Lady Villainess Philia D'la Loewe's Mistakes Chapter 4

His platinum blonde was close to silver, which hadn't changed since long ago, but his angelic-like curls have loosened and had a slight wave to them now. His flawless, elegant looks have lost its childlike naivety, becoming increasingly refined. His rigid-looking emerald eyes and his slightly opened lips gave him the air of being cold-hearted.

Before I knew it, his height had rapidly grown. He's still slender, like that of a young man, but it's obvious even with clothes on that his body has left behind his juvenile days and firmed into adolescence. Although he was expressionless, his arms were crossed, in an obvious show of irritation and on his hands were the usual black gloves.

Every time I see Luca's black gloves, I'm fully reminded of my failure.

Even in the game, Luca's symbol were those gloves, and his germaphobia was a direct representation of his misogyny. Luca, who hated the very existence of women, could not bear to touch women with his bare hands even when formally greeting them. Even bathing wasn't exempt– such was his in-game story.

After falling in love with the heroine, his hands are unromantically wrapped in cloth until the desire to touch her compels him to naturally remove them.

“Y-Y-Your Excellency?”

While I was preoccupied with Luca's hands, Julio faltered out in a haggard voice like a strangled chicken, “I'm going to die…”

I ignored my friend's empty voice and took it upon myself to reply with a smile. “How do you do, Luca? Although I may be your sister, you can't just enter a lady's room without knocking.”

“I apologize, sister. However, I heard a conversation that I couldn't imagine coming from a lady's room, so just now–”

Luca's voice is beautiful, appropriate for his looks. Its indifferent tone sends chills down your spine. Which is understandable, since standing in front of him is his sister– the woman he hates the most.

However, I cannot vacillate here. No matter how much Luca hates me, if I marry Julio and abdicate the succession to the Dukedom, he won't have a reason to kill me. “If you heard it, what a proper gentleman would do is hold himself back.”

“…So my sister is telling me to stay silent and overlook you shamelessly throwing yourself at that man?” Luca's voice deepened. His emerald green eyes intensely glared, making my heart jump.

Which reminds me, I feel it's been such a long time since I've made eye contact with my brother. That's because after turning 12 years old, Luca avoided me so much that he even hated looking at me.

Luca's eyes are bad for my heart. If he were to look my way with a gaze, strongly boring into me, my heart would definitely throb, despite my mental age being around 40. Mainly, it's with fear.

Luca slowly approached me who was at a loss for words.

“Hee!”

The person who let out that miserable voice wasn't me, but Julio.

Luca's pointed gaze was so sharp that I could feel its weight, but he removed it from me and pointed it towards Julio. “Knight Apprentice Julio Fidel of the Fifth Divison, do you understand what it means to lay a hand on my sister?”

“N-no, Y-Y-Your Excellency, you misunderstoo–”

“That's right, Luca, Julio didn't lay his hands on me, I laid my hands on him, I think… As well, actually.”

“Lady Philia, please shut uppp!”

Even though I was trying my best to protect him, Julio covered my mouth. I glared at him, trying to tell him to let go, but he was only looking at Luca.

Giving up, when I turned my gaze back to Luca, he looked down at us with a gaze that turned increasingly brutal.

“Just how long do you plan on doing that? …You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, let go.”

My brother wouldn't speak rudely to me, so the latter half is probably directed at Julio.

Julio easily removed his body from mine with a strength that came from nowhere, and when he sat me down on the couch, he awkwardly stood up.

As a knight apprentice, the way the muscles on his back stretched were beautiful and the knight uniform accentuated the percentage of how it looked even higher. Even if he were to go against Luca, he's not extremely outshone by him. However, his pallor all of that came to nothing because of his pallor face and trembling body.

Opposite that, Luca commanded Julio, with the full indifference and haughtiness of a n.o.ble. “Not one word of what happened today to anyone. Erase it from your memory. If you do otherwise… you know what's going to happen, right?”

“Y-y-yess, your Excellency. I'm aware of it.”

“Good. Leave.” Luca waved his hand as if he was driving away a dog.

Julio, with a 180, started moving to leave the room. He only looked towards the exit, not even casting a single glance at me.

“Julio!”

Aah, my only lifeline completely disappeared…

“…I'm! I'm not evil! Isn't it that commoner woman who is!?”

The lady with blonde hair that shone same as molten gold, ice blue eyes, and ever clad a vivid jewel-encrusted dress is now wearing just a chilly set of underwear. Her luxurious hair that reached down to her waist was cut short by custom because long hair would interfere with decapitation.

She, who had reigned over high society just a bit earlier, looked extremely pitiful.

She screamed as she was taken to the execution venue and stared at the tall, scarlet-haired man and the gentle, chestnut-haired woman.

When the woman's slender shoulders trembled, the man reached out to her, worried. “Marica, don't look.”

“No. I have to look. That's my obligation as the one to be your queen.”

The lovely woman, who still had some innocence left in her, turned her gaze towards the guillotine with strong determination.

“Marica…” Despite being surprised by her unexpected strength, the man was charmed.

“…But thank you for worrying, Al.”

“No need for thanks. I just want to protect you.”

“Al…”

You could only feel a faint warmth in one section of the gloomy execution venue, with both of them exchanging looks and ascertaining their love.

Ahead of them was a former lady, restrained from both sides from thras.h.i.+ng around, and pressed her down on the guillotine.

“The person who's really suitable to becoming the queen is me–!”

The moment the former lady's scream echoed, the edge of the guillotine shone, and without a noise, it fell.

I couldn't see the back of Julio, my last resort.

In my mind, the Crown Prince Route's true ending played in my head like a flashback and disappeared.

Now that I think about it, it's an extremely cruel event. Concluding Philia's trial with an execution while the heroine and the Crown Prince's love increasingly deepened — I couldn't even think to smile about the contents of the ending, as the beheaded lady in question.

I have no attachment or yearning towards being the queen, unlike the game Philia, but due to reasons beyond human knowledge, I'll be forced to accept the ending that was in the game. Because of that, my anxiety worsened.

When Julio left, he faithfully closed the door. I suddenly became uncomfortable with Luca who stayed behind.

It's really been a while since I've been this close to Luca, just the two of us. It's already been several years since my brother came to this room on his own.

“Sister.”

Luca called out to me from where he was, which made my eyes open in surprise. When I looked up at him as he stood, the pressure from earlier had more or less faded, but as always, he pierced me with his usual colder than ice gaze.

“Are you aware of your position?”

“Position, huh… I am, so I could say nothing else.” That's because right now, I'm at a critical moment where I didn't know if I'm going to live or die.

Of course, Luca didn't know that, so he frowned, and made a baffling expression.

“If things stay the way they are, as the crown princess or the d.u.c.h.ess…” If I imagine myself being either of those, it'll be the death route for me.

“I won't let you become the crown princess.”

Thinking of the future, I became gloomy. Luca's words were unexpected.

“…You're opposed to me becoming His Highness' Queen?”

“Naturally.”

He looked down at me, as if he was saying, ‘What foolishness,' but it felt like suddenly seeing a ray of hope.

In the game's story, Luca is someone who's a worthy opponent of the crown prince, and no matter what they compete for, they're actually close friends. Even in this reality, there wasn't much difference either.

It might be because Luca simply didn't want the sister that he hates to approach his friend, but it's rea.s.suring to know that my brother is opposed to my marriage with the crown prince.

This may be an important component to avoid the Crown Prince Route.

If this goes well, I'll just have to thwart Luca after. With only miserable deaths in the Luca Route, I'll avoid it with all I've got without fail! “Though I shouldn't say this out loud, I don't want to become the crown princess either.”

“…Is that so?”

Because he looked at me with slight doubt in his eyes, I confirmed it with all I had. “Of course! I don't even want to consider getting married to royalty. Since the Duke residence is plenty formal already.”

“You think that this house is too formal?” Surprised, Luca raised an eyebrow.

This is my chance! I thought and nodded multiple times. “Actually, it doesn't seem like I suit this type of lifestyle very well. I sometimes think that n.o.ble society is unbearable and painful. Because of this, I don't believe I'm suitable to become the crown princess or the d.u.c.h.ess.”

I pa.s.sionately tried to appeal to him, ‘I'm not interested in the Dukedom, I won't get in your way.' Rooted deep down in my wish is, ‘I beg of you, please don't kill me,' so he should feel very, no, extremely compelled to agree.

Once again, I couldn't understand from Luca's expression whether he believes me or not.

“This Royal Capital as well, it's a little too busy for me. In the slightly greener countryside, they make their own food with their own hands, their carefree life sounds wonderful…”

Suddenly, Luca shortened the distance between us. “Is that why you're okay with that man?”

With a distance where our knees were barely touching, I unconsciously leaned back.

“Do you plan on throwing me away, sister?”

“Eh?”

“…I definitely won't allow it.”

Luca gripped my shoulder with his hand, and just like that, pushed me down. With a feeling of leaning back, my body simply fell on top of the couch.

Luca straddled my thigh, and kneeled above me, both hands on the couch.

“Luca…?”

His expression didn't change much from the usual, but I thought I saw a fire in his green eyes ignite. I might have been mistaken.

“I won't let you escape.”

I don't understand what Luca meant.

Did Luca tell me, ‘I won't let you escape,' in the death route? Though he shouldn't have knowledge of that.

Luca reached his hand towards me, and as if he realized something, stopped. He took that hand towards his mouth, bit down on the gloves' fingertip, and with a strong jerk, completely took the glove off.

Seeing that it's Luca, that action was violent, but above all, I was more surprised at his bare, pale, slender fingers.

I wonder how many years it's been since I've last seen Luca's hands without the gloves. His childlike, small, round hand had turned to that of a man's angular hand.

“You, your glove… are you okay with that?”

“Yes, I don't need that anymore in front of you. Originally, it was to prevent myself from coming into contact with filthy women, however…”

Suddenly, my brother smiled, and it looked closer to a devil's than an angel's.

“The reason why I never took it off in front of you was because I didn't trust that I had enough self-control to not touch you. But it's fine, right?”

What does he mean by, ‘It's fine?' I don't particularly want to listen. I don't want to, but before I could cover my ears, Luca touched my face with his fingers. Even though he had a glove on just a moment ago, his fingers were chilly and cold.

“If you're going to throw me away, I don't need to hold myself back. I'll do as much as I like until you don't want to run away anymore.”

His fingers touching my face, his mysterious words, and my brother's extremely beautiful face that came closer.

As I was bewildered on which of those to be cautious of, the distance between us disappeared, and our lips touched.

“Nn…”

Soft, warm lips. Even though his fingers were cold, the lips he was pressing down with were warm enough to melt.

My eyes widened in shock as Luca stared back at me with a piercing look.

We kissed as our gazes were entwined. Luca tilted his head, breaking our eye contact to deepen it.

I clumsily loosened my lips, and from between them, a warm tongue slipped in once again. I unconsciously was about to bite down, but the hand on my face seized my chin, and to make sure that I don't close it, once again invaded my mouth.

“Nnnn.”

This is my first kiss in this life. A taste that didn't belong to me spread inside my mouth, and just when I thought that that was Luca's saliva, I was struck with dizziness.

…Why is this suddenly happening?

Revised 14.9.24

WAO. French kiss y'all. d.a.m.n. Now I can see why he's yandere-ish.

 Just a heads up: We'll try to have a schedule for this series, every Tuesday @ 11AM.