WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Unleashed a Gossip Gallery in Another World ◈

Chapter 22: The Shut-In Hero

──────

“Sir Elrod. Why haven’t you touched your food?”

“Ah, well…”

The first unofficial Gossip Gallery meetup, which had started so suddenly, was truly the worst.

“The food at the Imperial Ball is the finest, lovingly prepared by the head chefs.”

“…”

“So for my sake, please have a bite.”

Why? Because from the moment I sat down, Princess Ruabel had been talking to me without pause.

“You look quite tired. Please eat something and regain your strength.”

She looked incomparably kind on the outside, but all I had to do was shift my gaze slightly to the side to see her utterly ugly true thoughts.

(Author: Princess Ruabel)

[Anonymous: I secretly put some hair in it earlier, hehehe.]

(Author: Princess Ruabel)

[Anonymous: I’ll become a part of you, my husband ♡♡♡♡♡]

“…Ugh.”

Thankfully, as I forced food into my mouth with a stiff expression and chewed it, the princess’s warning stack finally came to an end.

ㄴTroll-Eraser: Banned for 168 hours.

ㄴTroll-Eraser: Next time, it’s a permaban, got it?

Thanks to a slash from Azrakan’s august fixed handle, Princess Ruabel’s dark posts about her desires were no longer visible.

“Ghk…!”

And yet, look at her grinding her teeth and letting out a groan as if she had been grievously wronged.

I was genuinely worried that she would soon get caught and be stripped of her title as princess.

“Excuse me, Sir Elrod.”

“…?”

“I apologize for being so forward when we have only just met…”

But once Princess Ruabel quieted down, the problem was now beside me.

“Do you know how to make a baby?”

At the Saintess of the Holy Church’s whispered question, delivered after she suddenly leaned close, I froze in place.

“I asked the sisters, you see…”

“…Saintess, you’re too close.”

“They said if you hold hands with a man like this, you’ll have a baby…”

Unlike Princess Ruabel, the Saintess was awful in an entirely different way. She was utterly relentless.

“Am I pregnant now?”

“Haa…”

“Oh, don’t worry.”

As I repeatedly sighed at words that could carry the death penalty if they leaked to anyone else, the Saintess flinched and whispered timidly.

“I’ll keep this a secret between just the two of us…”

Then she quietly smiled with her eyes and held a finger to her lips.

‘Would enrolling in the academy be better?’

I began seriously considering whether I should run out of the ballroom this very instant.

But in truth, my ordeal had only just begun.

“Drink.”

“Pardon?”

“Did you not hear me with both ears just now?”

Lady Yurian, who had been drinking wine without restraint, finally narrowed her eyes and began speaking to me.

“I said drink.”

She swirled a wineglass before my eyes and tried to force me into the social circuit’s version of hazing.

“I’m not good with alcohol…”

Naturally, I tried to refuse her unreasonable behavior, but Lady Yurian began radiating killing intent the next moment.

“Do you dare refuse alcohol offered by a duke’s daughter?”

“I apologize…”

“Aha. Looking at that expression, I can roughly tell what you’re thinking right now, Sir.”

She pushed her flushed face close to mine and began whispering in a low voice.

“A glass offered by a fallen lady is not worth accepting.”

“…”

“That is what you’re thinking anyway, isn’t it?”

I wanted to tell her to dump that persecution complex in the Gossip Gallery, but unfortunately, I could not.

“To humiliate me like this…”

“Excuse me…”

“The Durgel family’s second son is far crueler than he looks.”

In the end, after briefly watching the people around us, I had no choice but to take the wineglass she was offering and drink.

‘You’re one to talk, bitch.’

Thankfully, despite my frail body, I could handle alcohol fairly well.

‘Ugh, bitter.’

That did not mean I liked alcohol, so I frowned as soon as I emptied the glass.

“Good. What a good boy…”

“…?”

“What a cute little thing.”

Then Lady Yurian began stroking my head as though petting a puppy.

“My lady, there are many people watching.”

“Why should I care?”

Thinking that this was what workplace sexual harassment felt like, I tried to push her away, but she remained utterly relentless.

“The advantage of a fallen lady is that she has no reason to care what anyone thinks.”

My department head, no… Lady Yurian, was a fallen lady who had no reason to care about anyone’s opinion in the first place.

“Do you understand, little cutie?”

“Ow.”

“Your cheeks are so soft, unlike your rough appearance.”

As she kept pressing herself against my side, I could feel soft skin and a sweet scent.

Noble Lady Gallery Eraser: Got any gossip?

ㄴGossip Gallery Eraser:?

ㄴNoble Lady Gallery Eraser: Can I drop my fixed username just for today?

ㄴGossip Gallery Eraser: Why all of a sudden?

ㄴNoble Lady Gallery Eraser: I’m in the teamfight of my life lol.

ㄴNoble Lady Gallery Eraser: If I miss this chance, I’m jumping lol.

ㄴGossip Gallery Eraser: Fine, do whatever the fuck you want…

I gave permission with a resigned expression, since trying to stop her seemed pointless.

(Author: Lady Yurian)

[Anonymous: You bitches lol. Even if I’m a fallen lady, I’m still a duke’s daughter, so you can’t say anything and have to leave. What a sight lololol.]

Posts by Lady Yurian began appearing openly in the Noble Ladies Gossip Gallery.

(Author: Lady Yurian)

[Anonymous: Hmm lol. Not really my type though, hehe.]

(Author: Lady Yurian)

[Anonymous: If I shut my eyes and kidnap him for one night, they’d all lose their minds, right? Lololololol.]

‘This is why she asked to drop her fixed username?’

After glaring at her with an incredulous look for a moment, I punished Lady Yurian according to the rules of the Gossip Gallery.

[Anonymous (Lady Yurian) has been banned for 10 minutes.]

[Reason: Identity exposure stack 1]

But it was already too late.

“That bitch…”

“Doesn’t know her place…”

“Tch…”

Several young ladies had apparently already seen Lady Yurian’s posts and were glaring at her with their teeth clenched.

[Anonymous: Look at that fucking bitch subtly pressing her chest against him? Lololololol.]

[Anonymous: Isn’t a duke’s daughter ashamed to wag her tail so shamelessly? Hehe;;]

[Anonymous: My future husband is being defiled by a filthy villainess…]

[Anonymous: Did anyone screenshot the post that just went up? It looks like she deleted it immediately…]

“Hehe…”

But that seemed to be precisely Lady Yurian’s aim.

To make an issue of those posts, they would have to admit that they used the Gossip Gallery too.

And if they tried to report her anonymously, no one had a screenshot because the posts had vanished as soon as they appeared.

Even a screenshot would have been useless in the first place.

There was no way to prove that Lady Yurian had actually written the posts.

Why not use truth serum or the Oath of Veracity?

Yurian von Agnail was extremely well versed in dark magic and sorcery.

Before her fall, she had repeatedly toyed with the Imperial Family and Holy Church’s truth-verification methods, throwing high society into chaos.

In other words, the noble young ladies could only grind their teeth and watch what happened at the princess’s table.

It was such a wicked scheme, fitting for a villainess, that even I felt my teeth tremble with rage.

‘You’re dead when this ball is over.’

Of course, I had no intention of letting her off when she was skating so close to violating the great principle of anonymity.

Once the ball ended, Lady Yurian would regret what she had done today.

“Come, have another drink.”

“My lady?”

“If this frail arm of a poor young lady breaks because of you, will you take responsibility?”

After that, every time Lady Yurian did something to me, the mood in the Noble Ladies Gossip Gallery began changing drastically.

[Noble Ladies Gossip Gallery]

[Anonymous: Lady Yurian <<< Noble ladies who’ll forgive her just for today, quietly hit recommend lol.]

[Anonymous: Drink!!!!! Keep drinking, El-bro!!! Lol.]

[Anonymous: As befits a villainess, she is most accomplished at seducing men, indeed lololololol.]

[Anonymous: (Breaking news) A huge number of young ladies pretending to be drunk and doing makeup in the bathroom lololololol.]

When Lady Yurian kept making me drink, posts like those appeared.

“Hmm… I am getting drunk too.”

“…!?”

“I grant you the role of a pillow for this duke’s daughter to rest upon.”

The moment she smiled coldly and rested her head on my shoulder, the posts being written turned much colder.

[Noble Ladies Gossip Gallery]

[Anonymous: Lady Yurian <<< On second thought, if you absolutely cannot forgive this villainess, hit recommend.]

[Anonymous: El-bro, we know you’re reading the gallery. The woman beside you isn’t a duke’s daughter, she’s a seductress. Listen to your older sisters…]

[Anonymous: Maids, you have ten seconds. If you have any sense, hurry past and poison the duke’s daughter’s wine, okay?]

[Anonymous: She acted all proud while rejecting the second prince’s proposal ten times, but look at her reveal her true colors the moment she fell, fuck.]

‘Go on, keep this fucking shitshow going.’

After suffering at the hands of the three horrible women, especially Lady Yurian, for quite some time and wishing for the Imperial Ball to end quickly…

“…Huh?”

Lady Yurian, who had been grinning at the other young ladies while leaning against my shoulder, suddenly turned cold.

“No?”

“Ah!”

The same was true of the princess and the Saintess, who had silently been shifting their eyes around.

‘What now?’

By this point, I was beginning to fear checking the gallery. I narrowed my eyes and shifted my gaze to the side.

“…!”

But as soon as I checked the Gossip Gallery, I too could only make the same shocked expression as them.

[✪I put a curse on the Crown Prince today lolololol]

A post with contents too impossible to ignore was boldly sitting among the featured posts of the Noble Ladies Gossip Gallery.

* * *

----------

[✪Title: I put a curse on the Crown Prince today lolololol]

Author: Anonymous

(Attached a photo.)

You colluded with the Crown Princess to ruin me, and you thought you would live comfortably? Lol.

I liked you that much, yet you switched to another bitch. You must pay dearly for that, right?

----------

The Noble Ladies Gossip Gallery, which had been ablaze with talk about Elrod.

That scene of madness went quiet as though cold water had been poured over it due to a sudden featured post with chilling content.

Anonymous1: This is fake, right?

Anonymous2: Is that a dark magic seal engraved on her back?

Anonymous3: I think this bastard is serious!?

Anonymous4: Shouldn’t we report this?

On the woman’s fully exposed back in the photo was an intricate dark magic barrier, boldly engraved so finely that it could not possibly be fake.

(Author): The effect should be kicking in around now, right? Lol.

And the moment the author of the post wrote that comment…

“Cough, cough…”

A coughing sound suddenly began coming from the Crown Prince’s seat.

“…Ghk!”

The next moment, the Crown Prince vomited blood and collapsed forward onto the floor.

“Eeeeeek!!!”

“C-Crown Prince Lukabel!?”

“M-my son! What is happening?!”

A few seconds later, the ballroom naturally began descending into chaos.

“Call a physician, call a physician!!!”

“I-I’ll see to him!”

Thankfully, the Crown Prince, collapsed on the floor, escaped immediate danger after the Saintess of the Holy Church rushed over and treated him.

“For now, his life is no longer in danger.”

“Phew…”

“T-thank goodness…”

Everyone watching the situation let out sighs of relief.

Then, at that very moment…

-Click, click…

The sharp sound of high heels suddenly began filling the ballroom.

“…?”

The sound stopped before Lady Yurian, who wore a bewildered expression.

-Slap!

The next moment, an ear-splitting sound rang clearly through the ballroom.

“How dare you try to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince, you bitch?”

The person who struck Lady Yurian across the cheek with all her strength and breathed heavily with fury was none other than the Crown Princess.

“What are you… talking about?”

“Do not deny it.”

“Ghk, let go!”

The Crown Princess grabbed Lady Yurian’s arm and pulled her to her feet, then whispered with a bitter smile.

“Today, I will expose your ugliness to the entire world.”

After taking a moment to steady herself, the Crown Princess began speaking in a grave voice.

“I will willingly accept the punishment for what I am about to say.”

As everyone’s attention focused on her, the Crown Princess spoke with clear tension in her expression.

“Those present, please check the post uploaded to the unauthorized gallery a short while ago.”

Murmurs instantly filled the ballroom.

“Have you all seen it?”

“…!”

“The unmistakable traces of dark magic engraved on the woman’s back in the photograph!”

In the midst of that disorderly atmosphere, the Crown Princess suddenly raised her voice.

“And those who know, know!”

The Crown Princess paused, then finished while glaring at Lady Yurian, whom she still held.

“That Lady Yurian, who recently fell from grace, is suspected of having dabbled in dark magic.”

Gasping sounds began rising from all around.

“Nonsense!”

At the same time, in the now icy atmosphere, Lady Yurian raised her voice with a flustered expression.

“It is completely false that I have dabbled in dark magic!”

“…”

“And if I were the culprit, would I have written a post with contents that so plainly exposed my identity!?”

But the Crown Princess curled her lips upward at those words and replied coldly.

“Of course, no one who is not a fool would do such a thing.”

She looked around at everyone once again with a meaningful expression.

“Unless they are someone blinded by love and revenge, with nothing left to lose.”

At that moment, Lady Yurian’s body, which had been listening silently, began trembling with anger.

“Nonsense…”

Lady Yurian muttered in an incredulous tone, suppressed her fury, and retorted calmly.

“I swear that I have never loved the Crown Prince even once in my life.”

“…”

“You were simply mistaken all along, Crown Princess.”

But the mood around them remained cold.

And most of the cold stares people cast were directed at Lady Yurian, whose past misdeeds had already been exposed to the entire world.

“I can prove it with the Oath of Veracity right now! I…”

“Why take such a difficult path, Lady Yurian?”

Lady Yurian gritted her teeth and raised her voice again, but the Crown Princess interrupted her with a cold smile.

“All you have to do is take off your clothes and show your back right now.”

At that instant, everyone could clearly see Lady Yurian’s pupils shake.

“Why is that?”

“…”

“Is there perhaps something on your back that must not be seen?”

The Crown Princess’s words further deepened everyone’s suspicions.

“I…”

Just as the atmosphere was beginning to race toward its conclusion, Lady Yurian muttered in a trembling voice.

“Enough. Stop this.”

The Crown Prince, breathing heavily with a pale expression, spoke in a subdued voice.

“It is truly fortunate that the Saintess of the Holy Church is here today…”

Still wiping the blood at the corner of his lips with his sleeve, he rose to his feet, walked toward the Crown Princess, and began reproaching her.

“By His Majesty’s imperial decree, unauthorized galleries are clearly forbidden.”

“…”

“My wife, no matter if you did it for my sake, your crime is a grave one.”

The Crown Prince embraced the Crown Princess, whose head was lowered, and muttered with a helpless expression.

“So, this incident… shall simply be buried.”

“Your Highness, but!”

“You will be quiet.”

He stroked the back of the Crown Princess, who trembled with rage, then shifted his gaze aside.

“Do not drag what happened in an unauthorized gallery into reality. That is the Imperial Family’s position now.”

“…”

“Is that not right, Your Majesty?”

At his silent signal, Emperor Rudric finally cleared his throat and spoke.

“If that is the wish of you, the victim…”

He shook his head, then looked at Lady Yurian, who stood blankly in place.

“Of course, as Emperor of the Empire, I cannot overlook this matter.”

Everyone’s attention instantly turned to Lady Yurian, who bit her lip and lowered her gaze.

“However, there is no victim…”

“…”

“And we cannot force a lady to remove her clothes.”

Lady Yurian began trembling again at those words, but she ultimately did not reveal her back to everyone.

“Above all, I do not wish to further ruin this ball over something that happened in that vile gallery.”

The emperor narrowed his eyes as if he had expected this, then issued an order with a stern expression.

“Therefore, after one hour of rest, the Imperial Ball shall resume.”

Having finished speaking, the emperor rose from his seat and calmly walked out of the ballroom.

“…However, I will personally demand an explanation from House Agnail regarding this matter.”

Once the situation had been settled for the time being, people began leaving the ballroom all at once, whispering about what had just occurred.

“…”

They all cast cold looks at Lady Yurian, who stood blankly in the center of the ballroom.

“That is why I told you.”

“…”

“From now on, live as though you are dead.”

The Crown Princess, passing beside Lady Yurian, whispered those words into her ear with a hint of laughter.

“If you had something to say, you should have said it directly to my face.”

The Crown Prince passed by as well, speaking in an unnecessarily warm tone while wearing an expression of deep disappointment.

“I-I…”

Only then did Lady Yurian come to her senses and belatedly move her lips to say something.

“I had nothing to do with this…”

But after everyone left due to the emperor’s declaration of recess, silence was all that remained in the ballroom.

“…Ghk.”

Lady Yurian had no choice but to close her mouth.

“…”

With her shoulders drooping, she weakly walked toward the empty terrace.

“Huh.”

Only one man remained in the ballroom, watching Lady Yurian’s retreating figure.

“To think something like this would happen.”

The man who had silently watched the entire situation until then was none other than Elrod Durgel.

‘My old temperament is starting to come out again.’

His expression, as the only person who knew the truth of today’s events, gradually turned cold.

* * *

“Hmm…”

After sitting still for a long time, I quietly rose only after organizing the entire situation in my head.

[✪She presumed to rise above her station, and now she has her just deserts, indeed lololololol.]

[✪Lady Yurian <<< She can never recover from this now, right? Nice.]

[✪Apparently she was holding out against pressure from the council just because she was a duke’s daughter, but this really is the end for her lolololol.]

[✪She’ll probably be removed from the family register and sold off to some shabby old man before long? Lololololol.]

Beside me, posts from noble young ladies excitedly discussing what had just happened were appearing in real time.

[✪Noble ladies who watched her face go pale in real time when they told her to take off her clothes and show her back, hit recommend lolololol.]

“Tch…”

The topic was still confined to the Noble Ladies Gossip Gallery, but its repercussions would surely spread to various galleries before long.

‘She definitely went this way.’

Clicking my tongue briefly, I followed Lady Yurian, who had headed somewhere empty a short while ago.

“…”

I finally found her leaning against the terrace railing, head lowered as she spent a lonely moment alone.

(Author: Lady Yurian)

[Anonymous: Been framed so often it doesn't even bother me anymore lol.]

(Author: Lady Yurian)

[Anonymous: So ridiculous I can't even crack a smile lol.]

Of course, judging by the posts she was making in the Gossip Gallery, she seemed perfectly fine on the surface.

But anyone who looked closely at her as she leaned against the terrace would know.

“…”

Lady Yurian wore an expression as though it would not be strange for her to jump off right then.

‘This is serious.’

I made a serious expression as well and slowly approached her.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

Her voice suddenly came out cracked and hoarse.

“My apologies.”

“…”

“You did not look well.”

Hearing the voice that sounded as though she were holding back tears, I naturally leaned against the railing beside her in the same posture and looked out at the night view.

“I say this just in case, but a person’s life is precious.”

Lady Yurian, who had silently kept her head lowered, slowly raised it.

“…You say something similar to what someone else said.”

“Pardon?”

“No, it is nothing…”

She blankly muttered, lowered her head again, and spent a long time in silence.

“What would you do, if you were in my position?”

She suddenly asked me a question.

“Would you expose your family’s secret, or accept the false accusation and fall into the abyss?”

“…”

“If you had to choose one of the two, which would you choose?”

I carefully selected my answer in my head, then finally opened my mouth.

“I…”

“Enough. You do not need to answer.”

Her voice came out even darker than before.

“There is only one thing I can choose…”

As I quietly watched Lady Yurian bite her lip after saying that, I shifted my gaze to the side.

(Author: Crown Princess)

[Anonymous: That is why you should not have acted up so much lol.]

(Author: Crown Prince Lukabel)

[Anonymous: Crown Princess <<< If you think she is a wise and virtuous wife, hit recommend ㅠㅠ]

The key figures in this incident were already celebrating and stirring up the Gossip Gallery’s mood.

“Look at these bastards…”

Unable to hold back my anger, I cursed aloud, and a bewildered voice came from beside me.

“What did you just say?”

I looked at Lady Yurian again, then took off the cloak around my shoulders.

“What are you doing now…?”

When I did what a gentleman ought to do, Lady Yurian blankly touched the cloak wrapped around her shoulders and spoke with an incomprehensible look in her eyes.

“…You will catch cold.”

I muttered in a low voice, turned around, and began walking away.

“As for the answer to your earlier question…”

I suddenly stopped and began answering what she had asked me earlier.

“Do you really have to choose between only those two options?”

“…?”

“It is plain to see that both are traps.”

Of course, as someone who had to hide his identity, I did not want to interact with Lady Yurian, a fellow mod, more than necessary.

“My lady.”

“…”

“It may not comfort you much for me to say this…”

But was not a person’s life more important than that?

“…I believe you.”

If I did not say this now, it was all too clear what choice Lady Yurian might make next.

Of course, as the former Hero, I simply did what I ought to do because I did not want to become a bystander.

“…”

After I finished speaking and began walking away, silence continued behind me for a long time.

“Ghk…”

Then, breaking through that silence, came a sob from the proud duke’s daughter that I never would have expected to hear.

“Sniff…”

After looking back and watching her for a moment, I quietly sighed and began walking again.

“Phew…”

Before my eyes was the post that had sparked this incident.

[✪I put a curse on the Crown Prince today lolololol]

And naturally, I could see the true culprit behind it too.

(Author: Crown Princess)

I was the only one who knew the true culprit behind this incident.

And I would not overlook it.

‘I haven't even finished using her yet.’

The reason was very simple.

‘I cannot lose one of my dedicated Erasers already.’

Losing a high-grade Eraser like Lady Yurian would be a tremendous loss to me.

‘Especially if it is because of the ruling class’s schemes.’

It was time for Elrod Durgel to stop being Elrod Durgel and return as the shut-in Hero, Gossip Gallery Eraser.

Footnotes:

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