The thuggish man stared at me. “You’re… you’re supposed to be dead…”

“Yes, well, you can see how well that’s working out for me,” I remarked. Bluffing was my only choice here. The only way I was getting out of this. “Care to take another shot?”

“You…”

“Or you can take my money and run,” I suggested, grabbing my pouch and throwing it to the ground at his feet. “See how far it gets you before my father finds you and drags you back.”

“You… I…” the man stared at me, with a gash in my neck, still talking despite the blood that had spilled down my clothes. It wasn’t like the wound had closed, either - it was still there, still visible, still grotesque. 

Enough to scare the man into grabbing the bag and rushing off.

“W-wait for us boss!” the lanky one called out, pushing past me a moment later. The short one followed - though he, at least, took the time to glare at us before parting. 

That just left the girl. She was staring at me, eyes wide as saucers. 

“I… I didn’t mean to…” Lie. “I had to do it. They would have killed me!” Truth. Not that I cared. “I had to! You gotta believe me!”

I stared at the girl for a moment longer. Then sighed. “Go to the tavern. You’ll find a knight there. Probably still drunk off her ass. She’ll help you save your sister. For real, this time - don’t lead her into a trap.”

“You…” the girl stared at me. “Why?”

“Why not?” I asked, with a shrug. “I’m about to die… might as well make something good out of my life while I still have the chance…”

“You…” the girl stared at me.

“Well? You going to go or aren’t you?” I demanded.

“I’ll get the knight,” the girl whispered. “A potion! I’m sure she’ll know where to get a potion! Like the one you gave me!”

“As if those things grow on trees…” Honestly, the one I’d used was a super high grade one, made of ultra rare materials. If I still had it, it probably could have healed me… but I’d stupidly used it all up on a con artist.

“Guess that’s the story of my life,” I muttered. “Get hooked on something, try to do good, get burnt, and go off to die on my own… Fitting…” 

I shook my head.

“Just get going. The knight will help you.”

Bean stared at me for a long moment, tears in her eyes. Then she ran. Towards the tavern, maybe - or some other direction entirely, for all I knew. Not like I had any damn sense of direction…

For my part, I looked around. “I wonder how to spend the last few hours of my life…”

I could try to do some good, maybe? Or some bad. Would be pretty easy to scare some folks with the way I looked, right then…

Or maybe I could just look around. Look at this world I’d maybe created… appreciate the beauty I’d… maybe brought into existence… 

Speaking of things I’d possibly brought into existence… I wondered if Bridgette really would have come if I’d called? If I’d screamed for help, at the top of my lungs, in that moment… Would it have made a difference?

Or would I be dying here all the same?

I shook my head, letting out a sigh, before simply letting myself collapse to the ground.

What was the point of walking around when I was already dead? When I’d already lost everything… I wasn’t even sure Pauline’s magic would be enough to save me, and that was assuming anyone could convince her to try.

Still… as I lowered myself fully to the ground, I couldn’t help but wonder… what it would be like, if instead of being brought into this world as the villainess I’d been the heroine instead…

Would a dashing knight have come saving me, then?

Would the prince put everything in his power to providing me with the best healing medicine possible?

Would I have survived?

I didn’t know the answer… but… as I felt the cold and darkness take me, I had to admit… Part of me wished… that just once… I could be the damsel rescued, instead of the villain everyone hated.

Yet even now, I still couldn’t bring myself to cry that knight’s name, could I? I couldn’t bring myself to say it… even if it meant I might survive… even if it might be my final chance…

Why? Why was I so stubborn? Why was I so scared?

She’d said she’d protect me from trouble, didn’t she? Even if she meant it mockingly,. Even if she meant it as an enemy… She’d promised, hadn’t she?

And yet here I was, dying…

“Stupid… Bridgette…” I whispered, to the wind. “...I’m sorry… I don’t think you’ll be fulfilling your duty, tonight…”

I laughed.

And then I closed my eyes, ready to let the night take me.

*** Bridgette

***

The world always seemed still when I ran through it. Fast as the wind, everyone called me, but from my perspective it was more like the whole world slowed down, until there was nothing in it - nothing but me, and the wind itself.

When I stopped, the world started moving. At least, that’s what it was supposed to do. The girl laying in front of me, though, stayed just as still as when I’d run towards her.

She wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing. It was entirely possible her heart wasn’t even beating. Yet when I moved to pick her up, the noble lady’s eyes opened up all the same. Her mouth moved. No sounds came out - but I didn’t need them. Even silent as they were, her words were enunciated so clearly that even someone with no experience reading lips would have been able to figure it out.

“What do you mean ‘stupid Bridgette’!? You’re the one who acted like a dumb dumb, getting all caught up in a fight and not even calling my name… If I hadn’t heard you at the end there, where would you be? How much time would we have lost if I had to count on that girl you sent to lead the way back here, huh? Too much, maybe! 

“Ugh. Why do I get all the thankless jobs?”

I grimaced, glaring down at the woman in my arms. The horrible, petty woman who’d caused nothing but trouble for as long as I could recall.

…Except… the girl I knew would never have sacrificed herself for someone else. No way she could have earned some street urchin’s allegiance, either - she would have seen someone like that as beneath her. But the way that girl had pleaded for me to get up off my barstool and save that ‘stupidly nice noble lady’ - it had been hard to put together the girl’s story, what with me being a bit drunk and all - that alcohol was way stronger than I’d expected - but if even half of it was to be believed…

Was this really the same Amelia I knew?

“Like hell I’m going to let you die before you explain that!” I muttered. “First I’ll get Pauline to patch you up, then I’ll make you confess all your secrets, and then…”

Well, by then it would be time for Amelia to be executed, wouldn’t it? That had been the plan all along, after all. Let the girl run around and throw a tantrum and tire herself out before taking her back to face justice.

So… why… for the first time… did I actually feel kinda bad about it?