Chapter 79

Part Two begins.

Please continue to look after me!

In a dark and narrow room, Lillian sat on a hard chair, staring blankly out the window with its iron bars, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Why... did it end up like this?"

No one answered her question. No one was there, no, in this world. Lillian was alone. Everything she had imagined had been denied. And she had come to know the reality.

The incident began a few hours ago when a certain person visited Lillian.

How long would she have to continue as a maid? Lillian merely went through the motions of her daily tasks. The endless days had almost broken her spirit. It was then that a woman who had been monitoring her spoke to her. Lillian rarely heard from anyone unless something special happened. The days of not speaking to anyone had made her feel even more isolated. Even if the words were malicious or just out of duty, it made her feel happy to be spoken to. She now realized how much it had affected her, even though she was never called by her name.

The place she was led to was more luxurious than any she had seen before. To prevent her from knowing where this place was, she had been blindfolded on the way. She couldn't tell where this room was located, but the distance she had walked suggested it was somewhere she had never been. When she was seated, Lillian stiffened, wondering what was about to happen. Given the treatment she had received, she felt fear despite her ignorance. Since being captured, Lillian had never been treated kindly, not even once. For over half a year, she had been treated this way, and she couldn't help but understand why.

(I was the heroine... I just wanted to be loved...)

She clenched her fists tightly on her lap. This was a game world. Everyone existed for her. Or so she thought.

As she was thinking, the door creaked open. Lillian, fearing a beating if she raised her head, kept her gaze down. She heard someone sit down across the table, and the hem of a skirt came into her peripheral vision.

"Huh..."

"It's been a while, Lillian."

Hearing her name, Lillian instinctively looked up and was shocked to see the person. Red hair, blue eyes—she couldn't forget the appearance of the woman who was deeply etched in her memory. Confusion was her immediate reaction.

"How... why..."

Why was Elina, the villainess, here? Why was Elina in this place? She had been condemned by Girard, right in front of Lillian. The woman who had hated Lillian, why was she now in front of her? Lillian had thought Elina hated her so much. But perhaps it was different. Elina had become Alvis's fiancée. She had been falsely accused, but her future as the crown princess had not changed. As the crown princess, Elina had no reason to hate Lillian. Thinking this, Lillian began to hate Elina even more.

Lillian, the heroine, was restrained and suffering. Why was Elina, the villainess, happy? This should have been Lillian's place. Elina had taken Lillian's place. Lillian glared at Elina, but Elina showed no sign of being offended. Lillian didn't like her attitude. She stood up abruptly and raised her hand to strike Elina.

However, her hand was grabbed by a strong force, by a guard behind her.

"Ouch!"

"Miss Filareta, please let go of her hand."

"We cannot let someone who tried to harm the princess go unpunished. It could affect the evaluation of the crown prince."

"Then at least let her sit down."

"That much we can do."

The guard called Filareta. The name was familiar, but Lillian felt it was different from the Filareta she knew. The Filareta she knew was a knight, not a guard. This was different from the game. Lillian shook her head vigorously.

"Why, why! It's different! I'm the heroine, so why is everyone different?!"

"..."

"Elina, Filareta. Why... why are you different people I don't know? Why... why do I have to suffer like this?"

Lillian collapsed to the floor, unable to stand. For the past half year, she had been left alone, hearing people wish for her death and receiving harsh words. She couldn't accept any of it and didn't know what to do.

"Do you know, Lillian?"

"Huh?"

Lifting her head, Lillian saw Elina staring at her intently. There was no contempt in her gaze, an expression Lillian had never seen in the game. She could only stare back.

"What you did. And the consequences for those involved."

Lillian nodded, thinking of Girard and the others. Girard had been disinherited and confined, and the others had lost their titles and become commoners.

"Do you also know about Alvis?"

"Alvis...?"

Lillian didn't understand what Elina was saying. She had only met Alvis in the dungeon, and that was their first encounter. She hadn't done anything. But Elina showed a negative emotion for the first time, a look of exasperation and deep pity.

"What do you mean?"

Her voice trembled. All Lillian had done was frame Elina and enjoy a romance with Girard. She had escaped the convent, which she knew was a sin. But she hadn't done anything else. She was captured and couldn't do anything after that. So, she had no idea why Elina's expression had changed.

"Lillian, you indirectly harmed Alvis."

"What... what are you saying... I didn't..."

She hadn't. Lillian had only wanted to be loved as the heroine. She had tried to get close to Alvis for that. But she was captured before she could. She had never intended to harm anyone. Alvis was the crown prince, and Lillian knew how important he was.

"I said indirectly. It all started when you escaped the convent. If you hadn't, Alvis might not have been injured."

Lillian was confused. Alvis had been injured. She didn't know about that. She hadn't meant for it to happen. Moreover, the person who had targeted Alvis was already dead. Dead. Because of Lillian.

"No, I... I didn't mean to... I just thought it was different..."

Life in the convent was not befitting a heroine. Spending her life in such a bad ending was impossible. So, she had escaped. She knew it was wrong, but in this game world, Lillian thought it was acceptable. As the heroine, she should be able to be happy no matter what. Or so she thought.

"The guard responsible for the convent's security, feeling responsible, took his own life. No, it wasn't just him. There were others—"

"No... no... it's not... my fault..."

Lillian shook her head vigorously. She hadn't meant for it to happen. She had just escaped. But someone had died because of her actions.

"Did I... kill... someone? Because of me..."

Lillian touched the restraint around her neck, shuddering. She remembered the sword pointed at Alvis, its coldness. She had thought she would be killed. She had felt fear. Alvis could easily kill her.

In the world she knew, people weren't killed so easily. Even if they were held responsible, it didn't lead to death. But this world was different. Life was not so precious here. It was a world where lives could be easily lost. There was no reset button. Of course not. This was not a game.

At that moment, Lillian's consciousness faded.

★☆★☆★

Seeing Lillian collapse, Elina sighed deeply.

"Is the princess alright?"

"Yes."

Lillian was carried away by the knights. Elina hoped that Lillian would finally accept reality. The information she had shared with Lillian was something Elina had only recently learned. It was from last year's Alvis's birthday celebration. As a member of the royal family, Elina had finally been able to hear the details from Alvis. She learned about the fate of the person who had injured Alvis and that Lillian was involved.

Elina had asked Alvis to meet Lillian. He had been against it, but as the crown princess, Elina wanted to share his burden. She also needed to know Lillian's current state. In the end, with the persuasion of the head of the guard, Luke, the meeting was arranged. But when she actually met Lillian, Elina was surprised by her condition.

"Was this the right thing to do?"

Lillian's state was terrible. She called herself the heroine, as if she was in a story. Despite the warnings, Lillian seemed unstable. It was hard to imagine her as the confident girl who had walked alongside Girard at the academy.

Elina hoped Lillian would understand her actions. Lillian could no longer return to her noble family, but she could atone for her sins. Ideally, Elina wanted her to live that way. Some might call it naive, but without Lillian, Elina would have followed a predetermined path. Lillian's actions had also led others to new paths. Elina didn't blame everything on Lillian.

However, the incident at the birthday celebration was different. It was an attempted assassination of the crown prince. Elina wanted Lillian to understand her crimes, to know what she had done.

She hoped Lillian had understood, even if only a little.

"Still, I want her to live, even if it's for a short time. I want her to live, understanding her sins."

"Perhaps it would be better for her to die?"

"Perhaps."

★☆★☆★