Chapter 18

She didn’t want to get involved with the villain, but staying in the monster forest would inevitably lead to her demise. So, she reluctantly took the villain’s hand and left the forest.

However, that didn’t mean she was completely free from the original ending.

By leaving the monster forest, she avoided the situation of being chased by the knights sent by the villain, who had become the emperor after instigating a rebellion. But that wasn’t the end of it.

If things followed the original story, the villain, Kael, would eventually instigate a rebellion and become the emperor.

Then, driven mad, he would lead the Empire to destruction and end up dying by his son’s hand.

She couldn’t predict what would happen to him in that process.

Even if he managed to survive without being entangled, the ending wouldn’t be a happy one.

Because after killing his father with his own hands, Carren would end his own life due to the shock.

It was too obvious what would happen to the Grand Ducal House that lost both its leader and successor in an instant.

The downfall of the Grand Duchy was not favorable for Leciel.

Losing the most reliable shield would be devastating.

And not only that. As someone who was under the tutelage of the Grand Duke who almost destroyed the empire, the perception of people towards her wouldn’t be favorable either.

For the sake of her peaceful life, it was necessary to disrupt the flow of the original story.

‘The most certain way is to prevent Kael’s rebellion….’

Just doing that would allow her to avoid the risk factors.

“But why did he rebel?”

Although the original story mentioned that the relationship between the Emperor and the Grand Duke wasn’t good, it didn’t seem like it would lead to rebellion.

Even though she hadn’t known Kael for a long time, from what she’d seen, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who would rebel out of mere greed.

‘Surely, there must be a reason.’

If so, finding out that reason was a priority.

Understanding the reason would help her think of ways to prevent the rebellion.

Kael, who used to be perfectly fine, became the Emperor and then turned mad; knowing the reason why would still be a significant harvest.

And in case she couldn’t prevent Kael’s rebellion, she needed to get close to Carren, Kael’s son, for contingency.

Closer than the original female lead he’d come to like!

That way, Carren would not be swayed by the original female lead’s words and prevent killing Kael by his hand.

Even if it was to prevent Kael’s malice, there was no need to kill him.

Even in a state so mad that he was called crazy, Kael, driven by affection for his son, chose death willingly.

So, wouldn’t it be better to persuade him through Carren, without resorting to killing?

That way, she might be able to avoid the worst ending.

‘Then, there are two things I need to do.’

First, find out why Kael rebelled and prevent the rebellion.

Second, get close to Carren, Kael’s son, in case of any unexpected situations.

Well, there were other things to worry about, but Leciel decided to focus on these for now.

It was too tiring to think about the original female lead or male lead.

And wasn’t the appearance of the original female lead a few years away?

There was still plenty of time, so for now, she would focus on Kael and Carren.

With that in mind, Leciel, after mentally drawing five stars as a symbol of importance, closed her eyes.

Her tired mind quickly succumbed to sleep.

How long had it been since she fell asleep? Leciel was groaning tortured expression, sweating profusely.

She wriggled under the blanket as if she was caught by something.

Then, soon enough, Leciel woke up.

“Oh, my God …”

Leciel opened her eyes with a heavy breath and frowned, as if she had remembered something she didn’t want to remember.

“… why …”

It was a dreadful and terrifying nightmare.

Even now that she was awake, the essence of the dream lingered, enveloping her body.

Her whole body was covered in goosebumps, as if the eerie sensation was squeezing her heart.

But when she tried to recall the contents of the dream, she couldn’t remember anything.

All she vaguely remembered were the agonizing screams and moans of someone and a voice that constantly begged for help.

It sounded similar to the voices she heard when she left the monster forest.

Leciel couldn’t understand why she had such a dream.

Nor the reason for those voices she heard when she left the monster forest.

She could only speculate that, given the circumstances, the owners of those voices might be the monsters.

‘Ugh, I don’t feel good.’

If it had been about the villain, she might have had some ideas since she had read the original story and knew its content to some extent. But she knew nothing about herself.

Her age and name. That was all she knew.

“Do I have some kind of secret?”

Otherwise, there seemed to be no reason for such a dream.

In novels, dreams sometimes revealed information unknown to the person experiencing them.

Wasn’t she someone who possessed a character in the novel?

Since the moment of her possession in this novel, she became the protagonist, so it wouldn’t be strange if there were some hidden secrets.

So, if the dream was supposed to reveal something, it should do it properly! But she didn’t remember anything about the dream!

At this rate, it wouldn’t be helpful at all.

With a sigh, Leciel tried to go back to sleep.

Although she was worried that she might have such a frightening dream again, she didn’t want to stay awake until dawn.

But then it happened.

Leciel felt a lumpish sensation.

“Huh?”

What was this? Why did it feel like she was holding a plushy Mimi in her arms?

Surely Kael wouldn’t sneakily leave a doll on her bed for her.

To find out its identity, Leciel lifted the blanket and discovered a round fluffball at her feet.

At first glance, it looked like a simple fluffball, but it had a very familiar appearance.

Especially those long, pointed ears were very familiar.

With curiosity, Leciel raised the bundle of cotton.

“Mimi…?”

Though the size seemed different from what she knew, everything else about it resembled Mimi.

Unless if this appearance that was a rabbit but not a rabbit was common.

Moreover, the sight of it happily wagging its ears towards her!

Every time she looked at it, it seemed to react like Mimi.

“… are you Mimi?”

With curiosity, Leciel uttered the familiar name, and as if acknowledging that the rabbit-like bundle of fluff was indeed Mimi, it nodded its head happily and wagged its forelegs.

“What in the world….”

Why would Mimi, who should be in the monster forest, be here?

Leciel couldn’t understand the current situation.

However, Mimi, with eyes that seemed to know nothing, just looked at Leciel warmly.

Leciel couldn’t figure out how to react to those pure eyes filled with joy.

‘So that’s why.’

It seemed to have realized that she was bidding farewell, but strangely, it was quiet, and this seemed to be the reason.

The most incomprehensible thing among them was the sudden smaller size of Mimi’s body.

Right now, Mimi was about the size of a baby rabbit.

Perhaps this size allowed it to sneak into her baggage and follow her all the way here.

‘Can monsters control their size at will?’

Since Leciel knew nothing about monsters, she couldn’t know about that.

But among other monsters, it seemed that only Mimi could freely adjust its body’s size.

‘Still, it’s better to make sure, right?’

With that thought, Leciel looked at Mimi with a puzzled expression and spoke.

“Can you grow again?”

–Whack?

As if not understanding Leciel’s words, Mimi made a cute sound and tilted its head.@@novelbin@@

“Right, I momentarily forgot that we can’t communicate well.”

There was nothing to be done about it now.

Leciel decided to distance herself for a moment and become more familiar with body language again.

Then Leciel, with the meaning of whether Mimi could grow again, vigorously wiggled her body.

Fortunately, Mimi, who was excellent at interpreting body language, understood her words.

With that, Mimi’s body grew.

However, there was one problem: Leciel was holding onto Mimi’s neck.

As Mimi’s body grew while in that situation, Lecier felt like a wrestler being crushed by the opponent.

“Ugh.”

Although she had laid down on top of Mimi’s body before, she had never been crushed down by it. Leciel could sense that she might even be able to apply a submission hold if she wanted to, and he breathed heavily with effort.

Then, as if conceding defeat, she tapped Mimi.

However, Mimi seemed to understand Leciel’s action as simply petting it and wagged its round, fluffy tail happily.

“Please let me go…”

‘Oh, right. You don’t understand.’

Leciel, who was about to ask for release for a moment, changed her mind and played dead.

Mimi, wondering if Leciel had died, widened its eyes in surprise and cautiously descended from her body as if to confirm.

“Phew, I’ll live now.”

Leciel, who had barely caught her breath, got up.

“More importantly… seems like you can really control your size.”

And it seemed like it could be controlled through willpower, not just randomly.

‘That’s fortunate.’

Whether Mimi followed her out of the monster forest for some reason or another, it was still a child who had grown attached to her anyway.

It was also one of the few monsters in the monster forest that Leciel had grown close to.

How could she heartlessly dismiss her?

If it could safely return to the monster forest, it would be fortunate, but there was a high chance of being spotted by others before that.

Especially since Leciel, who had been particularly close to Mimi among the monsters living in the monster forest, couldn’t bring herself to harm it.

So, for now, the best course of action was to just keep Mimi with her.

But it would be troublesome if others found out that Mimi was a monster.

It might be like a cute pet to her, but to others, it wouldn’t be.

Fortunately, Mimi could freely adjust its body size, which meant there was no risk of it suddenly revealing its identity by growing larger.

If it had its original size, no matter how much she insisted it wasn’t monster, it was useless. But since the shrunken Mimi could pass as a somewhat strange rabbit, it might work out.

‘Still, I should ask for permission.’

It would be better than getting into trouble by secretly bringing it along.

Especially since she herself was somewhat dependent on Kael now.

For a moment, thinking about that, Leciel communicated to Mimi through body language again, asking her to shrink.

Thankfully, Mimi complied and shrunk in size again.

“Mimi, remember. You must never grow without my permission. Otherwise… we can’t stay together.”

Once again, for Mimi, who couldn’t understand human speech, Leciel earnestly used body language.

Fortunately, Mimi understood Leciel’s words, and they made a promise by intertwining their fingers.

Of course, since Mimi didn’t really have fingers to speak of, it just extended its front paws, but it meant the same thing.