I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand Chapter 127

 

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The old woman, snapping out of her thoughts, gazed steadily at Merria sitting before her.  

 

On Merria’s delicate wrist, instead of heavy iron shackles, only a red, inflamed mark remained.  

 

Before leaving the house, the old woman had found a key and used it to remove the restraints binding Merria.  

 

Rubbing the spot where the shackles had been, Merria grimaced. 

 

Her disheveled platinum hair and the vivid eyes beneath it—It had been so long since she’d faced that piercing gaze that a small laugh escaped her.  

 

Even that night at the duke’s estate when she’d encountered the young noblewoman, she’d been looked at with those very same eyes.  

 

And beside her had been Shannon, holding back tears.  

 

Whether Merria was bothered by Shannon or not, she alternated between staring out the window and glancing her way.  

 

‘What kind of combination is this?’  

 

Merria and Shannon, who seemed surprisingly amicable, were completely different from the two people she’d known in the past.  

 

Of course, it was Ariene who had played a part in driving their relationship to ruin.  

 

Had her disappearance alone led them to this dynamic?  

 

‘Perhaps, in their past lives, they could have lived like this—had I not ruined it with my own hands.’  

 

At the same time, she realized that, at least this time, her choice hadn’t been entirely wrong.  

 

The three of them were now hastily riding in a carriage through the marketplace, heading toward the capital.  

 

Of course, Merria hadn’t boarded the carriage willingly.  

 

Perhaps she was the only one in a hurry—the noblewoman stood between Shannon and the old woman and abruptly stopped walking.  

 

She seemed suspicious of the old woman’s sudden appearance.  

 

That was why the old woman had handed Merria the ‘key.’  

 

Judging by the remaining power in the ring, it seemed she hadn’t used it completely.  

 

How the ring had ended up in Ariene’s hands was a mystery.  

 

The old woman’s physical condition was unstable, leaving her only a limited amount of time to move freely.

 

Moreover, since they had decided to watch from afar, lingering around them the whole time wasn’t so strange, was it?  

 

She had only stepped away briefly to rest, and by the time she returned, things had already spiraled into chaos.  

 

Merria stared intently at the ring the old woman held out.  

 

This ring, passed from the old woman to Merria’s youthful hands, then to another’s, and finally back to the old woman—wasn’t it proof of trust between the two of them?  

 

Merria had seen with her own eyes that the ring had an effect on Reukis, and she knew it had been in the possession of the fake Shannon until just moments ago.  

 

Most crucially, there were the words the old woman had spoken before Merria left the house:  

 

“You must return to where you belong. There’s someone who needs you, isn’t there?” 

 

The familiar tone made one of Merria’s eyebrows arch.  

 

‘I must find the one who needs this.’  

 

Back then, and even now, the person the old woman was referring to was likely—  

 

“Reukis?”  

 

“Yes.”  

 

The old woman nodded in affirmation.  

 

She was the one holding the truth Merria most wanted to hear. That alone was reason enough for Merria to follow her.  

 

Merria slowly began to move.  

 

But instead of immediately stepping out of Demeter, she walked over to Shannon, who had collapsed to the ground.  

 

Shannon was staring blankly into the air, her face frozen in shock.  

 

‘Come to think of it, that old woman seemed to be saying something to her.’

  

Though she couldn’t make out the details, Merria had clearly seen the old woman whisper something into Shannon’s ear while releasing her hand.  

 

What Shannon was thinking now didn’t matter to Merria.  

 

It was almost laughable—just earlier, she had been considering escaping together, but now, she absolutely had to take Shannon with her.  

 

‘I never got to see Ariene’s face.’  

Thanks to the old woman arriving before Arienne, Merria still hadn’t confirmed Arienne’s true form.  

That was why she needed Shannon—as bait to lure Arienne out, and as a witness who knew her real face.  

 

She reached out her hand to Shannon.

 

Shannon slowly lifted her gaze and looked into Merria’s eyes. She had planned to take her by force if necessary, but she wanted to delay such coercive methods as much as possible.  

 

Merria twisted her lips slightly, as if to avoid appearing too cold-hearted.  

 

The hand extended toward her, the stranger who seemed to know Merria, and the wide-open door—The meaning behind it all was clear even without much thought.  

 

‘Going… outside.’  

 

Shannon’s pale eyes trembled faintly. She had never once imagined walking out of this place on her own, let alone willingly.  

 

She had been perfectly content with this life and never wanted Arienne to get hurt because of her.  

 

But—  

 

‘That woman won’t come. Not for a long time, probably.’  

 

The moment she heard those words, it felt like the ground had crumbled beneath her.  

 

Even if Deston had said it, she would have stubbornly waited for Ariene.  

 

Yes, even if this stranger’s face didn’t bear such a striking resemblance to the one Shannon had been waiting for. She would have stayed in this very spot as days turned to nights and seasons changed.  

 

Shannon had to make a choice.  

 

She had to endlessly repeat the words of that old woman, who seemed to have glimpsed Arienne’s future.  

 

And when Merria finally extended her hand—She decided, for the first and last time, to go find Arienne herself.  

 

This time, instead of Arienne always coming to her, she would be the one to seek her out.  

 

‘You’ll frown and scold me, but even your reprimands are something I can’t live without.’  

 

Shannon tightly grasped Merria’s hand.  

 

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Among the three, only the old woman had firsthand experience with the twisting alleyways of Demeter.  

 

Though their determination to leave the house was strong, the two had no choice but to timidly follow behind her.  

 

Shannon and Merria, their appearances disheveled, trailed after the suspicious figure in a hooded robe leading the way.

 

The drunkards on the street, unable to recognize the fabric of Merria’s clothes, could only assume their relationship was that of captured young ladies and a corrupt official.  

 

‘She could’ve at least worn a robe.’  

 

But there was no time for such things—she had been in too much of a hurry to leave the house, so it was pointless to think about it now.  

 

Merria kept her head bowed low to hide her face as much as possible. She whispered to Shannon to do the same and avoid making eye contact with others.  

 

She knew her own beauty was quite striking, and Shannon, fitting for a heroine, was equally lovely.  

 

It was better to appear as if they were being taken as prisoners rather than drawing the attention of street ruffians.  

 

They walked like that, heads deeply bowed, for a long while.  

 

Fortunately, the three of them managed to reach the entrance of Demeter without getting entangled in any trouble.  

 

Though it was a pathway leading outside, only a couple of carriages were stationed there.  

 

They headed toward one of the nearest carriages.  

 

Originally, the old woman had intended to choose the second carriage. But Merria firmly insisted on taking the first one.  

 

The suspicion in her eyes made the old woman bristle with defiance.  

 

“I just picked whichever was here first. You know that, don’t you, miss?”  

 

Merria didn’t think the old woman was lying.  

 

But if they obediently took that carriage—hadn’t this same old woman once disguised herself as a merchant waiting in an alley when they first met?  

 

Deeming her suspicion reasonable, Merria approached the coachman lounging lazily in the driver’s seat.  

 

“Can you leave right now?”  

 

She kept her words as brief as possible.  

 

The coachman, who had been drowsily preparing for a nap, slightly tipped his hat to examine their appearance.  

 

An old woman and two young ladies.  

 

Their exceptional beauty gave him slight pause, but he had often seen young women like them sneaking away from wretched households in his line of work.  

 

Making a not-entirely-incorrect assumption, the coachman gave a small nod.  

 

“To the Duke of Rackester’s residence.”  

 

“No, to the Grand Duke Frederick’s residence.”

 

The old woman, who had been standing still, quickly corrected herself.  

 

Merria glanced at her briefly before speaking again, “How long will it take to reach the Grand Duke’s residence?”  

 

Upon hearing their destination, the coachman jumped down from his seat and waved his hands dismissively.  

 

“I can’t go that far! Just because it’s a roaming carriage, you think it goes everywhere?”  

 

A carriage stationed in Demeter would normally never dare to venture near the Grand Duke’s estate in its lifetime.  

 

After all, if it carelessly wandered too close and collided with a noble’s carriage or got caught in some trouble, losing one’s livelihood was a common outcome.  

 

Citing the superficial reason of the distance being too far, the coachman sharply turned his head away.  

 

Merria held out one of the earrings she had in her hand.  

 

“This should cover the cost, right?”  

 

Though it was a small, simple-designed earring—since there was no need for extravagant adornment at a hunting competition—it was still made of high-purity sapphire.  

 

Whether this coachman would recognize its value was uncertain.  

 

But since this earring was the only thing she could offer at the moment, there was no other choice.  

 

“Tsk, I don’t know where you got this, but I don’t accept stolen goods. Try somewhere else.”  

 

As expected.  

 

In fact, offering something too expensive had backfired.  

 

Even to the wandering coachman, the earring being held out to him looked like a rather valuable item.  

 

The only downside was that it had been presented in Demeter, a place with poor security.  

 

There was no telling what kind of danger might come with that item, so accepting it was out of the question.  

 

If it had been gold coins or something similar, he might have taken it without hesitation.  

 

But such a precious item would be hard to sell, and who knows—he might even be accused of theft and lose his hand.  

 

“Don’t you have any money?”  

 

Merria asked the old woman, as if wondering what to do about this situation. She didn’t even bother questioning Shannon, who had stayed home the entire time.  

 

But the old woman, too, had rushed here in such a hurry that she hadn’t had time to grab any money.  

 

Originally, she would have been busy persuading Arienne at this hour.  

 

After all, she hadn’t even expected to come to Demeter herself.  

 

Take it or leave it—he wouldn’t accept it.

 

“Just take me first—no I’ll be paying later.”  

 

While they continued their drawn-out argument, the other carriages had already left.  

 

Left with no other choice, the old woman stubbornly moved to board the last remaining carriage.  

 

“Hey! You can’t just—”  

 

The coachman, realizing too late, tried to pull her back down.  

 

Just then, a group happened to pass by.  

 

“Uncle Carlos?”  

 

At the bright, cheerful call of a child, everyone froze.  

 

“Oh. Vermin. Baidy. Where are you coming from?”  

 

The coachman spoke familiarly, “Ah… just running an errand.”  

 

The next voice was slightly more mature—a young girl’s.  

 

Merria turned her head to look.

 

There stood a woman around Merria’s age and a child who barely reached her waist.  

 

The woman was tall enough that, at a glance, they could be mistaken for a young mother and son. But the lingering youth in her voice suggested she wasn’t yet an adult.  

 

Perhaps they were siblings with a significant age gap.  

 

The girl, having seen Merria’s group from afar, seemed reluctant to approach.  

 

Merria stared at the distant pair with an odd sense of déjà vu.  

 

Where had I seen them before?  

 

As if confirming her thoughts, the boy who met her gaze broke into a wide smile.