I’m A Villainess, Can I Die? - Chapter 25

Shortly after breakfast, my brother and his party were ready to depart. Well, the party consisted only of Lucas, but… what harm could happen when the male lead and sub-male lead were together?

“Goodbye, older brother.”

“Ah… Yes, Selena. You must take care of yourself.”

“I’ll be at home anyway. Sir Lucas, please take care of my brother.”

“Won’t you tell me to take care of myself?” Lucas pretended to be sad and bent his eyebrows.

‘Why are you lying like that? There is no need to worry about you because you deal with the people in front of you like a kangaroo.’ I turned away from him lightly and made eye contact with my brother. This was really the last time I would see him.

Thinking about that, I felt sorry for this bitter-smiling man. He was a character who cared for and cherished his younger sibling even though he got hit in the back of his head…

‘Now, I hope that you will be the protagonist of this story… Being the main character, you can overcome small ordeals quickly, and live happily among the people you love…’

I took my brother’s hand, blessed him in my heart, and then let him go. My brother was embarrassed that I held his hand, but he couldn’t hide his joy. Other people might’ve thought it was unusual. What kind of sibling relationship was so special? But knowing that I would die soon, I quietly cherished our last goodbye.

“Then, me too. Take care of yourself, Selena.” Lucas gently pulled my hand out of the one holding my brother and clasped it.

‘Right, it’s the last time I’ll see him, anyway.’ As if asking him to complete the simple task of slicing a tomato with a sword, the Duke gave Lucas the title of deputy knight commander and stuck him to me… of course, I would feel like an unwanted, shredded tomato right now.

He waved my hand roughly up and down. It was a farewell handshake. My older brother, who was looking at it indifferently, separated Lucas’ hand and my hand with his own fingers, then grabbed Lucas’ hand.

“Stop doing useless things and let’s go, Lucas.”

“Oh my, is my close friend escorting me? If your fiancée sees you, she’ll misunderstand.”

Without responding to the silly joke, my brother waved his other hand at me and got on the wagon. Lucas, with one hand held by my brother, folded his eyes, bowed lightly, and got into the carriage with an elegant gesture like a lady receiving a real escort.

“Be careful not to go MIA.”

At my joke as I grabbed the carriage door, my brother’s face lit up with excitement as he remembered the day of the engagement ceremony. Baby Bambi was a perfect match for the female lead.

As I closed the wagon door and took a step back, the coachman struck the reins and the horses began to move. I waved my hand once more at the vanishing wagon among the rattling and dust.

“I wish you good luck in the future, Brother…”

I muttered the blessing I could not say face to face and turned around without regret.

Finally, giving him all the blessings I could as Selena, my older brother wouldn’t have the memories of an immature child. This was enough.

“Mother, Father. I want to go out today.”

After my brother left, the three of us had lunch together and I opened the foreword.

“What? Where? Sir Lucas isn’t here… Wouldn’t it be better to go out in a few days?”

Mother’s worries poured out like rain.

‘Oh… using that expression makes me remember the last race… let’s not use that expression.’ Mother’s worries poured out like a cry, instead.

[tl/n: the author here used different onomatopoeias to express how worried her mom was. I guess it sounds weird right?]

“Count Jonas’ young lady is holding a rose garden party. I also want to be able to hang out with other people soon. I want to buy new clothes after a long time.”

“Then you can call designers to come over!”

My mother responded in a very rational and reasonable way, but that was the problem.

“I want to look around the dressing room here and there in person. As the date is close, custom clothes will be difficult… If possible, I want to see as many as possible and find what I like.”

“You can call in many costume designers.” This time it was my father speaking.

Normally, I would have admired the convenience. Staying at home and having someone just come over… However, today, the convenience was a nuisance.

“Actually, after I wrote that I accepted the invitation, I asked Count Jonas’ young lady to help me pick out the clothes. We were supposed to go out and look at clothes together… Can’t I?”

‘There’s no way I can’t. I have to leave today no matter what.’

The two quietly shut their mouths and pondered. They were worried about letting me go outside without Lucas, but their daughter, who was confined to her room because she was sick, said she wants to join the social world now… In addition, she would even be going on a date with a young lady of the same age to shop…

‘Who would stop me?’

Inevitably, my parents nodded with ambiguous, melancholy eyes, a mixture of determination, worry, relief and happiness.

“Thank you, Mother, Father.”

After I left, the voices of the two leaked through the closed door. A story mixed in concern and joy that Selena would go out with an acquaintance to go shopping.

‘I’m sorry, but I’m not even the real Selena, anyway. And that was what Selena wanted… Please do not be too sad or resentful.’

As I stood with my back on the door and listened to their conversation, I moved slowly, and the maid standing next to the door followed behind me.

Now this would be over soon, too. Servants followed me around without knowing why. In the house where I was the owner. No matter how much memory I had lost, even if I didn’t know the structure of the house… They must have thought that something was strange. It must have been very annoying.

“You have worked hard.”

“Pardon?”

The unknown maid replied, not understanding my words, but I shrugged lightly and walked away. That’s all I had to say, anyway.

“Simply, something plain.”

“Then… The necklace…”

“The necklace is fine. Please make it as simple as possible.”

“Yes, Milady.”

My outfit for going out was very simple. I wore only a hairpin made of pearls, proper makeup, and a dress with a casual design. A person with money would be dazed, thinking, ‘Oh, look at that fabric… Look at the state of the pearls.’ But I just wanted to look like a lady from a family with moderate money to those who did not know about high-quality fabrics and high-quality pearls. This was to avoid the same situation with the gangsters again.

“Then I’ll be back.”

“Okay, how about dinner?”

‘I don’t think I’ll eat it.’ I lowered my gaze and raised it. My mother’s sky-blue eyes, similar to those of Selena’s, were extremely burdensome.

“I’ll be back after eating. Just go in now. What amazing places will I go… “

“Okay… Yes. Well then, go ahead, my daughter. Say hello to Young Lady Jonas for me.”

‘Young Lady Jonas, you’re so lucky today.’

“Yes.”

I slowly pulled my hand out of Selena’s mother’s hand, who was gently stroking it. My mother kept looking at me. My father hugged her shoulders, asking what was all the fuss about, and yet, his eyes were fixed on me. I bowed my head and turned back relentlessly. An attitude that could not be reciprocated left only regrets.

“Let’s go, Aiden.”

“Yes, Milady.”

As I said goodbye to my parents, Aiden, who was standing next to me, greeted them both and followed me into the carriage. Through the carriage window, I could see the two of them still looking at me anxiously. I held their figures in my sight until they became invisible.

My brother, who had left in a carriage earlier, must have looked at me like this. I did a good job waving my hand at him. Feeling a little lighthearted, I leaned against the swaying wagon.

‘Ah… my butt hurts.’ The rattling feeling, which I couldn’t still adapt to, hit muscles all over my body. My muscle pain hadn’t gone away since the last time I went out… Besides, my whole body had been sore since yesterday.

Oh, I wasn’t even halfway there yet, but my whole body was aching. With how things were going, I was worried if I would do the right thing. Even though I held onto the window frame as much as possible to support my body, it vibrated along with the carriage.

“Milady, wait for a moment.” Aiden took something out of the bag he had brought earlier. It was red and fluffy… like a blanket.

“Why a blanket in the early summer?”

“Even in the early summer, it can be chilly at night. I brought it with me just in case… I’m glad.”

“Isn’t it cold now?”

Rather than cold, it was too hot.

Aiden looked at me once and folded the blanket neatly. Even in the tumbling wagon, his movements were uniformly refined. As expected of a pro.

“If you fold it on the seat and backrest, you will feel less vibration.” As if enlightening my ignorance, he placed the blanket next to him to demonstrate. He laid the long folded blanket against the chair and the wall and nodded at me. That confident nod made me think of my past. The appearance of being confident as if his answer was correct.

It had been almost two months since I entered this book. Time really went by helplessly.

I got up from my seat and moved to the place where he put his blankets in order. I sat down next to Aiden, who was sitting across from me.

Aiden was startled by the sudden short distance.

‘Again, why are you surprised?’

I moved because I thought this side would be more convenient than getting the blanket and organizing it myself, but I guess it wasn’t a good choice for Aiden.

Well, whatever. He wasn’t judgemental, and no matter what I did, he had to bear with it. It couldn’t be helped.

“Aiden, wake me up when you arrive.”

“Ah… yes.”

I closed my eyes. There was definitely less vibration transmitted to the buttocks. It was my first time sitting on this side, so it felt new.

I fell asleep with an empty chair in front of me.

* * * 

Aiden glanced at the sleeping maiden. Earlier, the carriage was uncomfortable, so she wobbled to and fro, but now she fell asleep easily.

‘If you were so uncomfortable, you could complain a little or tell the horseman to drive carefully…’

Then, casually, she sat down in the seat next to him. At a very different angle from before, Aiden stared at Selena’s sleeping face, then turned to look outside the carriage window in surprise.

‘Phew, what was I thinking just now?’

Aiden carefully moved his hips to the side of the wagon window and leaned his head against the wall. The sunlight shining vividly above the clear sky was too bright.