The Villainess is Tired of Everything-Chapter 25

“We have plenty of time to talk, so I’ll go slowly. But first, today…”

One of his hands moved towards his eye.

“Shall I start by showing you my real eyes?”

Show me his real eyes? I couldn’t quite grasp what he meant.

Lying beside me, Darcy lifted his hand and removed something from his eye.

When I looked up at him again, I froze at the sight of his changed eye color.

His eyes now shimmered with a mix of red and blue, creating a mysterious glow. He swept his hair back and blinked, asking, the faint smile gone from his lips.

“Do these look like a curse to you?”

His voice was unusually low, almost hesitant.

“Do I seem strange or scary now?”

I quietly observed his eyes.

“If you do, tell me. I won’t show them to you if you don’t like it.”

“….”

“I wanted to share what I’ve been hiding. At least, I felt like I should show you something since you trust me.”

But he didn’t say he would leave me.

He was simply waiting for my answer.

This must be why he wanted to see my reaction.

In this world, heterochromia, or odd-colored eyes, were rare. Being rare often meant being seen as abnormal, and such people were often shunned.

Even I had only read about it in books. But there was no sense of unease. In fact, this look suited Darcy better.

The silence while I examined him seemed to make him anxious, which was unlike him. Was this part of the reason he didn’t want to meet people?

I smiled at him.

“They suit you well.”

The colors were beautiful, like the sky at sunset.

Darcy’s eyes widened at my words, and then he smiled brightly, more radiant than a flower.

With a soft exhale, Darcy replied, “I thought I’d be okay even if you didn’t like it… but I was a bit nervous.”

“Oh, I noticed.”

At my remark, Darcy shot me a slight glare. It was a look of mock reproach, as if to say, ‘You knew, and you still said that?’ But it wasn’t unpleasant.

“Anyway, I didn’t realize how good it would feel to hear that my eyes are pretty. Say it again.”

“They’re pretty. So why did you come back?”

“…It doesn’t sound as sincere as before.”

“I mean it.”

When I glared at him in return, Darcy nodded as if he understood and sat up, leaning against the headboard.

“The plan didn’t go wrong. I just decided to stay here longer.”

“Why?”

It seemed he had been determined to leave, so there must have been a significant reason for his change of heart. I worried that reason might not be a good one.

“I overheard your conversation with the Marquis.”

“The conversation with the Marquis….”

“The Emperor wants to marry you off to Ryan.”

Ugh. I sighed the moment I heard those words. So that’s what he heard before he left.

But then I paused.

What does that have to do with Darcy?

We were in a contractual relationship. We both respected each other, keeping appropriate boundaries. That was all. Our relationship was neither more nor less.

So why did that become the reason he decided to stay?

Ah, does it have something to do with him calling Ryan his brother?

“Is it because of Ryan?”

Darcy, resting his chin on his hand, nodded.

“I can’t say it’s not because of Ryan.”

“Because he’s your brother…?”

“Do we look alike?”

“No.”

I immediately rejected Darcy’s words. To think of Darcy and Ryan as similar—it felt almost insulting.

“You’re too good to be compared to him.”

Darcy smiled slightly at my strong denial and then lowered his gaze.

“What if I turn out to be worse than him?”

“….”

“The part of me I’ve shown you is just a small fraction, Marceau.”

“And what if that small fraction is enough for me to see your sincerity?”

“….”

He took me to the theater, knowing I was feeling low, and let me listen to my favorite music there.

“A trash person doesn’t even realize they’re trash.”

“Is that so.”

Darcy, still resting his chin on his hand, seemed pleased. Maybe it was because I was taking his side.

“We share the same father, but different mothers. I was born first, so Ryan is indeed my younger brother. I wasn’t brainwashed. It’s just something I kept hidden from you.”

I remembered the neglected palace we had passed through before teleporting here. The overgrown weeds, the bushes, and the poorly maintained, crumbling space.

Darcy had lived there.

“I was a person who didn’t exist in this world.”

With a heavy sigh, he revealed why I had never known him.

“The reason I was going to leave…”

The reason I couldn’t find him in the book. The reason none of the characters knew about Darcy.

“Was because Kies was going to kill me.”

Because he was already supposed to be dead.

“Fortunately, I didn’t die.”

Maybe it was the serious look on my face, but Darcy’s mood brightened as he continued. But I couldn’t bring myself to smile along with him.

I had suspected as much. But hearing it directly still came as a shock.

The person who had shared moments with me, breathed the same air, and created memories together—he was someone who was supposed to be dead.

“You saved me.”

“What did I do?”

“You provided the magic stones and gave me a hint.”

Darcy pulled something out from behind his back. The surface, shimmering with the light of magic stones, resembled a gun.

“Thanks to you, I could create a weapon that doesn’t rely on my magic.”

“…You weren’t planning to make a weapon?”

“There’s no such weapon in this world. It was a brilliant idea, Marceau.”

“…Don’t mention it.”

I felt relieved knowing that something I had said helped save him. But more than that, I was impressed by Darcy, who had taken a simple hint about a gun and turned it into reality.

He was the most extraordinary genius I knew. If he were the hidden prince, it was understandable that he would pose a threat to Ryan’s position.

“But it’s still dangerous, isn’t it? If the Emperor is alive, shouldn’t you leave again?”

The fact that he was here, talking to me, meant he had survived the threat of death.

“No, it’s fine. He won’t be able to kill me.”

“…Huh?”

Just because he survived once doesn’t mean Kies would suddenly accept him.

“He swore he would recognize me as a prince. I’ll be competing with Ryan for the title of Crown Prince.”

“Shouldn’t you leave again?”

“No, I’m staying here to become the prince.”

“…But he tried to kill you.”

“He won’t be able to do that anymore. I’ve secured a definite weakness.”

Darcy answered with a bright smile, but I could tell that things weren’t as easy as they seemed.

I decided not to press further.

Darcy had his reasons, and I needed to respect them.

So he decided to stay here because the threat to his life had been removed. It made sense, given his current situation.

He was a prince who hadn’t been recognized and had narrowly escaped death. Now, he must want to reclaim his rights.

I understood now why he kept mentioning Ryan and teasing him about being his brother.

“But that’s not the reason I stayed.”

His sudden denial left me bewildered.

He had been talking about Ryan all this time, and now he says that wasn’t the main reason?

“I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you married to Ryan.”

His narrowed eyes fixed on me, intensely.

“Why do you think that is?”

I felt my breath catch. My heart pounded as I waited for his answer.

Why?

Why couldn’t he bear to see me with Ryan?

I knew he might harbor resentment toward Ryan as a half-brother, but still, I had to ask.

And I had to ask myself as well.

Why am I asking this?

What exactly am I hoping for in my relationship with Darcy?

“I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing you suffer.”

As if to answer my doubts, he continued.

“You’re the first person I’ve connected with.”

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

Firsts hold a special significance. If Darcy had been living in hiding, it would have been difficult for him to form a proper bond with anyone.

Looking back, it’s not surprising that my request caught his interest. Talking about captivity in front of someone who had been imprisoned themselves...

I suddenly felt embarrassed, and my face flushed.

“You’re also the best person I’ve ever met.”

His compliment made me feel as if I were someone extraordinary. But I was just an ordinary person. I responded awkwardly.

“We haven’t known each other that long.”

“At least know that I’ve come to understand you enough to call you a good person.”

He seemed determined not to lose the argument, but I didn’t mind.

“Ryan is too... unreliable for you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his attempt to stop himself from cursing. Even dressed so nicely, he was still the same person I knew.

It was only now that I fully realized Darcy had returned.

It’s not easy to understand each other and find someone who aligns with you in such a short time.

I needed to be grateful for that.

“Thank you for worrying about me. But I don’t want to be a burden to you. The Etvar family isn’t weak, and Ryan already has someone he loves.”

Even if he followed the Emperor’s wishes now, I knew better than anyone that Ryan would eventually choose Reshuan.

That was something that wouldn’t change, no matter how much of the original story did.

“It’s ridiculous that someone with a lover is even in this position.”

Darcy’s muttered words, delivered with a blank expression, made me pause. This was a side of him I hadn’t seen before.

For a moment, I glimpsed the remnants of long-suppressed emotions.

Darcy’s eyes widened, and he gently covered his mouth with his hand, then apologized.

“Sorry for the crude words. Anyway, that’s why I didn’t leave immediately.”

Not leaving immediately meant he planned to leave at some point. But if he was recognized as a prince, wouldn’t people start to know about him?

“So when do you plan to leave?”

Darcy, lowering his gaze, reached out towards my face. His movements were so natural that I didn’t feel the need to stop him.

He lifted the corner of my firmly pressed lips with his index finger, drawing an awkward smile on my face.

“When you’re happy.”

He whispered in a low voice.

I held back the question that had risen to my throat as I looked into his eyes.

‘Isn’t it because you see yourself in me?’

“I want to see you happy, Marceau.”

I couldn’t help but feel that Darcy was projecting himself onto me.