Chap 8-Fatal Temptation

 

‘That was dangerous.’

To pay for all my sins at once and rot in prison for the rest of my life…

I almost fell for Bella’s fatal temptation.

The thought of my life falling into the abyss with one mistake, trapped and miserable forever, made the urge to commit that ‘mistake’ rise like crazy.

Unlike the childish, boring prison life I had for two months…

Sitting on the cold prison floor every day, chewing on dry, rough bread, gulping down stale water, and constantly calculating in my head.

‘How many hours of torture will I endure today?’

A place where no one treats me like a human being. Trapped there, barely able to breathe, constantly watched while eating and sleeping.

A life where freedom is never allowed, someone’s eyes follow me wherever I go, tracing the bars of my cell with my fingertips, and living while imagining the faces of those who want me to disappear.

Originally, I was going to cause more chaos there to properly imprint the image of a villain…

But I got excited.

Hehe…

Was it because I had been severely sexually frustrated for a while?

With just these simple fantasies, I became a pathetic Masochist who gets excited easily.

But at least my underwear isn’t wet, so maybe I’m not a completely hopeless piece of trash yet…?

I was now going with Bella to find a carriage.

The vigilante allowed me to enter the village on the condition that ‘Bella would take responsibility and stop me if I caused trouble.’

But the problem was…

“Um… Senior? Do we really have to go like this?”

Bella was gripping my wrist so hard it felt like it would break, literally dragging me along.

But I felt good.

Being suppressed this strongly was exactly my taste.

So, I deliberately put on a more brazen, annoying expression and muttered.

“Senior~ You’re too rough~ Can’t you treat me a little more gently~?”

Bella looked at me as if she had seen something truly disgusting, and pulled my wrist even harder to my satisfaction.

‘Kuh~’

I tried to hide my excited feelings and obediently let myself be dragged along, pretending to be nonchalant.

“Get out of the village!”

A sharp voice rang out.

I turned my head.

It was a child.

His fists were clenched tightly, and his eyes were filled with tears.

In his small hand, an egg.

‘What is it, is it my birthday today?’

Gulp…

‘I can’t stand this.’

I swallowed and closed my eyes tightly, waiting to savor the next moment.

Honestly, I could easily avoid an egg thrown by a child who hadn’t even awakened, but.

What kind of stupid Masochist would pass up such a golden opportunity?

Thwack.

A sticky liquid ran down my face.

Cold yolk dripping from my hair, down my cheeks, and from the tip of my chin.

The rough texture of the eggshell.

The terrible fishy smell.

I stood there,

Slowly savoring the sensation.

What were people thinking as they watched me get hit with an egg?

Were they afraid because a village child had touched a noble?

Rather than that, I hoped they would laugh at the sight of a noble getting hit with an egg by a mere commoner.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Of course, the scene I had hoped for was not there.

“I’m sorry… Young miss!!! Please spare us!”

A woman who appeared to be the child’s mother was holding him tightly, kneeling and apologizing to me.

I looked around.

Eyes filled with worry for the child.

Sympathy for the mother.

And, a faint hostility towards me.

I turned my head.

Bella, as if expecting me to go wild, tightened her grip on my arm and looked at me anxiously.

“Haa… You said you’d throw me back in jail if I caused trouble.”

“Huh…? Huh?”

“Let’s go quickly. I want to get out of this horrible village.”

Bella looked surprised, then slightly loosened her grip and dragged me away again.

Clean streets without a single piece of trash.

Houses that weren’t luxurious but looked cozy.

‘This place has developed a lot.’

A year ago.

When I came to treat Annie’s mother, it was a decent village, but it still had a slum-like feel.

The village near the mansion where I first stayed when I came here.

And…

The place where the servants who died because of me and their families mainly lived.

The Duke’s family provided sufficient compensation, gave those who wanted it the opportunity to move to better areas, and developed the village.

But…

There was no way that could replace human lives.

Therefore, they had the right to be angry with me.

I smiled bitterly and flicked the eggshell off my finger.

‘I’m someone who deserves to be treated even worse.’

The person who should be kneeling and begging for forgiveness wasn’t that woman, but me.

But, I couldn’t do that.

If I did what I wanted here…

Their deaths would become meaningless.

I was someone who didn’t even deserve to apologize.

‘Haa… I want to be alone.’

I felt like I wanted to forget everything by being alone in a room, practicing my abilities or training.

…

Was she worried about what I would do?

As soon as Bella borrowed the carriage, she didn’t even hire a coachman and took the reins herself, driving out of the village.

She didn’t say a word, her face filled with suppressed anger as she looked straight ahead.

I watched Bella with interest, then shrugged and opened my mouth.

“Hey… We’ll have to travel by carriage for a day, aren’t you going to buy food or camping gear?”

Then, Bella gritted her teeth and glared at me as if she would kill me.

“How about reflecting on your own actions before criticizing others? That’s why you get hit with eggs in the street.”

“Come to think of it… Shouldn’t a guard block something like that? Did you deliberately not block it? To mess with me.”

“If I knew you wouldn’t avoid it…”

Bella stared at me intently.

“I would have blocked it.”

“Ha. Don’t say things you don’t mean. You felt a little relieved, didn’t you? You felt good seeing someone like me get humiliated by getting hit with an egg, right?”

“…”

Bella didn’t answer.

But I didn’t miss her subtly twitching fingers.

“You didn’t block it, did you! I saw you twitch just now!”

“Shut up, Yeon Bennet.”

Bella shouted, gripping the reins of the carriage tightly with one hand.

The carriage lurched for a moment, and I lost my balance and leaned towards Bella.

“Uh… Uh!? Can’t you drive a little more carefully? It’s dangerous!”

“I’ll consider it if you shut up and stay quiet.”

“No way?”

I deliberately stuck close behind her, and spoke in a subtly annoying voice.

“Ah~ I’m hungry. What should I do? We didn’t prepare for camping either.”

“…”

“But where are we going anyway? Are we going in the right direction? We’re not lost, are we?”

“Please shut up.”

I sensed that her patience was reaching its limit.

‘Oh? Could this be…’

Thwack!

Bella clenched her fist and lightly punched me on the head.

A faint pleasure flowed through my head.

‘Yes! This is it.’

I felt a little sorry for teasing her a bit too much, but since I saved her life, I deserved at least this much in return., right?

I suppressed my excited feelings, grabbed my head, and glared at her as if I was wronged.

“How dare you? How dare a baron’s daughter hit a Duke’s daughter?”

Bella scoffed and replied cynically.

“A castaway from the family, a criminal who was imprisoned, and also an academy student.”

‘Ahem, she got me there.’

Bella sighed sincerely and continued, as if trying to appease me.

“Haa. Just endure it for a day. It wouldn’t have been good for you to stay there any longer. An academy student should be fine for a day.”

I fixed my gaze on a specific part of her body, smiled lewdly, and replied.

“Because you’re big, I’ll let it slide.”

Bella clenched her fist again…

And I was able to savor the pleasure flowing through my head once more.

…

“Haa… It’s quiet now.”

Bella sighed deeply and looked at Yeon, who was fast asleep in the carriage.

Sleeping, she had a youthful face like a girl her age.

‘If she just kept her mouth shut, she would just be a cute junior.’

The world calls Yeon Bennet a heartless villain, and the media portrays her very negatively.

But, after experiencing her directly for a day.

She was a little different from what Bella had known.

Rather than a cruel villain, she was just a short-sighted, rude, and arrogant brat.

Not exactly the kind of villain that everyone in Terra would point fingers at.

Of course, if it was true that she had touched Contamination, she was a piece of trash who deserved to be punished.

But…

She didn’t seem like that kind of child.

The bitter smile she gave when she saw the child who threw an egg at her and the apologizing mother.

Why was she pushing people away so much?

Bella stared at the sleeping Yeon for a while, then carefully stroked her head.

A small, delicate head.

Cold, light breathing.

At that moment-

Yeon’s eyes flashed open.

“Senior, I sense the presence of monsters nearby. It seems we need to prepare to fight.”

A gaze that turned cold in an instant.

Bella instinctively felt a chill run down her spine.

Monsters? Here?

This was the territory of Seongcheonseok.

A place where monsters shouldn’t appear.

Normally, she would have dismissed it as nonsense and ignored it, but Bella immediately got up and began to be wary of her surroundings.

However…

She felt nothing.

Neither the stench of Contamination, nor the sense of unease, nor hostility.

Nothing was detected, strangely enough.

Bella looked at Yeon with a questioning expression, but she was just steadfastly guarding her surroundings.

A few minutes later.

Bella was finally able to sense the presence of monsters approaching from afar.

‘She noticed the monsters much faster than me?’

Bella momentarily looked at Yeon again.

She was supposed to be just an incompetent villain…

Bella’s level was currently level 6.

A veteran who had been fighting on the front lines since graduating from the academy.

It wasn’t that she lacked practical experience, nor that her senses had dulled.

Yet, Yeon Bennet sensed the presence of monsters several minutes before Bella.

‘Come to think of it, back in prison…’

She had slipped through the prison’s security with ease and reached her destination.

If she was the incompetent villain that people said she was, she would never have been able to do that.

‘I should find out more when I get back to the academy.’

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading!