The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 112

Afterimage (23)

We lay down together on the bed.

Levina fidgeted with my hand, touching it.

Her fingers were cold, and trembling ever so slightly.

Then she hugged me tight and looked at me.

For some reason, her face was completely flushed.

I couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol, or just this situation.

"Actually, I want to live longer."

Levina said with a laugh.

She moved a little closer just like that.Our breaths faintly mingled.

At first, she stroked the back of my hand, then gently took and released each of my fingers, index, middle, ring before taking my wrist.

It was a rough yet careful touch.

"It's late to say this now, but I know that the things I said and did to you weren't normal."

"You knew that well, and still did it?"

"I guess I didn't want to fake anything in front of you."

"That's a convenient thing to say. In front of me, you probably didn't need to."

"Perhaps so.

If you loved the Edelgard family head I fabricated, not me, it wouldn't mean anything.

How is that different from living a lifetime wearing a mask?"

"Where's the guarantee that I'd love you as you are?"

"Right. Still, you do love me. Because I'm your sister. Your only family."

"That's a magnificent load of bullshit, no matter how many times I hear it."

"Is that something you should say, when you brought your fiancée and that esteemed Saintess here?"

"......."

Levina let go of my hand, stroked my face, and said.

"I don't want you to die. You're beautiful."

I didn't give any particular reply.

I merely looked at her constantly hazy, gray eyes, which reflected no light.

"What would it feel like to die?"

"I think it'd be better to go instantly, without time to feel anything."

"Perhaps. Still, if I'm not alone, it might not be so bad."

We pulled the blanket up to our lips, then hugged each other tight and slept.

Just like truly normal, close siblings would, as they did when they were young.

****

A considerable amount of time had passed since the demons swarmed in and began their attack.

Today too, the heavy sound of a horn shattered the dawn's stillness.

Although preparations were made with hastily piled walls and wooden fences, they seemed to be of little meaning.

Not only were there only less than half the soldiers remaining, but most of the higher-ups who could provide proper command had also left.

Still, Kyle and the special forces remained, patching up any gaps that might be breached, and diligently taking heads when strong-looking demons appeared.

After all, they needed to buy enough time to move all the provisions and supplies to a safe place.

That's why Seraphina and Estelle also remained here.

Both of them seemed to naturally assume I would retreat too.

I didn't bother to speak up.

Because if I said I was staying, they'd forcibly drag me away, even if it meant breaking my arms and legs.

Still, it seemed everyone was slowly finishing their preparations to leave.

It was late afternoon.

The time when the sun plunged into the horizon, turning red, and for some reason, a faint moon was visible in the still bright sky.

I entered the tent next to the church, filled with wounded soldiers.

Estelle was there, reattaching severed limbs and desperately clinging to the lives of those gasping and dying.

"You look busy."

I said so, and tightly wrapped a new white bandage around the soldier's body, whose fatal wounds had at least been reduced to non-fatal ones.

Before, new flesh would sprout with just a touch, but whether she was exhausted or out of power, she seemed somewhat weaker.

Her complexion was also extremely pale.

Beads of cold sweat had formed on her forehead.

"Shouldn't you rest?"

"I want to rest, but look around.

If I rest even a little, there'll be more than one or two people who die."

"You weren't someone who cared about such things before."

"......What kind of human am I inside your head, exactly?"

I followed Estelle, and when she halfway treated a wound, I'd bandage it, or whether they screamed or not, I'd roughly pour alcohol on the still unhealed wound and clumsily stitch it with a needle.

Like that, with Estelle, I somehow managed to save everyone lying on the dirty beds, groaning amidst the stench of rotting blood.

Looking up at the sky, the moon was already long past evening, smirking down at me.

I didn't feel particularly proud.

Unless they all escaped from here, they would have to return to the front lines and continue fighting with the demons.

"Estelle."

I called her name.

Estelle, looking exhausted, replied in a small voice.

"Hm."

"I'm staying here."

Hearing those words, Estelle stopped what she was doing and looked at me.

Her eyes slowly, very slowly, widened.

"Then, what was I here for?"

I couldn't meet Estelle's eyes as she spoke in a trembling voice.

If I met her gaze like this, I felt like I wouldn't be able to say anything and would do whatever Estelle told me to.

Because I'm always a spineless human who acts only on emotion.

"Why?"

"Because I have to."

Estelle, perhaps sensing that I wouldn't say anything, began to breathe more heavily.

Her shoulders trembled slightly.

"I endured here somehow, for you. For what, exactly...?"

She stood up, seemingly confused, stared blankly at the floor, then looked up at the sky and murmured.

"Why have I been here all this time, exactly?"

Her voice trembling slightly, she continued.

"Because I love you. Because I want to marry you. Because I want to save you.

That's why I endured somehow."

Her voice slowly faded.

"If you're going to die here, what have I been doing?"

Estelle approached me, who was avoiding her gaze, looked at me, and said in a low voice.

"Hey, Lavin. Tell me. What was I here for?"

"To be with me."

I said so, and hugged Estelle tightly as she slowly began to sniffle.

"From now on, forever, even after death, I'll remember.

And I'll love the fact that you loved me."

"Bullshit."

"If that's how it sounds, I can't help it."

"You've never truly loved someone like me, not once.

I know you think of other women when you look at me, not just Seraphina."

"Ultimately, that person is also you."

"So, what the fuck is that supposed to mean...?"

Hearing my words, Estelle glared at me with a completely twisted face, then met my eyes and bowed her head deeply.

"This time too, now that you're saying you'll kill yourself, am I supposed to pretend to be fooled as if it's nothing?"

Her face was a mess.

Estelle's face was haggard, like someone who hadn't slept for days.

Her bloodless lips were dry and cracked, with faint traces of blood spreading over them.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and dark shadows had settled beneath them.

Her once lustrous, pure white hair was matted with dust and blood, sticking out in disarray.

Her priestess robes were so soiled with dirt and blood that their original color was unrecognizable.

She looked utterly exhausted.

"Right now, I want to break your arms and legs and drag you away, but I feel like I shouldn't.

I feel like I shouldn't take you wherever I want.

It's not my feeling, yet it is my feeling. An unpleasant sensation engulfs my whole body."

Estelle grabbed my shoulders, which were hugging her, pushed me away slightly, and said, sobbing.

"If things continue like this, you'll die, but if I do as I wish, you might die anyway."

Her sobs subsided a little.

"You're truly beyond terrible. I thought giving you my heart, giving you everything, would be enough, but you always take something I never expected.

Yet I still don't want to be hated by you.

Am I, the Saintess, perhaps cursed by some proud demon?"

Estelle grabbed my clothes.

"Even feeling like this right now, I still love you."

"Me too."

"Don't lie."

"It's not a lie."

"What do you want to do by staying here, exactly?"

"There's something I need to find out."

"You won't tell me anything even if I ask, will you?"

"Probably not."

"Those 'I love you's you whispered to me, they were all lies, weren't they?"

"They were all sincere."

"Then you don't want to live with the person you love?"

"Even if I say I'm doing this because I want to live, it still sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?"

"Lavin. Please look at me. No, look only at me."

"I am looking at you."

"Then be with me."

"I'll be with you now."

"Why did I fall in love with someone like you?"

"I'm sorry."

"Just let me stay by your side."

"......."

"The Saintess guarantees it, you'll burn in hell if you die."

"Burning is something I'd rather avoid."

"I hate you."

Estelle said, her eyes welling up.

I took a cigarette from my pocket, stuck it in my mouth, lit it, then held it to Estelle's mouth, who was still standing in front of me.

Estelle took the cigarette, then sat down, inhaling and exhaling smoke, and began to sob.

I also stuck a cigarette in my mouth and lit it.

I approached Estelle, who was still holding the already burnt-out cigarette in her mouth, took it from her, gave her a new one, and lit it for her.

And then I said in a low voice.

"I didn't say anything to Seraphina."

At those words, Estelle raised her head.

And then she looked down at the floor again.

Even though there was nothing there.