The Dead Villainess Had A Child With The Male Lead

Chapter 17 When You’re Depressed

Why is it that even when you buy something good, you’re left with a feeling of dread rather than joy?

“We’re not being sold to, are we? We’re not being sold to, are we?”

Veronia checked with Killion again and again. Killion smiled and nodded.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s my favorite gift. Thank you, Your Majesty, ah… Young Lady.”

“And when can we expect to hear the sound of that Young Lady? Perhaps sometime today?”

“…I will try.”

An embarrassed Killion replied, fingering his earlobe unnecessarily.

Veronia giggled, finding the childish side of her perfect Lord endearing.

Veronia led the way, and Killion followed, still tweaking his earlobe.

Before they knew it, they had entered the market streets.

The small giggle was still echoing in his ears when he realized that he hadn’t heard it.

He could see Veronia looking around at the stalls, her face beaming.

‘I never thought you’d like a place like this…’

Killion was somewhat surprised.

Veronia had never left the palace in her life.

She was the most glamorous of the glittering aristocratic socialites…

‘To think that such a Young Lady would be so pleased to see a market town like this, so pleased.’

She was unfamiliar.

The sight of the stranger pleased Killion in a strange way.

Perhaps it was because she felt like she had learned one of his secrets.

‘Pleased? A secret? I’m so…’

Killion shook his head, surprised at his own unconscious thought.

It was like this every time he was with Veronia these days.

Just as the Veronia he knew now was different from the one he knew two years ago, he felt like he had changed a lot himself.

‘I don’t know what’s what…’

As Killion tore his eyes away from Veronia’s sunny face, she tore her eyes away from the stinking sight of humans in the marketplace.

‘Ah… missed the common people, the life of the common people!’

In her previous life, she was a commoner among commoners.

She didn’t have much, but she wasn’t rich either.

Of course, she longed for the glamorous life of celebrities that she often saw in the media.

But she could still see it in the distance.

She knew in the back of her mind that the 18 square meter old apartment she had lived in since childhood was the most comfortable place in the world.

That a home-cooked meal with her mum’s unremarkable side dishes would be the most palatable.

‘The market looks the same here as it did in my previous life.’

She was excited because she remembered holding her mum’s hand as a child and going shopping with her.

Veronia was in the middle of a market stroll.

In the distance, she heard someone shouting.

“It’s not a troupe that comes every day, it only comes once a week, and that’s today, that’s now!”

Veronia’s eyes widened and she looked in the direction of the sound.

“Huh? Is that…?”

“It’s a street theater company. The plays here are known to be quite high quality. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes! I want to see them!”

Killion said, holding out his arm.

“It’s going to be crowded, so you’ll have to stay close to me.”

“Yes. Thank you, Sir Killion.”

“You’re welcome. Your, ah… Young Lady.”

Oops, another mistake.

This time Veronia didn’t let it go and giggled. This time, Killion followed suit.

There was a large, colorful tent on one side of the square.

Veronia and Killion paid the entrance fee and went straight inside.

Inside, many people were already seated.

Everyone’s faces were bright with anticipation for the play to begin.

“Come on, the play starts in five minutes, please take your seats!”

Veronia and Killion took their seats.

As a street theater, the viewing environment was not very comfortable.

There were a lot of people crammed into long wooden chairs.

Veronia and Killion were squeezed together.

Killion was worried that Veronia would be uncomfortable because the seat was so narrow, so he twisted his body and pulled his arm back from her.

This gave him some space, but somehow he ended up with her half in his arms.

Neither Veronia nor Killion spoke, but their faces grew redder as they thought the same thing.

“It’s not… like that, it’s…”

“…I know, so it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry. Your, ah… Young Lady.”

“There you go again.”

Veronia giggled mockingly, and Killion laughed along with her.

Before they knew it, the play had begun.

The play was about the life of a witch.

The actors were so good that the raucous audience was immediately drawn into the story.

“Get away from the ugly girl!”

“I won’t play with you!”

Born ugly, the witch was abandoned by her parents and raised in an orphanage.

But life in the orphanage wasn’t easy.

“I’m sick of it all! This is no place for me! I’m going to find a new life and leave!”

“Why don’t you come and live with us?”

The witch escaped from the orphanage and wandered the streets until she met an old couple.

The witch, who had become quite a skilful herbalist under the care of an elderly couple, spent all her savings to fix her face and voice.

“Your face is beautiful, but being with you somehow makes me feel lonelier. I think we should stop seeing each other.”

“Sometimes I don’t understand your words and behavior at all. Maybe we’re not right for each other after all.”

Despite her good looks, she still found it difficult to make lovers or friends.

The witch was clumsy at both receiving and giving love.

“You’re a bit of a clumsy person. I’m very clumsy in some things, too. It’s okay, you’ll get better with practice.”

But the male lead was the only one who understood the witch.

His kind words and demeanor made her fall in love with him.

But there was someone else he loved.

“She can’t see, so I have to be her eyes all the time. She can’t walk, so I have to be on her legs all the time. I love her, I’m sorry.”

“That’s not love! I love you!”

The witch could not understand.

The woman he loved wasn’t beautiful, she was poor, and she couldn’t see or walk.

“He’ll love me when you’re gone,” she said, “so go away!”

The witch’s poor choice ultimately failed, and she was stabbed to death by the man she loved.

Even as she bled to death, she confessed her love to him.

‘What kind of ending…?’

Veronia burst into tears, unable to hide her sorrow at the sight of the witch’s miserable end.

Veronia was angry and sad.

It seemed that the witch’s life was very similar to Veronia’s current situation.

‘Is this a sign from the gods that I shouldn’t forget the original story?’

If that was the case, the gods were right on target.

Veronia’s fingertips trembled with the fear that the witch’s disastrous end would be her future.

The play ended with the narration.

“Here ended the sad life story of the witch who was born with an ugly face and died with an ugly soul.”

The voice started out low and hushed.

But then the emcee’s voice began to rise in intensity.

“Wasn’t there a way to be born with an ugly face and have a beautiful soul? Is there really no way to soften a harsh fate?”

After asking one unanswered question after another, the moderator paused for a moment to catch his breath.

Then, in a calmer voice, he asked the final question.

“At this very moment, how is your face, how is your soul, how is your spirit?”

The moderator bowed deeply, signaling the end of the play.

Applause broke out here and there.

‘You’re talking nonsense! This ending, I don’t like it!’

Another tear rolled down her cheek. Then a hand was held out to her.

It was Killion.

“…Thank you, hu…. huhu!”

The moment the handkerchief was handed to her, the sobs she had been holding back burst forth.

The sight of Veronia sobbing, moaning and loud, startled Killion for a moment, but he soon soothed her with a gentle pat on the back.

Veronia’s sobs continued all the way out of the tent.

As they left the tent, they could hear the audience’s comments.

“Well done! A witch with a corrupted soul must be killed quickly. Before she kills someone else.”

“Um, of course, it’s right to catch and kill the witch before she kills more innocent people.”

People took the witch’s death for granted.

No one was on the witch side.

“Even if you were born with an ugly face or abandoned by your parents, you can still have a good heart.”

“That’s right, it’s not hard to have a good heart!”

Veronia’s sobbing ears could hear their angry voices.

Veronia complained to Killion.

“If only those which had grown up in a normal family, with loving parents. Huhu…. She could have had a different ending if she had been loved enough.”

Killion listened, patting her back wordlessly.

“Huhu… the world was mean to her first, hu… so she was mean to the world, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, that sort of thing, huhu…”

Killion shook his head at yet another unfamiliar aspect of Veronia.

This time, he didn’t feel happy to be privy to her secrets.

She was clearly sympathizing with the witch’s plight and deeply mourning her death.

‘How is it possible that Veronia, the most loved person in the world, can sympathize so much with a witch who was loved by no one? Is it because she is so empathetic…’

Leaving Veronia alone with her tears, Killion stood up from his seat.

When he returned a few moments later, he had two cotton candies in his hand.

“They say that when you’re feeling down, you need something sweet.”

Killion said softly as he handed one of the cotton candies to Veronia.

Veronia took the cotton candy and wiped away the last of her tears.

“How does Lord Killion know that? Do you ever get depressed?”

“Of course. Sometimes… There are times when I’m depressed.”

“…I see.”

Seeing Killion’s sunken expression, Veronia remembered the original.

‘Ah, right. Killion said he misses his long-dead brother, so I guess that’s what this is about.’

Veronia tore into the cotton candy with gusto.

Something sweet made her feel a little better.

“…Thank you, Lord Killion.”

“You’re welcome, My, ah… Young Lady.”

“It’s times like this that I really feel like you’re an idiot.”

“Yes, I suppose I am an idiot.”

Veronica and Killion looked at each other and laughed heartily.