The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 106
Arma did not want to admit it.
He thought he would be fine without Roxelyn.
He was just curious about how she was doing.
He never intended to let her die. He never wanted to put her in danger.
But she was playing a dangerous game with her frail body.
Being pursued by the imperial family.
Chased by hunters after the bounty on her neck.
So, Arma belatedly pursued Roxelyn.
She was no longer leisurely nor had any ease. She was so good at hiding that even Arma, the greatest of all imperial scions, could not find her.
His brother, who held the emperor’s crown he had abandoned, was trying to kill Roxelyn.
For the false accusation of killing Arma.
He wanted to stop it.
He pursued her wanting to stop it, but the more he pursued, the further she got.
The more days he couldn’t catch her, the more anxious he became, and on the days he received belated information, he couldn’t even sleep.
And then one day, he realized.
She would always make sure to buy medicine with the money she earned from deceiving others and running away, yet now… Now, she was no longer buying medicine.
He was anxious.
Too anxious.
It was a long struggle.
And not long after, he heard that Roxelyn had been captured.
It was Gerun Wilfred, dispatched by the emperor’s order, who had found Roxelyn after the prolonged struggle.
And then Roxelyn died.
She was gone.
“…Gerun Wilfred.”
He gritted his teeth.
Gerun Wilfred had killed Roxelyn. Not even leaving a body behind, burning it completely.
And that man, too, died not far from there, engulfed in flames.
Why couldn’t Arma understand?
The dead will never return.
What is not conveyed cannot be conveyed to the dead. Even trying to convey it to the dead only leads to emptiness. Because death is the end.
No matter how much he yearned and screamed at a god he didn’t believe in, Roxelyn did not return.
Roxelyn, who loved Arma, who laughed and talked with him, was already dead.
Arma slowly opened his mouth.
* * *
—I’m sorry, Roxelyn…
Roxelyn took a slow breath at the voice and the scene stuck in her head.
Unable to show any indication that she was awake, Roxelyn froze.
‘…What was that just now?’
The moment Arma touched her, a strange scene flashed through Roxelyn’s mind.
Feeling the careful touch on her cheek, Roxelyn suddenly realized what was happening.
In her blindness, Arma had quietly entered her room and, without a word, had been holding her hand and stroking her hair repeatedly.
‘…Why is he doing this?’
Roxelyn found herself in a bit of a dilemma.
As she was pretending to be asleep and keeping her mouth shut, she was stuck, unable to do or say anything.
‘Was that a memory I just saw…?’
Roxelyn recalled what had fleetingly come to mind in a dreamlike state.
A tombstone with her name on it.
Roxelyn rolled her eyeballs under her eyelids.
‘Could it be… my original world?’
Then, was he really alive?
Roxelyn thought with her eyes closed.
“Recently, I’ve been dreaming of a world where you’re dead. A world where I regret endlessly because you have died.”
Roxelyn was taken aback by the sudden confession and fell silent.
“I watched that version of myself in despair without you. Every night, I’m a worthless man, drunk by your grave, making confessions.”
“….”
“I’m scared it might become true. I could feel all the emotions from those dreams, and it’s so terrifying….”
There was hesitation in his soft voice.
“…I’m also afraid of losing you and becoming like that.”
‘…So that’s why he had that expression in Landarin?’
Arma, who had come to find her, was terrified and relieved when he found Roxelyn.
The hand that had been stroking her hair slowly swept across her cheek once more and then withdrew. As he spoke again, his voice was trembling.
“I… really don’t know.”
Roxelyn considered speaking up. She felt she shouldn’t listen anymore.
“Roxelyn, I hate the Emperor, the imperial palace, the empire.”
“….”
“I thought I couldn’t love anything from the empire because of that….”
Arma trailed off.
“But if you are in that empire, maybe it would be okay….”
Roxelyn suddenly got up from her spot.
“Maybe I truly lo… mmph—”
—And she immediately reached out with both hands to cover Arma’s mouth.
“You seem feverish, please go to sleep.”
“…Rox— mmmph.”
“Go to sleep.”
As his confession was abruptly cut off, Arma’s face was filled with astonishment.
