A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 35.1
The man was holding the candle I’d blown out.
Of all things, it made him look like someone shining a flashlight upward to scare someone.
Only half of his face was visible through the crack in the door.
Eyes even blacker than pitch, utterly expressionless.
“…Found you.”
“H-Huaaaaack—!”
Crash!
I screamed reflexively, as if I’d seen a ghost, and scrambled backward in a panic.
But only for a moment.
“…Mmph!”
A large hand clamped firmly over my mouth.
“Shh…”
“……”
“If you make too much noise, the search party will come. You don’t want to get dragged to the underground interrogation room, do you?”
“……!”
That snapped me out of it.
With trembling eyes, I looked at the man and slowly nodded.
Only then did he remove the hand covering my mouth.
He flung the dressing room’s door wide open and stepped aside.
“Come out.”
There was no refusing.
I had no choice but to awkwardly crawl out of the dressing room, all the while Male Lead #4 watched me with narrowed, scrutinizing eyes.
For some reason, I felt a bit wretched.
When I finally stood on my own two feet, he tilted his head to the side.
“What were you doing in here?”
“……”
“Edith Blake.”
“……”
“You are the Ducal Lady, aren’t you?”
The way he called my name so precisely made my heart sink.
He didn’t look like he’d believe me even if I tried to deny it.
Resigned, I muttered in a subdued voice.
“…I came looking for Llewellyn.”
“Why?”
Because you suspect me.
Or because this damn novel’s plot has gone completely off the rails…!
“I had something to talk about.”
“Hm… Then why were you hiding in the dressing room like a mouse?”
His blunt question made my face flush with embarrassment for a moment.
Just imagining how ridiculous I must’ve looked hiding in the dressing room in front of him made my head spin.
‘…Shit.’
I choked back tears and offered a feeble excuse.
“…I was so shocked when I saw the state of the room and wondered what happened, so I was about to leave when I heard someone coming this way and just…”
“Ah. So in that kind of situation, you just hide in the dressing room.”
He bared his teeth in a sly grin.
The mocking tone in his voice made me bristle.
“I just thought if someone saw me, they’d get the wrong idea and it’d be a huge headache.”
The words came out as if I was blaming him without even meaning to.
Noticing too late, I quickly lowered my head.
“A-Anyway, sorry for the trouble. I’ll just be going, then.”
The best strategy was to avoid getting entangled with this lunatic any further.
It wasn’t just his violent temperament, but the raging ‘rampage percentage’ sparkling above his head that made him feel especially threatening to me.
I tried to slip past Male Lead #4, nearly running away.
But.
“Now, now, you’re not leaving just like that, are you?”
“……!”
He swiftly blocked my path.
Then, with one eye narrowed, he muttered in a low voice.
“I still have business with the Ducal Lady, you know?”
“Wh, What…?”
“I was looking for you anyway since you weren’t at the banquet… Who knew you’d be hiding here.”
So it really wasn’t my imagination. He had recognized me earlier!
I took a wary step back, trying to watch Serge’s mood.
“Why were you looking for me?”
“You should know better than I would.”
“I have no idea.”
“Didn’t the Duke tell you I named you as a suspect in the Purifier’s kidnapping?”
He did.
“But what a coincidence, finding you hiding in the Purifier’s room. Makes me think I’ve got a real sharp instinct. Maybe I’ve finally caught the culprit, don’t you think?”
‘…Damn it.’
I was at a loss for words.
Just earlier he’d seemed like some sociopath acting on whim, but now he was surprisingly logical.
Gnawing my lower lip, I answered right away.
“As you can see, it’s not me.”
“You never know.”
Serge smirked and shrugged.
“Maybe you came back to destroy evidence. You know, they say the culprit always returns to the scene of the crime.”
“If I’d hired someone to kidnap her, I wouldn’t bother destroying evidence myself.”
My legs trembled with anxiety, but I met his gaze and calmly refuted him.
“And I wouldn’t have left such a messy trail, either.”
“Well. Given your record, I can’t say that’s very convincing.”
“Believe what you want.”
I lifted my chin and said haughtily.
“It’ll all come out in the investigation anyway.”
Now more than ever, it was best to act like I had nothing to hide.
If I didn’t, I had a bad feeling I’d get swept up in his pace.
“Hm…”
At that moment, he stroked his chin as if thinking, then bared his teeth in a villainous grin.
“Then can I arrest you right now, Ducal Lady?”
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