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EMLF - 4

Previous - ToC - Next Sute Akuyaku Reijou wa Kaibutsu ni Otogibanashi wo Kataru Book 4: “I am an Abandoned Villainess. I Don’t Bite, I Don’t Bark— I’m a Good Girl. Please Pick Me Up.” ☆*: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆ “—And that concludes all eight stories of The Water of the Grey Heron .” "—Ijou, zen hachi-wa “Ao Sagi No Mizu” ni gozaimashita." “Well done! As expected, anything you choose, Sylph, is a fine pick.” "Gokurou! Yahari Shirufu no erabu monogatari wa atari da." I felt a quiet sense of fulfillment as His Majesty applauded with an easy, generous air. The water clock in the room showed it was just before midnight. Since it was a collection of short stories, I could have split it across multiple days, but as the stories were connected, I wanted him to hear all eight in one sitting. Though he must be busy and tired, His Majesty never once nodded off. Seeing him listen with such keen interest all the way through made me truly happy. “Rather than calling it a ‘fine pick,’...

EMLF - 3

Previous - ToC - Next Sute Akuyaku Reijou wa Kaibutsu ni Otogibanashi wo Kataru Book 3: The Duke's Daughter Who Was Devoured Alive ☆*: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆ Sunlight pours in through the high windows, softly illuminating the room. Bookshelves to the right, bookshelves to the left—rows upon rows of spines covering the walls entirely. From richly colored volumes to those worn and sun-faded with age, they stand packed together with scarcely any space between them. Holding a newly rewritten version of the outdated catalog, I pull books from the shelves one by one, inspecting each carefully—checking for stains, for tears, for any faded passages that have become unreadable. To examine such a vast number of books is no simple task. Though I have been here for several months, steadily continuing this work, I have likely not even completed a fraction of this archive. I have become one of the librarians of the Royal Library of Dagenhelm. Amidst that overwhelming tension, I listened to the voic...

EMLF - 2

Previous - ToC - Next Sute Akuyaku Reijou wa Kaibutsu ni Otogibanashi wo Kataru Book 2: The Monster of Dagenhelm Inquires ☆*: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆ I should have been lying in a cold, hard cage in that frigid forest. And yet, what now enveloped my body was a soft bed and fine, high-quality blankets. Was it all just a bad dream? The insults hurled at me, the scornful gazes, her betrayal—were they all nothing but illusion? Was I still a duke’s daughter, asleep in my own chambers? But when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dim, unfamiliar room. The furnishings were refined, the ceilings high, the carpets thick and plush, and the clothes I had been dressed in were of fine make. At the very least, I understood that this was not the Kingdom of Luxborn. Nothing in this room belonged to that land. As I sat up, I realized how light my body felt. The restraints that had once bound my neck, wrists, and ankles were gone. More than that, I had been treated—bandages carefully wrapped around me. I ...

EMLF - 1

ToC - Next Sute Akuyaku Reijou wa Kaibutsu ni Otogibanashi wo Kataru Book 1: A Thinking Reed ☆*: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆ I have been abandoned. By my parents, my fiance, my country, I—Sylph Biebel—have been abandoned. Having been cast aside, I was placed into a small cage by the kingdom’s soldiers and left deep, deep within a forest at the edge of the land, near the Kingdom of Dagenhelm. That kingdom is said to be home to a monster. Rumor has it that the lord of that land, the King of Dagenhelm, wanders beyond his borders night after night, devouring maidens, consuming them entirely, from the tips of their toes to the tops of their heads, from their organs to their bones, leaving nothing behind. And in doing so, he has lived on for thousands of years. To be abandoned in a cage in a forest beside such a kingdom… it likely means that my life is already as good as gone. Alone in the pitch-dark forest, I stared out into the darkness through the bars of my cage. The cold metal stole my body hea...