The Villainess Who Accidentally Stole Their Hearts - Chapter 30
Chapter 15.2
“How are you going to clean this up? How are you going to fix this?”
“….”
“Why did you do this to me?”
So, he came all this way just to get angry and argue.
What did he even think I was to him? I scoffed in disbelief and lifted my head.
“….!”
For a moment, I flinched at the face in front of me.
There wasn’t a trace of anger on Ulysses’s face. Instead, his expression seemed almost as if…
‘As if he were on the verge of tears…’
His trembling gaze, like that of a wounded animal, bore into me, silently urging me to answer.
“Selena, Belinda, Aipril… those women can do that. It’s just a mutual exchange because we both want something from each other.”
“….”
“But Nike, you shouldn’t treat me like this.”
“…Why shouldn’t I treat you like this?”
Because I was a pushover? It was laughable how he acted like there was still something between us after betraying me so cruelly and killing me.
Ulysses’s face contorted.
“You know how my brother left.”
“….”
“You can’t do this to me.”
“….”
“You, who know everything about me… Nike, you’re the one person who shouldn’t do this to me.”
His body collapsed toward me.
̊ · : * ✧* : · ̊
Ulysses had an older brother, significantly older than him. A very kind and loving older brother who stepped in as his parent when their own was too busy, and who was also his closest friend. He was immensely proud of his older brother, who was exceptional in both character and skill.
But that perfect brother died.
He went on an inspection and was killed by a monster. At least, that was the story everyone knew.
However, the truth was—
‘It was a runaway love affair.’
It was unthinkable that his brother would abandon him and leave. Family, lineage, status, honor, power, wealth… His brother threw it all away in an instant as though none of it had ever mattered. As if the only thing he needed was the woman he loved.
And yet—
‘He died at the hands of that woman.’
If he loved her that much, shouldn’t he have at least lived happily after leaving everything behind? Instead, he gave her everything, only to be betrayed and die in the end.
Ulysses still remembered his brother’s lover.
Even while doing laundry, her face would turn bright red, and she’d smile happily whenever she saw his brother. She was a woman unmistakably in love.
“I’ll never believe in things like love.”
Standing before his brother’s body, young Ulysses made that vow.
Nikaearsha gently took his tear-soaked hand in hers.
“Nike, you’re not going to leave me, right?”
Without saying a word, Nikaearsha squeezed his hand tighter.
Tightly, as if she would never let go.
Ulysses thought that the only thing he could trust now was this small hand.
But now—
“Move.”
Nikaearsha pushed him away. Her gaze, looking down at him, was cold and devoid of any warmth.
“So what if I know?”
“Nike.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
Ulysses’s eyes fluttered.
Nikaearsha scoffed as she looked at his face, which resembled that of a lost child. She knew exactly what he wanted her to say. As Ulysses himself had admitted, she knew him all too well.
And more than that—
‘Because I had already seen Mikarin say it before my regression.’
“I don’t think Ulysses is a bad person.”
“To me, you’re just a wounded child who has been hurt.”
“It must have been painful… You must have suffered so much on your own.”
Back then, I didn’t understand what was going on. I simply assumed Ulysses was going through something, and Mikarin was there to console him.
I stepped away without a word, knowing I had no place between them. There were too many fractures between Ulysses and me. I wasn’t someone who could comfort him anymore. So, if Mikarin could be the one to support him, I thought that was for the best.
I could hear Mikarin’s voice behind me, softly comforting Ulysses.
“I don’t believe in love either.”
“But I do believe in friendship.”
“So let’s be friends.”
“I’ll never abandon you, Ulysses.”
“And you can’t leave me either, Ulysses. Promise me!”
‘…I never imagined that conversation was just their way of justifying cheating.’
It was truly the kind of comfort only a cheater could offer.
Yeah, that was exactly what Mikarin said. And from that day on, their relationship escalated quickly… enough to cross the line into an affair.
‘But I’m not Mikarin.’
Nikaearsha locked eyes with Ulysses, enunciating each word.
“You’re just an asshole.”
“….!”
“Was it Selena who killed your brother? Or was it Belinda or April?”
“Nike.”
“So just because you’re hurt, you think that justifies hurting innocent people?”
“Those women—”
“Had some sort of mutual give-and-take relationship with you? What a joke. Don’t try to make excuses just to ease your guilt. At the very least… they were honest with you.”
She could still clearly picture the three of them laughing, saying they didn’t want to be petty.
Nikaearsha bit her lip tightly.
“Wake up already. That is, if you still want to call yourself human.”
Ulysses just stared at her, dazed.
That only made it even more ridiculous.
‘What? Did he think bringing up his brother would automatically make me take his side? And now he’s shocked that I didn’t?’
Nikaearsha pushed Ulysses away and stood up.
“You said I look different now, that I seemed more at ease, right?”
“….”
“That’s right. I’ve never felt better.”
There was a time when she couldn’t have done something like this.
‘Like when he cheated with my cousin, who had already been having an affair with my husband.’
When the whole world pointed fingers at her, Nikaearsha eventually blamed herself too. She told herself she must have done something wrong, that everything was her fault. None of this would have happened if she had become an Awakener from the beginning. It was her fault for betraying everyone’s expectations.
She had been drowning in thoughts that pulled her down like quicksand, unable to break free.
But not anymore.
“This is how I’m going to live from now on.”
Nikaearsha’s gaze had already moved away from Ulysses.
She walked forward without ever looking back.
̊ · : * ✧* : · ̊
Left alone, Ulysses could only stare blankly at Nikaearsha’s retreating figure.
It was the first time. The first time she had ever left him behind like this, and the first time she had ever spoken to him like that.
‘No, no. That’s not the real problem.’
Compared to the way Nikaearsha had looked down at him…
He had never seen such a cold gaze before. But even that wasn’t the worst part. In the end, she wasn’t even looking at him at all, as if it didn’t matter what happened to him.
“….”
Clench.
Ulysses’s hand clenched against the floor, his grip tightening.
And at that moment—
“Lord Ulysses!”
Mikarin came running down the long corridor. Her breath was ragged from rushing, and her disheveled hair was all over the place. Her face was flushed with color.
Her wide eyes brimmed with worry and concern.
“Are you okay?”
Ulysses stared at Mikarin for a moment before finally responding.
“No. I’m not.”
Mikarin’s gaze dropped with sadness. Then, with a sorrowful expression, she stepped closer to him.
“I was worried about you, Lord Ulysses, so…”
“….”
“There must be a reason why Lord Ulysses did what he did…”
“….”
“I think you’re the victim. Everyone says you’re a terrible person, but I see things differently.”
Mikarin slowly extended her hand toward Ulysses. Her small, gentle hand rested against his cheek.
“You look just like a hurt child, Lord Ulysses…”
Flinch.
Ulysses lifted his gaze and looked at Mikarin.
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