A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 21

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

21.

However, what first caught my eye was not the garish primary colors that assaulted the senses.

82%

‘Why is it so high?’
As I stared blankly at the rampage gauge hovering above the creature’s head as it drew steadily closer.
I suddenly snapped back to awareness.
“…!”
Eyes the color of ash—parched and desiccated like the cinders left after burning away the Devourers—fixed directly upon me.
Only then did the realization strike that he had called out my name with perfect accuracy.
‘…How did he recognize me?’
I had my hair and face completely concealed beneath a bonnet and mask.
There should have been no way to identify me unless he possessed mind-reading abilities.
‘Did he recognize the maid’s uniform from the Duke’s Household? Or perhaps my build, remembering me as his former master?’
As I pondered how he could have identified me, I bit down on my lip.
It didn’t matter how he’d recognized me.
This was not a favorable moment to confront him.
The male lead number three—one who despised the very existence of his former master, Edith Blake, and harbored hatred for the woman who had given him the name of a male prostitute.
Dylan Frederick.
Unlike the other men she had kept at a distance, whether through simple harassment of the heroine
or because Edith Blake had become obsessed with him, the fact that he was a target of genuine personal vendetta made this far more troublesome.
‘He would be far more difficult to handle.’
Yet unfortunately, I had not a shred of energy left to engage in a battle of wits with one of the male leads.
I was in a state where collapse would have been unsurprising.
That was when.
“Miss Nancy!”
Eston called out to me at precisely that moment.
She flinched as though she might rush toward me at any second.
I shook my head to signal her not to approach.
And.
“…Thank you for saving me.”
“….”
“But you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Goodbye.”
I offered Dylan a light bow before quickly turning away.
In moments like these, pride was worthless—the thirty-six stratagems of retreat was the answer.
‘…I’m exhausted. I’m dying.’
In truth, it wasn’t so much exhaustion as it was lingering disorientation—my heart still hammering against my ribs.
The Corrupted shrieking as they pursued me were terrifying and grotesque, certainly―.
But witnessing that tremendous inferno consume them before my very eyes was the most shocking of all.
I could feel viscerally just how formidable the power of an S-rank Awakener truly was.
‘Edith Blake, an Unawakened, actually thought she could stand against monsters like that? Good grief.’
She should never have associated with them in the first place.
I was quickening my pace, shuddering at the thought, when it happened.
A sharp crack.
Suddenly, an iron grip seized my wrist.
“What the―!”
“If you truly wish to deceive me, at least show some minimal sincerity.”
“….”
“Do you think I wouldn’t know the name of my own personal maid?”
The man spoke with an expressionless face, his tone cutting.
I looked up at him with startled eyes.
‘How could he possibly―… Ah.’
He had been Edith Blake’s attendant in the past.
Given that he’d spent time at the Duke’s Residence, it wasn’t unreasonable for him to know Nancy’s name.
Though it was somewhat surprising that he still remembered the name of a mere maid….
As I recalled the information about Male Lead 3, my racing heart gradually began to settle.
I glanced at the wrist he was holding and spoke firmly.
“Let go.”
“That would be difficult, I’m afraid.”
“Why?”
“I cannot allow someone of unknown identity to wander freely through the Territory. Especially not―.”
“….”
“A suspect who may be smuggling away a child corrupted by Mana.”
The man’s gaze shifted to something behind me.
I flinched reflexively.
I had just witnessed him incinerate the Corrupted without hesitation.
If he mistakenly believed Theo was Corrupted and unleashed his power―.
‘Damn it.’
I forced down the curse rising in my throat.
I knew better than anyone how coldly the male leads treated everyone except the female lead―how villains died abandoned by them.
With a soft sound, I removed my bonnet and mask with my free hand, the one he wasn’t holding.
“Is my identity confirmed now?”
I met Dylan Frederick’s gaze directly as I spoke.
I felt no shame at being exposed.
I simply wanted to escape this moment as quickly as possible.
I just want to escape this moment quickly.
“….”
Yet why did I feel this way?
Even though I had confirmed my identity as requested, he simply stared at me without blinking once.
The delicate features that had once caused Edith Blake to mistake me for a girl had vanished without a trace.
The grown Dylan Frederick possessed an imposing presence that was unmistakably extraordinary at first glance.
His face was undeniably handsome enough to make countless women’s hearts flutter….
Yet despite this, I found his expressionless visage and those cold, ashen eyes deeply unsettling.
As if he were contemplating whether to kill me right here and now.
‘I told you to let go. Why are you just staring?’
Growing increasingly anxious, I repeated myself.
“If you’ve confirmed it, please release me now.”
“….”
“Your Grace.”
I had tried my best to avoid friction, but I could endure no longer.
Whoosh—!
I wrenched my wrist away forcefully, feeling the growing ache intensify.
Then I clasped both hands to my chest and stepped back several paces, ensuring he couldn’t grab me again.
“Your manners remain deplorable, Your Grace.”
“…Edith Blake.”
“Lady, or Miss Blake of the Blake Estate.”
“….”
“Does Count Frederick’s Household not teach proper etiquette for addressing a lady?”
Since he had casually used my name again, I promptly corrected him on the proper form of address.
And I smiled faintly—like someone muttering to themselves, speaking freely without restraint.
‘Go ahead and spit on a smiling face. What will you do about it?’
In that moment, a subtle emotion flickered across Dylan Frederick’s face for the first time.
As if he hadn’t anticipated this reaction from me, he appeared momentarily confused.
In a sense, it was a natural response.
Had I truly been Edith Blake, I would have raged and caused a scene—not responded with such sarcasm.
After a prolonged silence, he finally spoke.
“…What were you doing in such a state?”
“Must I report every detail of my actions to Your Grace?”
I replied coldly.
The confusion that had flickered across his face vanished in an instant.
He resumed radiating that frigid aura, then jerked his chin toward my back.
“Then perhaps I should ask that woman instead.”
At this transparent provocation, I scoffed inwardly.
‘Hmph. Do you think I’ll cower if you say that?’
Unfortunately for him, during my time as the Research Institute director, I had grown thoroughly sick of every conceivable form of harassment and attack.
“Eston, come here.”
I called out to Eston, who was holding her breath and watching for my reaction.
She approached hesitantly, and I introduced her with composure.
“Say hello. This is Count Frederick.”
“Oh? Um… Hello. I’m Eston, the healing specialist for the Young Lady…”
Eston seemed flustered by my sudden command, but she obeyed without resistance.
I met Dylan Frederick’s gaze directly and added further explanation.
“She’s a child I care for. She’s from this village.”
“….”
“The boy being carried on her back is her younger brother. He has a chronic illness that causes seizures, and I heard the villagers here were calling him a Gate Invader, so I came to retrieve him along with Eston.”
“….”
“I intend to sponsor him until he’s fully recovered.”
I rattled off the lie without blinking, and Dylan Frederick’s eye twitched slightly.
“You’re… sponsoring him?”
“Yes.”
“While dressed as a maid?”
“If I’d come as a Young Lady, people like you wouldn’t have simply watched me arrive here.”
The site of the Gate where the Invaders were frozen would have been no different from the villagers’ most sensitive nerve.
Had they recognized that I was an outsider traveling with Eston, someone would have stopped me long before now.
And if that someone were a Young Lady, it would only be a matter of time before word reached Dylan Frederick’s ears—and the Duke’s Household itself.
“….”
Faced with my flawless counterargument, Dylan Frederick could only gape, unable to respond.
That was the moment.
Clop, clop, clop!
“My Lord!”
With the sound of hoofbeats, several figures appeared behind Dylan Frederick.
They dismounted swiftly and prostrated themselves before him.
“W-we greet you, Lord. I am Gregory, the village chief of this town.”
An elderly man among them introduced himself with a tense expression.
Dylan Frederick barely acknowledged this and pointed toward Eston.
“Is that the child the boy reported on—the one being carried?”
“Yes, yes, that’s correct!”
“But I heard that child isn’t a Gate Invader. What’s going on?”
“Yes…? That can’t be! Theo definitely bit two of our residents…”
The village chief shook his head frantically.
Dylan Frederick, his brow furrowed, gestured to one of the men standing behind him.
“William.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Check.”
The man who received the order strode purposefully toward Eston.
“…!”
Watching such a man, Eston’s face gradually drained of color.
That was when it happened.

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