A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 157

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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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157.

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Inside the carriage returning to the Duke’s Mansion.
I let my exhausted body slump against the wall, my head tilted back.
There was far too much to contemplate.
What would become of Ruellin going forward.
I needed to make contact with Sephiroth, but where to even begin searching.
And then there was my own body.
‘I should have verified the crystal orb first.’
I still couldn’t be certain whether the crystal orb was functioning properly and showing me the true reality.
My mind had been too consumed with the urgency of meeting Ruellin.
But setting all that aside, there was an immediate crisis looming before me.
‘By now, the Duke has surely seen the newspaper.’
How much of a scene would he make?
Moreover, to inform him that Ethan wouldn’t be returning home for some time, I would have to disclose at least some of what had transpired today.
I sensed he would worry greatly.
Truth be told, I had felt this long before yesterday’s incident.
The Duke’s anger and reproach weren’t simply born of disappointment in my conduct or disapproval of my actions.
Perhaps he still clung to the bonds of parenthood.
Maybe he had never truly released them for even a moment.
Not even when his daughter behaved so recklessly.
Not even when she ultimately lost her life, and a complete stranger seized her body.
Each time I witnessed the Duke treating me as his beloved daughter, unaware of the truth, a peculiar sensation stirred within me.
It wasn’t guilt—I hadn’t chosen to possess this body.
Yet this absurd situation made me feel a strange pity for the dead Edith Blake.
And if I were honest, a touch of envy as well.

— This foolish father, only now coming to understand…
— Couldn’t you forgive me just this once?

At the same time, I wanted to pretend I knew nothing and simply accept this—to settle into contentment.
The familial warmth I’d never possessed, the embrace of a guardian.
“How absurd. Accept what, exactly?”
The stray thought struck me, and I shook my head sharply.
Whether from staying up all night or from the tension finally releasing after my confrontation with Ruellin, my mind churned with needless musings.
I squeezed my eyes shut, deliberately pushing the thoughts away.
“…I want to rest.”
The words escaped my lips unbidden.
There were mountains of unresolved matters waiting, yet I couldn’t fathom why I felt so utterly drained.
The carriage arrived at the Duke’s Residence before long.
The Butler and Nancy greeted me.
“Did your business go well, Miss?”
“Yes.”
I nodded absently while heading toward the Staircase, when I suddenly noticed how quiet the mansion was.
“Where is Father?”
“He has not yet returned home. It appears he will be quite late today.”
A small mercy, at least.
I turned back to Nancy at once.
“Nancy, go pack my things.”
“Your things, Miss?”
“Yes. Clothes for a few days’ stay, as simple as possible.”
“Of course!”
My faithful personal Maid scurried up to the Second Floor without a word of protest.
Only the Butler stood there, his face slack with bewilderment.
“Ah, Miss, where are you going?”
“I intend to stay at Ezennia Villa for a while.”
“Pardon? But Ezennia Villa—why would you…?”
“Didn’t I tell you I was running away to avoid Father?”
I climbed the Staircase without concern, and the Butler hurried after me in a flustered state.
“But Miss, how can you leave so suddenly like this? Nothing has been prepared…!”
“What needs preparing? I’ll just take some clothes. Please explain things to Father for me, Butler.”
At my words, the Butler protested in alarm.
“What on earth am I to tell him…! That you’re fleeing to avoid punishment over the rumors of a passionate affair with the Grand Duke?!”
“Ah, a passionate affair, you say?”
I straightened my expression and corrected the Butler’s words.
“That is clearly a fabricated falsehood.”
“Then shouldn’t you explain yourself properly and ask his permission before departing!”
“Sometimes, Butler, flexibility and face-saving prove more useful than confronting things head-on. Father will need time to let the shock settle.”
“That makes no sense whatsoever…!”
I coldly brushed off the clinging Butler and stepped into my Chamber.
“Miss, I’ve nearly finished packing your belongings! I just need to gather my own things now!”
Nancy moved with such remarkable speed that she had already brought over a couple of suitcases.
With an oddly excited expression, she dashed like an arrow toward her room.
She must have overheard my mention of going to Ezennia.
I walked straight to the desk and retrieved the box where I kept the crystal orb and the Book of Prophecy.
In truth, that was all I needed to bring.
Since Edith Blake had frequented that place often, everything necessary would surely be there.
“Butler, stop fidgeting about uselessly and help me move these things.”
Time was running short if I wanted to flee the Capital before the Duke returned.
I swept past the Butler, who gazed at me helplessly before the doorway, and descended the staircase once more.
I felt a pang of sympathy for the man, bewildered yet hurrying after me with a suitcase in hand.
But there was nothing to be done.
‘What can I do? I need to survive first.’
Fortunately, the carriage I had arrived in remained waiting at the Entrance Hall.
I had instructed the Coachman beforehand, intending to depart immediately once the Duke was absent.
“Butler, give me the luggage. I’ll load it.”
Nancy, who had gathered her own belongings and followed after me, swiftly snatched the suitcase from the Butler’s hands.
The Butler, suddenly deprived of his bargaining chip, approached with a dejected expression.
“Miss, are you truly leaving? Just like this?”
“I won’t be gone long. A retraction will be published soon enough…”
It seemed that Serge understood the article’s contents perfectly well.
So just as with the previous assault incident, he would suppress the newspaper and swiftly quash that ridiculous scandal.
‘…He will, won’t he?’
Yet somehow, anxiety overshadowed my confidence that he naturally would.
Perhaps it was because of how delighted he had looked when he brought up the matter the moment he saw me.
‘Delighted my foot. He’s probably just thinking of how to make fun of me.’
I shook my head vigorously as if shaking off disgust, dispelling my unease.
And without delay, I climbed into the carriage.
As I turned back for a final farewell, the Butler’s complexion had turned ashen.
The thought of facing the Duke in my stead seemed to have darkened his entire world.
“If it comes to that, just tell him I’ve gone to recuperate because I’m unwell. Surely he’ll understand.”
Offering him an excuse as a small mercy, the Butler muttered dejectedly.
“But Miss, you’re not even taking the Physician with you. How is that recuperation…”
“You make a fair point. Tell Eston to follow once his work is done.”
“Miss…!”
“Oh, and my brother Ethan won’t be coming home for a while.”
An important message had occurred to me belatedly.
“Tell Father he needn’t search for me separately.”
“Pardon? But why…”
“Tell him I chose Ruellin instead of myself. He’ll understand.”
“Ah….”
At my words, the Butler let out a final sigh.
Wasn’t this the perfect bait to divert the Duke’s wrath away from baseless rumors?
“That settles it then. I’m leaving now.”
I flashed a crooked smile before gesturing to Nancy.
She, who had been waiting for our conversation to end, scurried over and climbed into the carriage.
Tap tap.
The moment I rapped against the wall, the carriage lurched forward with vigor.
“Miss, aren’t you exhausted? Your eyes are so red. Your complexion doesn’t look well either… wouldn’t it be better to rest until we arrive?”
As we swiftly departed the Duke’s Residence grounds and thundered down the main road, Nancy ventured a gentle inquiry.
“I’m fine.”
Truth be told, I felt as though I might collapse at any moment, but there was still something I needed to verify.
I lowered the box I had been cradling in my arms onto my lap.
Then I unlocked it with the key I always carried.
“Nancy, what you see and hear from this moment on must remain absolutely secret.”
“…Yes? Y-yes, of course!”
Nancy nodded with a tense expression.
In truth, it was safest to examine the crystal sphere alone.
It wasn’t that I distrusted Nancy, but secrets had a way of leaking out through unexpected channels.
Yet despite that, I needed to know immediately.
What had become of my body, which Ruellin had abandoned.
What had happened to Yu Sol in reality.
I hastily opened the box’s lid and lifted the pristine white sphere with both hands.
Soon a soft luminescence poured forth from the sphere.
Though I had gazed into it countless times before, my heart now hammered with ominous foreboding.
‘Could she be… dead?’
If my body had been damaged somehow, if I could never return to it…
I might truly kill Ruellin.
I even found myself hoping that she had lost the crystal sphere in the process of crossing into this world, so that some wrong scene was being reflected instead.
At last the bright light faded, and a scene materialized within the crystal sphere.
Or could it even be called a scene?
“…What is this?”
Inside the crystal sphere was nothing but absolute darkness.
No matter how I turned it, there was no sign of any location or object I could discern.
‘Did she really lose it, and it rolled into some Gate somewhere?’
I was frowning at the crystal sphere, staring intently into it.
When suddenly, from within it, came a sound—faint, barely audible.

“Haa… ha….”

I soon realized that the sound was someone’s breathing.
Shallow and faint, as though it might extinguish at any moment….
Yu Sol’s breathing.

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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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