I'm a Villainess, Can I Die?-Chapter 31

Selina’s body had barely gone over the edge when Aiden finally moved.

Why save her? He didn’t know.

Was it basic human decency? A twisted sense of attachment? Or had something in him changed in just these past few months? Whatever the reason, the young lady couldn’t die like this.

Aiden reached out desperately toward the body plummeting past the window. His fingers grasped at nothing but air. All he could see was that pale face, hurtling downward at terrifying speed.

With her hair swept upward by the fall, she almost looked like she was sinking into water, rather than plummeting toward solid ground.

“Please... Please... Please... Please... Please... Please....”

Aiden clenched his teeth as he murmured under his breath.

Do you want another piece of cake?

It’s fine, consider it repayment for saving me earlier.

The only one allowed to get angry at my people is me.

Strawberry flavor.

Scattered voices echoed in his mind. Toneless, detached words floated past his ears. Expressionless faces flickered in his vision. He needed to focus. He had to act now. But those strange voices only grew louder and louder, until his head felt like it was about to explode.

Please... Please...

The chaos in his mind had become an indecipherable mess. But through it all, one voice—his own—whispered in the tiniest, most fragile echo.

Please...

Something hot and unbearable welled up in his throat. His eyes burned, but he didn’t dare blink. If he did, the next time he opened them, that delicate face would already be broken against the ground.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he watched the girl, unreachable beyond his outstretched fingertips, drifting like a piece of the sky that would never touch the earth.

“Please...!”

A desperate plea burst from his lips just as light erupted from the tips of his fingers. A blinding beam shot out, racing toward Selina’s falling body.

The moment the light touched her, her trajectory changed. She was flung sideways, her body knocked away from the direct fall and toward the forest beyond the estate.

Selina hit the canopy first. Her body tumbled awkwardly, caught briefly by branches, before she lost all momentum and plunged limply through the tangled limbs, crashing to the ground below.

Aiden let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. His chest heaved, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Slowly, he lowered his trembling hand. Then, without hesitation, he stepped onto the windowsill and leaped.

Magic is fueled by desperation and focus.

And right now, Aiden had only one thought in his mind—he had to reach her.

That sheer, overwhelming need carried him safely to her side.

His legs nearly gave out the moment his feet touched the ground.

But there—there she was.

Gone was the clean, beautiful young lady he was used to seeing. In her place was a broken, bloodied girl, crumpled at the base of the trees.

Her dress was in tatters, shredded by the branches that had failed to break her fall. Her long hair, usually so neatly kept, was a tangled mess. Her arms and legs were scratched and torn, her delicate skin now marred by bruises, dirt, and blood.

“...Young... lady?”

Aiden forced the words out. He had nothing left in him, but he still managed to call her name.

No response.

Unable to speak again, he simply took a step forward.

How long has it been since I had an orange?

There was no toneless voice whispering nonsense.

Can you kill me without making it hurt?

Her empty eyes were closed.

Did you save me?

The soft palm that had once covered his mouth was now motionless, covered in cuts and scratches.

“Ah... Young lady...”

Aiden’s voice trembled, echoing through the silent forest.

A peaceful, undisturbed forest.

And yet, lying there, unmoving, was a girl who did not belong in that peace.

Something was trickling down from her forehead, pooling over her closed eyes, running down her soft pink lips. He wished it were tears.

It wasn’t.

A vivid crimson trail dripped from her hairline, rolling over her cheeks and down her chin. The ground beneath her head was darkening, the grass staining red where her blood seeped into the earth.

Even now, her face remained expressionless.

Aiden broke into sobs again.

If only she had furrowed her brows. If only she had cried. If only she had shown any trace of pain, any emotion at all.

But no. Even as her life bled away, that pale, fragile face remained eerily still.

No emotion. No sign of suffering.

Nothing.

Aiden knelt on the ground, his hands clasped together as if in prayer.

What good is magic... if I can’t use it when it matters most?

Revenge? What a joke.

With power like this, what could he possibly do?

If he had jumped with her, would things have been different?

Could he have saved her?

At that moment, all he had thought about was reaching out. He had convinced himself that, just like on the stairs, he could suspend her in the air. That his magic would work.

But he had been too slow.

Footsteps.

The sound of people rushing toward them.

Then silence.

A crowd had gathered, but no one spoke.

They could only stare at the scene before them—at Aiden, kneeling beside Selina’s bloodied body.

No one could bring themselves to break the silence.

Until—

“Selina!”

A voice, raw and desperate, tore through the forest.

The weight of that single cry sent a shudder through everyone present.

A voice filled with grief so overwhelming that none could bear to keep their eyes open.

“Duke! P-please, calm yourself!”

“Calm? You expect me to—Sel... Selina... Selina!”

The Duke stumbled forward, his steps uneven, before collapsing beside his daughter.

With trembling hands, he reached for her face.

“Selina... Selina! Wake up... please... please...!”

His fingers brushed over her bloodstained cheeks. The more he touched her, the more red smeared onto his hands.

Frantic, he wiped them against his trousers. Then, as if trying to undo what had already happened, he pulled off his outer coat and began wiping the blood from her face.

But the stains wouldn’t come off.

The more he wiped, the more the fabric soaked through, the more his hands trembled.

Tears fell from his eyes, splashing onto her ashen cheeks.

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Those who had gathered turned their gazes downward, unable to bear the sight.

The Duke, his hands drenched in blood, finally lowered his gaze.

His knees were soaked.

The fabric of his trousers had turned a deep, sickening red.

“...Selina...”

His hands reached beneath her head, cradling her as gently as if she were still a sleeping child.

His fingers tangled in her damp, blood-matted hair.

When he pulled his hands away, they were unrecognizable—completely dyed in crimson.

“Doctor... DOCTOR!”

His scream shattered the silence, his voice shaking the entire forest.

“Yes, Duke!”

A man in the crowd—a doctor, frozen in horror—was shaken into action.

As the Duke wept over his daughter, Aiden sluggishly pulled himself back, making space.

The doctor rushed forward, kneeling beside Selina. Carefully, he pressed a cloth soaked in medicine against the wound at the back of her head.

After a tense moment, he finally spoke.

“She’s still breathing... but...”

The doctor swallowed hard.

Fear of the Duke and the crushing weight of his duty as a physician warred within him. He hesitated, his throat tightening.

The dread of treating a patient on the brink of death. The sorrow of facing their family.

He bit his lip, then forced himself to speak.

“Even if we stop the bleeding... I don’t know if she’ll make it through the night.”

It was a death sentence.

The Duke slowly lifted his head. The doctor bowed before the devastated man—before a father losing his child.

The Duke’s vacant gaze drifted upward.

Beyond the trees, the sky was an endless, cloudless blue. His lips parted, but no words came. Only a soundless cry, rising from the depths of his anguish.

Then, the golden eyes that had always held strength finally closed. A broken sob tore from his throat.

Ah... the weather is so beautiful...

So why is my daughter lying on this cold ground, covered in blood?

Why?

If he could trade his life for hers, if he could turn back time—oh, how desperately he wished he could.

A sorrow so deep it strangled him.

But there was no time for despair.

He could not sit here, helpless, weeping over a daughter who still had breath in her lungs. She was alive. And so, he had to save her.

And when she was safe, he would scold her. He would hold her tightly.

Swallowing his sobs, he steadied his voice.

“Send a carrier pigeon... to the Ariana Temple. The fastest one.”

One name came to mind—the priest that Lukas and Aaron had spoken of. The one with extraordinary abilities.

If there was even the slightest chance, then they had to bring him.

“What should we write in the message?”

“...Drag him here if you must. There is no time to waste. Selina....”

The Duke clenched his teeth, unable to continue. Saying it aloud made it too real.

“She is in critical condition.”

The moment he finished speaking, several knights mounted their horses and galloped away toward the Duchy.

The Duke listened to the sound of their retreating hooves, then turned to the doctor. His voice was quieter but no less desperate.

“Can she... be moved?”

He wasn’t calm. Not truly. He had simply chosen to be stronger, for her sake.

The doctor, recognizing this, nodded solemnly.

“She can, but we’ll need a stretcher.”

“Then bring one.”

“We already have one here.”

They had prepared it in advance.

When word came that Selina had fled, that she had likely gone to the clock tower, they had brought the stretcher—just in case.

But they had hoped, desperately, that they wouldn’t need it.

They had wanted to scold her for making such a fuss over nothing.

They had wanted to return home together, shaking their heads at the unnecessary worry.

Ah...

The Duke could say nothing. He simply clenched his lips and gestured.

A few servants and knights carefully lifted Selina onto the stretcher.

Aiden stood numbly, watching as they loaded her onto a waiting carriage. His fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

But there was no pain.

Only guilt.

The dark stain where Selina had lain seemed to etch itself into his mind.

I was there.

I was right there, beside her, until the very last second.

And yet, he had failed to stop her.

"Just turn away."

"Aiden, I’m sorry."

Aiden let out a strangled breath.

Why?

Why did this hurt so much?

Why did his chest feel like it was being torn apart?

She had tormented him.

She had saved him.

Was that why?

"Come with me?"

"Get lost. I don’t want to see your face."

"Then I suppose we’re both just garbage."

Countless voices filled his head, suffocating him.

Please... stop... just stop!

The echoes strangled him, pressing against his skull, drowning him in a sea of regret and confusion.

And through it all—

The image of Selina, sitting so precariously on the ledge, falling back so easily, as if nothing mattered.

Over and over again.

...The priest...

Aiden’s breath hitched.

The Duke’s words resurfaced through the chaos.

The Ariana Temple’s priest...

Priests were supposed to have healing powers.

But those were stories of the past.

Modern priests no longer wielded such miracles.

And yet—

If the Duke had sent for one so urgently, then surely... surely there was hope.

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut, forcing away the visions of Selina’s fall.

He couldn’t waste time drowning in his own misery.

He had failed to save her once.

He wouldn’t fail again.

Focus on what you truly want.

There was only one thing he needed to do.

Get to the Ariana Temple.

Find the priest.

Aiden’s green eyes burned, their color dulling as his resolve sharpened.

“...Hah.”

He exhaled, then turned away from the carriage.

While the others were loading Selina inside, Aiden walked in the opposite direction.

Toward the clock tower.

The empty, abandoned clock tower.

He gripped the door handle and twisted.

He stepped inside.

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Held his breath.

Closed his eyes.

And then—

“...Aiden?”

“...Young Master.”

It was like magic.

Lukas and Aaron shot to their feet, stunned.

Even Ian, who had been speaking with them, rose in shock.

It was impossible.

The Ariana Temple was a three-hour carriage ride from the Duchy.

If Aiden had been following them, they would have noticed.

For him to appear here, at this moment—

“...Aiden?”

“...Young Master.”

Aiden muttered blankly. His voice was hoarse, like he had been suffocating.

His eyes were bloodshot, as if he had been crying for hours.

Aaron took a step toward him, sensing something was deeply wrong—

And then—

FLAP.

A sharp, deafening sound echoed from the window.

A carrier pigeon.

A massive one, belonging to the Duchy.

Aiden’s sudden arrival.

And now, an emergency message.

A sinking feeling settled in Aaron’s stomach as he rushed to the window.

The pigeon flapped its wings once more, extending its leg toward him.

A note was tied to it.

Aaron’s hands trembled as he untied the message.

His heartbeat thundered in his ears.

The moment he unfolded the note, his breath caught in his throat.

His legs nearly gave out.

He gripped the window frame, barely staying upright.

“What’s wrong?”

Lukas reached out, steadying him.

Then he followed Aaron’s gaze to the note.

"The young lady is in critical condition. You must bring the priest immediately."