Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 41

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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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Chapter 8. Find the Real Villain (3)

 

That day 5 years ago.

 

No one came to the dwelling Lucian had prepared.

 

Entering the empty house, Lucian let out a hollow laugh.

 

Edelaine, who had emphasized that she needed to be ‘really’ injured for it to have meaning, had suffered fatal wounds.

 

Even if she had taken paralytic and painkiller drugs beforehand, the deep wounds wouldn’t have lessened. The fact that with that body, she had deceived even him and disappeared to some unknown place was purely surprising.

 

In that she still had the strength left to stubbornly flee even while dying.

 

Well, from the first time they met, she was a girl whose head contained who knows what.

 

“You’ll freeze to death if you sleep there.”

 

“It’s fucking summer…”

 

“Ah, that’s true.”

 

“Get lost, if you don’t want to die.”

 

“I can’t, I need to live too. You’d better obediently accept this life debt.”

 

“…Is this a threat or what.”

 

The white, soft hand extended before his eyes carried a fragrant scent he had rarely encountered. Lucian immediately realized that this girl, who looked about five years younger than him, was a precious daughter from a noble house, completely unsuited to these back alleys.

 

If his body had been intact, he would have killed her and robbed her valuables long ago, but it was only regrettable that he was dying.

 

Whether she knew he regretted not being able to kill her or not, the girl smiled brightly and revealed her name and status, telling him to come find her when he recovered. She said this was being recorded as a debt, so don’t forget.

 

Lucian lit a cigarette and took a drag.

 

The reason he had obediently cooperated with that ridiculous plan was indeed because he owed Edelaine a life debt, as she thought. But separately from that, he wanted to see how far Edelaine’s sloppy plan would succeed.

 

And he was curious why that girl, who seemed to have everything, had no particular ambitions, and was simple, wanted to throw everything away and stage her own death.

 

He had asked her directly once. Edelaine answered halfheartedly with a face blackened from lack of sleep.

 

“That’s my role.”

 

“Who told you to do that?”

 

“Something like that.”

 

Back then, Lucian thought Edelaine wanted to disappear because of Shane’s pressure.

 

He figured the Grand Duke who discovered the Saint found his wealthy fiancée bothersome, and since overturning an engagement approved by the Emperor would be troublesome, he was trying to kill her instead.

 

But that wasn’t it either.

 

When Edelaine was ‘really’ attacked, she was driven to the brink of death, and Lucian, disguised as a healer, saw Shane wailing from the closest distance. If that was acting, that man should have become an actor.

 

And Edelaine’s sincere desire to escape was also real.

 

Edelaine had staked her life on the escape.

 

Lucian realized that if things had gone slightly wrong, they wouldn’t have needed the corpse he had prepared – Edelaine’s real body would have nearly ended up in the coffin.

 

Despite that, she had laughed saying she was fine, that she should have used stronger paralytic drugs, which was disgusting to watch. If Lloyd hadn’t been guarding her, he would have at least indulged in the petty cruelty of stepping on her wounds.

 

Though she really would have died then.

 

Lucian ground the finished cigarette into the floor. It was a place no one would use. It had no more value than an ashtray.

 

Life debt, my ass.

 

Lucian wasn’t the type to honestly repay debts. In his mind, the debt he owed wasn’t that significant. The calculation had been finished long ago.

 

Still, he had helped because Edelaine had only told him.

 

“Lucian. Help me.”

 

Help me, with that dying face.

 

Those were words Edelaine hadn’t said to anyone else.

 

Lucian had accepted that single phrase as payment for the commission.

 

***

 

The priest’s attack was unexpected and an event I had never seen in the novel, but the ogre’s appearance was different.

 

There had been a similar incident.

 

Early in the novel, the timeframe was 5 years ago though.

 

‘It was an episode showing that Genevieve awakened right after I died.’

 

In the novel, Genevieve single-handedly defeated monsters summoned during a party and instantly cleared her false saint stigma.

 

Right after that, the people at the party flipped like turning over their palms and treated her kindly. Seeing that duplicity, Genevieve fell into doubt and, saying she was depressed, avoided people and went to the square alone.

 

‘Is it the same logic as being depressed so buying bread?’

 

Edelaine couldn’t understand at all how the two facts of feeling doubtful and going to the square alone connected, but she just accepted the development. You might want to be alone when depressed… The Saint’s security probably wasn’t that lax, but it could have been that day.

 

The female lead first met the real villain in the square that day.

 

Honestly, what kind of first meeting with a villain was this? Just looking at the direction, wasn’t it like a meeting with a third romantic interest after Edwin and Lucian? Well, since it was a healing romance, she probably needed to share something like romantic feelings with the villain too, so maybe it was necessary direction.

 

The villain had to love the woman he should kill, and the female lead had to pity the man trying to kill her.

 

Since 5 years had already passed, I hadn’t thought I could utilize the novel’s content.

 

But since a similar incident occurred, it was worth the adventure.

 

When Edelaine saw the ogre appear, she immediately recalled this episode from the novel, but since Shane sent her to the Bertrand Estate first, she decided to call Lucian first.

 

It was annoying that as soon as he couldn’t guard her directly, he brought family members as new guards, but it was natural for Shane not to trust her.

 

Edelaine hadn’t given him any explanation or trustworthy clues.

 

She couldn’t tell him why she needed to go to the square either.

 

She had tried to stay quietly as Shane wanted, but she couldn’t miss the opportunity to possibly catch the real villain.

 

‘Lucian it is.’

 

My fairy godmother who sets me free.

 

Edelaine felt freedom for the first time since returning to Delmez.

 

Lucian had perfectly prepared what Edelaine requested in just one night.

 

Medicine that temporarily caused fever, a somewhat shabby-looking dress and shoes, and a not-too-thick coat. Lloyd received similar items.

 

As soon as morning broke, she took the medicine and pretended to be sick, holed up in bed. Then with Lloyd’s help, she snuck out of the manor.

 

It was pathetic that she couldn’t even leave the house alone.

 

It would have been great if she had learned magic, spirits, swordsmanship, or anything, but Edelaine had no talent for any of it.

 

If it was a level she could overcome with effort, she would have learned it even by pouring money into it. The Bertrand Family had plenty of money too. But magic and spirit arts were fields you couldn’t even approach without talent.

 

Swordsmanship was out of the question. With stamina worse than ordinary people from lack of sleep, swinging around iron rods was unimaginable.

 

Delmez Central Square was crowded with people.

 

Right after the autumn harvest, food wasn’t scarce, and since Delmez was wealthy, the square had a lively atmosphere. It was crowded and noisy.

 

Edelaine sat on a cafe terrace overlooking the square and ordered everything on the menu.

 

Just like Saint Genevieve had done in the novel.

 

“Master, this is wasteful.”

 

“It’s not wasteful if we eat it all.”

 

“You can eat all of this?”

 

“Yeah. You’re going to eat it all.”

 

“I hate sweet things.”

 

Edelaine stared at him with shocked eyes. Lloyd sighed and said.

 

“There are people who hate sweet things.”

 

“Such people cannot exist.”

 

“I’ll eat it if you tell me to, but understand if I throw up.”

 

“No… If you hate it that much, you don’t have to eat it… I’ll eat it myself…”

 

Edelaine wanted to play around, not torment him.

 

Lloyd didn’t ask why Edelaine wanted to come to the square.

 

Even when she said she needed to call Lucian to sneak out, he didn’t ask for reasons.

 

From the beginning, Lloyd never asked for reasons. When Edelaine said to do something, he did it as if it were natural.

 

Lucian who only needed payment and Lloyd who didn’t ask for reasons.

 

That these two people were most comfortable was proof that Edelaine was selfish.

 

‘Shane didn’t particularly like sweet things either, yet he ate well what I gave him. He would have disliked it more as a child.’

 

That 13-year-old boy who eagerly accepted what a 9-year-old child gave him.

 

He didn’t show his dislike, but seeing how he wouldn’t touch it unless fed, he clearly didn’t like sweet things. When I said he didn’t need to force himself to eat, his eyes curved into half-moons as he smiled and said.

 

“How could I dislike anything you give me?”

 

“You’d drink it even if I gave you poison?”

 

“Want to try giving me some?”

 

“I’m joking…”

 

What kind of flirting was that 13-year-old boy doing with a 9-year-old…

 

Edelaine rested her chin on her hand and gazed down at the square, lost in thought.

 

She had tried imitating Genevieve, but it would be problematic if a real mage actually appeared and spoke to her.

 

That would mean the novel’s plot had also stopped during the five years Edelaine was absent.

 

It would mean her escape had been meaningless…

 

And it might also mean some tragedy could unfold just like in the novel.

 

Though she had decided to capture and kill the mage, Edelaine also hoped this attack wasn’t the work of the real villain from the novel.

 

She wished the world she lived in was no longer the world within a novel.

 

Just then, someone tapped Edelaine on the shoulder.

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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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