The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 352: May Happiness Be Upon You

◇◇◇

With my right arm gripping Ignido raised high, I swung it down with force but halted my sword just before it could sever the neck of the girl kneeling before me.

“…Huh?”

Lavienne opened her eyes, which she thought would meet her end, looking at me with a puzzled expression, but I ignored her reaction, lowered my sword, and knelt to meet her gaze.

“Hey. What were you just thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen a lot of people die until now. So I can roughly tell what they’re thinking and feeling when they meet their end. You thought you had some regrets, didn’t you?”

“Well…”

I had witnessed the moments of death for many people, mine included.

That’s why I can’t help but understand.

What those facing death think and feel.

Back when I had just started returning from death in this world, a man named Gaizal, who gathered followers of the Dragon Emperor, fought me with genuine enjoyment, dying with a satisfied smile that made me envious.

Next, there was Bild, the Forest King, who found joy in our battles, and even transcended the boundaries of race to share feelings that resembled friendship as we fought each other to the death.

And just like Gaizal, he too left this world with everything he had, without a hint of regret.

Rogurando, who was possessed by a demon, didn’t engage in direct combat with me but managed to suppress his lust amplified by the demon with his own will. He fought on to entrust everything to his precious niece Sharueina, dying with an expression that seemed to say he had no regrets.

Having witnessed their deaths, I couldn’t help but realize that—

The girl right in front of me was trying to die with regrets in her heart, unlike them.

“I believe that death should be a noble thing. Especially for those of us who seek death themselves; when the time comes, there shouldn’t be any regrets left, and it should be viewed as a happiness to die filled with satisfaction, giving everything you have.”

Of course, this is just my subjective viewpoint, and I don’t expect everyone to agree.

However, I believe that at least Lavienne, who sits before me now, would understand my feelings, and I didn’t want to kill her, who resembled me so closely, with a look of lingering regret in her eyes.

Even if this notion could be called arrogant and selfish, it was the utmost respect I could give to the person I intended to kill, the last offering to those facing death.

“And there’s something I need to give you, too.”

“Something to give?”

“Yeah.”

Saying that, I pulled out an item I had stored away and handed it to Lavienne.

“A letter?”

“It’s addressed to you. You can decide whether to live or die after reading it. By the way, I haven’t read its contents, so I don’t know what’s written inside.”

“…This handwriting.”

Lavienne, who received the letter with a curious expression, recognized its sender as soon as she looked at the writing on the front, and cautiously unfolded the folded letter.

For a little while, Lavienne quietly began to read the letter, and soon enough, her hands started to tremble, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Waaahhh!!”

Once she finished reading, she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and began to cry out loud.

She looked painfully as if she were throwing up all the emotions she had been holding back, yet it was the first time I saw such a human side of her, including her past.

After crying like a child for a while, she finally regained her composure, and with her eyes red and a slightly relieved expression, she looked up at me.

“Where did you find this?”

“I went to that facility before you destroyed it, and I found it hidden in her desk drawer.”

The letter Lavienne held was the last message from her family member, Kushana. I had gone to the facility managed by the Albani Count House based on a story I heard from the past her just days before and found this letter there.

As it happened, after delivering Fiera and the others to the Magic Kingdom, I developed an interest in the Shadow Spirit Tribe after hearing about them from her past self. So, I used teleportation magic that day to transfer near that facility, concealed my appearance using a recognition-inhibiting spell, and went to see the first Albani Count from the Shadow Spirit Tribe.

There were many intriguing things regarding the Shadow Spirits and research materials I witnessed there, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find the information I needed, and it felt more like a sightseeing trip. Nevertheless, it was somewhat worth going.

While wandering through the facility, I recalled a story I heard from the past Lavienne and decided to check out Kushana’s room.

At that moment, I noticed a slightly ajar desk drawer as if it had been hastily closed. When I peeked inside and saw that the letter was stuck to the top, I took it.

“This is a real letter, right? Then what I saw was…”

“Most likely a fake. This is just my guess, but as you trained, I think the Albani Count recognized your potential and set his sights on you. Then, when considering how to make you a more obedient assassin, he could have staged Kushana’s death as a suicide and left a letter blaming you to break your spirit.”

I don’t know what the truth is, but if the real letter was hidden behind the desk that day and if past Lavienne was forced to read the fake one, then that possibility seems quite valid.

“So, Kushana wasn’t a suicide but was killed by the Albani Count?”

“To be specific, it could have been one of his subordinates. However, that desk was left slightly open as if it had been hurriedly shut, and if it was genuinely written to be given to you, then there’s no need to conceal it, right? Hence, it makes more sense to think her cause of death was homicide, not suicide.”

“I see. But why would Lewis-kun have this letter? And how did he know where the facility was…”

“Well, don’t worry about that.”

There’s no way I could honestly tell her it was because I got curious after hearing the story about the Shadow Spirit Tribe from her past self, or that it felt strange that the family-oriented Kushana would leave a letter disparaging Lavienne and commit suicide, so I played it off casually.

“So? After reading that letter, what do you plan to do? If you say you want to die because now you’re satisfied, I’ll make sure to kill you for real this time.”

“Hmm…”

Lavienne said, glancing down at the letter again, before gently hugging it to her chest. Unlike before, her eyes held none of the regrets or lingering feelings as she met my gaze.

“I think I’ll try to live just a little longer.”

“Hmm. Mind if I ask why, out of curiosity?”

“Just, I thought I’d like to live freely for a bit longer.”

“Freely?”

“Yeah. Apparently, it seems to be everyone’s last request for me, you know?”

“I see. Well, if that’s what you’ve decided, then that’s perfectly fine.”

I didn’t know what was written in that letter she cherished so much, but originally I was planning to kill Lavienne to fulfill my promise of granting her wishes. So if she now wishes to live just a little bit longer, I would just respect her feelings.

“Plus, I have one more new wish now. Since I’m at it, I want to fulfill this one too.”

“What is it?”

“Fufufu. Sorry, but that one’s a secret~.”

As she said that, tears in her eyes, the smile on her face was softer and more natural than the fabricated expressions she had shown before, revealing her true girl-like self.

◇◇

This is the last letter written by Kushana to Lavienne.

“Dear Lavie,

You probably know this already, but I’m not very good at expressing my feelings in words, so I’ll share my feelings through this letter.

First of all, I’m really sorry for blaming you the other day while being so emotional.

I knew deep down that you didn’t kill Sally out of desire, and that you’ve been blaming yourself for what you did.

But ever since Kamuel and Flora died, I could no longer suppress my emotions, and because I had sworn to protect Sally but failed to do so, I directed my guilt towards you.

I’m really sorry.

I don’t know if apologizing will make Lavie forgive me, and I realize writing an apology in a letter might be cowardly; nonetheless, I want to apologize to you.

I hope we can support each other again and strive to escape from this hell together.

Let’s see. If we could survive together and leave this place, I hope we could return to that fun house with everyone, bringing the relics of Kamuel and the others.

Though they’ve died, I still hope we can return to the fun times we had in that house.

So, let’s stay alive and bring everyone back together!

But if I happen to die, Lavie, please don’t give up.

Cherish yourself and live happily for all of us.

And make sure you do everything you want to do, and when you finally die without any regrets, share all your fun stories and interesting things with us.

Especially if you tell us about love stories, that would make both Flora and me so happy.

Well, perhaps Ryug might get sulky about it.

In any case, no matter how far apart we are, we will always be family, and we wish for your happiness. So if you find yourself as the only one to survive and escape from this hell, please live freely without being bound by us anymore.

I’m sure everyone who died before you must wish for the same.

Finally, our sweet and lonely Lavie might think of following me in death, but please don’t.

There’s no rush; we won’t go anywhere without you, so you can take your time and follow us.

This turned out to be long, but I also promise to survive until the very end, so let’s work hard together, Lavie.

I love you, Lavie.

Your sister, Kushana, who can’t be honest.”

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