A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 26

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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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26.

My mind went cold as if ice water had been suddenly poured over my head.
He’d spouted such absurd nonsense—that I wasn’t his daughter, that I was an intruder.
I’d found his banter with Langton rather pleasant.
I’d deluded myself into thinking my relationship with the Duke might not be so terrible after all.
‘…I let my guard down.’
My mood plummeted in an instant.
Even though I knew he was the kind of man who’d abandoned his own daughter because she hadn’t awakened, and taken in an adopted son instead.
Why had I done that?
Whether it was one person, two, or three—being abandoned was all the same.

— If only you’d awakened sooner, we wouldn’t have needed to register Jihan in the family register.
— Studying abroad? Ha, what would a non-awakened person accomplish by going abroad?

My biological father’s voice overlaid the Duke’s.
The disgust I’d felt when I first read this novel came rushing back in full force.
‘Why does it have to be so similar? Why does it have to be similar in all the worst ways?’
Bitterness rose in my throat.
I’d made the right choice not revealing my awakening to anyone.
If the Duke had known I’d awakened, he wouldn’t have laid bare his true feelings so nakedly.
“That’s why I’ve told you repeatedly not to linger around The Purifier….”
“….”
“Never mind. What’s the point of saying this to someone who’s lost her memory? You won’t listen anyway.”
Seeing me stare fixedly into empty space while suppressing my emotions, the Duke seemed to think I was listening carelessly, and he shook his head in disapproval.
Then he issued a threat immediately.
“Your brother is also at a sensitive age.”
“….”
“Until The Purifier appears, you’ll keep quiet as a dormouse for now. Do you understand?”
I hate this. Why me? If you were going to do this, why did you even have me?
What am I supposed to do?
This is suffocating.
Please, just stop!
The words that circled in my mouth never escaped my lips.
Because I had nowhere to run, not even from this hellish household.
If I had to endure beatings not just from siblings who shared no blood with me, but from my biological father as well—it would be too much.
“…Yes. I’ll do as you say.”
I felt like I wanted to die.
So I answered obediently once more.
Dirty, cowardly—there was no help for it. If I wanted to remain in this mansion for the time being.
“…The healer said there’s truly nothing wrong with you? Perhaps you struck your head incorrectly when you collapsed yesterday….”
The Duke questioned me with a troubled expression, as my response was far too docile for Edith Blake.
I rose abruptly from my seat without answering.
“If you’ve finished speaking, might I take my leave? You must be busy, and I fear I’m taking up too much of your time.”
The Duke regarded me with startled eyes as I suddenly stood.
“…But I haven’t even had refreshments brought yet. You’re leaving already?”
“It’s fine. I ate lunch not long ago. Have a pleasant day, Father.”
I cut short his courteous invitation with surgical precision, then turned to leave.
“Wait.”
At that moment, the Duke called me back.
The instant I turned to face him—
A large hand suddenly flew toward me, inches away.
“A noblewoman behaving so carelessly….”
“…!”
I couldn’t hear what he was saying clearly.
My eyes were already squeezed shut, my shoulders hunched tightly.
‘I’m going to be hit…!’
I knew the Duke wouldn’t suddenly strike me as I turned to leave.
But sometimes the body reacts before the mind can reason.
An eternity in an instant.
I braced for the impact against my cheek, but no matter how long I waited, no pain came.
“…Edith Blake?”
Instead, a voice tinged with bewilderment pierced my ears.
“…Huh.”
Only then did I snap my eyes open.
The hand that I thought would strike my cheek had stopped rigid just before my face.
Beyond it, I saw the Duke’s thoroughly flustered expression.
“You had an eyelash fallen onto your cheek, so I was trying to brush it away….”
“…Oh.”
I let out a vacant sound and quickly raised my hand to fumble at my cheek.
I couldn’t tell if I’d properly removed the eyelash.
I only wanted to escape this place immediately.
“…I should go now.”
Without even offering thanks, I hastily fled the Study.
At the door, I collided with Langton, who was pulling a tray.
“Oh, Miss! I’ve just brought refreshments, but where are you going….”
“….”
But I brushed past him just the same without a word.
Since I’d been here once before, I could navigate back without the Butler’s guidance.
Slam!
I practically sprinted back to my room and collapsed onto the floor the moment the door shut behind me.
“Haa… haa…”
Ragged breaths tumbled from my lips in quick succession.
I couldn’t tell if it was from the violent exertion or from the fresh awareness of confronting my trauma once more.
“Why is this happening again?”
As my mind cleared, self-loathing crashed over me like a tidal wave.
“Why did I shrink back like that? It’s been years already…”
I thought I’d forgotten it all.
‘Am I still trapped in my past?’
In the days since I’d been transmigrated into this cursed world, I’d believed I’d adapted reasonably well to this place.
Though dealing with male leads and extras who constantly picked fights was infuriating…
At least this mansion didn’t have a stepbrother who hit me over the head every time I saw him.
And my biological father, who’d regarded me like vermin for being an Awakened, wasn’t here either.
But then.
‘Nothing about this is fine.’
I’d been far too arrogant.
This place was utterly unbearable.
This mansion, bristling with trauma triggers from every direction.
It was nothing short of poison for my mental health.

***

Immediately after Edith Blake rushed out of the Study.
The Duke, who had been staring at the spot where his daughter stood with a displeased expression, settled back onto the sofa and fell into deep thought.
Creak—
Right on cue, the Aide entered, pulling a tray behind him.
Seeing this, the Duke furrowed his brow.
“Did you bring dried tea leaves?”
“Not tea leaves, sir. I was busy baking those cookies Miss Edith enjoys… She just left. Did you two quarrel again?”
“Quarrel? At her age? Tsk.”
The Duke clicked his tongue in disapproval, then asked in a quieter voice.
“Langton.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Has Edith Blake ever been struck by someone before?”
“Struck, sir? You mean someone hit Miss Edith?”
Langton answered matter-of-factly as he transferred the teacup and saucer onto the table.
“Well, I don’t recall anything recent… but if I searched, there would likely be a list somewhere recording settlement payments.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
Sensing his own question was embarrassing, the Duke fell silent.
But the doubt that kept nagging at him wouldn’t let him dismiss it so easily.
“I’m asking whether Edith Blake has ever been struck by someone else.”
“Pardon?!”
Langton flinched as if hearing something absurd.
“What are you saying all of a sudden, sir? Miss Edith isn’t the type to go around getting beaten.”
“That’s true. But…”
Even as he agreed, the Duke recalled the Edith Blake he had just seen.
He had merely tried to remove an eyelash stuck to her cheek.
But her reaction in that moment troubled him.
As if he were about to strike her, she had immediately squeezed her eyes shut and cowered.
It was unmistakably the classic reflex of someone who had endured severe violence.
Tap, tap.
The Duke drummed his fingers against the armrest, muttering to himself.
“…What happened in Tollen?”
“Fortunately, Count Frederick’s Household hasn’t sent any protests yet.”
“Never mind that.”
The Duke commanded the bewildered Aide.
“Go to the Security Bureau and bring me the report on the Tollen Gate incident.”
“But why… it shouldn’t differ much from what our investigation team submitted.”
“That’s right. Come to think of it… I never asked her about it.”
Langton regarded the Duke with confusion, unable to follow his train of thought.
“Asked her what, sir?”
“What happened at the Gate site.”
“Well, there was no opportunity to ask while the young lady was unconscious… and now she’s lost her memory entirely, hasn’t she?”
So there was no way to hear the truth until Edith Blake recovered her memories.
Moreover, since the statements from the Purifier and all other parties involved aligned perfectly, it was already a case swiftly closed.
Edith Blake had failed to follow safety protocols and acted recklessly alone, resulting in her demise at the hands of a monster.
“…Something feels off.”
At the time, I had accepted it as reasonable.
In truth, between the shocking news that Edith had nearly harmed the Purifier before dying and the immediate funeral preparations that followed, there had been no time for deeper contemplation.
“There were three S-rank Awakeners present….”
“….”
“Why couldn’t even one of them prevent her from being devoured by that monster?”
The strange behavior of my daughter, whom I had seen after so long.
The doubts about her death that came too late.
The Duke’s gaze, wandering through empty space, grew dark and heavy.

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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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