The Villainess Lives Twice

Chapter 269Proofreader: somnium

Lysia was locked up in a solitary room.

She wasn’t in prison. The room had a neat bed and a fireplace, and tapestries hung on the walls.

There was also a tea table and chairs.

But it made no difference that it was a prison.

Lysia dragged the chair and stood up on it, opened the small window and looked out.

The window was only the size of two palms. Even a five-year-old child would not be able to get out through there.

The building was a monastery. The whole building was built of strong stone and was surrounded by a high fence.

It was to defend against monsters.

There were many such monasteries in the West.

Perhaps, there is a deserted field outside the fence. This is because the monastery was originally built apart from the secular world.

It seemed that the abandoned monastery was used as a base for the station.

‘Two, four…….’

Lysia counted the number of torches she saw outside the window.

Over forty. Even if there was one watchman for every three, it meant that there would be 17.

‘50 people who brought me here…… , there must have been at least 30 people guarding the base…….’

It’s probably more than that if she thinks about the people who flocked to the hustle and bustle last night.

Escape was impossible.

Lysia was conscious of the pistol she had placed on her back. It was Cedric’s pistol with Evron’s crest engraved on it.

But she only had one bullet.

It wasn’t meant to be used as a weapon in the first place. Cedric had not given it to her to shoot either.

The pistol symbolized the authority to move Evron’s servants in case of emergency.

Because she was not like before, she was neither the Saintess nor the fiancee of the Grand Duke, and she was nothing more than Baron Morten Heir Apparent.

Just in case, it would have given the Knights of Evron a reason to move. For Lysia herself. She also has to protect Artizea.

After she came to the West, she thought there would be no work for her. Because Artizea gave her her full powers, and also attached escorts.

Lysia accepted it as a kind of amulet and kept it.

She thought she would rather not have it now, though. It was too dangerous to fall into Lawrence’s hands.

Not all orders can be issued to all areas at the same time. If discovered, this pistol could have been used in the wrong place.

She was lucky she was brought without being searched. But right now, she will still be caught tonight.

So she had to hide it.

She couldn’t hide it in her body. The pistol was not designed for dueling or self-defense, but for warfare, especially for Cedric, who has big hands.

‘Window frame? Fireplace? No, the bed mat?’

She couldn’t hide it in the room because she was anxious.

Lawrence’s base is not in one place. No, rather, she thought that there was no fixed base.

Then she can’t hide it in the room. Because she may not be able to retrieve it and may be dragged away.

No. Still, it would be better than falling into Lawrence’s hands.

Would she rather throw it out the window? But if the guards picked it up, it was the same anyway.

Lysia rubbed her face with her hands. She seemed to go crazy.

Or, will she just kill herself with this one shot?

She even had a feeling that it would be the cleanest ending so that she won’t suffer any more.

‘I can’t. I know it shouldn’t be.’

Lysia went round and round in the room.

[“It’s okay.”]

That’s what Alphonse said.

[“It’s okay. Because this is my role. And I’m a lot stronger than you think.”]

So, run while he buys time with his life.

He said he was okay, but Lysia, who had survived by someone giving their life twice, was never okay with it.

It wasn’t just Alphonse. All of the dead knights she had known since childhood.

The officials and priests were also people who volunteered to do the difficult task of following her to find plague spreading spots.

Her life was also laid upon the lives of the knights who died guarding her, and the lives of the priests and officials who died because of her.

She did not want to recreate this tragedy. No, she didn’t want to go through it.

She wanted to get out of that yoke. She didn’t want to be called a saint, and she didn’t want to look at the Imperial Palace.

Apart from forgiveness and reverence, this time, she just wanted to live her life doing what she wanted to do.

So she fled west.

Should she have fled to the North? Should she have given up on things she couldn’t finish and regrets, and went back to her hometown and forgot about it?

What is the name of the Saintess? Now, she was no longer a saint.

Her divine power remained, but the divine voice that came upon her had already disappeared. Artizea was said to have received the oracle.

Lysia thought it was right. God had chosen the wrong person in the first place.

And Lysia thought she must turn back time to reflect her choice.

So it might have been right for God to let her do nothing and she should back off.

Lysia pulled out the pistol and wiped the tears from her cheek with the hem of her sleeve.

She thought that now she could not shed any more tears. There was never a day when grief became bearable.

But she had to live. As long as she is alive, Cedric and Artizea will come to her rescue someday.

The plague in the West can only be cured with her healing powers.

If she makes Lawrence’s misconduct ferocious here and gets killed, the plague will only end when all the sick are killed.

Lysia pulled out the pistol. She then pulled out the bullet and put it in her clothes pocket.

She then tried to hide the pistol in the fireplace.

It was then.

Knock, knock.

A timid knock on the door was heard.

Lysia was startled, and she quickly put the pistol back on her back. And she asked,

“Who is it?”

The door opened carefully.

A girl, who was not over eighteen, cautiously entered through the door. She was holding a dress in her hand.

“He, ah, hello……. I, I came here after being told to attend to you so you can change your clothes.”

She had a terrified face as if she had been dragged away from her home.

Lysia stared blankly at the girl’s face.

“Venia.”

Venia looked at her with a startled face.

“Do you know me?”

“…….”

Lysia only bit her lip.

She missed her, but it was the face she never wanted to see again.

Because seeing her again meant that the unbearable sorrow and misfortune had come upon her.

And the sorrow and misfortune must have already come upon Venia. Because it was obvious what Lawrence might have dragged her here.

‘Sorry.’

Even if she uttered an apology, Venia would not have understood the full meaning.

“At home…… is everything okay?”

Effortlessly, Lysia asked for it.

Venia nodded her head, unable to hide a frightened face.

“Are you forced to say that it’s okay?”

“N, no, nothing has happened.”

The clever Venia knew exactly her own situation. She didn’t even know what was going on, but she wasn’t clueless.

“If I take good care of Miss, nothing will happen.”

Tears welled up in Lysia’s eyes. Clear tears fell again like drops of beads on her wiped cheeks.

“I see.”

“Miss, are you okay?”

Venia looked at Lysia’s face and asked worriedly.

Lysia shook her head saying she was okay.

She was okay. If she was not okay Venia would lose her family and her hometown all over again.

She couldn’t do that.

“Don’t worry too much. You…… will return safely.”

Lysia struggled to speak. As she spoke, she choked several times.

“I will change. Help me.”

Lysia thought there was nothing more shocking than this.

But when she unfolded the dress that Venia had brought her, the same color lace was placed over the ivory silk, tied once under her chest, and then hung heavenly, the dress felt warm and holy.

It was a style that didn’t exist now. In the past, when Lysia became the Crown Princess, it was designed with the utmost care by the best tailors for the Saint’s wedding.

Regardless of the real Lysia, it meant to show the image of a healing Saintess that people want.

And that her wedding dress became fashionable.

Soft silk and thin lace in achromatic colors took over the social world. Lysia also wore this style of dress again.

How could Lawrence try to put the clothes back on her?

The painful past became a reality and poured out all at once.

It must have all disappeared when they returned to the past. She said she would no longer be a saint and she would no longer be the Empress.

The world has changed so much that they will be walking through a completely different history than before.

Still, it seemed to her that everything was repeating itself.

Lysia stumbled and sat down on the chair. She covered her eyes with her hand, even though she thought she shouldn’t be like that in front of the unfamiliar Venia.

Her tears were dripping down. Lysia cried helplessly.

Venia had a perplexed face.

“Don’t do that. If you cry…….”

Venia felt her chest tighten as if it was being squeezed.

She never thought of herself as a compassionate person.

It was Venia, who had been drawn into a serious problem because of her. And if anything goes wrong, it was Venia’s village that would be attacked.

It’s not like the Miss had never worn a fine silk dress like this.

Still, she was sad and terrified. It seemed like the crying of this unknown person who she didn’t know the name would tear her heart out.

“Don’t do that.”

Venia sat down on her knees in front of Lysia.

She wanted to wipe Lysia’s cheek, but she was reluctant to do so with her shabby clothes.

Venia hesitated, and then she gently took Lysia’s hand.

Then the door swung open.

“Lawrence.”

Lysia jumped to her feet.

And she took a step in front of her, as if she was trying to hide Venia behind her back.

Venia noticed that Lysia’s hand, which was holding her own hand tightly, was trembling.

“What are you doing without changing clothes yet? Didn’t you get it from Venia?”

Lawrence said peacefully as if nothing had happened.

And Lawrence himself looked like nothing had really happened.

His hair was combed neatly, and he was wearing a modest but neat suit.

That was enough. Originally, he was a person who didn’t need any further decorations.

It was just the same as when he was a lovely young man attending a ball in the Capital.

Lysia looked at him like a monster.