I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 2

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

The banquet hall was bustling with countless people. I was sitting in a corner, observing Estelin.

To be precise, not Estelin herself, but Eria who was clinging to her side like a baby duckling.

“Oh, Lady Beter! Thank you for coming.”

Estelin spotted someone and greeted them brightly. When she smiled radiantly, the faces of everyone around her turned red in unison.

‘They called her a human cherry blossom…’

Around Estelin, a bright aura was spreading as if flower petals were truly fluttering about.

At this utterly protagonist-like appearance, I shook my head back and forth.

Estelin wasn’t just beautiful in appearance.

Thanks to her angel-like pure nature, she was set to be called ‘the saint reborn after a thousand years’ in the empire.

‘Though she herself didn’t know it.’

Estelin only learned about her nickname being something about a saint much later, after meeting the male protagonist.

This was because the nickname was so cringeworthy that no one had ever told her about it.

…Anyway. She’s the female protagonist, so what else would you expect?

Her father, who cherished his daughters dearly, was the head of the famous House of Laurent and one of the four dukes supporting the empire, the so-called ‘Four Dukes.’

He had a very gentle nature and had two daughters under his care – Estelin and Eria. And surprisingly, both were manifesters.

In this world, manifesters were also called ‘humans who resemble gods.’

They were literally the lucky ones who received ‘abilities’ from the gods, and the types and ranges of abilities that appeared in the novel were incredibly diverse.

From elemental types that controlled water, fire, earth, etc., to special types like healing, attack, and defense.

Manifesters would amaze those around them with these abilities and sometimes save the world from sudden crises.

‘Indeed, Estelin’s achievements in the novel were tremendous.’

And from House of Laurent, not one but two such manifesters had emerged.

Of course, in the original story, Eria would be poisoned today, leaving only Estelin behind.

‘…I have to prevent it somehow.’

I clenched my fists tightly.

To survive in this world without being executed, there was no other way.

My heart was beating so hard that I took deep breaths, and my heels had been aching terribly until just moments ago.

I examined the bleeding wound with a grimace, then bit my lips tightly.

Suddenly, I felt wronged.

‘Being reborn is nice and all, but why this kind of role? I lived so virtuously in my previous life.’

A mission to clean up the mess that someone else – no, my past self – had made, right after opening my eyes upon possession.

And that mess was enormous.

‘Poisoning, what kind of poisoning?!’

I glared at the floor with blazing eyes. Then when I raised my head, I saw the Estelin sisters chatting quietly together.

But as I observed them carefully, my eyes gradually widened.

I shot up from my seat.

Estelin was holding a glass I hadn’t seen before. Eria was looking at that glass with sparkling eyes.

“Not even just one sip?”

Estelin shook her head at Eria, who was pulling at her clothes with drooping eyebrows.

“No. Eria, you have juice, don’t you?”

“But sister…! Lady Sophie already tried wine a long time ago!”

“Still, you can’t. If you really want to drink it, wait until you’re seventeen.”

At the firm answer, disappointment and regret spread across Eria’s face.

Estelin looked at her younger sister as if she found her cute, then burst into laughter.

“Eria, why are you getting so upset about it?”

“But I’m the only one in our club who hasn’t tried wine!”

Eria pouted and whimpered. Estelin looked flustered and widened her eyes.

After briefly frowning her clean brow and hesitating, she smiled as if she had no choice.

“Alright, then just one sip, okay?”

“Really?!”

Estelin nodded with a smile. Then she offered the glass she was holding to Eria.

Having gotten what she wanted, Eria’s face lit up with a delighted smile.

“Wow! Sister, this smells like grape juice!”

Eria said as she brought the wine to her mouth. The glass tilted and the red liquid was just about to touch her lips.

Thud!

Eria’s eyes widened in surprise.

Beyond her stinging hand, she saw someone who had roughly snatched the glass from her grasp.

Someone with long, lustrous platinum hair was staring at her. With blue eyes flashing dangerously.

“Se, Lady Selene…! What is the meaning of this?”

At the sudden commotion, everyone’s attention in the banquet hall turned this way. I maintained the calmest expression possible while rolling my eyes around.

“Uh…”

“…”

“…I suddenly felt like having a drink, you know?”

As if she couldn’t believe it, Estelin stared at me and moved her lips slightly.

“What on earth is that supposed to…”

At her voice dripping with sorrow, I secretly swallowed and looked at her.

“I understand well that you… dislike me, my lady. But…”

Estelin’s eyelashes trembled. Soon, moisture began to gather in her honey-colored eyes.

‘Don’t tell me she’s going to cry?’

I looked at her with a bewildered expression. But Estelin continued murmuring in a voice still full of sadness.

“I don’t care how you treat me, my lady… But doing this to young Eria too…”

Among the people who had gathered around, murmuring broke out as if they had been waiting for this.

“Oh my. What’s happening over there again?”

“It must be that famous Princess of Tigris again.”

“How could she do this even at Lady Estelin’s birthday party…!”

“Just as we heard. There are rumors that she’s an outcast even in the Tigris Family, you know?”

I cleared my throat while listening to the fierce criticism that didn’t hesitate to attack me personally.

I could sense what kind of reputation Selene had lived with in this world.

Of course, I was completely in the wrong, but I hadn’t expected such harsh verbal abuse.

After briefly sighing inwardly, I reluctantly opened my mouth.

“That’s… I’m sorry. I had my reasons. Instead, Lady Eria can have another drink…”

And that was when I turned my gaze toward Eria.

I froze in place, startled.

Eria, who had just turned twelve this year, was boldly extending her tiny hand toward me.

“Give it back right now, Lady Selene.”

Eria huffed as if she was very angry.

Her face showed an expression as if she might rush at me at any moment.

When I slyly hid the glass behind my back, Eria shouted clearly.

“What are you doing right now? That’s what sister gave me, so give it back immediately!”

“…”

This was an unexpected situation. Even Estelin looked surprised as she stared at her younger sister.

I quietly frowned and looked down at the swirling red wine.

‘…I understand wanting to save your sweet sister’s face, but…’

This is poison!

The situation was so frustrating that a sigh rose to my throat.

Obviously, I couldn’t tell the truth. If I did that, things would spiral out of control.

Selene was the very person who had bribed a maid in this house to put poison in the wine glass.

If I carelessly confessed that there was something in the glass and House of Laurent launched a formal investigation, it would be a disaster.

I had no desire to be hanged less than a month after gaining a new life.

“…Hah.”

I finally came to a conclusion.

Rather than risk death from the very beginning, I’d rather fight that brave little kid.

And in the current situation, there was only one way I could definitely beat Eria.

‘It’s a bit unsettling, but….’

The next moment, I poured all the wine from the glass into my mouth without hesitation.

Not a single drop left behind.

“Lady Selene!”

Eria shouted. I quickly swallowed the wine I had been holding in my mouth.

As the alcohol went down my throat, a sweet aroma spread throughout my mouth.

When I shook the now-empty glass, everyone’s faces turned pale with shock.

But this was the only way.

‘Because this isn’t poison to me, at least.’

The poison I had my maid put in Estelin’s wine glass was called ‘God’s Tears.’

It was a drug that amplified the abilities of manifesters.

But there was something you absolutely had to keep in mind when taking this drug.

The proper dosage of ‘God’s Tears’ was only a drop or two. If you exceeded that and abused it, you could die.

‘And I gave them enough to drink by the bottle.’

When manifesters drank such a large amount, magical rampage would begin instantly.

The rampage was so intense and explosive that in bad situations, you could lose your life.

I didn’t know where Selene had gotten this from,

‘But if manifesters like Estelin or Eria drink this, they’ll definitely die.’

But Selene, who couldn’t manifest, was different.

God’s Tears was nothing more than plain water with no effect on ordinary people who weren’t manifesters.

So the fact that I could drink this drug without any problems!

Feeling the alcohol go down my throat, I held out the empty glass to Eria.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. I already drank it all….”

But then. A strange energy swirled somewhere inside my body.

Suddenly my chest became as hot as if it were on fire, and heavy pain struck my entire body.

“Gasp-!!”

I instinctively clutched my chest and staggered. The strength left my hand and the glass I was holding fell to the floor.

With a sharp crash, glass fragments scattered in all directions. People’s screams erupted from everywhere.

“Selene!!”

I looked at Estelin rushing toward me from across the room and blinked painfully.

My vision gradually became blurry and everything went white.

‘…This can’t be happening?’

I felt my body slowly tilting to one side. Like drowning in water, the sounds around me became muffled.

“Selene! Someone call a doctor! Right now!!”

With Estelin’s scream-like voice as the last thing I heard, the world was wrapped in silence like a lie.

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