Requiem of the Villainess

Chapter Nine: Villains are Destined to Die

Chapter Nine: Villains Are Destined to Die

Blearily, I woke up from my long, hazy dream. Two lives colliding into one, replayed all at once, to bring me to my final conclusion. I was not one person, but two. I was Lillian, and I was Ai, the two of us one and the same.

But right now, Ai's presence seemed to be dominant in my mind after the exorcism. Everything that had happened up to this point, everything I had done in the name of Lillian Lancaster's revenge...none of it had been real. This place was merely the realm of an otome game, and the denizens that surrounded me were the characters that populated it. Surely they were just acting of their own programming, what they had been scripted to do and say...but they felt real to me.

When I opened my eyes, I felt a heavy weight on top of me. I found myself lying in a bed in a small, mostly barren room, with Ryuji leaned over me, his upper half resting in my lap as he quietly snored. He was sitting on a wooden stool. I lightly nudged the griffin and tugged on his floppy ears. "Come on, you're heavy..."

With a twitch and a jolt, he shot upright, head darting back and forth for a few moments as though he didn't remember where he was. He let out a yawn, showing off his long canines. His teeth were like that of a big cat, jagged and pointy. "O-ohh...Lillian, you're finally awake. I'm so glad you're alright...to be honest, I was expecting you to smack me awake and shout "get off me, you big oaf!" or something like that..."

I ran my fingers through my long blonde hair, pulling out a few knots in the process. "Where am I?"

"Well uhh...that would be my house," Ryuji chuckled. "I wanted to get everyone to a safe location, so I took you back to my village and stowed you all away at my place. This is a fae village, so it's far away from humans. We won't have to worry about the church coming after you again, no one even knows where this place is."

I rubbed my head, wincing at a dull ache in my skull. "Have you seen Asmodeus anywhere?"

Ryuji shook his head. "I dunno what that demon even looks like, but I haven't caught sight of any demonic-looking fellows around here recently. At least, aside from that nasty-looking thing that burst out of the church last night."

That "nasty-looking thing" had been the true form of Asmodeus, the spiritual darkness beneath that deviously handsome outer shell. No one would make a contract with such a creature in that state, so it only made sense that he'd disguise himself to look more appealing to his potential prey. But now, there seemed to be no trace of him at all. He was no longer possessing me, I could tell because I felt so much lighter, like a weight had been lifted from my body, and I didn't hear a single whisper of his voice echoing in my mind. Asmodeus was gone, and with him, so was my capacity to exact revenge against the heroine. But...was that really what I even wanted anymore?

"Come on, let's get downstairs for some breakfast, I'm famished," Ryuji chuckled. "Everyone's been waiting for you, ya know."

I frowned as I climbed out of bed. "Waiting for me? For what?" I was not the person they all thought I was. I had done nothing but lie to them and manipulate them to get what I wanted. How could they have any faith in me? Was this a result of their programming?

I followed Ryuji downstairs, each step feeling like walking on wooden stilts. My legs were so shaky, it seemed as though they could snap like twigs at any moment. Every drop of strength had been sapped from me thanks to the exorcism. The demonic strength Asmodeus had granted to me was gone, and now my followers would see me for who I really was- a weak, pathetic human.

Ryuji's home was a small abode with only a few rooms, and everyone had gathered in the kitchen. It looked like a log cabin, very rustic and old-fashioned. The place smelled of cinnamon, which I noticed came from cinnamon sticks that were burning like incense in a small vase on the counter, releasing swirls of spice-scented smoke. The last time I was at a table with everyone like this for breakfast, the man I risked my life for, the man I thought I could trust, Count Isaac Rainworth...he abandoned me and fled my side out of cowardice.