I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand Chapter 146 - The Villain’s Ending

 

💫

 

The white moon revealed itself above the spires of the grand ducal mansion.

As darkness settled, Arienne quietly moved her steps.

That she could sneak in was entirely thanks to Deston’s help. She already knew the ducal estate was heavily guarded.

Coincidentally, the Grand Duke had hardly returned to the residence lately. Though his continued survival was frustrating, retrieving Shannon took priority.

 

‘Shannon must not stand in the courtroom.’

That foolish, naive girl would keep waiting for my return—only to be executed.

With even Count Magner turning a blind eye, Shannon was no different from an unprotected commoner now.

Before that happened, she had to help Shannon escape this place.

Even if it meant taking her place.

 

Arienne pondered how to persuade Shannon in the worst-case scenario as she searched for the door leading underground.

‘Deston said he bribed someone.’

After the tragedy at the ducal mansion, rumors claimed the security was impenetrable—not a single gap.

But rumors were bound to be exaggerated.

 

When Arienne handed a purse of coins to the knight guarding the door, he flinched and shuddered.

Then, he silently stepped aside. His movements were somewhat unnatural, but it was a common sight among those who prioritized profit over faith.

 

Suppressing a cough threatening to escape, Arienne quickly descended the stairs.

After passing several empty iron cages, her eyes caught sight of a figure inside one.

A shadow curled up in the corner.

The faint glimpse of silver hair confirmed it was the person she had been searching for. She shouldn’t be asleep right now.

“Miss…!”

Arienne called out to her in a hushed voice. She couldn’t risk raising her voice—there was no telling when someone might come.

 

Just as Ariene was about to call Shannon’s name again—Shannon slowly turned her head and stared outside the iron bars where she was confined.

‘How many days has it been?’

 

Shannon looked so haggard that it seemed as though her time in Demeter had been for nothing.

That fact deeply displeased her. Arienne, impatient, was entirely preoccupied with unlocking the padlock on the iron bars.

Because of that, she didn’t even notice Shannon stealing a glance at her.

Clank—

The sound of the iron bars opening echoed through the dungeon.

 

Since Shannon didn’t move an inch, Ariene had to step inside herself. She strode purposefully toward Shannon and lowered her stance.

 

“Miss, it’s me.”

Ariene lifted the hood she was wearing and met Shannon’s eyes.

“Let’s go.”

 

“…”

“Hurry. We have to leave.”

 

“…Arienne.”

Shannon called her name in a trembling voice.

 

Click—

 

An unfamiliar sound brushed past them in an instant.

 

Arienne slowly lowered her gaze at the strange sensation around her wrist. What was wrapped around it was unmistakably a handcuff.

 

And Arienne wasn’t the type to have any peculiar tastes for restraining herself.

Which meant—

 

“Miss.”

Shannon was the one who had put these on her.

“What are you doing?”

 

That didn’t make any sense.

Arienne muttered with a bewildered expression.

 

Meanwhile, Shannon, who had fastened the other cuff around her own wrist, contorted her face.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Arienne.”

 

Her lips quivered, but the corners of her eyes—glistening with tears—were smiling.

That expression was one of joy.

 

What?

Why?

 

Arinene’s pupils filled with confusion.

 

Then—

Thud. Thud. Thud—

 

The heavy sound of footsteps shattered the silence, and Ariene’s head whipped around.

The first thing that entered her vision was the knight of the Grand Duke’s household who had opened the door.

 

His face was now completely businesslike, as if his earlier expressions had all been lies.

The pouch in his hand also showed no signs of having been opened.

 

Just as Ariene was staring at him in puzzlement—By the time she realized there was someone else behind the knight, Ariene had already frozen in place.

 

Finally, the person standing before her was none other than Reukis Frederick—the one she had so desperately wished never to meet again.

 

‘A trap.’

 

The two words flashed through her mind.

Arienne jerked upright, but since Shannon was still slumped on the other side, restrained by the handcuffs, her body swayed unsteadily.

Soon after, Shannon rose to her feet as well.

Unable to contain her joy, Shannon broke into a radiant smile.

 

“There was no other way to save you.”

 

“What do you—”

 

Arienne’s face paled as her words trailed off. Before she could voice her confusion, Reukis spoke first.

 

“Finally, I see that face of yours.”

 

His tone was cold and rigid, his gaze sharp as a blizzard.

This was the ruthless Grand Duke who had occupied a corner of her memories.

Arienne felt as though the barely healed wound on her abdomen had split open again. She clenched her fists and glared at Reukis.

His eyes lingered on Ariene for a moment before shifting to Shannon.

 

“As promised, I will spare your life.”

 

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

 

Shannon repeatedly bowed her head in gratitude.

What in the world was happening?

Like the eerie calm at the eye of a storm, Arienne stood at the center of chaos, understanding nothing.

 

Even when she looked at Shannon with pleading eyes, begging for an explanation, Shannon only gripped her hand tightly in response.

 

Until they were led out of the prison and into another room within the Grand Duke’s estate, Ariene remained lost in ignorance.

No one here was kind enough to explain things to a trapped rat.

 

💫

 

Arienne bit her lip anxiously, her face uneasy.

Eventually, her tender lips split, and blood welled up.

Since arriving here, the Grand Duke had not spoken a single word.

There were mountains of questions to ask—Why had she tried to harm him? How had she stolen Shannon’s face? How had she infiltrated the Grand Duke’s estate?

 

“Ah… So it wasn’t just sneaking in.”

Arienne gently closed her eyes as the face of Deston, when she first sought him out, resurfaced in her mind.

From the beginning, everything had been a setup to lure her in.

Only after meeting Shannon in person did she realize it.

Shannon was dressed in shabby clothes, her face gaunt. But upon closer inspection, the clothes were deliberately smeared with ash to appear worn—they were actually of high quality. And not a single scratch marred Shannon’s body.

Not torturing a prisoner?

Even if they refrained from physical punishment out of respect for her status as a count’s daughter, there were countless ways to inflict pain, like forcing a confession through drugs.

Where did the trap begin, and who was the puppet playing their part?

Ariene was certain the old woman’s silent disappearance from the imperial palace was connected to this situation.

Could she have betrayed me, taken the money, and fled?

Arienne clenched her teeth, a faint crack sounding from the pressure.

Shannon flinched at the sight of blood on Ariene’s lips and studied her warily. The way her eyes darted nervously confirmed it was the same Shannon she knew.

She was neither brainwashed nor an impostor wearing a disguise—that much was clear.

While Ariene struggled to piece together the situation with the limited information she had, the grand duke, who had been staring at the door the entire time, suddenly stood up.

 

Knock, knock—

A light tap announced someone’s arrival at the door.

Instead of answering, Reukis walked over and welcomed the late-night guest himself.

“You’ve arrived.”

“I’m not too late, am I?”

The figure who stepped in, clad in a dark robe, was another person Ariene had hoped to avoid.

“Of course not.”

Reukis’s eyes curved slightly as he looked at Merria.

Shannon, under Merria’s icy gaze, gripped Arienne’s sleeve tightly. Though she had already made a deal with Merria, she knew that their fate could flip in an instant based on Merria’s words or even a single glance.

Arienne, on the other hand, glared at Merria with stormy eyes.

 

Now that I think about it, Merria was always by the Grand Duke’s side whenever things went wrong.

This time, too, she threw herself in to save Reukis, they say.

Arienne, unaware of Merria’s circumstances, found it hard to believe that the woman before her was truly the same person she knew.

Instead of responding to Arienne’s reactions one by one, Merria simply took a seat on the sofa.

As she looked for an empty spot, Merria naturally ended up sitting opposite Ariene and Shannon.

Reukis sat down beside her.

Finally, the moment had come where everyone was gathered in one place.

 

Arienne noticed Merria’s gaze fixed on her and frowned in response. For her, there had never been a moment as uncomfortably stifling as this.

Though she couldn’t possibly know just how bizarre and unsettling it felt to sit face-to-face with people whose lives had been tangled together, past and present.

 

‘It feels like I’m catching a glimpse of that person’s younger self.’

Merria stared at Arienne sitting across from her and thought to herself.

Though in reality, it was the other way around—Arienne was the one who had aged overnight. Her eyes slowly traced the lush green hair and the rippling azalea-colored irises.

It was to commit them to memory, even if only in her mind.

The face of the one who had stained Reukis’ childhood in the previous world.

 

Even now, Merria had not told Reukis about the conversations she’d had in her subconscious or about her past life.

And unless something extraordinary happened, she never would.

The reason was, in a way, simple.

 

In her past life, Merria had been swayed by others’ words, blinded by ugly emotions, and met her end on the execution block.

Reukis, too, had been unable to bear the emptiness and sorrow, nearly taking his own life.

Having experienced such an ending, she believed it was better to keep the miserable conclusion to herself. She had no desire to repeatedly explain things to Reukis, who knew nothing, and make him aware of his painful choices.

 

If there ever came a day when he unintentionally learned the truth—Merria was certain Reukis would understand her.

 

At first, he might feel hurt, but even if their positions were reversed, she believed she would have been grateful for his consideration.

 

And for Merria, this moment was a process of closure.

 

Memories of a life lived in another form now filled her mind completely.

 

Among them were tangled branches of emotion, of course. That was why she wanted to separate her feelings from this point onward.

 

The Merria of her past life was already dead.

 

Just as Merria, who remembered her past life, had felt indebted to Shannon and sought forgiveness—

 

At the very least, in this life, the true Arienne had tried to help her. She believed that fact should not be overlooked.