The Villain (4)
Sometimes, such thoughts cross my mind. That cruel notion—if only I hadn’t packed the medicine when leaving the mansion.
Saren wouldn’t die without it. Her lifeline would simply stretch thin until the very brink of death.
But as a human being. Well, I’m not exactly a saint myself. Still, as a human, I swore I would never commit such a despicable act.
“Do you truly not love me anymore?”
“······.”
That deranged expression of hers dragged the thought back to the surface.
“Is it because I haven’t given you my body? Is that why you’re wavering? Ah, is that really it?”
Saren clapped her hands together with a sharp smack as she spoke. A wet sound rang out, and thick, crimson blood splattered across both our faces.
“Did Vivian give her body to you, brother? Did she spread her legs for you like the other maids?”
“······Your hand first. Let’s treat your hand first.”
I ignored her and unfolded her palm.
But she grabbed the back of my hand and pressed it firmly against her own chest. She pushed it upward slightly. The massive, soft flesh—too large to fit entirely in one hand—pressed against me with obscene clarity.
“Brother.”
She took one step closer. At the same time, my elbow bent sharply.
“If you want my body that badly, I’ll give it to you. I’ll be your broodmare for the rest of my life.”
“Saren.”
One hand clutched the back of mine against her breast. The other stroked my cheek, pulling my face closer.
Our noses nearly touched. Our lips were close enough to brush. Close enough to feel every breath she took.
“You already know why I haven’t given myself to you yet. If you want it that much, I have no choice. Even if it destroys my body, if it means I can have you...”
Every time she spoke, the cold edge of her lips brushed against mine. Her sticky gaze hovered right before my eyes. Those red irises, curved like crescent moons, burned with genuine hunger for me.
Still, the fact that she knew why she hadn’t offered her body yet—that clearly wasn’t directed at me. It was meant for Serion, the original owner of this body.
Serion knew. I didn’t. That truth grated on me in a strangely unpleasant way.
“Young master.”
At that moment, Vivian’s voice sliced through the silence.
The instant I heard it, I reflexively shoved Saren away and yanked my hand from her chest.
“T-that’s not what it looks like...!”
Wait. Why am I even making excuses? There’s no need to explain anymore. We’re not in that kind of relationship now. That’s right... we’re nothing to each other anymore...
“What is this?”
Saren asked sharply, turning toward Vivian. But Vivian’s expression was far from normal.
Her lips were pressed into a tight line. Her blue eyes hung half-lidded with exhaustion. And her gaze was fixed solely on me.
“What exactly... are you doing right now?”
It was a face I had never seen before. My own face was surely covered in blood. The Vivian I knew would have panicked and demanded to know what happened.
Instead, she simply questioned me in a low, heavy voice, as if interrogating me.
“What kind of attitude is this from a mere maid toward her master? Have you lost your mind?”
It seemed Saren had noticed it too. But from the start, Vivian only looked at me. She offered no response to Saren’s question.
Something was wrong. No matter how I looked at it, something was terribly off. Vivian should never show us this kind of attitude. She was supposed to devote herself unconditionally. She was supposed to help us no matter what.
Why? Because that was how the original story began.
But why...
“Put that down, Vivian.”
“······.”
Why was she gripping the dagger I had thrown away so tightly, staring at me as if she could pierce right through me? Her hand trembled violently from how hard she clutched it.
Could the story already be twisted? It shouldn’t be possible yet.
Or maybe... this was never the right path to begin with?
“Didn’t you hear what my brother said?”
The moment Saren took a step toward her, I grabbed her wrist and yanked her back.
“Ah! B-brother?”
“Stay still.”
“······Pardon?”
Saren’s eyes widened in shock.
Honestly... why does nothing ever go smoothly?
“Haa······.”
Crunch. Crunch. I stepped forward, one foot at a time, crushing the short grass beneath my boots as I approached her.
“Brother!”
I ignored Saren’s call from behind me. I moved closer to Vivian, who continued to stare only at me.
As the distance between us shrank, her eyes lifted higher to match our height difference. Soon, my shadow cast by the moonlight completely engulfed her. Only her blue gaze, directed at me, sparkled with tears.
“Young master.”
“Yeah.”
“Young master······.”
“······Yeah.”
Her voice, calling out to me with desperate longing, carried the weight of sobs.
“Have I done something wrong to you?”
“······.”
“Why won’t you look at me the way you used to? Why aren’t you as kind as before? Did I... did I commit some terrible sin against you?”
I kept my mouth firmly shut and simply shook my head.
“······Liar.”
Vivian let out a short, scornful sigh.
“It would be easier if you would just scold me harshly. If you would curse at me, at least my heart could find some relief. But right now, I can’t breathe... it feels like I’m going to die from how suffocating this is, young master...”
Plop. The tears that had filled her blue eyes fell straight down without even tracing her cheeks.
The way you used to.
When Vivian said “the way you used to,” she clearly wasn’t referring to the two years we had spent together in my previous life. Her “usual” belonged to an entirely different time.
In other words, this was also Serion’s story.
So there was nothing I could do for her here. Because I wasn’t the Serion she craved. I wasn’t the Serion she loved.
The person I loved was looking at me and seeing someone else.
······That truth truly felt like my heart was being torn apart.
“Why are you holding this? It’s dangerous.”
I took the dagger from her hand and moved it to my own.
“Hic... young master······.”
Vivian lowered her head and wiped her tears with both hands.
Her shoulders were hunched tightly. I wanted to pull her trembling body into my arms right then, but I couldn’t. I wanted to wipe away her tears, but I couldn’t do that either.
Because what she longed for wasn’t my touch.
“Saren.”
I turned my head and called her name. She stood behind the campfire, her head slightly tilted as she glared at us. Blood dripped steadily from her hand. Dark shadows danced across her face in the flickering firelight. All of it combined to highlight her madness even more sharply. My chest felt tight. This situation was too much for me to bear. Above all, the fact that there was nowhere to run gnawed at me. No— the fucking realization that no matter how far I ran, I would always end up back here was eating me alive.
“Go lean against that tree over there. Let’s treat your hand.”
“Brother.”
“Saren, please.”
“······.”
“Please... just listen to me for once.”
Saren stared at me intently before her eyes softened. She sat down at the base of the tree.
“······Thank you.”
I retrieved a needle and thread from Vivian’s bag, along with a bottle of strong liquor and bandages from my own.
Then my eyes landed on a familiar object. I picked it up immediately.
It was something shaped like a compass, carefully carved from wood. It had markings for north, south, east, and west, but no needle. Instead, a sharp, blue light floated in the air above it, as if imbued with magic.
“······?”
Was it always like this? The blue light looked faint, as if it might flicker out at any moment. Given the timing, it had to be from today, but my memories of grabbing it two years ago were hazy.
What I did remember clearly was that it hadn’t emitted any light when Saren and I wandered through Dyer Forest. I had no idea what that meant. It could simply be an ordinary item with no significance.
Right now, that wasn’t important.
“Vivian.”
“······.”
Vivian, who had remained standing in the same spot, looked at me weakly.
“Saren’s hand. Can you treat it?”
I tested her lightly. Could she use healing magic? Or was she truly unable to, just as Chloe had said, because she was a heretic?
But she shook her head without any sign of panic.
“I am not a complete saint······.”
“Why? Because you’re a heretic?”
“······.”
At my question, her blue eyes narrowed into thin slits. It was an expression I had never seen on Vivian’s face before—utterly alien.
“······Young master.”
“Can the Great Saintess Marian perform healing?”
“······.”
She simply stared at me without saying a word.
“She should be able to. This girl’s hand is badly injured.”
I poured the liquor over Saren’s palm to wash away the blood. The mercilessly torn flesh was revealed in full.
“Ugh...!”
Only now did the pain seem to hit her. Saren’s face twisted sharply.
“Young master.”
Along with Vivian’s voice, I heard slow footsteps approaching from the side. Both Saren and I turned our gazes toward her.
“Did you... just call me a heretic?”
Her voice lacked strength. So did her steps. Thud. Thud. The way she walked, creaking like a broken thing, reminded me of a zombie.
“You mustn’t say such things to me, young master. You really... you mustn’t...”
“What the hell? Get away from him.”
Saren immediately pulled me back and stepped in front of me. But Vivian paid her no mind. She continued advancing, her eyes fixed only on me.
“Why did I become a heretic? Why did I become a maid instead of a saint? It’s all because of you. D-don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”
“Vivian...”
“Because of your words!!”
She screamed so loudly that veins bulged in her neck. The air itself seemed to tremble.
“Because of that honeyed tongue of yours, I killed my own sibling!! I gave up my entire life!! How dare you call me a heretic!! How could you possibly—!!!”
“······.”
It seemed Serion Elsia had been the villain of this world after all.
No matter how desperately I struggled, I could never become a savior. I was an irredeemable villain. Not just to Saren, but to everyone.