I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Oh my! Sebin, what are you doing here?”

I snapped my eyes open. A familiar scene, familiar smell, and familiar voice.

“…Department Manager?”

“I was wondering where you went, so you were here? Did you finish all the documents I gave you this morning?”

I quickly sat up and checked the watch on my left wrist. I had just leaned against the sofa to rest my eyes for a moment…

Exactly 5 minutes had passed.

“Ah, I was so tired that I just wanted to rest my eyes for a moment…”

“Oh my, I’m feeling a bit hurt right now. Sebin. Don’t you know we’re in our busiest season right now?”

“Ah, I know! That’s why I worked overtime yesterday too…”

“Never mind. Since we’re talking about it, let me be frank with you. Honestly, do you know how rare it is these days for companies to hire people who know nothing and teach them everything from scratch?”

As the Department Manager shrugged her shoulders, the iced coffee in her hand sloshed. I had nothing to say and closed my mouth.

“Having a break room at the company? That’s nice. Corporate welfare facilities are so important these days. But at a time like this, isn’t it a bit much to be away from your desk alone for so long?”

“…”

“Even though I’m your supervisor… Was Sebin someone who needed to be taught even such obvious things one by one?”

The Department Manager let out a small sigh after finishing her words. My head spun from the relentless barrage of rhetorical questions.

‘Then why did you come to the break room yourself…’ The words rose to my throat, but I held them back.

If I had to be honest, this was nothing compared to other things.

So I had to stay calm. I’ve endured worse things, more terrible things until now, haven’t I, Sebin Lee.

“Don’t take it too personally, but what can you do if you want to survive in society. Are you a building owner, Sebin? Or are you one of those golden spoon people they talk about these days? You’re not.”

“…”

“Let’s all live with just a little more consideration for each other, okay?”

I reluctantly nodded while watching the Department Manager gesture toward the door with her eyes. My parched throat stung and ached.

As I slowly passed by the Department Manager toward the break room door, a deep sense of doubt washed over me.

‘Are you a building owner, Sebin? Or are you one of those golden spoon people they talk about these days?’

The Department Manager’s questioning voice echoed in my mind.

‘As if that would happen. Not unless I’m reborn.’

The moment I swallowed a sigh and grabbed the door handle, suddenly blinding light poured through the crack of the opening door.

I reflexively frowned deeply. The light was so bright it felt like I would go blind. And…

“Is there still no word from Tigris Duke!”

“Th, that’s…”

Someone’s voice gradually became clearer. As I listened carefully, I could sense the presence of quite a few people.

“You can’t figure out what the problem is, what kind of nonsense is that! If she doesn’t wake up like this…!”

“Father, please calm down.”

A familiar voice came, calming down the agitated person. It was Estelin.

A strange sense of relief that didn’t match the situation washed over me. I clenched my fists under the blanket covering me and took a small breath.

‘I’m still in this world.’

The Department Manager’s appearance was too vivid to be just a dream.

Her expression as if I was pathetic, her mocking voice. Those sensations were so clear that my body was still trembling.

I was secretly calming my emotions when it happened.

“It, it’s all my fault… Lady Selene is like this because of me…”

The tearful, childish voice of a young child.

‘…Eria.’

I slightly opened my eyes and looked around.

Through my blurry vision, I could see Eria with her face pale blue, trembling shoulders.

It seemed she was terribly frightened because I had collapsed after snatching and drinking her glass.

I was nodding inwardly with some pity when Eria continued sobbing.

“I, I never dreamed there would be poison in the glass… If the Lady doesn’t wake up like this…”

Eria, who had been trailing off, soon burst into sorrowful tears.

“Wh, what should I really do…!”

“It’ll be okay, Eria. The doctors said the pulse examination results weren’t bad either. Let’s wait a little for now…”

But that’s when it happened.

Suddenly my whole body started throbbing and considerable pain washed over me.

Eventually, a groaning sound escaped from my mouth. People instantly rushed over.

“The Princess!!”

Startled by the sudden attention, I had no choice but to slowly open my eyes.

And I let out an unnatural groan, pretending I had just woken up.

“Uh, uhmm…”

“My Lady…! Are you conscious?!”

Someone grabbed my hand firmly. It was Eria, her face covered in tears.

“…Wh, where is this place?”

My voice came out cracked. Even I thought it sounded like someone in great pain.

Estelin stepped forward with a worried expression and said.

“Th, this is my room. We were going to take you to the guest room, but since it was the closest room to the banquet hall, we came here in a hurry…”

She trailed off as if apologetic. But before I could answer, Eria interrupted again.

“My Lady, are you alright?! Does it hurt a lot?! So, someone must have put poison in the glass… You drank it and…”

Eria’s lips trembled. Tears were welling up again in her reddened eyes.

I blinked in bewilderment and thought to myself.

‘…She’s just a child after all. She was acting so boldly and arguing just before.’

No matter how brave she tried to act, a twelve-year-old was still just that. My tension eased slightly without realizing it.

“I… Miss Eria. I’m fine, so please stop crying.”

But the crying only got louder.

I stared blankly, frozen, watching Eria who couldn’t even breathe properly and was hiccupping.

Then someone patted Eria’s shoulder and stepped forward.

Brown hair neatly swept over his forehead and handsome features that didn’t look middle-aged caught my attention immediately.

‘Duke Laurent?’

A main supporting character from the original work. It was Calypso Laurence, the father of Estelin and Eria.

“It’s been a long time, Selene. Is this the first time since we used to see each other often when you were young?”

I slowly tried to sit up to return his greeting. However, throbbing pain washed over me again and I lay back down.

As I frowned, the Duke looked down at me and said worriedly.

“Just lie down. You need to rest now.”

Then he narrowed his brow and added.

“As Eria said. The wine you drank had poison in it. It seems someone played a dirty trick at the party.”

He pressed his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

I coughed awkwardly and avoided his gaze.

‘The person who played that dirty trick was me…’

My buried conscience was being pricked.

“We’ll have to investigate more to know the details, but they say it’s not a poison that’s available on the market. For now, it’s extremely fortunate that you’re only in this condition.”

Duke Laurent spoke gently. I nodded reluctantly.

It was perhaps natural that no poison was detected. The Tears of God wasn’t a simple poison.

Rather, it was closer to a functional drug, if anything.

It’s just a bit dangerous if you take too much.

As I was thinking hard, I suddenly heard the Duke’s serious voice.

“If Eria had drunk such a substance, what would have happened…”

His face showed a strange expression along with guilt, as if the thought alone was terrible, and he shook his head.

An awkward silence followed for a moment. The Duke spoke.

“…I owe you a great debt.”

The moment I gave an awkward smile at the sincerity I felt in his voice.

Suddenly he gave me a short bow. I froze with wide eyes.

Even without knowing much, I could tell.

For someone with the status of head of a noble family and duke to bow his head to a young lady from another family who was like a daughter to him.

This was an excessively generous expression of gratitude.

Flustered, I unconsciously looked around and saw other people bowing their heads just like him.

Moreover, they weren’t simply nodding politely like the duke.

‘Their backs are bent at perfect right angles.’

I blinked blankly and gulped.

‘It feels like I’ve stumbled into something incredibly fortunate…’

Apparently, to the people of this manor, I had become ‘the benefactor who saved Eria’s life.’

Without knowing the full circumstances, that would be correct, but

After gauging the mood for a moment, I couldn’t bear the awkwardness and muttered quietly.

“A-as long as Lady Eria is safe, that’s all that matters. Besides, I’m perfectly fine too, so there’s no need to go this far…”

I was sincere. But I had to stop speaking and close my mouth.

Because somehow the atmosphere had become even stranger.

“I thought she would be angry…”

“…I heard rumors that she had a difficult personality.”

The servants whispered among themselves. And that wasn’t all.

“My lady…”

Eria, who had barely stopped crying, was tearing up again.

Estelin stood behind her, covering her mouth with her hand and staring at me with a shocked expression.

Even Duke Laurent was looking at me with admiration, murmuring ‘…What a kind child.’

I rolled my eyes for a moment, then understood and nodded inwardly.

Right. Come to think of it, the original Selene would never have let this situation slide.

‘She would have screamed bloody murder about how she nearly died.’

She might have even demanded compensation from Estelin, who had hosted the party.

No wait, no. If it had ended at just that level, it might have been fortunate instead.

I quietly avoided people’s gazes. My conscience was stabbing at me fiercely again.

When I cleared my throat awkwardly out of embarrassment, a maid hurriedly offered me a cup of warm water.

I accepted it with both hands, caught off guard.

Then sighs of admiration erupted from various places once again.

“To be so humble…”

“My goodness, how gentle she is.”

“Unlike what we heard, she truly possesses the virtues of nobility!”

…The situation kept flowing in a strange direction.

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