chapter 25
25. A Skilled Heartbreaker
After Kefir, arm in arm with me, uttered words that could move heaven and earth and make ghosts weep, I watched Louise XXIII run off with surprise and glee.
Such a familiar scenario, such a standard reaction. As someone who reads scripts daily, I immediately understood—this was Kefir, the protagonist, instinctively using every hero’s ultimate move: playing the pig to eat the tiger!
And now, was I to become cannon fodder!? Just as I thought to chase after her to explain, a variety of dramatic death scenarios popped into my head, and I froze next to Kefir.
Observing Kefir’s expression, I carefully withdrew my arm from her fair and large… embrace.
“Miss Kefir, Boss Kefir! What were you doing just now!?”
I’m just a leg accessory, but Kefir, she almost stuffed my hand into her clothes just now. If this misunderstanding spreads, the ways I die in my scripts will instantly become “not even ashes left”!
Facing my complaint, Kefir just flipped her hair, giving me a very “protagonist-like” smile.
“You don’t understand.”
I don’t understand, but it’s not that I don’t get your burning desire to play the pig to eat the tiger, it’s that I don’t understand why you’re making me cannon fodder!
“Why worry so much, just relax.”
But the next moment, I wasn’t panicked at all. Kefir, with a bit of impatience, pushed me along, and that gave me the greatest reassurance.
“As long as you’re by my side, nothing will happen, no… isn’t it about hugging the big leg?”
As if hiding something, Kefir continued to push me, her fair and large… assets occasionally pressing against my back.
“Whoever targets you, I’ll stab them with a sword. Come on, let’s go! To my room first, there are too many eyes here.”
With that, Kefir turned her slightly reddened face away.
Hehe—I’m at your disposal, I’m your wrist guard, your little round shield.
This thigh, it’s so comfortable to hug!
Afterwards, urged by Kefir, I followed her and Miss Nell, heading straight to Kefir’s private residence in her family’s estate—a separate small building a good distance away from the grand manor I first laid eyes on.
It was fitting for Kefir’s status. After all, she’s the protagonist. How could a protagonist live alongside mere extras?
What caught my eye was the minimalist furniture and decor, but for a protagonist, it’s not minimalism; it’s restraint, it’s the art of the hidden dragon! Then, Miss Nell skillfully went to prepare tea in the kitchen. From her habitual movements, it seemed likely that she usually lived here with Kefir.
Moments later, Nell brought over a tray of tea, and as Kefir closed the front door, she revealed to me more about her recent actions towards Louis XXIII.
“Euclid, to be frank, I believe that Louis XXIII you just met is my rival for the upcoming competition to the ruins.”
“Mhm.”
I nodded. I hadn’t read the script, but I could guess as much from experience.
Kefir sighed with a touch of self-mockery: “Truth be told, I’ve been troubled by my inability to improve my strength, so much so that I’ve been distracted. There are even rumors that my abilities have regressed, which is why my father, who oversees this, refused to select me.”
The next moment, Kefir turned to me with a smile.
“But this time, I want to prove myself anew! Not just to my father, but also to that Louis XXIII. That’s why I did what I did, to utterly humiliate them later and prove myself!”
“Oh… Oh!”
To even slap her own father’s face, truly…
Truly worthy of you, Kefir! Worthy of the protagonist, I, Euclid, would follow your lead through heaven and earth, through water and earth!
With that, Kefir lifted my chin, which was pretending to be dead to drink tea, and looked at me with a wild, cool, and bewitching gaze.
“Euclid, what are you pretending not to know? You have to cooperate this time.”
“What!?”
“From the way Louis XXIII acted, my family must know I’ve brought a man home. I don’t need to tell you my plans, but you can’t be as timid as you were when you first met Louis XXIII, can you?”
Damn, Kefir! How can I not be timid! You’re the protagonist, your act is the hidden dragon.
But I’m the arch-villain, if I act out, isn’t that asking for death!?
“I’ve already thought of a solution for you,” Kefir said, her lips curving into a beautiful arc. “Your timidity just now wasn’t a problem; it made Louis XXIII happy. But when you meet my father later, you must change your image, start by slapping Louis XXIII hard across the face. Given his personality, he’ll definitely tattle to my father.”
To act in front of the protagonist’s father, in front of that nearly saintly eighth-tier swordsman…
I think I know why my script includes a “death without a whole corpse.”
Kefir seemed somewhat dissatisfied with my hesitation, pouting: “Euclid, you are my personal priest! How can you let others look down on you? And what are you afraid of? As long as I’m here, there’s no one on this continent who can touch you.”
Nell quickly covered her gaping mouth.
I wouldn’t fall for the protagonist just because of that line, but since she’s offered her support so openly, playing dumb would be crossing her.
“So, what image do you want me to play? A domineering CEO? An invincible warrior? A descendant of the Ye family?”
“…”
I don’t know, um, if I had to say what kind of image looks confusing and could scare people…
The next moment, I flipped my hands, donning the hood I wore to cover the dust, and extended my hand towards Kefir, using the method I, Euclid, the arch-villain charlatan, often used to deceive others.
“I am Euclid, the envoy of the goddess whom everyone resents but no one can catch. Lost girl, shall I tell you of your destiny?”
Kefir didn’t respond, just… staring at me.
“…”
How did I do? Give me some feedback, don’t just glare at me.
But it was Miss Nell who clapped her hands: “Mr. O’Gilid, you were like a completely different person just now! Just like… um, the protagonist in the books I’ve read!”
What!?
I immediately cowered. Me, a great villain, impersonating the “protagonist” and stealing Kefir’s spotlight, that’s just asking for trouble!
“Cough cough, Kefir, I… I can adapt, don’t fret over me too much.”
“Mm… Mm.”
This time, Kefir didn’t insist, but after staring at me in a daze for a while, she suddenly snapped out of it and hurriedly patted her already blushing face.
“Whatever! Nell, take him to get his face groomed, then come find me in the main hall’s conference room.”
“Father just said he wants to see us.”
—