I'm a Villainess, Can I Die?-Chapter 125

The walk had been scheduled for just before sunset, so until then, I decided to close my eyes for a while and rest.

Or I tried to.

The moment I pulled the blanket up to my chin, a searing pain flared in my chest.

I didn’t have to look. I knew what it was.

The second petal was blooming.

Clenching the blanket between her teeth, Selina bit back a scream. If she made a sound, people would come running.

They’d find out. That couldn’t happen.

With the blanket stuffed into her mouth, Selina writhed on the wide bed like a wild animal caught in a trap, dying in silence.

How long did it last?

By the time her jaw had locked tight from the tension, the pain in her chest began to subside.

She tried to sit up—only to collapse again.

She made a few more attempts to stand, all in vain. Her knees had no strength. So she crawled across the floor instead.

Thank god no one was watching.

At last, she reached the mirror and let out a ragged breath. Then, a short, bitter laugh slipped out.

She looked a mess.

Her clothes were soaked with sweat, her hair stuck to her skin, her face pale, and her mouth, which had been biting the blanket, was red and swollen.

She looked more deranged than any lunatic.

Staring at her reflection for a while, Selina finally began peeling her clothes down.

Lowering the fabric to reveal her chest, she saw what she’d expected.

Two petals, blooming above the leaf.

“Of course...”

Her monotone voice echoed softly through the room. Hollow. Empty.

The first petal had appeared without her noticing—just woke up one morning and it was there.

But the second was... different.

“I have to go through this five more times.”

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

Or worse.

Selina turned her gaze back to the mirror and shook her head. Then, she finished undressing.

Thankfully, the pain had stopped. It must’ve been tied to the blooming—now that it was done, it had vanished.

Whether that was a blessing or not, she couldn’t say.

She tossed the sweat-drenched clothes into the laundry bin, wiped herself down with a damp towel, then changed into fresh clothes. Afterward, she opened the window.

The cold air filled the room, but it was better than the stale, suffocating heat.

Propping her head on the tea table, Selina closed her eyes and tapped her fingers gently on the wood.

The empty room was far too quiet. Far too lonely.

She just wanted Aiden to knock on the door.

Dressed and with his hair neatly groomed, Aiden stepped out of his room as the last golden light of dusk began to fade. His hand lingered on the doorknob for a long moment before he finally opened it.

Hoo...

A quiet sigh escaped him, and a tension settled over his expression.

He would walk down this corridor, up the main staircase, and to the young lady’s room. Then escort her into the garden for a walk.

And then... say it.

It was a simple series of actions, but why did it feel so impossibly difficult?

As Aiden walked, going over the same thoughts again and again, he suddenly stopped.

He’d run into someone.

Someone he wasn’t particularly fond of.

“Hey there, Aiden.”

That someone greeted him with a smile, standing tall with a perfectly straight back. Aiden stared expressionlessly at him and responded.

“...Good evening, Sir Lukas.”

Lukas nodded casually, tilting his head.

“Oh? Heading out somewhere... even changed clothes...”

He trailed off mid-sentence. His gaze had started at Aiden’s outfit and slowly traveled upward until their eyes met.

Something gleamed in Lukas’s eyes.

And then, a wicked smile spread across his lips. The curve of his mouth was unmistakably teasing.

Aiden sighed quietly to himself. Here we go.

“So you’re finally doing it, huh?”

Everyone in the mansion knew Aiden and Selina took a walk together once a day.

Lukas was no exception.

He’d occasionally paused at the window to watch Selina stroll across the garden, smiling faintly.

If Aiden was heading out around this time, dressed like that, what else could it be?

But the clothes were the giveaway.

Lukas had seen him earlier wearing something more casual. Now, he looked... different.

More put-together. More deliberate.

And Lukas could read into that instantly.

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Oh, but I want to be concerned. I’m hoping it goes terribly, you know?”

Lukas smiled, voice full of mock cheer. His words, sharp and poisonous, clashed with the grin on his face.

Aiden, unimpressed, matched his twisted smile with one of his own.

“...What a charming personality.”

“I hear that a lot.”

Lukas glanced out the window.

The world outside was steeped in red. Sunset had painted everything in blood-orange hues.

A color he once hated—now, not so much.

What kind of answer would Selina give to the one who’d returned that sunset to him?

“Well, I’ve got a meeting with a friend. If she turns you down, stop by later. We’ll share a drink. Misery loves company, after all.”

Still grinning, Lukas waved and walked away.

Once his back was out of sight, the smirk faded from Aiden’s face.

As if his head wasn’t already spinning, Lukas had to light another fire under him.

Lukas, for his part, walked away with a strange mix of melancholy and amusement.

The air in the garden was crisp.

No—cold. Bitterly so.

Winter had fully arrived.

Selina was glad she’d dressed warmly. She clutched her coat tighter around her and walked in silence.

Aiden was just as quiet beside her.

That was to be expected on her end, but why was he so quiet?

Wasn’t the entire point of today’s walk for Aiden to talk?

...Just what is he planning to say?

Selina blinked slowly and looked up at him. His face, bathed in the fading light, was taut with nerves.

...Why’s he so nervous? This is starting to worry me.

Well... he’ll speak when he’s ready.

She watched his clenched jaw, then turned her gaze away.

The flowering trees on either side of the path were bare now.

A cold, lifeless scene that matched the chill in the air. Once lush and green, now only brittle branches and sagging leaves remained.

It hit her harder than usual today. It felt like death.

Like her.

Of course, it wasn’t the same. Come spring, these plants would bloom again. But her?

She wouldn’t.

Not with this cursed flower blooming in her chest.

A sharp wind whipped through the garden, tangling her hair. It stung the nape of her neck.

And brought back the memory of that earlier pain.

The feeling of her flesh tearing. The soundless screams she had to bear alone.

Her head felt heavy. Whether it was from thoughts or symptoms, she didn’t know.

“Aiden.”

Her voice broke the silence, and Aiden, startled, turned to look at her.

He looked like a broken machine.

“We should end our walks here. Today’s the last one.”

“...What?”

His face, once frozen with nerves, shifted in an instant—to confusion, to dismay.

Like a kindergartener being told, we can’t play together anymore.

Selina exaggeratedly pulled her coat tighter.

“It’s too cold. Let’s stop until spring comes.”

She didn’t want to see his sad expression, so she lied.

Even though she knew spring would never come for her, she pretended to wait for it.

Aiden stared at her for a long moment, then nodded slowly.

By the time they’d walked halfway through the garden, the sky had turned a deep violet.

A meeting of crimson dusk and dark blue night.

Like the boundary between life and death.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Maybe it was the second petal, but Selina’s head was filled with thoughts like that.

She tilted her head back to stare at the sky.

The sun had vanished. The moon was starting to rise.

And then—

“...It’s snowing.”

Snow had begun to fall.

At her murmur, Aiden looked up too.

He reached out his hand to catch a flake—like a child. His innocent movement made her smile, and she reached out her hand too.

Snow danced down from the violet sky, soft and shimmering.

It was beautiful. So beautiful it made her forget the cold, forget the fear.

It reminded her of the glittering magic Aiden once cast—so beautiful it brought tears.

In her past life, she’d never been moved by snow.

Or maybe she’d never had the time to appreciate it.

Beauty, after all, required space to feel it.

So she was amazed. In awe.

Snow could be this beautiful, she thought.

At least... she’d get to know that before she died.

She watched the flake melt in her palm and asked:

“Do you like snow?”

Aiden didn’t answer. He kept his hand out, eyes fixed on the sky.

He didn’t even turn toward her.

His lips parted slowly.

“No.”

The answer didn’t match his behavior at all. He looked like he couldn’t tear his gaze away—and yet said he didn’t like it.

But Selina didn’t argue. Beauty doesn’t always mean love.

“Really?”

“...Yes. When I was living on the streets, snow was a nightmare.”

The streets. Right—Selina had found Aiden in an alleyway. The record had said so.

So that’s what he meant. He was talking about his childhood.

“When it snowed, it meant the coldest nights. And when it melted... it became water. So cold it froze people to death. Literally froze them. That’s why... I hated snow.”

His voice was calm, but the story was so heavy.

She pictured the child version of Aiden—curled up in a dark alley, platinum hair soaked, lips pale, hands and feet trembling, ears and nose red.

He must’ve suffered, like a stray animal left to die.

What a wretched childhood we both had.

Poor little Aiden. Poor little me.

“But now... I like it.”

His voice pulled her from the dark.

From hate to love—what a fickle boy.

She watched the snow ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) melt in her hand, then turned to look at him.

His eyes, once fixed on the sky, were now on her.

Their gazes met. Neither looked away.

Under the falling snow, the world was quiet.

No—quiet, but deafening.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A sound echoed in her ears.

Was it hers? His?

She hoped it was no one’s.

“I like it now. Because I’m with someone I love. So it doesn’t matter if it’s snow, or rain, or thunder... anything is fine.”

So much for hoping.

It wasn’t no one’s.

It was both of theirs.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Their hearts pounded loudly over the silent garden.

The sound of his heart, confessing.

The sound of hers, hearing it.

And suddenly—

She wanted to cry.