The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 97

Afterimage (8)

Seraphina and I sat side-by-side on the bed.

The room was incredibly quiet, as if the commotion from just a moment ago had been a lie.

So much so that it felt a little awkward.

"Th-that woman who was just here... can I ask who she was?"

Seraphina spoke first.

Her voice was small.

I hesitated for a moment.

What name should I give?

What should I say?At first, I considered lying appropriately to make the situation favorable, like last time, but then I wondered if it might eventually crumble without a solution if I kept piling up lies, so I decided to tell the truth.

"Estelle."

"It's not her name I'm curious about."

A faint irritation was mixed in Seraphina's voice.

I let out a short breath, as if exhaling cigarette smoke.

"She's the Saintess."

"......Ah, oh, um. Y-you're joking, right?"

I didn't answer.

"S-she's really the Saintess?

N-now that I think about it, she d-does look s-similar... R-really?"

Seraphina's eyes trembled wildly.

As if an earthquake had struck.

"B-but why is the Saintess, even in civilian clothes, with just you, you alone?"

"She said she liked me."

"Wh-what part!?"

"Saying that hurts a little."

“No, w-well, still, Lavin, you're not the kind of person the Ch-Church would like, are you?"

"......She probably liked my face."

"......."

"Ah, yes. W-well, there's no other answer, is there?"

"......."

"Anyway, sh-should I go now and tell her what I said earlier was a joke?"

"No. That...... what should I say. Since it's you and me, it was only natural for you to say what you did."

"......Ah, yes. That's r-right. Th-that's how it is."

Seraphina stared blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought, before her expression brightened.

"Of course, it was something I would naturally say."

Saying that, she smiled bashfully.

And she hugged me tightly.

I hugged her back, facing her.

For some reason, my body was faintly trembling.

The thought, 'Am I doing something idiotic again?', crossed my mind, but I dismissed it.

Since I was with Seraphina now, I decided to focus on her.

"B-but still, you two aren't that close yet, are you?"

Seraphina asked, burying her face in my shoulder.

"Yeah. We haven't known each other for long yet. Right now."

At those words, Seraphina murmured with a smile.

"I g-guess someone who only looks at outward appearances can b-become a S-Saintess."

I didn't answer, just smiled.

"La-Lavin. Anyway, a-a moment ago I was a little flustered and couldn't speak properly."

Seraphina squeezed my hand tightly.

Her hand was cold and faintly trembling.

"Th-thank you for getting me a room. It was m-much better than I thought."

"I can do things like that for you anytime. Instead, will you help me with something?"

"Oh, uh, wha... what do you need help with?"

Seraphina's face flushed slightly.

The fingers holding my hand twitched.

Soft fingers brushed lightly over the back of my hand, then an index finger tickled across my palm.

Feeling a tickle, I gently pulled Seraphina's hand away a little, then created a small magic on it.

It was a small orb emitting a faint light.

"Help me with things like this. I often get stuck."

"Oh, th-these kinds of things, I'd do them even if you didn't ask!"

Seraphina's voice rose a tone.

"I-I'm someone you need, right?"

"You also d-don't want to break off our engagement with me, right Lavin?"

"Ah, yeah. Because I've always told you I loved you."

"......In times like this, the words I always used to say were, 'It's a lie.' I was just s-saying things like that."

I felt her face seemed to have become slightly melancholic.

"I'm sorry."

Seraphina said in a low voice.

And our eyes met.

She looked at me with a strange gaze.

Then, looking at my lips, she let out a slight breath and leaned closer.

I lightly touched her lips with mine, then pulled back and looked at her.

Her lips were soft and cold.

Seraphina, with a blank expression, caressed her own lips with her fingers for a long time.

Then her face turned incredibly red.

As if it had caught fire.

"Well then, I-I'll get going!"

She stood up and hastily ran out.

Even after a long time had passed since Seraphina's retreating figure disappeared, I continued to gaze at that spot for a long while.

Then, once again, I picked up any book on the table and slowly began to read.

Though it felt as if magic no longer entered my mind well.

****

It was morning.

I opened my eyes and woke up to find Levina in the room, having entered at some unknown time, sitting on the sofa and reading the book I had been reading.

This time, she came in a rather short skirt and no stockings at all, so the blood bruise on her shin was clearly visible.

"Ah, you're awake now."

She said as I woke from my sleep.

"The carriage is all ready, so you just need to come as you are."

I rubbed my eyes and asked.

"Why on earth aren't you going to see a priest and just leaving it as it is?"

"I told you last time, didn't I?"

Levina replied and stood up.

I sighed, casually put on an outer garment, and followed her as she left the room.

There was nothing to talk about as we walked down the hallway, so we passed through it in silence.

Afterward, I boarded a carriage that felt somehow familiar.

It was the same carriage I had ridden when I went for a picnic in the forest to 'deal with' Levina a long time ago.

"By the way, why are you going to the annex?"

Levina asked.

"Just, there's a place I want to visit. It's near the annex."

"There's nothing secluded there, so it's funny you're going out of your way to find it."

Even though she intended to keep me cooped up in such a place my whole life.

"Then you shouldn't have followed me."

"How would I know what you'd do if I sent you alone?"

Now that I think about it, I sometimes wonder if there was really a need to go that far, but then, seeing Levina right in front of me like this, the thought crosses my mind that maybe it was good I did.

Before long, the carriage arrived at the annex.

I didn't enter the annex; instead, I walked towards the backyard.

And as I walked through the untidy backyard where I used to talk with Seraphina after our engagement was broken off, I shifted my steps towards the forest.

Levina followed behind, saying.

"There's nothing there, even if you go."

"I know there's a small village there."

"Yeah. So there's nothing there."

I said nothing and slowly walked into the forest.

The dirt path I used to walk barefoot through the forest, the small river where Lineta and I would dip our feet and splash water at each other.

Memories of occasionally gathering lots of small branches, claiming I was helping with chores, vividly came back to me.

"Since when did you develop such a refined hobby of visiting tranquil places like this?"

Levina said sarcastically.

"Why, don't you like it?"

"I don't know. For some reason, the forest feels a little unsettling."

I was about to say something in reply, but instead, I just scratched the back of my head and let it pass.

After walking for a long time like that, we came upon the village.

It was a village as idle and peaceful-looking as always.

A humble village with no grand shops, where occasionally a few representatives would gather money from the villagers to go to the big city and buy goods, and if something was needed, they'd exchange items with each other. What great thing could have happened in such a place to produce a magnificent protagonist?

I remembered how, before I was beheaded by the Demons, Lineta always treated me as if I were... on her side.

At least when Lineta and I visited the village every morning, no Demons or anything similar were ever seen.

Later, because Estelle burned the entire village, I didn't even know what had happened.

A rather fancy outsider, clearly a noble to anyone, wandering around the village like this, I doubted anything significant would come of it, but I walked into the village nonetheless.

As Levina and I were looking around the village, the village chief, whose name I didn't remember but whose face I recognized, came out and asked.

"May I ask what brings you, esteemed nobles?"

"We heard there was a small village within our domain, so we came to visit.

Have there been any outsiders visiting recently, or anything unusual?"

At that, the village chief replied that a few outsider priests had been visiting lately, distributing free food.

I asked Levina if she knew anything about it.

"I'm not so idle that I concern myself with every single act of charity or such."

"Do you always have to answer so annoyingly when you speak?"

As I said that with a sigh, Levina flinched.

I glared at her, then told the chief I understood, left the village, and passed through the forest once more.

"You came all the way here just to visit that small village?"

Levina asked.

"Yes."

"If you had told me beforehand, I would have taken you to a place with much better air and scenery than this village, where we could comfortably rest alone. Why didn't you say so earlier?"

I cut off Levina's continuing words and replied.

"I didn't come because I wanted to do that; I came to find this place."

"So why, are you going to cause trouble?

I can cover it up appropriately."

And I didn't respond to Levina's words.

And so, we continued to bicker verbally as we walked towards the annex.

Then, opening the familiar door and stepping inside, the sight of the mansion, which felt somewhat nostalgic yet also sent a slight shiver down my spine, came into view.

The servants, having received word from Levina beforehand, had apparently prepared refreshments.

As Levina and I were about to eat refreshments, I passed through the hallway and met Lineta's eyes as she was cleaning a window.

She was about to greet me, but when our eyes met, she dropped the dust cloth she was holding.

And she just stood there blankly, looking only at me.

Until a servant, rushing from somewhere, hastily led her away.