I’m a Villainess, Can I Die?

As if answering my question, Lukas absentmindedly murmured my name.
Why is Lukas here all of a sudden?

Aiden had been here just a while ago…
Looking around, I noticed that the mess of letters, pens, and ink I had pushed aside earlier had been neatly arranged. The blanket that had just fallen from my shoulders lay on the floor.
It seemed like someone had tidied up and covered me with the blanket before Lukas arrived.

"When did you get here?"
I picked up the blanket from the floor and began folding it as I asked.
"A little while ago. You were even drooling in your sleep, so I waited until you woke up… and ended up dozing off myself."

Drooling? Me?
Just in case, I touched the corner of my mouth—and, sure enough, it was damp.
Well, people drool when they’re tired. It happens.

I wasn’t particularly embarrassed, so I just wiped my mouth and looked over at Lukas.
His neck twisted left and right, cracking audibly as he stretched. Probably stiff from sleeping upright.
How is he so nonchalant about this?

Realistically speaking, isn’t it a little weird to just sit there and wait for someone to wake up instead of leaving or waking them?
This was the kind of scene that should have been straight out of a romance novel.
But for me, it was just reality.

So, I could only see it from a purely rational perspective.
Lukas, however, didn’t seem to care whether I was lost in thought or not. He casually rolled his shoulders, then cracked his fingers one by one.
Not even the slightest hint of romance here, either.

"So, what brings you here?"
Not that I should be expecting anything normal. There wasn’t a single person around me who could be considered normal.
And I was no exception.
Still seated at my desk, I looked at Lukas, who remained in the chair beside my bed.

"I came to check on your condition."
"You came just the other day."
And the day before that, and the day before that.

In fact, he had come every day except yesterday.
Lukas’s lips curled into a smirk. The kind that suited a villain.
"I didn’t come yesterday."

Oh, please.
Do as you like.
I shrugged and pulled the neatly folded letter toward me.

If he was only here to check my health, I just had to show him I was fine by doing something productive.
Lukas truly seemed to be here just to see how I was doing—because as I unfolded the letter, he didn’t move a muscle.
His gaze stayed on me the entire time.

Ignoring him, I read over Vivian’s letter again.
What should I do about this?
She wanted to visit, so I had to set a date.

But allowing visitors into the duchy wasn’t a decision I could make on my own.
I would need to ask my father or mother, but… lately, both of them had been busier than usual. Their visits to my room had become less frequent.
That meant I’d have to go find them myself.

For some reason, that idea unsettled me.
It wasn’t a problem when we ran into each other naturally or when they visited me first, so why did it feel this way now?
Asking Aaron wasn’t an option, either. He had gone to the imperial palace for work.

"Is there a problem?"
Lukas spoke up, breaking the silence.
I had been so lost in thought that I had almost forgotten he was there.

For a moment, I debated whether to give a vague answer or be honest.
In the end, I chose the latter.
Lukas visited my father often—asking him to pass along my request wouldn’t be a bad idea.

After all, as the beloved younger sister of his dear friend, surely he’d be willing to do at least that much.
"Lady Vivian Jonas wants to visit. I feel a bit guilty refusing since I was the one who couldn’t attend her party… but I don’t know what date to suggest."
"A visit, huh…"

Lukas tapped his foot lightly against the floor.
I had hoped he would just say, I’ll ask the Duke for you.
Instead, he simply fell silent, looking unusually deep in thought.

Is he trying to decide on a date himself?
Well, he was practically family here, and he handled important matters within the duchy.
If he wanted to set the date himself and inform my parents afterward, that wasn’t necessarily a bad solution.

I let Lukas ponder on his own while I imagined Vivian’s visit.
She would probably walk in and say something dramatic about how the roses outside were beautiful but paled in comparison to the sickly, bedridden young lady.
She might even shed a few tears.

Just the thought gave me a headache.
Normally, I would just tolerate it and send her off.
But right now, I already had too much on my plate.

This translation is the intellectual property of .
Just when I considered knocking my head against the desk, Lukas suddenly stood up from his chair.
My gaze followed him instinctively.

"Selina, how are your external injuries?"
…Weren’t we talking about the visit?
Why was he suddenly asking about my injuries?

A little confused, I rolled up my sleeve and inspected my arm.
Honestly, I hadn’t been paying much attention to my wounds.
Most of the time, when the maids applied ointment, I just stared blankly into the distance.

Now that I looked, my forearm was still covered in bruises, blotchy red and purple marks staining my pale skin.
The long wound on my left arm, in particular, remained a deep, angry red.
Priest Ian had said he would heal me once his divine power returned.

But since he had exhausted too much of it the day of the incident, he hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Apparently, divine power worked like a rechargeable battery.
Since Doctor always had Ian accompany him during my checkups, I had to hear Ian’s apologies at least once a day.

Even though I was the one who jumped, everyone was falling over themselves trying to apologize.
I debated how to explain my injuries but, in the end, decided that seeing was easier than telling.
So, I simply stretched both arms out in front of Lukas.

He raised an eyebrow at the sudden gesture before slowly scanning my arms.
Then, his gaze shifted back to my face, and he let out a long sigh.
What?

"Your wounds have improved, but it’ll take some time for them to fully heal. Are you applying your medicine properly?"
"This is with medicine."
After all, it wasn’t like I was the one applying it.

The maids did it as part of their job.
"Ah, truly impressive," Lukas remarked.
"What is?"

Instead of answering, he simply smiled.
And then—
"We should refuse the visit."

My initial response was to glare at him for dodging my question.
But his next words washed away my irritation instantly.
It was the best decision for me.

"Why?"
For a moment, I considered just nodding quietly in agreement, but for the sake of politeness, I asked for a reason.
"I told Lady Vivian that you simply weren’t feeling well, but if she sees you covered in injuries, she’ll find it suspicious. And since House Jonas has strong ties to various salons, they’re at the center of many rumors. While that can be useful when properly controlled, it can just as easily turn into poison."

"Ah."
He had already thought that far ahead. As expected of the former male lead.
Lukas was right. If Vivian saw my injuries, she would definitely find it odd.

I couldn’t say for sure that she would gossip about it everywhere… but I couldn’t rule out the possibility, either.
"Besides, there have been unpleasant rumors about you lately, so you need to be even more careful."
"Rumors?"

Rumors…
Had word of my jump from the tower spread?
If that was the case, it was bad.

For nobles, rumors were lethal.
Since their reputation was everything, a bad rumor could be enough to ruin them.
"The Duke and Duchess. Even Aaron. They’ve been busy trying to manage the situation."

Ah.
So that’s why they had been so occupied.
I had been holed up in the mansion, oblivious to the rumors about me.

They must have chosen not to tell me, afraid I would feel hurt or take on unnecessary guilt.
Because they cared for me.
I didn’t know what to say.

No, I didn’t even know how to feel.
No matter how much kindness I received, I never got used to it.
Even though this was now mine—this care, this concern—it still felt so foreign.

In my past life and this one, I had always been at the center of a disaster.
Back then, I was simply the cause.
Even if it rained out of nowhere, somehow, it had to be my fault. My very existence was a mistake, something to be blamed.

But now, it was the complete opposite.
Just for surviving, I was being treated with overwhelming kindness.
It was like night and day.

What the hell was I supposed to do with this?
"What kind of rumors?"
"People are talking about how you didn’t attend Lady Vivian’s party. There are all sorts of unfavorable speculations about why you were absent."

Unfavorable speculation, huh…
I couldn’t imagine anything being worse than the truth.
I shrugged.

"People are doing a great job discussing something my family deliberately kept hidden."
"No matter how well they try to hide it, you would have heard about it sooner or later. It’s better to be prepared than caught off guard."
He wasn’t wrong.

No truth could ever stay buried forever.
My family probably wouldn’t have the heart to tell me, so Lukas had taken the responsibility instead.
In a household that overflowed with sentimentality, he was a rare pillar of cold, calculated rationality.

Raising a child to be strong, huh?
Somehow, his composure made me feel more composed as well.
My family had kept it from me for my sake.

Then, I wanted to do something for them in return.
Even if I couldn’t say something sentimental, at the very least, I wanted to act as the Selina I was supposed to be.
"But if I refuse the visit… wouldn’t that just make things worse?"

I picked up the letter again, scanning it one more time before carefully folding it and slipping it back into its envelope.
"Then we just need to give her something bigger."
"Something bigger?"

"Yes. Something bigger."
Unlike when we were talking about rumors, his eyes now gleamed with amusement.
If there had been a true villain behind the scenes in this novel, it had to be him.

The sun was scorching.
So summers here were this hot.
Even the blankets on my bed had been replaced with thinner, airier ones.

My arms, now exposed beneath the short sleeves of my nightwear, were perfectly smooth.
Thanks to Priest Ian’s divine power, my wounds had completely healed.
Even the scars were gone—better than modern laser treatment.

And, apparently, most priests didn’t even have this ability.
Which meant Ian was exceptionally talented.
If anything, that accident of mine wasn’t entirely bad—I had successfully recruited a valuable asset.

Though, if Aaron found out I was thinking like this, he might throw up from sheer shock.
Anyway.
Today was a day when I absolutely, definitely needed Priest Ian.

Because by the end of the day, I would be completely drained.
Before I slept, I’d have to beg him for another shot of divine power.
"My lady."

It had come.
The inevitable.
I sighed as Jane, one of the maids who had learned my name, called from outside the door.

"Come in."
As soon as I gave permission, the door swung open, and a horde of maids poured in.
There were so many.

Every single one of them had a solemn, determined expression, arms loaded with various items.
"My lady, let’s start with a bath."
Do as you wish.

The moment I sank into the warm bathwater, drowsiness washed over me.
The comfort was almost enough to make me consider abandoning everything else and just going back to sleep.
My eyelids drooped as my mind grew hazy…

And then—
A sudden touch against my arm snapped me awake.