Since When Were You The Villain?

Chapter 87.   

   

Even in her sleep, whenever she tried to move slightly, she held his hand tightly.   

As if she would never let go. 

‘…What on earth were you thinking?’    

Killian scratched his throbbing head with a complex feeling.   

How on earth did this fragile woman bring him here?   

It must have been difficult to avoid people’s eyes.   

Moreover, she probably had no one to ask for help.   

She had been watching over her all night. Killian glanced at the sleeping Sophia.  

Her slender body seemed exhausted.   

It was clear that she knew what he was doing was dangerous and that he himself was dangerous.    

Most ordinary people would have already left him.   

Or maybe they would have reported him somewhere.   

So why wouldn’t she let him go?   

Killian couldn’t understand her.   

He felt both fortunate and unfortunate that the one who took care of him was Sophia.   

Because she was the one he hoped would be least involved in this matter. 

“…Even though I never accepted our engagement.”    

Killian regretted it as he looked at Sophia’s pale face lying on the bed.   

But, cowardly, he couldn’t bring himself to leave her first.   

So he would rather hope that Sophia would leave him cruelly.   

Killian sneered as he looked at her.   

He had been coping well on his own for a while, but Killian felt like the arrival of this small woman had completely changed the structure of his world.   

He shook off his vulnerability and turned his head.   

Killian carefully withdrew his hand from Sophia, who had been holding it.   

Thanks to her warmth, his fingertips felt unusually warm.   

He carefully got off the bed without wanting to wake Sophia up.   

While his wounds weren’t completely healed, the fever seemed to have subsided, making it easier for him to move than yesterday.   

He wanted to lay Sophia on the bed, but he felt that doing so might wake her.   

Instead, he quietly covered her shoulders with a blanket.   

He then cleaned up his traces in Sophia’s room—things like bloodstained bandages—and gathered the scattered medicine bottles into a basket.   

The bottles of hemostatic and wound-healing medicine were empty, having been used generously overnight.   

Killian picked up a bottle with a leaf pattern divided into three branches.   

It was also empty.   

“This wound medicine must be quite valuable.” 

It seemed to be a precious medicine prepared by wealthy Fraus for Ian, who often got injured during his knighthood.   

These medicines were made from special herbs from the south, and even if you had money, it was hard to get them due to the limited supply in the market.   

Killian also had only a few small bottles.   

But to use them so generously… It was thanks to this that the swelling wasn’t too bad, and while it was still painful, it had improved significantly overnight.   

“If the Count finds out, he might strangle her.”   

Whoever managed these medicine bottles must be in quite a bit of trouble.   

After organizing the medicine bottles, he noticed a pair of black trousers on the table.    

It didn’t seem like something Sophia would wear, and perhaps she had prepared them for him in advance.   

When he unfolded them, they turned out to be men’s trousers with a length that would comfortably reach his waist.   

‘Are these Ian Fraus’s?’  

While Ian was a bit leaner, it was still better than wearing torn pants. ‘I should probably take care of this before Sophia wakes up.’  

Quietly behind the partition, he changed into the new clothes.   

They were a bit short, and the fit was snug, but they were wearable.   

‘I feel sorry for Ian Fraus.’   

He already had bad feelings towards Killian, but he even had his pants taken away.   

However, Ian himself had no interest in clothes, so he probably wouldn’t notice one missing pair of black trousers.    

Unless there was a meticulous servant around who might figure it out.   

 Killian turned his gaze to the window. There were a few servants passing by occasionally, but sneaking out shouldn’t be too difficult.  

 Since he couldn’t leave through the front gate, it would be better to go back.   

Killian was sorry for leaving Sophia without saying anything, but he didn’t want to leave noisily and wake her up.   

Besides, he didn’t want to leave behind any material evidence, like a letter.   

He stared out the window, waiting for the right moment to leave.   

As he quietly gripped the window handle, he heard Sophia’s voice.    

“Killian…”   

A warm and petite body embraced his waist.   

In an instant, his hand, which had been about to open the window, froze in place.   

“I was surprised; I thought you were gone…!” 

Sophia’s arms, which were wrapped around him, tightened.   

Killian was frozen in place, and warmth emanated from her behind him.   

He couldn’t bring himself to remove her hands, so instead of opening the window, he held Sophia’s arms, which clung to his waist.   

It was like a silent plea: “Please let me go.”   

“I’d better leave before anyone else finds out.”  

“So you were planning to leave without saying a word to me?”    

She wanted to know if he was okay, if his fever had completely subsided, and if he could walk on his own.   

But he was planning to slip away without her knowing. 

Sophia’s voice was tinged with resentment.   

Then she pulled his arm to make him turn around.   

When he turned around, Sophia looked at him, her trembling lips pressed together, and she met his gaze.   

“I don’t know what’s going on. And I know I shouldn’t ask.”   

Sophia spoke with a somewhat trembling voice.   

“But I know that what you’re doing right now is dangerous.”   

Her green eyes locked onto his.   

One look in her eyes sends a big ripple through his heart.   

“…Can’t you stop what you’re doing?”   

With just one question from her, his unwavering determination wavered as if it were about to collapse.   

“You, you could have died.”   

Killian remained silent.   

“I mean, you could have died.”   

Sophia firmly pressed her trembling lips together. 

Last night, she didn’t know how terrifying it had been when he collapsed in the lounge, and she struggled to support him all the way to her room.  

Her fear had been more overwhelming than anything else.   

What if it’s revealed that he is the Black Moon?   

What if he’s caught by someone? What if he’s… just an extra in this world, not the main character (villain)?   

So, since arriving in this world, Sophia has prayed to the cliché god with the most urgent heart she can muster.   

She prayed for Killian to be safe because he’s the main character.   

She asked for everything to go smoothly because she couldn’t bear any more danger.   

She couldn’t handle it anymore.   

Thankfully, it seemed like her prayers reached someone.   

All the Fraus servants, who thought that a ball was going on in full swing, were asleep early in the annex.  

Sophia managed to bring him up to her third-floor room without anyone seeing them.   

She laid him on the bed, prepared warm water and towels, brought medicine secretly, treated his wounds while reading medical books in the darkness, and even sneaked into the laundry to steal Ian’s pants.   

Under normal circumstances, she would have collapsed right away, but yesterday, she moved her body without realizing how difficult it was.   

Killian had gone through several crises throughout the night.   

Even after giving him fever-reducing medicine, his temperature soared above 40 degrees, and when he groaned as if having nightmares, Sophia was filled with frustration at her own helplessness.    

It was a sleepless night.   

“I even thought about calling a doctor several times. I thought it might be better than you dying like this.”   

Sophia had absolutely no medical skills.   

All she knew was how to distinguish between some medicines, like which ones were fever reducers and which ones were for wounds.   

She had gone to the door several times to call a doctor, but each time she hesitated because there was no one to look after Killian, and only after confirming that his fever had subsided did, she finally manages to sleep.   

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but is it worth risking your life, even your own life, for it?”   

Sophia asked, and Killian couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze. He lowered his eyelashes.   

He might die doing this.   

He knew that very well. He had been prepared for a long time, willing to give his life for his parents, his family, and to correct the injustice committed by the royal family.   

At least, until she asked him like this, he had been ready.   

He had never been afraid of death before, but now he was terrified. Terrified that he might die, and even more, that Sophia might be in danger.   

‘Before marriage, I wasn’t afraid of anything, but now that I have someone I love, I’m suddenly afraid of so many things.’  

It was a saying his father had once mentioned.   

Just like passing on the tradition, he could empathize with his father’s words, and it hurt.   

“You’re not saying anything.” Her voice cut like a blade.   

“Is this going to keep happening in the future?”   

Killian couldn’t bring himself to give a false answer and said nothing.   

“I have to watch you get hurt without knowing anything,” she continued.     

“Sophia.”   

“I, I don’t have the strength for that.”   

This may be common in novels, but not where she lived.   

She had never seen blood flowing from deep wounds, and she had never seen a loved one at death’s door.   

Even if she had witnessed such situations, there would have been someone to share the burden, at the very least a doctor to explain the situation.  

There might have been someone to ask for help when her loved one was in pain.   

Killian met her anxious gaze and realized something.   

Well, he had known it already, but he hadn’t wanted to admit it.   

He realized that he was ruining Sophia Fraus’s life.  

(T/L: Readers, my heart *ugh*, *translator crying*, but wait, does this mean Estelle is Mikhail’s sister, eheheehe.) 

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TRANSLATOR:

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