A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 46.2
I asked again, my face stiff.
“Y-You’re calling that… a joke?”
“If I were going to kill you, why would I go to the trouble of holding back my ability just to hear your answer? I’d have just snapped your neck on the spot and announced that I executed a suspect.”
‘This crazy bastard…’
As infuriating as it was, it made a certain kind of sense.
A chill ran down my spine at the thought that I might have actually died on the spot if things had gone slightly wrong.
Clap, clap, clap!
Suddenly, the bastard clapped his hands a couple of times.
“When you hit me with that stool and staged the scene, I was honestly impressed. I figured from the moment our eyes met at the banquet, you’re no ordinary lunatic…”
To be called a lunatic by a lunatic. How insulting.
“Why… did you think that?”
“Everyone else was too busy dodging my gaze like they might catch fire, but you just stared right at me. Like you were challenging me or something.”
“That was…!”
I was so shocked and scared that I froze!
‘How could anyone possibly interpret that as a challenge?!’
I didn’t know where or how to begin explaining, so I just stared at him in dismay.
Suddenly, the faint smile disappeared from his lips.
“Be proud of your survival instinct, Ducal Lady. If you’d just used your ability and fled from the Purifier’s room, it would’ve been dull and boring.”
If you hadn’t piqued my interest, you’d be dead with a broken neck by now.
I understood exactly what Male Lead #4 meant by those words.
“…So, the fact that I hit Your Highness over the head and staged the scene to survive… you found that entertaining?”
At my question, he gave a deeply satisfied smile, as if confirming it.
“Even the little game of hide-and-seek wasn’t bad. Shall we play again sometime?”
“No thank you!”
I trembled as I jumped to my feet.
Anyway, with that, the deal was done.
“If you’re finished speaking, then I’ll be taking my leave.”
“I haven’t even emptied my cup. How rude.”
While I was ready to storm out at any second, the bastard leisurely leaned back against the chair and lifted his teacup.
It was an infuriating sight.
“When will you be leaving?”
“I have dinner plans with the Duke.”
“Then take your time and enjoy. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to join the formal dinner due to my health.”
A polite way of saying don’t try to make me stay.
He scoffed.
Fortunately, he seemed to have nothing more to say beyond the deal.
Turning his head away from me, he took a loud sip of his tea.
After making sure not to forget the earring he’d handed me, I quickly left the drawing room.
Just as my hand reached the doorknob.
“That’s odd.”
A low murmur rose behind me.
“To my knowledge, Ducal Lady, you were treated quite well for a non-Awakener, right? There were even jokes going around that House Blake’s heiress could talk her way out of a Gate if she got sucked into one…”
“……”
“So I wonder… When did you become so desperate to survive?”
I turned back, surprised.
He wasn’t looking at me.
But more precisely than anyone I’d ever met, he had seen right through me.
— It’s like you’ve become a completely different person!
— Honestly… since you woke up, it’s like you’ve become a completely different person.
Everyone agreed that Edith had changed.
But no one knew how exactly and which parts of that once proud, arrogant noble lady had changed.
No one had ever recognized the desperate, scrappy person now dwelling inside her.
Until now.
As I looked at Male Lead #4 with trembling eyes, I gradually steadied myself.
“…Who knows.”
“……”
“Maybe I realized that talking alone won’t be enough to survive.”
“……”
“That in the end, the only one who’ll protect me… is myself.”
Suddenly, he turned his head and looked at me.
Our eyes met.
Like onyx, his pitch-black irises shimmered for a fleeting moment with an emotion I couldn’t name.
But before I could figure out what it was, he abruptly looked away.
With that awful mouth finally shut, the image of him calmly drinking tea looked almost like a scene from a painting.
The face that had felt so devilish… looked almost handsome. It was an eerie feeling.
‘So a male lead is still a male lead, huh…’
The thought popped up without warning, and I instantly frowned.
I spun around on my heel.
And without hesitation, I left the drawing room.
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