TBVL 06

The Villainess Who Was Betrayed Is Looking for Someone to Have Her Back – Chapter 6

“I’ll just make sure you’re not hurt anywhere and come right back.”

Ignoring his friends’ attempts to stop him, he packed his things and headed straight for the forest.

It was a journey that took three days, but it didn’t feel that far. Because Violetta would be waiting at the end of this road.

By the time he reached the forest, it had started to snow.

Carrying a heart full of worry, he finally arrived at the old cabin. The moment he saw it, his heart sank.

The desolate scenery around it was nothing like what Violetta liked, and the shabby house, which barely kept out the cold, looked as though it would collapse at any moment.

“In a place like this…”

It was they who had thrown Violetta into a place like this, yet he was shocked all over again.

Because he had never imagined things would be this bad.

I can start over from now.

Without even realizing what he was thinking, Rigreto knocked on the cabin’s old door.

Knock. Knock.

There was no response.

He knocked several more times, but it was the same. Anxiety crept up from the depths of his heart.

Bang!

When he struck the door hard, it creaked open weakly.

Rigreto hurried inside.

“Violetta?”

The cabin…

was empty.

My plan was simple.

Leave the cabin and head for Wintergarten.

Everything had gone smoothly except that my escape had been delayed a little because it started snowing.

It took five days to escape after sending Calix away.

I had intended to leave immediately, but once I made up my mind, the medicinal herbs growing abundantly around the cabin caught my eye. Once I left, no one would use them anyway, right?

Feeling it would be a waste, I gathered some of them, and that took a little more time.

But it was really only two days.

I safely crossed the barrier.

But that was where the real problem began.

They started chasing me.

How many days had it been already? Two? Three? I felt like I was going crazy.

Rough breaths escaped through my teeth.

“I think she’s nearby! Her trail ends here!”

“Search!”

Pressing myself tightly beneath a huge rock, I listened to the sounds outside.

The forest, which had been quiet all this time, was now filled with barking dogs and people shouting.

“Damn it, how the hell did they find out?”

I muttered anxiously.

“Farm, hurry!”

I had overused my power while escaping, so my subspace hadn’t opened for three days.

If it would just open, I could avoid the pursuit for a little while.

Then—

“…Why did it suddenly get quiet?”

It wasn’t my imagination.

The frantic barking that had been chasing me had suddenly died down.

“What… This feels ominous.”

And those kinds of premonitions usually came true.

Grrrr…

A large, fierce-looking dog approached, sticking its snout toward where I was hiding.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

My hands trembled.

The dog opened its jaws wide.

Woof! Woof! Bark!

“She’s over there! The criminal is over there!”

“Aah! Farm, Farm! Open already!”

“Violetta!”

But Farm betrayed my expectations.

Nothing happened.

Despair washed over me, but there was no time to despair.

I threw paralysis potions and muscle relaxants I had prepared in every direction, then dashed out from beneath the rock.

I ran with all my might.

I rolled and fell over again and again, and more wounds covered my body.

Perhaps because I had been running through the snow for so long, my body had gone numb.

But I kept running.

Until I saw the end.

“Violetta! Stop right there!”

“Don’t order me around!”

“Violetta! It’s a cliff!”

Suddenly, my view opened up.

I had been running so desperately that I hadn’t even realized the trees were becoming thinner.

I desperately stopped, but inertia threw my body forward, and I tumbled across the ground.

“Violetta!”

“Don’t come any closer!”

“A-Are you alright?”

That disgusting voice came from nearby.

I got to my feet without hesitation.

Every muscle in my body screamed, but I didn’t want to show such a pathetic sight in front of them.

Taking out a painkiller and swallowing it, I looked around.

Behind me was a cliff.

And in front of me…

“Look at that idiot. Escaping without even knowing where she is.”

“Violetta! Stop this. Let’s go back, okay?”

The people from my past who had led the pursuit stood before me.

“I’m so happy to see you all I could cry.”

“Violetta.”

“But what should I do? I have no intention of going back.”

Leonhardt raised one hand to stop the others from approaching and spoke.

“How did you weaken the barrier?”

I shrugged.

“How should I know? Maybe your abilities only amounted to that.”

“Violetta!”

So that was how they had found out so quickly.

They must have sensed the barrier weakening, come to investigate, and discovered my escape.

“Relax your faces. Why are you all so serious?”

After more than two days of pursuit, I was already exhausted.

At this rate, there was no escaping them.

A laugh burst out despite the situation.

I bent over laughing before finally lifting my head.

The blank expressions on their faces made me laugh even more.

“Anyway, I’m not going back.”

“What if we kill your entire family?”

“Go ahead.”

Why would I care about the family that abandoned me?

Having a child like me was their own fault.

Just like I had been falsely accused because I trusted the wrong people.

“This works out perfectly. I had something to ask you too.”

“Ask?”

I looked over them one by one.

Leonhardt.

Baneta.

Calix.

And finally…

The face of the man who had once been my lover after two years.

Rigreto’s face had gone deathly pale.

His lips trembled as he spoke.

“Y-You’re… bleeding.”

“Oh.”

Was that really important?

I didn’t understand why he cared now, but I casually wiped the blood from my face.

His expression didn’t ease.

“I heard you want something from me.”

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Calix said so. He said that’s why you all kept me alive… But I guess you have no intention of telling me what it is.”

Leonhardt gestured for everyone else to stay back.

Baneta cautiously stepped forward.

“Violetta, it’s a misunderstanding.”

I was glad that all I could do in response was laugh.

When I took one more step back, Rigreto’s face turned ghostly pale.

The others froze as well.

“V-Violetta. Calm down. Just… listen to us for a moment.”

“What’s the point of listening?”

“Violetta!”

With trembling hands, I took a potion bottle from my bag.

“Look. This is a new potion I made.”

Even after being locked in that cabin, I had made that potion over and over again.

Had I really made a mistake?

What had I done wrong?

No… That couldn’t be possible.

Believing completely in my abilities while doubting them at the same time had been unbearable.

Enough to make me wish I could simply die.

“My potion was perfect. So why did it become poison only for you?”

No matter how many times I made it again, there was nothing wrong with it.

I could never reproduce any effect that would make people cough up blood and collapse on the ground.

“But you know… No matter how many times I tried, my potion simply couldn’t harm anyone.”

It felt like I was acting in a play.

As if I had waited for this very moment, repeating these lines over and over in my head.

It felt refreshing.

Perhaps this was what I had wanted to say all along.

That it was unfair.

That there was no way my potion could be wrong.

That it truly could not harm anyone.

I wanted to restore my honor.

Mine…

And my potion’s.

I raised my voice so loudly that even those standing far away could hear.

“So I thought…”

“I should change the way I think.”

“…W-What?”

“What if I made a potion that really could produce those effects? That’s what I thought.”

Pop.

The cork came out with a crisp sound.

As if enjoying the aroma of wine, I slowly swirled the bottle and smiled.

“It’s not perfect yet, but it should be close enough.”

At last, they seemed to realize what I was about to do.

Every face before me turned pale.

“Now we’re even, okay?”

“…What do you mean by ‘even’?”

“It means exactly this.”

A sweet fragrance drifted from the bottle.

Without the slightest hesitation, I drank it.

It went down my throat smoothly.

Just as expected from a potion I had made myself.

“Violetta!”

A heart-wrenching scream rang out.

A sharp pain spread from my stomach throughout my entire body.

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

“Farewell, you sons of bitches.”