A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 165

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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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165.

***

All my efforts to maintain distance and minimize physical contact proved utterly futile. The moment we launched into the air, I found myself desperately clinging to Vincent’s waist without a second thought.
Flying through the sky cradled in Vincent’s arms was absolutely unbearable.
It felt like riding in an open-top car down a highway at full speed without a seatbelt.
Birds made it look so peaceful and stable when they flew, but this was nothing like that.
The relentless wind lashed at my exposed skin, and the air resistance made it nearly impossible to breathe.
Thud!
Even after my feet finally touched solid ground, it took me a long while to regain my senses.
“…Are you alright? Feeling dizzy?”
Vincent steadied me as I stumbled, gripping me firmly.
Despite his concerned words, his expression was that of an utterly delighted child.
‘Does he feel nothing because it’s his own ability?’
Unlike me—looking like I’d been through a war—his face showed not a trace of fatigue, and a strange sense of deflation washed over me.
“…Where are we?”
“An alley beside Molton Street.”
We were still near the Grand Duke’s Residence.
I straightened myself deliberately and shook off his grip.
“Let’s go!”
The moment I stepped out of the alley, he followed right at my heels like a puppy.
Fortunately, there was a carriage station not far away on the main road.
Without hesitation, he climbed into the carriage I’d hailed, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And without shame, he sat beside me instead of across from me.
There was no point arguing—he wouldn’t listen anyway.
“So where are we headed now?”
He bounced excitedly in his seat as we rode in the shabby public carriage, asking the question.
“Ezennia.”
“But you told the coachman we were only going to the Capital Gate.”
“We’ll switch carriages there.”
“Ah, worried the Grand Duke might chase after us?”
He interpreted it however he pleased, then spouted some nonsense: “This feels just like we’re going on a honeymoon. Don’t you think?”
When I didn’t respond, he kept trying to engage me in conversation, but then the carriage suddenly lurched violently, and his expression darkened.
“I could carry you faster. This place is too filthy and smells awful.”
“…”
“If carrying you is too difficult… would you prefer I lift the carriage itself?”
His eyes gleamed as if he’d lift the entire carriage skyward the moment I nodded.
I furrowed my brow as I waited, deliberately ignoring him.
“What if someone sees us?”
“So what if they do? They’ll just think one of the Awakeners is taking a trip.”
“We’re supposed to be sneaking around. What’s the point if we get caught?”
“Ah.”
He let out a vacant sound, as if he hadn’t considered that far ahead.
I couldn’t fathom why this cunning man had been acting so foolishly since earlier.
“Then… I’ll just tolerate the filth.”
I couldn’t understand why he spoke as though it was already decided that he’d come to Ezennia with me as well.
Then again, when had I ever truly understood him?
‘Perhaps it’s fortunate for me that he’s become a bit more foolish.’

79%

When I glanced up at the mana barrier reading above his head, I saw the percentage had risen from before.
It seemed to be from using his ability repeatedly in quick succession.
“But why are you suddenly trying to go to Ezennia? Did you fight with the Duke again? Or with Ethan…?”
“Vincent.”
“Hm?”
“Let me borrow your shoulder.”
I tossed the words out carelessly, as if stifling a cough, and he stiffened slightly.
“…Your shoulder?”
“I’m feeling dizzy from motion sickness.”
His face, which had been staring at me with a blank expression, flushed faintly in an instant.
Vincent tilted one shoulder toward me without hesitation.
I obediently rested my head against it.
Around the time I noticed his breathing gradually becoming more rapid.
“…Edith.”
“…”
“Does touching me still repulse you?”
“…”
“Can I… hold your hand like before?”
Not even an hour had passed since I’d told him we couldn’t go back to how things were, yet here he was asking that again.
When I remained silent, he quietly reached out and gently placed his hand over mine, which rested on my lap.
An uncomfortably warm heat radiated from where our palms met.
But this time, I didn’t pull away. After all, I’d deliberately guided him toward this.
As his breathing gradually became more even after grasping my hand.
‘Purification.’
I unleashed my ability without hesitation.
Whoosh—!
My already heated hand grew scorching hot as if touched by flame, and a faint green light burst forth.
Following my will, the light surged rapidly up Vincent’s arm.
“What—!”
Realizing the situation a moment too late, he tore his hand away and immediately pulled his body back from me, but it was already too late.
His entire form was already enveloped in the cradle woven by the light of purification.

77%
73%
69%

His Magi levels began to plummet rapidly.
The golden pupils that had been wide open gradually lost their focus.
Vincent shook his head violently as if unwilling to surrender to helpless slumber, his eyelids trembling as he stared at me.
“Edith Blake. Why are you…?”
“…”
“Is this… is this why you took my hand?”
I never took your hand. As always, you grasped mine of your own accord.
The wounded expression on his face, as if he’d had no idea I would do this, struck me as absurd.
“I said we would leave the Grand Duke’s Residence together, not that I would accompany you all the way to your destination.”
“…”
“If I told you to go, would you have returned obediently? Could you honestly say you’d never follow me in secret without surveillance?”
No answer came from him.
Of course not. Even at the Grand Duke’s Residence, when I told him to stop and go back—that this wasn’t a kidnapping—he wouldn’t listen.
Look at him now. He climbed into the carriage of his own volition without even asking my intentions.
Yet I couldn’t understand why he wore such an aggrieved expression, as if on the verge of tears.
“That’s why you and I can never truly reconcile.”
You always prioritize your own feelings.

62%
58%
53%

In the meantime, the gauge had dropped considerably.
Vincent whispered in a voice that seemed ready to fade away at any moment.
“You really….”
“….”
“You’re truly cruel.”
“….”
“You don’t seem like the Edith Blake I knew at all….”
With those words, Vincent’s eyes finally closed completely.
I withdrew my hand immediately, leaving behind the ambiguous figure of ‘51%’.
It was merely a means to put him to sleep—I had not purified him out of any kindness whatsoever.
I could see faint moisture glistening at the corners of his gently closed eyes.
“Of course. Because I’m not the Edith Blake you knew.”
That was precisely why I couldn’t trust him.
How could anyone love someone they knew nothing about?
I pushed Vincent’s body away from me without emotion—the body that had been leaning precariously against me.
Thud—
The sleeping man’s form tumbled backward easily, crashing onto the grimy sheets.
I left him there and immediately exited the carriage.
“Take me to Marquis Leandro’s Residence.”
After paying the fare for bringing me here, I immediately hailed another carriage.
I felt no guilt for using Vincent, no remorse for betraying him.
Though I hadn’t experienced it myself, compared to what he had done to Edith Blake, this was nothing at all, wasn’t it?
Yet it wasn’t particularly satisfying or exhilarating either….
I simply focused on what needed to be done immediately.
I descended from the new carriage near the Capital Gate.
Then, in a shop within the bustling market, I purchased shabby clothes and a robe to change into.
I simply discarded the expensive dress I had been wearing.
I could have sold it for a decent sum, but leaving such traces would only make it easier to be followed.
‘Something tells me they’ll pursue me relentlessly….’
Whether it was Serge or Vincent.
There could be no obstacles until my contact with Sephiroth was complete.
After that, I sought out the Detective Agency that Eston had once shown me.
I couldn’t risk encountering strange individuals again like last time by relying on street shoe-shiners as guides.
The Detective Agency was a place her brother had found when he was an Intruder, to secretly cross the Capital Gate even after midnight when it was closed.
Since then, they had become her regular customers by helping her find rare medicinal ingredients.
Thanks to that, when I mentioned Eston’s name, the transaction for obtaining a guide proceeded smoothly.
They didn’t even bother to confirm whether I was truly her, despite the hood pulled over my head.
To prevent any unforeseen complications, we agreed to bill Eston after the job was complete, and arranged to meet again at the back door of S-Class Beer in Volner.
And as I stepped outside, the sun was already beginning to set.
Time had flown by, yet there was still considerable time remaining before the appointed hour.
“Sigh. How am I supposed to endure until midnight….”
That damned charlatan Cult Leader—seeing his face was proving remarkably difficult.
The only saving grace was that, so far, I detected no sign of anyone tailing me.
‘How did things spiral into this mess?’
I hunched my shoulders to slip past a contingent of armored Security Force members approaching from the opposite direction, lamenting my predicament bitterly.
Pursued not only by the Duke’s Household, but now by the Grand Duke’s House and the Marquis Household as well.
Since the Capital’s gates would seal at eight o’clock anyway, and lingering too long in one place was unwise, I promptly hailed a carriage and slipped through the gate.
After switching carriages three times in nearby cities, I finally headed toward my true destination.
My worry about where to spend the hours proved unnecessary—by the time I arrived in Volner, midnight was already drawing near.

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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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