A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 156

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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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156.

“…I’m sorry, Edith Blake.”
Ethan admitted his fault quite cleanly.
Though his preamble was lengthy, filled with excuses about misunderstandings and circumstances.
Yet, surprisingly, I felt nothing at all.
‘How did I feel before?’
I’d been quite astonished that he could apologize so thoroughly.
Since we’d inevitably clash under the same roof, I’d thought it better to maintain a reasonably amicable relationship than an awkward one.
So I’d accepted every olive branch he extended, and sometimes even sought his forgiveness first.
But now, sweeping through my mind was only exhaustion and revulsion at the repetitive cycle, a deep-rooted contempt.
‘…Is there any need for this anymore?’
Had maintaining a friendly relationship with Ethan ever benefited me?
Not once.
Before Ruellin returned, perhaps—but now there was no need to pretend intimacy with him.
Besides, if the Duke had decided to disown Ethan, he would soon be a complete stranger, no longer family.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason to accept his apology, or rather—
I couldn’t even find a reason to keep him by my side.
Soon he’d be nothing to me, utterly useless, and every encounter only irritated me.
All the patience and time I’d poured into such a person felt terribly wasted.
“…Edith Blake.”
Perhaps troubled by my silence.
Ethan called my name with an uncharacteristic anxiety in his expression.
“Are you still upset? I understand now that you’ve completely changed, so please stop being angry—”
“Brother.”
I raised a hand to stop him.
And I asked something I’d been curious about for some time.
“Do you care for Ruellin that much?”
“Wh-what…?”
“Enough that it doesn’t matter if she’s no longer the Purifier?”
“…”
“Enough to ignore the dreams you often have about me?”
Ethan flinched as if I’d struck a nerve he didn’t know existed.
“How could you possibly…?”
He stared at me in astonishment.
It made sense he’d find it strange that I’d seen through dreams he’d never told anyone about.
‘As expected.’
The others had found distorted memories—there was no way Ethan’s remained untouched.
I’d suspected he’d been ignoring or deliberately turning a blind eye to his dreams all this time, but….
‘So he really was a worthless bastard.’
Why had I bothered extending such courtesy to someone like this?
A strange sense of emptiness washed over me, yet I found myself curious.
Just how magnificent was this love of his that he could overlook Ruellin’s misdeeds so readily?
That was when it happened.
“…What’s your intention behind asking?”
Ethan suddenly opened his mouth.
His eyes held the same wariness as when he’d returned to Ruellin’s Room.
We would forever walk parallel lines, never converging.
Thanks to that realization, I could finally shed the last vestiges of my lingering attachment.
“I have no particular intention. I just… thought we’d grown quite close over time.”
“….”
“We talked a lot, worked together to protect the Duchy, and resolved the resentment that had built between us….”
“….”
“But seeing you today, it suddenly feels like it was all meaningless.”
Apparently unprepared for such words, his rigid expression flickered with embarrassment.
Did he interpret this as my final complaint before accepting reconciliation?
He lowered his guard and responded in a considerably softer tone.
“…That’s why I apologized, didn’t I? I said I seemed to have misunderstood….”
“Take good care of yourself, brother.”
I withdrew the smile I’d been wearing and spoke coldly.
This is where it ends.
Even so, out of respect for the time we spent as family, I offered this final piece of advice.
“Don’t focus only on Ruellin. You’ve accumulated a lot of Magi—hasn’t she mentioned it?”
“Magi…?”
Ethan’s expression grew bewildered at the sudden change of subject.
“I haven’t felt any abnormalities in my body.”
“Ah, right. She can’t purify anymore. Or rather… has she never done it?”
I murmured as if just remembering.
From now on, this was mere mockery directed at someone I despised—no longer family.
“But what can we do? I won’t do it either.”
“…What?”
“I won’t purify you.”
Did he truly not anticipate this moment would come, despite treating me so contemptibly?
The man frozen in place, as if struck from behind, was almost laughable.
“…Edith Blake.”
“I won’t accept your apology either.”
“Suddenly, suddenly why are you….”
Only now realizing something had gone terribly wrong, he discarded his arrogant mask and took a step toward me.
“Is the apology not to your liking?”
“….”
“If you’re joking, drop it. I don’t find that sort of thing amusing at all….”
He faltered mid-sentence, and upon meeting my gaze, his words caught in his throat.
A cold expression devoid of warmth.
As if I’d only now realized the indifference—no, the boredom—gleaming in my eyes, suggesting I couldn’t care less whether he spiraled out of control or not.
“Who knows? Perhaps if the two of you held hands and prayed earnestly enough, Ruellin’s lost abilities might return.”
“….”
“Ah, but nothing will change, will it? She was never a Purifier to begin with.”
“…!”
His lake-blue eyes dilated to an extraordinary width.
Why was he so shocked when he’d dimly known all along?
I regarded him with a peculiar expression before simply turning away.
And just as I took a step forward.
“Wait, Edith Blake…!”
A rough hand seized my arm.
“What are you—what are you saying….”
Thud—!
But the moment I felt another’s warmth, I violently wrenched my arm free.
And I tucked both hands behind my back to ensure they wouldn’t be grabbed again.
At my reaction—as though something repugnant had touched me—Ethan froze like a statue.
A tense standoff stretched between us.
He struggled to compose himself, breathing heavily in succession, before finally grinding out his words.
“…Purification is your duty.”
“….”
“You’d abandon your responsibilities over something like this? Do you think the Security Bureau will simply stand by?”
“….”
“Think rationally. Don’t act foolishly, swept up in momentary emotion.”
It seemed my refusal to perform purification had struck him as quite the threat.
Judging by the nonsense he was spouting.
I let out a soft laugh, as though I’d heard something absurd.
“Exactly.”
“….”
“So how is it that someone so clever couldn’t exercise a shred of judgment, and let things spiral to this point?”
It wasn’t that he should have rejected Ruellin and sided with me.
I never expected that.
But if he’d at least been conscious of the dream that revealed the truth, and harbored even a modicum of guilt toward me—toward Edith Blake.
Or if he’d simply shown caution like the others and acted accordingly.
If he’d shown genuine remorse for what happened earlier instead of spouting platitudes like charity, I wouldn’t have been driven to such extremes.
‘But then again, when you love someone so much you wouldn’t even spare your own life, what can you do?’
Then he should die.
He may be an important talent the nation cannot afford to lose, but that didn’t apply to me.
Besides, in such a lax mental state, he might only become a liability at the Gate Site.
Having made my judgment as the Purifier, I recounted the situation with the rational, cold logic he desired.
“Ruellin mentioned it. That Ethan has obsessive-compulsive tendencies and would reject the touch of anyone but himself.”
“….”
“In fact, my brother has even refused my purification offers before.”
Of course, his refusal back then had nothing to do with such reasons, but what did it matter?
I shrugged once and continued.
“If anyone asks, I’ll tell them exactly what I saw.”
“You….”
“Besides, there are three other S-rank Awakeners besides my brother, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I was planning to purify them with utmost sincerity….”
“Do you really think I’d believe such an obvious lie?”
“What will you do if I don’t?”
I turned the question back on him.
If you don’t believe me, what can you and the Security Bureau possibly do?
Did he really think he still held the winning hand after pulling that stunt right in front of the National Director?
I couldn’t comprehend it.
Even if the Security Bureau discovered that I deliberately refused to purify Ethan, there was nothing they could force me to do.
I had already made a declaration that I wouldn’t abuse purification unless it was a critical situation on the verge of a rampage.
No matter how capable Ethan was, if I firmly stated it wasn’t a critical situation?
Or if the only offended Awakener abandoned all responsibility and disappeared?
Wouldn’t the Security Bureau naturally choose to dispose of one rampaging Awakener rather than endanger the entire nation?
“I noticed last time that the Security Bureau’s underground facility is quite sturdy and reliable. Strong enough to contain one rampaging Awakener.”
I spoke with the same cruelty and callousness that Ethan had once shown Edith Blake.
And I pronounced his sentence without a hint of concern.
“I’ll make sure to tell Father that you won’t be able to return home for a while.”
“…Edith.”
“Now that you won’t have to be separated from Ruellin anymore, I hope you two have a long and happy life together. I mean that sincerely.”
Since I wouldn’t be seeing him at home for some time, I bid him farewell with a smile.
Fortunately, Ethan didn’t try to stop me again.
As I walked toward the waiting carriage, I felt a sharp gaze boring into the back of my head.
I paid it no mind and pulled out my handkerchief, wiping clean the arm where he had touched me.
Then I carelessly tossed it to the ground.

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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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