The Villain’s Ending

Chapter 129

Sunset (12)

"Even though they're an already poor family, their mansion has collapsed, and their precious wheat fields were lost not to a wildfire, but to the child they cherished so dearly; and now that beloved daughter has become such an ugly human, how much torment must Count Beluze be in?"

Levina said so, then took out her staff and sprinkled water around, weakening the fire Seraphina had raised.

But the fire didn't go out.

Instead, each time it met water, even as its size diminished, it made a crackling sound, turning the water into steam as it burned.

While the two of them did that, I merely stood stiffly frozen.

I thought I had overcome being burned to death in my own way, but in a space similar to Levina's room, with Seraphina in a situation where Levina seemed somewhat pushed back, and fire rising in the room, cold sweat began to flow.

It seemed inevitable to be seized by memories, being in a place excessively similar to the past.

My body felt both hot and cold.

I tried my best not to show it, but my body trembled faintly.By the way, had my complexion also not improved?

"......Lavin?"

It was Seraphina's voice.

Seraphina looked at me worriedly.

As no reply came, I looked at her, and Seraphina dispersed the magic power rising around her.

At the same time, as my strength slightly gave way and I staggered, Levina supported me from beside me.

Seeing that, Seraphina paused as she was about to approach me, then bit her lower lip.

Levina, smiling at Seraphina's reaction, then sighed and looked at the mansion's surroundings, and the burned wheat fields visible beyond the window, before opening her mouth.

"Yes. We should go back. There doesn't seem to be much point in talking with a lunatic who can't distinguish right from wrong. Let's go, Lavin."

I was about to follow Levina as she walked out of the room, but my eyes met Seraphina's.

Seraphina clasped her slightly trembling right hand with her left, and then forced a smile, trying her best to hide her somewhat fearful expression.

"See you tomorrow, Lavin."

Even the forced smile was trembling, so it didn't look very natural.

I replied, doing my best to avoid making a nonplussed expression.

But because we knew so well what kind of expressions each other was making, the uncomfortable feeling remained.

Because no matter what we tried to hide, we had known each other for too long, and been too close, to have any secrets.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

And then I followed Levina out of the room.

Levina walked out of the corridor, then out of the mansion, and said in a low voice as she walked towards where the carriage was.

"I think I might understand why she's suddenly like that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Still, doesn't it feel a bit funny?"

Levina said so, and let out a laugh as she walked.

It felt less like she was laughing out of joy, and more like mockery was seeping out.

"What's so funny?"

"It's repulsive, isn't it?"

Levina laughed so hard that tears seemed to well up, and she rubbed her right eye slightly with her sleeve before opening her mouth.

"I had a dream too."

"What kind of dream?"

"A dream where you died in front of me. You died countless times. To the point of boredom.

Blowing your head off with a gun, jumping out of a window.

I even had dreams where someone told me you had died."

When our eyes met, Levina flinched slightly.

And then she walked past me again.

As if she didn't want to show her face.

"Honestly, it wasn't a very good feeling.

Every time you died, I just watched."

"What are you trying to say?"

"No matter what sounds grazed my ears, or what unpleasant illusions grazed my mind, a dream is just a dream, you know.

But after having dreams where you died, you changed.

Not just you, but the people around you too."

I did not reply, but merely walked in silence.

The air, mixed with the smell of wet earth and ash, was heavy.

"If you were going to change just from having nightmares about dying, why didn't you do better sooner?"

Levina stopped walking.

And then she turned around and looked at me.

She slowly walked towards me, embraced me tightly, and began to whisper.

"If you're going to suffer from dying, or regret it, then you shouldn't have done such things. That's how it is, isn't it?"

Levina said so, holding me tightly, resting her head diagonally on my chest, and bringing her ear close to my heart.

"No matter how you treat me, I will love you.

Even if I die, you said you loved me too.

You were the same, after all."

"Even if I die because of that?"

"Yes. You're asking something obvious.

Even if you die, how could I stop loving you?"

I grabbed Levina's shoulders as she spoke, intending to push her away, but instead, without applying force, I merely rested my hands on her shoulders.

Then Levina slightly twisted her body, moved closer to me, grabbed my arm, and placed it where it would hold her tightly.

And she looked up at me and said in a low voice.

"If you're someone who would die just because I love you, then it's better to just die."

Even if it sent shivers down my spine, even if she unhesitatingly uttered unpleasant words, and at times acted inhuman, Levina was simply that kind of person.

"The dreams were unpleasant because they were only nightmares where love was nowhere to be seen."

"For you, it was just a dream?"

"Yes. A silly dream. Even if I get a little too sad while dreaming, or a little too angry, a dream is a dream, and it's not reality."

No matter what she did, what she accomplished, or what she said, my sister, who uttered the same words and performed the same actions, wasn't born this way.

This surely isn't human nature.

Even if she had been born to poor parents in the slums instead of the Edelgard family, she would have been better off than now.

My thoughts connected, then broke off.

Because the fact that I was feeling something akin to pity for Levina was simply something I couldn't get used to.

"Honestly, even if I say this, I don't know if it's real or not.

I can't really imagine you dying.

No matter what I see before my eyes, or what I hear in my ears, it's not real.

It can't be true.

It can't have been something that happened."

The trembling of Levina's hand, grasping my clothes, grew strong enough to be distinctly felt.

"What if it was real?"

Levina stepped back slightly, then this time, holding my sleeve, she offered a faint smile.

"Then it would be regrettable.

But it's not important.

You're still in front of my eyes, and I'm next to you, aren't I?"

When Levina looks into my eyes, there's nothing beyond me, or anything superimposed.

Levina looks only at me.

My sister looks only at her one and only family.

My sister looks only at her younger brother.

She looks only at me.

"So, no matter what I did to you, or what I said, love me.

No matter what you do to me, or what you say, I will love you."

That fact still scares me now.

Looking only at me, feeling emotions only for me, approaching only me, was so terrifying, and it's the same now.

Proper love, proper affection, a proper life.

Because there's nothing normal about any of it, and she approaches me, who lives hiding something normal inside, hoping and demanding I live the same life as her.

In her gaze, nothing else was reflected but me, who was in front of her eyes.

Only my image was reflected.

I was the same.

From some point, I was looking only at the Levina in front of me, not the Levina of the past, nor the Levina of the times I died.

Because no matter if I looked at the past, or recalled things from before, Levina was always the same.

Whether I died or not, whether I came back to life or not.

Her touch was gentle, but somehow unpleasant.

Yet, it was the kind of touch I had longed for as a child, so a secret joy sometimes arose within me.

Because it hadn't been that long since I stopped wishing my sister, who always reprimanded, tormented, and ground me down as if to kill me, would praise and cherish me.

If one were to simply call this kind of relationship "love," I thought it might be a bit harsh on people who truly love each other.

It's truly unpleasant.

Both me and Levina.

Disgusting.

"Usually, in times like this, doesn't the man hug first and then kiss?

Especially after I conveyed my sincere feelings that I had kept inside."

"That kind of thing only happens in the novels you read every day, Sis."

"......I've never shown anyone me reading novels.

Not even you, and I haven't even brought such books into the house."

I hugged the grumbling Levina tightly, then pulled away slightly, and lightly touched my lips to hers, which still had a sullen expression, before pulling away completely.

Levina slightly closed her eyes, then touched her lips with her finger and said.

"Hmm. Mmm. Not bad."

And then, with her hands behind her back, she added.

"It's definitely much better than just reading about it in lines of text."

After that, we found the coachman who was waiting with the carriage parked quite a distance away, got into the carriage, and returned to the academy.

Inside the carriage, Levina fell asleep, resting her head on my shoulder without a word.

Perhaps she was tired, as her breathing was surprisingly loud.

I poked Levina's sleeping lips with my finger a few times, then rested my head on Levina's and closed my eyes as well.

As expected, it wasn't particularly comfortable.