I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 65

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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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“Ro, why would Roxie die?! She was perfectly fine when I saw her last time…!”

 

I listened to Anna’s sobbing voice and pulled the large hood attached to my cloak deeper over my head.

 

“Why on earth would Roxie, what happened!”

 

Anna shouted as if she couldn’t believe it.

 

Roxie was the person closest to Anna among those who came to this servants’ meeting.

 

I furrowed my brow, recalling what Anna had told me.

 

‘I’ve known Roxie since we were young. On the first day I was invited to the servants’ meeting, Roxie was the first person I became friends with.’

 

“Roxie is dead… Why, why didn’t anyone tell me?”

 

At the voice filled with tears, the customers sitting in the cafe murmured and stared toward Anna.

 

I lowered my head even deeper.

 

As I nervously fidgeted with the teacup in front of me, someone muttered from Anna’s table.

 

“Anna, calm down. We didn’t tell you because we were afraid you’d react like this.”

 

It was another servant sitting across from Anna.

 

When I glanced over there, I could see Anna with a confused expression.

 

“Wh, what do you mean, Cheniel. ‘Afraid I’d react like this’…?”

 

“Roxie is… well…”

 

Cheniel trailed off.

 

But next to Cheniel, who was looking at Anna with a troubled expression, sat another servant.

 

That servant was staring down at her own cup with an expressionless, hardened face.

 

“Well, so…”

 

It was when Cheniel was hesitating.

 

“Roxie was beaten to death.”

 

The servant sitting next to Cheniel spoke up.

 

I was so startled that I slightly raised my head to look at her.

 

Whether she had injured her cheek, she had a bandage about two fingers wide placed under one eye.

 

“Pe, Peony… What did you just say?”

 

Anna asked back.

 

The servant called Peony let out a sigh.

 

“First, lower your voice. This isn’t the place to talk about this anyway.”

 

Anna closed her mouth helplessly. But a few seconds later, tears began streaming down Anna’s cheeks.

 

“Be, beaten to death…? Roxie? Why on earth would Roxie…”

 

The sadness I felt from her always bright voice made me uncomfortable.

 

Then Peony spoke up.

 

“We don’t know the details either. We just heard it from another servant at the manor where Roxie worked.”

 

“…”

 

“What could we do about it.”

 

Peony whispered in a self-deprecating voice.

 

“…Anna, we’re different from you. You know that.”

 

Anna’s trembling shoulders suddenly stiffened.

 

“Is it just a day or two that nobles take out their anger on us when they’re in a bad mood or when other things don’t go well?”

 

“…Peony.”

 

Cheniel grabbed one of Peony’s arms from the side, but Peony didn’t stop.

 

“You said your lady treats you well. So I guess you forgot for a moment…”

 

“…”

 

“Roxie. They say she couldn’t even have a proper funeral.”

 

Peony, who had lowered her voice considerably, smiled bitterly.

 

“Ridiculous, right? But they said there was nothing they could do. Because it was none other than the Captain who killed Roxie.”

 

The Captain?

 

By Captain, she must mean Nicolaus Zelbero.

 

“One day he suddenly came in completely drunk, saying there were missing documents in his study, and called for Roxie.”

 

“…Stop it, I don’t want to hear this.”

 

Anna muttered with difficulty, but Peony continued speaking.

 

“He pressed Roxie about where she had hidden the documents… that small girl…”

 

“…”

 

“And eventually things ended up that way. In the end, when Roxie wouldn’t get up, he disposed of her like some bug…”

 

At the terrible story flowing from Peony’s mouth, I unconsciously clenched my fists.

 

“You know what’s even more ridiculous? The next day, the documents that were supposedly missing were found in the drawer. Completely intact, too.”

 

“Good heavens…”

 

Anna began sobbing again.

 

I carefully stood up from my seat.

 

If Roxie hadn’t come to this meeting, today’s plan was a failure.

 

It meant there was no reason for me to stay here any longer.

 

Besides, for Anna’s sake, it would be right for me to leave now.

 

Just as I was about to open the cafe door and leave.

 

“You know what. Sometimes I wish that bastard and Lady Meg would all just die.”

 

At the words that came from Peony’s mouth, I froze.

 

“My lady… told me to find out what’s happening at the Tigris Estate.”

 

My head slowly turned.

 

Through the hood that slightly obscured my vision, I could clearly see Peony’s eyes filled with rage.

 

“Anna, I’m thinking of running away.”

 

“…”

 

“If I stay like this, I think I’ll die too. At the hands of Lady Meg.”

 

Blood was already seeping through Peony’s bandage.

 

Peony clutched her cheek and said.

 

“I don’t want to die like Roxie.”

 

Peony was Meg Cline’s maid?

 

Peony stood up from her seat, leaving Anna sniffling.

 

“Peony, where are you going?”

 

Cheniel asked from the side.

 

Peony muttered in a tired voice.

 

“I need to go to the general store for a moment. I think I need to change my bandage.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Cheniel, who noticed Peony’s bandage now soaked with blood, nodded.

 

Peony moved with a hardened expression.

 

In the small cloth pouch in her hand, barely 1 frum worth of coins jingled.

 

‘…I can’t buy medicine.’

 

If she bought medicine, she wouldn’t have enough money to buy bandages.

 

Then she would have to walk around with the glass-cut wound hideously exposed.

 

‘Everyone… thinks we get paid a lot for working at the Belmarte Duchy.’

 

Peony let out a short, self-deprecating sigh. She was a child that Duke Belmart had bought from the slave market when he was young.

 

On the first day she came to the manor, she wasn’t alone. That day, her half-brother was with her too.

 

‘But my brother ran away in the middle…’

 

Her brother’s debt was entirely placed on her as debt.

 

At first she felt wronged, but Peony soon accepted it. She learned that was the ‘rule’ of the Belmarte Duchy.

 

She soon found a way to comfort herself.

 

Lady Meg isn’t always like that. She can be kind sometimes.

 

Most importantly, the person I serve is a princess of the Empire.

 

Peony tried to find fulfillment in ironing beautiful dresses without a single wrinkle and delivering gifts sent by the Empress to Meg.

 

She had been taught that respecting one’s master and serving them wholeheartedly was the true virtue a servant should possess.

 

However.

 

‘You useless thing! Everything went wrong because you sent that invitation to Seleneae Tigris!’

 

Peony had only done it because Meg had ordered her to.

 

‘It’s all because of your false information!!!’

 

Meg had said that, but it was information Peony had gathered with the utmost effort she could manage.

 

But the sight of Meg throwing objects at her with wild eyes was terror itself.

 

Moreover, such incidents were becoming increasingly frequent these days.

 

Even as her face was cut by shards from a glass Meg had thrown and blood streamed down, Meg approached and immediately grabbed her by the collar.

 

Then she pressed her to bring Nicolas Zelbero immediately.

 

Around the time her head became filled with thoughts that something was going strangely wrong.

 

‘Roxie is dead.’

 

She heard news of Roxie from a friend she happened to meet in an alley.

 

My goodness, it felt like her mind was snapping to attention.

 

Roxie was dead? And beaten to death by her master at that?

 

Was there any guarantee that wouldn’t happen to her?

 

She couldn’t quit and leave either. She still had a long way to go to pay off the debt hanging over her.

 

‘…Brother, is this why you ran away?’

 

That day, Peony cried all night holding her cheek that wouldn’t stop bleeding. And she made a decision.

 

She would run away too.

 

Lately, Meg had been demanding increasingly dangerous things from her.

 

Telling her to extract information from Anna who worked at the Tigris family,

 

telling her to spread malicious gossip about Seleneae Tigris among the servants.

 

And recently even…

 

‘Peony, don’t you know anyone in the back alleys?’

 

‘Pardon? The, the back alleys…?’

 

‘…Hmm, that’s strange. Looking at the gossip magazines, it seemed like commoners would know at least one hired killer from the Empire’s back alley slums.’

 

Recalling her conversation with Meg, Peony shook her head vigorously.

 

‘…This isn’t right.’

 

She could tell instinctively.

 

At this rate, she would either be killed by Meg or die while doing something Meg ordered her to do.

 

Peony’s steps quickened.

 

Through the busily passing people, she could see the entrance to a general store in the distance.

 

Because the wound on her cheek kept throbbing, Peony unconsciously covered her cheek with one hand and frowned.

 

Just as she finally reached almost in front of the general store.

 

“Ah—!”

 

Peony ended up bumping into someone and staggered backward.

 

A strange woman who had suddenly appeared stood there blankly in front of her, wearing a deeply pulled hood.

 

Peony reflexively lowered her gaze.

 

Though most of her arms were hidden by the hood, the backs of her hands, fingers, and nails that were slightly visible below were white and clean.

 

Skin that was clearly well-maintained at a glance.

 

‘She’s a noble.’

 

Peony quickly bowed her head.

 

“I’m, I’m sorry! I was distracted!”

 

Of course, she hadn’t been distracted at all. It was the woman in front of her who had suddenly appeared and bumped into her.

 

But Peony kept her head deeply bowed and called out politely.

 

“I’ll be more careful from now on! Please go ahead…!”

 

However, the woman didn’t move at all. Peony’s complexion, hidden by her hair, turned pale.

 

‘Did I get caught up in something bad?’

 

It would be troublesome if she found fault with her here for no reason. Peony took a short deep breath and slowly raised her head.

 

Then she lowered her eyebrows as much as possible and muttered.

 

“I’m really, really sorry. If you could forgive me just once with your generous heart…”

 

But Peony soon closed her mouth.

 

“Peony.”

 

Because surprisingly, the other person knew her name.

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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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