A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 120

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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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120.

At my words, Ethan’s brow furrowed sharply.
He immediately fixed Kalen with a menacing glare.
“Did you say something like that to Edith Blake?”
….
“Apologize at once.”
At Ethan’s firm command, the man’s expression twisted with grievance.
“But, Captain. Ruellin….”
“Enough!”
That was when it happened. Ethan suddenly thundered his voice like a lightning strike.
“Ruellin, Ruellin, Ruellin! When exactly will you stop chasing after the dead!”
….
“Is the one you’re guarding right now Ruellin? Is this the only reason you volunteered for this mission? To throw your weight around against the new Purifier?”
I was startled by the ferocity with which Ethan pressed Kalen.
It was the first time I’d seen him, usually so taciturn, rage with such fury.
However, Kalen seemed quite accustomed to it, standing with his hands clasped behind his back and responding curtly.
“…No, sir.”
“Regardless of everything else, Edith Blake is the sole princess of Blake. Had circumstances been different, someone like you would be so far beneath her station that you wouldn’t dare approach her. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“…Yes, sir.”
“Yet you conduct yourself in a manner that brings shame upon my name?”
“I will correct my behavior.”
With that response, Kalen immediately bowed ninety degrees toward me and cried out.
“I sincerely apologize, Princess. I was presumptuous and overstepped my station. If you would grant me your forgiveness just this once, I swear I will take every precaution to ensure such an incident never occurs again.”
….
“Please, I beg you, do not request a change in my guard assignment….”
As he uttered those final words, Kalen’s voice trembled faintly.
Having been severely reprimanded before everyone’s eyes, he seemed to be barely holding back tears.
‘Hmph. Ethan frightens him, but I don’t?’
To be honest, his apology hadn’t completely dissipated my anger.
Moreover, I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that Ethan was doing all this as some sort of performance for my benefit.
If word of a guard change reached the Security Bureau, the matter would surely escalate.
Still, it felt petty to remain angry when he was bowing so deeply in apology.
“…As you wish, brother.”
“It’s grown late. Let us first arrive in Acarna and continue this conversation afterward.”
As I reluctantly acquiesced, Ethan spoke to me in a soothing tone.
He then immediately called out to Marie.
“Marie. Return to the Imperial Capital at once, inform headquarters of the situation, and request additional reinforcements.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Kalen, move the kidnapper to the cargo hold and keep watch. Stop crying.”
“…I’m not crying.”
A true leader was indeed a true leader—Ethan swiftly organized the situation.
I seemed to be witnessing many new facets of him today.
Marie, who had been saying various things to Kalen, promptly mounted her horse and prepared to return to the Capital.
As she did, she gave me a hint.
“I’ve cleaned the floor inside for you, Princess.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
Wondering if she’d heard me, I answered awkwardly.
She smiled brightly before departing with words of farewell.
“Give me your hand.”
Suddenly, Ethan extended his hand toward me.
I looked at him with confusion, then realized he was asking for my injured hand.
As I slowly reached out, he grasped my hand and pulled a small medicine bottle from his pocket.
He bit the cork with his teeth to remove the cap, then poured the contents onto my palm.
Glug….
A gelatinous liquid, sticky like jelly, covered my palm.
At the same moment, my skin began to burn as if touched by fire.
“Ow!”
I reflexively cried out.
The pain was intense enough to bring tears to my eyes.
Ethan tossed the empty bottle aside and muttered quietly.
“It’s a disinfectant and abrasion salve combined.”
“Do you always pour the entire thing out like that?”
“….”
He didn’t answer.
Damn him.
He then pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped my hand, which was glistening with medicine.
Unlike when he scolded Kalen, his touch was remarkably careful.
Something felt strange about it.
“…It’s not severe enough to require stitches. We’ll reach the Duke’s Castle in half a day, and there’s a Physician there, so just bear with it a little longer.”
“….”
“Let’s go.”
Even as he said to let’s go, he held my hand for quite some time before releasing it.
“Aren’t you going?”
Unable to bear it any longer, I asked in return, and only then did he slowly release my hand and turn away.
Somehow, the warmth lingering on the back of my hand felt strangely adhesive.

***

Fortunately, during the journey to Acarna, the Space Ability User who had been knocked unconscious never woke, and no other kidnapper appeared.
Whether Kalen had awakened to something after being scolded by Ethan, he maintained a defensive barrier around the carriage throughout the night.
Experiencing a defensive ability for the first time, it was quite impressive.
The carriage interior became eerily silent—apparently the barrier even blocked out noise.
If not for the occasional jolting and swaying, I could have sworn I was riding in a modern electric vehicle.
Since we had to travel for roughly ten hours to reach Acarna, Ethan told me to get some rest.
Yet despite the quietness surrounding me, I couldn’t easily fall asleep.
The words the Space Ability User had shouted at me kept circling through my mind.

— Doctor Yu!
— …that’s what they said you’d understand.

‘…How on earth did they know?’
It was so absurd I might as well have imagined it.
Of course, I understood that Sephiroth was something extraordinary—with that bizarre figure of ‘999%’, countless Awakeners’ abilities didn’t work on him.
So perhaps he had seen through my possession using some method I didn’t understand.
Assuming the Sephiroth Sect had discovered that another soul, not the real Edith Blake, inhabited this body—that much made sense.
‘But how did they know about the real me in reality?’
They had seen through my soul, not my previous life.
‘…Could there be an Awakener with memory-reading abilities? Did they read my memories without me knowing?’
Since there was a female lead who could manipulate memories, it was entirely possible.
As I considered this, my previously chaotic thoughts gradually settled.
But if that wasn’t the case…
What if this world wasn’t from a novel at all?
What if I hadn’t possessed someone, but instead crossed dimensions…?
‘Then what was that novel I read? The story I remember? The female lead? The male leads? What’s really going on here?!’
Anxiously chewing my lip at this unsettling possibility, I suddenly went rigid.
…Come to think of it, this wasn’t something to be confused about.
Regardless of what it was.
If this world was truly not from a novel but reality…
“…Then there would be a way back, wouldn’t there?”

***

In the end, I didn’t sleep a wink and greeted the morning sun.
By the time dawn broke, we finally arrived at the Duke’s Castle in Acarna.
Whether they’d been notified in advance or not, despite the early hour, quite a few servants were waiting to greet us at the castle gate.
A large, middle-aged man dressed neatly in proper attire led the welcome.
“Welcome, Miss Edith Blake! It’s truly been such a long time!”
“It has been a while.”
Ethan replied curtly.
I simply fumbled for words. Unlike my enthusiastic greeter, I had no idea who he was.
“Ah! Miss, your memory….”
Noticing my hesitation, the middle-aged man suddenly clicked his tongue as if remembering something he’d forgotten.
“My apologies. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Walter Harris, a retainer serving on behalf of the Duke, managing Acarna Castle and its territory. You’ve always called me Uncle Walter quite comfortably!”
“Ah, yes. It’s a pleasure.”
Just as the greetings concluded, Kalen, who had been escorting the Space Ability User with the knights, approached belatedly.
“Kalen, you rascal!”
In that instant, Walter threw his arm around Kalen’s shoulders in a warm embrace.
“You went to the Capital and couldn’t even send a single letter? Come here! Let me give you a proper hug!”
“Ah, why are you doing this!”
“The boy’s so shy!”
Thwack, thwack!
Walter patted Kalen’s back a couple of times as the younger man flushed with embarrassment.
I stared blankly at the two of them, their obvious affection on display, when Walter suddenly spoke.
“Haha! This rascal is my son! Isn’t it surprising how little we resemble each other?”
“Ah….”
It was true. Compared to Walter’s imposing frame, the somewhat slight Kalen bore so little resemblance that one might believe him to be adopted.
Noticing my expression, Walter laughed heartily and said, “He’s my biological son, I assure you!”
Meanwhile, Kalen, having escaped his father’s embrace, asked with a troubled expression.
“…What about my sister?”
“Ahem, ahem! Let’s discuss that a bit later. It’s hardly proper manners to keep our guests standing here.”
After giving his son a final word of caution, Walter gestured toward me.
“Please, come inside, Miss!”
With that, he led us into the castle.
‘That’s strange.’
I tilted my head as I watched Walter’s back.
He certainly seemed sociable and bright, and appeared to be the kind of trustworthy person the Duke would entrust with his territory….
‘Why does he seem to subtly disregard Ethan?’
Perhaps it wasn’t mere conjecture, for Ethan, standing beside me, suddenly murmured.
“In the past, you used to follow Walter Harris quite readily.”
“….”
“Don’t trust him too much.”
Our eyes suddenly met.
“I’m not as good a person as you thought I was.”
A flicker of disdain and disgust crossed the lake-blue depths of his eyes.

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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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