I’m a Villainess, Can I Die?

I hesitated in front of the large door.
If this were any other room, I would have knocked, announced myself, and walked right in. But this one… this one was different.
Selina’s parents always looked at me with such longing, such fragile sorrow. Their gazes were unbearably sentimental and awkward.

Maybe that was why. Out of all the people in this house, they were the only ones I couldn’t shamelessly call by their titles.
Clearing my throat, I straightened up and raised my hand. I had come all this way—I might as well see them.
Knock, knock.

“…It’s me, Selina.”
I lowered my hand after knocking and pressed my lips together.
I had gathered my courage to knock, but there was no response.

What now? Should I knock again, or just leave since I’d done my part? I stood there, staring at the door in indecision.
Bang.
Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing Selina’s mother, her eyes wide and trembling.

Why did every single person in this house react like this whenever they saw me?
At this point, I was convinced Selina had some kind of Medusa-like ability.
Either that, or they’d all been secretly taking a class on synchronized eye-widening.

“Hello.”
“S-Selina!”
With a voice choked with emotion, Selina’s mother reached out with trembling hands and pulled me into a tight embrace.

Hold on, ma’am. Anyone watching would think we were long-lost family reunited after years of separation. We literally saw each other yesterday. And the day before that.
Over her shoulder, I saw Selina’s father approaching slowly.
A cautious expression. A worried one.
A joyful expression. A welcoming one.

Things I had never experienced. Things I had never been given.
The unfamiliar warmth of a stranger directed at me made my throat sting in a way I couldn’t explain.
Selina’s body, calm down. I am not actually Selina.

I repeated the thought over and over. What these people longed for wasn’t me—it was her. These emotions, these expressions… they weren’t for me.
I knew my place.
By the time I had repeated it enough, the warmth of unfamiliar hands patting me had faded.

And with it, the stinging in my throat disappeared. In its place was a quiet, detached calm.
“…Mother. Father.”
I said it so naturally, so effortlessly. Of course, Selina had always addressed them that way. But until now, I had always hesitated.

This time, however, the words tumbled out shamelessly, making Selina’s parents’ eyes redden with emotion.
Had my mere presence at their door really moved them this much? They were quite the sentimental types for people holding the grand title of Duke and Duchess.
“Oh… Oh! My dear daughter. You were standing out there for too long. Come inside.”

Selina’s mother, who was at least a head shorter than her, blinked rapidly, as if trying to hide the redness in her eyes. She took my hand and gently pulled me forward.
I stared down at my captured hand before lifting my gaze.
Selina, what did you hate so much?

“You look absolutely stunning today.”
What made you push away parents like this? Push away your brother? Claw at the people around you? What was it that made you drive yourself to the edge of a cliff with no way back?
“…Thank you, Father.”

What did you hate so much?
It wasn’t resentment.
I wasn’t scolding her, thinking, How could you be so selfish when you had so much?

It was simple curiosity.
A question.
Selina’s life was the complete opposite of mine—filled with everything I had dreamed of as a child.

Warm expressions, warm hands, a warm home, warm words. A warm family.
She had everything… and yet, she had suffered. She had struggled. She had thrown it all away.
I wanted to know what she had thought.

Selina, why did I end up in your body?
A deeper, more fundamental question slammed into me.
It was the same question I had carried since the first day I opened my eyes in this world.

And it pressed down on me with unbearable weight.
After finishing my conversation with Selina’s parents, I walked in silence alongside Aiden, feeling more dazed than usual.
Suddenly, for no reason at all, the hallway felt unfamiliar.

I had adjusted to this place quickly when I first arrived, but now… why did it suddenly feel so foreign?
“Aiden.”
“Yes, my lady?”

“You and I first met when you were getting beaten in the streets, right?”
At my words, Aiden’s eyes widened, then darkened.
A fleeting shadow passed over his face before he forced a lighthearted smile.

But for that brief moment, his expression had been steeped in something deeper.
A memory. A painful one.
“...Yes.”

Sorry, Aiden. But I needed to confirm this.
This world was the same one I had read about.
Your past… was exactly as I had read.

I was inside Selina’s body. And this place… was not mine.
I closed my eyes tightly before reopening them.
The world around me had become overwhelmingly unfamiliar.

Not just the hallway. The air. The sound of footsteps. Everything.
This translation is the intellectual property of .
But I liked this feeling.

I didn’t want to get used to it. It wasn’t mine.
Alright. A few more days.
Planning one’s own death seemed absurd when I thought about it. What was the point of making some grand, elaborate plan?

Whenever I had jumped before, I had done it impulsively.
But this time was different.
I’m tired.

This world exhausted me.
Unfamiliar things wear me down.
The unknown puts me on edge. It’s clear. It has to be. That must be it.

So then… I…
“My lady!”
Aiden’s hand brushed against my wrist, and suddenly, my body felt like it was sinking.

Had I lost myself again?
It happened sometimes when my thoughts ran too deep.
Or maybe… when I let them go entirely.

I shook my head, trying to clear it, and looked at Aiden, who was still reaching out toward me.
His green eyes were trembling.
His platinum hair was beautiful.

He looked furious.
…Why?
Now that I thought about it, I was in a rather unusual position. There was no solid ground beneath my feet.

Just… empty air?
As my body slowly descended, I realized that Aiden was beneath me, catching me.
The warmth of his hands supported my back, and when I turned around, I saw the dizzying height of the grand spiral staircase behind me.

Ah.
Now that I thought about it, the central staircase was open all the way down to the third floor. This was the staircase. The one Selina had famously fallen down.
Of course, back then, she had only fallen from the second floor. But I had been on the third floor, visiting her parents.

If I had fallen from here, my neck would have snapped cleanly.
That would’ve hurt.
I probably would’ve spent the whole time tumbling down, wondering, How long am I going to keep rolling?

Like a hamster stuck on an endlessly spinning wheel.
It would have felt like an eternity. And if someone happened to be in my path, that would’ve been awkward as hell.
Meanwhile, Aiden’s voice was still ringing in my ears.

What…? What was he saying?
More importantly—did he just break character?
Wasn’t he supposed to be the guy who bowed and scraped in front of Selina, only to snap and curse at her behind her back when she finally pushed too far?

Why was he already yelling?
I raised a hand and clamped it over his mouth. I could feel the tension in the hands supporting my back.
Ah. Finally, some peace. Phew.

“I can’t understand what you’re saying. I can’t hear you properly. So just answer this.”
Aiden, still muffled by my hand, nodded.
“…Did I almost fall down the stairs?”

Nod.
“…And you saved me?”
He hesitated for a moment, but then his head slowly moved up and down.

I should’ve said, Thank you.
The words were right there, rolling around in my mouth. But they didn’t come out.
Was I grateful?

I guess I should be. Imagine if I had caused such a scene on my brother’s engagement day.
People would have talked about it for years. About how I had died after tormenting my brother to his last moments.
But… what if I had fallen?

What if, without even realizing it, I had just… died here, today?
No. No, that wasn’t it. That would have been pathetic. Right, Selina?
…But still.

“Why?”
The question slipped out, separate from my thoughts.
Why did you save me, Aiden?

Aiden felt the world tilt.
Selina’s body was falling sideways.
It had only taken a moment of distraction. He had let his guard down while lost in thought over her strange words about his past.

By the time he reached out, it was too late.
His fingertips barely brushed against her skin as she slipped away.
Magic was deeply tied to emotions.

Even without consciously casting a spell, a strong enough will—combined with raw, unfiltered feeling—could trigger magic on its own.
Of course, it wasn’t easy. And in Aiden’s case, with his lack of proper training, he also needed a great deal of luck.
Please. Please. Please.

Fortunately, before Selina could completely tumble down the staircase, the magic activated.
Suspended just above the edge, she hovered in the air.
Aiden let out a shaky breath of relief.

Thank god.
His heart was still pounding as he carefully pulled her into his arms.
She had threatened to cut out his tongue if he so much as mentioned the word magic.

Would she go as far as cutting off his limbs for this?
The thought crossed his mind, but when he met her eyes, something else filled him with unease.
Her gaze wasn’t on him.

It was hollow. Empty.
There was no fear. No sense of danger. No shock. Not even unease.
Just nothing.

It was suffocating to look at.
Even after he slowly lowered her back onto the ground, nothing changed.
Selina remained limp, her head turned slightly away, her body as lifeless as a corpse.

“My lady…? My lady! Please, wake up! My lady!”
He called out frantically, waiting for any sort of response.
It wasn’t until he repeated himself several times that she finally, slowly, turned her head.

She looked down at the staircase.
A drop high enough to kill her.
And yet, her expression didn’t change. She merely turned back to face him with the same detached look.

“My lady! What were you thinking?! You have to be careful! You could have—this could have been—!”
Panic clawed at his throat, and before he could stop himself, Aiden raised his voice.
Over and over, he kept telling her she should have been more careful.

You almost died. Do you understand?
But before he could say anything else, thud—Selina’s small, cold hand covered his mouth.
Soft but freezing.

His whole body stiffened at the sudden contact.
“I don’t know what you’re saying. I can’t hear you properly. So just answer this.”
Her voice was as flat as ever.

In the past, her words had always been sharp, cutting like a blade.
But now… now it was just dull. Empty.
Aiden hesitantly nodded.

“…Did I almost fall down the stairs?”
Nod.
“…And you saved me?”

This time, he couldn’t immediately answer.
If he had been paying attention—if he had been doing his job properly—this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
But with her hand still over his mouth, there was nothing he could do but nod again.

Selina fell silent.
At least she didn’t look as empty as before.
Her eyes blinked slowly before meeting his again.

But for some reason, his heart started pounding wildly.
“…Why?”
Ah. So that’s it.

After that strange incident—the moment she had woken up as this new version of Selina—she had pretended to live quietly.
She had played along. Eating, taking walks, living a routine.
But.

"Can you kill me without making it hurt?"
That question had been genuine.
From that day until now.

She hadn’t changed. Not one bit.
“…Why did you save me?”