WAV 15

chapter 15

There was a knock, followed by the butler’s urgent voice.

Even though I had tried to be careful, it seemed some noise had leaked outside the door.

“Damn the timing.”

I didn’t even get a moment to enjoy the fact that I had such an incredible purification ability.

The green light had already disappeared. I glanced down at my sticky hands stained with black blood, then crouched in front of Eston.

I wiped my dirty hands against the back of her clothes.

“We’re throwing this outfit away anyway. Let’s make use of it.”

Washing with water would have been cleaner, of course, but there wasn’t time to go to the bathroom.

After roughly cleaning my hands, I stood up.

My legs trembled as if I might collapse at any moment.

Still, I gritted my teeth and walked to the door to deal with the aftermath.

Knock, knock, knock, knock!

“Miss! Miss, please answer—!”

Bang!

As soon as I opened the door, the butler, who had been standing right in front of it, stepped back in surprise.

“M-Miss! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, so let Nancy come in.”

“Pardon? Why Nancy—?”

He looked confused, then his expression hardened.

“Did that child Eston offend you again? This won’t do, Miss. While you are healing, I should at least remain by your side—”

I blocked him as he tried to push into the room.

“The healing is finished. Now we have a private matter to discuss—something only women can talk about. So stop talking and send Nancy in.”

“However, I have a duty, under Young Master Ethan’s orders, to carefully check your condition—!”

“Nancy! Could you bring the plaster statue from the back? If it’s too heavy and you trip on the way, that’s fine.”

“N-No, that won’t be necessary! Of course you should talk. Please call me when you’re done!”

Thankfully, the butler backed down.

Nancy slipped past him and hurried inside with an obedient expression.

Click.

The door closed right in front of the butler’s nose, and the commotion finally settled.

“H-Hiiik! M-Miss! What on earth happened here?”

Seeing the state of the room, Nancy naturally gasped in shock.

I dragged my tired body to the bed and sat down heavily.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t beat her up.”

“I-I never thought that!”

“Then?”

“I just… thought maybe the vase finally fell off the bedside table…”

She answered timidly, all the way to the end.

That’s basically the same thing!

I was too dumbfounded to even get angry.

Letting out a dry laugh, I pointed at the mess on the floor.

“Sorry, but could you clean this up?”

“Yes!”

Fortunately, Nancy didn’t ask further questions and quickly got to work.

A little later—

“Miss… what should we do about Eston?”

After wiping the black blood from the floor in no time, Nancy asked with a troubled expression.

Lying on the bed, I glanced toward the floor.

“Leave her. She’ll wake up on her own.”

“If she doesn’t come out for too long, won’t the butler find it strange?”

“What can we do? We said we had a private conversation.”

I answered indifferently, then asked,

“By the way, do you have any clothes you don’t wear? If not, I can give her mine.”

“Clothes I don’t wear? I do, but… what for?”

“We can’t send her out looking like that.”

“Ah! I’ll bring them right away!”

Understanding immediately, Nancy ran into the side room attached to mine.

Since she had been assigned to care for me while I was in a coma, she had been staying there.

While she looked for clothes, I went to the dressing table and opened the drawer.

I found what I needed quickly.

Although Edith had been ignored by her father for failing to awaken, she was still the only daughter of a duke. Her drawers were filled with dazzling jewelry.

I picked a ring with a suitably sized gemstone just as Nancy returned.

After putting the clothes down, she took a wet cloth and wiped the black blood from Eston’s face and hands.

She’s kind.

At last, all traces of the rampage were gone—except for the clothes Eston was wearing.

Throughout all this, Nancy didn’t ask me a single question.

She was quick and perceptive.

If this were my old world, she would have made a perfect assistant.

But we hadn’t had enough time to build real trust.

“Nancy, could you come here for a moment?”

“Yes!”

After washing her hands, she hurried over to me.

“What is it, Miss?”

“Here. Take this.”

I held out the ring I had prepared.

“W-Why are you giving this to me…?”

“You worked hard today. You should receive proper extra pay.”

“But… this is simply my duty as your maid.”

“It also includes payment for keeping your mouth shut.”

At my cold, firm tone, Nancy flinched slightly.

I’m sorry, Nancy.

But I had no choice.

Anyone could see how suspicious that black blood was.

And an awakened person collapsed while bleeding it.

Even if Nancy didn’t know much about an “awakened rampage,” it would be disastrous if this situation spread.

I have to hide the fact that I awakened.

Honestly, it still didn’t feel real.

That Edith was an awakened. That I could use my original ability—purification—in this body.

And even more powerfully.

I would need proper measurement to be sure, but I definitely wasn’t D-rank.

In fact, I might even purify faster than the novel’s female lead purified the male leads.

Of course, the novel never gave exact rampage levels.

Still, I clearly remembered that when Llewelyn purified someone, it took anywhere from half a day to a full week.

And beyond awakening itself, the thing I most needed to hide was—

Dual awakening.

That’s right.

When I thought about it carefully, I now possessed two abilities.

The power to see rampage levels, and the power to purify demonic energy.

Even in my original world, dual awakeners were extremely rare worldwide, and almost nothing was known about them.

Which meant they certainly didn’t appear in this ridiculous novel that only praised the female lead.

If people found out I was a dual awakener, I had no idea how they would use me.

That was why silencing Nancy wasn’t optional—it was necessary.

And then—

“Miss…”

Nancy, who had been staring at me with trembling eyes, suddenly looked at me with determination.

Of course.

In the novel, the female lead built strong relationships with everyone around her.

“Sincerity will reach you someday, Grand Duke Belnac!”

“Why do you always speak so harshly, Edith? I thought we could be close friends…”

“Everyone carries pain in their hearts. I want to become a purifier who can cleanse even that, Vincent.”

I remembered some of her usual lines and smiled bitterly.

Sincerity? Friendship? Love?

As someone worn down by years as a Korean office worker, I didn’t believe in those fairy-tale words.

The world only becomes a flower garden if you’re the main character.

I’m not the main character—I transmigrated into the villain the world keeps pushing down.

For a stranger who possessed this body, everything was harsh reality.

That’s why I had to deal with an awakened rampage right from the start. Damn it.

So of course Nancy would accept the ring.

But—

“Did you know something?”

Suddenly, Nancy reached out with both hands and firmly grasped the hand holding the ring.

Then she spoke.

“Five years ago, when I was first transferred from Ezenia to the ducal household, I was accused of stealing your ring.”

“…What?”

Caught off guard, my eyes widened.

Nancy gave a slightly bitter smile.

“People misunderstood and thought you favored me and brought me from the villa separately.”

“That happened?”

“Yes…”

She nodded and continued.

“When the ring was found in my room, everyone was excited and ran to you. Do you know what you said back then?”

“…”

“You said, ‘Why are you making such a fuss over something like that early in the morning? Do you want one too? Then hold on to a dried rag like she does.’”

“…”

“At that time, I was cleaning your room alone.”