The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 105

Afterimage (16)

Estelle looked at me, then slowly relaxed the strength from her tightly clenched fist.

Then she let out a small laugh.

As if trying to somewhat ease the harsh atmosphere from just a moment ago.

She took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

She flicked the bottom with her finger, and a cigarette popped out.

She clamped it between her lips.

She gestured with the cigarette as if telling me to light it.

I approached silently and conjured a small flame at my fingertip.

Estelle confirmed the cigarette was lit, then took a deep drag of smoke.And then, gently exhaling white smoke, she placed the cigarette she was holding into my mouth.

"When I see a woman so foolish she can't even remember the face of someone she met once, yet she's blasphemously talking about believing or not believing in God, it makes me understand why there are so many heretics in the world."

Estelle said.

The smile on Seraphina's face remained unchanged.

"The clothes you're wearing are so utterly unlike what I'd imagine a Saintess to wear, I never thought you were the same person."

"Well, I never thought you were the same person either.

From what I heard, I thought your fiancé was a scroundel, a terrible, bug-like human, and a good-for-nothing who enjoyed tormenting and harming others."

At Estelle's words, Seraphina could not reply.

A faint crack could be seen forming in the smile on her lips.

"When that one Demon crawled out before, you seemed quite affectionate with that commoner next to you, weren't you trying to switch to him?

What was his name again...? Was it Kyle?

He seemed like a stubborn guy who only spouted unpleasant things."

The smile vanished from Seraphina's face.

Her face twisted.

"I thought you two were lovers."

"Kyle was just... he only paid attention to me because I seemed a little depressed."

Seraphina's voice trembled faintly.

"You must have been depressed because of Lavin.

You were going to toss aside your original fiancé and switch to someone who seemed better, weren't you?

You don't even properly believe in God, so you couldn't trust someone like Lavin, and you must have been looking for someone trustworthy, right?"

Estelle flicked her ashes onto the church floor, where there was no ashtray.

"Why, they say you esteemed noble bastards marry based only on the other's abilities, wealth, and status, not love. At least humble commoners like me marry to live happily ever after, just the two of us, with the one we love."

"......You might not know this, but rather than choosing myself, I'm marrying as my parents arranged. And even so, how could there be no love?

We've been together since we were old enough to run around, so there's no way I wouldn't love him."

"Then is it a hobby of noble ladies and gentlemen to belittle and badmouth the person they love?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You were so noisy in the carriage, it was hard to forget the name Lavin.

'My fiancé is like this and that,' I thought, 'well-to-do nobles must all live like that.'"

Saying so, Estelle placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me close, hugging me.

Her body was warm and soft.

"Recalling what you were chattering about back then, he was a piece of trash from the bottom of life, someone you couldn't associate with, but who would have known he'd be this kind of person?

When everyone else looks blurry, he appears clear, a person one wants to possess the moment they see him."

"So, you're saying you fell for Lavin just by his appearance?"

Seraphina asked.

Her voice seemed to have thorns.

"That's not exactly wrong.

The moment I saw him, it felt like we had been together for a very long time.

And sometimes I've had some rather racy dreams."

Estelle rested her face on my shoulder, then lightly licked my ear with her tongue.

The damp, hot sensation sent shivers down my spine.

"......Get away from Lavin."

Seraphina's hand was trembling slightly.

I remembered the time Seraphina killed Kyle.

I felt like I might be pierced through at this rate, but I thought Estelle would somehow cover for me.

Even now, it felt like I was doing something awful to both of them, and I might be pierced to death and wake up in that room again.

"He wasn't the rude, eccentric, shameless person you said he was to others, after all.

On the contrary, he was kind and listened well to whatever I said."

Estelle whispered.

"With rumors openly spreading that her fiancé is a human-like trash, an bug-like bastard, instead of stepping up to protect and believe in him..."

Estelle's words were cut off midway.

"What the fuck do you know?!"

Seraphina shrieked.

Her voice echoed through the empty church.

"Did you see Lavin extorting money in the shopping district, or hanging out with those delinquent bastards and causing trouble!? When he was little, he even ignored my words..."

"No, I didn't. Lavin doesn't show that side to me. Unlike with you."

"You haven't known him for that long, so he probably doesn't show you anything yet."

"No. God doesn't give anything to those who don't believe.

How would a disgusting person who blasphemously speaks ill and feels no shame, someone who can't even trust her beloved fiancé, know what love is?"

"......You."

"You've known Lavin for so long, yet you still haven't truly accepted him.

What makes you think a woman who slandered the person she loves and found his presence agonizing won't do the same as a wife?"

Seraphina did not reply to those words.

Her dazed eyes met mine, then she stared at Estelle next to her for a long time before speaking in a low voice.

"Even if you're a shameless and impudent person trying to take someone else's man, I thought I wouldn't mind accepting you as a concubine if Lavin wished it... but I still can't physically accept someone like you."

"No. As the Saintess, I am the true wife. You are... what should I call you?"

Estelle cackled.

"You really don't know your place. You seem to lack discernment."

"Is it worse than you, who've only just met him, trying to butt in between us who've known each other for over ten years?"

"Is it just my imagination, or do I seem to trust Lavin more, despite having known him for only that long?"

Seraphina gritted her teeth.

The smile she had worn earlier had long since vanished.

"Why, they say there are women in brothels who sell well because they have good bodies and pretty faces, even if their personalities are awful.

That seems just about right for you.

Perhaps it would be more enjoyable for you to meet various people and just occasionally see Lavin's face, rather than being with just one person?"

Saying so, Estelle seemed to be looking around Seraphina, rather than at Seraphina herself.

Simultaneously, all the stained-glass windows of the church shattered.

Smash!

Both of them stiffened their expressions and glared at each other.

Somehow, if I stayed still like this, it felt like a scene would unfold where I'd be split in half and die, or only one of them would survive and claim me.

In the past, seeing two people fight over who would take a piece of trash that no one wanted wasn't such a bad feeling, but this time, at least, I had to live long.

Whether it was to save Lineta, whom I had personally crushed to death until no trace remained, or to prevent this idiotic situation from happening again.

I approached Estelle and, just like last time, pinched the area where her armpit met the side of her breast.

"Eek!"

Estelle let out a strange groan, and the strength naturally drained from her body.

She looked up at me with resentful eyes.

Tears began to well up.

I stroked her head.

After all, I, who had lived with her, knew very well how much the not-quite-normal Estelle was currently restraining herself.

I stroked Estelle's head as she stared blankly at me, then touched her lips once and said.

"Thank you for enduring it."

"......You're telling me to endure more, here and now?"

"Yes."

Estelle tried to push me away, but then relaxed her hand.

"......Alright."

"If you endure more here, then I'll become a kinder person, more suited for you, and someone who loves and cares for you more, right?"

I brushed off the difficult question with a laugh.

Estelle, seemingly a little annoyed, poked my shoulder with her right hand.

My body swayed, and it hurt so much I wondered if my bones had shattered.

I pretended nothing was wrong and walked over to Seraphina, who was still glaring at Estelle.

The look she gave me wasn't particularly friendly either.

"Seraphina."

"......Mm."

She replied, but avoided my gaze.

"How did it come to this?"

"If you say that, I'll only want to blame you."

"The problem is that I'm too outstanding."

Seraphina let out a hollow laugh upon hearing that.

"So, just blame me. At least for now."

"Because I treated you poorly?

Because I couldn't help you when you went through that with the family?

Because I never properly helped you, yet only blamed you?"

Seraphina slowly approached.

"Because I wasn't always by your side when you went astray as a child?

Because I didn't defend you like this time when father admonished you?

Because I didn't deny it when the Young Head tormented you and said harsh things about you?"

I almost stepped back but stopped.

All she did was cling to the hem of my clothes, catching her excessively rapid breath as she spoke.

"You hate me now, don't you?

That's why you're going to switch to that, that woman, aren't you?

Because even I did nothing when Father and the Young Head brought up breaking off the engagement.

You're disillusioned with someone like me now, aren't you?"

I scratched my cheek.

I stopped, thinking about what answer would prevent Seraphina from being hurt.

In a situation like this, where our relationship had already deteriorated beyond considering each other's feelings, thinking such thoughts now was ridiculous.

Our hearts were already tattered rags, too much so to even think about hurting each other.

Still, my heart, even if it's tattered and worn out and dies, it always finds a way to revive.

Because in a world where time is a healer, I've been living through this time a little longer than others.

"Yes."

I replied.

Seraphina's trembling hand stopped.

The tremor in the hand clutching my clothes ceased.

She raised her head and looked at me.

A single tear rolled down from her right eye.

"N-no, I don't want that, love me too."

"I still love you."

"Then don't abandon me."

"I would never abandon you."

I hugged her tightly.

Just like when we were children.

Her body was trembling faintly.

"Still, I can't ask you to get along well anymore."