Chapter 97
….More importantly, is Duke’s hand alright? If only I had killed that thug he wouldn’t have had to step in…. but thankfully everyone seems to be more or less okay.
“Duke-Sama…..” I hear Liz-san’s voice call out from behind me. Though unfortunately, I can’t see what sort of expression she’s making from my current vantage.
…..Sigh. Will he really not let me down?
“Duke-Sama, I’d like to be put down now….”
“Not happening.”
“I want to have a talk with Liz-san.”
When I say this, a look of dissatisfaction flits across Duke-Sama’s expression but he still kindly helps me back to the ground. The moment I’m standing on my own two feet again, he hurriedly takes off his jacket and wraps it around me.
“Then put me down too. Just while they talk,” Gilles requests.
Henry-Oniisama acquiesces, loosening his grip and allowing Gilles to slide smoothly to the ground. He also takes off his own jacket and wordlessly passes it over to Gilles.
That’s when I notice once again: Gilles’s clothes are practically nothing but ragged strips of cloth hanging on his body. Seeing him in that miserable state, hot, fiery rage surges through me. I can feel my blood boiling.
“Alicia…. are you okay?”
Albert-Oniisama is the first one to speak. His words are so shocking that I feel like I just took a sucker punch. He left me completely speechless.
Your one and only little sister was nearly killed by that girl standing next to you. But what…. You’re asking me if I’m okay? Do you think I’m okay? Does he not understand what just happened here?
“Liz-san, why did you stop me back there?”
At my question, Liz-san turns terrified eyes on me.
Hm? For her to be that scared…. I really must be amazing! The day when the heroine cowers at the mere sight of me is finally here.
“….Because you were about to kill someone.”
After a long moment of silence, those are the words that she manages to get out. Her voice is whispery thin and it trembles a bit on the word kill.
Right. So she stopped me because I was going to kill someone?
“Yes, I was. Someone who had kidnapped me. Someone who, I might add, was also trying to kill me and Gilles,” I say glaring at Liz-san. I purposely keep my tone quiet, even, but my eyes are overflowing with contempt.
Nearly killing me…. I might be able to forgive. But because of her, Gilles suffered even more at that b*stards hands!
“It doesn’t matter….. Killing someone is wrong!”
She must have mustered up quite a bit of courage for her to yell that at me. Her voice still trembled a bit, but it came out strong.
“How could you take a person’s life like that…!?” Liz-san cries. All the pent up fear from before tinges her voice with hysteria, but her eyes are clear. They stare reproachfully at me.
She certainly has the roll of the saintess down pat.
“If those men hadn’t died, who’s to say that you wouldn’t be their next target, hm? After killing me, what’s to stop them from killing you right after?” I ask, smirking at her.
“Hey!” Eric-Sama shouts in a voice loud enough to hurt my ears.
Ugh. It’s so tiring talking to these people.
“What?” I ask, glaring at Eric-Sama.
“What Liz said isn’t wrong. You should know that! It doesn’t matter who it is, killing another person is evil.”
“Even if you’re a knight?”
“Fighting in itself is bad,” Eric-Sama tells me righteously, his eyes boring straight into mine. They’re eyes full of censure and disdain for me.
He’s been so perfectly….. brainwashed by Liz-san’s idyllic philosophy. And most of the next generation of leaders for our country are the same. I wonder if this so-called saintess is the one that’s actually going to bring about our downfall?
“I absolutely detest women who won’t even try to protect themselves.”
I spit out the words as if the thought disgusts me while throwing my gaze back towards Liz-san. Standing protectively next to her, Albert-Oniisama and Alan-Oniisama stare at me with eyes full of anger and indignation. But even so, I refuse to hold back.
I’ll say anything and everything on my mind, unabridged. With every biting remark, every criticism, every poison-laced word, I will cut them down. Because that’s what it means to be a villainess.
“Are you expecting someone to always come to your rescue? You certainly do have your pick of knights in shining armor all willing to throw themselves into the line of fire for you.”
“Ali, stop it,” Albert-Oniisama says quietly, glaring at me.
To think that my big brother, the one who was always so nice to me, the one that doted on me the most, would actually come to look at me like this.
“Albert-Oniisama, you’re also opposed to killing people, are you not?”
“Of course.”
“Even if your own family is about to be killed right in front of you?”
For a moment, Albert-Oniisama seems at a loss for words. But when he finally speaks, his voice sounds strong and unwavering.
“…..Yes. I’m against killing people.”
“Then, please throw away that sword you’ve got hanging at your side. You’ve clearly no use for it,” I say. And as I say it, I grin triumphantly up at him.
T/N: You know… One thing I liked a lot about Gilles’s point of view was the lack of honorifics lol. I didn’t realize how much I liked it without until I started translating things from Alicia’s point of view again XD
Also, so far, there’s no indication that Liz is going to be punished. I have a feeling that a lot of you are going to be outraged by this chapter because of that haha. So, I’m curious, how many of you actually think she’s going to be punished? And how? (Not what you want…. what you think is going to happen!)