A World Where You All Are The Villains [Novel] Chapter 69

When I finally opened my eyes, a full day had passed.

Turning my head, I saw a maid nodding off in her chair, presumably having stayed by my side to nurse me the whole time.

"…Nancy."

"Ah, My Lady!"

Jolted awake, Nancy sprang up from her seat.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"The doctor said you were completely exhausted. Just what in the world happened last night?"

"Well…"

Too many things had happened for me to even recount.

Just thinking about it for a second made me shudder and my head ache.

I vaguely brushed off the question, burying those memories away, and immediately asked about the most critical ticking time bomb I had to deal with first.

"…What about Vincent?"

"Young Master Ethan sent him away right after you collapsed. He kept blocking the back gate, so the servants couldn't pass through…"

My face scrunched up into a deep frown at the detail Nancy quietly tacked on at the end.

I seriously couldn't understand what went on inside his head.

"Did he leave quietly?"

"I'm not entirely sure about that…"

Whatever, at least he was gone now.

If I had opened my eyes only to see his face again, I definitely wouldn't have been able to hold back my curses.

Next.

"And Aston?"

"She returned yesterday afternoon. The Duke scolded her terribly for coming back so late."

At those words, I felt incredibly sorry for Aston. Her only crime was picking the wrong side and being unable to refuse her master's orders…

"…Father must have been furious, right?"

"He was definitely more worried about you than angry, but…"

Nancy answered while cautiously reading my expression.

She was probably just saying that to ease my mind, but I highly doubted it.

When I gave her a cynical look, Nancy hurriedly changed the subject.

"B-By the way, he had a long, private conversation with Aston yesterday."

"What? A private audience?"

"Yes. She apparently arrived in a carriage bearing the Grand Ducal crest."

"Hah…"

My vision went dark at those words.

Not only was I caught sneaking out at midnight, but they also knew I had met with the Grand Duke.

I didn't even know where or how to begin cleaning up this mess.

"Haa…"

Right at that moment…

The door opened with a knock.

"Nancy, how is the Young Lady's con-… M-My Lady!"

The butler, who was stepping into the room, turned pale with shock upon seeing me sitting up in bed.

"My Lady, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. But Butler…"

"Th-This is no time for idle chatter! I must go inform the Duke immediately!"

"Wait! No, Butler…!"

Before I could even stop him, he dashed out of the room.

My plan to buy some time by pretending to still be asleep went up in smoke in an instant.

"Please don't go…"

The butler had already vanished like a shot.

My belated, pitiful cry echoed hollowly in the empty room.

I thought he'd summon me right away for a beating the moment he heard I woke up.

Surprisingly, however, the Duke gave me time to wash up and eat.

As I scooped up mouthfuls of mildly seasoned potato soup, boiled soft for easy digestion, my brain worked furiously.

No, that wouldn't work. There was absolutely no reason to go all the way to Legion Street, a commoner district, for a simple night stroll.

But then if he asked why I had to sneak out in the dead of night to buy it, I'd have nothing to say again.

"Haa…"

Suddenly losing my appetite, I set down my spoon.

Nancy asked in a worried tone,

"My Lady. Is the food not to your liking?"

"…No."

"Then why does your expression look…"

"It really seems like this is the only way."

"The only way?"

Nancy tilted her head in confusion at my cryptic words.

I didn't answer and just let out another heavy sigh.

No matter how much I thought about it, it was the only halfway plausible excuse.

But now that I actually had to say it out loud myself, it was so repulsive and horrifying I felt like I was going to break out in hives.

The most convincing excuse for why I sneaked out of the house in the dead of night and somehow ended up meeting the Grand Duke…

It was exactly this.

A date.

"Ugh!"

The moment I materialized the thought, I unwittingly let out a bizarre shriek and slammed my spoon down on the table.

"Uh…!"

Nancy recoiled in shock at my sudden seizure-like head-shaking, but I couldn't help it.

If this were the modern world, I could just lie and say I went to the convenience store.

But in this godforsaken place, every shop except the pubs closed by 8 PM.

So, no matter how hard I wracked my brain, the only excuse I could use was a "date".

I might somehow manage to force the words out.

But how was I supposed to handle the Duke's reaction, or the massive fallout that would follow…?

Just imagining it made me shudder uncontrollably.

"My Lady, it's me."

Unfortunately, the hour of doom approached steadily.

"Have you finished your lunch? Nothing else, the Duke is requesting your presence in his office."

"…I understand."

At the butler's message, I forced myself up, feeling like a prisoner being dragged to the gallows.

For a second, I considered pretending to faint again, but gave up on the idea.

It was something I had to face eventually.

There was no avoiding it now.

I just had to pray that bastard Vincent died sooner rather than later…

…Or so I thought, but things took a surprisingly strange turn.

"Is it true you went out last night to help the Grand Duke catch a criminal?"

The moment I sat down on the sofa in his office, the Duke practically fired the question at me.

"Pardon?"

"You foolish girl! If something like that was happening, you should have told me first!"

"W-Wait a minute, Father."

My eyes widened in surprise at the Duke's completely unexpected words.

I quickly scanned the Duke's expression.

Although he was shouting, he didn't actually look all that angry.

In fact, if he looked oddly… excited, was it just my imagination?

Finishing my quick assessment, I cautiously asked back.

"By criminal, do you mean…"

"That thug who smashed the Grand Duke's head in and fled during the banquet a few weeks ago! I heard you caught a glimpse of the culprit's face as they were running away?"

I did?

I almost asked that out loud by pure reflex, but barely swallowed the words down.

The culprit he was talking about was me.

But looking at the Duke's reaction, it didn't seem like he knew that.

I tactfully nodded my head.

"Ah… Y-Yes. Yes, that's right…"

"The Grand Duke sent Aston back with a mountain of gifts along with his gratitude."

"H-His Highness, the Grand Duke?"

"Naturally. If he's going to casually use someone else's precious daughter for his own ends in the middle of the night, he ought to pay the proper price."

The Duke snorted and muttered to himself.

Still, he didn't look overly displeased.

Putting together everything he had said so far, it seemed Male Lead No. 4 had stepped in and made up an excuse for me regarding last night.

Suddenly, Nancy's words about Aston returning late in the afternoon in the Grand Ducal carriage crossed my mind.

I felt inexplicably strange.

I had even mentally prepared myself to use that horrifying excuse that I was on a d- d-… date with that guy…

"I felt pity for him because I heard his only son was exposed to demonic energy… but that Baron Garvant was a truly despicable man, tsk."

Just then, the Duke clicked his tongue and muttered something else.

My head snapped up at the familiar name.

"Baron Garvant?"

"Yes. I heard he was the culprit? A man of his age, getting hooked on drugs and assaulting someone? Honestly, this is why late-onset vices are the most terrifying."

Somehow, everything I had done was pinned squarely on Baron Garvant.

My mind was reeling from the sudden onslaught of information.

Rolling my eyes, I carefully probed for more details.

"…I wasn't really aware of the specific circumstances."

"Word is he was secretly taking drugs in the Outer Guest Palace on the day of the banquet, and ran into the Grand Duke. Well, apparently he committed the act out of fear that the Grand Duke would report him."

Ah, so that's how he spun it.

It was a surprisingly elaborate setup.

Just as I was offering a small moment of silent prayer for the late Baron Garvant, the Duke took a sip of his tea and clicked his tongue again.

"They say men who fall into drinking, gambling, and drugs never meet a good end, but to think he'd head to the afterlife while doing group drugs in such a disgraceful manner…"

Fortunately, that was a story I was already familiar with.

It seemed Serge truly did turn the deaths of the Sephiroth cultists into a mass drug overdose overnight.

A man who casually turned his passing words into reality.

His power and authority suddenly felt chillingly terrifying.