The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 64

Delusion (3)

I opened the church door and stepped outside.

I left Estelle with a rather absurd promise, something about visiting her occasionally.

She merely sat up from her spot, watching me with an unreadable expression.

I slowly walked along the path leading to the dormitory.

With every step I took, my messed-up uniform felt cumbersome.

My entire body seemed to ache, yet at the same time, it didn't.

I returned to my room, passing through the somehow darkened path.

I gripped the familiar doorknob and turned it.

With a creak, the door opened, and I stepped into the room.And then, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Levina was sitting on the sofa in the room.

She sat with her legs crossed, calmly looking out the window as if it were her own room.

She shouldn't have been here at this hour.

At least, not as far as I could remember.

There was nothing on the table, nor in Levina's hand.

There was no sign of the letter envelope she always brought to this room, shoving it at me, containing the news of my expulsion from the family.

"Why did you suddenly come at this late hour?"

My voice was, without me realizing it, a little hoarse.

She slowly turned her head and looked at me.

Her gaze slowly swept over me, from my head to my toes, taking in my messed-up uniform.

Though she didn't say anything particular.

"Can't an older sister even visit her younger brother's room?"

"I wonder."

I closed the door and stepped further into the room.

The sound of the door closing echoed unusually loudly.

"And yet, you told me not to crawl around the mansion."

"This isn't the mansion."

Levina shrugged and replied.

She nonchalantly rose from her seat and walked towards the liquor bottles I had stacked in the corner.

She picked one up and lightly shook it.

"And back then, I was a bit cornered myself."

Saying that, she took out two glasses from the cupboard.

She placed one in front of herself, and the other on the table near me.

Then, she opened the bottle and poured liquor into her glass.

The sound of the amber liquid filling the glass quietly echoed in the room.

"Did you hear from Seraphina about the broken engagement?"

Levina raised her glass, took a sip, and asked nonchalantly.

I sat on the sofa opposite her, and didn't answer the question.

"You haven't heard, then."

Levina clicked her tongue.

"That child gets swayed this way and that, she can't do anything properly.

I'm sure she couldn't even speak properly in front of you."

She got up and began to slowly walk around the room.

The sound of her heels lightly tapped against the floor.

"Don't bring up Seraphina."

"Why? You two are going to end things soon anyway."

"She didn't help me at all. If anything, she only got in the way."

At my words, her steps faltered for a moment.

She slowly turned around and looked at me.

"No. She's not the kind of girl you'd want by your side."

At least, Levina had never belittled Seraphina in front of Lavin.

Unless she had spoken as if Seraphina wasn't good enough for Lavin.

"Then why do you think that?"

"Just a hunch."

"It's the first time I've heard such nonsense come out of your mouth."

"......Nonsense, you say."

Levina cleared her throat with a small cough.

"Anyway, isn't it better this way?

There's nothing good about being involved with someone like her.

She's a child who's never once defended you in front of me because she's afraid of me, so she's certainly not wife material."

"If you're going to pick apart every single thing like that, then who would ever be suitable for someone like me?"

At those words, Levina's lips parted a few times as she looked at me, but in the end, she said nothing.

She turned her body again and stood in front of the landscape painting on the wall.

It was the painting Seraphina had gifted me.

She silently gazed at the painting for a long time.

"You cleaned up nicely. Last time I came, it was practically an animals den."

Her voice was somehow ambiguous.

Levina returned to the table and poured more liquor into her glass.

Then, she filled the empty glass placed in front of me as well.

"Drink."

I hesitated for a moment.

I picked up the glass.

At least, it didn't seem like Levina would poison me in this manner.

I emptied the glass.

The alcohol slid down my throat with a familiar sensation.

Levina emptied her glass twice in quick succession.

Then, placing her glass down on the table, she said in a low voice.

"Oh, right. I came to tell you this. I'm going to expel you from the family."

I didn't reply.

I merely looked down at my empty glass.

I only felt that what was coming, had come.

"Why, are you shocked? Still, there's no need to worry much."

A faint hesitation was mixed in her voice.

I let out a hollow laugh.

"No. I was just waiting for when I'd be expelled."

At my calm reaction, Levina's expression momentarily turned blank.

She blinked a few times.

"......Of course, I just said that."

After a long pause, she opened her mouth.

"Just, don't use the Edelgard name outside.

Your life won't be much different from how it's been so far."

"Then why bother expelling me?"

"Because your reputation is so terrible, it's practically scraping the bottom.

And the forbidden library, you know? That one low-ranking noble student who died."

"And you know very well that I didn't do it."

"Of course, I know."

Levina spoke as if she was trying to soothe me.

Her voice was somewhat pathetic.

"That's why. That's why I'm expelling you.

The idiots overflowing in this world think being expelled from the family is a more cruel fate than having your head cut off."

At the same time, her right eye twitched uncontrollably, and a single tear traced a path down her cheek.

I didn't bother to point it out.

Levina lightly wiped it away with the back of her hand and naturally continued speaking.

"Still, you're still my younger brother, and a member of Edelgard.

It's just, officially. You and I will be nothing to each other.

Like a normal noble heir and a bastard child."

Her voice had regained its original composure.

But it also seemed to subtly waver.

"It's not bad, is it?

After you graduate from the academy, and after I become the family head, if I think I can reasonably push back against Mother, who will fuss whenever she sees you, I'll even arrange a space for you in the main estate.

You can live there, helping me with my work."

Levina added, slightly gauging my reaction.

"If possible, I'd like you to quit the academy and live in the annex. I'll visit often."

"Since when?"

"What do you mean?"

Levina asked back, not understanding.

"Since when have you been thinking such things?

About the annex, or bringing me to the main estate."

Levina pondered for a moment.

Her gaze was fixed somewhere in the air.

"Well. Perhaps since you were about ten, when Mother tried to kill you.

What does it matter now?"

At those words, I met Levina's eyes.

I was about to say something, but then I just closed my mouth.

"Just, don't use the Edelgard name outside.

I'll provide you with everything you want or need. That way will be much better for you. You won't have to worry about anyone's opinion."

"That's better for me?"

My voice came out colder than I intended.

Levina's shoulders flinched.

"Yes. That's the best option. The best I can think of."

"It would be the best, wouldn't it."

I fiddled with the empty glass.

The cold touch of the glass was vivid on my fingertips.

Indeed, living in the annex had been comfortable.

It also felt like I had somewhat escaped from the things that bound me.

However, whenever I idly did nothing, the image of Lineta hanging dead before my eyes would flash past.

Even if I closed my eyes to sleep, even if I closed them for a moment.

The sour and repulsive smell that emanated from the corpse hanging from the ceiling.

And yet, the subtly remaining, unpleasant warmth.

When I pulled the rope, which wouldn't come undone with one hand, with both hands, it instantly loosened, and the dull thud of the corpse hitting the floor.

Swallowing those thoughts, I faced Levina as calmly as possible.

It wasn't as easy as I thought.

"I trust you. I trust that my older sister will do that."

I placed the glass down on the table.

I picked up the bottle and slowly poured liquor into my glass.

But I didn't drink it.

"Still, you can't do that right now, can you?"

At my words, Levina was about to say something, but then she closed her mouth.

How many times would I see her eyes waver slightly?

Now, it almost felt a little boring.

I stood up.

And slowly walked towards Levina.

I picked up the glass in front of her, the one with half its liquor remaining.

She looked up at me without a word.

I drained all the remaining liquor from her glass.

Then, I set the empty glass back on the table, picked up the bottle, and filled it again.

A faint lipstick mark, perhaps from her, remained on the glass, likely due to her body heat.

"Once I graduate, I'll do everything as you say, older sister. So for a while, just overlook whatever I do."

Levina stared blankly at the glass I had poured for her.

Then she raised her gaze to look at me.

She slowly picked up the glass.

And then, she brought her lips to the very spot where mine had been, and drank the liquor.

"......As long as it's not too big of a mishap."

She said, setting the glass down.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I don't know. But I have to do something."

Levina didn't ask further.

Silence fell in the room once more.

We didn't speak for a long time.

Only the liquor bottle and two glasses lay on the table.

Levina picked up a few cigarette butts from the ashtray, put them down again, and then opened her mouth.

"You seem to have cut down on smoking quite a bit."

"Perhaps."

"Next time I visit, I'll bring you something. Is there anything you want?"

I shook my head, and with that, she looked at me for a moment before getting up and leaving the room.

I didn't bother to get up and see her off.

No matter how you look at it, she's not normal.