A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 129

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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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129.

***

While I lay unconscious and collapsed, I experienced something strange—a dream or reality, I could not tell.
I watched my own reflection within a round crystal sphere.
That dragon crystal that Sephiroth had been holding, or whatever it was.
Inside it, I saw myself transferred to the Duke’s Mansion, lying peacefully in my room.
Many people came and went from my room.
“Did you hear, Bella? The Young Lady purified the Magic Barrier that appeared in Arcana in just a few minutes!”
“Really? But… the previous Purifier who died couldn’t do that, could they?”
“That’s why our Young Lady is so amazing! Not even S-rank, but EX-rank, they say!”
From the young Maids who came in to clean, to more trivial matters.
“Why on earth won’t she wake up?! It’s already been several days!”
The Duke pressing the Physician and Eston.
“….”
The male lead number one, who occasionally stopped by my room and gazed down at me in silence before leaving.
“Edith Blake. Please wake up soon, you idiot….”
The male lead number two, who visited every day and sat beside me alone, indulging in melodrama.
“The Young Lady has not yet awakened.”
The male lead number three, who stationed someone at the Duke’s Mansion to confirm whether I had awakened, while he himself sat in a carriage watching it.
And….
“Truly a sleeping princess in the forest, if I ever saw one.”
The male lead number four, who sneaked through my window at night and mocked me before leaving.
“Should I have teased her more? If she purifies twice, she’ll be utterly exhausted.”
Hearing Serge’s murmur, I furrowed my brow.
‘Not a thief, so why does he keep breaking into someone else’s house like that?!’
As I glared at him in the crystal sphere with displeasure.
“Ethan, Vincent.”
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed.
At the same time, the view that had shown only the crystal sphere began to recede gradually….
And the silhouette of someone sitting with their head bowed began to come into focus.
A sharp bob cut slightly past the ears, an expressionless and cold impression.
It was me.
Or rather, Ruellin wearing my skin.
She sat at a desk in my room attached to the Research Institute.
“Dylan, Serge….”
She gazed endlessly at the crystal sphere with trembling pupils, calling out the male leads’ names, when suddenly her expression crumpled.
“Have you all… already forgotten about me?”
“…”
“You said you loved me. That there was no one but me, that I was your salvation itself!”
Crash!
Without warning, she brought both fists down hard on the desk where the crystal orb rested.
Then, her face flushed with indignation, she cried out.
“This is too much! I have never forgotten you, not even once…”
“…”
“I’ve been holding back my longing and working hard to adapt here, so how could you all change so suddenly? How long has it been since I disappeared…”
“…”
“If I were to vanish, you should desperately search for me and long for me. Or, if you say it’s too painful and you’re trying to forget, fine.”
“…”
“But clinging to Edith Blake, who tormented me relentlessly until now? How could you? You’ve all lived safely without the risk of rampage because of me…!”
She who had been ranting furiously into the void suddenly sprang to her feet.
If she had seen those “fools” laughing and joking together, her anger would have been unbearable…
Ruellin, pacing back and forth through the room and biting her nails, looked deeply anxious.
That sight was at least some consolation.
“What on earth is happening? If it were the original Edith Blake, this wouldn’t occur…”
“…”
“Could it be that someone else has entered Edith Blake’s body…?”
She who had been muttering like a madwoman suddenly froze in place.
“…Then what about my body?”
“…”
“What happened to my body?”
Your body was stabbed by a blade and died, you know?
I wanted to scream that and mock her thoroughly.
But unfortunately, whether it was a dream or not, my voice wouldn’t come out.
I wished she would feel the same rage, despair, and wretchedness that I felt.
You killed Edith Blake and stole someone else’s body to use as you please.
It doesn’t add up if only you get to be happy and content.
Doesn’t it?
Glaring at Ruellin, I recited a silent cry that no one could hear.
Suddenly, my vision blurred and wavered.
Ruellin’s form, which had been so clear, gradually faded, and soon turned completely black.
It seemed the dream was coming to an end.
And as if waiting for this moment, sleep came rushing in.
I exhaled slowly and let my body, which had been rigidly tense, go limp.
Strangely, I felt intensely fatigued, and my entire body seemed to sink heavily.
I wasn’t trying to wake up, just wanting to sink into deep sleep, when suddenly Sephiroth’s words brushed against my ears.

“Because that girl’s wish was….”
“To become a beloved existence, like the world’s heroine.”

I couldn’t fathom why someone with such aspirations would abandon everything and cross over to that other world.
But one thing was certain….
‘That’s right… you do regret what you left behind, don’t you?’
If that weren’t the case, I truly would have been at a loss for how to extract her from my body.
The vague method I’d been contemplating became far more lucid.
‘To become a beloved existence, like the world’s heroine?’
I smiled with satisfaction and surrendered myself to the fading consciousness.
‘Damn it.’
Unfortunately, Ruellin’s wish would never come to pass.
Because from now on, I’ll make you a despised existence, like the world’s villain.
And I will return.
To my original body.

***

When I opened my eyes again, a full week had passed.
This time too, there was nothing particularly wrong with my body.
It was simply the aftermath of expending so much power, yet falling into a comatose state for an entire week was quite shocking.
The people of the Duke’s Household treated me with unprecedented care, as though I were fragile broken glass.
The moment I could open my eyes and move about somewhat, what greeted me was an anonymous letter and a wrapped gift box.

「The crystal sphere has been safely delivered. Now she’ll be able to see you.」

Thanks to the dream I had while passing out, I could easily infer who sent it despite there being no sender’s name written on it.
Inside the box was another crystal sphere.
‘So this is the dragon’s crystal they spoke of….’
It seemed to be a pair with the one that had been given to Ruellin.
The fact that Sephiroth was willing to give me the last remaining one meant he must be in quite dire straits.
‘So we’re temporary allies then?’
An alliance with a bizarre cult leader who could open Gates recklessly….
And wasn’t he said to be like a shadow self of Ruellin?
It felt like I was colluding with forces of darkness, which left me with an unsettling and strange feeling.
I was organizing my thoughts on what to do next while gazing down at the crystal sphere.
Knock, knock.
Suddenly, the Butler entered with a knock.
“Miss, are you feeling better?”
“Yes. What is it?”
“The Duke is asking for you.”

***

I followed the Butler’s guidance into the Duke’s Office.
It was always a barren space no matter when I visited.
The Duke, who had been sitting at his desk staring expressionlessly at documents, glanced up at the sound of my footsteps.
“You called for me.”
“Sit.”
At his gesture, I obediently went to the sofa and sat down.
The Duke set down the documents he had been reading and sat across from me.
“….”
“…”
An awkward silence enveloped the Duke and me.

“Fine, go then.”
“Whether you go out and suffer, starve yourself, do whatever you please!”

It was my first time facing the Duke since that day.
Perhaps because of that, it felt difficult to ask how he was doing so casually.
I sat in silence, my gaze fixed on the edge of the table.
Thud—
Suddenly, the Duke placed a stack of papers within my line of sight.
And he spoke with a cold tone.
“Look it over.”
I asked back with a bewildered expression.
“What is this…?”
“An estate nearby and a portion of assets registered under your name.”
Out of nowhere?
My eyes widened at his words.
“Why would you give this to me…?”
“Ah, you said you wanted to be independent!”
He shouted as if scolding me, then sighed and added.
“Take it and go live there.”
“…Father.”
“However.”
“…”
“Stop this business of being the Purifier. Whether I petition His Majesty or whatever else, I’ll handle it myself.”

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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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