The Villainess Just Wants to Study

Chapter 42 ~ Scream

Cadence sat across from Dylan, his back stiff and his eyes fixed out the window. The carriage rattled, while the villages they passed were quiet and the roads almost empty. 

As the sun began to set, Dylan finally spoke. "The sun's going down," she said. Her little voice spoke aloud but it sounded like she was talking to herself. 

She lifted her head and gazed at him with her lovely sad eyes wide open. For a few moments she looked him in the face. There's probably no way she could have known about his past and the nightmares that plagued his heart. Cadence couldn't understand that look. Why was she looking at him like that if she didn't know?

He watched as she threw open the carriage window and leaned out, breathing deeply. Her eyes shut as the wind blew through her hair, whipping her ponytail over her shoulder and the side of her face. Cadence reached out and gently tugged at her sleeve so that he could warn her that it was dangerous. 

Confusion clouded her face for a split second, but she shook it off. "You should try it," she said. "I promise it's not dangerous."

He narrowed his eyes, disbelief evident in them. What kind of lady was his new master? Not only did she speak to him knowing he couldn't reply, but she also acted in outlandish ways.

"Come here," she called. "I want you to try it."

Cadence shook his head and refused to budge. 

 "Oh, Cadence," she sighed. "I—" 

Suddenly, she leaned out of the window so far she almost fell out. Cadence instinctively leaped out of his seat to stop her from falling. She looked at him skeptically, and then her face split into a wide grin as she grabbed him. 

"Got you," she laughed, yanking him towards her. Before he could process what was happening, he found himself leaning out the window beside her.

In the breeze he was unbound and in charge of himself, not burdened by his history and pain—as if the wind was washing him clean. In this moment he felt free. Absolutely free. Free of fear, shame, guilt, of the terrible crimes he had committed in his past. Free. 

He didn't understand how a girl, who he had never met before, was able to give him a taste of the very thing he longed for his entire life. He glanced at her, her golden hair fluttering in the wind. Maybe just maybe things would be different this time. 

"Isn't this fun?" she shouted beneath the wind.

Then she took a deep breath and screamed. She screamed and screamed, feeling fascinated by how nice it felt to let it all out, and then screamed again. Dylan found Cadence looking at her with an expression of disbelief—half fascination and half confusion. 

She took a deep breath and screamed again, at the top of her lungs, "Fuck everyone!"

He watched her, enchanted, and she looked at him with starry eyes. This woman was such a conundrum, he couldn't understand her, couldn't grasp why she acted the way she did. He didn't know why she looked at him like she understood his pain. 

"Scream," she told him beneath the wind and rattling of the carriage. "Scream as loud as you can."

And so he did.

***

Dylan awoke the next morning just before the sun rose. She changed into her training clothes, yawning as she made her way to the training grounds. Today she would attend training and then go on an outing with Lucas and Grisa. 

She had a few days left before Axil's trial and had every intention of enjoying herself before all hell broke loose. Dylan smiled to herself, humming as she went. When was the last time she saw Conan?