I’ll Make It a Bad Ending Like a Villain

Chapter 79

Filina turned away with a dry face.

Alone in place, Ariel could feel her eyes wide open, but she didn’t care.

Then his eyes met Bruno, who was staring this way from a distance.

He stood in front of none other than Gabriel’s office.

With his back to the brown door, he looked like he had finished his business and walked out.
He happened to witness a fight between Philina and Ariel.

At this rate, Bruno might come straight up to her and yell at Ariel for being mean again.

Even so, I was tired of having a fight with Ariel.
The thought of Bruno joining him made me tired.

I’m tired of it.
I just wanted to soak in the warm water and take a bath.

Filina tried to climb the stairs, desperately hoping that he wouldn’t talk to her.

But the story didn’t always go my way.

“Philina’s sister.”

Bruno slowly approached her and spoke to her.
I could still feel Ariel’s gaze behind me.

Filina let out a small sigh and looked at Bruno.

“What happened to Ariel?”

He asked, glancing at Ariel standing behind him.
Filina replied casually, with a grim face.

“What’s going on? We were just talking as good sisters.
Just like you and I are talking now.”

“…… That’s right.”

Bruno furrowed one eyebrow and turned his gaze back to Ariel behind him.

Then, suddenly, he looked at Filina and opened his mouth.

“I heard it from my father.
You’ve passed this promotion exam.”

Bruno added with a sunny smile.

“Congratulations on becoming a full knight, sister.”

The clear iris staring at Philina seemed to have forgotten Ariel standing behind him.

He continued, his eyes slightly lowered.

“On the first day my sister entered the military academy, I felt bad because I couldn’t even see her off properly.
I was very worried.
But I’m so glad you seem to be doing well.”

Bruno pulled his lips up softly and smiled.
She stared at Bruno silently.

“You were worried about me?”

At Philina’s question, he nodded as if it was obvious.

But Filina was staring at Bruno with an expression of utter disbelief.

“Why are you worried about me?”

She asked, tilting her head at an angle and really curious.
Then Bruno furrowed his brow.

“Of course, I’m worried.
Isn’t the swordsmanship academy mostly a place of learning for men? What’s more, there is also a story that a person who graduates from there comes back with something in his body broken.
How can I not worry that you are going to such a dangerous place?”

At Bruno’s clear voice, Filina looked at him with interest.

“So?”

She folded her eyes in half and smiled lightly.

Contrary to his statement that he was worried about himself, Bruno didn’t do anything.

If Ariel had told her she was going to the swordsmanship academy, Bruno would have dried her out somehow.

In any case, it was a bit surprising to see the word “worried” come out of his mouth and his sincere congratulations to himself.

“The swordsmanship academy is not a place of learning for men, Bruno.”

Before stepping into the bedroom, Filina made a brief eye contact with Bruno before opening her mouth.

“Martial arts aren’t unique to men.
If a woman learns the art of swordsmanship, she can be as good as a man.”

“…….”

“But before you even start, you can’t even try because you’re a woman and you exclude the possibility.
The brainwashing of imperial society makes people very helpless.”

Philina continued, her mouth softening.

“I want you to think deeply about this.
Keeping women stranded also means that men have more to deal with.”

Bruno nodded to her low voice.

“Yes, sister.”

As it was, Philina turned her back and stepped up the stairs.
Bruno, who had been staring silently at her back, let out a deep breath.

In a way, Philina’s words were little more than a brief piece of advice, but at least for him, it was the first time he had experienced it.

Normally, it would have been a pattern for Bruno to talk to her unilaterally or carry on the conversation.

When we talked for a long time, all we did was fight that left us hurt each other.

But to be able to listen to her advice in such a peaceful atmosphere ……

It may not seem like a big deal to others, but for Bruno right now, this moment was a little emotional.

So even when Filina was gone, Bruno was staring blankly at her empty seat.

Ariel, on the other hand, who was watching them from behind, bit his lip as he watched Bruno chasing after Filina’s backside.

He squeezed the rose brooch he was holding in his hand.

A jewel depicting red petals crushed into the palm of her hand.
A hard look dug into Ariel’s hand, but he didn’t feel any pain.

Only the dark marks on the white palms left the marks of the brooch.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ˊˎ-

An invitation arrived from Hestia to have tea time at the Imperial Palace.

For the first time in a long time, Filina was touched by Laura’s care, dressed up to the fullest, and headed to the imperial palace.

It would have been overwhelming if he and his daughter Hestia were alone, but luckily Cecilia was there.

“So Debussy is going back to the swordsmanship academy tomorrow?”

To Hestia’s question, Philina replied, raising her lips pretty.

“Yes, actually, today is my last vacation.”

“I guess so.
If I want to go back to the academy, I’ll have to get ready again in the morning…”

Hestia nodded and brought the teacup to her mouth.
Filina also swallowed a sip of the tea, which was accompanied by the sweet floral aroma.

Then I heard a small sigh from the side.

“…… It’s ridiculous.”

Cecilia was staring at Philina with a smile on her face.
Then Hestia, who was in front of her, burst out laughing and said:

“I think Haley has a lot of regrets.”

Cecilia could hardly relax her expression.
Rather, he looked at the military academy building beyond the imperial palace with a disgruntled face.

She said, looking at Filina in a raspy voice.

“I’ve been told that I can’t go out on my own.
Honestly, isn’t that just too much? How can a person live without seeing his family?”

The word that came out of Cecilia’s mouth was “family,” but there was actually another sentence hidden in her mind.

‘What if the princess told me that she has been seeing me less often and that we can no longer be as friendly as we used to be?’

Cecilia looked at Filina nervously and let out another heavy sigh.

The Filina I had seen at the coming-of-age ceremony seemed to have already met someone who was closer to me than I was at the swordsmanship academy.

Seeing a short-haired woman approaching her in a friendly manner and handing her a glass of champagne, Cecilia almost burst into tears.

Even so, I was very sad that he went to the swordsmanship academy without mentioning anything to me, but he seemed to have a good friendship with others, as if he didn’t care about me in the slightest, and the sadness that flowed from his heart was indescribable.

So Cecilia followed Filina and put her hand blindly to the champagne glass at the entrance.

It was the first drink I ever drank.

Something that looked like clear water gave off a pretty sweet aroma.
It tasted better than she expected, so she drank two glasses in quick succession without fear.

And I got drunk.
Cecilia shook her head, as if she didn’t want to think about how she had been that day.

Philina, who was staring at her, opened her mouth.

“You can’t go out at will, but if you have a good team score, you can get a ticket every three months.”

On the day of the promotion test, the scores for each team will be reset.
Starting with the team with the highest score among the knights, a total of 3 groups were selected and given the right to go out by the hour.

The third-place team had three hours, the second-place team six hours, and the first-place team nine hours.

The 2nd Knights, to which she belonged, came in second place by a very narrow margin from the 1st Knights, who finished first, and each team member was given a six-hour outing.

“And now that I’m a regular knight, I can just send and receive letters.”

At Philina’s words, Hestia asked first, looking surprised.

“Debussy, you’ve already been promoted to knight, aren’t you? I’ve heard that military school exams are very difficult.”

At her words, Filina nodded in embarrassment.

“Obviously, you can’t just pass the promotion exam.
I was just lucky.”

“There’s a saying that luck is skill.
In hindsight, I think Debussy underestimates his abilities too much.”

Hestia said, resting her chin on her hand and looking at Philina.

“Why don’t you just trust yourself a little more?”

Filina looked at her puzzled.

“Trust me?”

She asked with a face that didn’t understand, and the corners of her mouth turned up in amusement.

“It means being a little more generous with yourself.
If you set the bar too high, you quickly lose your appreciation.”

She continued, smiling softly.

“To me, Debussy is cool enough.
So you can be a little more generous with yourself.
Sometimes you need to admit yourself.”

Hestia’s words made it difficult for Filina to manage her expression.

My heart was pounding.
I felt that all the dark emotions I had been hiding would burst out if I let my guard down.

Philina lowered her gaze and quietly clenched her fists.

Somebody’s understanding was something like this.

Was it so heart-wrenching and hot?

Philina’s face contorted nicely as she looked down at her fingertips.

It was useless to have to hear things from others that I hadn’t even heard from my family.

Why can’t I expect such kind words from my family?

A faint smile slipped from Philina’s lips.

He said he wouldn’t expect anything from his family, but he didn’t understand what else he was hoping for.

Even though they’re not really my family in the first place…….

The sun was shining in the sky.
The garden with its green grass was so clear and transparent that I felt like I was about to burst into tears.