The Villainess Intends to Have It All - Chapter 52

The temple was in chaos.

Erina, who had entered to hear the goddess’s words, came out unconscious.

Her arms were covered in scratch marks and torn flesh, as if she had not simply collapsed.

Hailah, receiving Isahel’s urgent guidance, carefully examined Erina as she moved her.

The bright red wounds clearly seemed to have been inflicted by herself.

After laying Erina down in the nearest room, Hailah took holy water and clean towels from Isahel and gently wiped the wounds.

Barun, who saw Hailah taking care of Erina, asked Laharta with a coldly stiffened face.

“Your Holiness, did the Countess not go to see the words of God?”

“That’s right.”

“But for what reason did the Countess lose consciousness? With a body so full of wounds at that.”

Laharta did not answer Barun’s question.

Seeing Laharta’s face filled with worry for Erina, Barun sighed and said,

“If you do not tell us, we will have to assume there was a threat to the protected individual and investigate the temple according to procedure.”

“…I can only say that she was greatly shocked.”

A tense silence followed Laharta’s answer.

The four people, each lost in thought, quietly watched over Erina, who lay with a pale face.

It was well past half a day when Erina, letting out a quiet breath, regained consciousness.

Hailah, who had been watching Erina without taking her eyes off her, approached closely upon seeing Erina’s eyelashes fluttering.

As Erina struggled to open her eyes, Hailah constantly checked on her and asked,

“Erina, are you conscious?”

“Hailah.”

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere? Does anything hurt?”

At Hailah’s kind questions while tidying her disheveled hair, tears slowly welled up in Erina’s eyes.

Erina bit her lips and covered her eyes with a trembling arm.

What she faced again in her dreams while unconscious was the beginning and end of the original story.

It was a lonely life where no one ever gave her a warm gaze.

Every moment was filled with disregard and contempt until her death, making it hard to breathe.

The original story ended with the voice that rang out before Erina lost consciousness and what she saw in the goddess’s spring water.

Erina could not ignore her own voice desperately wishing to go back, having no choice but to choose death.

She could not turn a blind eye to the reason why the goddess’s spring water showed her everything and the truth hidden within it.

“Laharta, where is His Holiness?”

At the trembling voice filled with tears, Laharta, who was standing in the corner, took a step forward and quietly answered,

“I am here, Erina.”

Erina lowered the arm covering her eyes and roughly wiped her damp face.

Sitting up on the bed, Erina looked at Laharta and said,

“I want to talk to His Holiness for a moment.”

“Erina, but-”

Hailah tried to dissuade Erina, who had barely regained consciousness and wanted to talk alone.

But she could not stop her upon seeing Erina’s resolute expression.

“I’ll be waiting outside. Don’t overdo it, Erina.”

Erina felt like crying at Hailah’s kindness, worrying until the end.

Her fragile heart, already crumbling from the cruel truth, wanted to lean on someone.

Even though she knew it shouldn’t be.

As Barun and Hailah, who had been silently watching, left the room, Laharta and Erina faced each other like before.

“Laharta.”

“Yes, Erina.”

“Until now, I thought I was living as the character ‘Erina’ from the book I had seen in my previous life.”

Erina really thought so and believed it.

Because that’s how she ‘remembered’ it.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

She found out the reason why he showed inexplicable favor as soon as he met Erina.

Laharta knew.

He knew that she had not possessed a book she had read, but had died miserably just like in the original story and returned.

“The book I remember is something that has already happened to me, and I really died and came back.”

Laharta knelt on one knee in front of Erina with a deeply sunken face and looked up at her.

“Yes, you have indeed returned. But Erina, you think you came to another world with memories manipulated by God’s power.”

Erina was shocked by his words.

“Where should I start explaining? No, I should talk about the Riski family first.”

It was the family Rose mentioned while killing Erina.

“Before the continent of Pechenia was touched by God’s hand, a fairy who dared to challenge God lost some of her powers and was banished to the continent as punishment. The fairy, resentful of the God who cast her out, caused mischief to destroy humans.”

It was the beginning of the legend that the people of the Asilium Empire grew up hearing from childhood.

“As the seeds of destruction loomed over the continent due to the fairy, God sent his child.”

Although it was strange for Laharta to suddenly speak of legends, Erina quietly listened to his serious demeanor.

“The child of God vanquished the fairy and saved the humans, but the fairy had already taken root among the humans and could not be completely eliminated. Thus, the descendants of the fairy formed a family and continued the fairy’s will.”

“Could it be…”

“Yes, the descendants of the fairy are the people of the Riski family. The Riski family inherited only one ability from the fairy. It is ‘prophecy’.”

In the original story, or rather before the return, Rose seemed to know everything and move accordingly.

As Erina felt, Rose knew everything and took it away.

“However, this prophecy cannot reveal one’s own affairs. The moment they become pregnant, they learn the future of the child through recurring dreams.”

According to his words, the people of the Riski family grew up listening to their own future directly told by their parents.

“Fortunately, this prophecy is only passed down to the women of the Riski family, and the fairy’s bloodline is so rare that there is usually only one per generation.”

“Ah.”

“Alisa Riski, the mother of Rose Riski, saw her daughter’s future. And she saw a prophecy that her daughter would bring down the fairy’s nemesis. Alisa carried out the prophecy that had been passed down since the founder.”

“The founder, you mean the fairy?”

“Yes. Before dying, the fairy saw the future when her descendants would end. In preparation for that time, she left an artifact in the form of a necklace called [Lyukatino Eblam] to steal God’s power.”

Erina recalled the necklace Rose had offered just before her death.

“Rose Riski fulfilled the fairy’s long-cherished desire. And once again, the seeds of destruction sprouted in the continent of Pechenia. In the end, God sacrificed a part of himself to intervene in the human world.”

“Could that be… my return?”

“Yes, that’s right. However, for God to turn back time, an axis was needed. I was that axis, which is why I remember everything. Your past life and your current life.”

Laharta, who remembered the time when destruction was brought about, looked somewhat tired.

Seeing his face that seemed to crumble, Erina unknowingly held his hand.

Laharta was surprised by the held hand and then smiled.

“You are too kind. That’s why you couldn’t help but crumble under the wicked tricks of the Riski family.”

Laharta patted Erina’s hand that was holding his with his other hand.

“The first doctrine of the temple is to live righteously. But you know, I wish Erina wouldn’t do that.”

“Laharta.”

“Rather become evil. Don’t care about those who hurt you and take revenge. Be greedy and take everything.”

His golden eyes, which had only felt warm, flashed coldly.

Erina felt a bitter corner of her heart at his words.

In her previous life, she was endlessly resolute and harsh on herself, but yielded to others, ultimately leading to her death.

Only useless regrets lingered in her mouth.

‘I should have shouted until my throat burst that what Rose pinned on me was unfair.’

‘I should have resented and punished Peiron for bringing the officials.’

‘I should have driven out the uncle who took away the family.’

Laharta was right.

She was too yielding.

Until she learned the truth from the goddess’s spring water, Erina even felt a petty sense of guilt towards Rose.

If she was truly just a person in love, there was a lingering thought that just leading Peiron to ruin might be enough.

Erina now knew how stupid that thought was.

“I will.”

To make things right, she had to become a selfish villainess more than anyone else.

Laharta smiled brightly at Erina’s golden eyes, which shone differently from before.

“I will help you, Erina.”

He looked so excited that Erina couldn’t resist asking him,

“Is the reason Laharta is nice to me… because you know my life?”

She was actually very curious.

Even though he said he became the axis of time himself and saw everything due to God’s intervention, she wondered if there was a reason to show such favor.

“Those with gold are attracted to each other. Not as the opposite sex, but more like a familial feeling.”

Erina’s eyes widened in surprise.

Come to think of it, when she first met Laharta, he felt like a younger brother seeing his older sister after a long time.

Even now, wasn’t he holding her hand, concerned about her?

She, who felt very awkward with physical contact with others.

“Isahel probably felt like you were a daughter or a younger sister, so she took meticulous care of you. She might be pacing anxiously outside even now.”

“Ah…”

“So if you have any difficulties, please ask for help anytime. If you feel lonely or sad, think of this as your natal home and visit the temple. I will always support you from this place.”

“Thank you, Laharta.”

Erina felt like crying because the two held hands were so warm.