The Villainess Who Has Been Killed 108 Times - Chapter 39 Part 7

Chapter 39 Part 7 – The depth of my father’s love for my mother makes me cringe. Then Seraphy joins the fray and the Ruby of Destiny guides us

The next thing I knew, a woman with waist-length red hair was standing in front of me.
Her red eyes gleamed with a calm but strong will.
But behind those eyes, there was a deep sorrow and loneliness.
She’s me, but at the same time she’s also not me. I quickly realized that she was「that girl」.

She looked just like me when I was an adult queen in my past「108 times」, but her outfit was completely different from what I wore when I was a queen.
She was wearing an ethnic costume consisting of a thick blue colored dress and a white short cape. The cuffs and hem had geometric patterns engraved in red.
I was surprised as I stared at her appearance.
That was because her outfit was the ethnic costume of the「Lawless Crew」.
On her chest swung the largest ruby pendant I have ever seen.
A red glow shimmered within the ruby.
The brilliance looked as if it was a living flame, it was unlike how an ordinary ruby would glow.
It was as if a soul resided in it.
As she bent down, she untied the gold chain of the pendant and gently placed it around my neck.

「It’s called the Ruby of God’s Eye. ……The stone will surely guide you to your destiny. It will help you regain the bonds you have lost. Just as you met Bradd again. ……So, this time, break the cycle of sadness and move forward. And please protect the people I care about. Please.」

She gently picked me up and hugged me tightly.
Which meant that I’m actually being hugged in my own chest, what a weird feeling.
……But it felt warm. Her tears fell on my cheeks.
And as expected, my chest is still as modest as ever. I felt a bitter disappointment.
I guess only this part of the future will be the same for all future versions of me.
Anyway, I felt like I’d heard about the Ruby of God’s Eye somewhere….

「As long as you don’t have any unfortunate encounters, you and everyone else’s fate will resonate again. ……I’m sure the Ruby of God’s Eye will…… no, he will help you out. As long as you are on the right path, I’m sure…… it will be just like how it was during my time……」

The moment she said「he」, I was struck by the large drops of tears that spilled from her eyes.
She was at a loss for words and her shoulders were shaking as she tried to hold back her tears.
After a little while,「that girl」raised her face as she curbed her emotions.
She smiled and gently let go of me.
She touched the ruby one last time with her fingertips as if to say goodbye.
The ruby shone even brighter in response.
Her teary expression and figure became more distant.

「……You probably won’t remember much about meeting me here, or the memory of what you just saw, when you regain consciousness. But hey, I’ll always be rooting for you….! Don’t lose to that sorrowful destiny. Seize your happiness!! ……Good luck, little me!! Change it!! Change the future!! ….Call out to him. Call Seraphy’s name……!!」

Then, after some hesitation, as if she has made a decision,

「And um…… please don’t hate father so much. I understand why you don’t have much of a favorable impression of him. After all, I also don’t have any good memories of him. But he’s just not very good at expressing his emotions. He grew up without knowing the love of a family. So, as his daughter, you have to bring out the love in him. You might have forgotten this, but the wonderful father that loved you in the past「108 times」is the truth about that person. ……Probably……」

Wait a minute!! It was on the verge of being a good story, but then at the end, why did you tilt your head in doubt!!
Hey, don’t just disappear!!「That girl」!!
As if it’s an afterthought, don’t push that problematic Duke towards me!!
I’m telling you to wait!!

……And then the thunderous roars of the torrent returned.
My body was too cold to move properly.
The body of a newborn baby, with only a small amount of heat, is quickly deprived of body heat in the cold water and is now worn out.
I was miraculously unscathed as I drifted between the raging water and the clashing obstacles.
I must have been unconscious for a while.
How did I survive and not get drowned and crushed in this situation?

However, I didn’t have the time to rejoice in my paltry fortune.
The demon dog Gallam, whose fangs were exposed with a straightforward malicious intent, was approaching in front of me.
Once again realizing the hopelessness of my situation, I screamed silently.
The air rushed out of my mouth and I gulped down a lot of water instead.

It’s painful….!! Oh no, I’m about to lose consciousness….!!

I struggled desperately.
The agony of lack of oxygen caused sparks to fly in front of my eyes.
My senses began to warp.

The image of Seraphy getting mad at Matzo as he tried to go to help us on the shore came to mind.
For some reason, I saw an illusion of a grown-up Seraphy reaching out to me.

「……Feel free to ask for help. As long as there is water, wind, and ship, I will run to wherever you are to protect you.」

To think I even had an auditory hallucination. I’m probably getting closer to my death….
After all, that guy is a bitter enemy of mine. And there’s no way he’d say that with a smile.
There’s no way he’s going to say that……

The reality is ruthless.
The fangs of the demon dog Gallam attacked me in an attempt to chew me.
I muttered in the fading, hazy consciousness.

Help me….. Seraphy…. No way that’d happen I guess….

Suddenly, my vision went dark.
Something rushed before my nose and slammed the demon dog Gallam from the side.
By the time I realized that it was the bow of a small boat, the demon dog Gallam had been caught off guard and was flung away from me, then was pushed into a flock of crazy dancing driftwood.
A more vicious stream of water was passing through my immediate vicinity.
Gallam was caught up in the current.
Branches flew out one after another, becoming like the talons of a bird of prey, dragging Gallam with them.
Without pause, a large tree with a jagged cross-section attacked and crushed the demon dog Gallam, then carried it away.

It wasn’t a coincidence, I realized that the small boat had rushed here while aiming for Gallam.
On the ground, Gallam would have been able to hold off even against an elephant’s charge, but in the buoyant water, it couldn’t even stand up against a small boat’s assault.
However, it is not a possible human feat to hit Gallam using the bow of the boat by calculating the position, current, angle, and everything else.
Nevertheless, I believe in his skill.
If the one steering the ship is him, the one who’s capable of manipulating a ship just like magic, he can achieve this feat.
I never expected that he would actually come to save me….

A hand was inserted into the dark, murky water.

He held me up by my sides with both hands and pulled me out of the water.
The brilliance of the sky before dawn flashed before my eyes.

「…..I made it just in time!! What a relief!!」

The one who saved me from the dark water surface was Seraphy Orange .
He must have been desperate.
His whole body was completely drenched and his face was pale.
In order to save me, Seraphy had Matzo throw him over the muddy stream and jumped into this small boat at the risk of his life.
His long bangs were sticking up because it was wet, revealing the scar on his forehead and his green eyes.
The color of his anxious eyes was so beautiful, perhaps because they were bathed in the glow of the morning sun.
They looked like emeralds, and I couldn’t help but gaze at them for a while.
For some reason, tears welled up in my eyes.

It was probably because my eyes had gotten used to the darkness of the water and now I was seeing the sunrise.
……It’s definitely because of that.
This painful feeling constricting my chest is also definitely because my body is too cold….
Because there should be no other reason.
But it feels like I’ve forgotten something important…..

I hadn’t noticed that there was a gold chain around my neck that was shaking to match my anxious heart. Of course, I also didn’t realize that there was a ruby that shimmered just like flames, connected to the end of the chain.