A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 152

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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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152.

***

Ruellin’s quarters were in the Guest Palace where she had been staying before.
As I climbed the staircase following the attendant who had come to greet me, memories of everything that had transpired in this place came flooding back.
Right after the possession, I had snuck here searching for the missing Ruellin, only to have my throat strangled by Male Lead #4.
I barely managed to crack him over the head and escape, only to encounter the remaining male leads one after another until I finally lost consciousness.
“Well, well—you’ve arrived?”
“Edith Blake.”
“…Miss Blake.”
That cursed moment unfolded before my eyes once more.
I could see the black-haired, blue-haired, and red-haired heads clustered thickly outside Ruellin’s door.
The thought that I’d have to see those faces every other day made my stomach turn.
All the comfort Nancy had offered me felt utterly hollow now; my spirit was already withering away.
Unable to bring myself to move forward, I hesitated at the end of the corridor, but Serge came bounding toward me with a grin spreading across his face.
“Did you see the papers, Princess? Quite the scandal this morning, wasn’t it?”
“Edith Blake, wait a moment. We need to talk. It’s important.”
Vincent followed close behind him, his expression heated and urgent.
Not worth responding to, so I simply ignored them both and walked past.
Standing before the closed door were Dylan with a stern expression and Marquis Clonella, the National Director of the Security Bureau.
I got straight to the point with the Marquis.
“It seems the identity verification is already complete, so why did you call me here?”
“Well….”
“Exactly. You drag someone already exhausted by an unprecedented scandal just to—”
But unfortunately, before the Marquis could even open his mouth, Serge, who had drawn closer, cut in with an answer.
Vincent, who had followed behind, thrust his arm protectively in front of me and shot back.
“Watch your tongue, Grand Duke.”
“What? Did I make something up that wasn’t true?”
Serge replied with ease.
Apparently stung by his demeanor, Vincent’s indignation flared and his voice rose.
“Don’t you understand how devastating such rumors are to a lady’s honor?”
“Ha, rumors? Is a love scandal involving me a rumor, Princess?”
“Then what else would you call it? Isn’t it shameful to spout such tabloid drivel—the delusions of some hack journalist—from your own mouth?”
“Sub-Duke, I’ve been thinking about this since yesterday. You seem to have a serious problem understanding your place. Ever since you went berserk, your head’s been scrambled or something. Yesterday you even crawled all the way to the Duke’s Residence just to swing at empty air—”
“Enough!”
As a sinister killing intent began to emanate from both of them, I shuddered and cried out.
‘Have these fools lost their minds?’
Serge was always insane to begin with, but I couldn’t fathom why Vincent suddenly acted as though he’d consumed rat poison.
Caught between these two lunatics, I was the only one whose back might split open.
Before the madmen could escalate into bloodshed, I hastily spoke to Marquis Clonella.
“If this continues, I’m afraid there’s nothing more to discuss. Shall we depart?”
“Ah, no, my lady!”
Fortunately, my words took effect, and the Marquis scrambled to regain control of the situation.
“You two, your business here is finished—be on your way!”
“My business isn’t finished yet, Marquis.”
“National Director, I don’t see why Edith Blake needs to be here. The Magi detection isn’t even complete.”
Naturally, these two madmen wouldn’t obey so easily.
Yet Marquis Clonella, having made up his mind firmly, drove them out with a solemn expression.
“Grand Duke, didn’t you say you must soon receive an audience with His Majesty the Emperor? And Marquis Leandro, I understand you still haven’t submitted the field report from the Acarna incident.”
“….”
“If this continues, I’ll have no choice but to send both of you to Equinox Island to investigate the matter concerning Ruellin.”
They fell silent—apparently that prospect displeased them.
Moments later, Serge glared menacingly at Vincent and spoke in a low, dangerous tone.
“Come with me, Sub-Duke. We’ll finish this conversation downstairs.”
“Very well.”
Only after the two departed amicably did the surroundings finally fall silent.
Whether they fought it out downstairs was none of my concern.
Though it was somewhat unsettling that I was the cause of it all….
“…So.”
I turned my attention to the remaining Marquis and Dylan.
“How exactly did a dead person come back to life?”
To my question, the Marquis answered in a hushed, somewhat tense voice.
“Well… it seems that during the last incident on Equinox Island, Ruellin did sustain fatal injuries, but she didn’t die. Instead, she was abducted and imprisoned by Sephiroth all this time.”
“I see.”
It was a predictable excuse.
I asked flatly, “What about the Gate?”
“Sephiroth’s base was apparently in the Caspian Gorge.”
This time, Dylan provided the answer.
“She managed to escape and recklessly threw herself into the Gate Wave, where multiple Gates opened and miraculously she fell into the Imperial Palace—or so her claim goes.”
“Is such a thing even possible?”
“…There’s no way to be certain. The Gate Wave has so many variables….”
Both Dylan and the Marquis seemed confused, unable to confirm whether Ruellin’s account was truthful.
Well.
Regardless of how she returned, what did it matter?
What mattered was whether I could return—nothing else.
“Still, it’s quite an exceptional case, is it not? Not like when a monster captures someone like yourself, my lady….”
“Still, it’s quite an unusual case, isn’t it? It’s not like the Young Lady was captured by a demon or anything like that….”
“….”
“Even if no magical energy was detected, I believe The Purifier’s verification is necessary once more.”
The Marquis added carefully.
In other words, whether Ruellin was truly human.
Whether a dangerous element—a high-ranking demon or a member of the Sefirot Cult—was impersonating Ruellin needed to be confirmed.
I could observe the magical energy readings of the Awakeners, but I lacked the ability to precisely determine Ruellin’s true identity.
All I knew was information I couldn’t share—that Sephiroth had called her an extension of himself.
Yet this was an opportunity.
It meant the Imperial Palace and Security Bureau trusted me more than Ruellin, who had fallen from the Gate overnight.
“If Ruellin is a fake.”
“….”
“May I dispose of her arbitrarily? With my purification ability?”
At my loaded words, tension visibly hardened across the Marquis’s and Dylan’s faces.
That was when it happened.
*Click—*
Ruellin’s door, which had been closed, swung open, and a tall man stepped out from within.
“Lord Blake.”
I’d wondered where he’d gone.
It was Ethan.
The Marquis asked as Ethan quietly closed the door behind him without a sound.
“How is Miss Ruellin?”
“She seems to have stabilized now.”
His gaze soon turned toward me.
His clear lake-blue eyes rippled with surprise.
“Why are you here….”
“I summoned him to verify the Young Lady once more.”
“Didn’t we all verify her together earlier?”
Whatever discomfort he felt, wrinkles creased his glossy forehead.
“Her memory is intact, no magical energy was detected, and she answered information only she would know without error. What further verification is needed?”
“We haven’t confirmed whether she suffered any schemes from the heretics, or whether the Corruptor merely regained temporary sanity.”
Instead of the Marquis, who hesitated and couldn’t speak the truth, I responded firmly.
Ethan glared at me with a guarded gaze.
“How could you possibly confirm that?”
“As The Purifier, I confirm it. Who else would?”
Despite the utterly reasonable statement, Ethan flinched.
From the look of it, he’d been so absorbed with Ruellin’s return that he’d forgotten I was the current Purifier.
After a moment’s hesitation, he relented and spoke.
“…Then go in together.”
“It would be uncomfortable for you.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Not my brother—Ruellin.”
“What do you…?”
“I’ve barely managed to return alive. If it were revealed before my brother that I’m a monster or an Infested, how utterly shameful would that be?”
“Don’t speak so carelessly…”
He’d been about to bully his way through as usual, but noticing the eyes around us, he barely managed to clench his teeth instead.
“You shouldn’t jump to such conclusions, Edith Blake.”
Learn the difference between public and private!
I too had to swallow back the fury rising in my throat before I could unleash it.
I couldn’t afford to waste time on this tedious back-and-forth.
I stifled an escaping sigh and spoke with irritation.
“I understand my brother is sensitive because Ruellin has returned alive. I truly do…”
“…”
“But this is my matter. It’s my duty as The Purifier to carry out.”
“…”
“So please stop interfering.”
My carefully veiled way of telling him to stop his nonsense and step aside worked—Ethan reluctantly moved his body out of the way.
I passed him with icy indifference and opened the door without hesitation.
The room inside was neat and tidy, unlike my memories of it shattered and broken in places.
In a space where all traces of that day—the day I believed she’d been kidnapped—had vanished without a trace.
The woman I’d been searching for so desperately sat on the bed, her eyes wide and round like a rabbit’s, staring at me.
I smiled at her broadly.
Very broadly indeed.
“Hello, Ruellin.”
Three months into the possession.
I’d finally met the heroine.

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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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