The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 24

Coloring (6)

A letter was held in her right hand.

A letter, the contents of which stated I would be expelled from the family.

By holding it, she was, in effect, warning me.

Her posture, as she leaned back in the chair, was undisturbed.

I wasn’t sure who the mad one was.

Whether my sister was mad.

Or if I, sitting still here, was mad.

Since at least I was sane, I decided to consider the person before me the mad one.

I stood up without answering.Because there seemed to be no good in sitting face to face with a mad person.

Levina looked at me.

Her gaze was filled with a question.

A very quiet, yet clear question.

Instead of answering, I looked down at the glass fragments scattered on the floor.

It was the remnants of the liquor bottle Estelle had thrown.

She had thrown it against the wall, but the fragments were scattered throughout the entire room.

Glass crunched underfoot.

I squatted down in front of them.

With bare hands, I began picking up the largest pieces first.

A cold sensation touched my fingertips.

"Lavin."

Levina's voice was heard.

A low, calm voice, as usual.

"Expulsion from the family is already a set procedure.

Still, if there's anything worth considering, I can listen..."

I didn't answer.

I felt the sharp sensation of glass in my palm.

It was cold.

But it wasn't unpleasant.

With a crunching sound, a glass fragment was grasped in my hand.

As if putting together puzzle pieces, I picked up the scattered fragments one by one.

Though it would never return to its original bottle shape.

"Are you listening to me?"

"I'm listening."

I replied briefly.

And picked up the next piece.

It was quite a sharp piece.

My fingertip pricked.

It seemed a very small, fine wound had formed.

No blood came out.

Unable to even use magic and without a broom, I had no choice but to pick them up by hand.

Unless I wanted to roll around in glass dust in my sleep.

Ingesting glass dust in my sleep seemed like it would be a rather terrible experience.

"As of today, you are expelled from the family."

Levina said.

Calmly, as if discussing the weather.

"This is probably Father's last letter to you."

No, even more nonchalantly than discussing the weather.

She lightly shook the letter envelope in her hand.

The paper rustled.

Even if 'Lavin' had received it directly, he wouldn't have been particularly impressed.

Since this would probably be the first letter he'd ever received.

"Now you can never again bear the Edelgard surname.

Officially, you will no longer be my brother."

I paused my movements for a moment.

Quite a few glass fragments were piled on my palm.

I silently looked down at them.

And then, again, reached out my hand towards the remaining fragments.

"Because that's not the whole of my life."

"What?"

A crack appeared in her voice for the first time.

I shrugged my shoulders.

As if it wasn't a very important matter.

And it truly wasn't.

"That ridiculous family name, you mean.

It's not the whole of my life."

Whether I'm expelled from the family or my engagement is broken, as long as I can return somehow, that's enough, isn't it?

It doesn't seem like anything meaningful changes, whether I live or die.

All that happened was that after writhing and hanging myself to death, my stepsister, who had tormented and hated me my entire life, became a little kinder. That's it.

I didn't want to grovel and die again just for something like that.

I swept together the tiny glass fragments mixed with dust with my hand.

The gritty sensation was unpleasant.

The floor was cold, and the dust was powdery.

How long had it been since this room was cleaned?

I couldn't remember.

Time here flowed strangely.

If one were to die a couple of times and then return, anyone would end up like this.

"Your noble status, the family's prestige. Everything you've enjoyed until now will vanish.

It's no different from being thrown out onto the streets.

And yet, you say that's not everything?"

Levina's voice was slightly raised.

She sounded like she couldn't understand.

Of course.

Because she had everything.

The family name, people's respect, even her distinguished talent.

So, at least for 'Lavin', it must have been everything.

"Things I've enjoyed until now, you mean."

I muttered.

Her words echoed in my ears.

Things I've enjoyed.

At least, I haven't directly enjoyed that many things.

Even sifting through 'Lavin's' memories, it was always more about being suppressed and pushed around than truly enjoying anything.

"I don't have many good memories.

Perhaps if I had been born a plain commoner, I might have been happier."

"......You."

"I know what you're trying to say.

But I've lost so much, haven't I?

It's all my fault, that's how it is, right?"

I heard the sound of her taking a slight breath, exhaling briefly, then inhaling again.

Levina was about to say something, but closed her mouth.

Silence once again filled the room.

A heavy, sinking silence.

"She lectured me about basic courtesy, then ran off without cleaning up."

No longer wanting to continue this tiresome conversation, I grumbled about Estelle.

Levina was silent for a while.

She merely watched me silently clean the floor.

Her gaze was fixed on my back like a nail.

It stung.

Only the faint sounds of me crawling on the floor on my knees and glass fragments clinking against each other echoed in the room.

It was quiet.

"Your hand."

Levina said.

Her voice had returned to its original temperature.

No, it was even colder than that.

"You're bleeding."

Only then did I look down at my hand.

It was hardly enough to call it bleeding.

There were slight smudges on my fingertips and various spots on my palm.

So little, one wouldn't notice unless they looked closely.

It was dotted like tiny specks.

I barely felt any pain.

Only a slightly sticky sensation was clear.

"Then you can clean it up for me.

Consider it your last act of consideration for an expelled person."

It wouldn't matter if I were cut.

If I went to Estelle tomorrow, she'd do something about it.

Surely, after I went all the way to the church, she wouldn't just kick out a bleeding person.

Because she's the Saint, after all.

Even if her personality is like that.

I said nonchalantly.

I reached out my hand towards the floor again.

There were still many small fragments left.

It was then.

Levina rose from her chair.

"Stop."

She approached and stood before me.

Her shadow enveloped me.

I raised my head to look at her.

Her face was obscured by the backlight.

"Why?"

"Because it's dirty."

She said concisely.

Something other than contempt was mixed in her voice.

I couldn't tell what it was.

I stood up.

I poured the glass fragments in my hand into a nearby trash can.

"Is that all you have to say?"

When I spoke, as if hinting for her to leave soon, Levina replied.

"Because of the broken engagement, you'll have to visit the mansion again soon."

"Where?"

"The main building."

She said it as if it were obvious.

"Good for you. Seraphina hated being next to me, said it was pitiful, didn't she?"

Her brows furrowed slightly.

"......I've instructed for all the items in your room to be moved.

To the small annex behind the mansion."

"How kind."

"It's the least I can do.

If anything is missing, inform the butler."

She continued.

As if reciting a list of tasks to be dealt with.

Levina had always been like that.

In her own way, she excluded emotions and only stated facts.

Perhaps even on the day she said, as if relieved after Mother's death, that prostitutes would no longer stay in the main building, it was still just a statement of fact.

I didn't take the letter envelope she held out to me.

She also didn't offer it again.

The envelope eventually ended up on the table.

"And."

Levina paused for a moment.

She looked around the room for a moment, like someone who didn't know where to direct their gaze.

The broken glass fragments.

The bloodstains on the floor.

The murky air, a mix of apple scent and cigarette smoke.

And then she looked at me again.

"And..."

She opened her mouth, but the next words didn't come out.

Her lips merely parted.

"Ah. Right. Soon Father will step down, and I will become the head of the family.

Since you grew up in the Edelgard family, once you graduate, even if you can't stay in the main building, I'll allow you to reside in the annex."

Her voice was subtly trembling.

Levina, with an uncharacteristically uneasy expression, said this while stroking her own throat.

"The heating won't work well. It's been empty for a long time. If you need anything..."

"It's fine."

Levina closed her mouth.

"The time we spent together wasn't exactly pleasant for either of us, was it?"

I gestured towards the door with my chin.

Levina said nothing.

She merely looked at me.

As always, silently, and as if displeased.

A brief silence.

She turned.

And walked towards the door.

Creak, thud.

The sound of the door closing echoed particularly loudly.

Silence returned to the room once more.

For a long time, I sat blankly, alternating my gaze between the letter envelope Levina had left and the half-cleaned glass fragments.

I instinctively reached for a cigarette, then, confirming it was a stub, put it back.

And then I looked at the palm Levina had made a fuss about, claiming it was bleeding.

Even though it was slightly scratched, not a single drop of blood came out.

****

The next day.

I went to a small church behind the academy.

Morning sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, creating colorful patterns on the floor.

The musty smell of dust seemed to hang in the air.

Estelle was waiting for me.

Stretched out on the longest pew, as if it were her own bed.

Her priest's robe was even more crumpled than yesterday.

"Did you eat dinner?"

She asked with a smile.

Her irritable demeanor from yesterday was nowhere to be seen.

She almost seemed like a different person.

"No, I haven't."

"I figured as much."

She stood up and came towards me.

Then she took out an apple and rubbed it clean with the sleeve of her priest's robe.

"Here."

I received it, somewhat taken aback.

"From now on, let's have dinner together."

Instead of answering, I took a bite of the apple and nodded.

I felt like I was being drawn into something.