The Villain Wants to Change Genres

Chapter 42

“… Those damn nobles.”

Taran grumbled as he gathered his long hair and swept it forward. Despite his complaints, he was diligently scrubbing my back. And quite thoroughly at that.

‘He does what needs to be done, no matter how much he dislikes it. And to his own standards of perfection.’

With Taran’s help, I emerged from the water feeling fresh after several days. He immediately handed me a cloth. Reflexively, I buried my nose in it and sniffed. It smelled like sunshine.

“How is it? Smells good, right? I told you it’s the cleanest one.”

Taran smirked confidently in front of me. He seemed to be congratulating himself on his victory, but he was just doing the errand I had asked him to do well. Shouldn’t he not be so proud?

How cute.

If I weren’t a noble, I don’t think he would be this grumpy. I had been wondering how to deal with Taran, but I just decided on my approach. I need to coax him into taking care of me wholeheartedly.

From what I’ve gathered so far, Taran is stubborn, simple-minded, diligent, loyal, and a boy who has been hurt by nobles. He doesn’t hate me personally, he hates nobles. So it should be easy to win him over.

‘If I show him the opposite of what he thinks a noble is, he might treat me well out of guilt for lumping me together with the others.’

I smiled at Taran kindly, imagining him as Luwen. Let’s start with praise and gratitude. He didn’t seem to expect it earlier. An unexpected response might work.

“You’re right. It smells like sunshine. You put in effort for me. Thank you.”

“W-who said I put in effort! I just grabbed whatever was hanging out there!”

“What? You said it was the cleanest one. Were you lying?”

“It is!”

“But you said you just grabbed whatever.”

“W-well, it was whatever, but among those, the cleanest… Ah, damn it.”

Taran, caught in his own words, finally snapped in frustration. Seeing his young, flustered face, I laughed loudly as I dried myself with the cloth and wrapped it around my body.

“Let’s go.”

“You’re going out like that?”

Taran asked, startled, his face turning red. I pretended to think for a moment, then spoke as if I had just remembered something.

“Oh, could you wash my clothes for me?”

“No, not that. Hey, young master. Are you really going out like that after what just happened?”

“Why?”

I blinked my eyes, feigning ignorance. Taran looked exasperated. I was confident that no one would dare touch me unless we were in an enclosed situation like before, given the boss’s influence. But for now, it seemed appropriate to act innocent.

“Taran will protect me, won’t he?”

I flashed a smile and gave him a trusting look. Taran shuddered and took a step back. His eyes seemed to ask, “Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

Hmm. Maybe I changed my approach too obviously. But since I’ve already started, I need to push through.

“Won’t you? Are you going to abandon me? Will you just watch if some pervert starts groping me?”

“Ugh. If it weren’t for the boss’s orders, I would!”

So, you won’t right now, right?

“Sure, sure.”

As I kept smiling, Taran covered his face with one hand and hung his head. Then, sighing, he held out his hand.

Why his hand? It was an incomprehensible request, but since I had decided to win him over, I thought it best to comply for now. So I took it, and then…

“Wah!”

He suddenly jerked his hand away as if surprised.

Come on, you’re the one who offered your hand first. That’s too much. I was about to get a bit annoyed, but it didn’t seem intentional.

Taran stared at his own hand with a bewildered expression, then started chewing on his lip. It seemed like an unconscious action. Did he overlap me with someone else in his mind?

It felt like a protective gesture, so the other person was probably younger than Taran. But there were no children among the Kans, so it must have been a child who was the cause of Taran’s dislike for nobles, or one who had been taken away.

My intuition pointed to the former. Especially considering how he had mentioned the sorrow of losing family to my sister who was trying to protect me at the mansion…

“You were a big broth-“

“…!”

Taran looked at me with a pale face, shock evident in his expression. I slowly finished my sentence after confirming his reaction.

“…er, weren’t you?”

Realizing that I had been fishing for information, Taran glared at me fiercely before turning away and striding forward with large steps. I scurried after him, hurriedly calling out to stop him.

“Taran, Taran! Wait a sec- Ah!”

The cave floor was slippery, and I was barefoot. Plus, I was wet from the bath. It was a perfect setup for falling. Since the floor wasn’t particularly smooth, I chose a spot that looked least painful and fell deliberately, then made a pitiful face.

Taran, who had been walking far ahead trying to leave me behind, turned back and quickly came to check on me. He could have just left me and gone, you know. He even diligently picked up the cloth I had dropped while falling and wrapped it around my shoulders again.

“Why the hell did you fall!”

“It’s slippery…”

His words were harsh, but he firmly grabbed my arm to support me.

Wow, his sense of responsibility is outstanding. I really like him. I wonder if I could take him home with us. He’d be a good friend for Luwen.

“How old are you, Taran?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I have a younger brother named Luwen.”

“I know. The one you said not to hurt at all costs.”

“Want me to introduce you? I think you two would get along well.”

Taran paused and looked up at me, furrowing his brow.

“I’m a Kans, you know.”

“I know.”

“And you’re talking about your brother, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re saying you want to introduce me? As a friend? Are you even listening to yourself?”

Good. Here’s another chance to show a different side from other nobles. I tilted my head as if I couldn’t understand what he meant.

“Why? If you’re similar in age, you can be friends. Oh, do you look younger than you are? Did I guess your age wrong?”

“That’s not it!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Our social status is different! How can a noble be friends with someone like me?”

“Oh, if that’s what you’re worried about, don’t be. Luwen isn’t a noble. You only dislike nobles, right? Our Luwen is a commoner, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

Confused, aren’t you? You thought I was just another annoying noble young master, but now you’re not so sure. I have some careless and naive sides too, don’t I? The moment you overlapped me with your sibling, you were done for.

“Ugh, forget it. More importantly, the ceiling gets lower from here, so duck your head. Don’t hit your head and fall again.”

“Okay.”

As we emerged from the cave following Taran’s guidance, the gazes of the Kans who were out in the clearing preparing for dinner all turned to us at once. Some of them called out “Boss!” and ran over.

Why are they acting like that?

I looked around thinking the person sent on the errand might have returned, but it seemed they hadn’t yet. Now that I was clean, I was feeling hungry. When is that person coming back? I hope they didn’t run off with the bracelet.

As I was making these reasonable suspicions, before I could even take a few steps, the boss came out holding a large cloak. What’s with the cloak in this weather? I was thinking about his peculiar taste as I headed towards the tent when suddenly that cloak was thrown over my head. It smelled musty.

“What the hell!”

“Ah, young master. Are you crazy?”

“You’re the crazy one. I just got clean, and you’re putting this dirty thing on me!”

“Don’t provoke our guys. Something bad might happen.”

The boss carefully wrapped the cloak around me while glancing behind nervously.

Only then did I properly look at the guys I had ignored out of disinterest. Some were looking with lecherous eyes, some were desperately averting their gaze while hunching over, and others were covering their faces with both hands. It was a varied scene.

No way… I’m covered everywhere except my legs, and they’re making such a fuss? Are these guys just that innocent? Is my face that appealing? Or are they really that starved? They can’t all be gay, right?

Maybe because I’m relatively small, I might look like a woman to the Kans. My long hair probably contributes to that too.

“If only the guy who went on the errand had come back earlier, I wouldn’t have had to come out looking like this. I had no choice since I didn’t have any clothes to change into.”

“Actually, Kalte tried to pounce on you earlier.”

Taran quickly tattled, not missing the opportunity. So that hairy guy’s name is Kalte. I’ve learned a piece of information I didn’t want to know. I should forget it.

“That bastard, really… Hah, this won’t do. From now on, I’ll control things during your bath time, so let me know when you decide on a time.”

“That would be great for me.”

A time when I can bathe comfortably alone. It seems like the greatest luxury I can enjoy in a place like this. I happily accepted the boss’s offer and hummed a tune.

* * *

A week had passed since the attack. The mansion had been neatly restored, but the wounds left in people’s hearts couldn’t be erased.

Especially the Duke’s absence. Though he was brusque and not often seen, he took good care of the servants’ welfare and paid well, so loyalty towards the Duke was quite high.

The Duke was a symbol of strength and a good master. Therefore, the news that he had been critically injured shocked everyone. Some felt fear, some felt sorrow, and others felt anger. Due to the accumulation of these dark emotions, the atmosphere in the Duke’s mansion had sunk to an unprecedented low.

It was the same in the usually lively stables on the outskirts of the mansion. Despite the presence of a few workers, it was quiet except for the occasional neighing of horses.