A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 137

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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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137.

The hand holding the book trembled uncontrollably.
Because of this cursed thing, I’d been swept into a Gate, abandoned by Yu Ji-han.
The days of being dragged here without warning and enduring every conceivable humiliation flashed before my eyes like a panorama.
I had no idea where to even begin searching, yet here it was, falling into my hands so easily…
“That’s what you were looking for, right?”
Just then, Serge asked abruptly.
I, frozen in place and staring blankly down at the book, flinched in surprise and lifted my head.
He stood leaning casually against the bedpost with his arms crossed, grinning with unmistakable confidence.
I gazed at him in bewilderment for a moment before my brow furrowed.
“…How much of the conversation did you hear?”
He must have overheard my exchange with Sephiroth inside the Gate that appeared in Acarna.
There was no other way he could have suddenly brought me this.
“Hmm…”
Faced with my suspicious gaze, Serge stroked his chin thoughtfully, as if searching his memory.
“Something about needing to find it and make a wish to return to where you originally lived?”
At those words, my face contorted.
‘So you heard almost everything, you absolute madman!’
The way he pretended to be contemplative while answering—this guy was no ordinary lunatic.
“The Book of Prophecy, I’ve heard of it. A dragon’s treasure that grants wishes by revealing in detail how to achieve them, or so the legend goes?”
“…”
“I thought it was just nonsense made up by bored people, but it actually exists. Does it really work properly?”
He gestured toward the book in my hands with a smirk.
Still frowning, I glared at him and asked.
“How did you know this was the Book of Prophecy?”
“You said you were wandering through another dimension after being sucked into a Gate because of that book, right? When I saw a single book lying in the middle of an icy wasteland teeming with monsters, it suddenly clicked.”
My eyes widened at that.
‘Then the blood on my clothes…’
I’d assumed he’d been out catching some other unfortunate people.
“You… went inside the Gate?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded lightly and added an explanation.
“Right after you fell asleep, a massive Gate appeared in the Northern Castlon region. By order of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, I’ve been exterminating monsters for a week and just returned.”
“Ah…”
That explained it. I’d wondered why my rampage index suddenly spiked when it had been relatively stable during the Acarna incident.
The Northern Region was generally a barren area where large Gates frequently appeared.
So when I read the original work—or rather, the Book of Prophecy—I’d thought the Emperor was rather harsh for rewarding such a territory to Male Lead 4, who’d been treated like a dog since childhood…
‘I thought he’d brush it off and send other Awakeners instead.’
But Serge, whom I witnessed with my own eyes, was quite the lord—defending his Territory personally.
It was a stark contrast to his previous petulant attitude, complaining about why he should concern himself with someone else’s Estate.
‘But… it took a whole week just to subjugate the Gate?’
Then what was that figure I saw in my dream?

― You’re truly like a princess sleeping in an enchanted forest.
― Should I have teased you more? If I purify you twice, I’ll absolutely kill you.

The memory of him climbing through my window every night to mock me was still vivid.
‘Surely… he didn’t come here every day from the Northern Region while fighting?’
To check on my condition?
Of all things?
Why?
At this unexpected realization, I was engulfed in an inexplicable emotion for a moment.
I regarded him with a peculiar gaze, but only briefly.
“Now do you understand? How much I care for you.”
At his subsequent nonsense, I furrowed my brow again.
“You should rest first. Why did you have to come all the way here…”
“When dawn breaks, the Security Bureau will come barging in to take it, won’t they? But that’s not something I discovered.”
“Then did you steal it from someone else?!”
“No. The one who found it first and had it ended up dying on his own before long.”
He added something chilling as if it were nothing.
“Since the dead man’s possession is now ownerless, the finder becomes the owner.”
“What exactly…”
I couldn’t tell whether he truly found it by chance or deliberately killed someone to take it.
It was impossible to discern.
‘He’s definitely not in his right mind…’
I suppressed the chills running down my spine and forced myself to ask calmly.
“…So, what’s your purpose in giving this to me?”
“Purpose?”
“Yes. You brought this to me deliberately because you wanted something, didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
He suddenly let out a scoff.
“If I tell you what I want, can you actually give it to me?”
“Within my means…”
“I’m sorry I fall short of your expectations.”
Serge cut off my words mercilessly, his nose bridge furrowing.
“There is no purpose.”
“No…… purpose?”
“Yes.”
Offering such kindness without reason?
At my visibly suspicious gaze, he shrugged once.
“Well, if I had to give a reason….”
“….”
“If I give that to you, it seems I’ll have more opportunities to see that charlatan Cult Leader frequently?”
“What do you….”
“I want to kill that bastard with my own hands, no matter what.”
He spoke as though trading jokes, and laughed with an eerie chill.
But I saw it clearly.
The moment he mentioned Sephiroth, his pitch-black eyes gleamed ominously in the darkness.
It was no joke—it was genuine.
After a brief silence, I finally managed to open my mouth with difficulty.
“…May I ask the reason?”
“Well. When I was young, that demon hag sucked my blood dry like it was nothing—I found that rather unforgivable.”
My eyes widened at those words.
‘Then that remark back then….’
His words from the Sephiroth Sect Base flashed vividly through my mind.

― Blood extracted from an Awakener on the verge of rampage.
― Yes. Since you mentioned telekinesis, it might very well be my blood.

Back then, I couldn’t fathom why he kept referring to it as his own blood….
‘So Serge is also a victim of that fraudulent experiment or whatever?’
Even hearing it with my own ears, I could scarcely believe it.
That madman had meekly allowed his blood to be stolen.
Moreover, even if he were a half-brother to the Emperor, he was still unmistakably of Imperial blood, was he not?
I asked back with an expression of bewilderment.
“…Your Highness is the Grand Duke. So why….”
“Ah. Didn’t I mention it? Our Emperor is an extraordinarily devout believer of the Sephiroth Sect.”
“…Pardon? The Em, the Emperor?!”
“Yes. Unlike myself, who grew into a remarkable S-rank Awakener from an early age, my one and only son showed no such promise whatsoever, which deeply vexed His Majesty.”
The man spoke without hesitation, his words cutting down the Emperor of this very nation.
“What lengths wouldn’t he go to, joining hands with charlatans and harboring the insane notion of grafting my abilities onto his own son?”
“….”
“Countless innocent Awakeners were ground to dust in the process. Tsk, their limbs scattered like maggots, piece by piece.”
“Ugh….”
At the horrific description, my expression twisted involuntarily.
After a moment of contemplation, I reluctantly found myself in agreement with his words.
“…I’ve heard rumors. That the Imperial Palace conducted secret experiments on high-ranking Awakeners without backing.”
“I thought you were raised delicately, but this is unexpected.”
He raised one eyebrow, regarding me intently.
I had no time to feel offended by that gaze.
‘Come to think of it… aside from Vincent, all the male leads seem to be entangled with that experiment in some way.’
It aligned perfectly with Ruellin’s words that Sephiroth sought to steal the male leads’ abilities.
‘But what would he do with stolen abilities? Truly attempt world conquest?’
Lost in thought, Serge muttered as if to himself.
“What a tragedy. Had a massive Gate not erupted in the Northern Region back then, I too would have been torn to shreds by now, contributing greatly to the Crown Prince’s awakening.”
“….”
“A laboratory rat deliberately sent to the distant Northern lands to die, yet this wretched creature crawled back, clawing its way to strut about the Imperial Palace… how could our Emperor possibly bear it without falling ill?”
“….”
“Wouldn’t you agree, Princess?”
Suddenly, he twisted his lips upward, seeking my agreement.
I didn’t know how to respond.
I knew his past wasn’t particularly smooth, but I never imagined it was this grave.
After carefully choosing my words, I opened my mouth cautiously.
“Such….”
“….”
I didn’t know you had such a past.”
“….”
I’m truly sorry to hear it.”
“Ha!”
I thought I was offering some consolation in my own way.
He let out a laugh as if I’d said something absurd.
“Is that all?”
“…Pardon?”
What else was I supposed to say?
As I stared at him in bewilderment, he spoke with irritation.
“Don’t you ever watch plays or anything?”
“I’m not sure what plays you’re referring to…”
“Well, in plays like that, the moment the protagonist’s tragic past is revealed—that’s when the kiss scene happens, isn’t it?”
“A… what?”
Hearing such an odd word, I asked again, and he repeated it with perfect pronunciation: “Kiss scene.”
And he added:
“I went through all the trouble of retrieving the dragon’s treasure and gave it to you, and you won’t even give me a consolation kiss? How disappointing.”
“…”
“This is ridiculous, like you’re some kind of scoundrel…”
He looked me up and down with a displeased expression.
This was utterly infuriating.
‘Has he lost his mind? A consolation kiss is out of the question!’
I trembled with indignation and immediately refuted him.
“Unfortunately, in every play I’ve ever seen, there has never been a single instance where a character like Your Highness appeared as the protagonist.”
“But you just called me the male lead.”
“…”

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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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