The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 60

Afterimage (2)

Seraphina was holed up in her room, as always.

She couldn't tell how much time had passed.

The thick curtains on the window didn't allow a single ray of light, and the room was always plunged in the same darkness.

Whether it was morning or evening.

Such things didn't matter anymore.

It seemed quite a long time had passed since she had attended classes or socialized with her close friends.

She hadn't bothered to count exactly how many days had passed.

She merely stayed huddled in the familiar hollow on her bed.

Sometimes, she filled her stomach with the meals slipped in by the dormitory servant through the crack in the door.Most of the food dried up and shriveled as it was, and the water had grown lukewarm and cold.

Only occasionally, when she felt like she would truly starve to death, she would take a bite or two of the hardened bread and then leave it.

After hearing Lavin say, "I can't trust you anymore," everything stopped.

Those words wouldn't leave her mind.

Seraphina recalled how easily she herself had uttered those words.

When Lavin tried to explain about the forbidden library incident, when he was caught up in trouble at the academy, or even when he was entangled in a minor misunderstanding.

She had always shut him up with the same words.

I can't trust you.

How can I trust you?

The things he had done so far, the things he had committed.

In retrospect, while he might have glossed over his answers, he hadn't exactly lied.

Even if he caused trouble or did something bad, he had told the truth to her, at least.

But the words "I can't trust you" must have been such a familiar and convenient weapon to her.

Because everyone around her had said so.

Her father, Levina, everyone at the academy had said that Lavin was that kind of person.

She had merely mimicked their words like a parrot.

Firmly believing that it was her own thought.

She had never once seriously considered how deep a wound that single statement left in Lavin's heart.

But the words he had returned to her became a gigantic rock, crushing her chest.

She couldn't breathe.

It was the same word, the exact same sentence.

Why did it hurt so much?

He, Lavin, how many years had he endured this kind of pain?

Only now, she felt she understood his feelings, even if very faintly.

But it was already too late.

Far too late.

At this point, even if she entertained such thoughts, their engagement was already called off, and they had become worse than strangers.

He must have thought she wasn't even worth listening to.

Because she had always only tormented him and only hurt him.

Perhaps that's why he might have chosen that maid.

Because that child, at least, must have trusted him.

She recalled how peaceful his face had looked the day he returned from the annex.

It was an expression she had never seen even once when he was with her.

When he was with her, it wasn't such a comfortable and natural smile, but rather a somewhat forced, fawning smile.

Though she felt jealous, even greater despair engulfed her.

Ultimately, everything was her fault.

Regardless, she didn't want to do anything now.

She had only boasted with words that she loved Lavin, but had never shown it with actions or expressed it directly.

That's why she was abandoned by Lavin.

In fact, she wasn't even sure if "abandoned" was the right expression.

From the beginning, she herself had tried to break off the engagement, claiming she couldn't trust Lavin, only to cling to him at the very end.

All while babbling like a madwoman, saying things like she must have been out of her mind.

She just wanted to slowly disappear like this, on the bed.

When she closed her eyes, childhood memories resurfaced.

An afternoon with Lavin, sharing freshly baked bread they had bought from the village bakery.

His face, smiling with plenty of bread crumbs around his mouth, was vivid.

She also recalled the memory of running barefoot through the mansion's garden.

Without even noticing her dress hem getting covered in dirt, she simply ran after him.

If he fell, she would fall with him, and they would laugh for a long time in the dust.

The day she first held hands with Lavin.

The awkward, sweaty sensation of their hands.

His face was flushed bright red.

The day she first kissed Lavin's cheek also came to mind.

That day, Lavin had gathered lilacs from somewhere, saying they were for her, and handed them to her.

The beginning of her memories was always beautiful and joyful.

But the end of every memory she recalled was the same.

The sharp words she had uttered towards him.

‘How can I trust you? Do you know how hard it is for me because of you? Everyone says you’re the problem, and that I’m pathetic for having someone like you as my fiancé.’

‘Calling this a letter, even if you write something like this, is there any sincerity in it?’

Her own image, lashing out like that, resurfaced like an afterimage.

And that afterimage soon flashed by, transforming into Lavin's empty face as he said he couldn't trust her.

Then suddenly, the scene changed.

Lavin bleeding from his head and lying collapsed.

Lavin swaying with his neck in a noose from the ceiling.

In the flames, Lavin burning to death, desperately calling out her name.

Whenever she had such terrible dreams, Seraphina always opened her eyes with a scream.

And she cried for a long time.

Even now, she woke up from sleep after having such an ominous dream.

Her whole body was damp with cold sweat.

She staggered to her feet and headed to the bathroom.

She washed her face again and again with cold water.

It was then.

Knock-knock.

The sound of knocking on the door was heard.

Seraphina didn't stir.

It must be the servant again.

They must have brought bread and water.

It seemed about a week had passed since her close friends last visited.

For the first few days, they had knocked on the door worriedly, but now no one came.

After all, speaking to a room that returned no answer must be quite tiring and exhausting.

Deciding to ignore whatever sound she heard, she walked back to her bed and lay down.

And then she pulled the blanket over her head.

But the voice from outside the door wasn't the maid's.

"Seraphina."

It was Kyle's voice.

A low, heavily subdued voice.

"Your childhood friend is dead."

Seraphina held her breath for a moment.

Had she misheard?

It might be an auditory hallucination.

Because just a moment ago, she had been having a dream of Lavin dying.

It might be because her body had become frail from not eating properly lately.

But Kyle's voice was all too clear.

A dry voice, devoid of any emotion, merely conveying facts.

Silence.

The cold air from the hallway seemed to seep in through the crack in the door.

Seraphina slowly pulled back the blanket.

Her body wouldn't obey her.

With effort, she pushed herself up.

Her feet touched the floor.

The cold sensation of the marble spread throughout her entire body.

Staggering, she headed to the door.

The distance of just a few steps felt endlessly far.

She grabbed the doorknob.

It was cold.

She took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.

Outside the door, Kyle was standing.

His face was gaunt and hollow-eyed.

Like someone who hadn't slept for at least a few days, dark shadows lay under his eyes, and his lips were parched dry.

But more than that, his eyes were the problem.

No vitality was visible at all.

"......That."

Seraphina's voice cracked.

"That's not something you say, even as a joke."

Kyle showed no reaction to her words.

He merely stared at her.

“If you can’t believe it, confirm it yourself.

Or ask that esteemed Young Head of the House.”

At those words, Seraphina's mind went completely blank.

Kyle said nothing more and turned, disappearing down the hallway.

As she listened to his footsteps fade, Seraphina stood blankly on that spot for a moment.

Then suddenly, she came to her senses.

She staggered into the room.

She stood in front of the mirror.

Disheveled hair, a bloodless face, hollow eyes.

She washed her face at the sink.

The cold water jolted her awake.

Again and again, she washed her face, and roughly combed her disheveled hair with her hands.

She approached the closet and took out the cleanest uniform, without a single lint, and put it on.

Her hands trembled, making it difficult to properly button it.

Having finished all her preparations, she left the room with hurried steps.

She practically ran down the hallway, heading towards the student council president's office.

The student council students looked at her in surprise, but she had no time to pay attention.

She stood in front of the student council president's office door.

She caught her breath and opened the door.

Inside, Levina was there.

She was buried in a mountain of documents, her pen moving.

With hollow eyes, she was staring only at the documents.

"Young Head of the House."

Seraphina called out in a trembling voice.

“Lavin, Lavin is fine, isn’t he? He’s doing well in the annex, right? Right?

Kyle left after saying something strange. I just came here out of concern, because I was worried.

So, Lavin is alright, right?”

Levina scribbled with her pen, without taking her eyes off the documents.

Then, she looked up at Seraphina blankly.

And then she replied.

"Yes. He's doing well."

At those words, Seraphina let out a sigh of relief for a moment.

But Levina's words weren't finished.

“Of course he’s doing well, he’s Lavin after all.

Not Lavin Edelgard, but just Lavin, was specially buried together with the Edelgard family members.”

Levina said it as if nothing had happened, then looked at the documents once again.

At those words, Seraphina's mind froze.

She couldn't understand what she meant.

While saying he was doing well, why would she say he was buried?

"......What? What, what are you talking about? Why, why is Lavin being buried?"

She mumbled without even knowing what she herself was saying.

Only then did Levina put down her pen, as if annoyed.

“He’s dead. With his head smashed in.

Do I have to spell it out for you?”

"......That's a lie."

Seraphina unconsciously stumbled backward.

"Lavin couldn't possibly be dead. Just a while ago, in the annex......"

She knocked against the desk behind her, and the pen on it rolled and fell to the floor.

"If Lavin is dead, then why, why on earth are you talking as if nothing happened?"

Seraphina's voice trembled.

"The funeral, why on earth didn't you invite me? No, before that, Lavin died, why, why did Lavin die!?"

She asked, almost screaming.

Only then did Levina put down her pen.

And looking at Seraphina, she said in a low voice.

"Because I killed him."

Having said that, she no longer said anything.

She merely picked up the documents once again and looked at them.