I'm a Villainess, Can I Die?-Chapter 128

Three bright red drops of blood.

Something hot trickled beneath my nose.

I gasped for breath and lifted my right hand, brushing under my nose gently.

When I pulled it away, it was stained with thick red liquid.

“Khk... khk... cough, cough.”

The moment I saw the nosebleed, the coughing began. A burning heat surged through my throat and struck it mercilessly.

Falling off the bed, bleeding from my nose, and choking on my own coughs... What kind of mess is this?

My vision blurred. If I passed out like this, I wouldn’t be able to go on the trip.

If Jane or Aiden came into my room tomorrow, they’d definitely stop me.

So would my family.

Not just that—they’d want me to stay home and rest. At least a week. Maybe longer.

And then I’d die like that. Surrounded by everyone’s worry.

I didn’t want that. That was the very ending I’d tried to avoid the most. Even as I coughed violently, that was all I could think about.

I have to pull myself together. Somehow, no matter what, I have to clean up every trace of this. I have to go on that trip with my family tomorrow.

Suddenly, my left arm, which had been bracing me on the floor, gave out.

Since it had been supporting my upper body, I collapsed straight back onto the floor.

I choked for air, crumpled on the ground.

The pain slowly began to subside.

It seemed the third petal had finally bloomed.

Only then did my eyes begin to focus.

My lips trembled. I was relieved no one had seen me like this. And at the same time... the fact that no one had seen me made me feel unbearably lonely.

I didn’t know what I was feeling.

So this is what it’s like to be sick. I couldn’t even understand my own thoughts.

Like I was trapped in a strange, colorless space—left completely alone in a blurred, undefined place.

Nothing was clear.

I was trapped in a hazy world, my memories all jumbled. I couldn’t tell whether this was reality, a dream, an illusion, the past, the future, or the present. Nothing made sense.

I closed my eyes.

As the darkness behind my eyelids covered even the remaining traces of clarity, I slowly exhaled. And with that, the dizziness lifted just slightly, my thoughts returning a bit.

When I slowly opened my eyes again, my vision, now adjusted to the dark, gradually began to make out the shape of the room.

...Eunji.

She had spent her whole life in this kind of pain, trembling every day not knowing whether she'd die today or tomorrow.

I’m so selfish, aren’t I? I didn’t even cry when you died. But now, when I finally face my own death... now I can’t bear it. I just want to cry.

“Eunji...”

As my eyelids threatened to close again, I forced them open. Leaning back against the bed, I looked down at the spot where I’d fallen.

The floor was stained in blood. It looked like a crime scene.

What a sight.

At the very least, I needed to clean this up before passing out or falling asleep. I also needed to do something about my clothes, soaked in sweat and blood.

My head felt heavy, but I had to move.

Selina staggered toward the bathroom.

She peeled off her blood- and sweat-soaked clothes, plugged the tub, and turned on the water. As she tossed the clothes into the rising water, it slowly turned red.

Staring blankly at the water as it darkened, she slowly stepped over to the mirror.

Her face was smeared with blood in several places. Her hair was a tangled mess, her forehead bruised.

She must have hit it when she fell from the bed earlier.

“Ha... haha...”

Lowering her head, Selina let out a short laugh.

Then she looked down at the three petals bloomed near her heart.

A sharp pain shot from her lips, which she had bitten to the point of tearing. But her clenched jaw wouldn’t relax.

Selina balled her hand into a fist and struck her chest—no, the mark on her chest.

Thud. Thud. Thud. A few dull thuds echoed through the bathroom.

Her frail back, clad only in underclothes, looked pitiful as she pounded her chest.

After taking care of everything, Selina sat blankly on the bed.

Truly blankly.

There was no way to tell what her unfocused eyes were even looking at.

Only after a long while passed did the first traces of dawn begin to rise. Selina slowly blinked, then stood up.

5 a.m.

Some of the early servants were already awake by now. And so was the one person Selina needed to see.

She quietly opened the door and stepped out. She hadn’t even thought to put on an overcoat—the cold winter air bit into her skin.

But Selina didn’t blink.

Compared to the torment of the night before, the winter air felt almost refreshing.

She walked down the empty hallway.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

At this hour, most of the active servants were working in the kitchen or out in the yard.

During the hours the family slept, there was no one roaming the halls of the mansion.

Only Selina, in her thin white nightgown, wandered like a ghost.

She slowly descended the stairs.

Down the stairs, past the long corridor, she stopped in front of a particular door.

Then, she stepped back four paces, until her back touched the wall. Only then did she slowly sink down to the floor.

A small figure huddled in the cold hallway—that was Selina.

Her eyes hazy, she stared down at the floor and waited silently.

Waited for the owner of the room to come out.

Creak. The door opened slowly and carefully. It was done quietly, so as not to disturb whoever else might be sleeping inside.

Selina, her head bowed, slowly lifted her gaze. The person who opened the door «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» stopped short at the sight before him.

Their eyes met mid-air.

“Lady Selina...?”

“Good morning, Priest.”

Selina’s voice was calm. Perfectly calm.

The two of them moved to another location. As the soft morning light began to spill over the mansion, the only sound was their footsteps echoing faintly.

The silence was suffocating. Ian’s shoulders twitched several times as he watched her unsteady steps ahead of him.

They arrived at a sitting room at the end of the hall—empty and unused.

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After locking the door, Selina sat down across from Ian.

“This early... what brings you here, Lady Selina?”

Ian’s voice was stiff as he carefully asked. Selina looked at him for a moment, then shifted her gaze to the empty space beside him.

Her vacant eyes blinked a few times. Ian swallowed hard.

And finally, Selina spoke.

“I want to ask for your help.”

“Help? From me?”

“Yes. From you, Priest.”

Ian glanced at her warily. He couldn’t imagine what kind of request she might make with such a calm face.

But soon, he nodded. He owed Selina a debt.

After the matter with the High Priest ended, Ian had learned the truth.

That the High Priest had been behind the incident with the demonic creature. That he had tried to kill the Lady. That a magic circle had been found beneath the temple, and its interpretation revealed...

That Ian himself had been intended as the next sacrifice.

If he hadn’t left and come to this estate, he would’ve been killed too—sometime after his birthday in November.

Selina was not only his benefactor but someone he owed his life to. How could he refuse her request?

As Ian nodded, Selina gave a faint smile. Her lips, lifted just slightly, finally spoke.

“I’m going to die soon.”

A blunt and startling truth, laid bare in a single breath.

“...What?”

Ian’s body froze.

His stiff tongue only managed to push out a single word.

Selina gave a small nod.

In contrast to Ian, who looked stricken, her expression remained peaceful.

“Yes. I’m dying.”

“What do you mean...?”

“The High Priest.”

At that, Ian stopped moving. His black eyes drifted through the air, then slowly fell to the floor.

The air grew heavy in an instant. Selina closed her eyes for a moment before continuing.

“He used dark magic. Magic that wouldn’t disappear even if he died. In three weeks—maybe even sooner... I’ll die.”

Ian raised both hands and covered his face. His fingers trembled as a storm of emotion passed through him.

“I know the High Priest put you in danger.”

“Yes. But I beat him pretty spectacularly.”

Selina even cracked a joke for his sake, but Ian didn’t hear it.

No—more accurately, it didn’t register in his dazed mind.

“But in the end... in the end, he still...”

“It can’t be helped.”

At her resigned words, Ian lifted his head and cried out.

“Lady Selina!”

His stiff voice was filled with emotion now. Selina met his eyes calmly, then offered a faint smile.

“The magic’s already begun. I’m dying. So it can’t be helped. There’s no time for me to dwell on the past or blame the High Priest.”

Then Selina explained.

How the Black Flower would bloom seven petals before it killed her. The symptoms she had experienced. The more she said, the more Ian’s expression crumpled.

“Today... the third petal bloomed.”

“What?”

“It was a disaster. I really... I thought I was going to die.”

Her voice held a touch of laughter, as if she were joking.

But Ian could tell.

That heavy murmur was nothing but cold, hard truth.

“If it’s that serious, you should cancel the trip—”

“No.”

Selina cut him off firmly.

“I want to go. That’s why I’m asking. I want you to help me hold it together, at least for the trip.”

“I want to be happy. For just one more day. Just one more. But it’s so hard. It’s harder than I thought. So much harder. Sometimes I just want to go back to the past—to a day when I was happy.

And that place... that’s what it is to me. A memory of happiness. Happiness itself.”

“Lady Selina...”

Ian’s voice trembled with desperation, but Selina didn’t stop.

“I know my body. Three petals is my limit. I’d hoped to hide it until five, but if the fourth one blooms... I’ll have to tell everyone. So this trip—this is my last chance. My last time to laugh and talk with people who don’t know anything. To live peacefully, just for a while. Please, Priest. Help me.”

Ian couldn’t argue anymore.

Her softly murmured voice was so sad. That faint smile was so sad. That someone so incredible could look so small—that was what broke him.

Blinking against the sting in his eyes, Ian slowly bowed his head.

“...Yes. As long as I can... with all the strength I have... I’ll help you, Lady Selina.”

Selina smiled silently.

Outside the window, the sun was rising.

On the road to the capital, the winter ground was frozen, and the carriage wheels turned slower than usual.

It’ll take half a day longer like this. Well, at least the bumps aren’t as bad.

“Selina, are you cold?”

“No. It’s warm.”

Inside the carriage, thanks to magical items, it was cozy. Not as warm as by a fireplace, but far better than nothing.

Magic and money—what a pair.

“Aren’t you cold, Mother?”

“Me? I may not look it, but I’m quite hardy.”

“Haha.”

This morning, before getting into the carriage, I’d received a divine blessing from Ian. The bright flash of light probably meant he gave me a lot of power.

I was grateful. I told him so.

He told me he was the one who was grateful.

Our home really must be blessed. Every person who gathers around us is so incredibly kind.

I guess I’m the unlucky one—the offering, to keep the rest safe.

Thanks to Ian’s blessing, my body felt light. And my mind was clear.

Last night already felt like a dream.

“Are you sad the trip is short?”

“No. I just wanted to see the lake. Four days and two nights is enough, Brother.”

“Still... Ah, let’s go again next year. In the spring or... early summer. When the weather’s nice and things are quiet. Let’s go for a long trip then. What do you think?”

“That sounds wonderful. You all know... how much I love you, right?”

The carriage filled with warm laughter.

And then, of course, came the usual debate about who loved me the most.

“I love Selina more.” “No, I love her more.”

The kind of harmless argument I was all too used to.

I smiled quietly and turned to look out the window.

Because the journey was longer than usual, I got a little carsick as we neared the estate.

As I started to visibly fade, Mother took my hand and gently massaged my fingers. Her warm touch gave me just enough strength to smile again.