A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 37

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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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37.

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I stumbled out of Ruellin’s Room and rushed down the staircase.
My legs buckled like those of a newborn fawn, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself upright again and again.
‘I have to escape before that madman wakes up…!’
Even if I went back, striking him with the stool had been the right call a hundred times over.
But there was one fatal drawback—waking that monster from his slumber.

— Mmm…

At the sight of his trembling eyes and low groan, I’d panicked, hurled the stool aside, and bolted from the room.
‘Usually, a blow that hard would knock someone unconscious. How is he waking up after taking a hit to the head like that?’
By the time I’d finished grumbling, I finally reached the First Floor.
Slipping discreetly out through the Back Door and into the Corridor, I thankfully encountered no one.
I crossed the Corridor quickly, my nerves somewhat steadied.
Then, catching sight of my reflection in a window, my jaw dropped.
“…Good heavens.”
My makeup was completely smeared, and my neatly pinned hair hung in tangled disarray.
My eyes were bloodshot from burst capillaries, and my neck bore numerous scratches from fingernails.
I looked absolutely unhinged.
“Sigh…”
I paused for a moment, then released a deep breath and finally let my hair down.
My beautiful golden locks cascaded like a waterfall, draping across my waist.
It was a disheveled appearance hardly suited for a party, but there was no helping it.
At least my long hair could conceal my face and neck somewhat.
‘I should hurry to the Duke’s Residence and have Eston heal me.’
Returning to the Ballroom and pretending nothing had happened was impossible given my condition, and I lacked the strength for such a performance anyway.
In truth, the joy and exhilaration of having exacted revenge on the male lead number four didn’t last long.
My body was too damaged to sustain myself on that alone.
My throat burned as if on fire both inside and out, and the nausea from overusing my ability still lingered.
‘At this rate, I might collapse again.’
I laughed bitterly at myself.
Perhaps the male lead number four was right—raised in privilege as I was, Edith Blake’s body was as fragile as glass.
‘And yet this frail thing attempted a kidnapping.’
I kept my head bowed to hide my appearance and shuffled forward once more.
As I reached the end of the Corridor and was about to turn the corner—
Thud!
My mistake was keeping my eyes fixed on the ground as I walked, and I collided directly with someone.
A gasp escaped me.
Watch out!
Fortunately, the person I’d bumped into quickly caught me as I stumbled backward.
Edith Blake?
But the moment I heard that familiar voice, my gratitude evaporated entirely.
Of all the rotten luck.
Could things possibly go more wrong?
The person I’d collided with was none other than.
My older brother.
Male Lead One, Ethan Blake.
Look at the state of you.
Upon seeing my appearance, he flinched and his eyes widened.
I cursed inwardly.
Today my luck was absolutely abysmal.
Not only had I been tortured by Male Lead Four, but I’d been discovered by the one male lead I absolutely could not afford to be seen by.
In my bewilderment, I gently extracted my arm from Ethan’s grip.
Thank you for catching me. Please pretend you didn’t see anything. I’ll be going.
I bowed curtly and tried to slip past him.
If only his desolate murmur hadn’t stopped me in my tracks.
Who were you fighting with this time?
What?
Fighting? With whom?
His confident tone stirred up a wave of emotion within me.
But I suppressed it and answered calmly.
I wasn’t fighting.
I was simply tortured one-sidedly.
I added in a hoarse voice.
I’m exhausted right now. Could we discuss this later?
Tell me now. Don’t let this snowball into something worse later.
I already told you I wasn’t fighting.
Then what exactly is that state you’re in?
I fell on my own.
At my half-hearted excuse, he furrowed his brow sharply.
Are you trying to get this reported to Father?
At those words, I exhaled heavily.
Why did both of them insist on blackmailing me?
Then go ahead and tell him.
I replied flatly and was about to resume walking when.
Whoosh!
A sudden, powerful grip seized my shoulder and wrenched me around.
“Ah…!”
The world spun before my eyes in an instant.
I squeezed my eyes shut reflexively, and when I opened them again—
“How long are you going to keep acting like a child?”
I found myself facing an enraged Ethan, his gaze sharp as a blade.
“Who asked you to handle this? I said I’d take care of it myself—can’t you even understand when I’m asking you to explain the situation?”
“What good does understanding do?”
“Then you go apologize, or work out a settlement.”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking why you should be the one.”
“Why I should be the one?”
At my words, he let out a cold, exasperated laugh.
But I meant every word.
‘What exactly do you think you can do by going?’
I’d struck the Emperor’s half-brother—the sole Grand Duke—unconscious with a stool. How was anyone supposed to smooth that over?
As I stared at him with weary eyes, Ethan spoke through gritted teeth.
“You’ve lost your memory, yet that rotten nature of yours remains unchanged.”
“…”
“If you hate that I’m cleaning up after your messes, go tell your father yourself. Whether he strikes you from the family register or covers up the incident—handle it yourself…”
Beeeeeep—
That was the moment.
A terrible ringing erupted, and another voice layered over Ethan’s words.

― What should we do? Your father put someone who didn’t want it on the family register. Why don’t you go tell him—since I’ve done this to you, please remove me from it.
― But would that man ever believe your words?

“Ah…!”
I let out a short gasp and covered one ear with my free hand.
That exquisite sensation I’d felt in the Duke’s Office came cascading down my spine.
Why, of all times, now.
“…Father certainly was generous with you….”
“…shut up.”
“Edith Blake?”
“…I said shut up.”
“What?”
“And you—can’t you do something about that vulgar manner of speaking?”
I couldn’t tell if what I was looking at was truly Ethan, or the Biological Father’s first adopted son.
Everything had become hopelessly tangled together, crushed into a formless mass.
Unfortunately for him, I spilled out everything at once—words I’d failed to say in the past and words meant for this very moment, all jumbled together as my ears remained covered.
It wasn’t speech; it was poison.
“If you want to tell Father something, then go tell him.”
“Edith Blake.”
“I understand perfectly well that you’re a commoner who rose above your station, so stop flaunting your inferiority complex at me.”
“…Watch your tongue, Edith Blake.”
“You’re the one who needs to know your place, Ethan Douglas―!”
I’d seemed on the verge of fainting just moments before, yet somehow I still had the strength to lash out like this.
“Hah, gasp…!”
I screamed out Ethan’s true name—one I’d only glimpsed in passing in the novel—and my breathing became ragged, as though I were hyperventilating.
―――!
Finally, the ringing that had been gnawing at my mind came to a stop.
Ethan seemed quite startled by my violent reaction.
His ice-clear blue eyes wavered uncertainly.
I glared at him and laughed with a ruined expression.
“What, you feel like something special just because I called you brother?”
“You….”
“A murderer who deliberately left the Duke’s own daughter to die.”
“What…!”
“You were planning to take everything that was mine if I died, weren’t you? You’ve been keeping quiet, so you’ve already forgotten? Tollen Gate!”
Ethan’s face froze in shock at my words.
“You, you… you remember….”
At his stammering words, my clouded vision gradually began to clear.
Perhaps my scattered mind was finally returning.
And with it came regret.
‘I went too far.’
I should have held back more.
But Ethan had to go and say something similar to the memory I’d forgotten….
I’d lost a rather convenient excuse: memory loss.
‘…There’s nothing I can do about it. It wasn’t a card I could use for long anyway.’
I tried to console myself.
Truth be told, Serge had already driven me half-mad long before this.
And then meeting Ethan, hearing him grate on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard—my fuse was bound to blow.
“…Edith Blake?”
That was when another voice called out to me from behind.
The second male lead.
“You said you were going to the restroom, and you fell into the toilet bowl…”
Vincent suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
And like Ethan moments before, his eyes widened in shock.
“…What happened to you? Who did this to you?”
“Ha…”
Not just the fourth male lead, but the first and second as well.
I roughly swept back my disheveled hair and let out a hollow laugh.
“Nothing ever goes right…”
“Who was it? Tell me. What happened in the restroom?”
He closed the distance in an instant, his presence emanating menace as he demanded answers.
When had he ever cared whether I lived or died?
Now his pretense of concern was sickening and repulsive.
Even Ethan, who at least seemed certain we’d fought, was preferable to this.
Tap—!
With that thought, I irritably shook off the shoulder Ethan had grabbed.
And immediately moved to leave.
But my wrist was seized again. Again.
“Hey.”
“Let go. I told you not to touch my body without permission.”
I wrenched my hand away roughly and spoke without even looking at him.
“It seems Ruellin still hasn’t arrived. Since my time here is up, could you stop bothering me?”
“You need to at least tell me what happened… Hey, Edith Blake! Edith Blake!”
I was now only a short distance from the side entrance of the Ballroom.
I was striding toward it, ignoring him completely, when—
Suddenly, a large frame blocked the light spilling from the doorway.
Despite the backlighting, his crimson hair gleamed with vivid color, and his dark ash-grey eyes fixed directly upon me.
The third male lead, Dylan Frederick.
By appearing out of nowhere and blocking the door, he forced me to pass through him to enter the Ballroom.
All three of the male leads in one place.
A complete disaster.
‘What is going on today…?’
Had I been cursed? Or was this a hex? Bad luck?
If there were a god in this novel, they had surely conspired to suffocate me to death today.
There was no monster wielding telekinesis, yet my breath came in strangled gasps.
I could endure no longer.
As the world spun in dizzying circles, I collapsed where I stood.
“Edith Blake―!”
Through ears muffled as if submerged in water, I heard someone calling my name with desperate urgency.
I didn’t want to hear it.
So I closed my eyes.

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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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