The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 94

Afterimage (5)

When I returned to the room, it was empty.

The toppled table had been put back in its place, and the broken teacup shards on the floor were neatly cleaned up.

Seeing the blanket neatly folded and the room completely tidied, it seemed Levina had returned to her own room.

All she left behind was the faint lingering scent of perfume and a strange emotion.

I sat on the edge of the bed.

And once again, I conjured magic in the air.

A small orb of water appeared on my palm.

The water droplet swayed this way and that, then soon settled into a stable spherical shape.

When I lit a small ember inside it, the orb of water became a small lamp, glowing softly in the darkness.Then I scattered it into the air.

The glowing water droplets fluttered in the air for a moment, then vanished without a trace.

I lay on the bed and fell asleep.

This time too, I didn't dream.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to have my neck sliced by a Demon once.

After all, my already anxious mind felt like it was returning to normal, if only a little.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Knock, knock.

It was a hesitant knock.

I got up, still half-asleep, and opened the door.

It was Seraphina.

She didn't look particularly well.

Her clothes were wrinkled, and her face was pale, devoid of color.

She looked like someone who hadn't slept a wink all night.

"G-good morning, Lavin."

"Doesn't seem like it for you."

I first let Seraphina into the room, poured her a cup of tea brewed from cheap tea leaves, and had her sit on the sofa.

She sat down silently and took a sip of the tea I offered.

The hand holding the teacup was trembling slightly.

"Why did you come?"

I asked.

Seraphina put down the teacup and hesitated for a moment.

"W-well, it's a little hard to say..."

Her voice trailed off.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally seemed to make up her mind and spoke.

"Lavin... C-can you find me a place to stay for a while?"

Her voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible.

I wondered if I had the ability to find one, but then, seeing Levina's reaction yesterday, I thought it would somehow work out.

If worst came to worst, I could just hand this room over to Seraphina and mooch off someone else or live with them.

"Yeah. I'll try to find one."

At my reply, a faint look of relief crossed Seraphina's face.

She picked up her teacup again and drank her tea.

"Th-that, Lavin... that thing you always smoke... I want to try smoking it too."

"Why do you want to smoke it?"

"It's just... nothing special, but you said you smoke it when you feel suffocated and overwhelmed."

Seraphina said.

Her gaze was fixed on the floor.

I reached for a cigarette in my pocket, then remembered I had smoked them all with Estelle yesterday.

I got up and rummaged through a drawer.

I took out a new pack of cigarettes, tore it open, and offered one to Seraphina.

Seraphina awkwardly took the cigarette.

She held it clumsily between her fingertips, fiddling with it.

Like a child handling an unfamiliar object.

When I created a small flame at my fingertip and lit it for her, she looked at me in surprise.

"Before... you were forced to stop, and whenever you secretly used it, you got into so much trouble one day that even I couldn't find you.

And didn't you stop using it completely?"

"Somehow, it worked again after I practiced."

"You're already grown up, and I know that stopping once and then starting again... shouldn't be possible.

The magic flowing within your body hardens, you see."

Seraphina's voice was trembling slightly.

Instead of answering, I skillfully changed the topic.

"Seraphina. The fire I just lit has gone out.

You need to put the cigarette in your mouth and inhale for it to light."

After that, Seraphina hesitated for a moment, then put the cigarette in her mouth and cautiously inhaled.

A red ember glowed, and white smoke billowed up.

"Hmph, cough, ugh-cough!!"

As soon as she inhaled the smoke, she coughed violently.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

As her coughing subsided, she caught her breath for a moment.

Then, without a word, she stared blankly at the cigarette in her hand.

A thin wisp of smoke curled upwards and dispersed into the morning sunlight.

She brought the cigarette to her lips again.

This time, much more carefully.

She took a small puff, held the smoke in her mouth, then slowly exhaled.

Seraphina watched the smoke disperse slowly with her eyes.

Her shoulders were trembling ever so slightly.

She set the cigarette down slightly, then picked up the teacup, as if her mouth was dry.

The hand holding the teacup trembled uncontrollably.

She lightly moistened her lips, then set the teacup down.

The white porcelain clinked softly against the table.

Seraphina stood up.

And she walked over to the window and looked outside.

The academy's morning was peaceful.

Students could be seen passing by, laughing and chatting.

She rested her forehead against the window.

As if feeling the cold touch of the glass on her forehead, her back rose and fell slightly.

It seemed she was holding her breath.

After standing there for a long time, she returned to her seat.

She stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray, then looked at me.

Her eyes seemed a little red.

A faint smile played on her lips, as if she were trying to hold back tears.

I didn't say anything first.

She seemed to want me to ask, but it wasn't the first or second time I had hurt her by saying the wrong thing.

"I... I can't smoke this."

Seraphina said.

Her voice was a little hoarse, as if it was quite pungent.

"The suffocation and difficulty aren't disappearing at all."

"Perhaps it wasn't enough."

Hearing my words, Seraphina raised her head.

"Yes, I guess it wasn't enough."

She replied.

"Because I wasn't enough, because I didn't satisfy them, they're kicking me out of the family."

"Because of the engagement annulment talk?"

"Yeah."

"Even the room I'm staying in now, eventually from the family..."

Her voice trailed off slightly.

I said.

"You just have to say you're breaking off the engagement with me, right?"

"H-how... how could I do that to you?"

"Seraphina."

I called her name.

Seraphina, with slightly vacant eyes, lunged at me over the table in front of her.

CRASH!

Whether it was a teacup or a teapot, something caught her foot, and the sound of glass shattering echoed.

The chair toppled backward, and I hit my head on the back.

But it didn't feel particularly painful.

Something far more disorienting was happening, after all.

Seraphina tackled me, gripping my shoulders as if to crush them, and opened her mouth with a slightly deranged expression, tears streaming from only her right eye.

"Not this time, not this once. I don't want to see that again."

As she spoke, Seraphina bit my neck gently.

I felt the sensation of her molar biting into my chest.

Just as she hugged me tightly and tried to press her lips against mine, I didn't push her away; instead, I pulled her closer, then pulled her face to the side and bit her ear hard.

"Ugh, h-huh!"

She let out a short moan and twisted her body.

And then, she slightly relaxed, only to raise her upper body again.

I saw a faint flicker of vitality return to her eyes.

"...Lavin?"

She glanced around briefly, then looked down at me beneath her, and her face flushed intensely.

"Th-this, was it... was it me who did this?"

Seraphina stammered.

Without answering, I slowly got up and slipped out from beneath her as she rose.

And as I began to clean up the broken glass shards, Seraphina also got up and started cleaning with me.

We said nothing, simply picking up the shards in silence.

"So, by when do you plan to move rooms?"

I asked.

"I think I have to vacate it within a few days.

Father seems incredibly angry, as if he intends to make me give up this place too."

Seraphina replied.

Her voice had become much calmer.

"For now, I'll see if I can get you a servant's room. Even if it's small, it's a single room, so that's fine, right?"

"Ah, yeah! Thank you, Lavin."

Seraphina replied.

A faint smile spread across her face.

"By the way, what did you do to get kicked out?"

I asked.

"Uh, um, uhm... I-I have to answer, right?"

Seraphina couldn't keep her fingers still.

And when our eyes met, she avoided my gaze again and answered.

"I... half-collapsed the mansion."

"...The mansion?"

"I-I don't know why, but that day my spells just... flowed out so well, as if I had become some Archmage."

Seraphina said, scratching her cheek lightly with her index finger and letting out a laugh.

"I'd always been obedient my whole life, but when I said that being with the person I love should be overlooked, Father got even angrier... and said harsh things about you.

And that I, for being with someone like you, was also such a person..."

As she spoke, was there still a hint of anger, or perhaps sadness, remaining? Seraphina bit her lower lip once, even as her voice drew out.

"So, I only meant to get a little angry... but then I burned down all the wheat fields around the mansion... a-and I tried to put out the fire, you know?

But the fire I was trying to extinguish didn't go out, and the mansion collapsed instead."

At first, I intended to just nod along to Seraphina's words and comfort her appropriately.

However, now, only the thought of what reaction to show so that she could get past this without further hurt came to mind.