I May Be A Villainess, But I Won't Live My Life That Way - Chapter 80

“We were too complacent.” 

I muttered to myself on the return carriage ride. 

“It was too naive of us to think that Lord Wensbury would readily admit his wrongdoing just because we had rescued Lara, caught his accomplice, and gotten a confession from him.” 

“Bianca.” 

Ricardo, sitting next to me, quietly took my hand as if to encourage me. 

“It wasn’t our fault. We just didn’t realize how cunning and shameless he was.” 

“Not realizing that is precisely the mistake, isn’t it? We already knew he was a bad person who wouldn’t hesitate to kidnap a child to achieve his goals, yet we didn’t anticipate he would react that way.” 

“But now we know. Another chance will come.” 

Ricardo’s words made me sigh involuntarily. 

“I’d rather we didn’t get another chance.”

“What do you mean?”

He asked, puzzled.

“If we get another chance, it means he’s plotting something again.” 

Understanding what I meant, Ricardo didn’t say anything. He just tightened his grip on my hand a little more. 

His large, calloused, and rough hand was never soft, but it was warm. Just like Ricardo. 

“I feel sorry for Megi.” 

Meeting the Viscount in her childhood and harboring admiration for him, Megi spent her whole life raising Maria in hardship, only to be brutally killed by his hand in the end. 

“I’m worried about Maria.” 

It seemed that the Viscount had not yet realized Maria was involved, but once he started to suspect, there was no telling when Maria might be in danger. 

“I’m really nervous that something might happen again.” 

My fist, held within his large hand, clenched tightly with tension. 

“It’s okay, Bianca.”

Ricardo wrapped his other hand around my shoulder, gently pulling me towards him. I felt his warm breath on my head. 

“I will protect you.” 

Ricardo’s voice flowed through my hair, bringing me a sense of relief that made my eyes close softly. 

*** 

As soon as I entered my room, I noticed the book was glowing. 

“Oh no!” 

I had no idea how long it had been like this. I quickly approached and opened the book, seeing the light gradually fade as if urging me to read faster. 

The beginning was the same. It would be nice if it could tell me where things had changed, but this damn book didn’t seem to know how to be that kind. 

“Ah! Here it is!” 

Flipping through the pages, I finally found where the book had changed. It was somewhere in the middle. 

Originally, it was the part where Maria started opposing me. I checked a few pages earlier and saw that the section about Megi’s death and the vow of revenge remained unchanged. 

I was puzzled that the part hadn’t changed, even though Maria had cleared up her misunderstanding about me. 

“Maybe it’s because this has already happened?” 

When I found the book, the story hadn’t started yet. Over the past month, the book’s contents have changed a few times, but now it is in the middle of the story. 

Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, Maria’s vow of revenge on me had already happened, so it might not have changed. 

“Please…” 

Hoping the later parts had changed, I began reading the book while sitting on the floor without even moving to the table. 

“ha… ….” 

A long sigh escaped my lips. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but judging by the cramp in my legs, it must have been a while. 

The content of the book had indeed changed. 

Previously, the Viscount of Wensbury was only described as Maria’s biological father, who helped her debut in society and supported her in various ways. Now, he plays a much more prominent role.

As I suspected, my knowledge of his identity was insignificant, but the main characters, Maria and Ricardo, discovering his true nature was significant.

In the original story, Maria sought revenge against me and pursued Ricardo. However, the current Maria was determined to avenge her mother’s death at the hands of the Viscount of Wensbury. 

Even this foolish book had to maintain some coherence, so it had to adjust to the real Maria’s actions. 

“I’m really glad I reconciled with Maria.” 

It was painful to see Maria struggling with the truth about her father’s schemes, but she deserved to know the truth. 

“But I still die.”

I murmured as I turned the last page. 

The Viscount of Wensbury wanted to make Maria the crown princess. It seemed he realized today that Ricardo had completely turned against him. 

However, Maria no longer wanted to follow the Viscount’s plans. As Ricardo and I worked to bring him down, the cornered Viscount decided to poison me. And the poisoning succeeded. 

One thing that was fortunate was that my death was revealed by Maria and Ricardo, and the Viscount of Wensbury was eventually executed for murdering a noble lady. 

“Why poison me when he’s cornered? Killing me would only provoke Ricardo further, not make him give up. Don’t you think it’s a stupid idea?” 

I muttered to the book out of frustration, but as always, there was no response. Even if the beginning and middle of the story changed, and even the ending, Bianca’s fate remained the same. 

In the novel, Bianca always died.

No matter how hard I tried. 

“Ugh…” 

Suddenly, I felt a hard knot form in my stomach, causing pain. The doctor’s words from my discharge echoed in my mind: the wound had healed well, but the nerves might be damaged, leading to persistent pain. 

Was this that painful? 

I clutched my stomach, grimacing in pain. The groan that escaped through my teeth did nothing to alleviate the discomfort. 

“Ha…….” 

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead as the pain slowly subsided. The book I had been holding had fallen to the floor. I braced myself with my hands on the floor, trying to catch my breath. 

A drop of sweat from my forehead fell onto the book. The clear liquid quickly soaked into the book, turning a dark brown. 

The drop had fallen precisely on the part with Ricardo’s name. My habitual concern for the book made me worry about the ink smudging. 

It was ironic that I, who had once tried to destroy the book, was now worried about it getting damaged. 

“Huh?” 

The part of the book that had been wet with sweat was now glowing faintly. Slowly, the wet area dried up, or rather, it seemed the drop of sweat was being absorbed into the book. 

“What is this?” 

I forgot my pain as I focused entirely on this strange occurrence. My drop of sweat was fully absorbed into the book, and the glow around Ricardo’s name gradually faded. 

“Is that it?” 

Hoping that the change in glow meant something had altered, I reread the paragraph, but nothing had changed. 

The next page and the page after that were the same. 

“Does it react to water?” 

I frowned slightly. Thinking back, I had tried to tear, crumple, and burn the book, but I had never tried soaking it in water. 

“Alright. Let’s give it a try.” 

The ending, where I died, was unbearable. 

I couldn’t be sure if destroying this book would change the future, but at least I could get rid of this cursed object. I stood up, clutching the book. 

In the bathroom, I turned on the hot water, and it gushed out. 

“Hoo…” 

I had made up my mind, but standing there made me nervous. What if the book’s content was destroyed? What if the story continued unchanged even after I destroyed the book? 

My mind was filled with these thoughts, but I shook my head to clear them. Then I opened the book and slowly placed it under the running water. 

The moment water touched the book, I flinched. The same thing happened when the water droplets that bounced off the book landed on my hand. 

“…” 

But I kept my eyes fixed on the book. 

“…” 

For a long time. 

“…Nothing’s happening?” 

Nothing happened at all. 

When I pulled the book back, water droplets rolled off the pages as if they had been waxed.

“This is insane.” 

The book was completely intact. There were no wet marks, no signs of water absorption, and no glow. 

“It was a pointless attempt.” 

I felt ridiculous for being so tense, thinking the book might be damaged. The book remained unaffected, as if nothing had happened. 

“Ha…….” 

I let out a small sigh and looked at the book, the words forcibly making their way into my mind. 

“Bianca!” 

Ricardo’s voice, darker than the darkest night, emerged from his mouth. 

“Finally, I can avenge you.” 

Ricardo, clutching the ring he shared with his now-deceased fiancée, muttered to himself. A fleeting smile seemed to cross his face. 

But before that smile could even fade, emptiness swallowed him. 

Killing Bianca’s murderer would not bring his fiancée back. He could never see her beautiful form, her form, her radiant smile, or hear her sweet voice again. 

“Bianca…” 

A hollow sigh escaped. Tears welled up in Ricardo’s eyes and eventually flowed down his pale cheeks. 

He wouldn’t be able to sleep again tonight, just like every night since he witnessed his fiancée’s bloody death. 

Imagining Ricardo suffering from losing me made my chest ache. 

“Ricardo.” 

As I traced his suffering with my fingers, the words pricked my skin like thorns. 

“I won’t let you become like Ricardo in the book.” 

My voice pierced through the sound of the running water and reached my ears. 

“I can’t leave you alone; you are suffering and in pain.”