A Guide to Raising a Villainess-Chapter 135: Together Forever

"Day One.

My name is Grace Weinstein. I don’t know who I really am. Sometimes it seems to me that I am not the person I remember myself to be. Sometimes I have strange dreams — about another life, about another world, about a game called Trembling Hearts 2.

But Ruby says they are just nightmares. She says I think too much.

But today I woke up and realized: I forgot something. Something important. I must write it down while I still remember."

The pages trembled in my hands.

I kept reading.

"Day Seven.

I remembered! I remembered that I ended up in the body of Aunt Grace from the game! I know what Ruby’s fate was supposed to be — she was supposed to become a villainess, and I was supposed to torment her. But I don’t want that! I will love her. I will take care of her. I will do everything to make her happy.

The main thing is not to forget. The main thing is to remember who I really am.

The main thing is not to become the person I was supposed to be in the original game.

The main thing..."

After that came empty pages. Many empty pages.

And then, closer to the end of the diary, the entries appeared again. In a different handwriting — more nervous, more hurried.

"I forgot again. I forgot again! This has already happened for the third time. I wake up and don’t remember who I am. I remember only Ruby. Only her love. Only her eyes.

And then — a blank. And again the entries in the diary that I left for myself like a lifeline.

What is happening to me?"

The next entry.

"It’s her. I know it’s her! She is doing something to my memory! She is erasing me, leaving only the part that loves her. The part that does not resist. The part that is happy to be in her golden cage.

I must run! I must remember who I am. I must..."

The last entry broke off in the middle of a sentence. And after that came pages filled with the same words, again and again:

"My name is Grace. I am from another world. I ended up inside a game. Ruby is the villainess. I must save her."

"My name is Grace. I am from another world..."

"My name is Grace..."

Dozens, hundreds of times. As if someone was trying to hold on to reality, while realizing they were already drowning.

I dropped the diary onto the floor.

My temples were pounding. My vision blurred. Memories — mine? not mine? — were now crashing over me in waves.

An otome game. The villainess Rubyella. Aunt Grace, who tormented her niece. Me, who came into this body to change everything.

Me, who wanted to save the child.

But in the end I was the one who raised a monster...

"Oh, Aunt."

The voice behind me sounded so suddenly that I jumped.

Ruby was standing in the doorway of the office. In her hands she held a box of pastries. On her face was an expression of gentle sadness.

"I knew I shouldn’t have left you the key," she sighed, placing the box on the dresser. "But who could have known you would want to come in... I thought maybe this time it would pass without incident."

I stepped back, pressing myself against the bookshelf.

"Ruby... what are you doing to me?"

"Me?" She tilted her head, and in that gesture there was suddenly nothing left of my sweet little hamster. Only something predatory and dangerous. "I’m taking care of you, Aunt. As always."

"You’re erasing my memory!" I cried out nervously.

"I remove the things that make you unhappy," she corrected gently, taking a step forward. "Those memories... they caused you pain. You were constantly afraid. Afraid for me, afraid of the plot, afraid of the future. And now? Look at yourself. You are calm. You are happy. You love me."

"That’s not love! That’s... that’s..."

I fell silent because I didn’t even know what it was.

"Aunt," Ruby stepped almost right up to me. "How many times have you read this diary?"

"...What?"

"How many times have you found it, read it, understood the truth... and then forgotten again?"

Cold ran down my spine.

"It has happened so many times," her voice still sounded just as gentle, "that I’ve already stopped counting."

"What?!"

"Every time you get scared. Every time you try to fight. Every time I come, calm you down, and you forget. And the next morning you wake up happy. And so — every time."

My body began to tremble.

"Monster... you’re a monster!"

"No," she touched my face, and goosebumps ran across my skin from that touch. "I am your love. Your care. Your family. I am everything you have. And you are everything I have."

"Ruby..."

"Shh." She pressed a finger to my lips. "Don’t fight, Aunt. It’s useless anyway. I won’t let you leave. I won’t let you forget me. I won’t let you be unhappy."

Tears glittered in her eyes.

"I just want you to be happy. Beside me. Always."

"That’s not happiness," I whispered. "That’s a prison."

"For you — it’s paradise," she smiled through her tears. "You just haven’t realized it yet."

She embraced me, pulling me close, and I felt my body treacherously relax in her arms.

"Sleep, Aunt," she whispered into my hair. "And tomorrow will be a new day. And you will be happy again."

I tried to resist.

I truly tried.

But the warmth of her body, her scent, her voice — all of it pulled me into some warm, soft emptiness.

The last thing I saw before I fell asleep were her amethyst eyes.

Loving. Devoted. And insane.

***

"Has it happened again...?"

The boy with mismatched eyes slowly closed his eyelids and let out a bitter breath. One eye — cold, almost transparent, like a winter sky. The other — dark and deep, like a night without stars.

The Archmage.

And the only love interest of the game who still continued to exist in this world.

Flamel Emerline.

He stood in the middle of a ruined hall. And once again — silence.

"I lost. It happened again."

The words sounded inside him like a silent echo.

His latest attempt to save this world from the villainess’s actions had ended in failure. He had calculated dozens of possibilities, interfered with fates, changed the sequence of events, sacrificed himself — again and again.

But every time the result remained the same.

Catastrophe.

This was the end.

And he was the only one who remembered it.

The only one who was reborn along with the timeline, retaining fragments of memories from past cycles.

But for him it was more like a curse.

"How many times already...?"

He had even stopped counting. Dozens? Hundreds? Or more?

Every time he tried to change the fate of this world. But the villainess still reached the point of no return.

And the world perished along with her.

Worst of all — he could feel that the magic allowing him to return was weakening.

"This was the last cycle..."

That thought sounded especially clear.

Now... it seemed everything was truly over.

Only emptiness.

His time in this world had come to an end.

Flamel slowly lifted his gaze to the sky, which was already beginning to darken.

He was the Archmage. The most powerful being in the empire.

And yet... even that had not been enough.

"I’m sorry..." he whispered to someone unknown. To the world? To himself? Or to the very girl he had never managed to save?

The wind swept through the ruined hall, lifting ashes.

If this truly was the end, then for the first time he would remain here.

Without a restart. Without a second chance. Without the chance to fix everything.

This time he was ready to accept his death.

***

Epilogue

I woke up from the sunlight pouring through the window.

Birds were singing outside. Fresh flowers stood in a vase on the bedside table.

I stretched in bed and smiled.

"Good morning, Aunt."

Ruby was sitting in an armchair by the window with a book in her hands. Seeing that I had woken up, she set the book aside and walked over to the bed.

"How did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully," I truly felt rested. Light. Happy. "You’re already awake? What time is it?"

"It’s still early," she leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Breakfast will be served in half an hour. I ordered your favorite dishes."

"Thank you, dear."

I looked at her and felt my heart overflowing with love. My niece. My caring, gentle, perfect niece.

"Ruby," I called when she headed toward the door.

"Yes, Aunt?"

"I love you."

She froze for a moment. Then she turned around — and her eyes were shining with happiness.

"I love you too, Aunt Grace. I love you more than anything in the world."

She left, and I leaned back against the pillows and closed my eyes.

A good day.

A happy day.

And somewhere very, very deep, at the very bottom of my soul, something scratched with a claw.

Something important. Something forgotten.

But I chose not to pay attention to it.

After all, I have Ruby. And I don’t need anything else.

Right?