Chapter 28

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Chapter 7. The Villainess as She Is (6)

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"I'll carry you out if this door doesn't open in 10 minutes."

"……."

It was a moment of utter humiliation, like dying of shame.

"What am I, some object?"

"It'd be better if you were."

"……."

"If I locked you in a warehouse with a padlock, at least you wouldn't do anything dangerous."

"You're actually scary..."

Shane grinned. Edelaine couldn't muster a smile; she could feel he meant it.

Edwin, arms crossed, chimed in.

"That's what I said. She's holed up tight. She wouldn't even open the door for me. You think she'd come running just because you called her, Edelaine?"

"……You must be close to Genevieve, Your Highness."

"We see each other often."

Edwin shrugged.

Edelaine studied Edwin's face intently. But peering into the heart of a master fox like him for a few seconds wasn't enough to uncover his true feelings.

She figured that if he harbored romantic feelings for Genevieve, he wouldn't have let her marry a royal guard. But as always, people's hearts were unknowable.

Just as Edwin had boasted, they must be close.

Rushing over the moment he heard Genevieve had been attacked was quite the sacrifice, considering Edwin's killer schedule.

He's taking good care of her in his own way, Edelaine thought as she spoke up.

"I'll call her one more time. If she still won't open, we'll come back tomorrow."

She said it loud enough for anyone inside to hear.

Edwin chuckled.

"You're good at threats, Edelaine. Who'd you learn that from?"

"From the people around Your Highness."

"How long have you been married? Or were you always this talented?"

"Bad habits rub off quick."

Edelaine took a deep breath. Then she pounded on the door, steeling herself, and shouted.

"Genevieve, I know you're in there!"

It came out sounding like a threat somehow.

"I get if you don't want to come out! It's not like we'll never see each other again!"

Even more threatening.

"If you don't open this door, I won't eat! I'll starve!"

She tacked on a threat that might only work on Shane, then gave up. It probably wouldn't even faze him. At best, he wouldn't lock her up and force-feed her like the day they reunited.

What am I even doing...?

She felt remorse for poking at a troubled girl and making it worse.

Genevieve had people she could open up to besides Edelaine—her husband, Edwin. She didn't have to vent her hurt feelings to Edelaine specifically.

That was for the best.

Just as Edelaine was about to tell Shane they'd head back today, the door creaked open a sliver. Genevieve's small voice leaked through the gap.

"That's not fair, Lady Edelaine..."

"Can I come in, Genevieve?"

"……Yes."

Edelaine grinned and clasped Genevieve's hand tight.

Edwin's betrayed expression was hilarious.

Genevieve was in her nightgown.

It was the first time Edelaine had seen her without her priestess robes since reuniting.

The flowing dress reached her ankles and suited her tousled platinum hair perfectly.

Platinum hair like Edelaine's, but far more radiant.

Violet jewel-like eyes that were rare, unlike Edelaine's ordinary green ones.

In every way, Genevieve was Edelaine's superior version.

That was the villainess's role—to make the protagonist shine.

Comparisons worked best between similar things, not vastly different ones.

Unlike the old Edelaine, who craved Shane's love, this Edelaine had no need to compete with Genevieve, so she didn't mind their similarities. But if she were in a position to be compared, jealousy would inevitably surge.

That was the setup.

Similar yet different—a rival designed to provoke inferiority.

"……I just wasn't feeling well."

Genevieve said softly.

"The fatigue built up and burst. I didn't want to talk to anyone... It's not because I hate you."

"Not because you're mad at me?"

"……."

"You are mad."

Her tightly pressed lips and downcast head confirmed it.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"……."

"I told you never to do it again, and you did?"

"……."

"This time you weren't trying to die, right?"

"I told you not to!"

Her voice was startlingly loud.

Edelaine's eyes widened like saucers as she stared at Genevieve. Genevieve glared back, her violet eyes brimming with tears.

"I told you not to! I begged you not to!"

"Uh..."

Anyone hearing would think she'd nearly died for real.

Following Shane and Emma, now Genevieve too. They were all acting like Edelaine had come back from the dead. It was mortifying.

This must be karma.

"I can heal you without a scratch, but there's always that one-in-a-million chance!"

"……."

"If His Grace hadn't been there, if he'd been even a second late, if that man hadn't given up after losing his wrist, if there'd been more of them! You could've died!"

"Shane was right there, and I noticed first. If not me, it would've been you."

"I'm fine! I'm not playing saintess for show! I've been through attacks like that plenty of times!"

"What?!"

"Do you know how amazing the Goddess's blessing is? Even if they choke me or beat me! I heal right away! I don't even get hungry after starving for three or four days!"

"You're telling me that now?! If you heal me too, I get better quick!"

"Are you the same as me?!"

"What's the difference?!"

Edelaine huffed.

"I wasn't trying to die! You were there to heal me, Shane to save me! I thought it all through even in that moment! I'd have moved anyway without thinking!"

"And you're proud of that?"

"I can't help what my body does first!"

"……."

"I won't throw myself in thinking it's okay to die. I can promise that much, but nothing else. It'll happen again."

"……."

"I'll do the same."

Edelaine lifted her chin defiantly. Genevieve looked utterly deflated, as if she'd forgotten why she was crying.

"You're shameless..."

"Yeah, I am."

Thick skin was one of Edelaine's strengths.

How else could she pull off scams?

Without acting skills to back it up, surviving as a villainess would've been a pipe dream.

Genevieve looked like she had a lot to say. But she opened her mouth, closed it silently, and let out a deep sigh.

"……Truth be told, I was mad at you too, Lady Edelaine. But I was even madder at myself."

"Really? Why?"

"That man was probably being controlled by black magic."

"Uh... b-black magic? Wow, I see..."

"You knew."

"……."

Edelaine was the type to shine when she had a script.

She was weak to surprises.

"That morning, his eyes were still kind. He wasn't the type. If he'd harbored even a shred of killing intent, he couldn't have avoided His Grace's gaze—more than mine. And then it's obvious..."

"I see..."

"I should've been able to dispel black magic too."

"……."

"I should've been able to heal without touching... The previous Saintess could. But I can't."

"You can."

The casual response slipped out lighter than expected, startling even Edelaine.

Even knowing, this feels too dismissive.

She'd look like someone who couldn't empathize. Even if it was because she knew Genevieve was far superior.

Edelaine racked her brains for evidence.

"They say people controlled by black magic don't feel pain. But he screamed the instant his wrist was severed. He even protested his innocence."

"...Ah..."

"He might've been controlled during the attack, but he snapped out of it quick."

"Th-then maybe it wasn't black magic."

"You just said it was."

"I could be wrong."

"You're not. I believe you."

To be precise, she knew the truth, so she believed.

She trusted Genevieve too, but as the heroine, Genevieve was a munchkin stacked with every buff imaginable.

Edelaine flashed a grin. She felt like a con artist, shoving her conscience aside for a moment.

Genevieve sniffled.

"Lady Edelaine..."

"Yeah?"

"How... how can you believe in me like that...? I can't even believe in myself... No one else does..."

Genevieve burst into sobs and threw herself into Edelaine's arms.

"Because I know how amazing our Genevieve is."

"Waaah..."

"Aigoo, snot."

Edelaine patted Genevieve's shoulder to soothe her.

If this were a romance game and Genevieve the target, it'd be a total victory...

She imagined it felt like acing a test by copying the answer sheet from the top student.

As Genevieve clung to Edelaine and cried, memories flooded back.

How is this person always the same?

Back then, and now.

How can she be this strong?