A World Where You All Are The Villains [Novel] Chapter 67

His flushed, golden eyes burned fiercely with intense emotion.

The aura radiating from him was downright terrifying.

For a moment, my heart sank to my stomach.

Anxiety quickly reared its ugly head.

However, I immediately brushed the thought aside.

Knowing Vincent's personality, there was absolutely no way he'd keep his mouth shut if he knew I had awakened.

Especially not if my ability was "purification".

Besides, didn't he just say so himself a moment ago?

If it had just been me, maybe.

But there was no way S-Class Awakeners like Dylan and Serge wouldn't have noticed the presence of his watchers.

While I felt a wave of relief that my awakening remained a secret, a sudden question popped into my head.

Who I went out to meet was none of his business.

I couldn't understand his logic at all.

As I simply stared at him wordlessly with a furrowed brow, Vincent pressed me further.

"Why can't you answer, Edith? Did you do something you can't tell me? Hmm?"

"…What does me meeting and talking with those two have to do with Llewellyn being kidnapped?"

"How does it not matter? I'm asking if you conspired with those bastards, or if they tailed you because they suspected you too, just like I did."

"Then go ask them yourself. Whether they conspired with me to kidnap the Purifier, or if they followed me out of suspicion like you."

"I'm not here to play word games."

A vicious sound leaked from his jaw, as if he were grinding his teeth.

"Are you failing to grasp the situation here? I'm barely holding myself back right now."

"…"

"Just tell me the truth even now, Edith. Only then can I decide whether or not to forgive you."

Who's forgiving who?

His sheer arrogance was enough to make me scoff.

81%

At that exact moment, the number above his head rose by 2%.

It meant his emotional state was unstable.

However, since there was still a long way to go before he'd hit a rampage, his threatening tone didn't scare or bother me in the slightest.

I was just annoyed and exhausted.

"Haa… Vincent,"

I sighed, muttering in a low, exasperated tone.

"Seems to me you're the one failing to grasp the situation because you're crazy about a girl. But fine, let's assume your nonsense is entirely true."

"Are you finally admitting it?"

"No, I'm not admitting it. I'm saying let's hypothesize that I kidnapped the Purifier, just like you say."

He scowled, clearly failing to understand the subtle difference.

I didn't care and just kept talking.

"But why haven't you found Llewellyn yet? Especially when a whopping three S-Class Awakeners have been on my tail."

"That's…"

"There's no way both Count Frederick and the Grand Duke conspired with me to kidnap the Purifier… Ah, is it because of those 'unavoidable circumstances' you mentioned before?"

"What?"

"Because it was an accident? Because the situation was bad? Must be nice for you S-Class Awakeners to always have so many excuses."

Vincent's eyes widened momentarily at my biting sarcasm.

I was directly throwing back the very words he had desperately shouted at me in the drawing-room the other day.

"You…"

Realizing what I was doing, Vincent's face stiffened terrifyingly.

I found it mildly amusing how he flinched like a salted loach whenever I brought up that topic.

But more than that, I was genuinely curious where this blind faith came from, this absolute certainty that Edith was always the one to blame.

Now that I looked at it, he practically made his friend out to be the villainess out of pure habit, didn't he?

"During Tollen, and this time too. Do you have a single shred of proof that I kidnapped Llewellyn?"

"…"

"You don't, do you? It's all just your own suspicions. Just like how I have no proof that you left me to die."

"Watch your mouth. I told you it wasn't like that…!"

"You even admitted to spying on me. Do I have to explain myself step-by-step to someone who doesn't even know why I met the Count and the Grand Duke? Why should I?"

When I asked him as if I truly couldn't fathom it, his lips parted like a man at a loss for words.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You say you're holding back, so what, am I supposed to say 'oh joy' and fall to my knees in gratitude?"

"Who the hell… Do I think I am…?"

Vincent's pupils dilated wildly at my brutally harsh tone.

He chewed over my words in disbelief before glaring at me menacingly.

"Are you done talking?"

"No, I'm not."

"Hey."

"I've been wondering this for a while now, but who exactly are you to keep bossing me around?"

"You really…!"

Just as he was about to roar in anger, he abruptly ran his hands roughly over his face.

Burying his face in his hands as if desperately trying to suppress his rage, he took a deep breath before letting out a heavy sigh and dropping his hands.

"Hah… Let's stop this. I told you, you've been caught, Edith. Stop nursing your pride and just admit it."

And that was the best he could spout after all that.

He had already decided on the answer and wasn't even listening to a word I said.

"You acting like this is just dragging your father and brother's names through the mud."

Cunningly digging into my weak spots, trying to strip away even my will to defend myself.

It was the exact kind of gaslighting my father's third adopted child used to pull so often.

That was all I needed to say back then.

But I was young, and it hurt, so I couldn't say those words. Like an idiot.

"…So what."

"…"

"Whether I drag my family's name through the mud or smear shit all over it, what does it matter to you?"

"How could it not matter?"

Vincent retorted, sounding bewildered by my words.

"Who do you think suffered like a dog going around cleaning up after your ridiculous antics all this time?"

"You think that was you? Ah, I see… But what a shame, right? I've forgotten everything, so I don't remember any of it."

"Please. How long are you going to keep acting like you don't know, Edith? If you just lie and say you forgot everything, do all the embarrassing things you've done magically disappear?"

"At the very least, it means I won't have to be tangled up with you anymore."

"…Will you stop spouting such absolute bullshit?!"

That was it.

The moment he suddenly roared at the top of his lungs.

"Who was the one trailing after me so relentlessly for 13 years, calling us friends!"

His eyes glared at me as if I were his mortal enemy.

His shoulders heaved violently as he panted.

I was dumbfounded by the sudden shift in his demeanor, as if a switch had been flipped.

But that shock only lasted a moment before I just found it completely absurd.

"…Friends?"

I scoffed right in his face.

In the past, I might have held my tongue just once, but I couldn't stand the hypocritical sight of him still singing the "friend" tune.

"Those 13 years? You took them with your own two hands and chucked them right into the trash, Vincent."

"…What?"

"Do you honestly think a normal friend comes up to someone who just barely survived death and immediately accuses them of kidnapping the woman they have a crush on?"

"…"

"Do you think threatening someone with an allergy that could easily kill them from shock is something a guy who's been a friend for 13 years would do?"

At this point, you'd think he might ask, "Are you mad?"

But for some reason, Vincent's mouth clamped shut.

It was a shame, really.

I was actually pretty furious this time.

The complexion of the man staring at me turned rapidly pale.

His darkened golden eyes wavered faintly.

He clearly hadn't expected Edith, who would normally stammer, lose her will to fight, and surrender the moment her blind spots were poked, to hit back this tenaciously.

And to fiercely attack him by pointing out his own hypocrisies and contradictions, he truly hadn't foreseen it.

I had been far too soft on him all this time.

Just because he stubbornly insisted we were friends.

Just because he was the first person to offer something resembling an apology to Edith after I possessed her body.

"If that's all, I have nothing more to say."

"…"

"I don't want a friend like you, so please, let's cut ties for good."

Having delivered yet another declaration to end our friendship, I turned away coldly.

But then…

I couldn't even take a single step because of the hand that immediately snatched my arm.

"Where are you going?"

"Let go. I'm done talking."

"Well, I'm not."

"So what. Go whine to your dad if you want to cry about it."

"Edith Blake!"

It was at that exact moment.

"…Edith?"

An unfamiliar voice suddenly cut through the tense standoff between Vincent and me.

"Vincent. Why are you here…?"

"…"

"What are the two of you doing out there at such an early hour?"

Turning my head slowly, I saw the Duke. And Ethan Blake.

Both of them were standing there, staring at us with shocked faces.

It seemed they had been taking an early morning stroll through the rear gardens.

My mind went completely blank, leaving only a single thought echoing in my head.