I'm a Villainess, Can I Die?-Chapter 111

Ha. Life really is made of coincidences. Jane, you were right. The dirt and cocoa powder theory... you could seriously be a college professor. Our dear Jane.

“Priest, um... may I ask when your birthday is?”

“Huh? Mine? It’s in November.”

“November?”

“Yes. Ah, but... actually, it’s just the birthday the orphanage assigned me. I only know that I was born in winter—nothing more.”

Ding. It felt like a bell rang in my head.

A massive bell, shaking me to the core. The shock left my brain reeling.

It was Ian. The High Priest’s ultimate, final sacrifice—that must’ve been Ian.

In the original story, the High Priest had chosen Ian as the "sacrifice." But the spell failed because the birthday was wrong, and he ended up dying.

There probably wasn’t a more perfect sacrifice than Ian, so the High Priest must’ve been desperate. And when Ian’s birthday passed, he rushed the ritual.

That would explain why things in the real world started moving faster, too.

If Ian was the ideal offering, the High Priest likely planned to absorb his power first before enacting the rest of his plan.

But I brought Ian here. And that messed everything up.

The High Priest, thrown off by the disruption, must’ve moved the schedule up.

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All of these thoughts hit me like a lightning bolt—sudden and staggering.

I couldn’t say for certain it was the full truth, but it was still a strong possibility.

“Thank you for the healing, Priest.”

I sprang to my feet. Maybe it was Ian’s magic that healed my knees, or maybe it was the rush of adrenaline from realizing the truth, but they didn’t hurt at all.

I started walking back the way I came. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to Ian about the High Priest possibly being behind everything. I just walked.

When I glanced back, Ian was staring at me with a confused expression.

I pretended not to notice and simply nodded before turning forward again.

“Young Lady, why are you returning... Did you fall?”

On my way back, I ran into Aiden—just a few steps away from where we’d parted earlier.

I paused and looked up at him. He scanned me with concern.

Judging by the dirt on my clothes, he seemed to have figured out that I’d fallen.

“I fell. But it was a good fall.”

Because thanks to it, my head had cleared up quite a bit.

With Aiden following behind me, I headed straight for my brother’s office. Alogen was likely there with him.

I hesitated in front of the door, pacing back and forth, then let out a short sigh and knocked.

“It’s me, brother.”

There was only one reason I was hesitating to go in.

How was I supposed to explain this?

If I said, The High Priest seems suspicious, and he replied with, Why? then what would I say? Well, I read a book about this world...?

If I caught him during a busy day, he might seriously consider sending me to a mental hospital.

But before I could think much more, the door swung open. Just like always over the past year, my brother greeted me with a steady smile—and somehow, seeing that smile gave me a bit of courage.

I glanced behind me to make sure Aiden was still there and took a deep breath.

As expected, Alogen was in the room. We exchanged brief nods, and that was all for greetings.

“Have a seat, Selina,” my brother said, turning toward the sofa.

I gave a small nod and took a step toward the couch—then stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

It didn’t feel right to sit down for this conversation.

Standing would make it easier to back out. That way, if he didn’t believe me, I could just brush it off as a joke.

If I sat down and started talking, it would feel too serious, too real.

I said nothing, just looked at my brother. His blue eyes, so much like mine, stared back.

Ah, whatever. So what if he thinks I’m crazy? So what if I end up locked in some hospital? I have to say it.

It wasn’t just our father out at war, or Lukas.

The duchy, the empire our family was rooted in, and the countless people living within it... okay, maybe that’s a bit much.

Still, if it was for the family who always smiled at me, I wasn’t afraid of a miserable end.

“The High Priest seems suspicious, brother.”

I stood my ground as I spoke, and the room instantly fell into silence.

Blinking slowly, I looked at the others around me. The three of us formed a triangle, all eyes locked on me in the center.

“Please investigate the High Priest.”

I spoke again under their gaze. The message was the same.

“What made you think that?” my brother asked, his voice gentle after a long moment of silence. His unwavering gaze was serious, deeply so.

Even in the face of such a sudden statement, he didn’t look shaken. That calm—very fitting for the next Duke.

I closed my mouth and thought carefully.

What should I ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) say? I’d rushed over here, desperate to speak... maybe I should’ve thought things through a bit more first.

“Is it... because of what happened the day Sir Lukas encountered Belle?”

The voice wasn’t mine. I was still scrambling for an excuse.

Turning toward the sound, I saw Aiden looking at my brother as he spoke.

“What?”

What the hell was he talking about? I blinked rapidly, confused—but for some reason, everyone else in the room seemed to understand him.

Hey, I’m the main party involved here!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Still, I nodded along with the mood. Might as well roll with it.

“Uh... yeah. Because of that day.”

“Right, the High Priest held onto Jane that day, so the maid Belle ended up going to your room instead.”

Ah... now that he mentioned it, that’s true. Honestly, I hadn’t thought much of it.

I just assumed it was all coincidence... but life is nothing if not a series of coincidences. Or maybe strategies disguised as coincidences.

“Yes, and there’s something else.”

I decided to speak up again. Hearing Aiden jog my memory made me recall a few oddities from my encounters with the High Priest.

“He knew I’d lost my memories. But I don’t think Priest Ian told him. That kind of information should only be circulating among noble families. So how would the High Priest know? And when he summoned Priest Ian back, he let me go without even trying to stop me.”

Small things, maybe. But suspicious all the same.

And there was one more thing...

Since the day he arrived, I’d been suffering from a strange nervous condition. On the day Belle came by, I’d even woken up writhing in pain.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud. My brother was already listening to me more seriously than I expected. No need to throw that in too.

Ha. Funny, isn’t it? I used to hate when my family kept things from me. I wanted to help, to worry with them. But now that I’m in that position... I’m doing the exact same thing.

Maybe this is what it means to be family. Let’s go with that. I’m not hurting anymore anyway. I’ll bring it up later, when everything’s over. He can scold me then.

“Now that you mention it, even the temple’s atmosphere was odd. They treated Priest Ian rather...”

My brother’s voice trailed off as he glanced at me, then fell silent. Seemed like he chose to hold back, too.

Since I’d made the same decision moments ago, I didn’t feel the least bit hurt.

“All right. Looking into it can’t hurt. And it’s not like your theory is completely without merit. I’ll assign someone to investigate,” he said after a pause, smiling once more. His warm hand gently brushed through my hair.

I let out a sigh of relief.

I was incredibly grateful he chose to truly listen, not call for a doctor.

“Thank you, brother.”

And I meant it.

“You’re going to assign someone to the High Priest?”

After Selina left, Alogen turned to Aaron and asked. Aaron pulled out a blank piece of paper and answered while writing.

“Yes. Her suspicions aren’t unfounded. And...”

There was certainty in her eyes.

But he didn’t say that part aloud.

It would’ve sounded ridiculous, especially to someone who wasn’t family.

“I was planning to put someone on the High Priest anyway.”

“May I ask why?”

Aaron continued writing a brief summary about the High Priest, along with orders to assign a watcher.

Once finished, he looked up at Alogen.

“You already know, don’t you? We reviewed the investigation report on the maid Belle together.”

His tone was firm, but a faint smile lifted his face—as if to say, I know you’re testing me.

Alogen met that smile with a slow nod.

“I was just asking to be sure. It was stated that Belle began acting strangely only a few days before Sir Lukas encountered her. But she hadn’t left the estate for ten days prior.”

“Exactly. Which means she swallowed the marble—or whatever it was—not outside, but inside the estate.”

Alogen stroked his beard.

A habit of his whenever a conversation went on too long.

“And at that very time, an outsider happened to be staying at the mansion. The High Priest. It’s no wonder we’re suspicious. Trying to explain all this away as coincidence would be more of a stretch.”

Aaron thought of his sister.

She wasn’t grasping at straws—she was convinced of something. There had to be another reason she spoke up the way she did.

A reason she couldn’t tell him.

And he couldn’t force it out of her. All he could do was believe.

He could only hope that reason wasn’t something terrible.

“For now, we’ll investigate the temple as well.”

Alogen said, and Aaron nodded.

The High Priest likely wasn’t at the temple anymore. It had supposedly been destroyed. Finding his whereabouts came first.

Still, they needed to check the temple. If he truly was suspicious, there might be traces left behind.

They had to move fast—before he erased the evidence.

“I’ll go.”

Aaron, who had been pondering who to send, looked up at Alogen. The man raised his hand with an easy smile.

“You, Sir?”

“Yes. We’ll need to keep the team small, won’t we? And I’m probably the strongest one in this household. As a mage, I can hide easily and locate objects efficiently.”

“But you can’t go alone.”

Aaron’s firm tone made Alogen laugh—a hearty, not mocking laugh, like a grandfather humored by an overprotective child.

“Of course not. I’ll take Aiden.”

“Aiden... will he be enough?”

Aaron drew out the words carefully.

Oh dear, Aiden... looks like you haven’t earned full trust just yet.

Alogen sighed inwardly.

But a hint of amusement mixed in, like a teacher teasing a student.

“More than enough. Honestly, I could go alone, but I’ll take him just in case.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Aiden.

Aaron simply worried whether the two of them would be sufficient.

Still, the mage sitting before him was no ordinary one.

Alogen was a high-ranking mage of the Tower. If mages had tiers, he’d be first-class.

If he vouched for it, that was enough.

And since they were both mages, they’d move quickly and quietly.

Aaron nodded. Permission granted.

It had been a long time since Alogen moved with someone else’s approval—he let out another hearty laugh.

The two were scheduled to depart in three days.