go eat and led Pudding out.
"I hope he never comes back if possible."
Looking at Jelly's retreating figure disappearing like a wastrel, Kanna said quietly.
Kanna was wary of Gabriel too, but she seemed to simply dislike Jelly. At first when she thought Jelly was a wolf, she seemed to like him somewhat, but as soon as he turned into a human, her eyes turned hostile. Because I discovered Jelly first, it seemed Kanna and Jelly had also gotten off on the wrong foot.
"There's still no word from Sir Gabriel."
"Right."
He's the male lead so I assumed he'd handle things well, but something felt uneasy.
Hurry up and clear my name and give me innocence! No contact—doesn't it seem like the male lead might fail? Not at all! That doesn't make sense. How capable is a romance fantasy male lead!
A romance fantasy male lead can easily recover the female lead who ran away at full power without even attaching a GPS, frame a duchess who shakes imperial power as a traitor with a single word and execute her—anyway, if he lacks ability, he's not a male lead.
If he's a crown prince or duke, having money and power means he can be somewhat less capable, but Gabriel is a knight captain, right? Then if he lacks ability, he's out. There's a reason most knights are secondary male leads.
Huh?
Whoa. Come to think of it, Gabriel could be a secondary male lead too!
The otherworld crown prince was middle-aged and there was no grand duke, so I just assumed he was the male lead based on his face, but thinking about it, knights were actually more famous as secondary male leads.
Since being possessed, I've only been living as a shut-in hikikomori, so maybe I just haven't seen the male lead yet.
Gabriel and Kanna already seem to have missed the timing to fall in love, so why am I analyzing this now? That's because...