The Villainess' Ending Was Death

On a dark evening, a pure white carriage stopped in front of the mansion of the Count Gillespie family. When the well-dressed coachman opened the carriage door, a tall handsome man appeared first.

He was dressed in pure white robes embroidered with gold thread, and his tall height and aura gave him a strange sense of discomfort.

The nobles who had just entered the Gillespie mansion glanced at him and whispered. Was there ever such a noble person? Maybe he’s from a country they had never seen before.

There were many speculations, but the man looked and dressed too flashy to be considered as someone from a remote countryside.

The man, who had adjusted his clothes once, extended his hand into the carriage. Did he have a companion?

The nobles, who should have entered the mansion a long time ago and enjoyed a fancy ball, were standing tall, their eyes glued to the man’s every move. It wasn’t just because of its looks or fancy carriage. The unique atmosphere emanating from the man caught the eye.

At a time when the nobles were wondering who the man was escorting, a woman, also wearing a pure white dress, came out of the carriage. Like the man’s, her white, almost silver hair fell in a wavy motion below her waist. Her entire face was not visible due to the purple feather mask covering her eyes, but her sea-blue eyes were impressive.

After scanning her surroundings with her light demeanor, she entered the mansion, escorted by a man. Only then did people quickly walk behind them.

“His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of the Granadines of the Kancer Empire is entering.”

When the butler called in a confused voice, the nobles whispered again.

Why did the Grand Duke of the Kanzer Empire attend the Count Gillespie family’s ball? Weren’t these two famous rivals? What was the reason for visiting the Kingdom of Piltz from that distant empire?

Whispering voices passed from side to side and from front to back, but the Grand Duke of Granadines did not seem to care much. As if this was an expected reaction, he just glanced around the banquet hall with a deadpan expression.

“What should we do now, Resa?”

“…I can’t see Count Gillespie.”

Fresa, who was standing close to Lycaon, briefly checked the inside of the familiar banquet hall before answering. Since he even changed the color of his hair, he probably didn’t have to worry about getting caught, but he was a little nervous about what might happen.

‘I can’t see Alicia either, are they somewhere else?’

Fresa held the hem of her dress tightly with her hand and tilted her head slightly. The reason she took the risk to come to this mansion today was to obtain information about the Count Thorpe family.

‘Gillespie and Thorpe were extremely close, so the information obtained here is the most accurate.’

The nobles hear and spread rumors among nobles first before anyone else. Above all, she had to blend in naturally among them to avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion.

‘Rowan Gillespie is quick-witted.’

His influence spread throughout the kingdom, so it was easy for him to get caught. Fresa knew better than anyone else how toxic Rowan was. Now that he had already found out that Fresa was alive, he might be caught out if he found out that someone was digging for information.

They said that to catch a lion one must enter its territory.

‘For some reason, this was the only ball held during this time, so I didn’t have a choice.’

In any case, Fresa would be here today to check what the current situation of Count Thorpe’s family was and what problems they were facing and then make a plan.

Even how Rowan Gillespie decided to act.

‘I got the worst dump here by Rowan Gillespie.’

She had a new feeling. Fresa Thorpe, wearing a beautiful dress, was pushed by Rowan and fell to the floor. Alicia looked down at Fresa with sympathetic eyes while linking arms with Rowan. And Amy and Jerome were standing around laughing at Fresa and talking about her being a disgrace to the family. Elias looked down with cold eyes.

Maybe it’s because it’s not a very old memory, but just thinking about it gave me a chill on the back of her neck. 

At the time, she thought there was nothing she could do because she was in a novel. Because Fresa Thorpe could only exist by living as the evil woman Fresa Thorpe. Because she had to follow the script in order to avoid the misery of crawling on the floor in terrible pain. But these were all living people.

It was all their will to ridicule, criticize, and corner Fresa.

What she still wondered was why they were so harsh on Fresa, who was family and their friend and lover.

‘It’s all in the past anyway.’

Fresa took a deep breath and slowly closed and opened her eyes.

“How about we dance to a song and take a look at the situation first? Social circles are usually like that.”

Lycaon asked, looking down into Fresa’s eyes.

Well, she didn’t need to encounter Count Gillespie. There were many mouths, ears, and eyes here.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Fresa answered quietly and held Lycaon’s outstretched hand. Just then, the cheerful music changed to calm music.

The two naturally moved to the center of the banquet hall. The two people glowed white under the colorful lights.

Fresa still felt awkward about her new hair color. It was the color recommended by Lycaon, and it was dyed with his magic, so it was safe to say that it was actually Lycaon who decided.

‘You’re an obvious person, Lycaon.’

Fresa thought to herself and slowly moved her body in sync with Lycaon. Because it was a dance she had danced with Rowan Gillespie countless times, her body reacted before her head.

Lycaon was fixating his eyes only on Fresa, as if only Fresa existed in this world. He pulled Fresa very gently, held her hand together, and narrowed his eyebrows as if he was disappointed when they fell for a moment.

At the moment when Fresa was a little taken aback by Lycaon’s uncomfortably direct gaze, a whispering voice was heard from behind.

“I heard that the Thorpe mansion was sold for auction. Is this true?”

As expected, the nobles’ mouths were lighter than anyone else’s, even though they pretended to be noble and heavy. Fresa returned to Lycaon’s arms and pretended to lean on him, listening to the nobles’ stories.

Lycaon’s body seemed to stiffen for a moment, but it wasn’t enough to cause much concern.

“That’s right. But I heard that Count Gillespie turned a blind eye to the Thorpe family?”

“Well. Wasn’t he an indispensable friend?”

“There is no business without money, right? What will be left of helping a family that is on the verge of collapse?”

“This is why you should always be careful when investing.”

“Anyway, where did the main characters of today’s prom go?”

“Didn’t you see it earlier? The Countess looked uncomfortable. I guess the Count went to comfort her with deep affection.”

“This is why she comes from a commoner background. By the way, have you not heard yet that the Grand Duke of the Granadines has arrived?”

As the subject of the story changed to Lycaon, the performance also reached its climax. Fresa ignored their comments and pondered their words.

She knew that the Thorpe family was in huge debt, but she never thought that the beautiful mansion that had been the pride of the family for so many years would be auctioned off.

Fresa, who held Lycaon’s hand tightly without realizing it, thought of Lauren.

‘The first thing to do was to close the hole where the money was going, so the employees would have been fired, or the employees would have run away when they realized they weren’t getting paid.’

Was Lauren okay? She would have found this life unbearable if not for Lauren.

Although she left Lauren some of her jewelry, it wouldn’t be easy for her to leave the place she’s worked since she was a child.

Lauren hated the Count family, but she was proud of her job.

Before she knew it, Fresa had forgotten her dance and she was so caught up in her worries about Lauren.

It was Lycaon’s low voice that woke her up.

“Resa, the music is over. Let’s go back to our seats.”

“Ah.”

Fresa then blinked her eyes and looked at Lycaon. Lycaon gently took her hand and walked towards the table where her food was piled.

Fresa gazed at his broad shoulders, back, and neat nape of his neck, concentrating her thoughts.

‘I need to meet Lauren.’

Since they couldn’t get to Thorpe’s mansion all of a sudden, they would have to find another way.

‘Letters are too dangerous. Since the situation at the mansion is already bad, they may intercept and censor it. But I can’t trust anyone but Lauren.’

Fresa pondered as she took a sip of the lemonade given to her by Lycaon. At that time, a voice she was familiar with but did not want to hear penetrated Fresa’s ears.

“His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of the Granadines.”

Fresa trembled her shoulders and stared straight ahead at her.

Rowan Gillespie was standing right in front of them.

 

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Translator Note:
Fron now on this story will be released twice a week. I hope you like it!