The Villainess' Ending Was Death

As soon as Alicia returned, Jerome and Amy came to visit Elias.

Elias looked pitifully at his younger siblings who were not worth their age. However, the two people didn’t even have enough sense to realize that, so they immediately asked a question.

“Brother, what did Alicia say?”

“How long are you going to call Countess Gillespie like that without even knowing the manners, Jerome?”

“That’s not important now, brother! She said she could convince Count Gillespie? huh?”

Amy puffed out her cheeks and protested to Elias’ cold criticism. On the other hand, Jerome quickly became depressed and sullen.

Elias sighed as he placed his hand on his forehead as his head throbbed.

“I need to send someone to the village where Count and Countess Gillespie visited on their honeymoon.”

“…what? Why there?”

Jerome asked in surprise.

Elias and Amy stared at him at the same time.

“There must be a reason. What did Alicia say? Besides, if you want to use people, you have to spend money. Because I can’t afford that…”

Jerome, feeling like he was going to miss it, cleared his throat and continued to say things he didn’t ask. He even felt cold sweat running down his back.

‘Didn’t you realize that Fresa was alive?’

Due to his weakness exploited by Fresa, Jerome had not been able to tell her that she was alive until now. If other people found out and Fresa blamed Jerome for it, he would be in trouble.

‘Damn it, if I hadn’t sold that sword, I wouldn’t have had to worry about that girl!’

Jerome fidgeted and looked at Elias, but fortunately Elias withdrew his suspicious gaze and answered.

“They say Count Gillespie has been acting strange since he went there. If he finds out why, he might be able to convince the Count.”

In fact, it may have been a threat rather than persuasion, but it was a good reason to cover it up anyway. The reason he hid his true feelings even from his younger siblings was because he did not trust them. As she was his closest friend, Elias knew very well how stupid his younger siblings were.

While Elias was thinking this, an ominous intuition passed through Jerome’s mind.

‘Probably not.’

Yes, one such coincidence was enough. No matter how small the village was, there was no way she would be able to meet Fresa.

Jerome looked pale and barely nodded his head.

Amy looked like she didn’t understand Elias’ decision, but she had no other choice, so she couldn’t refute it.

Elias fixed her gaze on Amy. To be precise, she was looking at the necklace around Amy’s slender neck.

“I need to sell your jewelry, Amy.”

“What? No!”

Amy shouted sharply and flinched behind him, as if trying to hide the jeweled necklace around her neck.

Elias’s brows narrowed.

“If Count Gillespie comes forward to help us, we can buy back as many necklaces as this.”

“But this…”

“Amy.”

Amy stopped whining under Elias’ cold gaze. However, she could not speak easily, so she waited for a while before she finally answered that she would.

Jerome was confused as Amy, who had her beloved jewelry taken away, was.

Elias was equally uncomfortable.

‘What on earth is in that small, shabby village?’

Elias held Amy’s necklace in her hand and looked down at her, hoping that this gamble would pay off.

No, he absolutely had to.

* * *

Rowan Gillespie. 

A person who has lived in a world created by someone, receiving everyone’s attention. But to Fresa, it was nothing more than dirt that she never wanted to see again.

The sword of the kingdom, the hero who protects the country.

For Fresa, this place was real, but at the same time it was still a novel. Even though it was completed, she ended up turning around and found herself in this place again, facing Rowan Gillespie.

‘In the end, I couldn’t completely escape from the original.’

Fresa finally acknowledged this persistent bad relationship. Even now that the influence of the original work has disappeared, seeing her become so connected to Rowan, the predetermined fate was more persistent than she expected.

Of course she had expected this to come.

Even if you enter a tiger’s den, the probability of not encountering a tiger is extremely low. In other words, Fresa was already prepared for all possible situations.

Fresa stared at Rowan for a moment, then looked around her.

‘I can’t see Alicia yet.’

Was it true that the relationship between the two was not the same as it used to be?

“It’s been a while, Count Gillespie.”

Lycaon’s moderately polite voice was quite cold.

“I was too short-tempered to send an invitation to the Empire, but it’s an honor that you came to visit me first.”

Rowan spat out in a strangely harsh tone.

To interpret it, it means, “Why did you come when you were never invited?”

It was also a question of why she attended a private banquet of the kingdom’s nobles in that distant empire.

“I visited Pilz on business, and happened to hear that a grand party was being held at Count Gillespie’s family. Shamelessly, I stopped by to say hello after a long time. I thought the Count would understand this with great generosity.”

Even though he didn’t practice in advance, Lycaon dealt with Rowan on his own. Certainly, when it came to social circles, Lycaon would be more familiar than Fresa.

Kanzer and Pilz were fairly close neighbors. A long time ago, the Kingdom of Pilz belonged to Kanzer, but now that it has become independent, it is no longer a vassal state of the empire.

Even though there was a deep interconnected history, a kingdom was a kingdom, and an empire was an empire. Everyone couldn’t help but think it’s strange that he confidently walked into the banquet of a noble from a foreign country to which he had never been invited.

In fact, since Rowan never sent an invitation to the empire, Lycaon ended up visiting on his own. Moreover, since Lycaon was a member of the imperial family of the empire, it was clear that this visit would bring about an unusual atmosphere in the kingdom.

Fresa wasn’t concerned about that at all. It was all in her plan.

She studied Rowan’s face, pretending to take a sip of her wine.

He was smiling moderately, but it was the expression he showed whenever he was displeased.

“I am grateful that you did not forget and came to me even though our relationship was short. Please enjoy yourselves, Your Highness, Grand Duke of the Granadines. But you had a partner.”

Only then did Rowan’s attention turn to Fresa. When her eyes met his, she just nodded her head as if she was waiting.

Rowan tilted one eyebrow crookedly at her lack of courtesy.

‘Someone who doesn’t even recognize me just because I’m wearing a mask.’

Fresa clicked her tongue slightly inside her mouth. Rowan was a person who could not be trusted at all. Although Fresa knew her original work, it was still difficult to understand Rowan Gillespie’s true intentions. This was because the novel was developed only from the perspective of the female protagonist, Alicia.

To Alicia, Rowan was everything, light and happiness in this world, so of course she had no choice but to look perfect. However, the Rowan that Fresa had ever seen was a colder and crueler person than anyone else.

‘How did this kind of person become the male protagonist?’

She was not sure if Rowan was born this way, or if he became crooked as he grew up. In any case, Fressa’s long years as Rowan’s fiancé were literally the worst.

“Ah, the introduction is late. This is my fiancé.”

Lycaon smiled softly and looked down at Fresa. This was the signal that the two promised. The time has come.

Fresa lifted her thin, outstretched finger upwards. She looked Rowan straight in the eye and slowly untied the straps of her mask.

Fresa’s heart was beating fast. Even though she had already prepared for the situation, it was refreshing to face reality.

She wasn’t nervous or anxious. However, she was just looking forward to what would happen in the future.

The excitement was so good that it overshadowed her promise to lead a peaceful life by running a pharmacy in Paro Village.

Finally, the mask that covered Fresa’s face disappeared.

Rowan’s expression immediately hardened. Strangely, because the fast-paced performance had just ended, there was silence all around her.

Fresa spoke calmly in a soft but firm tone.

“Could you please tell this to the Thorpe family, Count?”

“…”

“Fresa Thorpe, who died, came back alive and well.”

Fresa grinned and threw her mask at Rowan’s feet. A sharp sound passed through the interior of the banquet hall. Rowan’s eyes, which had maintained his composure, became agitated.

And the people who were going around the banquet hall looking for the next partner looked at Fresa with shocked expressions.

“…Rowan?”

Alicia’s thin voice came from behind Rowan. At exactly the right time, the two people Fresa wanted came together.

Fresa looked at Alicia as Lycaon placed his hand on her outstretched arm.

“It’s been a while, Alicia. how have you been doing?”

 

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Translator Note: