The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 44

Escape (2)

Pushing and shoving his way through the students who filled the corridor, he walked aimlessly down the maze-like corridors.

He didn’t even know where he was going.

He simply moved wherever his feet led him.

He didn't want to be in a suffocating small room.

Nor did he want to go somewhere likely to have an open plaza.

He saw students walking the corridors with their peers, laughing.

They seemed incredibly happy.

Their laughter pierced his ears sharply.

They probably had those same expressions when he burned to death in the plaza.Of course, it must have just been an amusing spectacle for them.

After walking for a long time, he eventually arrived at a familiar path.

A path he had walked a few times with Seraphina.

The terrace of the cafe they had visited together was visible.

Seraphina always insisted on a window seat.

She liked places with good sunlight.

He simply walked past it.

He had no desire to go inside.

A general store was also visible.

A dusty shop that sold useless items.

Seraphina had liked the crude decorations sold there, or paintings by unknown artists.

She used to buy them and hang them by his room's window.

Now, only a nail mark remained on the wall.

After walking for a long time, he found himself standing in front of an old tower.

It was the very spire he had once ascended after staring blankly out his room window.

He opened the firmly closed door and climbed the narrow spiral staircase.

His footsteps echoed emptily against the walls.

There was the damp smell of moss and the smell of dust.

Pushing open a small door and stepping outside, the wind blew.

The city's panorama came into view at a glance.

Back then, only the academy buildings were visible, but now, somehow, from the market spread across the plaza to the city walls beyond and even the mansion, everything came into sight.

The world seemed a little wider.

He leaned against the railing and looked down.

It was a dizzying height.

People as small as ants moved about the streets.

The thought of falling from here crossed his mind, yet he didn't particularly feel like dying.

Whether it was the annex Levina had mentioned, or a very distant rural village.

Anywhere would do.

He simply wanted to escape this tiresome place and live quietly.

He stood there for a long time, facing the wind.

Leaving the spire, he walked aimlessly once more.

He didn't know where to go.

He didn't want to go to his room where Seraphina had been sitting.

At least not today.

It was then that he entered a narrow alley near the seldom-used back gate.

"Well, well, who do we have here? It's the Edelgard young master.

It seems like quite a while since I've seen you."

It was Marcus.

He still walked with a swagger, leading his companions as he approached him.

It was the second time he had seen this scene.

Somehow, it was tiresome.

"You look like hell. Where did you crawl out from?

Did Lady Seraphina kick you out again?"

Marcus let out a vulgar laugh and circled around him.

The other guys behind him snickered in agreement.

Their laughter echoed unpleasantly through the alley.

"I heard. You're getting kicked out of the family soon, too? Now that woman will abandon you as well.

Even if you're a really important person, it only takes a moment to become worthless, Lavin."

He smacked his lips as he brought up Seraphina.

It wasn't a very pleasant sight.

Another guy poked his shoulder.

Simultaneously, a disgusting smell, a mix of cheap perfume and sweat, stung his nose.

When he burned to death, Marcus must have been in the plaza too.

Because it would have been an amusing spectacle.

For a moment, his stomach churned.

The world seemed to spin.

A disgusting smell.

The smell of burning flesh, which he had caught in the raging inferno, overlaid it.

He dry heaved.

His body began to tremble.

His hand instinctively went to his waistband.

The cold sensation of metal.

They were saying something in front of him, but no sound reached his ears.

All he heard was a tearing mechanical sound from a broken microphone.

He wanted to erase the noise.

He drew his gun and aimed it at the source of that noise.

The smile vanished from Marcus's face.

His eyes were filled with terror.

Only then did his face become clearly visible.

He pulled the trigger towards the frozen man.

A heavy recoil traveled up his arm to his shoulder.

But no sound was heard.

He aimed for Marcus's head, but the heavy muzzle arbitrarily pointed downwards.

The bullet lodged in his abdomen.

His body swayed violently.

Blood spread across his shirt like a blooming red flower.

Marcus couldn't even scream, staring blankly down at his own stomach.

The other guys realized what was happening and started screaming and fleeing.

Their retreating figures were like frightened animals.

He pulled the trigger again, aiming at their backs.

One guy was shot in the leg and fell.

Another guy screamed and disappeared down the alley.

He didn't pull the trigger any more.

He pressed firmly on his throbbing glabella with his palm.

His head was noisy.

He lowered the hand holding the gun.

The smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils.

At least the disgusting smell from before was no longer present.

Marcus was lying on the ground, groaning.

Blood formed a puddle beneath his body.

It was a sticky, dark crimson liquid.

If only Kyle could be dealt with this easily.

Just suddenly. That thought occurred to him.

After all, it was hard to imagine a bullet curving, no matter what.

He looked down at Marcus, who was begging for his life, for a moment, then turned his back without a word.

Somehow, he felt he vaguely understood why Estelle had beaten the priests to death.

Not that he wanted to burn to death, though.

He returned to his room.

The room was empty.

Fortunately, Seraphina wasn't there.

The sofa where she had sat was cold.

Had she picked up the torn letter pieces?

The floor was neatly cleaned.

Seeing that even the scattered liquor bottles had been put away, it seemed Seraphina had cleaned up before leaving.

He tossed the revolver onto the table.

And simply lay down on the bed.

The ceiling came into view.

He wanted to smoke a cigarette.

But now that he had become a useless idiot who couldn't even light a fire, all he could do was pick up the cheap liquor next to his bed and drink straight from the bottle.

As he uncorked the dusty bottle, a sour alcoholic scent wafted out.

He brought the bottle straight to his mouth.

The strong liquor burned his throat as it went down.

It didn't taste good.

He took a few more sips and closed his eyes.

He must have fallen asleep.

Because when he opened his eyes, his head was splitting.

He had a metallic taste in his mouth.

A dim light was seeping through a gap in the curtains.

He couldn't tell if it was morning or evening.

As he sat up, the room's scenery came into view.

And he saw someone sitting on the sofa.

It was Levina.

As usual, she was wearing a perfectly ironed school uniform, sitting with her legs crossed, watching him.

On her lap lay the revolver he had tossed there yesterday.

"You're awake."

Levina spoke.

"At least you're keeping your room clean.

Last time, I thought it was an animal's den."

Her voice was calm as usual, but somehow it felt a little excited.

Levina and he simply stared at each other for a while.

After all, they weren't on good enough terms to have a friendly conversation.

"Lavin."

Levina's voice was heard.

Her usual low, calm voice.

"Don't call me Lavin."

Levina shrugged without answering.

"Yesterday, two people suffered gunshot wounds in the alley behind the old spire.

No one died, so it can be smoothed over for now, but..."

She said, gently caressing the revolver's barrel with her finger.

Her gaze was fixed on him.

He looked at her without answering.

As if she had expected his silence, Levina continued.

"Are you in your right mind?"

"..."

"With the Forbidden Library incident on top of that, you should at least confine yourself to your room and reflect."

He listened to her words half-heartedly, placing the empty liquor bottle from the bed onto the floor.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I am."

Levina seemed to glare at him.

But her face remained expressionless.

"Just say what you have to say. You came to kick me out, didn't you?"

"Yes. I came to kick you out.

This time, I won't just smooth things over, and I will expel you, one way or another.

I told you, this isn't a place that suits you."

"...Then what suits me?"

Levina seemed to hesitate for a moment.

But then she said, calmly:

"Well. You should have just stayed at the mansion.

Giving up on wanting to learn anything, or wanting to be next to your fiancée, things like that.

Then at least I would have... No."

Levina stared blankly at the revolver, then held it so the muzzle pointed at herself, gazed at it for a long time, then held it normally again.

"I told Father what happened, and he decided to expel you from the family.

As of today, you are no longer a person of the Edelgard family."

He nodded.

He had no other reaction he could give.

Levina's eyebrows twitched faintly.

She leaned forward slightly.

"Do you understand what this means right now?"

"Of course."

"You have nowhere to go, nowhere to lean on now.

Your fiancée wants to break off the engagement, and your noble status, the family's prestige.

The power to just gloss over things, even after pushing someone to the brink of death, like this time.

Everything you've enjoyed until now will disappear.

No one, absolutely no one, will welcome you."

Knowing that at least one person would welcome him, he wasn't distressed by Levina's words.

"It seems so."

However, he was afraid he might burn to death again.

He wanted to meet Estelle.

He wanted to meet her, lean on her, and talk about various things.

But it was too painful.

So much so that he didn't want to face Estelle ever again.

And she would have forgotten everything.

The kisses she gave him, and the words she uttered that she no longer saw him as a stand-in for her brother, all of it.

Because the wasteful of Edelgard and the benevolent Saintess were strangers who had never met.

"Still, I..."

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

Her lips merely parted.

After a long silence, she let out a deep sigh.

The vivid traces of emotion vanished from her face, returning to its original expressionless state.

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

Since you grew up in the Edelgard family and have some education, after you graduate, I'll allow you to stay in the annex, even if you can't stay in the main building."

She stood up.

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

Her voice had returned to its usual tone.

"Thank you."

"...What?"

"I said thank you. I'll go. To the annex. Anywhere is fine, as long as it's not here."

His lips trembled slightly, but he answered with a faint smile.

He wanted to escape to somewhere other than here, even immediately.

He seemed to genuinely be grateful, at least for now.

To Levina, that is.

She looked at him with confused eyes.

Their gazes met.

Levina placed the revolver she was holding onto the table and gazed down at it for a long time.

For some reason, clear tears flowed from her cloudy gray eyes.

She hastily turned her head and left the room as if fleeing.

He didn't even hear the sound of the door closing.

He stared blankly at the revolver lying on the table.