The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 218
As Roxelyn touched the door, its pitch-black color returned to its original state in an instant.
It was an old, worn-out wooden door that looked as if it might crumble at any moment—completely out of place in this lavish room.
But perhaps it wasn’t the door that was strange here.
If anything, this was how things should be.
‘It’s actually odd that a mansion that’s hundreds of years old is still in such pristine condition.’
Roxelyn casually twisted the handle and opened the door.
“Roxelyn, this place is….”
The room was pitch dark, illuminated only by the flicker of a single candle, with not a hint of sunlight inside and a stale, rotten smell permeating the air.
“In legends, immortality is often… considered something grand and awe-inspiring,” she murmured softly.
“Get out! Don’t just barge in! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!!”
A panicked voice, full of rage, drew closer in an instant, but Roxelyn didn’t turn around.
Arma, however, intercepted the boy rushing forward, holding him back with one arm.
Roxelyn strode into the room and flung open the heavy curtains.
Sunlight poured into the room.
“…What is this?”
As the room brightened, a dreadful scene unfolded.
Something skeletal and emaciated, reduced nearly to bone, lay there.
Had its chest not been faintly rising and falling, it could easily have been mistaken for a mummy.
The skin was withered, darkened like old wood, and desiccated to the point of being shriveled.
Or perhaps ‘desiccated’ isn’t quite right.
It was more like it had once melted, then solidified.
The appearance was nothing short of grotesque.
The boundary between the eyelids and eyes was gone, the mouth was partially melted, and the nostrils were barely visible.
Every breath exuded a stench like that of decaying animal innards.
“Get out.”
The blond boy’s voice trembled violently.
“Get out….”
Though the room was lavish, the area around Roxelyn emitted creaking sounds, as if it might collapse at any moment.
“There is no such thing as eternal life without decay.”
Roxelyn said as she looked down at the withered figure, then slowly turned her gaze.
“Isn’t that right, Albus?”
The black-haired boy blinked, meeting Roxelyn’s gaze with a faint, somewhat ambiguous smile on his lips.
“…That boy, is he this old man?”
A man living as if dead.
‘Or is he even truly an old man?’
The body was child-sized, but the shriveled, hardened skin resembled solidified lava, making it appear aged.
Roxelyn nodded slowly.
Bound by the Abyss of Immortality, he could neither die nor truly live.
However, he possessed the Abyss that allowed him to manipulate souls.
Thus, Albus Diyanitas was able to move around using porcelain dolls as a vessel, while his actual body remained in this state.
“…Can a person even remain alive like this?”
Arma asked, looking down at the barely living figure.
“Immortality doesn’t mean eternal youth. Just as omniscience doesn’t mean omnipotence….”
“…So he grew old without being able to die.”
Arma understood Roxelyn’s words perfectly.
“No, that’s not true! I’m alive and well.”
“Can you really call this being alive?”
The boy had wanted to be with his brother, someone who shared his condition.
His brother was the only person who understood his difficult life, his companion, and his dearest family, so he longed to stay with him.
“He was someone who should have died long ago.”
Even if that meant he was a being on the verge of death, meant to be consumed in a blazing kiln.
“…My brother is alive. He’s alive.”
“Only because your Abyss forces him to be.”
Roxelyn responded coldly, and the boy’s eyes widened in shock.
“In this toy house you created.”
