A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 66

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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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66.

***

By the time I arrived at the Duke’s Residence, dawn was breaking in the distance.
I hurried down from the carriage and made my way toward the perimeter wall.
Unlike when I had left, at this hour the supply wagons could not freely enter the grounds.
Because of this, I had to use the small gate cut into the rear wall.
The gate that Servants passed through during the day connected to the back door of the mansion.
Click, creak….
Fortunately, the door was unlocked—Nancy must have left it open for me.
I slipped inside quickly.
I was about to hurry back before anyone awake could spot me.
“You’re finally here.”
“Ah!”
I startled at the sudden voice coming from beside the gate.
When I spun around, I caught sight of blue hair—the shade of early dawn—swaying gently.
In the dim twilight before the sun had risen, golden eyes gleamed.
For a moment, I doubted my own sight.
“…Vincent?”
The man leaning against the perimeter wall beside the small gate was none other than
the second male lead.
Vincent Leandro.
“Why are you…here?”
“Indeed.”
….
“Why did I come here, Edith?”
He tilted his head, twisting one corner of his mouth into a smile.
Then, straightening from the wall, he slowly emerged from the shadows.

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Seeing the number floating above my head, Vincent’s presence suddenly felt strikingly real.
When I first heard him calling my name, I thought I was seeing a ghost.
‘What is he doing here at this hour? And why does he look like that?’
I pressed my hand against my still-racing chest and examined him carefully.
Bloodshot eyes, cracked lips, a haggard complexion.
Vincent looked as though he’d spent the entire night standing in that very spot.
“You look busy. Where are you coming from?”
He stopped a couple of paces away and asked abruptly.
I had no desire to answer.
Even without the secondary male lead adding to my troubles, I’d endured an exhausting and grueling night.
In truth, it was a miracle I hadn’t collapsed on the spot.
But the aura emanating from Vincent was far from ordinary.
I replied in a subdued voice.
“…Just needed to meet someone for a moment.”
“Yeah? Who?”
“Do I have to tell you that?”
“I’m your friend. I might be curious.”
He answered without changing his expression.
My head began to throb dully.
‘I don’t have time to drag this out.’
Soon, as dawn broke, the servants would begin appearing one by one.
Growing anxious as I glanced around, I offered a hasty farewell.
“…I don’t know what brought you here, but leave for now. We’ll talk next time.”
“When is next time?”
“At an appropriate hour for visiting someone’s home.”
Not now, in other words.
At that, he let out a sharp, bitter laugh.
“You’re not reluctant to say because it’s awkward to mention who it is, are you?”
“Think what you like.”
That was true, and there was no real reason to tell him anyway.
I turned away from him without hesitation.
‘He’s a strange one. Why is he showing up at the crack of dawn like this…’
I could sense that something had upset Vincent enough to make him come searching at this ungodly hour.
But I wasn’t particularly curious about his circumstances.
Whether his feelings were hurt or not…
‘I’m dying of exhaustion. Why should I care?’
It was the moment I was about to distance myself from him with that thought.
Whiiiiiish—!
A fierce gust of wind suddenly swept through.
A violent wind sharp enough to jolt me awake struck my face with a harsh slap.
“Ugh…!”
I had no time to be startled, crossing my arms defensively in front of me.
Rather than creating distance from Vincent, the gale was so fierce I could barely open my eyes.
Shhhhiiiiing—
“…Ah!”
Just as my feet were being pushed backward and I stumbled, nearly losing my balance.
Whoosh!
The savage wind that had been raging abruptly fell silent.
It felt as though I were dreaming with my eyes wide open.
I glanced around with a dazed expression.
“Next time, pollen might blow in too.”
“…”
“The garden is right next door, after all.”
At the playful voice from behind me, I slowly turned my body around.
Vincent was staring at me with that familiar innocent smile of his, though something about it seemed twisted.
‘So it was his doing.’
I couldn’t help but realize it.
That the sudden gale that prevented me from advancing even a single step was his work.
‘And as if that weren’t enough, he’s threatening to kill me with an allergic reaction?!’
I was speechless.
I met him with a cold gaze.
“What exactly are you trying to do?”
“Have a conversation.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Well, I do.”
Even with the odds against me, he seemed thoroughly determined.
Watching him smile and twirl as if playing word games, it seemed he would never let me go unless I listened.
I put one hand in my pocket and deliberated for a moment.
The sleeping fragrance Eston had given me still remained in considerable quantity.
‘Should I just spray it and run?’
For a moment, that temptation arose, but I shook my head.
There was no way to dispose of him sprawled out in the rear garden separately, and besides, once he woke up, he would come looking for me again.
I eventually sighed and withdrew my hand from my pocket.
“Go ahead then. I’ll listen.”
As I spoke irritably with my arms crossed, the smile faded from Vincent’s face.
“Good. Then without further ado…”
His words trailed off only briefly before he pressed forward with his question.
“Why did you go to Legion Street?”
“…What?”
“Sneaking off to Volner two weeks ago wasn’t enough, apparently.”
“…!”
For a moment, it felt as though I’d taken a blow directly to the head.
It was a question I’d never anticipated hearing from him.
“How did you… know that?”
My wide eyes fixed on him, though only briefly.
Then a cold, hollow laugh escaped me.
“Ha. You… were watching me this whole time?”
“How was the new escort knight?”
“….”
“I recommended him to your Butler. He managed to shake him off rather well.”
I’d thought surveillance was the most absurd thing that could happen.
But seeing him casually admit it left me utterly stunned.
“What… why would you do such a thing?”
I started to stammer out a protest, then stopped myself, closing my mouth.
Suddenly, questioning him felt pointless.
‘Why be shocked now? This is exactly the kind of person he is….’
So there was no reason to harbor doubts.
It was obvious this had something to do with the heroine.
‘He must have heard rumors that Ruellin was kidnapped somewhere.’
Once I thought of it that way, everything made sense.
“Fine… do as you please. Surveil me or don’t.”
I shook my head and muttered in a somewhat deflated voice.
Besides, telling him to stop would do no good anyway.
Getting angry at someone like him was just ridiculous.
“It wasn’t surveillance.”
But then, for some reason his mood soured further, and he twisted his face savagely.
“It was protection. At first, anyway.”
“Protection?”
“I heard the Grand Duke suspected you. So I assigned an escort—partly to give my only friend an alibi, and partly to prevent any unforeseen danger.”
It was ridiculous.
I watched Vincent put on quite the one-man show—first angry, then scornful, now aggrieved.
“Back then, I actually believed your story about amnesia.”
“….”
“Of course, I was an idiot for believing it.”
Vincent spat out the words bitterly, his eyes darkening as he glared at me.
“You have nothing to say to me, Edith?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Fine. Then answer me straight.”
“….”
“Where is Ruellin?”
My brow furrowed the moment I heard those words.
I was truly sick of this.
“Why do you always come to me asking? Have you never considered investigating it yourself?”
“Because your movements are far too suspicious. Besides, you have a track record.”
“What could possibly be so suspicious about it?”
“Right after Ruellin was kidnapped, you ditched your escort and sneaked off to Volner in secret. And today you left at midnight, only to return now….”
….
“Do I have any reason not to suspect you?”
At this point, I was genuinely curious about what was going on inside that head of his.
‘He kept saying I lacked intelligence, but what about him? How is his intelligence functioning at all?’
His so-called evidence amounted to nothing more than reciting my covert movements.
‘No, wait. He does have reason to suspect.’
I made an effort to think from Vincent’s perspective.
Given his nature, it was only natural that he would suspect me first once he learned Ruellin had been kidnapped.
“So what you’re saying is, you’ve been watching me all this time because you suspected I kidnapped Ruellin?”
“Not watching. Protecting.”
Before I could even finish, he corrected me.
“Fine, let’s call it protection.”
I nodded obediently.
I lacked the energy to argue further, absurd as it all was.
“Then you should have just followed me around and found it yourself. Why interrogate me?”
“I intended to. But the men I assigned to you couldn’t keep up with you every time. Tsk, useless bastards.”
He narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue in irritation.
There was nothing to say to that.
So I simply remained silent.
As he scrutinized me from head to toe, his expression suddenly hardened like a demon’s.
And then he pressed me relentlessly.
“What did you talk about with Dylan Frederick?”
….
“Serge Belnak, you bastard—what were you doing with that son of a bitch all night?”

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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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