A World Where You All Are The Villains

Because he was speaking like a normal person.

Because we had been talking for quite a while.

I had overlooked it.

The fact that Male Lead #4 was the lunatic who once oppressed the Imperial Crown Prince in front of everyone, and that he had the kind of volatile personality that could overturn the entire game board the moment something displeased him.

“……”

A chilling silence swept through the room.

The strange tension between me and Serge returned.

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.

If he really decided to kill me out of nowhere, just like he said a moment ago.

What would I do then?

‘The call bell? Or maybe I use my ability again to knock him out?’

Just when the overload gauge had reset enough for me to purify properly again.

‘Could I lunge at him right now and grab his hand?’

Tap, tap, tap.

As I ran through simulations while staring at the fingers rhythmically tapping on the table.

Tap.

Suddenly, the hand that had been drumming on the desk came to a stop.

And then.

“It was a joke, Ducal Lady. Relax.”

“……”

“I said it was a joke.”

He looked at me, frozen stiff, and let out a faint laugh.

The strange tension that had enveloped us shattered in an instant.

“Even for me, taking on three Awakeners at once is tough. Not to mention, the Duke’s errand boy is the same rank as me, isn’t he? S-Class.”

He meant it was realistically impossible.

Of course, I knew that too.

But I couldn’t bring myself to relax my stiff expression.

Because it didn’t feel like a joke.

Because the seriousness in that fleeting moment had felt far too real.

Just as I kept my mouth shut, staring awkwardly at Male Lead #4, he wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

“If you really don’t want to make a deal with me that badly, then I guess there’s no helping it.”

“……”

“I’ll just go around spreading the rumor that you, Ducal Lady, confessed your love to me at the banquet.”

“Wh… What?!”

I tried to stay composed, but that was something I couldn’t possibly not react to.

“What on earth are you talking about?!”

“See? I figured that’d deal more damage to you than just exposing the fact that you had awakened.”

It felt like my blood was boiling in reverse.

He snickered, clearly amused by my furious reaction.

The fact that I couldn’t punch that smug face made me feel eternal regret.

Grinding my teeth, I chose the most polite words available to me as a substitute for a curse.

“You really are…”

“……”

“Out of all the people I’ve met, Your Highness is hands down the most vile, indecent, and despicable.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He tilted his head smugly and replied with that insufferable tone. Then added:

“You’re not exactly harmless either. Think about it, you tried to shake me using my own weakness. I doubt there are many people who’ve acted so boldly in front of me.”

“True, perhaps. But even so, I never once thought to use it in a way that would disgrace Your Highness’s honor.”

“Is being in love with me disgraceful?”

“……”

“Ha!”

This time, he actually looked annoyed, letting out a loud, incredulous laugh as he ran a hand roughly through his hair.

“Seriously, who’s calling who despicable here.”

“…In that case, I have one condition too.”

“What is it?”

Of course, he didn’t seem the least bit interested in backing out of the deal.

No matter how much I threatened with leverage, he didn’t budge.

If all I got in return for resisting was death threats, then maybe it was time I faced reality and accepted it.

‘Where the hell is my life even going…’

Holding back the tears that threatened to spill, I spoke solemnly:

“Don’t ever threaten or try to kill me again.”

“I told you, that was a joke.”

“That includes any similar kind of threat. If you can’t promise that, then the deal is off. And if you break that promise during the deal, it’s null and void.”

If I couldn’t avoid it, I could at least make sure it worked to my advantage.

In this meeting with him, the only variable… was him.

Serge stared at me with an odd expression in his eyes.

“…That stings a little. I thought I’ve shown quite a bit of sincerity to you, Ducal Lady.”

“What sincerity… are you referring to?”

“Didn’t you read what I wrote on the invitation?”

The comment came out of nowhere.

I tried to recall what was written on the invitation, but the impatient bastard spoke before I could remember.

“To the last one standing, a toast.”

“……”

“I tend to value those who manage to survive to the end by any means necessary, Ducal Lady. What I meant was, I never once intended to kill you, from the very start.”

That’s like stabbing someone with a knife and then saying, ‘Oops. I didn’t plan to kill you.’