I’m a Villainess, Can I Die? - Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Lucas thought that his friend didn’t show any anxiety in front of Selena. Rather than that, in a way, it seemed that he was treating her with much more dignity than before.

How could that be?

Lucas stared intently at Aaron until he noticed his gaze and turned his head to look at him.

“What’s the matter?”

“When Selena woke up, you had been wary again for a while. But, why are you so proactive these days?”

It was a dangerous question. Still, Lucas couldn’t help but ask.

If Aaron was acting in front of Selena, pretending to be okay while burning himself out, then someone needed to know.

He was going to need someone to fill in the gnawed area. Although they seemed to be arguing a little these days, Lucas and Aaron were still best friends.

And it was the same with Aaron. Lucas was a brotherly friend, so he could quickly recognize the intent of the question Lucas was asking with a serious look.

It occurred to him that maybe it would be easier for Lucas to notice than his real younger sister, Selena.

‘No, it might be true.’

Aaron smiled softly.

“When Selena woke up, I was a little scared for a while. I think the child must have been that badly hurt because of my greed.”

“Your greed?”

“Yes. My greed. Selena had always been unstable. Expressionless, voiceless. She looked like a child whose everything had disappeared with her memories.”

Selena’s sky-blue face* appeared in Aaron’s head as he continued the story. As he just said, it was a picturesque face looking at him with a blank expression.

*T/N: yes i wonder what’s a sky blue face (하늘빛 셀리나의 얼굴이) meant ._.
PR/N: It might imply that her blue hair reflects onto her face but I don’t know either haha

Aaron couldn’t remember Selena’s smiling or crying face anymore.

“But I guess I didn’t really want her to go back to the way she was.”

Aaron was worried about Selena. When she tried to jump off the bell tower, he was so startled that he stayed up all night.

Aaron still liked his younger sister, no matter how much she hated him in the past.

No one knew how cute Selena was when he, at 5 years old, first saw her. No one knew how happy he was to see the child grow up.

His little sister was a happiness and blessing.

Selena hated and resented Aaron as she grew up, but it didn’t change her existence for him.

However, humans were really cunning. He thought it was okay for her to hate him.

He thought it was okay for him to simply be an older brother watching the child grow from a distance, and he thought that was enough.

But when Selena, who had lost her memory, didn’t hate or resent him, called him ‘Brother’ and acknowledged him as her family… He was so happy.

He didn’t want her to be like how she used to.

“So selfish.”

Aaron, who spoke helplessly, raised his hand and swiped his face. He felt like he was going to cry, but he didn’t want to cry as he told Selena’s story.

“I think my selfishness made her that way, so I was sorry and scared. So I avoided her. But one day, I had a dream.”

In his dream, Selena was cold. Her closed eyes did not open, and her hair, which was as blue as the sky, crumbled from the tip like a stalk of fallen leaves.

He tried to stop it somehow. He held her vanishing head in his arms and grabbed her with his hands, but she continued to crumble and disappear like ashes.

‘Selena! Selena…!’

It wasn’t just her hair disappearing anymore. It was her fingertips and toes. Her pale skin turned to black ashes. He couldn’t help but cry, until the child eventually disappeared without a trace.

The dream ended like that. When he opened his eyes, his whole body was drenched in sweat.

His throat felt choked at the sound of his heavy breathing.

“After waking up from the dream, I was scared again. Haha, I think there are too many things that are scary.”

He added some lighthearted words, as if joking. Lucas just smiled once, because Aaron might’ve needed it.

“What were you afraid of this time?”

Behind a small laugh, Lucas prompted him to continue. Aaron glanced at Lucas, who was smiling, and squeezed his hands, cold from the lack of blood, before relaxing.

“I couldn’t do better for the child. I couldn’t express myself more. I… kept the child away.”

He couldn’t bear to see his sister because he couldn’t shake the thought that his own selfishness had made Selena like that. But when he actually had such a dream, he came to her with greater regret for having avoided the child.

Death was far closer than he thought. So he wanted to be more expressive and more affectionate for Selena while she was alive… He wanted to do his best to let the child know.

“She is my blessing and happiness.”

T/N: who is cutting onionsss T.T T.T

Lucas shut his mouth. To be precise, he couldn’t open his mouth.

His close friend, who was as pale as flour, and whose swordsmanship skills could not be seen even if he rubbed his eyes time and time again, seemed bigger and stronger than anyone else at this moment.

He dared not open his mouth to say anything.

***

After the difficult greenhouse party was over, invitations poured in from here and there again. Perhaps the people who participated in the party said good things about me, and the invitations all included adjectives such as ‘benevolent’.

I was very satisfied with the idea that I had achieved the purpose of the greenhouse party in my own way. That didn’t mean I wanted to participate. I only read the descriptive words in front of me with cloudy eyes.

There were not just one or two events that must be attended this year… No, I thought there would only be one or two.

E/N: The TL’s explanation is: “it was one or two events that she needed to attend; she thought it was more than that and if she would attend those (one or twos) plus the invitations it would be tiring” if anyone else is confused about this like me then maybe that’ll clear it up for you a little, I still don’t know how to fix the sentence though lol

Anyway, if I participated in all these little things, I would end up overworked.

‘Ah, of course.’

After some good rationalization, I pushed all the letters in front of me to the corner of the desk and went to bed. My hometown.

My sweet home.

“Aiden.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

Aiden approached me and reached out to the water bottle on the side of the bed as he got used to the creaking sounds from the bed. Soon, the water in the bucket froze and clumped together.

It felt so good to have the heat go away as I rubbed my face against it.

The problem was that it was a bit watery, but it was actually more comfortable to pretend to be unaware of the flaws.

I had been using Aiden’s magic the most in the summer.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was abusing the talent of another genius after Lucas, but Aiden seems to be enjoying this work too… ‘What’s good is good.’

“Aiden, you still haven’t decided on the matter about magic?”

“That…”

I just asked a light question, but Aiden stalled the conversation with a troubled look. It seemed that no decision had been made today as well.

“It’s okay. I was just asking.”

It had already been two months since I proposed to Aiden if he would like to become a wizard. Still, he had not made a decision.

Of course, I did tell him to take it easy, but he was far more laid-back than I expected.

In the novel, I knew that he made the decision quickly, so I had already obtained a permit from the magic tower, and I had also obtained permission from Father… I didn’t expect Aiden to worry about it for this long?

Then, why did he accept it so quickly in the novel? Was it the people in the house?

If not, maybe… Between the ages of 19 and 22, Selena had tormented Aiden so much to the point that he could not stand it without revenge.

Yeah, I didn’t think so. That shouldn’t be.

I ended up concluding as optimistically as possible and laid down by the window. My back was against Aiden.

I felt very drowsy. The air was moderately hot, a small breeze blew from the window, and the water bottle against my cheek was cool.

Oh, it would be so nice to just lie down like this. Without doing anything, being so comfortable.

But God didn’t seem to like it when I’m playing around. Or it could be that Eunji didn’t like it.

About 10 seconds after thinking about resting, a knock rang at my door.

“My Lady, I brought you a letter.”

Another letter? It was already hard to deal with the bunch of invitations that were stuck in the corner of my desk… Why was everyone so eager about writing a wasteful piece of paper to me?

“Aiden…”

“Yes.”

Aiden, who had opened the door and received the letter, handed it to me, who was lying on the bed.

They had fancy taste. A colorful pattern was engraved on the outer envelope.

After looking around the dizzying envelope, I could barely find the place where the sender was written.

“Jacob Cooper.”

Oh right. I was thinking that the time had come. I placed the water bottle in my hand on the bedside table, got up and sat down near the head of the bed.

I roughly ripped open the envelope, distracted by the colorful patterns, and pulled out the letter with the main body written on it.

The letter was filled with fine handwriting.

Wow, Jacob had good handwriting.

Unlike Vivian’s newly developed handwriting, I exclaimed in a small exclamation because of the genuinely noble handwriting.

E/N: Poor vivian honestly

‘Dear Lady Selena. When I look at the blue sky, I think of your sky blue eyes. I fell into those eyes and couldn’t escape them…’

So on and so forth. I didn’t know why he was writing a poem with my name all of a sudden. Did he tend to become very emotional when he held a pen? If he did, he shouldn’t be holding a pen.

After scanning the part under the poem with blurred eyes, I flipped it back and turned it over. The main body seemed to be just three lines below.

‘I want to meet Lady in return for the handkerchief last time. Next weekend, the theater will host a famous opera performance. If I watch the opera singing the beautiful love between a man and a woman with Lady Selena, it would be a blissful return. Aahh, Lady Selena. I look forward to a good answer.’

As I read Jacob’s letter, the letter that Vivian had sent me flashed before my eyes. Did the two learn to write letters at the same academy?

Also, speaking of operas… In my previous life, I had never seen a musical or a play. Since Eunji liked musicals, we sometimes watched videos of them together, but that was all.

Come to think of it, Eunji also wanted to go see a musical in person. However, she was never allowed by the doctor.

The letter was a little wrinkled as my hand got stronger. I smoothed the crumpled part with my hand and sat down at the desk.

I got a letter, so I should reply. To be honest, I wasn’t too keen on going to the opera with Jacob, but it was the better choice.

To watch the opera and give thanks. I was planning to do some other things as well.