When I Finished Playing the Terminally-Ill Villainous Omega C24

Chapter 24

At Locke’s words, Cassian let out an open scoff.

“Of course you’d say that. If you admitted you knew, your head would be flying off.”

“Brother, don’t push your nonsense too far! How could a commoner like Locke know something that only circulates among nobles? Those roses were simply meant to comfort me!”

Mother asked quietly,

“What kind of comfort was it? Tell me.”

Lying to her—who bore a face so closely resembling my mother from a life before the last—filled me with guilt. But if that lie could save a life, then the matter was different. I could tell it again and again.

“Lately, it’s been painful for me to look in the mirror. Each day, as my illness worsens, my body grows thinner, and the sight of myself feels increasingly unfamiliar—almost grotesque. Years have passed since I began taking medicine, yet there’s been no improvement, and my heart grew exhausted. I confided these feelings to my personal attendant. It seems that, in his own way, he was trying to console me.”

“My goodness… Cedric, why didn’t you tell your mother first?”

“…Even as it is, this body of mine makes me an unfilial child. If I had burdened you with these feelings as well, Mother would only have been more saddened.”

“You should have told me everything. How you must have suffered alone…”

Seeing the sorrow on her face, guilt washed over me without fail. Still, all of this was not only for Locke, but for House Hestian as well. I steeled my heart.

“I’m sorry.”

“What fault is yours? This is your father’s and mother’s failing.”

Mother looked between Locke and me, her expression grave. Even if what I said were true, he was still a servant entangled in scandal with her son—worse, a suspect in a murder. In that brief moment, she must have weighed which burden was heavier: the family’s honor or her compassion.

I pressed my case once more.

“Mother, when a noble takes someone in, does it not mean taking responsibility for that person’s life? If you were to cast him out without even discerning the truth, merely because of a rumored scandal with your son, wouldn’t that only feed those who delight in gossip? They would say we were trying to hide something.”

“That doesn’t sound like something the one who fed them should be saying,” Cassian cut in again.

“I truly don’t understand my brother’s insistence on entangling me with him when nothing has happened between us.”

“Whether something happened or not, I wouldn’t know,” Cassian replied coolly.

“Then why do you speak as though you know what you do not?”

“What did you say?”

Cassian’s eyes flared with rage. Had we been alone, I wondered if he would have killed me as he had that knight and blamed it on monsters.

Just then—

Shaaa— a subtle chill brushed along my arm. It was the very same sensation I had felt in the forest.

I turned around. The door was tightly shut, guarded by two knights, and every window in the drawing room was closed.

What was that? Did only I feel it?

Seeing no sign of disturbance from anyone else, I glanced at Locke. He was kneeling, one hand braced on the floor, his head bowed deeply.

He must be anxious. I could endure this moment by thinking of the grand event I had prepared behind the scenes—but Locke had no such reassurance. Of course this situation would be frightening for him.

Sensing my gaze, he flinched and looked up at me. I lifted the corner of my mouth slightly, as if to say that nothing would happen, silently mouthing, Trust me.

Perhaps it reached him; the shadow on his face seemed to lighten, if only a little. Or perhaps that was merely my hope.

“Is that all you have to say, Cedric?” Mother asked.

“One last thing,” I replied.

The imperial concubine system of this world was peculiar. Men could become pregnant, and same-sex marriage was permitted. That was why Cassian could so freely bind me and Locke together with insinuations. And so, before both Mother and Cassian, I addressed it head-on.

“I do not wish to be entangled in scandal with Locke.”

Mother and Locke looked at me at the same time.

“I dislike men. If I am to marry at all, I prefer a woman.”

“You expect us to believe that? There’s nothing you wouldn’t say to shield that brat!” Cassian shouted.

“Whether my words are lies or truth will be clear once you see my future spouse. If my brother becomes head of the house, he will involve himself in my marriage as well, won’t he? If my condition improves and I come to choose a fiancée, I ask that she be gentle and kind. If she’s positive in all things, that would be perfect.”

Mother let out a deep sigh and rubbed her brow.

“Enough, both of you. Listening to you argue makes me reflect on how I raised my children.”

At that moment, there was another knock—this one urgent.

“What is it?”

“There is something I must report to you at once, my lady.”

“Enter.”

The doors opened, and an armed knight rushed in, dropping to one knee before Mother.

“The formalities are done. Speak.”

The knight raised his head.

“My lady, a report has come in that the carriage you sent to the plaza has just fallen off the cliff below!”

“Such an impossible thing—!”

Mother’s lips trembled as she clutched the armrest of the sofa. I stole a glance at Cassian. His reaction was unmistakably different from hers. He listened in silence, as though he already knew what would be said, then widened his eyes at just the right moment and exclaimed, “How could such a thing happen!”—a line dripping with falsehood.

His shamelessness made my teeth grind, but in a way, it made things easier for me. There would be no need to rack my brain trying to spare a murderer simply because he was family. Now it was my turn to overturn the board he had set.

“How did this happen? What about the people—are they safe?” Mother asked urgently.

The knight hesitated, glancing at Cassian before answering.

“Why can’t you speak? Don’t tell me… they’ve died?”

“In fact, my lady, the carriage held only the blacksmith’s cargo.”

“Thank the heavens!”

“What?” Cassian blurted out, stunned, while Mother sighed in relief.

“No one was hurt—surely the gods watched over them. Then tell me, how did the accident occur?”

“Upon hearing reports of a monster appearing on the usual road, the carriage was turned back. On the winding mountain path, rain caused it to slip, and the coupling that connects the driver’s seat to the carriage snapped.”

“Then the people I ordered brought here—were they transferred to another carriage?”

“No, my lady. They were placed in that carriage… but they have vanished without a trace.”

The way Cassian’s expression collapsed in real time was a sight worth savoring—because every part of this had gone exactly as I planned.

He was more cruel and meticulous than I had anticipated. And so I had discarded the notion that there were lines a person would not cross, preparing instead for every possibility I could imagine.

One of those preparations was witness protection. After visiting the barracks, Cassian went straight to the plaza. The plaza was always crowded with merchants and customers; if he killed someone there, witnesses would inevitably appear. That was why I was certain he would target the moment when the blacksmith finished his work and headed home.

Though my body ached, there was no one in the manor I could fully trust, so I mounted a horse myself and rode to the plaza. I delivered a letter urging him to close early and hide before evening, and to never board any carriage sent from the count’s estate. I pressed several gold coins into his hand and told him to use whatever means he trusted most—anything but a carriage—to go to the place named in the letter. I insisted he must go; avoidance would solve nothing. He should tell everything and place himself under Lady Hestian’s protection.

Howard, who had until now stood quietly at Mother’s side, met my gaze. He bowed deeply and spoke.

“My lady, I know where they are. I will take you there at once.”

For the first time, Cassian’s face drained of color. He hurriedly moved to block Mother’s path—only now realizing that something had gone terribly wrong.

Mother frowned slightly at Cassian standing before her. His eyes darted, and he spoke in haste.

“Wait, Mother. There’s something I must tell you.”

“Later.”

“It may explain why Locke tried to flee. I need to say it now. The truth is, there was a theft at the manor. One of my swords went missing—and shortly after, Locke disappeared. I believe the two events are connected.”

If this were a play and I an audience member, I would have stood and applauded. His quick thinking and inexhaustible stream of lies were, truly, impressive.