The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 115

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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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The Villainess Hides Her Identity, and Everyone Misunderstands
Chapter 115

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A few minutes earlier.
“May I sit beside you?”
Saint Liliana smiled softly and settled into the seat next to me.
Despite her polite question, her form was already firmly planted in the chair—one positioned on the opposite side of the railing.
“Saint Liliana… what brings you here?”
I suppressed my bewilderment and asked, keeping my composure intact.
I could feel the other members of the delegation glancing in our direction.
Their gazes seemed intent on confirming whether the rumor was true—that the Saint had abandoned her post because of the “Rosenthal heiress.” Or perhaps they had simply heard the gossip about me.
‘A saint…’
I cast a brief glance at Liliana, whose smile appeared genuinely warm and kind.
Like watching a fire across a distant river, I had always vaguely believed that the title of “Saint” belonged to her alone. That was also why I had never acknowledged it, no matter what others called me.
Yet the fact that Liliana kept seeking me out…
“You were right.”
At this abrupt statement, I blinked in confusion.
“Right about what?”
“I’m sorry. When we first met, I was actually suspicious of you.”
“…?”
She tilted her head slightly, her expression genuinely apologetic, though her smile remained uncertain.
“I was uncertain, but after observing you closely these past few days, I’ve come to understand. It’s you.”
“So what exactly are you saying?”
I kept my gaze fixed forward, refusing to look at her.
As her vague rambling continued, irritation began to creep in. After spending days together, I had grown weary of these cryptic remarks she kept dropping so casually.
‘If you’re going to say something, just say it clearly.’
It was always like this. She kept her own cards hidden while constantly acting as though she knew everything about me.
Yet this time, she seemed to have no such intention, letting out a small laugh.
“You still don’t understand?”
“Understand wh—”
“The Guide of Light.”
“…!”
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
In that instant, all the ambient noise around me faded into the distance.
How does Liliana know that word?
I opened my eyes wide, staring at her. Liliana nodded as if she had expected this very reaction.
“Guide of Light” was a term I had seen in the system window. The exact name of the hidden route I had unlocked by clearing the plague quest.
It was a phrase I had never spoken aloud to anyone, not even once.
“How could you possibly know that….”
Whoooosh!
At that moment, a surge of water erupted from the fountain in sync with the music.
Water droplets scattered beneath the sunlight shattered brilliantly. The crowd around us burst into cheers in unison.
For a moment, the thought that Rakiel was running a bit late crossed my mind, but it quickly faded.
Liliana turned her gaze toward the fountain with an amused expression, then slowly opened her mouth again.
“You must have received it at least once already, haven’t you? A revelation.”
“…A revelation? I….”
“The method differs from person to person. Some receive it through dreams, others said words suddenly came to mind, and still others said it felt like a whisper beside them.”
A water droplet that had splashed onto my cheek was cold.
“God shows each person the path in the way most familiar to them. In a form that the recipient can accept most naturally.”
“Ah….”
…The system window.
From the moment I began my hundredth regression, it had been floating before my eyes in such a familiar form.
It was far too natural. For a modern person accustomed to games, could there be a more natural medium than a system window? That’s why I never suspected it.
But could it possibly be….
‘…A revelation from God?’
Liliana gazed at me with an unwavering expression. It was as if she were waiting for me to accept this truth.
“…You’re not asking how I received my revelation.”
The moment I barely managed to speak, she slowly shook her head.
“There’s no need to know the method. Even if Eve were to learn how I receive my revelations, she wouldn’t be able to understand it anyway.”
“….”
“Each person’s revelation comes in a form that reaches only them.”
Her voice was calm and measured.
I averted my gaze for a moment. The orchestra’s music beside the fountain swelled louder, filling my ears, yet a different question was taking clear shape in my mind.
‘If that were truly God, why does it keep getting things wrong?’
It was a clear sense of dissatisfaction.
It never clearly told me who was watching me, and it even acted as though there were bugs. That’s precisely why I couldn’t believe it was God.
If that were truly the “voice of God,” how could it be so mistaken?
“Then, may I ask just one thing?”
I steadied my voice and looked at her again.
“Has the revelation you receive, Saint, ever been wrong?”
Liliana’s eyelashes trembled faintly.
“It doesn’t seem to know everything. If a revelation can be wrong, can it truly be God’s voice? If it’s merely a guess made like a human would, getting it wrong, then it’s already not God’s anymore, is it?”
Despite the challenging tone of my question, Liliana’s expression remained unmoved. Rather, she smiled faintly.
“That’s a good question, Eve.”
Not a teacher, and what’s with that tone of voice.
“God does not speak directly to humans. There is always one more step in between.”
“One more step….”
“A medium, or mediator, if you will, that bridges the gap between God and mankind.”
“A mediator…?”
“God cannot deliver all answers at once. So someone stands in that space, conveying God’s will to people.”
So there’s something more? Then what on earth have I been doing all this time, communicating through the system window?
The system window, which had incessantly flashed warnings and notifications until now, was strangely silent at this very moment. As if it knew I was talking about it.
‘How cunning.’
I already knew the system possessed consciousness. It wasn’t merely some AI—it always seemed to be hiding something whenever it opened its window.
As I stared at the notification button floating in empty space, a sudden thought flickered through my mind.
Wait.
If what I’ve been talking to isn’t a game AI, and it’s not God either. If ‘someone’ has become the mediator, conveying God’s words….
Then, what exactly…?
A chill ran down my spine.
Surely….
‘…A g-ghost, it couldn’t be a ghost, right?’
Ding!

[Followers surpassed 990!]
[Only 10 more to go!]

“Oh, you startled me!”
I barely managed to steady myself before I could leap from my seat, the chair scraping backward with a soft sound.
“Eve?”
Liliana turned toward me in alarm.
“What’s wrong? Are you unwell?”
“Oh, no. It’s not that….”
I hastily waved my hand and composed my expression. Yet my racing heart refused to settle.
‘Good grief, I thought my heart would stop.’
The moment I’d mentally asked if that was a ghost, the system window had to flash a notification.
The timing was so perfectly uncanny—as if it were answering, ‘Yes, I’m here.’
And the notification’s content was so matter-of-fact, the window hovering there in its usual tone as though nothing had happened, that I nearly laughed in exasperation.
“…Eve? Are you truly all right?”
Liliana asked again carefully. Her hazel eyes held genuine concern.
“Ah, yes. It’s just… there was a fly buzzing about suddenly.”
“Oh my.”
“It must have been my imagination. I’m sorry for startling you.”
I quickly made an excuse and straightened in my seat. Liliana regarded me for a moment, then offered a faint smile.
“…He, too, can be mischievous at times.”
“Pardon?”
“What I mean is…”
Her voice was gentle.
“In showing the way, He sometimes tests people as well. To see if they truly walk that path, He shakes them to test their resolve.”
“….”
…Surely she wasn’t about to call those pointless ninety-nine loops a ‘test’?
I asked silently, but this time there was no response.
‘Right, that shouldn’t be it.’
After all the hardship I’d endured, if it turned out to be some test now….
As I turned my head absently, my eyes caught sight of a gray-haired man.
Daylen Haibel. The leader of the Valter Delegation had abandoned his seat while the fountain performance was still in full swing, hurrying toward something.
‘He was sitting just a moment ago…?’
But in that instant.
‘…Is he smiling?’
As his gaze turned toward Liliana, the corner of his mouth twisted upward in a contemptuous sneer.
I shot to my feet.
I felt Liliana rise from her seat beside me, concern evident in her movements.
“Are you feeling unwell after all? Wouldn’t it be better to visit the Rest Area for a moment, Eve?”
But my eyes were not on her.
…The Fountain.
In that moment, the water stream faltered, and a crack suddenly split through the fountain’s structure. Water spurted through the fissure in all directions, and the Garden floor beneath it, unable to bear the weight, began to collapse on one side.
Crack!
“Ahhhhh!”
“It’s collapsing!”
People screamed and scrambled desperately away from the fountain, but the ground directly in front of us—right where we stood nearest the railing—fractured and split apart. As if the cracks had been deliberately prepared beforehand.
Yet before the ground could fully separate, my mind raced through those precious few seconds.
‘Is the target me? No, it makes more sense that it’s Rakiel. But the Valter Empire wouldn’t cooperate for that alone—there has to be another objective.’
…Saint Liliana.
These madmen. If we’re not careful, it won’t just be us caught in this…!
The moment my thoughts crystallized, my body moved on instinct.
“Move!”
I shoved Liliana’s shoulders with all my strength. Her eyes widened in shock.
“W-wait, Eve?!”
The instant her body was thrust away from me, tumbling roughly toward safety.
Crack!
Boom!
The fountain collapsed entirely, and the ground beneath my feet gave way completely. Stone shattered with a deafening crunch as water cascaded down like a waterfall.
‘Damn it, at least it’s not a high drop—if I land right, I should be fine….’
I crouched low and wrapped my arms around my head for protection when a cry—almost a scream—pierced through.
“Eve!”
But I had no time to turn. In the instant the stone beneath my feet crumbled away, someone seized me from behind.
I felt the warmth of his body.
“Y-Your Highness?”
“Damn it!”
He bit out the curse like he was chewing glass, pulling me tighter against him.
Rakiel used his own body as a shield, cradling me firmly against his chest as we plunged into the cascading wreckage. Stone fragments fell from above, water sprayed everywhere, and debris—chairs and rubble—rained down from all sides.
Crash!
Crunch!
The last thing my eyes registered was his shirt, already filthy with dust and debris.
Rakiel’s hand pressed my head deeper against his chest. And in that moment, everything went dark.

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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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