A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 46

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

46.

Because he spoke as if he were a perfectly normal person.
Because we’d exchanged words for quite some time.
I had overlooked something crucial.
The fact that Male Lead 4 was a madman who persecuted the Crown Prince in front of everyone, and that he possessed a fiery temperament capable of overturning the entire board if things didn’t go his way.
“….”
A chilling silence swept through the room.
A strange tension was reborn between Serge and me.
In that instant, a thousand thoughts flashed through my mind.
If he truly meant what he’d just said and tried to kill me without rhyme or reason.
What would I do then?
‘Call the bell? Or use my ability to knock him out again?’
My rampage gauge had already reset enough to purify adequately anyway.
‘Could I rush at him now and seize his hand?’
Tap, tap, tap.
I was running simulations while watching his fingers drumming steadily against the table.
Thud.
Suddenly, the fingers tapping the desk stopped.
And then.
“I was joking, Princess. Relax your face.”
“….”
“I said I was joking?”
He let out a soft laugh as he watched me, frozen in place.
The strange tension that had enveloped us shattered in an instant.
“Even for me, it would be difficult to face three Awakeners simultaneously. Besides, the Duke’s subordinate is S-rank just like me, isn’t he?”
It was a statement that it was realistically impossible.
Of course, I knew that too.
But I couldn’t seem to ease my rigid expression.
Because it didn’t sound much like a joke.
Because I could clearly sense that he had seriously considered it for a moment.
Just as I was about to face Male Lead 4 with my mouth shut and a bitter expression, he wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
“If you really don’t want to make a deal with me that badly, I suppose I have no choice.”
“….”
“I’ll just have to spread the rumor that the Princess confessed to me on the day of the Ballroom.”
“What… What did you just say?!”
I had tried to maintain a composed demeanor, but this was something I simply couldn’t ignore.
“What exactly is that supposed to…!”
“Look, spreading the word that I’ve simply awakened would deal far less damage to the Princess than this approach, don’t you think?”
Blood rushed backward through my veins.
At my violent reaction, he chuckled with amusement.
Not being able to drive my fist into that face felt like an eternal regret.
I ground my teeth and substituted curses with the most courteous words I could muster.
“Truly…”
“…”
“Your Grace the Duke, I can say with absolute certainty that you are the most wicked, vulgar, and worst person I have ever met.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He tilted his head and replied with infuriating nonchalance.
And he added:
“The Princess is no pushover either. Think about how she wielded my weakness against me. There are few people who have ever been so bold before me.”
“Of course that may be true, but I would never have conceived of doing something to tarnish Your Grace the Duke’s honor.”
“Is liking me a stain on my honor?”
“…”
“Ha!”
This time, clearly irritated, he laughed loudly and roughly swept his hair back.
“Who’s calling whom wicked, anyway…”
“…But I also have one condition.”
“What is it?”
As expected, he showed no intention of abandoning this deal or whatever it was and leaving.
No matter how much I invoked his weakness, he remained unmoved.
Rather than listen to threats about killing me, it was time I faced reality and accepted it.
‘Where on earth is my life heading…’
I solemnly murmured while desperately holding back tears that threatened to spill.
“Never threaten me or try to kill me again.”
“I said it was a joke.”
“That includes making similar threats. If you’re not confident you can keep this, I refuse the deal, and if you break it during the deal, it’s immediately void.”
If I couldn’t escape, I might as well extract some benefit.
The variable in any meeting with him was him himself.
At my firm conditions, Serge regarded me with an odd expression.
“…This is somewhat disappointing. I thought I’d shown the Princess considerable sincerity up until now.”
“What sincerity… are you referring to?”
“Didn’t you see what I wrote on the invitation?”
It was a rather unexpected remark.
As I slowly recalled the invitation’s contents, the impatient man recited it first.
“A toast to those who survive to the end.”
“…”
“I tend to highly regard those who survive by any means necessary until the very end, Princess. It means I never had any intention of killing you from the moment we first met.”
It was like stabbing someone with a blade and then saying, ‘Sorry, I didn’t actually intend to kill you.’
I asked with a stiffened expression.
“I… beg your pardon?”
“If I intended to kill you, why would I bother controlling my abilities just to hear the Princess’s answer? I could simply break your neck and announce that the suspect has been summarily executed.”
‘This madman…’
Infuriating as it was, his logic held merit.
The realization that I could have died right there sent a chill racing down my spine.
Clap, clap, clap!
In that moment, he suddenly began clapping his hands.
“I was genuinely impressed when you struck my head with that stool and fabricated the situation. From the moment our eyes met in the Ballroom, I thought you were no ordinary lunatic…”
A lunatic calling me a lunatic. How insulting.
“Why… did you think that way, Your Highness?”
“Everyone else was too busy avoiding my gaze for fear of getting burned, yet the Princess alone stared directly at me. As if issuing me a challenge.”
“That was…!”
I was simply frozen in shock and terror!
‘How could he interpret that expression as a challenge?’
I stared at him in bewilderment, uncertain where or how to begin explaining.
Suddenly, he wiped the smile from his lips.
“Take pride in your survival instinct, Princess. Had you simply fled using only your abilities from the Purifier’s Room, it would have been tedious and dull.”
Had you failed to capture my interest, your neck would be broken by now.
I understood precisely what the Crown Prince meant.
“…So you found it amusing that I struck Your Highness’s head and fabricated the situation to survive?”
At my question, he smiled with satisfaction as if I’d given the correct answer.
“The suffocation game was rather enjoyable too. Shall we do it again next time?”
“Absolutely not!”
I shuddered and leaped to my feet.
In any case, the deal was now concluded.
“If you’re finished speaking, perhaps you should take your leave.”
“But I haven’t even emptied my cup yet. How harsh of you.”
While I was ready to bolt from my seat at any moment, he remained perfectly composed, leaning back against the chair and raising his teacup.
It was truly infuriating.
“When do you intend to depart?”
“Don’t you have a dinner appointment with the Duke?”
“Then please take your time and enjoy yourself. Unfortunately, due to my poor health, I fear I shall be unable to attend the formal dinner.”
At my subtle hint to leave me be, he let out a scoff.
Fortunately, as there was nothing more to discuss beyond our transaction, he turned his gaze away from me and drank his tea with a loud slurp.
I retrieved the earrings he had offered without forgetting them, then hurriedly exited the Reception Room.
It was the moment my hand reached for the doorknob.
“How strange, though.”
A soft murmur suddenly reached my ears from behind.
“If I recall correctly, the Princess is quite well-treated for an Unawakened, is she not? There were jokes circulating that Edith Blake would use her mouth as a weapon even if she were sucked into a Gate…”
“….”
“I’m curious when you started clinging to life and death like a stubborn mule.”
I turned around in considerable shock.
He wasn’t looking at me.
Yet he saw through my true nature more accurately than anyone I’d ever met.

― It’s as if you’ve become a completely different person!
― Truly… ever since awakening from that coma, you seem like an entirely different person.

Everyone spoke in unison—Edith Blake had changed.
But that arrogant, aloof Princess who once knew no limits, in what way had she transformed?
No one until now had ever recognized the stubborn determination lurking beneath the surface.
I gazed at the male lead with wavering eyes before finally steadying myself.
“…I suppose.”
“….”
“That I cannot survive on words alone.”
“….”
“Perhaps because I realized that in the end, only I can protect myself.”
Suddenly he turned his head to look at me.
Our eyes met.
Those glossy black eyes like onyx flickered for an instant with an indecipherable emotion.
But before I could decipher its meaning, he abruptly turned his head away.
Once that mouth—which had spouted only terrible things—fell silent, the man sipping his tea resembled a masterpiece painting.
It felt strange that a face which had seemed satanic now appeared quite beautiful.
‘So this is what a male lead truly is….’
The thought that arose unbidden made my brow furrow deeply.
I turned on my heel.
And without hesitation, I left the Reception Room.

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