A World Where You All Are The Villains [Novel] Chapter 74

"Obviously, you must have…!"

Suddenly, Ethan stopped mid-sentence.

Radiating a fierce aura, he glared at me for a while before abruptly turning his head away.

"Forget it."

Then, he just stormed out the front door.

I was dumbfounded.

What did he mean, obviously I did what to him to make him lose his temper like that?

Blinking blankly, I glared at the butler, who was completely at a loss for what to do.

"Why did you have to go and blabber about every little detail?"

"I merely wished to boast of your achievements, My Lady… I assumed the Young Master already knew the full story to some extent."

The butler replied with a gloomy face.

I knew he hadn't said it with malicious intent.

He just had zero ability to read the room.

I let out a sigh, then suddenly asked.

"By the way… what did he mean the Grand Duke would think? Do you know, Butler?"

"No. I'm not entirely sure…"

Trailing off, he pondered for a moment.

"Hmm… Since the Young Master is unaware of the curse letter, perhaps he was thinking of the conventional meaning behind a man gifting jewelry to a woman?"

"And what's that?"

"Usually, it is to commemorate an occasion with a lover, a wedding gift, or a proposal…"

"Ugh…!"

I cut the butler off and shuddered in disgust.

"Are you crazy, Butler?!"

"N-No! I'm not saying that is what I think, My Lady!"

"It's because you all haven't seen that curse letter! Do you know what was written in it? This was just something lying around his house…!"

"Pardon? Lying around the house…?"

Overcome with frustration, I had been blurting things out but barely managed to shut my mouth.

I couldn't bring myself to admit out loud that it was "just one of the trinkets rolling around his house".

"Hah, forget it… I'm leaving."

"Have a safe trip, My Lady."

Coming outside after being seen off by the butler, I saw Ethan standing in front of the waiting carriage.

He looked back at me with cold eyes.

"My Lady, I'll go ride in the luggage carriage!"

As if lacking the courage to endure the freezing atmosphere any longer, Nancy hastily ran away.

Because he was staring right at me, I couldn't exactly just stand there hesitating.

Biting the bullet, I eventually walked toward him.

"Here."

Ethan abruptly offered his hand.

True to his neat-freak setting, he was wearing white gloves.

I didn't know why he wasn't ignoring these basic pleasantries when he had just stormed out in a fit of rage earlier.

Ethan might be a jerk, but among the male leads, he was the one who maintained boundaries the most and treated Edith with some level of decency.

Just like how he had apologized to me for what happened at the Imperial Palace last time.

It was likely out of respect and a sense of duty toward the Duke who had adopted him.

Since he was ultimately a son of a bitch anyway, I was just pouting my lips when…

"What are you waiting for?"

An irritable urging came from him.

Left with no choice, I gently placed my hand on his gloved one.

Taking my hand, he familiarly escorted me into the carriage.

Then he effortlessly hopped in himself and sat opposite me.

The door closed.

I felt like I was already suffocating.

Fidgeting uncomfortably, I managed to break the silence right around the time the carriage departed.

"…I think you've misunderstood something, Brother."

"What misunderstanding?"

He had been glaring murderously out the window, but he shifted his gaze to me.

I thought he would ignore me, so it was surprising.

I calmly addressed his ridiculous misconception.

"He truly only gave this to me as a token of gratitude, and as far as I know, His Highness the Grand Duke has another woman in his heart."

I didn't bother adding the word, "Probably…".

He was a male lead, so wouldn't he naturally like the female lead?

Though his inexplicable grudge against the Sephiroth Religion seemed to be a separate matter entirely.

"And naturally, that woman is not me."

I added in a confident voice.

Did my deeply wronged appearance soften his mood a bit?

"…I overreacted."

Ethan let out a short sigh and accepted my attempt at reconciliation.

"I was concerned because he is not a man of good character. Until recently, didn't he suspect you of being behind Llewell… the Purifier's kidnapping?"

My eyes widened at his words.

Because he was so sensitive when it came to the female lead, I hadn't expected him to openly mention that incident.

As if it had nothing to do with him.

"…That makes it sound like you didn't suspect me, Brother."

"How could you kidnap anyone when you've lost your memories? Besides, I've seen you collapse at the drop of a hat due to the aftereffects."

"…"

"And didn't you say you would… apologize to her."

Listening to Ethan's words, a strange expression crossed my face.

It was fascinating wondering since when he had come to trust me this much.

Just a short while ago, he had been harassing me, questioning if I had truly lost my memory.

"Well… it's a relief that His Highness's misunderstanding was cleared up through this opportunity."

Anyway, since the misunderstanding was resolved, I wrapped up the conversation.

Since we weren't exactly affectionate with each other, silence quickly fell over the carriage.

Just as the heavy, blue gaze fixed on me became too burdensome and I turned my head toward the window, Ethan brought up something unexpected.

"…Have you decided to completely cut ties with Vincent Leandro?"

"How did you…"

I reflexively asked back but immediately dropped my question.

Since he was an S-rank Awakener, it was highly likely he had heard our squabble from afar.

I lightly affirmed it.

"Yes. It turned out that way."

"It really is… surprising. To think you'd consider cutting ties with Vincent."

"I'm sorry to you, Brother. You two must interact often, so I don't know if I've needlessly made things uncomfortable for you."

"…What?"

Ethan frowned deeply at my words.

"Who says I interact often with Vincent?"

"…Don't you?"

"Right. In the first place, the one who wanted me to get along with him was you…"

Stopping abruptly, he soon shook his head.

"You probably don't remember anyway, so there's no point in talking about it."

It was true.

I was genuinely apathetic about it.

I didn't really believe it, and it sounded like nonsense.

Was this stubborn, inflexible guy the type to just follow someone else's orders?

And at the direction of the stepsister he despised so much?

They bonded over badmouthing Edith, and now he was saying it was because of me?

Of course, just as he said, Edith might have actually said that.

Ethan and Vincent were once people she held dear, and in her childish heart, she might have just wanted them all to play together.

"I didn't say anything until now because you thought so highly of him, but that guy isn't as right in the head as you think."

Right on cue, Ethan muttered.

It was a bit funny because it could easily sound like he was trying to sow discord.

"I agree with that, but… wouldn't almost no one be considered a decent person by your standards, Brother?"

"I'm not joking."

Ethan turned serious.

"Still, I am your brother in name. There's no way I could look kindly upon him deceiving you while harboring feelings for another woman."

"I see."

Despite teaming up with that very same Vincent to only save the female lead, turning a blind eye to whether Edith lived or died.

Seeing him flip his stance as easily as flipping his palm was both unpleasant and detestable.

I naturally let out the sneer that threatened to spill out.

"Don't worry. As I said last time, there's no chance of me ever liking him again in the future."

"…That's a relief."

He silently nodded his head.

I didn't know why, but unlike me, he looked quite satisfied.

Then he abruptly added.

"By the way… how long are you going to keep using that strange formal speech?"

"Formal speech?"

"Yeah. You never used to speak formally to me."

I tilted my head to the side.

Today of all days, it seemed like he kept bringing up unexpected topics.

However, he wasn't wrong.

In the novel, Edith constantly spoke informally to Ethan, and almost never called him "Brother".

I didn't know what he was thinking, suddenly pointing out my manner of speech, but I didn't really want to do that.

Just riding in the same carriage was already awkward to death, so informal speech was out of the question.

"This is comfortable for me now. I've been speaking like this all along, so suddenly dropping the formalities would be a bit awkward too."

"…"

"I'm an adult now as well. Wouldn't it be better for both of us if I maintained my manners toward my older brother?"

I replied nonchalantly.

I naturally assumed he would think the same.

Honestly, compared to before when she'd spit out informal speech and didn't even treat him like a brother, wasn't this much better?

However, surprisingly, Ethan's eyes widened as if he had received a shock.

"Am I… awkward for you to be around?"

He asked back blankly.

Puzzled by his reaction, I still answered straightforwardly.

"I heard we weren't exactly close to begin with."

"Who said that. The butler? Or the servants?"

His eyes instantly sharpened.

I had a strong premonition that if I answered yes, they would suffer terribly.

And in reality, I knew it because of the novel anyway.

Therefore, I just offered an awkward smile instead of answering.

"…I see."

However he interpreted my silence, Ethan's expression hardened.

He remained silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before finally snapping coldly.

"Suit yourself."

Then, as if indicating he wouldn't exchange another word with me, he crossed his arms and turned his gaze out the window.

A chilling, ice-like aura emanated from him.

The air inside the carriage instantly turned freezing, as if the brief moment of softening had never happened.

I was simply dumbfounded by the abruptly shifted atmosphere.