A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 183

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

183.

Warm breath settled against the bridge of my nose.
One careless movement and our lips would collide without hesitation.
Yet I did not avert my gaze.
His pupils, black as though they had absorbed every Magi in existence, gleamed with a damp emotion that resembled something akin to exhilaration.
Thump.
My heart trembled with unease.
Knowing that my wish would not be granted, I wondered if I would whimper and complain about how I could never return to my former self—but that was absurd.
It was laughable.
‘Why should I?’
The Grand Duke was an Awakener of unprecedented power, and there was no denying the strength and authority he possessed.
In truth, he had saved me from dangerous situations multiple times, and even brought me the Book of Prophecy at my most desperate moment.
If I were to remain here and spend my life in this place, staying by his side would be useful in many ways.
Even if it were proven that Ruellin had not lost her abilities and I had committed slander, a single word from him could erase it all.
Just as I had been cautious since realizing I was The Purifier, I might not have to exhaust myself purifying every Gate Site at the Security Bureau’s command.
No matter how remarkable the Duke was, he could not shield a daughter who abandoned her duties as an Awakener.
I could be free from pointless factional disputes, from being swept about by the whims of the powerful, from the marriage schemes of nobility that might come someday.
However.
However, all of that was only true if this place remained intact and whole.
‘But what if that mad pseudo-religious Cult Leader actually merges the dimensions?’
If such a thing truly occurred, it would certainly not remain in any complete form.
The world would be turned upside down.
Broken, shattered, and as Ruellin said, perhaps brought to ruin.
Could this man, could these humans here, truly prevent such a calamity alone?
‘No.’
Only I could strike a blow against Sephiroth.
Only I, my abilities alone, could purify that grotesque Magi count reaching 999%.
The wealth and power he offered me was useless in a situation like this.
So then….
‘If you’re going to beg, you should be the one begging.’
You said you were pushed toward the Gate the moment you awakened at fourteen, forced to grovel like a dog for over a decade?
Then if you wish to keep what you’ve barely grasped in your hands without losing it until death, trading your youth and life for it.
If you don’t want the world to collapse in an instant and lose everything meaninglessly.
If you wish to continue living fully afterward, receiving my purification without going berserk.
Then it’s not me—it’s you who should prostrate yourself at my feet and beg and plead.
“I don’t need it.”
I twisted one corner of my mouth and mocked this clueless man with all my contempt.
“Gold, silver, treasures, the throne—none of it matters to me. Your Majesty has nothing I actually need.”
“….”
“Since I couldn’t achieve my wish, this became useless too. The reports on Sephiroth don’t contain anything particularly useful for me either….”
I grabbed the stack of papers within reach and hurled them carelessly into the air.
Fluttering, fluttering—
The documents I’d gone through considerable trouble to extract from the Emperor’s Archive scattered like garbage through the empty space.
A crack appeared in the man’s expression, which had been steeped in arrogance.
His pupils wavered for an instant, and his brow gradually furrowed.
Only when I saw his face so clearly shaken did my chest finally feel relieved.
“How strange? The foundation of any deal is trust, yet everything Your Majesty offered turned out like this.”
“….”
“I’m hardly inclined to cooperate.”
I smiled coldly until the very end and pushed against his shoulder with my finger.
Contrary to my expectation that he wouldn’t budge, he yielded readily.
The warm breath that had made it difficult to breathe properly receded, and cool air rushed in to fill the space.
Thanks to that, my head, which had been irrationally overheated, became considerably clearer.
“Quite troublesome, aren’t you.”
“….”
“The books don’t say what to give a woman who needs neither gold nor a throne.”
“….”
“Should I make a wish on your behalf instead? That you could return home?”
The man suddenly muttered as if speaking to himself.
It wasn’t even amusing. What could be done when the person himself had already failed?
Straightening his posture, he continued glaring at me with a furrowed brow.
Gripping the cover of the Book of Prophecy as if to tear it to shreds.
But fortunately, the gaze that had been seething with inexplicable heat and dampness had already been wiped clean.
Exhaling a breath of relief without knowing what I was relieved about, I met his usual dry eyes.
“…Do you know what’s strange?”
“What?”
“Your Majesty’s actions right now. Demanding that in return, well, whatever it is.”
“Is that strange?”
“Yes. What use is there for Your Majesty in toying with me? Amusement? Interest?”
A man bringing up the seemingly pitiful situation of a woman would naturally have obvious demands.
Someone who has spent his entire life rolling in the Gate, addicted to dopamine bought with life and death, would find this current peace boring.
And conveniently, a plaything had been placed right before his eyes.

― Take pride in your survival instinct, Princess. If you’d simply used your ability and fled from the Purifier’s Room, it would have been tedious and uninteresting.
― …Was it entertaining for you that I struck the Grand Duke’s head and orchestrated the situation to survive?

It seemed he wanted to watch me struggle desperately to escape from a wretched situation, just as I had done during that suffocating exchange in Ruellin’s Room…
Unfortunately, I was already far too entrenched in that cesspool of a life to indulge his entertainment.
A pit from which I could never escape, a place I could never return from, where I was condemned to remain forever.
So there was no reason to keep thrashing about and amusing him further.
“I understand life is tedious and dull, but if you’re that bored, why not visit the Gate Site again?”
“There are no open Gates.”
“Or perhaps attend one of the nobility’s parties instead. There would be plenty of women who’d fawn over Your Majesty even if you carried on like that.”
As I spoke dryly, Serge tilted his head.
I expected him to take offense at my rudeness.
Or perhaps to scratch at my nerves with that characteristic mockery of his.
But it was neither.
“…What do you like?”
It was an innocent question, asked as though a child were inquiring about something they’d never seen before.
For a moment, I wondered if I’d misheard, so I looked at him, only to find his gaze returning mine—as though he were simply waiting for my answer.
And as if that weren’t enough, he couldn’t even wait, pressing me further.
“Why won’t you answer?”
“…You’re asking because you don’t know?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t ask.”
“Ha.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it.
I kept glancing at him, wondering if he was being sincere, but when I saw his dark eyes gleaming, resignation washed over me.
He seemed genuinely curious.
About what I liked.
‘…How did this conversation even reach this point?’
He looked as though he wouldn’t leave unless I answered, standing motionless in the middle of my room.
I brushed back my bangs and spoke irritably.
“Caring for someone, listening to what they like, taking good care of them—things like that, I suppose.”
“It seems I’m already doing enough of those things.”
“…”
“I care for you, listen to what you like, and take good care of you, don’t I?”
His gaze fixed on me with such brazen, shameless audacity that it was almost breathtaking.
If I were someone like Ruellin—starved for affection and love—I might have fallen for it completely.
I furrowed my brow and asked sharply.
“But you said you don’t like me?”
“Did I say that? I don’t think so. My heart is softer than it appears, so I could never answer so coldly.”
Of course, the accurate answer was ‘I don’t know.’
But either way, it was all just word games.
“That’s what you’re curious about, isn’t it? Whether Your Majesty likes me or not.”
He fell silent, confirming my guess.
Thinking back to the beginning, his recent attitude had indeed become remarkably gentler.
Perhaps the inexplicable emotions that sometimes made my chest tighten, the frequent curiosity about what he was doing, the way I thought of him in moments of danger—all of it was his fault.
But that wasn’t love.
It couldn’t possibly be love.
I wasn’t some scatterbrained fool like Ruellin.
“Your Majesty doesn’t like me. And I have no reason to like Your Majesty either.”
At my blunt response, his lips twisted.
“How can you be so certain?”
“Because I wouldn’t strangle someone I cared for like you do, force them to eat a repulsive snake, or threaten them by begging for their help.”

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————