A World Where You All Are The Villains [Novel] Chapter 86

"…Aston, let's just go inside."

Nancy coaxed her, pulling on her arm.

Aston puffed her cheeks and glared at me.

"…I don't know. If I get fired for negligence because of you, My Lady, I'm really going to sue you!"

After yelling at the top of her lungs, she stomped off, looking exactly like a petulant child.

Nancy looked at me with an awkward face and urged…

"…My Lady, you really have to come back quickly."

"Don't worry. I know the value of my own life."

I answered firmly.

Only then did Nancy seem relieved as she hurried after Aston.

Despite their worries, when I said I was going to assess the situation, I meant exactly that.

I needed to confirm whether my suspicion that these were signs of a Gate opening was correct.

Only then could I come up with a solution.

Truthfully, going inside the building was nothing more than a temporary fix.

Because right before a Gate opens, it sucks everything in the surrounding area in like a black hole.

However, since the level of damage varied wildly from Gate to Gate, I at least needed to figure out what scale this one was going to be.

That way, I could decide whether to seek refuge on the other side of the island or escape entirely.

Trying to convince people to call upon and utilize spatial ability users was hopeless and would waste far too much time.

It might be better to get on a ship and head to the opposite side of the island as fast as possible before the Gate fully opens.

Conveniently, there was the sailboat the orphans had arrived on.

They could perhaps weaken the suction force, or use telekinesis to hold people down so they wouldn't get sucked in.

Though I doubted those bastards would go that far for anyone other than the female lead.

That was exactly why I had to forge my own path to survival.

Having roughly finished my train of thought, I hurried my steps back to the courtyard.

As I passed through the entrance and entered the banquet hall, I could feel an unsettled atmosphere.

The music that had been playing continuously was abruptly cut off.

Everyone seemed startled by the sudden thunder and lightning.

However, after that single lightning strike, the sky had immediately calmed down.

"Haha! Perhaps the heavens are angry because a certain profane individual is present on this island!"

The Crown Prince cackled, taking a jab at someone like a joke.

His face was beet red.

Thanks to him, the frozen atmosphere somewhat loosened up.

The anxious attendees gradually regained their composure and resumed eating, drinking, and chatting.

The music started playing again.

The only one still completely stiff with tension was me.

That's how the signs of a Gate were.

It seems like a simple weather anomaly so you let your guard down, and then suddenly an earthquake starts and you're screwed.

With a hardened expression, I crossed the venue.

Soon, as I approached the Duke's table near the front, I stopped dead in my tracks.

A large figure was unashamedly occupying my seat.

"Are you back, Lady Blake?"

The bastard, who had noticed my presence like a ghost, whipped his head around.

Then, with a grin, he casually waved a hand at me.

The memory of yelling and fighting with Male Lead No. 2 rushed back, and my anger flared up.

Grinding my teeth, I marched over to him.

"Would you mind moving?"

"Did you have a good chat?"

"No."

"Why not? Didn't I buy you enough time?"

He tilted his head as if he genuinely couldn't understand why.

Actually, he was half-right.

Even though Vincent and the other male leads had barged in halfway through, time hadn't been that tight.

If only the female lead had been normal.

I stood blankly in front of Serge, pondering for a moment.

Earlier, I had been determined to tell him everything, but now that the moment arrived, the words wouldn't come out.

What was I even supposed to say?

Whatever it was, unless you experienced that bizarre sight yourself, it sounded unbelievable.

In the end, I muttered dejectedly.

"…A nuisance showed up in the middle of our conversation."

"My, my. So you couldn't even apologize."

He clicked his tongue, immediately guessing the situation.

But a measly, excuse-like apology was not the problem here.

I needed to ask what it meant that she was in a coma, where she had been all this time, and what her relationship with the Sephirot Cult was, but we couldn't even communicate!

I chewed on my lip in frustration, while Serge simply shrugged.

"Not my fault."

"Then whose fault is it?"

"It's your fault for not being agile enough."

Let's just not talk.

I didn't even have the energy to argue anymore, so I trudged over and plopped down into his original seat as if we had traded.

I didn't even want my fingertips to graze the chair Ethan had been sitting in.

Seeing me do so, he chuckled.

"I'm joking. Actually, that crazy woman wearing a deer mask showed up and took him away."

"The… deer mask?"

It was the maid who had been standing behind Llewellyn.

I was dumbfounded by the audacious maid's behavior.

As I let out a series of hollow laughs, Serge continued.

"Yeah. Once she said the Purifier was having a one-on-one with you, the Young Marquis stopped talking to me mid-sentence and just bolted. Didn't even have time to stop him."

His tone was light, but perhaps he was internally displeased by Vincent's rude attitude, as his eyebrows twitched fiercely.

Listening to him, a question suddenly popped into my mind.

"…Then did that deer mask tell the other two as well?"

In that short amount of time?

Male Leads No. 1, 2, and 3 had definitely barged in all together, at the exact same time.

If the deer mask had gone and delivered the news to each of them individually, it didn't make sense time-wise.

It's not like those guys were pushovers who would willingly bring their romantic rivals along either…

"The other two? I suppose there was more than one nuisance?"

Serge seemed entirely unaware of Ethan and Dylan.

I was agonizing over how in the world this had happened when…

A massive, ominous noise from a distance seemed to gradually draw closer, and suddenly, the ground began to shake.

A few glasses sloshing with water rolled off the table.

The sharp sound of shattering glass was completely drowned out by people's screams.

The shaking stopped quickly.

A few pieces of tableware were broken, but there was no major damage like the ground splitting or people falling and getting hurt.

However, this was not a relief at all.

"Wh-what in the world is happening all of a sudden?!"

"Eve of the expedition or not, shouldn't we go back inside now?!"

"Was Equinis Island perhaps a volcanic island?!"

The banquet hall instantly erupted into chaos.

People scattered in a panic, drenched in fear.

"The lunar eclipse hasn't even begun, have the monsters already broken out? Go check right now!"

Even the Crown Prince, instantly sobered up, barked orders at his attendants.

Yet, no one could figure out the reason behind the sudden anomaly.

I stared with glazed eyes at the banquet hall, which was rapidly turning into a mess.

In the end, my guess was right.

Following the lightning from a clear sky came an unprompted earthquake.

It would be brief at first as if warning us, but the magnitude and amplitude would continue to grow.

And then, at some point, a Gate would tear open along with a massive gale…

My confirmation was complete.

I planned to tell Serge I was going to the restroom and then immediately flee the banquet hall.

But before I could even open my mouth, he beat me to it.

"A Gate is going to open soon, Lady Blake."