The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 81

The next day, from the moment I sought out Estelle, she stuck to me like my shadow.

We ate lunch together in the academy's dining hall, strolled along the lakeside, and spent time sitting side-by-side in a secluded corner of the library.

Until now, I had tried to avoid drawing attention, but now I wondered if it even mattered anymore.

Meanwhile, Seraphina hadn't come to find me even once since that day.

I didn't know if she was avoiding me, but we hadn't even run into each other by chance in the corridors.

I had gone to Seraphina's room a few times, but each time the room seemed empty.

It was also possible that she was holed up in her room, pretending not to hear me knock on the door.

I wasn't wishing for everyone around me to be happy.

Although it was vague, I had hoped that things, whatever they might be, would improve far more than last time.

Every time I tried to do something, it felt like everything was going wrong and astray, making my head throb.At that moment, a thought occurred to me.

Perhaps because of the idea that regression was possible, I thought about just blowing my brains out like this, cleaning up the mistakes I'd made, and starting over.

If I died and started over, everything I had done would disappear anyway, and things would return to how they were.

And if I couldn't come back, perhaps it wouldn't matter either way.

Because I should have died on that day, when I blew my brains out in front of Levina.

But then if I returned to how things were, I would just have to repeat the same things again.

If by some stroke of luck I reconciled with Seraphina, somehow smoothed over the broken engagement, and got married, Levina would surely cling to me again.

If I met Estelle to get rid of Levina and asked for her help, I would ultimately have to be with Estelle.

Because all I had was my body.

A woman who has no skills, owns nothing, and lacks any ability, yet sells her decent-looking appearance to make a living, is called a prostitute.

At least my mother wasn't that kind of woman.

A beautiful commoner lady who lived a fairly affluent life for a commoner was simply seduced by a distinguished Duke.

Compared to that, I am, literally, no different from a male prostitute who has nothing but his body.

Everything I've done so far has been using my body as bait, swaying the other person's heart without any feelings of my own, and simply gaining a reward.

Even as I thought such things, I felt uneasy deep down.

Perhaps the church would once again drag me to the square under some suitable pretext and place me on a pyre.

A human who is selfish, lacks ability, and is swayed this way and that.

Anyone who could utter words of love to such a human must be completely out of their mind.

Levina, Estelle were not in their right minds.

That much was certain.

However, unlike before, Estelle no longer pestered me to take someone out at night and kill them, or whispered that the person in front of her seemed to overlap with someone else.

She simply laughed beside me, talked, and occasionally held my hand.

After a few days had passed like that…

Today, I was riding in a carriage heading somewhere with Estelle.

The inside of the carriage was quiet.

Only the rhythmic sound of the wheels rolling over the gravel road could be heard.

Estelle rested her arm on the window frame and gazed outside.

"Now, there probably won't be anyone who refuses to acknowledge you as the young head, or openly expresses hostility towards you," Estelle said in a languid voice.

"After all, with the Saintess accompanying you, who would dare to say anything, wouldn't you agree?"

Instead of answering, I looked out the window and asked.

At the endless procession.

"Did you have to bring so many of them?"

"We need to show the people who will follow you what kind of person you're associating with," Estelle replied.

Behind the carriage we were in, numerous carriages followed.

It was said that priests who only followed Estelle were riding inside them.

And beside the carriage I was in, people clad in armor and carrying swords rode on horseback, accompanying the carriage.

Not long after, the carriage stopped in front of the mansion, and the iron gate opened excessively slowly.

Estelle, taking me with her, simply disembarked from the carriage.

And just like that, we walked into the mansion grounds.

There were guards who tried to stop the numerous priests who had disembarked, leaving their carriages behind to follow Estelle, but upon hearing my request to step aside and confirming my face, they immediately retreated.

We walked into the main building.

Estelle looked at each of the servants in the mansion, meeting their eyes directly as she passed.

Wherever her gaze fell, people bowed their heads.

The atmosphere inside the mansion was somewhat chaotic.

The guards and the occasional knights also seemed to be on edge.

"Shall we go to your room?" Estelle asked, then mumbled as if to herself."No, wait, Levina once mentioned there was some kind of greenhouse garden here."

At her words, I led Estelle towards the greenhouse garden.

Once all those who tried to follow us into the greenhouse garden were turned away, only Estelle and I remained.

Beyond the glass walls, they appeared as faint silhouettes.

Not long after, servants brought food and drinks.

We sat opposite each other at a white iron table and lightly moistened our lips with tea.

"So, Lavin. Even if you go around doing a lot of foolish things, you're not an idiot, are you?" Estelle said, setting down her teacup.

The small sound broke the silence of the greenhouse.

I drank my tea without replying.

A bitter taste lingered on the tip of my tongue.

Estelle, as if accustomed to my silence, continued speaking.

Her voice was languid and soft.

"What about that matter of breaking off your engagement with that girl?"

"We had one fight that day, and haven't seen each other's faces since."

"Of course, she wouldn't.

That pendant you broke? It was more expensive than you think. She's probably busy attending classes and, in her free time, running around doing little spell-casting favors for meagre sums of money.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if you don't take the money, as long as you break off the engagement."

That was new information, so I gazed at her for a moment before replying.

"I can just pay that money instead, can't I?"

"She won't take it even if you offer. If you give that money to Seraphina to pay it back, I'll have your fiancée locked up in the dungeon, even if it's for the crime of stealing such a precious holy relic."

Estelle smiled faintly.

"It's a bit much to say this after removing all your options, but I still want to hear it directly. Isn't it about time you gave me your answer?"

I set down my teacup and looked at her.

Sunlight streaming through the glass ceiling illuminated her silver hair dazzlingly.

"Can a Saintess even get married?"

At my question, Estelle burst out laughing.

It was a clear sound, like glass clinking.

"God commanded us to be fruitful and multiply, so why would you joke like that?"

She leaned her body forward.

Her red eyes gazed intently at me.

"All those who tried to play tricks on you are now keeping their eyes down and can't do anything, can they? Even that talented collateral relative the Duchess's side brought in, I personally dealt with them.

How long are you going to keep pretending you don't know?"

Estelle threw the teacup and saucer she was holding to the side of the table.

Smash!

The white porcelain hit the tiled floor and shattered into pieces.

Sharp fragments scattered everywhere.

She stood up and approached me.

Then she grabbed me by the collar and kissed me just like that.

It was a rough, urgent kiss.

The bitter scent of tea leaves mixed with her sweet breath.

Parting her lips, she softly caressed my face and pushed me against the wall.

I felt the cold touch of the glass wall against my back.

"Tell me you love me. You taught me everything, from how to kiss, how to embrace like this, even how to push someone against a wall."

She whispered.

"So tell me you want to marry me. Even if it's a lie, it's fine, okay?"

"…It hurts, so just get off me for a bit."

At my words, Estelle pressed her body even closer to mine.

Her body was soft and warm.

I wondered if I might be crushed to death.

I simply grabbed Estelle by her hair and kissed her for several minutes.

I felt Estelle's breath on my nose.

Then I pulled her away and asked.

"Is this enough? Now, do I just break off my engagement with my fiancée and play the role of your younger brother?"

"Why are you suddenly bringing up my younger brother?"

"You're acting like Levina."

Her face was stiff, but her mouth was still smiling.

"If you want to marry, I'll do it as much as you want." Saying that, I hugged Estelle tightly and caressed her nape, speaking.

"So make me the Head. I'll break off the engagement. I'll tell you I love you. I'll kiss you as much as you want, and as long as we use contraception, I'll spend as many nights with you as you want."

"…"

"But I have no intention of having a child with you. Because even if a normal child were born between you and me, there's no way they would grow up normally."

Hearing those words, Estelle, with a blank expression, spoke as if saddened.

Her eyes trembled, and a few tears welled up.

The tears welling in her red eyes looked exactly like blood-tears.

"If there's no fruit of love, then there's no love, is there?"