A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 32

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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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32.

“Ugh, ugh…! Aaaahhh―!”
The Crown Prince stumbled backward at the sight, letting out a piercing scream as if his body might tear apart.
Thud!
He tripped over a chair leg and fell in an ungraceful heap.
‘Insane… how grotesque!’
I found the severed monster’s head equally repulsive.
Even as an adult Awakened, I recoiled from the sight—so it was only natural that an unawakened Crown Prince, clearly coddled within the Imperial Palace walls, would collapse in shock.
‘Damn it, this scene was never in the story!’
My teeth chattered at this unhinged turn of events.
In the novel, this was supposed to be one of the romantic scenes—the male lead dramatically reuniting with the heroine and asking her to dance, with her accepting his invitation.
His spectacular entrance through spatial displacement was also supposed to happen.
But severing a monster’s head and leaving the Crown Prince unconscious? That was absolutely not part of the script.
Because that wouldn’t fit a ‘romance’ fantasy novel.
‘Something went wrong the moment the heroine wasn’t in the Ballroom.’
What made it even more maddening was that only the Crown Prince and I seemed alarmed by the male lead’s outrageous behavior.
“I’ve never seen a monster like this before…”
“The Caspian Gorge? B-but isn’t that a Gate Wave zone?!”
“The barrier should have made entry impossible. How did the Duke manage to…”
Most of the nobility were Awakened, it seemed—they merely exchanged curious whispers without showing a trace of alarm at the monster’s head.
“Why be so impressed? A couple of small Gates happened to open, and I had a grand time hunting.”
The male lead burst into hearty laughter, glancing at the Crown Prince sprawled on his back.
Then he rummaged through the sack once more.
“But Your Majesty, you haven’t seen the best part yet. Take a look at this.”
He pulled out something the size of an ostrich egg.
A pale gray sphere oozing viscous fluid—it looked half-melted, dripping between his fingers as if it might burst through at any moment.
Gelatinous and grotesque, it was barely holding its shape.
“A Cyclops’s eye. Quite rare, but they were everywhere in the Wave.”
“Ugh, uhhh…!”
“I went through the trouble of extracting it alive since the crystal supposedly helps with growth, but it’s already rotted. What a shame.”
The Duke clicked his tongue in disappointment and carelessly hurled it to the floor.
Splat―!
It hit the ground with a wet sound and collapsed into a formless mass.
I was almost grateful for that.
Had I seen its true form, I wouldn’t have slept properly tonight.
“And finally…”
“Aaaahhh! Stop, stop―!”
As the Grand Duke rummaged through the bag once more, the Crown Prince shrieked as if seized by a fit.
“You there! Clean this up at once—what are you all doing!”
“Haha. But we’re at the highlight now, Your Highness. Your uncle feels quite hurt by this request.”
“Leon! Garfield!”
Yet despite the Crown Prince’s desperate calls, the attendants standing beside him didn’t so much as flinch.
‘…He’s using his ability.’
Observing them all trembling visibly, their faces drained of color, I immediately grasped the reason.
Serge, the male lead, was pinning them down with telekinesis, rendering them completely immobile.
‘What about the mana stone? It’s supposed to glow when it detects ability wavelengths!’
Yet the purple stone embedded in the pillar directly ahead—presumably a mana stone—emitted no light whatsoever.
Even if the nobility favored the Grand Duke, the fact that the mana stone remained unresponsive meant….
‘He can control his ability to that degree?’
It meant he could manipulate so many people with such minute force that the wavelength wouldn’t even register.
The implications were staggering.
“Rather than searching for those standing perfectly fine beside you, Your Highness, do look at this.”
Ignoring the Crown Prince’s outcry, Serge grinned widely and finally pulled something from the bag.
“Whether this is the heart of an earth dragon or an earth worm….”
Mercifully, it wasn’t the grotesque corpse of a monster this time.
It was a chunk of stone resembling a raw gem, egg-sized and dark crimson in hue.
“Hah, huff….”
The Crown Prince, wound tight with tension, gasped for breath.
Regardless, Serge tilted his head and murmured thoughtfully.
“Hmm… but what was this good for again?”
“…!”
“Tell me, what was this good for?”
He placed one foot, tap, upon the back of the Middle-aged Man still prostrate before him.
“Ugh! That… was merely kept as a memento of my first kill…!”
“Ah! So this was mine after all.”
“….”
“It does sparkle quite nicely—surely it has some value, does it not, Your Highness?”
Tap, tap—!
Serge tossed the earth dragon’s heart high with one hand, catching it repeatedly as he spoke.
The Crown Prince gasped like a man strangled, crying out pitifully.
“Why, why are you doing this to me, Grand Duke!”
“Indeed. Why did Your Highness treat such a loyal subject as I in that manner?”
“I, I didn’t do anything to you…!”
“Did you not say that the Purifier is in Volner?”
Tap—!
As Serge caught the dark crimson stone for the last time, the smile that had adorned his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, expressionless gaze.
At that look, the Crown Prince flinched visibly, his shoulders trembling with unmistakable fear.
“Th-that is…!”
“I suppressed the Gate as instructed, went to the location His Majesty indicated, and found no sign of The Purifier—only this wretch greeting me. Is that not so?”
Thwack!
Serge Belnak brought his foot down hard against the prostrate man’s back.
“Ugh!”
“Then the moment I spotted the griffin, it struck me. Ah! I must have misunderstood His Majesty’s orders!”
“P-please! Spare me! I-I was wrong. Please spare me…!”
“There and then, I realized it. His Majesty lies awake each night, cradled in The Purifier’s arms, whimpering that he wishes to grow swiftly, to awaken his powers, to ascend the throne!”
The Grand Duke’s exaggerated voice and the man’s groans beneath his feet alternated in a grotesque chorus.
It was a bizarre and chilling spectacle.
“Every night, our sovereign yearns so desperately to be held in The Purifier’s embrace, to grow strong and awaken, to claim the imperial throne…”
“What…!”
“He desired it so fervently that he deceived me about The Purifier’s location and sent me through a Gate Wave. As his only uncle, how could I refuse to grant him even this one wish?”
“S-silence! Serge Belnak, shut your mouth this instant!”
At the Grand Duke’s words, the Crown Prince’s face flushed crimson as though his weakness had been exposed, and he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Is that not the truth?”
Yet Serge merely shrugged and turned to survey the nobility arrayed throughout the hall.
“Hahahaha!”
“Quite right!”
“The Grand Duke is a true paragon of loyalty!”
Several nobles who had already aligned themselves with the Grand Duke eagerly seconded his rhetorical question.
As the commotion in the hall subsided, Serge wore a thin smile and turned slowly to face the Crown Prince.
“How do you find my gift, Your Highness?”
“Y-you…!”
“Starting tomorrow, I shall instruct the kitchens to prepare a broth from it twice daily.”
“N-no! Stop it!”
“You should have been more discerning in your choice of faith, Your Highness. How shameful—a heretic, no less. At my age, must I truly support a foolish nephew? Hmm?!”
The Grand Duke’s contorted face, twisted with menace, resembled a messenger freshly emerged from the depths of hell itself.
“…!”
Beneath that violent presence, the Crown Prince trembled violently.
Then.
“Ah… ahhh…”
His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness entirely.
“…Tsk. Escort him back to the palace.”
Only then did Serge’s expression relax, and he flicked his chin dismissively.
In that same instant, the Crown Prince’s attendants, who had been frozen like statues, suddenly came to life.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“What is the meaning of this, Grand Duke!”
“We shall report this matter directly to His Imperial Majesty!”
The attendants hastily gathered the Crown Prince and protested vehemently.
However, the person in question merely scoffed, refusing to listen even with the back of their ear.
“As you wish.”
Creak!
At that moment, the doors of the Ballroom burst open, and knights clad in pitch-black armor stormed in.
‘The Imperial Palace Knights wear golden armor. If they’re black, then….’
They were likely the Personal Guard of the fourth male lead.
The nobility showed no particular reaction, as if accustomed to such scenes.
Meanwhile, the attendants who caught sight of the black armor turned deathly pale.
Hoisting the Crown Prince onto their shoulders, they scrambled out through the rear exit of the Ballroom to escape the knights.
“My lord, you have returned!”
Fortunately, as the Grand Duke showed no further interest in the Crown Prince, he turned his head toward the approaching knights.
“Clean it up.”
He gestured at the corpses of the monsters I had slain, then lifted his foot slightly from where it had been pressing down on the middle-aged man.
And then.
Crack―!
Without a moment’s hesitation, he brought his hand down directly onto the middle-aged man’s neck.
“Gack!”
With a final, strangled cry, the man’s body went limp against the floor.
‘Could it be… did he just kill him?!’
My heart plummeted.
No matter how differently the story unfolded from the novel, I never imagined one of the male leads could be this ruthless.
As I alternated my gaze between the motionless man with a twisted expression and the fourth male lead.
“…!”
In that instant, our eyes met.

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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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