A Terminally Ill Villainess Refuses To Be Adopted - Chapter 4

⊱⋅ ───────────────────────────────────────── ⋅⊰

His eyelashes are very long.

Raven, who was staring at the book he was holding with an awkward expression, came down from the bed and stood in his place.

And he said coldly.

“Go.”

“Huh? Do you want me to go out?”

That’s a bit.

“Let’s go, let’s talk.”

“Aha.”

I covered the book with a light smile. I’m going to mark where I stopped to read after.

“Okay, let’s go.”

After a while, we sat facing each other at the table on which we had put the bread in between.

The boy was calmly staring at me with wary eyes.

I waited for a while to see if he had something to say first, but I decided to speak, as he didn’t want to open his mouth at all.

“Can I ask you something? As I said earlier, my memory is a bit empty.”

“Yes.”

The way the child, who had not lost all his baby fat, spoke, was as hard as an adult. I wasn’t really trying to use a 12-year-old tone, either.

“What exactly did I say to you the day before?”

“You said you would give me something to eat.”

“….In addition?”

If you think about the villain’s side story in the original, that wouldn’t have been the end of it.

The still, sunken golden eyes calmly faced me.

“You said that you would give me a place to wash and rest and said that you were bored because your grandmother passed away a while ago.”

“Ah.”

As expected, I didn’t just say let’s live together if you didn’t want to die.

Besides, it’s not ‘lonely’, it’s boring.

It reminded me of the words of my brother, who said that he dared to choose such words for the image of a selfish, extra villain.

I said, almost giving up on trying to think this is not the novel.

“…Okay, and then I gave you white bread and a thin blanket?”

And I told him to not freeze to death last night and find me?

“…Yes. You told me not to freeze to death last night and come to me.”

“I see.”

She even gave away precious bread and blankets. Yes, you’ve done it that far, so you must have thought that the villain would come here.

If she had said only that line of not freezing, it was doubtful he would trust and come here. And seeing that even the smallest details fit right into it, it seemed that there was no need to further doubt that I had entered the book.

‘Let’s accept it.’

Okay, I’m definitely in that novel.

“Well, I remember a little bit now.”

When I answered with a smile, the cool light that had been in the boy’s eyes since the first time we met suddenly faded.

I realized something after seeing that.

‘He wasn’t angry, he was anxious.’

When you look at him like this, he’s just a child. But even though he looks like that, he must have killed a few people before coming here. Even if he was poisoned, he was a twelve-year-old, capable of killing any ordinary person.

I tried not to forget that fact and kindly spoke to him.

“Thank you for telling me. I was a little anxious because my memory was empty.”

Now, instead of just a day or two, we were going to live together for a couple of months.

‘You have to take good care of him and send him back nicely.’

I was originally thinking about feeding him anyway.

Then the young villain made a puzzled expression. I could see that there was one thing he wanted to talk about.

“Do you have anything you want to say?”

When asked with a grin, he slowly shook his head.

“I can’t remember right now.”

“I see. Tell me whatever comes to mind.”

Feeling like I was gradually getting used to Raven’s cold gaze, I tapped the table.

Now it’s time to eat something.

‘The one loaf of bread Evelyn gave him the morning before would be all he ate.’

He must have been mentally exhausted to have reached this point after escaping without a break.

‘Isn’t food with broth better?’

But there is no rice here.

That can’t be done, then…

As I pondered, I took out the bread I bought earlier and placed it on the dented table. The boy’s eyes naturally followed the bread.

“Oh, I’m hungry after reading the book. Would you like to eat together?”

“If you want to do that.”

The answer I got back was blunt, but it was kind of cute that it popped out so quickly. Although it was clear that he was still sharply vigilant about me.

‘That’s unavoidable now.’

He has been through treason, so no matter how careful I am, it won’t be enough.

Time will fix it.

‘Great. Let’s wash, feed, and put him to sleep.’

…because I’ve confirmed what I wanted to check the most.

I smiled and opened my mouth.

“Then, before eating, go to the room you went to and wash up.”

I described a very small space attached to my grandmother’s room.

“There is some water that I left while washing yesterday, but if there is not enough water, I have to go out to the yard and collect more. Do you need help?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Raven, who had been subtly giving strength to his forehead since the time he was told to wash, got up and headed for the bathroom.

After that, I shouted from behind his head.

“Then I’ll heat the bread while you wash!”

“…….Yes.”

Hearing my words, the boy turned his head slightly and nodded.

There you go. He’s well-mannered.

When I smiled broadly with admiration, the boy slowly blinked.

Then he murmured.

“Even though…….”

“Yes?”

“……no.”

Shaking his head, the young villain headed to the bathroom.

“Oh!”

I shouted loudly later.

“You can’t just wash your hands and face just because you’re hungry! You can use a lot of water, so you have to wash everything thoroughly!”

There was the sound of a wooden barrel falling over.

The little villain didn’t answer.

***

Evelyn’s voice sounded louder than necessary, and at the sound, Raven dropped the wooden barrel in his hand.

The paralysis of his body still hadn’t healed, so he barely picked it up.

He glanced behind him with cold eyes.

“……”

Raven, who stood like that for a moment, thought while picking up the dropped wooden barrel.

As expected, it’s weird.

‘It’s so different from what I knew.’

His golden eyes narrowed.

He knew about that girl who, despite being an orphan, lived a relatively stable life. It’s been a week since he came to this town. A week was enough time to understand the surrounding situation.

“Mo-monster!”

“Speak.”

He had skills that were unmatched by his age.

No matter how poisoned he was, how much his body could not move well, and how he could not use the power of his family, he was still able to deal with the garbage in the back alleys.

Therefore, the first thing I did as soon as I entered this village was to step on the approaching garbage.

“Tell me everything you know about this town.”

Until I hear what I want.

<The End Village>

The village where Raven hid was one of several places called 〈The End Village〉.

The place where the northern territory meets the territory of the Empire. The villages built on the border were abandoned because of the lack of reach of the emperor.

Because they are located at the edge of peace, villages here were called “end villages.”

Naturally, there was a lot of garbage in the back alley of The End Villages.

Because there were quite a few people who hid away from the hands of the law. That was the reason why there are so few children in this seemingly ordinary town.

Without the proper identification, there was no prey as good as a child. Yes, it was a back alley full of garbage with that mindset, so Raven could easily find prey.

Because he hits first.

“The village chief’s house, his weaknesses, and the house where people with citizenship live and their characteristics. As detailed as possible.” 

“Ah, ah, y-y-yes!”

Every piece of trash that came to him, threw up information and was buried in the ground.

It was a place where all the outcasts of the Empire gather. However, even in such a village at the end of the day, there were very few people who had imperial citizenship or had easy money.

Raven was going to get to know those people.

‘Because I have to stay here for a couple of months until I can contact my family.’

Garbage opened his mouth easily, so he was able to extract information about this town very effortlessly.