🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 06
— Searching for the Backing of the Betrayed Villainess
“I’ll just check if there’s anything wrong and come right back.”
He ignored his friends’ objections, packed his things, and headed straight into the forest.
It was a three-day journey, but it didn’t feel that long. Because at the end of this road was Violeta.
By the time he reached the forest, snow had begun to fall.
Finally arriving at the old hut with a heart full of worry, his chest sank heavily at the sight.
The barren surroundings were far from what Violeta liked, and the poorly insulated, shabby house stood so precariously it looked ready to collapse.
“…In a place like this…”
He was the one who had left Violeta in such a place, yet the reality of it struck him again painfully.
He had thought it wouldn’t be this bad.
If I start over now…
Ligretto knocked on the worn wooden door of the hut without fully understanding his own thoughts.
Knock, knock.
No response.
He knocked several more times. Still nothing. Anxiety crept deep into his chest.
Bang!
He slammed the door hard, and with a creak it opened weakly.
Ligretto hurried inside.
“Violeta?”
The hut was empty.
My plan was simple: leave the hut and head to Winttergarten.
Everything had gone smoothly except for the fact that snow delayed my escape schedule a little.
After sending Calix away, it took five days to finally escape.
I had intended to leave immediately, but once I made up my mind, the herbs growing abundantly around the hut caught my eye. They’d just go unused after I left, right?
Feeling a bit regretful, I ended up harvesting them. That alone took two extra days.
My body safely crossed the barrier—but that’s when the real problem began.
I was being tracked.
How many days had it been? Two? Three? I felt like I was going insane.
A rough breath escaped between my teeth.
“They’re nearby! The trail ends here!”
“Search the area!”
Pressed tightly under a large rock, I listened to the voices outside. The previously quiet forest was now filled with barking dogs and human commotion.
“Damn it… how the hell did they figure it out?”
I muttered anxiously.
“Farm—hurry!”
Because I had pushed myself too hard while escaping, my spatial storage hadn’t opened for three days. I was struggling badly.
If I could open it, I could escape pursuit for at least a short while.
And then—
“…Why did it suddenly get quiet?”
It wasn’t my imagination.
The frantic barking had suddenly died down.
“What… this feels bad.”
And instincts like that are usually right.
Grrr…
A large, aggressive dog approached the rock I was hiding behind, sticking its snout in.
There was nowhere left to retreat. My hands trembled.
The dog’s jaws opened wide.
“Bark! Bark bark! Woof!”
“There! The criminal is over there!”
“Damn it—farm, open! Open already!”
“Violeta!”
But my “farm” did not respond.
Nothing happened.
Frustration crashed over me, but there was no time to despair.
I hurled paralysis potions and muscle relaxants in every direction and bolted from under the rock.
I ran like a madwoman. I fell and rolled so many times that cuts kept increasing across my body.
The long run through snow had numbed my body; sensation dulled.
But I kept running. Until the end came into view.
“Violeta, stop there!”
“Don’t give me orders!”
“Violeta! It’s a cliff!”
Suddenly, the view opened up.
The trees had thinned without me noticing. I tried to stop, but momentum carried me forward and I tumbled head over heels.
“Violeta!”
“Don’t come closer!”
“Are you… are you alright?”
A disgusting familiar voice rang out nearby.
I stood up immediately. My entire body screamed in pain, but I refused to show weakness.
I swallowed painkillers and looked around.
Behind me was a cliff. In front of me—
“Oh look at that idiot. Doesn’t even know where she is running off to.”
“Violeta! Please. Let’s go back, okay?”
The people who had once been part of my life stood there with the tracking party.
“I’m so touched I could cry.”
“Violeta.”
“But what now? I have no intention of going back.”
Leonhardt raised his hand, stopping the others.
“How did you weaken the barrier?”
I shrugged.
“How would I know? Maybe your skills weren’t enough.”
“Violeta!”
So they had realized the barrier was weakening and followed it here.
“Relax your faces. Why so serious?”
After days of relentless pursuit, I was already exhausted. At this rate, I couldn’t escape them.
A laugh burst out of me at the absurdity of it all. I bent over laughing before finally lifting my head.
“I’m not going back.”
“Even if we capture and kill your entire family?”
“Go ahead.”
What did I care about a family that abandoned me?
Being born into the wrong family was also a crime, apparently. Just like how I had been falsely accused because of the wrong acquaintances.
“Perfect timing. I had something to say anyway.”
“Something to say?”
I looked at each of them—Leonhardt, Vanetta, Calix—and finally my ex-lover after two years.
Ligretto’s face was pale.
With trembling lips, he spoke.
“You’re… you’re bleeding.”
“Oh.”
Was that such a big deal?
I didn’t know why they suddenly cared now, but I casually wiped the blood from my face.
But his expression didn’t relax.
“You said I wanted something from you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Calix said it. That’s why you’re keeping me alive… but I guess you don’t plan on answering what it is.”
Leonhardt gestured for the others to step back. Vanetta cautiously approached.
“Violeta, it’s a misunderstanding.”
Their reactions only made me want to laugh.
As I stepped back, Ligretto’s face turned completely pale. The others froze.
“V-Violeta… calm down. Just listen to us for a moment.”
“What good would listening do?”
“Violeta!”
With trembling hands, I pulled out a potion bottle.
“Look at this. It’s a new potion I made.”
Even after being trapped in the hut, I had made potion after potion endlessly.
Was I wrong? Did I make a mistake? No—impossible.
Doubting my own abilities while still trusting them was torture. It made me wish I could just die and be done with it.
“My potions were perfect… so why did they only become poison for you?”
No matter how many times I recreated them, nothing changed. I couldn’t reproduce any effect that would make them collapse or vomit blood like before.
“But you know what? No matter what I tried, my potions couldn’t harm people at all.”
It felt like I was acting in a play. I had repeated these lines in my head countless times, waiting for this moment.
It was satisfying.
I had wanted to say this all along—that I was wronged, that my potions were not defective, that they could never harm anyone.
I raised my voice so it could reach them clearly.
“So I thought… maybe I should change my thinking.”
“…What?”
“What if I made a potion that does have that kind of effect? That’s what I thought.”
Pop.
The lid opened with a refreshing sound.
I swirled the liquid as if savoring wine.
“It’s not perfect yet, but it’s close enough.”
They seemed to finally understand what I was about to do. Their faces went pale.
“Let’s call it even, okay?”
“…What does ‘even’ mean?”
“It means this.”
A sweet scent drifted from the bottle.
Without hesitation, I drank it.
It went down smoothly—just like something I would make.
“Violeta!”
A piercing scream echoed.
A sharp pain spread from my stomach through my entire body. A metallic taste filled my mouth.
“Goodbye, you bastards.”
