When the Villains Unite - Chapter 3; Part 1

TW: SEXUAL HARASSMENT (really only mentions of slight touching but just in case I wanted to warn)

What does Bellamy want from me? I’ve seen all the beauty I could. My heart tickled at the memory of him happily smiling when I stroked his hair. I looked down at the hand that pet him and vigorously shook my head at the unfamiliar feeling.

If I’m with Bellamy, I can take down the Emperor of a country without knowing any of that stuff. 

After all, this book is worthless. I hid the book by stuffing it deep into a drawer. The more I looked at it, the worse I felt, but it was okay for now. I was relieved to see the disgusting Count Wright for the last time today.

The Count was certain that he would succeed the Duchy of Orca, but there was no way the Emperor would allow it unless the Orca bloodline died. He trusted the men of the Orca bloodline, which is why Count Wright would be pushed out of the succession battle, and why Bellamy will become the Duke after nine years of imprisonment.

So even if the Orca brothers die… only their names will be lost. No one else would follow. The Count’s vain dreams wasted the Orca brothers’ childhoods. Fortunately, unlike the original, my presence has helped awaken their powers earlier.

Now the revenge we have been preparing for eight years will begin.

* * *

Yesterday, I went to bed early. Living in the annex, I had little to do, so I took charge of preparing dinner.

The boys let me rest a lot on the days I meet with the Count, especially after witnessing me puking following the first meeting. Even if I was well-rested all day, the mental exertion during the meetings with Count Wright would cause me to sleep all night.

I woke up around two in the morning. I don’t need to look at a clock to know what time it is because Count Wright’s servants always fetch me at the same time.

They carefully blindfolded me and took hold of my arms. The reason for the change from picking me up to carrying me is that two years ago, the Count ordered his servants to minimize contact with me.

“She’s going to be a valuable body, so she shouldn’t be carried by anyone else’s hands.”

The Count had every intention of commoditizing me and selling me. However, he didn’t hesitate to put his hands on me. Last week, he took my measurements himself, saying he needs to fit me for a dress. The hairs all over my body stood up at his touch.

It wasn’t the first time he touched me that way and I kept it a secret from the Orca brothers. I was reluctant to tell them because I didn’t want them to worry.

Before I knew it, the servants were guiding me out of the annex and into the ducal residence. After eight years of living there, I was more familiar with the annex than the main residence.

As I walked up the stairs, I stumbled and fell. The servants were close by, so their firm hands helped me regain my balance.

At that moment, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Remove the blindfold.”

At the sound of Count Wright’s voice, the servants loosened their grip on my arms and removed the blindfold from my eyes. As my eyes adjusted to the brighter room, my body was suddenly lifted.

“What?”

“I see you can’t even climb stairs, so I’m going to have to help you.”

I flinched at the sound of his low voice.

As if he didn’t like that reaction, the Count tightened his arms around me, forcing my face to rest against his hard chest. I was uncomfortable as my developing body was pressed against his fully grown chest.

As I fidgeted with my hands, the Count spoke up.

“Put your arms around my neck.”

His sudden command stunned me. Something was off about the Count from the moment he picked me up. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been in contact with me before, but today he had been insistent.

“Ah… that, that-”

“Ignoring my orders… Do you want to be punished?”

I must stay alert. The man in front of me has gone completely insane. What’s more, today will be the last time I’ll ever have to answer him.

I hesitantly put my arms around his neck. His expression softened as if he was content, and he walked towards the Duke’s office. As my arms shifted from his walking, my chest kept rubbing against his.

It felt strange to have our upper bodies rubbing against each other as we bounced up and down, so I bowed my head. I couldn’t wait until we got to the office.

After what felt like forever, we finally arrived. The Count set me down on the leather couch. I breathed a sigh of relief when he crossed the table and sat on the couch opposite to me.

He leisurely leaned back and crossed his long legs. I felt like I was finally seeing the familiar Count. It was as if his bizarre behavior just moments before had never happened.

“I hope you used the potion I gave you on that scoundrel, Damian.”

Potion.

The book wasn’t the only thing the Count gave me last week. I’ve spent the last eight years lying about the Orca brothers’ behavior to keep the Count clueless about them. He believed Bellamy was a mentally ill man who never left his room and only talked to himself. Also, Damian has a double personality, so during the day he’ll stay in his room as calm as Bellamy, but in the evening he becomes a menace, inflicting violence against others.

At first, when lying to Count about them, it bothered my conscience a great deal. However, when I confessed to the Orca brothers, they made up their own cover stories word for word.

When I told Count Wright that Damian’s behavior was becoming more erratic by the day, he gave me a strange potion and told me to use it on him during the day. Naturally, I gave it to Bellamy to investigate and discovered that it was a colorless, odorless pufferfish poisonous. He was trying to outright kill Damian.

The Count was never such a direct threat to the Orca brothers in the original.

Call me crazy, but I felt like it was a definite change from the original, with both the brothers and Count.

Some changes were to be expected, especially since I outright sided with the boys. However, my attitude towards the Count never diverged from the original, and he’s definitely changed. In the original story, he starts to pay more attention to the boys and calls Rose less often. But as the years passed, I remained in weekly contact with him.

Is it possible that the story is different because I am alive and well, while Rose was supposed to die? If so, what happens next is unknown to me. I couldn’t tell if the man in front of me would kill me or save me.

“… Was that poison you gave me last time?”

Count Wright was silent in response to my question. I continued with a grave expression.

“Damian ate the potion, vomited blood, and stopped breathing.”

The Count smirked as I reported what Bellamy told me, hearing his anticipated outcome. He couldn’t hold back his laughter as he clamped his large hand over his mouth to choke back his chuckle. The guilt of killing his own nephew was completely absent from him, and his eyes grew wistful.

“I’ve wasted so much time on something so easy.”

There was nothing stopping him from believing he had killed one of the Duke’s heirs. The moment he realizes I am a double agent, I will die at his hands. I feel pathetic for letting my guard down, believing I could get through today. I would continue to struggle for a short time.

“It’s the first time I’ve… killed someone.”

“No, Damian, you didn’t kill him.”

I shook my head with a guilty look on my face. However, the Count spoke with an unfamiliar tone.

“Damian committed suicide by taking poison at the Carmel Estate. The cause was grief over the loss of the Duke and Duchess so long ago.”

He began to fit Damian’s death to the alibi he had created; it was expected of him to cover his tracks.

“It is good for Bellamy to follow his brother,” he finished, placing a bottle of clear liquid on the table. He was insinuating for me to kill Bellamy.

“You’ve done it once before. I’m sure you’ll do it well.”

His expression hardened when I hesitated to take the potion he put out. He was smiling at one point, but now his eyes invoked fear in me.

“Where did you put the body?”

“I wrapped it in a quilt and hid it in a room at the end of the third floor.”

I looked around, anxious that someone else had heard I killed Damian. As I quietly reported to the Count, I nervously bit the nail of my thumb that I put into my mouth.

The more I talked to the Count, the more I felt my acting skills slip.

He gave me a satisfied look, so I spoke as I sulked.

“I’m afraid to stay in the annex after Damian died… Can’t I stay in the main residence now? Please?”

This wasn’t the first time I sobbed and begged to stay in the house. In the original novel, Rose would also say she wanted to leave the annex. I wanted to imitate her and make the Count sick of me, but it didn’t work.

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