The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 177

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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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Part 2, Episode 47
Irbon gazed down at Rozelin in silence for a long moment, then rubbed the back of his neck a few times before he spoke.
“In any case…… tell me what you need me to find out.”
“Ah…….”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything that could harm you.”
“That’s exactly what kidnappers always say though…….”
Thump.
Irbon crouched down directly in front of her, his face inches from hers.
“Rose.”
Rozelin’s brow furrowed.
“I swear to you — I will never do anything to hurt you.”
“……I’m looking for a man with white hair. White hair and grey eyes.”
“White hair and grey eyes……?”
At Irbon’s question, arms crossed, Rozelin nodded with an impassive expression.
“That’s right.”
“That’s all the information you have?”
“I don’t know much. Oh, and he’s handsome.”
“……What?”
Irbon faltered, then squinted as he repeated the question.
“His name is Irbon. Right now, that’s all I know…….”
“……So that’s the type you’re drawn to.”
At Irbon’s low murmur, Rozelin lifted her head.
“What did you say?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll look into it…… and let you know next time I come.”
With that, he lightly stepped onto the window frame.
“Sleep well, Rose.”
“……Yeah, you too.”
She watched him with a puzzled expression, and once she returned the farewell, he leaped out through the window.
Rozelin sighed as she watched the man vanish like a tempest.
“What exactly does he do……?”
After closing the window, she climbed reluctantly into bed.
* * *
Garren Wilbred looked down at the sleeping Selena and ran a hand roughly through his hair.
Holding back the annoyance that had risen to the crown of his head and the urge to kill was beginning to reach its limit.
He’d deliberately pretended not to know, and now she was scratching at his patience — it infuriated him.
Before long, the sleeping Selena began to open her eyes slowly.
As he sat on the edge of the bed and looked down, she gave a slight wince and met his gaze.
“Did you sleep well, Selena?”
“……It was neither good nor bad, really.”
Selena glanced at him, then leaned back against the headboard and exhaled.
Day after day, every time she fell asleep, she crossed over into a different world.
She was beginning to understand why humans needed sleep.
Her body was resting, so she felt no physical exhaustion. Yet there was a clear desire to stop thinking.
She was only now coming to understand that humans don’t need sleep solely because of bodily fatigue.
She felt the events and emotions of the day rising in her mind, then pressed her head back against the headboard and remained motionless with her eyes closed.
“Is something ailing you? Though I suppose…… as a human, you would need relief from mental exhaustion as well.”
A large hand reached out and touched her forehead carefully.
“If you wish to sleep, I’ll put you to sleep.”
“…….”
“Selena?”
“…….”
Even after being called several times, she did not open her mouth. She didn’t want to speak, and besides, she was curious how much longer this would last.
The fact that this proud man was concerned for her wellbeing still felt unreal to her. So much time had been poured into love and rejected, so much time had been spent abandoned.
‘Garren Wilbred loves me…….’
How many times had he confessed now…….
Even after their marriage, Selena had put those words in her own mouth many times.
He had never given her an answer in return, not even a false one.
Had she wanted to hear those words, even if they were lies……?
Who knows.
Perhaps Selena Hyde would have.
But Selena Wilbred had grown so weary, so drained, that whenever she sensed his affection deepening and his longing intensifying, she found herself afraid instead.
Did she love him?
If asked, she would foolishly answer yes.
Her fondness for him remained unchanged.
Yet apart from that, expressing this feeling had become frightening.
It terrified her to keep hearing his heart.
What if one day she grew tired of it?
If she was bound to grow tired anyway, wouldn’t it have been better to live as they had before?
“Selena, you seem exhausted tonight—get some rest. I haven’t been considerate enough of your position. I suppose I’m different in that regard.”
His concerned voice and the warmth of his hand caressing her cheek filled her with a sweetness she could not deny.
“No, it’s all right.”
“Wouldn’t rest be better? You seem mentally fatigued.”
“It’s fine, I just…….”
Selena’s lips parted, then fell silent.
Whatever she said, this man before her would listen.
Did he understand how achingly sweet that was—and how terrifying?
To keep her wits about her, to maintain some distance, to keep herself from crumbling apart—it was anything but simple.
But the man she had fallen for was a demon.
She still could not wrap her mind around that.
And beyond the question of whether he was a demon or not, a man who had lived so long, and who would go on living for ages yet…….
Could this feeling truly remain unchanged?
Whether it changed or stayed the same, both brought their own suffering.
Perhaps it would be better if she had no feeling at all, or if it withered away.
At least then only she would bear the pain.
But if her heart did not change, he might have to endure suffering throughout all the long centuries ahead of him.
So that…….
“Just what? Speak.”
“……I was just asking if you could hold my hand for a moment.”
“That’s hardly a difficult thing.”
His large hand closed gently around hers.
Selena exhaled slowly.
Memories of all that had passed flickered through her mind.
Today, too, it seemed her other self had felt something peculiar about his actions.
‘……And yet I still like him.’
Even by her own judgment, she was someone who did not change easily.
Especially not in matters of the heart.
She found herself drawn to the warmth that emanated from his hand.
Was she the only one who had ever held a demon’s hand like this?
Demons were always described as cold-skinned, emotionless beings, and she wanted to tell people they were wrong about all of it.
“Duke.”
Selena opened her mouth hesitantly.
“Yes, speak.”
“If…… I…… wanted to end this relationship…….”
“…….”
Garren Wilbred turned his gaze toward her, her eyes shut against what she was saying.
He forced his widening pupils back under control and waited for what would come next.
“If I asked to stop, do you think you could? Do you think you could erase my memories and leave?”
Garren Wilbred fought to suppress the rapid hammering of his heart.
His emotional fluctuations were not particularly large; even in anger, he maintained rational control within certain bounds. If he did not, humans would be no different from ants in his presence.
Just as human rage differed from an ant’s, Garren Wilbred’s anger was something humans could never hope to withstand.
He exhaled slowly and rubbed his lips repeatedly with the hand not holding hers.
“Why……, may I ask first why you speak such words? Have I made some mistake?”
“No, I’ve thought about this a great deal.”
“Thought? What kind of thinking?”
Garren Wilbred continued to regard her, her eyes still shut against meeting his.
“About my lifespan and yours, about fleeting feelings if I’m being precise, about change across time, and about us…….”
Selena slowly opened her eyes and looked at him.
“About the weight of emotion and what we would have to bear going forward.”
“……You think too much. It’s not something you need concern yourself with.”
“Why…… I understand somewhat now why you were reluctant to give your heart.”
A being that is non-human, destined to live for thousands of years, or perhaps tens of thousands, while those around them—mere humans—have at most seventy years to live.
“That was partly for your own sake as well, wasn’t it?”
Garren Wilbred offered no answer to his remarkably perceptive wife.
“Once your feelings deepen and you come to care genuinely for someone, you must continue to bear that weight—because that is who you are, Your Grace.”
‘Deep thoughts, and they cut like a blade.’
If she would only consent, she too could walk that same path alongside him without end.
The realm so many yearn for, so desperately that some surrender their very lives chasing that fleeting dream—a domain forever beyond the reach of mortals.
And yet….
He knew.
Selena was not mercenary.
Naturally—inevitably—she was not the sort to desire such things, nor would she choose Eternal Life even if that option were placed before her.
Which was why she remained so tender-hearted, why she loved those around her, and why she possessed the grace to live satisfied with what she already had.
Since the moment Selena had encountered Garren Wilbred—a being of his own creation—there had been only one thing she had ever truly wanted.
Love.
Nothing but genuine, heartfelt affection.
At the final hour, Selena would let go of his hand. She would not walk the endless road with him.
That was why time was necessary.
To persuade her, to give her countless reasons she would have no choice but to select him instead….
Time itself, for him, was no different than a wager.

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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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