The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 14

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It was morning.

Seraphina, as always, wearing a white apron, headed towards Lavin’s room.

The hallway was filled with the quietness of the weekend.

Faint pre-dawn light stretched long through the window.

In her hand, she held a cleanly washed cloth and a small duster.

Had he read the letter she left on the table yesterday? It contained clumsy content, saying she would postpone the engagement annulment procedure as much as possible, and somehow find a way. Though she knew very well there was no such way.

It was more likely he hadn't even read it properly, but still, she held onto a glimmer of hope.

She stood in front of the door and took a very small, deep breath.

The door was firmly closed.She hesitated for a moment, holding the doorknob.

What should she say? It would probably be better not to say anything. He didn't want conversation.

After all, it was a very sad thing when you spoke to someone, and no answer came back.

Lavin had always been like that. Without showing any sadness.

It would be quite ridiculous to suddenly approach him, considering she was the one who directly kicked away his heart and cut off their ties.

Seraphina herself knew very well how strange it was to just come every morning, clean, and see his face. Especially for a former fiancée.

The doorknob was cold.

She took a small deep breath and opened the door.

Creak.

The sound of old hinges was always the same.

As the door opened, the air from inside the room began to leak into the hallway.

The air was heavy and stale.

A strong smell of tobacco mixed with something sweet and sour.

An unpleasant, unfamiliar smell.

Seraphina wrinkled her nose.

It seemed he had smoked all night again.

While she was cleaning, the room had never smelled so strongly.

Today, it felt unusually worse. Even if he had smoked all day long in the room. Should she call it a new kind of smell?

She opened the door and stepped into the room.

And her gaze stopped at the center of the room.

Lavin was there.

Suspended from the ceiling.

Hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

A limp human figure.

It swayed ever so slightly, like a pendulum.

Was it due to air currents? Or an optical illusion?

At least, the Lavin Seraphina knew didn't look like that.

Seraphina didn't move.

She just stood there, holding the doorknob, staring at it.

His tongue protruded long.

His eyes bulged as if they would burst, staring at a single point on the ceiling.

His face was swollen to a dark reddish-purple, making it difficult to recognize his original features.

He was suspended in the air.

A piece of dirty cloth was wrapped around his neck, and his head was bent at an unnatural angle.

Seraphina didn't move.

She didn't scream either.

Seraphina couldn't move.

She didn't even drop the cloth and duster she held in her hand.

Seraphina could do nothing.

She merely stood there, staring at him.

Her mind felt like it was going blank.

No thoughts came to mind.

She wished no thoughts would come to mind.

Her heart refused to accept what was happening, no matter what conclusions her inconveniently well-functioning mind might draw.

It was just a nightmare.

She must have slept poorly last night, she was tired, that's all.

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, he would either be lying on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling, or still in bed. Then, as usual, she would quietly begin cleaning.

But when she opened her eyes again, the scene was unchanged.

Lavin, hanging from the ceiling, was still there.

Motionless.

His tiptoes pointed towards the empty air.

Her gaze dropped to the floor.

Directly below him, a wooden chair lay toppled.

It was the chair he always used at his desk.

One leg of the chair was broken, touching the floor at a precarious angle.

Why was the chair there? She should set it upright for cleaning. Dust would accumulate.

Seraphina slowly, very slowly, stepped into the room.

Without making any footsteps.

As if trying not to wake someone asleep.

One step, another step.

The creaking floorboards broke the silence of the room.

A long shadow stretched across the floor.

She tried hard not to step on that shadow. She didn't know why she had to, she just felt like she shouldn't.

And she raised her head to look up at him.

"......Lavin?"

No voice came out.

Her lips barely moved to call his name.

Of course, there was no reply.

She reached out her hand.

Her trembling fingers touched his limp leg.

It wasn't cold.

But it wasn't much different from the feel of a lifeless chunk of meat.

At that touch, Seraphina's body swayed greatly.

She staggered back.

Her back hit the cold wall.

Still, she remained standing.

"Ah......"

At that moment, Seraphina's knees buckled.

She collapsed onto the spot.

The cleaning tools in her hand scattered across the floor.

Thud. Clatter.

Instead of a scream, a choked sound escaped her.

Seraphina seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

Her chest felt tight.

She needed air, but she didn't know how to breathe.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Only a faint whisper of air escaped.

Her eyes fell upon the table.

The letter she had left was crumpled and stuck next to the trash can.

Next to it, a half-rotten peach lay.

A few fruit flies buzzed and circled above its blackened flesh.

She raised her head and looked at Lavin again.

His unfocused eyes seemed to be looking down at her.

At that moment, a cool breeze from the window brushed past Seraphina's face.

Simultaneously, the hanging chunk of meat swayed, lightly brushing her cheek.

"......The weather is nice today."

Seraphina mumbled blankly.

Outside the window, it was dazzlingly bright.

The sky was a cloudless blue.

It was too beautiful a day for Lavin to die.

She sat there for a long time.

She didn't know what to do.

Should she call someone?

Should she tell someone?

Or just leave it like this.

She could do nothing.

Her body felt as if it had turned to stone.

Seraphina looked up at him again.

A motionless doll, hanging from the ceiling.

Come to think of it, Lavin had always granted Seraphina everything she wanted.

When she asked if he couldn't care for her and love her a little more, he brought heartfelt letters and came every day to offer meals, almost daily bringing the coffee she liked.

Seraphina dismissed everything as lies and pushed Lavin away.

If she said she wanted something, he would find it and bring it, but what she returned was always.......

Who was it that, to the person who granted every word and fulfilled every wish, spoke words every morning wishing he were dead?

Seraphina curled up her body.

She was scared.

Unbearably so.

Perhaps, because she felt she had killed Lavin.

She felt certain she had killed him with her own hands.

She had to call someone.

If she called that Saintess Lavin used to visit, maybe she could somehow bring him back to life? After all, she was such a famous Saintess.

But her body wouldn't move.

Her feet were rooted to the floor, not budging.

She couldn't open the door and go outside either.

She could do nothing but stare at him.

Nothing but meet his empty eyes.

How much time had passed?

Outside the window, it was gradually growing brighter.

Outside the window, it was gradually growing darker.

Seraphina suddenly looked at the duster on the floor.

Why was it there?

Ah, cleaning.

She had to clean.

He disliked clutter.

No, she disliked clutter.

So she cleaned every day.

She thought he would like it.

Because no one would dislike living in a clean place.

Maybe someday, they could go back, and the broken engagement could be treated as if it never happened.

She stumbled to her feet.

She gripped the duster firmly.

She had to wipe the table first.

The rotten peach had to be thrown away.

The fallen chair on the floor also needed to be set upright.

And the window.

She had to air out the room.

The smell of tobacco was too strong.

She moved like a machine, one step after another.

She passed beneath the hanging Lavin and approached the table.

Above her head, his feet swayed.

Just, concentrating on the dust in front of her eyes.

But she couldn't.

His presence overwhelmed everything in the room.

Seraphina finally dropped the duster.

Dust danced in the orange afternoon sunlight.

Seraphina leaned against the wall, staring blankly at him.

Her mouth fell open involuntarily and wouldn't close.

She slowly turned her head and looked out the window.

The sun had already set, and the sky was dyed a deep indigo.

Stars began to appear one by one.

It was a beautiful night.

The night Lavin died was so beautiful.

Somehow, she wanted to hug Lavin.

So, after setting the creaking chair upright again, she sat on it and hugged Lavin tightly.

As if she would never let him go again.

Lavin's body was discovered two days later.

By Kyle and his companions, who had come after hearing rumors that Edelgard's good-for-nothing 'Lavin' had imprisoned Seraphina in his room for two days.

The Saintess, who had been smiling playfully beside them, had her face crumble.

Because what she had expected was something moderately entertaining.

At least, there was nothing entertaining.

There was only Seraphina, who was sleeping, clutching not some good-for-nothing, but a corpse.