A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 181

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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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181.

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With Eston absent, the Estate remained in disarray.
Between the servants hurrying back and forth, I caught sight of the Duke’s retainers moving toward his office, their expressions grave and taut.
I offered them polite acknowledgment as they bowed respectfully, then made my way directly to my room.
“Young Lady!”
Nancy, who had been cleaning the room, greeted me warmly.
She fussed over my late arrival, lamenting that she’d thought I’d been detained and imprisoned by the Grand Duke, before I extracted the general details of what had transpired.
The Duke had indeed been furious after I left, but the moment word reached him of Ethan’s misdeeds, he’d been too preoccupied tracking him down to spare me a thought.
Fortunately, the Duke believed I had been recuperating at the Ezennia Villa.
At the mention of Vincent’s visits to the Duke’s Mansion—several times over—my brow furrowed involuntarily.
‘That wretched man again…’
Well, given how we’d parted, it would have been stranger for him to stay away.
Once he heard of my return, it wouldn’t be long before he came crawling back.
As I pondered how to rid myself of that limpet, Nancy asked gently.
“By the way, did you have lunch? Shall I bring you something light?”
I shook my head.
I’d left the Grand Duke’s Residence immediately upon waking and hadn’t had time to eat, but more than that, the unsightly ordeal had robbed me of my appetite.
“Never mind. Nancy, where did you put my luggage?”
“I sent the clothes to the laundry, and hid the rest in the Dressing Room.”
“Well done. I wish to rest now, so see that no one disturbs me.”
“Even Eston?”
“Yes. Tell him there’s no need—I had asked him to come, but that’s no longer necessary.”
“Understood!”
She left the room at once to deliver my message.
I made my way to the Dressing Room.
After changing into comfortable indoor clothes, I rummaged through the corner and found the box Nancy had hidden, sitting there obediently.
I picked it up and sat before my desk.
Upon opening the box, I found the Book of Prophecy and the crystal orb resting inside.
Facing them again after several days felt strange.
Just five days ago, these had seemed like my only escape route, my sole solution.
But now I understood that wishes cannot be granted without cost, that nothing is ever truly complete.
The objects before me felt deeply unsettling and ominous.
After hesitating for a moment, I reached out and picked up the crystal orb.
The instant my fingers touched it, the sphere erupted in white light before darkening entirely.
Within that pitch-black darkness, not a single glimmer remained.
I remained trapped somewhere, still unrescued—that was my reality.
“….”
I pressed the crystal sphere close against my ear.
Holding my breath, channeling every ounce of focus into listening, I finally detected it—a faint whisper of breathing, so fragile it seemed ready to extinguish at any moment.
‘…Still alive.’
But barely clinging to life.
After so much time had passed, the dying Yu Sol no longer even groaned in suffering.
A body without a soul must return within forty-nine days to survive, or so I’d been told.
But now only forty-one days remained—no, thirty-six days at most.
Since I couldn’t even determine what condition my body was in, it might die before I could return to it.
Even if I forced myself to hope and assumed no injuries, a body couldn’t survive more than a month without any sustenance.
Click.
I set the crystal sphere down.
Confronted once more with the grim reality that my body was dying, I felt strangely composed.
Unlike last time, I wasn’t frantic or on the verge of madness at the thought of not returning soon.
Perhaps, without realizing it, my mind had already accepted the worst-case scenario.
Never returning, living out my life in this world instead.
Before, that prospect had felt only horrifying….

― The sole daughter of the Duke, decorated by the Emperor himself—quite an impressive position, wouldn’t you say? You have no rivals left now, the one and only precious Purifier.
― It doesn’t sound like such a terrible situation?

For a moment, I found myself thinking that perhaps what someone had said wasn’t entirely wrong.
Of course, being the only Purifier in existence meant I would be entangled in troublesome matters for the rest of my life.
Gates opening at all hours, Awakeners showing up whenever they pleased to whine and complain.
And if that mad cult leader Sephiroth actually succeeded in merging dimensions, I’d be left cleaning up the aftermath….
Just imagining it brought a headache, my brow furrowing, when suddenly the reality after my return came to mind.
“…If I go back.”
Would I be able to live well then?
Peacefully as before, holed up in the Research Institute, conducting whatever research I wished….
As I pictured the life I’d had before the possession, I quietly shook my head.
No, I wouldn’t be able to.
A peaceful everyday life was out of reach until I cleaned up the mess Ruellin had made.
My biological father might even throw me in prison for attempted murder charges against Yu Ji-han.
Since the adopted son he cherished more than his own daughter had become utterly useless, he might try to vent his frustrations somehow.
“Or perhaps before that, Sephiroth will merge the dimensions and the world will turn upside down….”
Even the General, omniscient and wielding absolute power, wouldn’t be able to stop that.
Picturing my biological father flustered and helpless as he faced the pouring demons and the people of this world, an unexpected laugh escaped me.
Whichever way things went, I couldn’t possibly live in peace.
Yet still, I held the Book of Prophecy in my hands.

【How to Save the Forsaken World】

The title alone was nauseating and made my skin crawl.
The cursed book that was the root of everything, the one that had brought me to this place.
This was my last chance.
If it didn’t work this time, then….
“Send me back to my original world. Back to reality, back to Yu Sol’s body. Show me the way.”
I held the book tightly, my eyes squeezed shut, and made my wish.
I wasn’t sure if my resolve matched what Sephiroth had spoken of—being so ready to die that I’d have no regrets even if it happened immediately.
In any case, I was earnestly pleading.
Uuuuuuung―
Then, just as before, the book vibrated faintly.
After a few seconds, as the vibration ceased, I slowly opened my eyes.
And.

【How to Save the Forsaken World】

I could still see the book unchanged.
“…Well, then.”
A sigh escaped—whether relief or resignation, I couldn’t say.
Honestly, even I thought I wouldn’t mind dying right now, so I hadn’t prayed with any real desperation or longing.
If Yu Sol died, all I’d have left to cling to for survival would be this body alone.
I only had one life, and I needed to be careful with it.
Even if I managed to go back, dying the moment I succeeded—what kind of wish was that?
“And I’m so reluctant to spend half my lifespan as an upfront payment….”
Sephiroth had been right when he mentioned the possibility of failure.
I treasured my one and only life far too much, it seemed, to actually attempt the return.
Thud—!
I cast the now-useless book onto the desk and instead picked up the envelope I’d brought from the Grand Duke’s Residence.
I gave up quickly.
I was never the type to wallow and despair over impossible things.
If I were, I wouldn’t have survived that insane household where my biological father and stepbrothers abused me, nor this mad world where everyone cast me as the villain.
Since the path back had become distant, it was time to think about how to live going forward.

[Report on the Case of Ruellin Arkelion, Substitute Criminal]

I examined the documents detailing Sephiroth’s life once more, carefully, lost in deep thought.
Meanwhile, the day faded rapidly.
I came to my senses in the darkening room and was about to hurry over to light the lamp sitting on the edge of the desk.
Tap, tap-tap.
I heard a tapping sound from somewhere.
“…Nancy?”
I reflexively looked toward the door, but it was silent.
Wondering if I’d mistaken the wind, I tilted my head—
Tap, tap-tap—
This time, I hadn’t been mistaken.
I spun around toward the source of the sound.
It was the window beside my bed.
I could see a massive shadow looming beyond it.
I was startled and about to scream reflexively.
Creak—
The window opened, and with the rush of cold outside air, an intruder slipped into the room before I could even react.
“Shh, don’t scream. It’s me, Princess.”
I heard a familiar voice.
The figure who had squeezed their large frame through the narrow window opening quickly approached me.
In the dim lamplight, I gasped at the sight of jet-black hair.
“…Grand Duke, Your Majesty?”
It was Serge Belnak.
As he stretched with infuriating nonchalance, I felt my face contort in frustration.
“This is—what in the world? You’re not even a thief, and there’s a perfectly good door right there. Why would you come through that?”
“How many times has it been now? Why are you making such a fuss?”
He grinned smugly and winked at me with one eye.
The madman.
Just as I was barely suppressing my trembling lips.
Suddenly, his eyes gleamed with sinister amusement as he spoke in a low, ominous tone.
“By the way….”
….
“While I was away handling some business, you couldn’t help yourself and ran away again?”

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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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