A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 9

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

09.

Vincent Leandro, a year Edith’s senior, had been her closest childhood companion.
Unlike Ethan, who maintained a mentor-student relationship with her, the two had grown close through their families’ longstanding friendship and their shared status as only children, becoming inseparable from their earliest years.
But everything changed the moment the heroine appeared.
All those years of companionship proved meaningless when Vincent fell for Ruellin and became the first to betray Edith.
‘Eighty percent of the reason Edith became a villain traces back to this man.’
After all, Edith had harbored a secret, unrequited love for Vincent all these years, envisioning him as her future husband.
Yet Vincent, determined to protect the heroine from persecution, unhesitatingly cast Edith aside.
As a result, even trivial conflicts between women became grotesquely inflated into Edith’s heinous misdeeds.
“Sigh….”
Thinking of the man who’d contributed so thoroughly to Edith’s ruined reputation, my head throbbed.
But seeing me press my forehead, the Butler seemed to have misunderstood something and brightened noticeably.
“Could it be… that you’ve remembered something about the Young Duke?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know his name…?”
“I must have heard it while asking Nancy various things.”
“Ah….”
I brushed off the Butler’s confusion with a vague excuse, and he looked visibly disappointed.
‘Whatever else happens, I absolutely cannot let on that I know him.’
That Edith harbored feelings for Vincent was already an open secret everyone knew.
But that didn’t mean I had to shoulder this body’s dark history as well, did it?
Having decided to maintain ignorance, I asked flatly.
“Why did he come?”
“Pardon? Well, naturally… to pay his respects to your illness, Miss.”
‘Right. I didn’t ask why he came.’
This troublesome girl had nearly killed the woman he loved—there was no way he’d simply come to pay his respects in peace.
I deflected my refusal to the Butler, who possessed no useful information.
“I’m uncomfortable meeting people right now since I have no memories.”
“But wouldn’t it be more helpful to your recovery to meet someone you’ve been close to, rather than insist on leaving on a long journey immediately?”
“….”
“You’ve known the Young Duke for thirteen years already, Miss.”
There was nothing I could say to that.
After all, it was just this morning that I’d insisted on going out to recover my memories.
I didn’t want to meet him, but I couldn’t think of a way to avoid it.
‘Ugh. I’ll have to face him eventually anyway—might as well get it over with today.’
I swallowed my sigh and rose from my seat.
“…Where is he right now?”
“He’s waiting in the Reception Room.”
“Show me in.”

I followed the Butler to the Reception Room on the first floor.
Perhaps he’d been rooting for Edith’s romance all along, for he whispered to me with a somewhat excited expression.
“I’ll bring refreshments shortly, Miss. What sort of tea would you prefer?”
“Never mind. I won’t be staying long.”
“Pardon? But it’s been so long since the Young Duke has visited… He was quite fond of our head chef’s cookies.”
The Butler kept dropping hints to me as if he regretted my decision.
Edith seemed to have spared no effort in preparing for Vincent’s visits.
‘Whether he likes cookies or not, what does it matter to me?’
It was nothing but unnecessary information to me.
Fearing he might try to “help” and make a mess of things, I quickly shut it down.
“Besides, I’d like to speak with him alone. Make sure no one disturbs us.”
“Of course, Miss.”
After bowing, I left the Butler behind and opened the Reception Room door.
Yet contrary to my expectations, only an empty interior greeted me.
“…What?”
Had he already left?
I stood in the doorway, quietly surveying the room.
Suddenly, with a loud creak—whoosh!
The windows that had been shut burst wide open, and a fierce wind swept inside.
As I reeled from the shock, yellow petals began swirling on the wind.
Whiiiiiish…
The petals that had been flying about haphazardly soon gathered around the table in the center of the Reception Room, slowly spiraling.
Then, as if an invisible hand were scattering them, they began to delicately adorn the table and chairs.
The plain room was instantly transformed into something beautiful, painted in golden petals.
I simply stood frozen, witnessing this sudden, magical scene unfold.
“Achoo.”
But whether from the cool breeze or the heady floral fragrance, I reflexively sneezed.
Tap—
That was when a single flower bud, the same color as the scattered petals, lightly touched my forehead and fell away.
“Hello, Edith.”
A tall man suddenly emerged from behind the door.
“Congratulations on your recovery.”
“…”
“After going to all this trouble, you’re not going to accept it?”
Thanks to the flower bud that had struck my forehead, my frozen body suddenly thawed.
I slowly lifted my head to confirm the person before me.
Delphinium-blue curly hair swayed gently in the breeze.
Golden eyes sparkling with mischief, a refreshingly open gaze.
If Edith was a sharp cat-like beauty, Vincent Leandro was the quintessential puppy-like type. And quite a pretty one at that.
‘…What on earth is so appealing about this parasitic pretty boy.’
Fortunately, he was not my type at all.
After my brief observation, I relaxed my guard and reluctantly accepted the single jasmine flower he offered.
At that, his seemingly gentle eyes drooped downward.
“I showed it off after so long to surprise you… wasn’t it good?”
I found Vincent Leandro’s casual demeanor far more startling than the sudden spinning whirlwind.
I already knew he possessed the ability to manipulate wind.
The novel contained countless descriptions of flower petals swirling during his dates with the heroine, fully utilizing that power.
Yet the reason I froze momentarily was….
‘This guy who used to be sick of Edith—why is he suddenly doing this?’
His expression revealed nothing of his thoughts.
I opened my mouth with an uncomfortable feeling.
“…No. I was quite surprised.”
“Then why does your expression look like that?”
“Well. Let’s sit down and talk first?”
I walked past him toward the table.
Countless flower petals scattered beneath my feet were bothersome.
If this were the real Edith, she might have jumped with joy at such a surprise event meant for Ruellin….
But I only felt uneasy.
‘Damn. I should have taken the initiative with formal speech like Ethan did.’
I hadn’t anticipated he would employ such tactics, so I’d missed my timing.
As I sat in the chair, I pondered when would be the right moment to reveal my amnesia.
“…?”
For some reason, Vincent Leandro didn’t follow immediately and stood motionless.
When I looked at him with confusion, he finally moved and sat across from me.
And then, closing his eyes softly, he spoke.
“You look good, Edith.”
“I’m glad it looks that way. Thank you for visiting me while I’m ill….”
“I thought you’d stay dead, but somehow you came back to life.”
“…What?”
His tone was so casual that I didn’t immediately grasp his meaning.
As if complaining to an old friend about why it’s been so hard to see their face.
Vincent Leandro began spouting venomous words with a playful smile.
“I was surprised you’re so fine. I thought you might be quite injured….”
“….”
“Still, your funeral was quite novel, Edith. This time I really thought it was genuine and fell for it.”
“….”
“So you couldn’t bear it and bolted from the coffin mid-ceremony? How unfortunate. I wish I could’ve attended—would’ve been quite the spectacle. All because Ruellin fell ill because of you….”
I stared at Vincent in disbelief as he clicked his tongue, genuinely lamenting his absence from Edith’s funeral.
‘What in the world is this bastard spouting?’
I’d thought she was badly injured, so I was shocked to learn otherwise?
The funeral was novel?
The absurdity of it all drew an involuntary, hollow laugh from me.
‘I never pegged him for such a deranged lunatic!’
Of course, Vincent plunging words like daggers at Edith with a smile was a recurring scene in the novel.

— Edith, after all these years of being like siblings, do I really look like a man to you? Ah, don’t answer. It’s nauseating.
— Why do you have to be so foolish, Edith? The more you act like this, the more you disgrace the Duke’s name. No wonder he chose Ethan as his successor.

Each time Edith was humiliated by the object of her unrequited love, she writhed in anguish and vented her fury entirely upon Ruellin.
‘Why would anyone like a man who fawns over another woman?’
Honestly, I found Edith pathetic and frustrating for willingly casting herself as the villain.
That’s why Vincent’s lines sometimes felt cathartic.
His words were harsh, but someone as arrogant as Edith needed that level of bluntness to understand anything.
Vincent was simply offering sincere counsel as a concerned friend….
‘Sincere, my ass.’
Had I known he was nothing but trash who mocked even the funeral as a performance for attention.
I would never have harbored such delusions.
‘I was far too naive.’
To the heroine, he was the playful male lead she could always lean on without hesitation.
But to Edith, he was nothing but a callous bastard who ignored her whether she lived or died….
It was laughable that I’d taken the Butler’s misunderstanding at face value—that he’d come to visit her while she was ill.
Crunch—
My hand clenched with force, and the flower petals I’d been holding crumpled pathetically.
“Why aren’t you answering, Edith? Are you upset?”
He asked innocently, as though genuinely curious about what reaction she’d show.
‘Ah.’
Perhaps because of those words.
The rage that had been boiling over cooled in an instant.
When I thought about it, this wasn’t even something I’d experienced directly—there was no reason for me to be angry.
Besides.
‘This guy… he genuinely enjoyed watching Edith get upset and cause a scene because of him?’
It wasn’t about protecting the woman he loved or offering counsel to a friend.
He simply enjoyed the effect—push and she’d react, stab and she’d bleed.
When he’d been kind for a moment only to shove her off a cliff, the way that girl would writhe like a salted worm was far too entertaining for him.
If that weren’t the case, there was no explaining the anticipation gleaming so vividly in those golden eyes of his right now.
‘Childish bastard. So you went through all this trouble, even using your ability, just to orchestrate this spectacle?’
I gazed at the scattered petals strewn across the table, my eyes turning cold and sharp.
‘And here I was, trembling like a fool, thinking I was about to face some blade-wielding avenger seeking vengeance on Ruellin’s behalf!’
Somewhat deflated now, I lifted my gaze to meet eyes brimming with malice.
“Is that all you came here to say?”
“…What?”
“You came all this way just to tell me that?”
My deliberately indifferent tone made the smile fade from his face.
It might appear I possessed a rather unpleasant temperament, but dealing with lunatics of this variety was remarkably simple.
“Are you angry? Well, I’m not quite sure how to answer that. I’m truly sorry I couldn’t meet your expectations, but….”
“….”
“I don’t remember who you are or how we were acquainted before, so I’m not particularly upset.”
I arranged my expression into one of appropriate regret.
Then he, as if struggling to comprehend, asked a beat too late.
“…What?”
“Oh, did you not hear? I’m suffering from amnesia at the moment.”
“What do you mean by….”
“If you’ve said everything you came to say, shall we end this? I have nothing particularly to discuss with you.”
A starving dog loses interest once you stop feeding it, doesn’t it?

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