The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 82

Delusion (21)

Even though I had a brief argument with Estelle, our relationship didn't completely sour.

At least, not on the surface.

She clung to me with a more alluring closeness than before, but that was as far as it went.

I'm not sure how Estelle felt when she heard I didn't want children, but if one were to be born.

And if, after raising a child with love, beautifully, and watching them grow well, I were to die and return again.

That, I felt, I absolutely couldn't endure.

Not long after, Father left the mansion, stating he would resign from his position as Head.

And I was appointed as the Head.

Everything was rushed and happened excessively quickly, yet not a single person objected.It seemed no one wanted to speak up and incur the Saintess's displeasure.

At the appointment ceremony, Estelle and some high-ranking Grand Priest, a man whose origins I didn't know, performed various rituals, but that day somehow remained a blur.

Long, tedious speeches, the smell of incense, and the expressionless faces of the people.

I was tired, and it all felt like pointless, meaningless nonsense.

After becoming Head, I tried to recall why I had wanted to become Head.

And I wondered if there had even been a need to become one.

More precisely, I questioned if there was any need to be sitting here, even after shooting Levina and uttering those words to Seraphina and Estelle.

I was living a life where no one criticized or glared at me, yet somehow it seemed meaningless.

Clearly, something in my head had gone wrong.

While on a walk, my steps led me to the small church where Estelle was, with a revolver tucked into my waistband.

It was a familiar path.

As I opened the church door, Estelle spotted me and ran over with a bright smile.

She immediately flung herself into my arms.

For a long time.

Ever since the day we went to the main building together, Estelle somehow spent more time clinging to me.

"I've been waiting for you. You said you'd release them today, didn't you?"

I lightly patted her back, then received the basement key from her.

Estelle handed over the key without a word, docilely.

Her expression seemed to indicate she knew exactly what I was about to do.

Descending the creaking stairs, I opened the tightly shut basement door.

The musty smell, which I hadn't encountered in a long time, assailed my nose.

It was the first time I'd seen Levina since the day I shot her.

Levina and the Duchess looked emaciated, unwashed, smelly, and haggard.

They were huddled in a corner of the basement.

Far from getting angry at seeing me after a long time, Levina merely stared up at me blankly.

"Why did you come? Surely not to release us."

Her voice was incredibly dry, almost withered.

"You're right, I came to release you."

"Why, exactly?"

Levina's eyes widened ever so slightly, subtly.

"Because I've become Head."

I replied calmly.

At my words, a faint smile spread across Levina's lips.

It was a self-deprecating smile.

"Ah, well. Father must have stepped down. Of course, he was fond of you."

"Where's the Duchess?"

Levina pointed a finger at her mother, who was sitting slumped in a corner.

With disheveled hair and a ruined appearance, there was no trace of her former arrogant and fearsome self.

It was as if only an empty shell remained.

"Mother, Lavin is here. The Head himself has come to see us, you should get up."

Levina pulled the Duchess to her feet and dragged her in front of me.

The Duchess, powerless, was simply pulled along wherever Levina led her.

Her eyes wandered aimlessly, unfocused.

"So, you're going to release us?"

Levina asked, looking up at me.

"Yes."

"Why, exactly? If I were you, I would have killed me."

"...Because I don't want to act like you."

"Don't release us. What if I somehow gather people and overthrow you?"

"Then it would mean you've even overthrown the esteemed Saintess. I'd just have to accept that my luck only extends that far and resign myself to it."

"...That, that could be true, I suppose."

Levina drew out her words slightly, then stood blankly for a long time before opening her mouth again.

"Still, it seems you really did love me."

"Why is the conversation heading that way, exactly?"

"Well, because you didn't kill me."

"What about the Duchess?"

"Well, she's my mother, so you probably spared her because I might be sad if she died. You thought of me. Didn't you?"

Levina said that, smiling faintly.

"Once we get out of here, I won't stick by your side for a while, so as not to cause trouble.

Once people have forgotten about us to some extent, I'll just live with you in the mansion.

It's the opposite of what I'd imagined, but this isn't so bad either."

At those words, I was about to ask who gave her permission to stick by my side.

But Levina's subsequent actions prevented me from continuing.

Levina straightened her tattered clothes and rummaged through her pocket.

"Still, my beloved brother, everything's fine, but you're too soft."

Saying that, Levina suddenly pulled out something from her hand that looked like a slightly glowing shard of glass.

And without hesitation, she plunged it into her mother's neck.

A soft, plunging sound.

She released her hand from the glass shard, then grabbed her mother's jaw and the back of her head and twisted her head.

With a horrifying crunch.

Levina then flung what had been her mother onto the floor and stomped on her head with her knee.

Then, exhaling slightly, she spoke.

Her voice was unnervingly calm.

"Even if it's fine for me, Mother shouldn't leave. You might die, you know."

Wiping the blood splashed on her face with her sleeve, Levina looked down at her mother, who lay fallen and faintly trembling.

Then she looked up at me again.

Tears streamed from her eyes.

Sobbing, she said nothing.

Seeing that sight, I let out a hollow laugh.

At the same time, my legs gave out.

I sank straight to the floor.

My vision swam.

From a distance, I heard the sound of someone running down the stairs.

It was Estelle.

Seeing the scene in the basement, she paused for a moment.

A translucent window appeared before my eyes.

It was a familiar, vexing window.

[Collect the Ending. 4/?]

[Currently collected rewards: Lingering Trace, Afterimage, Traces]

[Reward: ???, □□]

****

After becoming Head, I only occasionally showed my face at the academy, constantly holed up in my office reading books.

I loosely handed over my duties to the butler and that vassal who had once assigned me a tutor, then opened the magic-related books I had read several times before but which hadn't been very helpful.

At least, having acquired wealth, I was able to procure many magic stones that I couldn't get before, and thus could use something akin to magic.

To the extent of conjuring small flames in my palm or freezing the water in a cup.

Compared to what Seraphina or Levina used, it was a depressing level, but the fact that I could do something with my own power brought a slight bit of comfort.

As the days passed, I even felt like I was developing some skill.

After I released her, Levina returned again, along with the story that she had temporarily left because she didn't want to become Head.

Everyone knew it made no sense, yet since Levina, whom everyone had believed dead, wasn't dead, wasn't in bad condition, and hadn't rebelled against me or caused any trouble, there was no choice but to simply accept it.

The world spun on such convenient lies.

Levina sometimes came to find me, but she never uttered anything beyond simple greetings, asking how I was doing these days or how I felt.

Just as she had said in the basement.

She acted as naturally as if nothing had happened.

Nor did I wish for anything more.

Anyway, muscles don't grow overnight, and all I could do was read, so I read magic books every day.

I read spellbooks, tried using spells once with magic stones, and sometimes went into the academy's forbidden library or normal library to read more books.

Buried in books, I could at least momentarily forget the problems of reality.

Today, too, while engrossed in a stack of books, someone sat down in front of me.

"It's hard to see your face even once these days.

When I heard you were holed up in the library every weekend, I initially wondered what they were talking about, but it was true."

It was Seraphina.

She had dark circles under her eyes, and various small scratches on her cheeks.

Her always neat clothes were slightly tattered.

She looked somewhat exhausted yet also a little angry.

"There are rumors going around that you'll soon marry the Saintess.

From you becoming Head, to Lady Levina’s return, it all seems like it was planned from the start."

She said.

Her voice was dry.

"Even if you call it a plan..."

"If it's not a plan, then what is it? Lady Levina, whom everyone thought dead, returned alive, and perfectly fine at that."

Seraphina uttered those words, then let out a choked laugh.

"Why have I been doing all this pointless stuff until now?

We haven't broken off the engagement, and I'm still your fiancée, so why is everyone trying to link you with the Saintess?"

She slapped the book I was holding out of my hand and said in a low voice.

The book fell to the floor with a dull thud.

"We have something to talk about, don't we? Let's go outside and talk."

Seeing my face, Seraphina stared at me blankly for a moment, then shook her head, nodded as if to tell me to follow, and stood up.