IPVDRF 05

Chapter 05

Would this be explained in the diary too?

Feeling flustered, I pressed both hands against my eyes and peered out the window again.

“Found you!”

Then I saw one of the dead thieves wriggling slightly.

Or rather, beneath him, a small gray kitten was crying desperately.

“This is crazy… I have to go all the way over there?”

I stomped my feet anxiously. I still didn’t have the courage to go outside, and even though the diary said no magic in the mansion could harm me, it was hard to trust that completely.

What if I went out and got shot by a volley of arrows like those thieves?

Still, I couldn’t just leave that poor kitten there.

I didn’t spend long thinking. I went upstairs, removed a pillowcase from the bed, and wrapped it around my mouth and nose to avoid inhaling the black ash floating in the air.

I rummaged through the wardrobe for a pair of brown boots and went downstairs. The man, pale-faced, asked:

“Going out?”

I didn’t answer. My trembling hands gripped the front door.

Don’t hesitate. Don’t hesitate. The kitten must be saved.

“Ugh!”

The moment I opened the door, suffocating hot air slammed into me.

Maybe, in this world, there was only me, the man in the mansion, and the kitten I was about to rescue.

Louis de Cocoa? The female lead? They were all gone, weren’t they?

I grimaced against the stifling heat, taking cautious steps forward.

Meow! Awoo!

The kitten’s cries grew clearer, trapped beneath the body.

I gradually quickened my pace, approaching the kitten. I had glanced back several times on the way, but no arrows rained down on me.

So the diary’s claim that I was safe inside the mansion must be true.

Gripping my pounding heart, I crouched on the ground. The kitten, seeing me, let out pitiful little squeaks.

Meow! Meow!

“All right, all right! Come here! I’ll save you!”

I pushed aside the corpse with all my strength. When a small gap appeared, the kitten darted out and immediately jumped onto my lap, its fur bristling as it trembled.

It was barely born—how terrified it must have been.

“Come on, little one. Let’s go together.”

Meow!

The kitten was wary but didn’t reject my touch. I scooped it into my arms and ran back toward the mansion.

I wanted to forget, even for a moment, that I had touched a dead body.

All I wanted was to quickly wash the kitten, check for injuries, and get it something to eat.

“I’ll never go outside again…”

I closed the front door and collapsed to the floor, my heart pounding as if it might burst out of my throat.

I had awakened in someone else’s body today, the world had ended, and I had even witnessed people dying right before my eyes.

Could I ever recover from this shocking reality?

I didn’t know. If this was what it meant to possess someone in a fantasy romance world, I wished I could return to my original life.

Meow.

“Sorry… you’re hungry, aren’t you?”

I held the kitten in my arms, voice trembling, and looked up.

If I returned to my original world, what would happen to this kitten?

I knew nothing, and it frustrated me.

With its soft fur pressed to my face, Killian tapped the marble floor lightly with his nails.

Right, I had been threatened by him just moments ago.

“Knowing me is one thing,” he said, bringing up what he had said earlier. He seemed entirely uninterested in the fact that I had risked myself to rescue the kitten.

But earlier, he had glared at me terrifyingly in an instant… and now he was acting casual?

“Is there anyone else in this house besides you?”

I should have said “yes” immediately, but I hesitated and gripped the kitten tighter in my arms.

Killian was dangerous—not because he was handsome, but because he was cruel and violent.

I hadn’t even set a backstory for him, but he was still the boss of the underworld. I had made him that way.

If he realized I was the only person in this enormous mansion…

Cold sweat ran down my back. I forced myself to look around, checking for anything I could use as a weapon.

Why did I just hit such a dangerous man on the head with a spoon and demand that he speak politely?

I must have had nerves of steel.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“….”

“Ah, is it because I didn’t use polite language? Then I’ll ask again.”

“Th-th-there is.”

“There are people in the house?”

“Y-yeah.”

“No way. It’s been quiet all this time.”

I was doomed. It seemed my life in this disastrous fantasy romance world was ending on the very first day.

I forced my head up to hide my trembling body.

“Why are you asking? Does it matter if there are people in the house or not?”

“It matters. Very much so.”

Killian grinned. In a normal situation, I might have been captivated by that smile—but all I saw now was the dagger lying beside him.

Could I snatch it faster than a man whose hobby was secretly killing people?

Honestly, it seemed impossible.

“What are you so wary of?”

“Me…?”

“Yes.”

I wished he would just stop that ridiculous polite speech. It didn’t feel respectful, but rather mocking—and that made me even more annoyed.

“You think I’m going to hurt you? Just because no one else is here?”

“Ah, and how can you be sure I won’t? How do I know you won’t try to kill me and take this house?”

“I had no such intention…”

Killian raised his perfectly sculpted brows. He noticed the dagger beside him and let out a low sigh.

“You’ve been staring at this the whole time. Here, take it.”

“Huh? Why… why?”

Embarrassed at having my intentions read, I accidentally spoke politely again.

“I have no intention of harming you.”

He slid the dagger across the floor toward the entrance.

I didn’t know why, but I thought I might need some weapon to protect myself, so I grabbed it without hesitation.

“That’s right. If you tried to touch me in this house, I’d be the one in danger.”

“What do you mean…?”

“The magic seal on your neck.”

“Huh?”

“I saw it already.”

He pointed to the back of his neck. The magic seal, invisible even while bathing, had been etched there.

“I don’t know much about magic, but even a layman like me can tell this is a protective formula. Just now, too. As long as you’re here, no one can harm you.”

Killian said that, then suddenly slouched his broad shoulders in a pitiful manner, lowering his eyes like a stray puppy left in the rain.

“So, I have a request.”

“N-no way.”

“You won’t even listen?”

“I can guess what it is.”

Before seeing those blood-red eyes, I didn’t know Killian’s true identity. That’s why I let him in the mansion and even treated his wounds.

I was someone who could live with thieves. But if the target was a major underworld figure, that was different.

I still didn’t fully trust the diary’s claim that the magic seal would protect me.

How could I allow a man like that to remain in the mansion?

“Don’t you need a housekeeper?”

“…I don’t.”

I frowned at his nonsense. Killian pouted, pretending to pay attention to me.