A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 18.1
“I originally worked at the imperial palace.”
“Isn’t being affiliated with the imperial palace even better? Why did you transfer to the ducal residence?”
I wasn’t particularly curious, but I kept the conversation going with Eston in case I could get any useful information.
She flinched, glanced at me, and answered hesitantly.
“They said they’d pay me a higher salary at the Duchy…”
“Ah…”
‘So, whether it’s a novel or real life, a government job is always the same.’
As a government researcher myself, I could relate deeply to her words. And I felt a bit sad.
‘I should’ve changed jobs at the right time, like Eston… No, I should have gone straight into the private sector in the first place. If I had, I wouldn’t be stuck with this damn novel, forced to purify, and then end up transmigrating as the villain!’
“You made the right choice. Working for the government is always the dirtiest and pettiest job.”
“Exactly!”
Eston immediately agreed with me.
“I thought everything would be great working for the imperial palace, but they just worked us to the bone for minimum wage! Too many people looking for you, and all the nasty turf wars and power struggles…”
“Right, right.”
“But they said at the ducal residence, you only have to deal with one person. The benefits are decent too… Oh!”
Getting excited as I backed her up, Eston suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth.
I stared at her and then gave her a sly, ghostly grin.
“So, is it bearable?”
“N-No! That’s not what I meant— it’s not that I can’t stand you, Milady…!”
As she flailed about in panic, I turned and knocked on the partition to the driver’s seat.
“Coachman. How much farther to Tollen? Could you stop for a moment?”
“N-No, sir! Please don’t stop! Milady, that’s not what I meant. What I meant was, um…”
“My companion is about to get carsick and might throw up. The seat’s going to get soaked. What should we do?”
“No, really! I’m fine! I’m a healer, you know! Hiic, mom…!”
And so the rest of the ride to Tollen was filled with Eston’s desperate attempts to clear up the misunderstanding.
* * *
Still, the conversation with Eston wasn’t entirely fruitless. Unfortunately, I learned that Tollen was within the territory of Count Frederick.
“…Because of your brother, the count won’t show up in person, right?”
As I got out of the carriage, I asked casually, and Eston replied with a somber look.
“For now, yes. I’ve healed all the people who were bitten, and I’ve chained up my brother tightly…”
“……”
“I did confess that I was hiding him, but the villagers don’t want the count to come either. They’re all secretly waiting for a Purifier.”
Even without asking for more details, I could roughly understand the situation.
“Which direction is the Gate occurrence zone?”
We’d stopped the carriage quite far from the village because the roads weren’t smooth.
At my question, Eston turned to me in surprise.
“You’re going inside?”
“Yeah.”
“But… Didn’t you just need a carriage for a trip outside, Milady?”
“Not Milady— Nancy.”
I corrected her, paying attention to the form of address, and tied my bonnet and mask tightly to cover my face.
“Since I came all this way, shouldn’t I at least purify your brother?”
“……!”
At my words, Eston’s mouth dropped open as she froze. She stared at me with trembling eyes, then suddenly bent at the waist in a deep bow.
And she shouted,
“…I’m sorry!”
“…All of a sudden?”
“For all the rude things I’ve said and done… I sincerely want to apologize!”
“……”
“I think… I completely misunderstood you, uh, Nancy, because of what I’d heard from others. I shouldn’t have said those things…”
I immediately realized what ‘things she shouldn’t have said’ she meant.
— Some people can commit attempted murder and then just claim they don’t remember and shrug it off. Some of us have to leave dying family behind to come heal that very person.
It must have weighed on her mind all this time that she’d said with such certainty that I—no, Edith—had tried to kill Llewellyn.
Seeing her sincerely apologizing to me gave me a strange feeling. Because it was true.
“If you want, I’ll go back and submit my resignation.”
“It’s fine.”
“But…”
“Enough, stand up. Someone might see.”
At my words, Eston hesitantly straightened up. But she still couldn’t meet my eyes as boldly as before and looked like a sinner.
Seeing her still so withdrawn made me feel a bit guilty.
Of course, purifying her brother hadn’t been part of my original plan…
‘Honestly, it really was just a convenient excuse for me.’
I was the one who’d used her situation as justification to come here so shamelessly.
So it was awkward to receive such a heartfelt apology.
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