A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 34.2
‘Damn it. Why did it have to be him…?! Isn’t he the host? After causing all that chaos, you’re not even at the banquet?!’
I clenched my teeth and cursed the heavens. Or rather, this insane novel’s plot.
I’d thought nothing could be worse than getting caught by the room’s owner.
But to end up in an even more fucked up situation than that!
“The room is…!”
“Did a petty thief break in? Things are getting interesting.”
“I’ll check first!”
It sounded like one of the Grand Duke’s men entered first, walking around the room.
Step, step.
Each time the bright lamplight passed through the crack in the dressing room’s door, my heart shrank a little more.
Thank god, the Grand Duke’s subordinate didn’t check inside the dressing room.
“There’s no one here, Your Highness.”
“Didn’t you report that the Purifier was in her room until the afternoon?”
“Yes. According to the maids’ statements, the imperial physician visited around 3 p.m. today, and someone assisted with her bath around 6 p.m. After that, no one else has entered the room.”
“So she was kidnapped only a few hours ago, then.”
Despite mentioning the possibility of a thief, Serge immediately settled on ‘kidnapping’.
“What about the Emperor or Crown Prince?”
“They seem completely unaware.”
Step, step.
Another set of footsteps entered the room.
It was obvious, even without looking, that it was Male Lead #4.
He slowly circled the bedroom, muttering to himself.
“Hm. The culprit must have broken in through the balcony door… I wonder what the chances are the maids just forgot to close it.”
“Well…”
“Or maybe a guest entered the room.”
At that, my heart dropped straight to the floor.
Even if it was just a guess, to hear that as the ‘guest’ was enough to make me tremble in fear…
“But, we confirmed with the guards that nobody except those on duty entered or left.”
“The candle wax hasn’t fully hardened. Someone was here just a moment ago.”
That was clear proof.
‘Shit. I should’ve just kept the candelabra with me…’
He’d picked up on that with just a single sweep of the room. What terrifying powers of observation.
“…I’ll bring in a search party.”
“No need. If anyone was going to escape, they’d be gone by now.”
“They probably haven’t left the palace yet.”
“Then take your men and go search.”
“Yes, sir!”
Their deduction was so spot-on that I felt like the world was closing in around me.
At this rate, not only would I not escape, I was afraid they’d figure out I was cowering in the dressing room.
Tap tap tap!
I heard hurried footsteps leaving the room.
But it was just one person.
‘Shit, why isn’t he leaving?!’
Male Lead #4 was still in the room.
I had no idea what business he had in a room with no owner present.
“Hm, hmm…”
Step, step.
He began to casually hum as he wandered around the room.
‘Please. Please just leave, please…’
Biting my lower lip, I desperately wished for a miracle, not even knowing who I was praying to.
“Hide well, or your hair will show…”
Suddenly, he started chanting the words to a children’s hide-and-seek song.
“Hide well… Are you hiding in the bathroom?”
“……”
“…Not here?”
His voice grew a little distant, as if he was actually checking the bathroom.
‘Ugh, this crazy bastard…’
Wandering around humming a hide-and-seek song while searching for me… He was nothing less (and nothing more) than a lunatic.
Fear swept over me.
Frozen with my eyes wide open, I slowly raised my hands to cover my mouth.
“Hide well… Are you hiding in the dressing room?”
“……”
“Not here either.”
If I hadn’t done that, I really might have screamed.
“Hide well, or your hair will show…”
Step, step.
His footsteps, which had faded, now drew closer again.
Light from the lamp flickered through the crack in the dressing room’s door.
Step.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped right in front of me.
Silence followed.
‘I’m scared…!’
Reflexively, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Tears welled up.
All I’d wanted was to check whether the female lead had really disappeared…
How did I end up feeling like I’d stumbled into a scene from a horror movie?
“Under the bed, then!”
Fwip!
I heard the bedsheets being thrown aside roughly.
Flinch.
Even though I tried not to, my shoulders twitched on their own.
“Haha, this is fun.”
“……”
“Then there’s only one place left.”
No, there’s nowhere left.
Inside, I was furiously denying his words.
Step.
But in reality, the presence was right in front of me.
‘Should I just open the door and walk out? If I just brazen it out…’
For a split second, a thousand thoughts flashed through my mind.
But as soon as I remembered how he’d grinned at the banquet, I just couldn’t summon the courage.
‘He already suspects me of kidnapping the female lead. What if he kills me on sight…?!’
As I was thinking that, I suddenly realized how quiet it was outside.
“……?”
Puzzled, I cautiously opened my eyes.
And then, through the silently opened crack in the dressing room’s door, I met a pair of pitch-black eyes staring down at me.
“…Found you.”
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