The footsteps outside the door—which had been tormenting Andras's hunger for what felt like hours—finally faded into silence.
Andras, whom Evangeline had saddled with the ridiculous nickname "Jelly," slumped against the door frame, chest heaving. Each coughing fit brought excruciating agony, followed by retching that expelled chunks of his own dissolving flesh. Blood streamed freely from his eyes, his nose, his mouth, painting his face in crimson streaks.
The wounds from the cat's claws had healed within hours. But the holy water Evangeline had forced down his throat was destroying him from the inside.
His tongue burned as though he'd swallowed boiling oil. His esophagus was *melting*, the pain beyond anything mortal language could describe. The sensation reminded him of being burned at the stake—fitting, really, since it was the holy water of the sun god himself.
All Andras could do was desperately try to rebuild his rapidly deteriorating body. If not for that hearty meal before his visit to the estate, he would have long since given up the ghost entirely.
*Damn that wretched kitten!*
Andras had only been teasing him—mocking Plauros for playing the role of a pampered house pet—and the beast had taken such vicious offense.
Who could have predicted he would bring Evangeline *holy water*? Andras might have been able to evade Plauros in a direct confrontation, but there was no escape from Evangeline herself.
She hadn't even been holding him tightly. Yet some primal instinct had rendered his body completely numb. He could only watch, helpless and horrified, as she brought the deadly poison to his lips and *made* him swallow.
The entity that possessed Evangeline Rohanson was truly... *strange*.
She wore a human shell and tried to behave appropriately within its limitations, but at the same time, she made no effort whatsoever to conceal her fundamental *alienness*.
Her mere presence made Andras's ancient heart seize with terror. What manner of creature was this, capable of subjugating both him *and* Plauros without apparent effort? It certainly wasn't a god—he would have recognized divinity...
*Whoever summoned this entity made a catastrophic mistake.*
Plauros, with whom Andras had been acquainted for centuries, seemed entirely unconcerned that his old friend was bleeding and coughing up his own dissolving entrails. Andras, out of petty spite, had positioned himself to block Plauros's exit from the room.
That impudent cat—who had earlier forbidden Andras from sitting on Evangeline's blood-stained sofa—was now lounging upon it himself, completely at ease.
"*Quiet*," Plauros hissed.
Not only had the wretch brought holy water, but now he was complaining about death groans! He wasn't the slightest bit concerned about Andras's fate; his only worry was that Evangeline might wake from the noise.
Having shed his feline disguise, Plauros was transformed into something breathtaking. He was so beautiful he could easily be mistaken for an angel descended from heaven itself. Golden curls cascaded like rays of captured sunlight. Alabaster skin glowed with inner luminescence. Even the discerning Andras was forced to acknowledge his beauty.
The only flaw was that *ridiculous* collar around his neck—which, bizarrely, Plauros himself seemed to treasure above all things.
He had nestled into Evangeline's hand like a real cat, purring contentedly. The scene would have been idyllic if not for the hundreds of thousands of *eyes* that covered the walls and ceiling like spreading mold.
Those eyes transformed the room into something resembling the innards of some vast, impossible monster. No wonder Plauros always emanated that nauseating smell—he practically *lived* inside the creature.
Every single eye was fixed upon Evangeline. If she could tolerate such a repulsive spectacle surrounding her, it meant that Plauros was truly dear to her heart.
Suddenly, all the eyes swiveled toward Andras... or perhaps toward the door behind him?
He wiped his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. At that precise moment, the door swung silently open. A single yellow eye gleamed in the narrow crack.
"Mr. Jelly, you're disturbing my sleep."
Kanna's voice drifted through the gap. She surveyed the room, spotted Evangeline sleeping peacefully, and immediately lowered her voice to a whisper—afraid of waking her mistress.
Andras's death groans had apparently been audible even from the floor below. Kanna, unable to bear the noise, had ventured outside her room. When she'd returned, she'd heard the sounds emanating from Evangeline's quarters once more and decided to lodge a complaint.
Not daring to enter without explicit permission, she remained standing outside the threshold.
"Please, be quiet..." she whispered. "My sister is frightened."
At night, sounds carried with terrible clarity throughout the Rohanson estate. Hena, covering her ears with trembling hands, had begged Kanna to talk to her—anything to distract from the endless moaning. She was afraid Kanna's voice might turn to weeping if she stayed silent.
Andras felt a sting of wounded pride at being ignored even by a *human*. But then he remembered that Kanna was Evangeline's favorite. He had to be patient. He had to endure.
As expected from Evangeline Rohanson's protégée, this girl had her own peculiarities. She had been strolling about the house quite calmly, despite... *all of this*. And now she was asking him to keep quiet while he was literally expelling his own organs.
This was the second time today someone had shown such callous disregard—first Plauros, now her...
Inexplicably, Andras felt *guilty*.
---
## — Morning —
*A nightmare... it had to be a nightmare.*
Why were there *ghosts* in a romance novel world? All night long, something had been scratching at her door and moaning...
Evangeline woke with a pounding headache and the unmistakable fog of sleep deprivation. Because of this, she had overslept again.
However, ever since arriving in this world, she'd been constantly oversleeping. Now she only woke when the sun's shadow was at its shortest. Evangeline reached automatically for her phone to check the time—then immediately remembered she didn't have one anymore.
She struggled out of bed, glanced at the antique clock on the wall... and collapsed back onto the pillows with a groan.
*Could she still be asleep?*
The warm body of the cat curled up beside her confirmed that this was, unfortunately, reality. But still... this world, made entirely of written words, couldn't truly be *real*.
*Okay, I won't torture myself with these thoughts.* The last thing she needed was homesickness. She couldn't get out of here anyway.
After tossing and turning a while longer, Evangeline finally decided to rise.
"Pudding, good morning."
"Good morning!" came a cheerful voice... and it wasn't Pudding's.
Jelly sat beside her bed, tail wagging enthusiastically. When had he managed to move from the sofa to her mattress?
"Get down *immediately*!"
"Why can *he* sleep here, but I can't?!" Jelly protested, gesturing at Pudding with an accusatory paw. "I want to sleep on the bed too!"
*Of course* Pudding could! He was still just a child!
Yesterday, Evangeline had asked Jelly whether Pudding could transform into a human form. His surprise at the question told her everything—he was shocked she didn't already know. Evangeline had felt terribly awkward afterward. She'd been coddling Pudding like a normal cat for so long! She'd even distanced herself from him slightly after the revelation, but he'd grown so visibly upset that she had to befriend him all over again.
Of course, she could no longer pinch his pudgy cheeks with quite the same abandon...
Judging by the fact that Pudding, unlike Jelly, barely spoke human language, he was still very young in whatever terms his kind measured age. And thank goodness for that! Otherwise, it would have been *mortifyingly* awkward to realize she'd been slapping the buttocks of... a grown man.
"Be friends," Evangeline instructed them both.
She'd woken in this body suddenly, which meant she could vanish just as suddenly. The thought had been worrying her—who would care for Pudding when she was gone? But now that she knew he was sentient, capable of thought and feeling, she felt calmer. He had Jelly now. Jelly would surely look after him.
After observing Jelly for an entire day, Evangeline had reached a conclusion: he was hardly protagonist material. He was too... *insignificant*. More like a supporting character at best. Or perhaps even... just a pet.
*I wonder if that counts as discrimination?*
A knock interrupted her thoughts.
"Lady, this is Kanna," a voice called from beyond the door.
"Come in."
The door swung open, and the room was immediately filled with the presence of Kanna's brilliant red curls—the exact shade of the cherry blossoms in the garden below.
Evangeline felt as though flower petals were swirling around Kanna, exactly like on the illustrated cover of a romance novel. Warmth flooded her heart. *Here she was—a true heroine!*
"Lady, look!" Kanna proudly displayed the badge she had embroidered.
The embroidery was... *terrible*. It looked more like ancient hieroglyphics than any recognizable letters. But Kanna was so obviously delighted with her work... and Evangeline couldn't help but smile.
While they chatted, Hena arrived with breakfast. Even with Jelly's addition to the household, the meals remained unchanged—portions for Evangeline and Kanna only. Jelly announced he would have breakfast with Pudding instead.
"I hope he doesn't come back," Kanna muttered, watching Jelly's retreating form with narrowed eyes.
She remained wary of Gabriel, but Jelly she simply *disliked*. At first, when he'd still been a wolf, she had even seemed somewhat fond of him... but the moment he transformed into human form, her gaze had turned cold. Perhaps because Evangeline had been the one to find him. Perhaps that was why she and Kanna found themselves at odds on this particular subject.
"There's still no word from Sir Gabriel," Kanna reported.
"Yes..." Evangeline felt a growing unease settle in her chest.
She had hoped the male lead would manage the situation with ease... but what if he couldn't?
*I wish he'd simply appear and vindicate me!* Could he really fail? No, that was impossible! Romance novel heroes were all-powerful! They always found runaway heroines, overthrew emperors, and bent destiny itself to their will!
Crown princes and dukes possessed money and influence... they could afford to be a little... *dim*. But Gabriel was merely a knight commander! If he lacked ability, he was simply... a nobody. It was no wonder knights so often ended up relegated to supporting roles.
*Wait...*
What if... Gabriel was *also* a minor character?!
She had simply *assumed* he was the protagonist because he was devastatingly handsome... and because there were no dukes in this world... no suitable crown princes aside from the aging one...
But *knights* appeared far more frequently in supporting roles than as leads...
Since arriving in this world, she had barely left her room. Perhaps she simply... hadn't met the *real* hero yet?
*But why am I worrying about this now?* Gabriel and Kanna were already practically together! And besides...
---