A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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107.

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“Come to your senses. Saying things like that now is just deceiving me, Vincent. And deceiving Ruellin, whom you loved.”
“….”
“Both me and the Ruellin you once cherished.”
With those words, Edith Blake turned and left without looking back.
“…Edith Blake.”
Vincent could only murmur her name in a daze, unable to reach out and stop her as he once had.
He couldn’t stubbornly insist it was her fault, couldn’t whine about his pain.
‘Why?’
Because everything she said was true, leaving no room for rebuttal?
Or because even if he tried, she would never accept him again?
Both were correct, yet they pointed to something far more fundamental.
The conviction he had held so deeply, the values he had cherished—her words had shaken them to their very roots.
‘…Did I really love Ruellin?’
His mind was a complete mess, utterly chaotic.
Something—whether intoxication or the lingering Magi—surged up relentlessly, tearing through his consciousness.
“…Ugh.”
Clutching his forehead, Vincent’s massive frame finally collapsed.
Thud—.
Kneeling on the salt-soaked earth, he spiraled deeper into thought.
Where had it all gone wrong? What had he failed to see?
When he witnessed Ruellin’s death, he had surely screamed in anguish and despair.
That warm, gentle hand that would brush back his hair whenever the Magi surged within him.
The thought that he would never feel it again left him breathless, the world darkening before his eyes.
And yet….
Last night’s dream had overturned it all.

― Shh… Vincent, be good. Just hold on a little longer….
― Our friendship ended the day you said you suspected me of kidnapping Ruellin and kept watch over me.
― Please don’t suffer, Vincent….
― When you wake, I hope you won’t forget this resolve, Vincent.

Edith Blake, holding me close and tenderly brushing my hair back.
Edith Blake, her face cold as ice, driving a dagger into me as I cried out in pain.
Edith Blake, tears streaming down her face as she purified me.
Edith Blake, her expression distinctly uncomfortable, placing a hand on my head.
Edith Blake, Edith Blake, Edith Blake….
Ever since I woke from that dream, my mind had been consumed entirely by thoughts of Edith Blake.
So much so that I could no longer distinguish between dream and reality.
It was strange. Clearly, it had been Ruellin—not Edith Blake—who had soothed my wounds, comforted me, and purified me all this time.
Ruellin was the one I had loved so deeply….
Every moment I had shared with her felt alien now, hazy and indistinct.
But my memories of Edith Blake grew sharper and clearer with each passing moment.
From our first meeting, through misunderstandings, separations, conflicts, and quarrels—and now even to this strange dream….
“How long do you intend to keep this up?”
Footsteps—
In that moment, someone’s feet came to a stop before me, my head still bowed.
“Get up. It’s pathetic.”
Vincent slowly lifted his head to see who had approached.
Silver hair, fine and lustrous, glimmered and scattered in the faint moonlight filtering through the clouds.
The moment Vincent recognized who it was, he clenched his teeth.
“…This is all because of you, brother.”
“….”
“If you had just never appeared before her….”
“If I hadn’t appeared, what? You think Edith Blake would have continued to love you?”
Ethan suddenly let out a scoff and continued.
“Didn’t you hear what I said just now? You and I are exactly the same.”
“So if you had just rescued Edith Blake instead of Ruellin back then, as you should have―!”
Vincent suddenly erupted, his voice breaking.
At that, Ethan’s brow furrowed slightly.
“What about you?”
“What?”
“Why did you turn away from Edith Blake when you saw her?”
“…!”
At those words, Vincent’s face went deathly pale.
Without a word being spoken, he immediately understood which moment Ethan was referring to.
After Edith Blake’s funeral, it was something they had tacitly forbidden themselves from mentioning.
It was what happened at the Tollen Gate.
Whether Vincent froze in cold silence or not, Ethan continued relentlessly.
“I had the excuse of being preoccupied with protecting Ruellin, and Count Frederick was busy dealing with the monsters, but you.”line>
“….”
“….”
“You came running straight to me, demanding I hand over Ruellin—when you could have easily used your abilities to move Edith Blake to safety.”
“That’s…!”
Vincent nearly burst out shouting before catching himself and clamping his mouth shut.
That was what he’d intended to do.
Clearly, he’d only meant to confirm Ruellin was safe, and in turn, inflict some punishment on the insufferable Edith Blake.
When he saw her begging him to save her, he was about to do exactly that——

― … … Vincent! Dylan! Take me too! huh? I did it all wrong!
— …Vincent! Dylan! Take me with you! Please? I was wrong about everything!

The voices of the two women intertwined and penetrated my ears.
The voices of both women crisscrossed and burrowed relentlessly into his ears.
“Ugh, I don’t know, I don’t understand any of it….”
Vincent clutched at his own head with both hands, tearing at his hair as he muttered.
“Why did I….”
“….”
“Why did I do that?”
His vision spun in circles, his mind darkening to pitch black before clearing again, over and over.
His stomach churned as though he might vomit.
“Vincent. Are you alright?”
Ethan asked, feigning casualness at the sight of him gasping like someone hyperventilating, but Vincent didn’t hear him.
‘I wasn’t trying to abandon her.’
He repeated the excuse to himself again and again.
‘It was just a punishment, that’s all.’
Turning away from Edith Blake had been a form of punishment.
She’d ignored his warning not to touch The Purifier, and worse, recklessly ventured into danger. A punishment for that transgression.
Since words rarely reached her, he’d thought a more extreme shock would be necessary.
‘But why? Why was I willing to go that far?’
The answer came easily.
Because he despised Edith Blake for not listening to him.
He hated her.
Though not enough to wish her dead.
Vincent both cherished and despised Edith Blake.
‘…But when did it start?’
It had been so long since those feelings took root that he could barely remember anymore.
What reason had sparked it all.

***

Exchanges between children of similar levels.
An exchange between young heirs of similar standing.
My first meeting with Edith Blake held nothing particularly remarkable.
We played as the adults arranged, grew close, and naturally matured into inseparable childhood companions.
Until my youth, Vincent Leandro possessed a rather ordinary and gentle disposition.
I obeyed my parents well and even affected a dignified demeanor before the Princess, who was a year my junior.
An unremarkable young nobleman in every way—courteous and unblemished.
The turning point in Vincent Leandro’s otherwise serene existence arrived around my thirteenth year.
As secondary awakening took hold, I manifested as an Awakener without warning.
It happened to occur while traveling alone with my mother to inspect the Marquis’s Estate.
Asymptomatic manifestation and runaway power.
It was something that often occurred when higher-tier Awakeners manifested.
Unable to control my ability, I spiraled into uncontrolled rampage, killing my mother, several servants, and dozens of villagers from the surrounding area.
The Security Bureau moved to execute me immediately upon my collapse from exhaustion, but my father, Marquis Leandro, pleaded desperately with the Emperor and barely managed to spare my life.
However, the price was steep—Marquis Leandro was forced to surrender much of his wealth and my S-rank ability to the Imperial Family.

– You bastard! I killed my own mother because I couldn’t control even one of my special abilities?!
— You worthless bastard! You couldn’t control a single ability and killed your own mother?!

slam-!
Crack—!
The Annex Building, located in the most remote corner of the Marquis’s Estate.
Confined there, I spent a year unable to meet anyone except my father and a handful of overseers.
Having lost all memory of the rampage, I learned of my crimes through the violence my father unleashed upon me.
An awakening stained with blood.
The mother I had killed and countless others.
A father who came swinging his fists whenever he drank, overseers who suffocated me with constant surveillance.
During that year of lost power and confinement, my personality underwent a complete transformation.
Deep-rooted self-loathing, bipolar disorder, obsessive tendencies, self-harm, uncontrolled rage.
Various mental afflictions consumed me.
It was a time I could only endure by losing my sanity.
Every moment, I wished to die.
Yet death eluded me due to the iron-fisted overseers and the Healer constantly on standby.

– Master. I received a letter from Lady Edith again today.

It was a letter from Edith that was occasionally delivered through her nurse.
It was a letter from Edith Blake, delivered occasionally through her governess.
Though it was hardly more than a few lines of brief greetings, and she had never once visited him at Marquis Leandro’s Estate.
None of it mattered.
Her crooked handwriting, mundane daily happenings, petulant complaints about why he wouldn’t write back.
To Vincent at that time, these were the most precious treasures in the world.
The only things that made him breathe, that gave him reason to live.
Yes.
A year later, miraculously recovering the power stolen from him by the Imperial Palace.
After his weakened body had healed and he could finally present himself in decent condition at her birthday celebration.
That day, Edith Blake was utterly beautiful.
With the baby fat gone from a year prior and her frame grown noticeably taller, she greeted her guests with an elegance that belied her tomboyish nature.
Vincent, barely suppressing the smile threatening to break free, approached her with his heart overflowing.
“It’s been a while, Edith Blake.”
At his sudden greeting, her eyes widened in surprise.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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