The Time-Limited Villain Supports My Breakup

Chapter 26

｡･:*:･ﾟ★ Translated by Sienna ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

‘Did I draw the line too far?’

But if Luciel remembers my face and later talks about me to Eren, it could be problematic.

‘I don’t want to get involved with the original story.’

“Well then, I’ll excuse myself now.”

So, I quickly bowed my head to leave.

“Wait a moment.”

But this time, Luciel called me. Feeling a sense of urgency in his voice, I involuntarily turned to him.

He looked a bit flustered. As our eyes met, he paused for a moment and then presented a gentle smile.

“It’s nothing much, but I’d like to repay you for helping me…”

“…”

“May I have your permission?” Luciel smiled, his eyes narrowing. “If it weren’t for the lady’s help, I would have lost a considerable sum.”

Luciel hesitated as he asked shyly. Looking down as if contemplating, he blushed faintly and said,

“So please accept my gratitude.”

Even for a noble, 50 gold was a significant amount, so I understood why Luciel expressed his gratitude in this manner.

‘But I didn’t do anything to deserve this.’

Perplexed, I silently gazed at him.

It might be a bit overwhelming, but Luciel met my gaze calmly.

No, he even seemed strangely pleased. As if accustomed to such attention, a gentle smile adorned his lips.

Honestly, just looking at him made me feel like anything could be okay. If I didn’t know who he was, I would have said the same thing.

But.

“It’s okay.”

For me, it was more important not to get involved with Luciel.

I didn’t want to meet Eren and the heroine, Maria, through Luciel.

‘For me, just simply forgetting about me is enough gratitude.’

Of course, I couldn’t say those words, so I just smiled back.

“I didn’t help expecting anything in return.”

“…”

“So, it’s really okay.”

Luciel blinked at my refusal. His head remained tilted slightly to the side. It seemed he didn’t quite understand what I said.

‘He was almost scammed. Does he not know how the world works?’

Thankfully, it happened around me; otherwise, if it were anyone else, they might have tried to take advantage of Luciel, the master of the mage tower.

‘And that beauty.’

Thanks to the memories from my past life, I knew the people in this world were exceptionally attractive.

But Luciel surpassed anyone I had ever seen.

Even just being still, he exuded a captivating charm, and to top it off, he was genuinely innocent. Isn’t this an ideal situation to be taken advantage of?

As I stared at him with a concerned expression, he awkwardly smiled and said,

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”

“Yes, really, I need nothing.”

“…”

Luciel’s red lips twitched at my words. It wasn’t the reaction I expected; he looked perplexed.

His natural smile faded, revealing his face more clearly.

He had been smiling since our first meeting, so I hadn’t noticed before, but without the smile, Luciel seemed quite aloof.

‘Is it because of his fair skin?’

His eyebrows were slightly narrowed. It was a very subtle change, but he seemed quite cold.

Then Luciel suddenly lifted his gaze. I thought he was going to say more, but he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking beyond me.

“…”

His expression turned even colder than before. Despite seeming indifferent to the world, his eyes strangely conveyed a sense of hostility.

He muttered while staring in that direction.

“An unwelcome guest.”

“A guest?”

“Yes, especially for the lady.”

Luciel said this and flipped his robe again.

Was someone behind me? I was about to turn my head back when a voice came from behind me.

“…Daphne?”

But I froze in my tracks.

It was because the voice firmly ingrained in my memory—more precisely, in Daphne’s memory—echoed.

Slowly, I turned my body. The man who had spotted me across the alley was coming toward me.

Roderick Evans.

The original’s sub-male lead and Daphne’s love interest and fiancé.

An annoying person. I wanted to leave the spot immediately, but…

‘…I can’t move.’

Moreover, my heart started pounding fiercely. It seemed that my body and mind remembered Daphne’s emotions.

Meanwhile, Roderick had approached me.

Dressed in formal attire with neatly combed dark blue hair, he was certainly handsome.

If I had seen his face first, I would have thought he was certainly worthy of Daphne’s ten years.

But having already been introduced to Luciel’s staggeringly good looks, I was honestly unimpressed.

“How did you get here? I thought you were poisoned.”

Roderick looked at me with disdain.

“You couldn’t stand it and came after me again?”

He muttered in a voice suppressing anger, then sighed.

“…Nothing will change by doing this. Even if you cling to me, I have no intention of continuing the engagement.”

He seemed to think that Daphne had come to cling to him.

Well, considering Daphne’s impressive history, I could understand why he was gritting his teeth like this. Moreover, he must have suffered a lot due to Daphne’s suicide attempt.

But I had no intention of letting his misunderstanding continue.

“So, no matter what you do, I will not—”

“That’s a good idea.” I nodded, agreeing with him.

Upon hearing this, Roderick, who had been speaking confidently, faltered.

“…what?”

“I said it’s a good idea.”

I smiled and repeated myself.

“And to prevent any misunderstandings, I’ll add this: I’m not here to see you, and I’m not even thinking about continuing the engagement.”

I don’t love you anymore.

Roderick’s lips twitched slightly at my words.

Daphne’s declaration of breaking off the engagement seemed unbelievably hard to believe.

He blinked in confusion, then let out a disheartened laughter.

“…This is a new approach.”

He twisted his lips into a wry smile.

“It seems like you’re trying to justify stalking. It would be more like you, to be honest.”

From the way he spoke, he seemed to think that I was making excuses.

“You don’t love me? What kind of excuse is that…”

“Why do you think it’s not true?”

“What?”

“People’s feelings change more easily than you think. Even you had moments like this, right? You shared some kind of feelings with Lady Rize Caparol while being engaged to me.”

“That’s all clearly a misunderstanding!”

“How strange.”

I naturally tilted my head.

“You’re so sure that my change of heart was an excuse, yet you draw the line at what I saw with my own eyes as a misunderstanding.”

“…”

“Something doesn’t add up, does it?”

Yeah, presumptuous.

I smiled while keeping that thought to myself.

Roderick kept pursing his lips, repeating the motion until he finally shut his mouth.

A brief silence settled in.

“Pfft.”

A small chuckle broke through.

Both Roderick and I naturally shifted our gazes. The laughter came from Luciel.

Though half of his face was covered by the hood, his lips still traced a gentle curve.

“Oh, sorry about that,” he said, clearing his throat.

“I can’t hold back my laughter very well.”

But his voice still carried a hint of amusement.

As if just realizing Luciel’s presence, Roderick frowned.

“Who is this…?”

Muttering to himself, Roderick burst into forced laughter.

“…Looks like you couldn’t wait and met another man.”

There were some young nobles who took slaves to serve them in one way or another.

Of course, it wasn’t commendable behavior. Especially not for Daphne, who had wanted the saint’s seat.

“Now I understand why you tried to push me away with lies. It would have been awkward if this fact got known in the temple.”

Roderick muttered sarcastically, as if he had the upper hand.

‘At this rate, it seems like we’ll just keep engaging in useless banter.’

However, I couldn’t just casually say the person next to me wasn’t a slave but the Grand Duke himself, Luciel.

‘How can I shake off this guy?’

As I pondered, Luciel lowered his head toward me. Then, in a voice only I could hear, he whispered,

“Milady, would it be alright to provide the promised repayment now?”

“…Repayment?”

“Yes. If you don’t mind.”

His inquiring tone was gentle and extremely polite. But there was also a hint of amusement in it.

Is accepting his help really a good idea?

Honestly, I don’t know. But given Luciel’s status, it might help me quickly escape from Roderick.

‘…Yeah. After this is over, we’ll probably never cross paths anyway.’

“I don’t have much choice.”

I nodded.

“Good idea, Milady.”

Luciel whispered to me, then slowly removed the hood of his robe.

“Y-You…!”

As Luciel’s face was revealed, Roderick’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Y-Your Highness?”

“Nice to see you, Lord Roderick.”

Luciel greeted him warmly, but Roderick couldn’t even manage a casual greeting.

It was inevitable, considering that he had treated Luciel, a prince and grand duke, as a mere slave in the past.

“…I apologize, Your Highness; I didn’t realize it was you.”

“It’s fine. No need for apologies.”

Luciel kindly smiled and extended his hand. While maintaining his smile, he murmured as he looked at me.

“…It wasn’t entirely a false statement.”

“What?”

But everyone present heard his murmur.

Roderick exclaimed with a shocked expression, but Luciel didn’t even spare him a glance.

“…You made me wait too long.”

With a slightly flushed face and a hint of petulance, he spoke to me.

“I’ve only been waiting for… you.”

“…”

“How long do I have to wait, Milady?”

He spoke as if we had a very intimate relationship, as if we had promised to meet today.

---

Releasing the chapters first.