Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 185 – Of the Past (1)

Ha.…

Lacias let out a sigh of relief. After confirming with his own eyes that Lila was alright, he lost his impatience.

Lila on the other hand seemed taken aback when she noticed him over a man’s shoulders.

Something was wrong.

Lacias could immediately tell that something was off so without hesitation, he pulled his gun from the waist of his trousers and aimed it straight at the man’s back. It was an ebony gun with blue jewels embedded in it like waves.

Click. The sound of a loaded pistol echoed throughout the room.

At that moment, he didn’t care who the man was, what his status was, or how the situation would turn out to be when he pointed the gun at him.

“Wh- who is this… ?”

The man felt the barrel pressing against his head, he lost all confidence after hearing the safety being released. Doug Blake stiffened his body preparing himself for the worst.

But I didn’t sense anyone approaching? He thought. Why did this person suddenly appear behind me? I made sure there was no one around us!

“Lila, it’s okay. Come over here.” It was a gentle voice reserved only for his newly-wed wife.

But Lila just stood there still. He almost hardened his face at Lila, who wasn’t moving, but he managed to keep the smile on his face. “Did this man hurt you?”

“Um, not yet….”

“But you don’t look okay at all.”

“Is that so…” Lila was somehow different. As if she had been captivated by something else, it seemed like she wasn’t paying attention to him. What’s going on?

Lacias sensed the strangeness. But he didn’t ask any further because the person who had to answer his questions was not her.

“It’s dangerous, so come behind me.” He edged one final time.

Only then did Lila blink her eyes slowly and move behind him. Now that she was out of his firing range Lacias felt free to interrogate the stranger. “Are you Baron Blake? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“Your Highness, the duke. I didn’t do anything. I was just congratulating the duchess.”

“Shut up.” Lacias struck Doug Blake in the head with the grip of his gun. But when Lila flinched behind him, he suppressed his rage and ceased attacking him.

“I came here after interrogating the spy you planted, and now you’re telling me you did nothing?”

“…H-how-” Doug Blake was still holding his head from the blow.

“I see how dumb you are.” Holding back the urge to pull the trigger, Lacias pulled him back and called in Roxanna to hold him in a cell. He was going to put Dough Blake on trial with all the evidence he had collected so far.

It was because he knew very well that for a nobleman, there was nothing more disgraceful than to be put on trial.

***

Lila’s mind went blank, and she felt slightly dizzy. She couldn’t remember what she said or did until the end of the wedding.

After the maids left, Lila took off her uncomfortable dress and lay on the soft bed. She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened between herself and Doug Blake. She didn’t want to be reminded of it, but unpleasant thoughts didn’t leave her head.

What the hell is going on! She felt nauseous by the waves of emotions overwhelming her.

Lila clenched her teeth and tried to get her mind straight. No one inside the wedding hall would have noticed Lila’s condition.

Except for Lacias….

Lacias looked at Lila a few times with a puzzled look, but it would have been hard for him this time to read her thoughts only by looking at her face.

When Lila recalled what had happened. It gave her such a big shock that she felt sick.

*

“You still have no idea who I am?”

What first caught her eyes was his yellow teeth. Although it was for a short moment, the man’s appearance and gait reminded her of someone she knew so well. Feeling displeased, she frowned at the man without realizing it.

Wait. Someone I know… Someone familiar… And a stranger from a different world like me….

There were very few people that Lila got along with back in her previous life, meaning that the range of people he could have been was limited.

Someone who could get caught up in the oven explosion incident that day.

Lila’s face grew even paler as if she was soaked in the bleach.

My… father.

Lila trembled, clenching her fists until her nails bit into her palms. At the same time, Doug Blake smiled as if he was satisfied seeing her fingertips turning white.

But how? She could not believe her own reasoning,

I was drawn into this world when the oven exploded. So, does that mean my father was also caught up in the explosion and brought here with me?

Despite her disbelief, Lila knew his story checked out. He always acted awkwardly and stuck out like a sore thumb around other nobles.

Lila never thought of investigating Doug Blake’s past. The person in charge of the investigation probably would have looked into his past. But the report didn’t include anything about it, maybe because there was nothing suspicious.

Who would ever think that someone who lived in another world came into someone else’s body in this world?

If anyone else were to hear their conversation it would sound like the rambling of two psychopaths.