Since When Were You The Villain?

Chapter 23

 

In such novels, the main character was usually a person who had lived in that world from the beginning or was in a regression.

If it was a book possession with a sad ending, the possessor would feel like they were cursed, right?

So it would be correct that the end of this story ends with the cliché ‘I lived happily for a long time’.

Then she heard a call from outside the door.

“Sophia, can I come in?”

Late in the evening, it was the male protagonist who returned from work in the military and police force.

“Yes!”

Sophia answered, getting up from her bed and tidying up her messy hair.

Then, Killian, still wearing his military and police uniform, opened the door and entered.

It was the first time she saw him in uniform.

She didn’t know if he always changed when he came to find her, but he was never in his uniform…

The black uniform looked good on him.

It was neatly angled, had gold epaulets on the shoulders, and gilded double buttons.

The button-down shirt showed off his understated beauty.

One side of his shoulder was wet from rain on the way.

Sophia swallowed saliva involuntarily at the ascetic sexiness that subtly exudes.

“Are you feeling a little better?”

“Yes…!”

“The medicine-”

“I ate it. I want to be healthy soon.”

Sophia smiled.

Perhaps in the evening after taking the medicine, her voice became a fine metal sound, not a rough metal sound.

Killian then saw the little gauze on her cheek, where it looked unusually large.

Still, he was more relieved by the look on her face that was better than in the morning.

“If you’re uncomfortable, tell the maid right away.”

“It’s not uncomfortable., it’s heaven!”

“That’s a relief.”

Killian made sure the things he asked for from Garfield were handled properly.

Confirming that the preparations for Sophia had gone well without a hitch, he nodded his head.

“Ah, and just in case, please refrain from entering the west corridor area on the second floor because it is my private space.”

“Ah, okay…!”

Sophia nodded her head.

“I’m telling you in advance because I don’t like anyone coming into my room recklessly, so I hope you’d comply.”

“Of course, I’m grateful that you even gave me a space where I could stay like this.”

“Thank you for your understanding. You are free to roam the rest of the space.”

Killian then said good night and left the room.

The hem of his long black robe slid out the door.

‘The west corridor on the second floor is prohibited…’

Sophia recalled Killian’s words.

‘When taboos appear in novels, there are always secrets hidden.’

In the first place, it was polite not to enter someone else’s room, so she never thought of going there anyways.

But to add that it was important not to go into that area, doesn’t it mean that something interesting is being hidden?

“Hmm…”

Sophia bit her lips.

She was immersed in trouble.

In normal stories, bad things happen when you break taboos.

Like Pandora who brought disaster by opening a box that was told not to open, or the protagonist of a horror movie who was attacked by a ghost after entering a place that they were not supposed to go in.

In her past memories, her father even drank alcohol despite the doctor’s advice to avoid drinking and had an accident.

‘Is it better not to go?’

Ropan was no exception.

The moment she breaks the taboo and opens the door, there is a 99% chance that the honeycomb life laid out in front of her would disappear.

She shouldn’t be too curious.

Sophia then decided to not open Pandora’s box. (tl/n: like she decided to comply with Killian and not go there.)

~*~

It was late in the evening while raindrops were pouring outside.

Marquis Fideut’s maid was walking in the hallway with a lamp.

The rain in the evening brought thunder and lightning.

A white light flashed outside the window, illuminating the dark hallway. In an instant, an eerie mask hanging on the wall appeared and disappeared.

The maid’s body shuddered.

“Why does the master have such a hobby…”

She could not understand the hobbies of Marquis Fideut.

A middle-aged gentleman who liked masks and wooden dolls that clowns would love.

The Marquis’ collection, which he had collected since he was young, overflowed even after filling up one exhibition room, and was now arranged throughout the house.

It looks pretty in the daytime, but on a day of thunder and lightning like this, it gave the maid goosebumps.

Boom!

The maid shuddered at the sound of thunder, one second behind the lightning, and withdrew her body.

The maid, with a chill in her spine, hurriedly accelerated her steps.

At that moment, she heard the sound like a ghost saying, “Hey, hey,” echoed in the hallway.

The cool air brushed against her neck.

“What, what…!”

Frightened, the maid clasped her neck and shook her head.

The white chiffon curtain shook with a sound.

“Phew, it was just the wind…”

Relieved at the silence, the maid exhaled her breath.

But suddenly, an eerie question crossed her spine.

Since it has been raining in the evening and all the windows were locked, why would she hear the wind…?

It would be difficult if rain came in through the open windows, so everyone checked several times to make sure the windows were locked.

‘Was it not checked properly?’

If someone didn’t lock it securely, the wind could sometimes push open the window.

Unable to let the rain pour in, the maid walked towards the sound of the wind.

‘It’s on the side of the master’s bedroom…?’

The place she went to was Marquis Fideut’s bedroom.

Did he ever want to ventilate the room? At this midnight hour of thunder and lightning?

At that moment, a voice was heard from the other side of the room.

‘Is he awake?’

The maid went to his room with the lamp and listened.

She couldn’t hear the words, but it was clearly a human voice.

Why was he muttering like that?

The maid raised her hand to try to knock on the door, wondering if there was anything wrong with the marquis.

At that moment, she heard a sound from inside the room and something falling.

“Ugh…! Cough, cough!”

The sound was followed by painful groans and harsh coughing.

It was the voice of Marquis Fideut.

The maid was startled and she hurriedly tried to open the door, but it was locked from the inside.

She fumbled around her waist and pulled out her key pack.

“Master!”

As she scrambled to find the bedroom key, she tried to call the Marquis Fideut, but instead of answering, she heard nothing but coughs.

“Master! Are you okay?”

She rushed, but it was so dark that she could hardly find the key to the bedroom.

After a considerable amount of time had passed, she managed to find the key and opened the door.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw Fideout lying on the carpet. His complexion was bad and he was lying on the floor with dark red blood around him.

“Master!”

The moment the maid almost screamed, the wind blowing from the window blew out her lamp, and she felt a slight presence of another person.

‘There can be anyone else…’

With an ominous premonition, the maid shuddered and raised her head.

At that moment, a white flash of light lit up the room, illuminating the black shadow standing by the window.

The maid was so startled that she couldn’t make a sound and she sat down on the spot.

In the darkness with the lights turned off, all she could see was the white mask the person wore.

And before the maid could properly recognize that person’s identity, the black shadow disappeared like a ghost with a roar of thunder.

~*~

It was an early morning when the sun was not rising, and after the rain had stopped, the air was damp.

The servants of the Rivelon were getting up early and preparing breakfast.

At a time when everyone was busy moving, someone knocked on a door.

As Garfield opened the door, Nicholas, the commander of the police force, was standing there.

“Sir Nicholas! What are you doing at this hour?”

Garfield opened the door and asked, startled by the unexpected guest.

Nicholas’ boots were soaked in mud as he ran through the rain-soaked mud.

“Is he here?”

Nicholas asked urgently.

“The master is still washing…”

“What’s going on, Nick?”

Just then, Killian came down from the second floor.

“Well, Marquis Fideut passed away a few hours ago!”

Garfield’s eyes widened at Nicholas’s report.

“What?”

Fideut was a healthy person with no chronic disease. He wasn’t someone whose obituary will fly away overnight like this. Read only at pm tl.

Besides, the fact that a military and police officer, not a servant of the marquis, delivered the news of death…

“It looks like he was killed by someone.”

Nicholas answered in a dark tone.

It wasn’t an accident, it was murder.

Garfield covered his mouth with both of his hands and looked at Killian’s expression.

After an argument about two months ago, the relationship between those two began to grow apart, but up until that point, the two were very close.

In particular, Marquis Fideut had a close relationship with Killian’s biological father, the former Archduke of Rivelon.

Fideut also told Killian, who had lost his parents at an early age, the story of the Rivelon estate in the north as well as how the former Archduke of Rivelon was.

However, shortly after arguing with him, the Marquis passed away without them even being able to reconcile, so he couldn’t imagine how miserable Killian’s feelings would be.

Unsurprisingly, a dark shadow fell on Killian’s face.

“…I’m leaving right away.”

Garfield hurriedly fetched Killian’s cloak, and called his coachman to fetch his horse.

Not even having time to recommend breakfast being prepared, Killian hurriedly put on his clothes and got on his horse.

Garfield sighed with regret as he watched the two horses moving away quickly.