I May Be A Villainess, But I Won't Live My Life That Way - Chapter 75

Chapter 75

“It’s that guy from earlier, isn’t it?”

As if he wasn’t entirely clueless, the man recognized Ricardo from their encounter in the alleyway.

“The Viscount sent me,” Ricardo explained.

“The Viscount? I met him just a while ago. Why would the Viscount…?”

The man eyed Ricardo suspiciously.

“He sent me because he received some information about the artifact.”

“What kind of information?”

“The artifact is special, so it’s not as simple as just discarding it. It holds location information, so if it falls into enemy hands, there’s a risk of our location and identities being exposed.”

“Whether it’s exposed or not, what am I supposed to do if we can’t even find the artifact?”

The man grumbled, briefly glancing at Lara behind him. She was still lying unconscious on the ground.

Although Ricardo’s heart raced at the thought that these wicked men might have already done something to the child, he felt a sense of relief when he noticed Lara’s slight movements. She seemed to be either asleep or unconscious, but either way, it was better than being harmed by these ruthless individuals.

It would be best not to witness what would unfold next.

“Excuse me?”

The man suddenly furrowed his brows as if a thought had occurred to him.

“What if…?”

“Is it in the child’s stomach?”

“What?”

The subordinate widened his eyes in surprise at the man’s question.

“We searched the child thoroughly, but we couldn’t find any artifact. If it’s supposed to be with her, it must be inside.”

“So, what you’re saying is that the child swallowed the artifact?”

“Yes.”

“Come on! It’s not like it’s candy. Even if she’s young, she wouldn’t eat something like that, would she?”

“Maybe the artifact was designed that way! Yes, it’s much safer. If it’s like a necklace, you can just take it off, but if it’s inside, you can’t just leave it lying around. If it’s for tracking, it’s the perfect method.”

The man, pleased with his own idea, turned around and glanced at Lara, who was still lying with her eyes closed. Then, he drew his sword.

“Ugh, boss? Are you really going to cut the child’s stomach?”

“Once we open her up, we’ll know if it’s there or not.”

“But still…”

In truth, the subordinate felt uneasy about harming the little girl. However, the boss’s suggestion to open her up to check for the artifact made him even more uncomfortable, enough to make him panic.

“Ugh…”

As the boss raised his sword over the sleeping child, the subordinate couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He tightly closed his eyes and turned his head away.

Even though I’m a thug who does anything for money, I don’t want to see such a cruel act against a child.

“Huh?”

As he closed his eyes and turned his head away, he felt something brush past him.

He opened his eyes to see what it was, and sure enough, the spot next to him was empty. Naturally, he turned his head to look ahead and saw the same sight he had turned his head to a moment ago.

No, in fact, the scene wasn’t exactly as it appeared.

The child, who had been given a sedative and was lying on the floor, was still there, nestled in the thick blankets. The chieftain standing next to him was also there, in the same position. Except for one crucial detail – where his head had been moments ago, there was now nothing.

The man blinked in confusion, wondering if he had seen something wrong. Then, as he looked at the chieftain’s neck – or what remained of it, if you could even call it a neck – and saw the blood flowing from it, he finally realized that this was the reality.

“Umm… uh…. uhh….”

Too flustered to form coherent words, the man could only make incoherent sounds. As he turned his wide-eyed gaze to the side, he saw the knight.

The knight stood there, holding a sword that seemed to have been drawn out of nowhere, its blade stained with blood – presumably the blood from the chieftain’s neck.

The knight, dressed in black with black hair and emotionless black eyes, stood silently, not even bothering to assume a proper stance, just staring at him.

The man’s mind finally clicked, and he uttered a single word, barely managing to get it out.

Grim Reaper.

“Ughhh!”

For humans who encounter the Grim Reaper, death is the only outcome. And the man didn’t want to die. Instinctively, he groped for his sword.

As he managed to pull his sword out of its sheath, the Reaper, who he thought was far away, was suddenly closing in on him.

“Oh, oh, don’t come near!”

Terrified, the man swung his sword wildly. He knew the basics of swordplay, but in the face of overwhelming fear, any learning became useless.

Whether the Reaper knew this or not, it didn’t seem to care, relentlessly approaching to deliver death.

“Ughhhhh!”

Facing impending death, the panicked man threw his sword directly at Ricardo.

Ricardo ducked slightly to the side to avoid it. Behind him was Lara, and he didn’t know if the blade he’d dodged would hurt her.

“….”

Ricardo decided not to dodge the sword. Initially, he diverted the direction of the airborne sword, as if he were aiming to deflect it. Then, the sword changed its trajectory as it made contact with the blade.

The gracefully drawn sword fell downward, grazing Ricardo’s waist area. As it passed by, it left a cut on his side, revealing his sturdy rib bone. The blood from Ricardo’s wound splashed onto the ground.

Clang!

As the sword hit the ground, Ricardo’s sword, which had been thrown by the man, was now thrust into the man’s neck.

“Ugh….”

With the sword tightly against his neck, the man couldn’t even breathe properly, let alone speak, as he let out a weak groan.

When Ricardo slightly adjusted the angle of the sword, the sharp blade left a wound on the man’s neck, and blood started flowing.

“Ughhhhh….”

Although it was just a small wound, the man, thinking Ricardo had severed his neck like the chieftain he had seen earlier, rolled his eyes back and passed out.

Seeing the man slipping away, Ricardo silently wiped his blood-stained sword roughly on the man’s clothes and put his sword back into its sheath.

Turning around, he saw the headless body of the man and the head rolling on the ground, a matching pair. And a little further away, Lara is still sleeping soundly.

If Lara had been awake and watching, Ricardo couldn’t have dealt with them so swiftly. He couldn’t show such a cruel sight to a child.

Also, because Lara was sleeping, Ricardo had no choice but to handle them as quietly as possible to prevent Lara from waking up. Even if it led to a cruel outcome, it didn’t matter.

Because Lara couldn’t see it.

“Lara?”

Calling the child’s name softly, Ricardo saw her cute eyebrows furrowing slightly. Seeing that Lara was indeed sleeping peacefully, a sigh of relief escaped Ricardo’s lips involuntarily.

Gently lifting her small body, Lara nestled into Ricardo’s arms without any resistance. Making sure Lara stayed asleep, Ricardo quietly left the room.

“Lara?”

After securely closing the door to the room where the bodies were, Ricardo called Lara’s name a little louder.

“Mmm?”

Responding in a drowsy voice, Lara answered Ricardo’s call. With a face full of wrinkles and a desire to see Ricardo, whom she liked, Lara struggled to open her eyes.

“Ricardo?”

Struggling to open her eyes, Lara confirmed the face of the person calling her name.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

As Lara saw Ricardo’s face and heard her name being called, Ricardo could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“Is it already morning? Then we should get up….”

It wasn’t morning, it was already afternoon. But Lara’s eyelids were gradually dropping again, succumbing to the overwhelming drowsiness.

“No, it’s okay. You can sleep more.”

Ricardo gently patted Lara’s small back, almost covering it with his palm. He leaned his face slightly against her dark brown hair, enjoying the warmth of the living Lara for a moment.

He saved the child.

Always killing someone, taking away another’s life – now he has saved this little life.

A sense of pride filled Ricardo, knowing that his sword had brought forth life instead of death. It was as warm and fulfilling as the warmth of Lara’s body in his arms.

“If Ricardo is here, does that mean the princess is here too?”

Lara asked, picturing them together. They hadn’t been together often, but strangely enough, Lara felt like they belonged together like a set.

Maybe it was because Ricardo had once told her that she was a princess’s knight. And the most beautiful princess she knew, matched perfectly with the most handsome Ricardo oppa she knew.

“You’ll see the princess soon too.”

Sure enough, Ricardo promised she would see the princess soon.

“Hehe.”

Thinking of the lovely princess, a smile crept onto Lara’s lips.

“Wake me up later, Ricardo.”

As if asking for a promise, Lara’s small hand held onto Ricardo’s clothes.

“When the princess comes, wake me up. Because I… want to see… her……”

With those words, Lara fell asleep again. Watching her, Ricardo smiled softly.

Yes. I’ll wake you up when your princess arrives. Your princess must be eagerly waiting to see you.

Ricardo held Lara close, moving towards where Bianca was. He missed Bianca just as much as Lara did.

“Smile Love”