The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 57

Escape (15)

After that, I spent my time in my room, only eating what Levina gave me, only talking with Levina, and reading the books she handed me, claiming they were interesting.

The food was always delicious.

Levina would bring a servant with her, and every day they would bring different kinds of soup, freshly baked bread, and tender meat dishes.

Sometimes, strangely shaped fruits or sweet desserts that I had never eaten before would accompany the meal.

The time she spent in my room gradually grew longer.

At first, she would just set down the meal, say what she had to say, and then leave, but one day, she started sitting in a chair and waiting until I finished my meal.

And then, even after I finished eating, she would stay for a long time, chatting about trivial things.

"They say a new opera opened in the capital today. The reviews are quite good, I heard. Shall we go see it together sometime?"

"I've hired a skilled painter, and I'm thinking of commissioning a portrait. I want to capture your current appearance."Whether I answered or not, she continued to chatter on her own.

Sometimes, whenever I nodded or gave a short reply, a faint smile would appear on Levina's face.

When I idly mentioned being bored, the next day, another bookshelf was brought into my room.

The bookshelf was filled with novels.

Most of the books she gave me were romance novels.

Sometimes, there were also some slightly provocative books about forbidden relationships, but they were readable in their own way.

All the protagonists in the stories, no matter what they went through, ended up happy.

Unlike some people.

And sometimes, when Levina gave permission, I would meet Lineta for a meal.

We would walk together in the conservatory garden or the back of the mansion.

We would also talk about what had been happening lately.

Of course, we avoided the topic of the village as much as possible.

As if it had never existed in the first place.

Today too, we were walking in the conservatory garden.

Lineta was wearing a pure white dress.

The long hem of her skirt, which lightly brushed the floor, swayed softly with every step she took.

"Lavin."

Lineta asked abruptly while we were walking.

"Are you happy?"

I stopped walking for a moment.

The warm, humid air inside the conservatory clung to my skin.

The rich scent of unknown flowers wafted through the air.

I hesitated for a moment.

But, at least for now, I wasn't unhappy.

"When I'm with you."

I replied.

At my words, Lineta's face flushed slightly.

"Me too. I like being with Lavin the most."

She said, smiling shyly.

"We, if we had met normally in the village, would probably have gotten married long ago, wouldn't we?"

"I suppose so."

"By now, we would have just gotten married, or even had one or two children.

Since I'm kind, I'd be a good wife and wise mother who accepts everything Lavin does without getting angry."

We started walking again.

"It's so good, I feel like it might all disappear if it stays like this.

The days we spent together in the annex disappeared so quickly, didn't they?"

Lineta looked at the plants growing inside the conservatory garden.

She reached out a hand, and gently stroked a fully bloomed, lush green petal.

"So, when I'm at my most beautiful, I don't want to be forgotten by you forever."

She said quietly.

Her voice was small, like a whisper, but strangely, it was clearly audible.

"Yeah. That would be nice."

"Oh, now that I think about it, I'll go change my clothes before we go for dinner."

"Do you have to? The one you're wearing now is pretty too."

"No, it's a little damp with sweat... It feels sticky.

Please go to the dining room first. I'll be right there."

Lineta said, her face slightly flushed.

I replied that I understood and headed for the dining room.

The food was already laid out in the dining room.

Steaming soup, and glistening steak.

Just as Levina had said, it was a much more lavish meal than usual.

I sat down and waited for Lineta.

But she didn't come.

The soup grew cold, and the fat on the steak began to solidify into a white layer.

I stood up from my seat.

I thought she might have stopped in the bathroom or somewhere else.

I headed to her room.

Knock, knock.

I knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

"Lineta, are you in there?"

I knocked again and called out to her, but no sound came from inside.

Maybe she was still choosing her clothes.

Or maybe she was tired and fell asleep as soon as she entered the room.

Creak

The door opened with a creak, and the scene inside the room came into view.

Lineta was dead.

From the decorative hook of the chandelier on the ceiling, a rope made by braiding thin fabric, acquired from who knows where, was hanging.

And at its end, Lineta was swaying, hanged by the neck.

Her bare feet, wearing nothing, were turning this way and that in the air.

To the right, then to the left again.

Like the needle of a lost compass.

She was wearing the white dress.

It was the exact same appearance as when I last saw her.

Her neck was twisted at a grotesque angle, and her face was a mix of dark red, swollen parts where blood had pooled, and bluish areas.

From her slightly parted mouth, her tongue hung out long.

Her eyes were wide open, staring into space, but they were unfocused.

Completely different from the clear eyes I had met in the conservatory just a moment ago, they had the lifeless gleam of a rotten fish's eyes.

Whenever the wind lightly shook the window, her body swayed ever so slightly, like a swing.

Creak, creak.

The sound of the chandelier hook on the ceiling filled the room.

I stared at the sight for a moment, then silently backed away, exited the room, and closed the door.

Once again, I was left alone in the hallway.

The portraits on the wall still looked down at me with indifferent eyes.

I leaned my back against the door and sank to the floor.

I couldn't breathe properly.

My chest felt constricted, and my head was spinning.

I took a couple of breaths and repeatedly banged my head against the wall.

I covered my head with both hands, and hit it against the wall again.

Something was wrong.

I must have seen it wrong.

Because I, I had done that, maybe my past self was superimposed there.

Since I sometimes saw hallucinations of burning to death, or of hanging myself to death, perhaps my mental illness had flared up again.

It must be because of the stress I've been getting from Levina lately.

Just then, a servant walked from the other end of the hallway.

He paused for a moment upon seeing me, then tried to walk past, glancing at me without a greeting.

In his eyes, a mix of contempt and a hint of fear could be seen.

I didn't like the way he glanced at me with those fucking eyes and walked away.

I took my head away from the wall, approached the servant, and slapped his cheek.

The sound echoed in the hallway.

The servant's head snapped sideways.

A clear handprint was left on his cheek.

"Get lost."

The servant, with a terrified face, stumbled and disappeared as if fleeing.

Listening to his footsteps fade into the distance, I stood in front of Lineta's door again, and once more turned around aimlessly.

Because I was afraid to open the door.

Because I didn't want to see it again.

Because I wished what I had just seen was a hallucination.

How much time had passed?

I opened the door again.

It was still the same sight.

Nothing had changed.

Lineta was still hanging there.

I entered the room and closed the door.

In front of it, I rubbed my face with my hands once.

I saw a chair lying on the floor.

It was the chair Lineta must have stood on to hang herself.

I righted the chair.

Creak.

The irritating sound was unusually loud.

Beside the chair, a pair of white shoes, as if she had taken them off, lay scattered.

I picked up the shoes, and neatly placed them together.

Then I stepped onto the chair.

Lineta's face was right before my eyes.

A faint, somewhat fruity smell brushed past my nose.

I put one arm around Lineta's waist.

She wasn't cold yet.

But I couldn't feel any warmth either.

With my other hand, I tried to untie the rope strangling her neck.

But it was tightly tied, and wouldn't easily come loose.

While fiddling with the knot with one hand, my fingernail broke and skin was peeled, but the knot didn't budge.

In the end, I gave up, and began to untie the knot with both hands.

Lineta's body weight rested entirely on my arms.

She was heavy.

After struggling for a long time, I finally managed to undo one knot.

At that moment, the taut rope slackened, and Lineta's body abruptly dropped downwards.

Thud.

She collapsed onto the floor.

I got down from the chair, and looked at her, sprawled on the floor.

I picked Lineta up in my arms.

She was lighter than I expected.

I laid her on the bed.

And after stroking her face a few times, I closed her still-open eyes.

As I swept my fingers over her eyelids several times, they finally closed.

I sat down beside her.

And blankly, I pressed my eyes firmly with my hands.

In the darkness, colorful dots repeatedly appeared and disappeared.

No tears came.

Somehow, I didn't even feel sad.

The day I met Lineta again, I think I already felt that things would turn out like this soon.

Just like when I looked at myself in the mirror, she had the same eyes.

Lineta's wish was granted.

I would never forget Lineta when she was at her most beautiful.