A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 71

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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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71.

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I had just finished wrapping up my conversation with the Duke and returned to my room when I discovered the chaos.
My chamber had been utterly transformed.
Luxurious boxes were stacked like mountains, each overflowing with glittering treasures.
Several Servants bustled about, unpacking and arranging the items with meticulous care.
“Butler! Where should this go?”
“Set that aside for now. We’ll likely need to commission a new accessory chest… And you there! Didn’t I tell you to move anything fragile to the warehouse immediately?”
The Butler stood at the center of it all, orchestrating the operation with fervent authority.
I approached with a furrowed brow.
“What is all this, Butler?”
“Ah! Young Lady, you’ve returned already?”
The Butler’s face lit up at the sight of me.
“We’ve been organizing the gifts sent from the Grand Duke’s Residence!”
He answered with unbridled enthusiasm.
I’d already heard from the Duke, but I hadn’t expected it to be this excessive.
“Rare jewels and accessories of every variety, decorative pieces in styles I’ve never seen before—truly magnificent! Would you like to see them?”
“No.”
I refused curtly, my gaze sweeping across the room in bewilderment.
“He never mentioned sending this many.”
“Indeed! Several carriages arrived in procession… This old man was quite startled! But given that our Young Lady caught the culprit, even a hundredfold gratitude wouldn’t be excessive!”
Word had apparently spread throughout the Estate, and the Butler chattered away in high spirits.
‘No wonder the Duke looked so pleased earlier…’
He’d sent such an enormous quantity of treasures.
‘A hundredfold gratitude? Ridiculous.’
They simply didn’t understand the full picture.
While the gifts appeared dazzling and desirable to everyone else, I found the Grand Duke’s presents deeply unsettling.
It was far too generous for what I had actually accomplished.
Honestly, even clarifying last night’s events to the Duke had been surprising enough.
‘Of course, I also healed him, so technically the scales are balanced…’
But he had been unconscious at the time, so he couldn’t possibly know that.
Therefore, simply informing the Grand Duke’s Residence of his whereabouts as instructed shouldn’t warrant such lavish gratitude…
‘That’s right—Eston!’
Suddenly, another detail surfaced in my mind.
I’d been too preoccupied to remember it until now.
Through her, I had healed him and sent her on an errand to the Grand Duke’s Residence.
I hurried to question the Butler.
“Butler, where is Eston?”
“Eston? She was here until just a moment ago, but I believe she said she was going to fetch something….”
“Young Lady.”
Right on cue, the person I was looking for entered through the door.
“Eston!”
I practically rushed toward her.
Then I pulled her into a corner.
After glancing at the Butler and the Servants, I whispered softly.
“…How did all this happen?”
“Ah. Well….”
Eston explained the entire sequence of events with an awkward expression.
“When I informed the Grand Duke’s House of the location, they blocked me from going until they could verify it was true.”
“What? And then?”
“Anyway, the knights found that person and brought him back, but this time they wouldn’t let me leave until he woke up. It seems they grew suspicious of me.”
Since it was a story only the two of us knew, Eston tactfully omitted the subject.
When I frowned at the part about being suspected, Eston hastily added.
“Fortunately, that person woke up in less than an hour.”
“An hour? Hmm….”
I opened my mouth wide in astonishment.
He drank the hallucinogenic drug, had his abdomen pierced, and even underwent purification, yet he woke up so quickly.
It was a recovery rate that was hard to believe.
‘Then he must have woken up even faster the last time during purification?’
Seeing Serge’s eyelids trembling faintly, I was right to flee immediately.
The thought that I could have been caught and become an assassin of the Grand Duke made me shudder involuntarily.
“A monster of a man….”
As I muttered softly to myself, Eston nodded in agreement.
“And nothing else happened?”
“No. Except for being so frightened I could barely breathe, everything was fine. When I told him I was the Young Lady’s Healer, he thanked me and even offered me refreshments.”
“Of course he should! Who else brought him back from the brink of death.”
I spoke with genuine sincerity, but Eston seemed embarrassed and averted her gaze with a “Pft.”
A rosy blush rose to the bridge of her nose.
“Anyway. When he asked why I was alone, I briefly explained the reason for the Young Lady’s departure. And after that, as you can see….”
Only then could I roughly understand how the situation had unfolded.
I’m not sure what change of heart occurred, but in any case, he created an alibi for me as compensation for healing his wounds.
‘…Was sending Eston a stroke of genius?’
I thought everything would be exposed because of that madman Vincent.
Surprisingly, it somehow ended in a happy ending.
Until breakfast, I was thinking of using that excuse….
Anyway, it was amusing how I had screamed at the thought of using that pretext.
“Ah, right. Your Grace, this….”
It was then that Eston carefully extended something he’d been cradling in his arms toward me.
So absorbed in our conversation, I hadn’t even noticed the object resting in his hands.
It was an exquisite velvet box, thin and book-sized.
“…What is this?”
“The Grand Duke asked me to deliver it to you separately.”
“Separately?”
Why specifically?
I accepted the box with a reluctant expression.
Unease flooded through me rather than gratitude.
I feared opening the lid only to find a monster’s corpse spilling out.
I was taking a deep breath to steel myself before opening it.
“The Grand Duke said you’d understand if I mentioned the heart of the Earth Dragon?”
That was when it happened.
“W-what? The h-heart of the Earth Dragon?!”
The Butler came rushing over, apparently having been listening despite pretending not to hear.
‘What is the heart of the Earth Dragon?’
The name sounded vaguely familiar, and I tilted my head in confusion.
“Do you know what it is, Butler?”
“Yes, I know it very well! The Earth Dragon is a rare monster passed down in legend!”
The Butler spoke in rapid succession, his expression alight with excitement.
“According to rumors, it resembles a mystical beast rather than a monster, and the first Awakener to witness it gave it that name. There’s a legend that whoever sees the Earth Dragon is granted the power to obtain everything they desire!”
“Is that so?”
The power to obtain everything one desires….
As befitted a legend, it was remarkably abstract and grandiose.
I wasn’t particularly moved by it.
But unlike my indifference, the Butler spoke with such fervor he seemed ready to weep.
“If this is truly the heart of the Earth Dragon, it’s as precious as a national treasure! They say its value cannot even be calculated in gold!”
“Hmm.”
“Ah, Miss! Won’t you open it at once? This old man’s lifelong wish has been to see the Earth Dragon even once…!”
Well, to such an extent….
If it was something so remarkable, there was no reason to refuse showing it.
I opened the box’s lid immediately.
I half-expected radiance to pour forth, but naturally, nothing of the sort occurred.
Inside the box lay a necklace and earring set arranged neatly.
While no radiance emanated from them, they were dazzlingly brilliant.
Particularly striking was the deep crimson pendant wrapped in meticulously crafted gold.
The design featured a teardrop-shaped pendant adorned with delicate diamonds at its center, surrounded by pendants of varying shapes embedded throughout.
The contrast between the gold and the deep crimson jewels was intensely striking.
Compared to what the Duke had given me not long ago, which seemed rather simple, this reached the pinnacle of extravagance, and I felt somewhat overwhelmed.
I stared at the earrings—miniature versions of a teardrop pendant—and felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity wash over me.
‘I’m certain I’ve never seen this jewel before… so why does it feel so familiar?’
In my place, the Butler and Eston showered the piece with praise.
“Wow… it’s absolutely dazzling, isn’t it?”
“Ohhh… is this really the heart of an Earth Dragon…?!”
Just then, the Butler—who had been gazing into the box with an enchanted expression—suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“However, I was under the impression that Earth Dragons only inhabit specific Gates within the Caspian Gorge…”
“…”
“Are you certain this is truly an Earth Dragon’s heart, Miss? It’s possible someone sold you a rare variety of ruby or garnet under false pretenses.”
For all his elaborate explanation, the jewel seemed rather ordinary in appearance.
The Butler’s suspicions held some merit.
‘Though he doesn’t seem like the type to deceive…’
No, wait.
Judging by how he casually wears a brooch the size of his own fist, perhaps he’s more careless in such matters than I’d thought.
I found myself silently mourning some nameless soul who had audaciously swindled that bloodthirsty maniac without fear.
Suddenly, one word from the Butler’s statement caught my attention.
“…Caspian Gorge?”
“Yes?”
“You mean… the Gate Wave?”
“Yes, Miss. You’re quite knowledgeable!”
“…Ah!”
A memory struck me like lightning, flashing through my mind.

— Whether this is an Earth Dragon’s heart or an earthworm’s heart…
— Hm… but what did you say this was good for again?
— It does seem to gleam quite brilliantly. Surely it holds some value, Your Highness?

The male lead—grinning like death itself freshly emerged from the depths of hell as he held that egg-sized, blood-red stone in the ballroom…!
“Damn it, that’s the one.”

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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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