Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

Chapter 238 : The Disappearance of the Villainess 1

"Wake up, wake up—"

An unfamiliar call.

"Lady Elsa, please wake up—"

An unfamiliar ceiling.

"Thank goodness, you're finally awake—"

Seeing her open her eyes, the maids surrounding her all showed expressions of relief.

"Lady Elsa, the bath is also ready. You can bathe and change at any time."

"There's a meeting for the Magic Defense Department this morning. Do you need to delay your attendance?"

"...What meeting?"

Was she not fully awake? She didn't remember having such an arrangement.

Elsa struggled to sit up, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

Although she understood the meaning of each word they uttered individually, when strung together, she couldn't comprehend them at all.

"You specifically instructed us yesterday to wake you up earlier. Have you forgotten, Lady Elsa?"

"You also said you needed to check today's schedule. Please wait a moment."

At this moment, she was lying in an unfamiliar bed, with unfamiliar patterns even on the ceiling.

She seemed to be lying in a room in the palace, wearing unfamiliar sleepwear,

The decorations looked somewhat familiar, and the maids around her were wearing royal maid uniforms,

But there were no familiar faces nearby.

What's going on...

Was she too tired yesterday, so instead of going home, she rested directly in the palace?

Elsa could only make this conjecture; otherwise, she really couldn't understand why she would be lying in such a place.

"Where's Evie? Isn't she with me?"

She asked habitually, but when she did, the expressions on the surrounding maids' faces became somewhat strange.

"Who is that?"

The surrounding maids began to whisper among themselves.

"Is there someone by that name in the household?"

"Yvonne, Yvonne Smollett! That famous duchess—"

Elsa's tone immediately became anxious. Even if it was a temporary stay, these maids in charge of reception shouldn't be unfamiliar with Evie, such a well-known figure??

"We've never heard of her..."

But seeing them shake their heads with fearful expressions, Elsa felt as if chaotic paint had been poured into her head,

"Mama...?"

There was a rustling sound from under the covers.

The little one rubbed her eyes and crawled up from her embrace.

"Bebe!!"

Seeing her daughter, Elsa was overjoyed.

Since this child was here, perhaps she knew where Evie was—

"Do you know where Mama Yvonne went?"

She picked up Bebe, asking with full of expectation,

"...Yvonne?"

Repeating this name after her, as if it were an unfamiliar syllable being taught during a reading lesson, held by her small shoulders, she looked at Elsa with big, pitiful eyes, tilting her head in confusion.

The words Bebe Capet uttered next directly pushed Elsa into a winter ice valley on this spring morning of burgeoning life.

"Bebe only has one mama, Elsa..."

How could this be—

"Think carefully, it was Yvonne and I who brought you home together!!"

How could she forget Yvonne of all people?!

"Ouch!... Mama, it hurts!!"

It wasn't until Bebe cried out in pain,

That Elsa realized she had used too much force, and quickly let go of her,

"Wah! Mama is so strange today..."

Bebe was so frightened that she hid behind the maid.

"Lady Elsa... What's wrong with you?"

Maid Parcy stepped forward, looking at her with concern.

"Parcy!! Don't you remember Yvonne either? She's your true master!!"

"What are you saying... Lady Elsa?"

Seeing the frightening expression on their mistress's face, the other maids exchanged glances.

"We are all your maids, and we serve no other master."

"But... Smollett, I feel like I've heard this surname somewhere before?"

Parcy, comforting the trembling Bebe in her arms, looked thoughtful.

"Ah, I remember now... This noble family was once one of the four great families of the Oz Kingdom..."

"Go on!"

"But three years ago... after the demon rebellion incident, the Smollett clan was tried and executed for treason. The crime of rebellion was confirmed, and it's said that no one related to them was left."

Trial.

Execution.

Hearing these terrifying words, Elsa's mouth gaped open, feeling as if all the blood in her body had frozen.

Was it her memory that had become confused, or had this world undergone some kind of distortion?

"Lady Elsa... You've been acting strange ever since you woke up today?"

"Did you have a nightmare?"

The maids gathered around concernedly,

"Mama... What's wrong?"

Bebe also approached again with a worried expression.

Elsa didn't know what expression was on her face now, her nails digging into the bedsheet almost tearing it.

"You must be overly fatigued."

By the time she came to her senses, she had already been brought to the dressing table,

Facing her reflection was a pale face and terrified eyes, and as she looked, the person in the mirror also seemed to become very unfamiliar.

"After all, with the war approaching, you've been lacking sleep lately."

"Shall I cancel the Defense Department meeting for you today? It's a rare holiday, please rest well."

However, whatever voices she heard went in one ear and out the other,

Her brain simply couldn't process any information right now.

Wait... holiday?

"What day is it today?!"

Hearing a familiar word, Elsa quickly asked the maid who was arranging her hair.

"Today is the Spring Festival, Oz Kingdom's grand annual celebration... Don't tell me you've forgotten even this?"

Arranging her hair, this unfamiliar maid whose name Elsa couldn't recall answered with a professional smile.

"...Spring Festival?"

What's going on...

Wasn't the festival yesterday?

She still clearly remembered the scene of dancing hand in hand with Yvonne in the ballroom.

Had yesterday become today? Or had today become yesterday?

Where had Yvonne gone now?

Elsa hoped to sort out useful information from her mind, but no matter how she thought, she couldn't make sense of it.

If she hadn't gone mad, then this world had.

But... who did this?

Who was the culprit??

"Let me ask you..." she began trembling,

"Lady Elsa, please feel free to ask."

"In your eyes, what kind of person am I?"

"Lady Elsa is a great magician who has quelled countless internal conflicts and wars to date."

"It is because of you that we have been able to defend our cities from the demon race."

"You are the embodiment of power and order, and all people in Oz Kingdom revere you."

"............"

The messy hair gradually became tidy under the maid's hands.

But her inner heart became increasingly chaotic.

War.

Internal conflict.

Demon race.

Strange and frightening words popped up one after another.

Looking carefully, this attire of a magician in the mirror bore some resemblance to a certain witch.

Would she become her?

Or had she already become her?

"Great Magician, are you going out?"

The knight at the door saluted her.

"For your safety, please allow us to accompany you—"

"...That won't be necessary."

The next second, she disappeared into thin air.

·

The atmosphere in the city was completely different from yesterday.

Just yesterday, this place was still festive,

Everyone's faces were beaming with smiles,

But now, although it was the day of the festival, there were hardly any people on the streets.

If it weren't for the festival flags hanging on the walls, Elsa would have doubted if this was a ghost town.

She desperately used spatial magic to move herself, searching the familiar city's unfamiliar streets, hoping to find a familiar figure.

Not here, not here, not here!

Nowhere to be found—

The Smollett mansion had become an empty lot,

The city she was familiar with had also quietly changed.

There was no beastfolk residential area she often visited, replaced by countless newly built military outposts and watchtowers, as well as high walls.

Elsa finally realized that this was not the world she was familiar with.

"It's all... gone?"

In the central square of the royal capital, the stage they had carefully designed before was gone.

Happy memories had become bubbles,

As if all traces of her existence in this world had been mercilessly erased.

"What... What on earth is going on?!"

After multiple transfers, her magical power was exhausted.

Her cries turned into sobs,

Her body became powerless, collapsing weakly onto the cold ground.

Gradually, even the cold itself could not be felt.

Her senses were gradually being lost.

All the nerves throughout her body were gradually breaking down under the pain that seemed to tear her heart apart,

"Evie..."

Her beloved villainess had disappeared.

But now, apart from herself, no one could prove that she had ever existed.

Realizing this,

The world before her eyes became blurred.

If this was a nightmare, she wanted to wake up as soon as possible.