The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 204
“I’m not sure I understand what love is.”
Roxelyn muttered to herself as she watched Arma approach, carrying an unnecessary armful of firewood.
“I can’t even tell if this feeling is directed at the one who’s gone… or towards him.”
Gerun glanced down at Roxelyn. Her gaze was fixed on Arma, watching him even as he passed the firewood to another priest.
“Even if it’s a parallel world, the core remains the same. The person you loved wouldn’t be different just because the world is.”
“It’s different. The Arma here doesn’t have the memories of running away with me. Can you really say he’s the same person?”
Roxelyn turned her head to look at Gerun Wilfred.
Arma, having passed the firewood, began walking directly toward her with purposeful strides.
“Gerun, both Arma and my father had dreams about the events that happened in the parallel world I lived in.”
“…What are you saying?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. Arma dreamed of what happened after we died, and my father had a dream when I briefly… oh.”
Roxelyn suddenly remembered that she had turned into a child again.
“Before that, I briefly… traveled to the past in the original world. In other words, I suddenly possessed the body of my past self.”
“….”
“Is this the result of the demon you made a contract with? A side effect, perhaps?”
“No, that demon doesn’t have such abilities…”
Gerun Wilfred mumbled, then suddenly fell silent and narrowed his eyes, examining her closely.
Roxelyn, irritated by his scrutiny, was about to open her mouth when—
“Roxelyn.”
Arma had returned.
“Yes, Arma?”
“How about a walk with me after dinner?”
Arma gently took Roxelyn’s hand as he asked.
“Alright.”
Roxelyn glanced briefly at the now distant Gerun but squeezed Arma’s hand back and nodded slightly.
* * *
“Hey, everyone! Guess what? We have guests.”
“They’re not villains, right?”
“Hehe, maybe they are!”
Three children hiding in the darkness let out clear, bell-like laughter.
Though their faces were still hidden, their young voices rang out, and occasionally, flashes of white teeth were visible in the dark.
“They’re bringing all sorts of interesting things!”
Their voices were filled with excitement.
“Interesting things?”
“Yeah, yeah! There’s a lying bat, darkness, an imitator, and even a really pretty big sister!”
“Really? Then let’s take the sister with us! We can raise her ourselves!”
The children spoke with glee, bouncing around in excitement.
Thump, thump, thump.
What began as the light patter of children’s footsteps quickly turned into heavy, earth-shaking stomps, making the ground rumble as if an earthquake was about to start.
“Oops, we jumped too much.”
“Shh, if they get scared and run away, we can’t catch them.”
The children pressed small fingers to their lips and whispered softly.
“Are we playing hide and seek?!”
“No, maybe it’s tag!”
“Tag!”
“So who’s ‘it’?”
“Of course, it’s us!”
“Yeah, let’s be ‘it’!”
“But wait, I also want to play hide and seek.”
“Then why don’t we do both?”
The children huddled together, chattering away. Their voices sounded as if they came from one person, yet at times it seemed like dozens of voices, or just a handful of children.
“How can you play tag and hide and seek at the same time?”
“We’ll catch the sister, and if she wants to find us, she has to search for us!”
“That sounds fun, fun!”
“No, it won’t be fun if we don’t have the sister. Let’s hide first and let her find us!”
“What? How are we supposed to play this game?”
The children grumbled in frustration.
After much discussion and noise, they finally seemed to reach a conclusion. A pair of red eyes glowed in the darkness.
The children giggled innocently, their red eyes shining.
“Either way, if we win, the pretty sister will be ours.”
“Hey, how about we ask her to be our mom? Her eyes are the same color as ours!”
“Good idea, good idea!”
“She’s so pretty, she’s definitely kind.”
“Then we’ll start playing with her tomorrow!”
“But there’s a bothersome barrier in the way.”
“It’s fine, we’ve done this before, remember?”
“Great, great!”
Soon, everything fell silent.
In the darkness, there was no one left.
